"A masterful reflection on Catholic identity and imagination . . . Mitchell leads us from Caravaggio to Rahner, Erasmus to Vatican II with singular aplomb." —Edward Foley, Catholic Theological UnionEver since its appearance in Europe five centuries ago, the rosary has been a widespread, highly visible devotion among Roman Catholics. Its popularity has persisted despite centuries of often seismic social upheaval, cultural change, and institutional reform. Today, the...

Vivid original artwork on the cover depicts the four evangelists in full colorEnglish texts use the Gregorian formula for the solemn tone

A great deal has happened in Roman Catholic worship since Vatican II promulgated the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy on December 4, 1963. But the myth persists that very little happened in the four centuries between the end of the Council of Trent on December 4, 1563, and Vatican II. Roman Catholic Worship explores what occurred in those four hundred years before Vatican II and how the stage was set for all the changes that have come about since the council. It may be true that liturgic...

The long-standing tradition of baptizing infants suggests that the sacraments plunge our bodies into salvation, so the revelation of God's love in the sacraments addresses the whole person, not the mind alone. In this work, the contemporary Roman Catholic rite of baptism for infants becomes a case study, manifesting the connections between the human body, the ecclesial body, and the Body of Christ. The sacramental life, for children as for adults, is an ongoing journey deeper into the life...

Where are the women in liturgical history? In considering the influential liturgical movement in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century, Katharine E. Harmon reveals that the reality is analogous to Matthew's account of the crucifixion of Jesus: "there were also many women there" (Matt. 27:55).In this groundbreaking study, Harmon considers women's involvement in the movement. Here, readers explore the contributions of Maisie Ward, Dorothy Day, Catherine deH...

"Lent reminds us that Christians form a community gathered in contemplation around God’s Word–and that means we’re also gathered in meditation on the world, its goodness and grandeur, its beauty and brutality. Lent is a call to pay attention, to see creation as God does, to gather our faith not only from God’s promise (where it begins), but also from God’s presence in the low, vast murmur of human life that tugs at our hearts, heads, and hands." (from Introduction) Nathan Mitchell offers d...

Expanded and updated for the new millennium.Covering the life of Christ, the election of Pope Benedict XVI, and everything in between, A Concise History of the Catholic Church has been one of the bestselling religious histories of the past two decades and a mainstay for scholars, students, and others looking for a definitive, accessible history of Catholicism. With a clarity that will appeal to any reader, Thomas Bokenkotter divides his study into five parts that correspon...

Look out for a new book from Garry Wills, What The Qur'an Meant, coming fall 2017."The truth, we are told, will make us free. It is time to free Catholics, lay as well as clerical, from the structures of deceit that are our subtle modern form of papal sin. Paler, subtler, less dramatic than the sins castigated by Orcagna or Dante, these are the quiet sins of intellectual betrayal."--from the IntroductionFrom Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gar...

An "intellectually satisfying, and spiritually moving," argument for a questioning, conscience-driven faith, by a New York Times bestselling author ( Booklist).Pulitzer Prize winner Garry Wills has been asked more than once why he remains in the Church, especially in the wake of his bestselling book Papal Sins, which examined the darker side of the religion's history. In Why I Am a Catholic, he offers some persuasive and heartfel...

“No revolution however drastic has ever involved a total repudiation of what came before it.”The religious reformations of the sixteenth century were the crucible of modern Western civilization, profoundly reshaping the identity of Europe’s emerging nation-states. In The Reformation, one of the preeminent historians of the period, Patrick Collinson, offers a concise yet thorough overview of the drastic ecumenical revolution of the late medieval an...

This fast-paced survey of Western civilization’s transition from the Middle Ages to modernity brings that tumultuous period vividly to life. Carlos Eire, popular professor and gifted writer, chronicles the two-hundred-year era of the Renaissance and Reformation with particular attention to issues that persist as concerns in the present day. Eire connects the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in new and profound ways, and he demonstrates convincingly that this crucial turning point in ...

The riveting story of Pope St. Celestine V, the pope who retired from the papacy.At the close of the tumultuous Middle Ages, there lived a man who seemed destined from birth to save the world. His name was Peter Morrone, a hermit, a founder of a religious order, and, depending on whom you talk to, a reformer, an instigator, a prophet, a coward, a saint, and possibly the victim of murder. A stroke of fate would, practically overnight, transform this humble servant of God into the mo...