The familiar images of Word and Light break open with fresh insight in the imaginative and wise ruminations of Sister Genevieve Glen, OSB. From Nazareth to Emmaus, psalms to beatitudes, Advent to Pentecost, through characters, stories, and prayers, this nimble poet and lifelong student of Scripture takes us to new places in texts we thought we knew. At turns probing, humorous, and inspiring, these reflections ultimately help us to know more deeply the Word made Flesh, Jesus of Nazareth — c...

This new book by Sister Aquinata Böckmann discusses the Prologue and chapters 1, 2, and 3 of the Rule of St. Benedict. In a lectio regulae she plumbs the depths of Benedict’s vision. Listen, the first word of the Prologue, is a keyword that describes the main stance of the individual monastic, the superior, and the entire community. Listening to the Scriptures and in them to Christ guides individuals and the community on how to “run on the way of God’s commandments” toward the goa...

Nearly everything that theologians write on liturgy, Father Kavanagh notes, is often called liturgical theology, although on closer examination such works appear to be either dogmatic theologies about the liturgy or systematic theologies making use of liturgical data. None truly reflects how liturgy shapes theology or is theology or even relates to theology.This work is Father Kavanagh's effort to substantiate the existence of a truly liturgical theology. It will raise almost as ma...

2021 Catholic Media Association Award first place award in spirituality - contemporaryMonastic spirituality has much to offer Christians who live far beyond monastery walls. In Saint Benedict's Wisdom Luigi Gioia, OSB, demonstrates that monastic spirituality is a gift for the whole Church. Because monastic vows are fundamentally a deep dive into one's baptismal commitments, monastic experience speaks to all the faithful who wish to do the same wit...

Among the leaders of the early church, Barnabas is not as well-known as the likes of Peter or Paul. However, Barnabas vouched for Paul before the other apostles, traveled with him as an evangelizer, and then stepped aside when circumstances and Divine Providence demanded. Explore three fascinating passages from the Acts of the Apostles with Jerome Kodell, OSB, one of the most insightful Catholic voices on Scripture today.

The Handbook takes as its subject the complex phenomenon of Christian monasticism. It addresses, for the first time in one volume, the multiple strands of Christian monastic practice. Forty-four essays consider historical and thematic aspects of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and Anglican traditions, as well as contemporary 'new monasticism'. The essays in the book span a period of nearly two thousand years--from late ancient times, through the medi...

A fiery preacher and humble servant to the coming kingdom of God, John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. Three gospel passages capture his message and its meaning and invite us to make way for Jesus in our hearts and in our world.

In his introduction to this commentary on the Rule of Benedict, Abbot Georg Holzherr offers this analogy: “The Rule is comparable to an old heavy red wine that is enjoyed in small sips. . . . Head and heart, soul and mind should taste the words of the Rule, just as the eye enjoys the color of the wine while tongue, nose, and mouth take in the delightful gift of God each in their own way.”In this new translation, based on the completely revised seventh edition of Die**Be...

Within the Eastern tradition of Christianity, the eikon, or religious image, has long held a place of honor. In the greater part of Western Christianity, however, discomfort with images in worship, both statues and panel icons, has been a relatively common current, particularly since the Reformation. In the Roman Catholic Church, after years of using religious statues, the Second Vatican Council’s call for “noble simplicity” in many cases led to a stripping of images that in some ways help...

Keeping in mind two pastoral considerations - the liturgy itself and the assembly that worships - Father Kavanagh looks not beyond rubrics but deep into their historical and pastoral existence in order to develop rules of style which articulate this existence in current Roman liturgical usage. From this research has come a pastoral manual for clergy who preside at liturgical celebrations.

Christians, especially Catholics, have always shown interest in finding information about the Gospels based in biblical investigation and written in a simple language. Father Juan Alfaro provides the answers, setting his focus on the questions that are commonly brought up by the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is a book not only for the study of the Bible, but it is a support to help your spiritual growth and getting to know Jesus so his word becomes life in you.

If the Spirit is not equal to the Father and the Son, can the Trinity survive? Is the role of the Spirit in salvation as important as that of the Son? Why was the divinity of the Spirit problematic in the early Church? If the Son, Jesus Christ, is "the way the truth and the life," what role does the Spirit have in God's reaching out to touch the Church and the world? Is there any contact with, any experience of God, apart from the Spirit? In what sense is the Spirit the goal of the Christi...