For over 1,500 years, believers from all Christian traditions have looked to St. Benedict, the patriarch of Western monasticism, for spiritual wisdom. And rightly so: his rule has shown how one may experience a simple, holy, and common sense life, despite the increasingly busy pace of our daily existence. The latest addition to Liguori's popular series of seasonal meditation books provides not only Scripture readings for the seasons of Lent and Easter, but pairs them with a daily select...

Since 2007, use of the Roman Missal of 1962 has been broadly permitted within the church. This creates, in effect, two liturgical years running concurrently. In Advent to Pentecost, Abbot Patrick Regan compares the prayers and prefaces, readings and rubrics, calendar and chants of the 1962 Missal with those of the Missal as it was revised following the Second Vatican Council, now in its third edition. The result is a striking demonstration of the splendor and superiority of the re...

Only eternal life is worthy of the name, writes Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B., in an elegy for a brother monk, and in his poetry one feels the working out of this life that begins with Adam and proceeds beyond our own span of time on earth. These poems breathe human air, but are always conscious of the larger picture of life in Christ.I wrestle with God 'flesh to flesh, sweat to mystery, ' and I limp away. This is how Father McDonnell describes his poetic project, and in these poems the...

Rites of Passage is a much-needed, practical homiletic resource for priests and deacons who preach Christian baptisms, weddings, and funerals. The three authors, a religious priest, a diocesan priest, and a permanent deacon, draw from the scriptural and liturgical resources available to the preacher for these three important ritual moments to suggest ways to build an effective homily. This book will serve as a helpful and engaging resource for priests and deacons in parish life an...

The Ministry of Servers is a simple and concise, yet comprehensive, guide for altar servers and their instructors. This book will be easily understood by children who fulfill this essential ministry to God and God's people.The Collegeville Ministry series provides practical, effective help for those serving the parish through various ministries. Brand-new volumes complement the already popular existing volumes that have been completely updated and expanded. The Collegevill...

When Adrien Nocent's The Liturgical Year was published in the 1970s, it was the very first comprehensive commentary on the three-year lectionary in relation to the Sacramentary/Missal as these were revised following the Second Vatican Council. Expressed on nearly every page was Nocent's conviction that the liturgy and the Word of God proclaimed within it have something important to say to real people of every culture and time. He constantly returns to the question: What does this ...

Looking for homily suggestions that faithfully represent the Scripture readings and offer hearers of the text practical applications for Christian life? Homilies for Weekdays, the final of two volumes by Father Don Talafous, OSB, contains creative suggestions of what a homilist might say about the daily readings following the Lectionary cycle.This extensive compilation for each day is a result of Father Talafous ' many years of experience in preparing homilies. Written on both a po...

In Awesome Glory, Abbot Jeremy Driscoll offers readers a deep dive into the mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus. Starting from the conviction that the liturgy is meant to be for Christians an immediate and effective contact with the Resurrection, this profound book draws out the riches of each celebration from the Paschal Triduum through Pentecost. Abbot Jeremy focuses particularly on the Scripture texts of Mass, but also on important rituals like the washing of feet, the lucerna...

In Contemplative Nuns: are they wasting their lives?, Maria Boulding, a highly-respected spiritual writer and translator, gave her testimony as contemplative nun, in a way both eloquent and forceful. The second text Why Enclosed Nuns? written by Bruno Webb a generation earlier is more theoretical, though written with a robust sense of the reality of enclosed life. The third text written by Jean Daniélou as Nuns – what is special about them? came in the immediate aftermath of the Conciliar ...

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.

The psalms are masterful poems that echo the tenors of community life and worship as they project the scope of the human drama from lament to praise. They chart a profound and vital relationship with God, with all the ups and downs that this relationship implies. Konrad Schaefer's concise commentary on the psalms relates their poetic elements while respecting their historical context and traditional use in the liturgy and, more importantly, their ultimate value as a springboard to private ...

A jewel of a bookGuardianHis guidance is spot on. Heaven knows, most of us need all the peace we can getDaily ExpressWhat can a monk tell us about finding happiness in our complicated modern world? A surprising amount, is the answerSunday TimesWhy is 'being happy' such an imperative nowadays? What meaning do people giv...