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Like his previous two, this book contains conferences delivered by an abbot to his fellow monks ¿ in this case mainly based on retreat conferences given to other monastic communities. The first, Unfolding the Mystery, reflects on the high points of the liturgical year; the second, Living the Mystery, offers help in living the Christian life, using 'markers' from monastic life. This third volume looks at the Rule of St Benedict, by which monks and nuns have been living since the sixth century and which an increasing number of lay people also follow. There are many books on the Rule; this one is different and takes a look at it as 'story' - The Tale of Quisquis. The Quisquis (Latin for 'anyone') of the tale is 'anyone' who hears the call of the Lord and answers it. One of the purposes of the book is 'to uncover in the Rule a narrative of such an individual's return to God as it unfolds in his inner and outer life. As the chapters follow their at times disorderly order, it seems possible to discern a hidden "story of a soul".'Hugh Gilbert OSB was a cloistered monk for thirty-seven years and Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey for nineteen. In the summer of 2011 he was called by Pope Benedict to become Bishop of Aberdeen and was ordained to that role on the Solemnity of the Assumption that year. He remains a Benedictine monk, though no longer residing in the monastery, and it is a great gift to the Christian world that he hands on in these conferences. As he points out, 'the Rule must be constantly rediscovered, its deepest intentions explored and re-expressed. It is this living validity of the Rule these pages would like to serve.'

Tratto da i suoi corsi di Catechismo, In Questo Crediamo: Una semplice spiegazione sul Catechismo della Dottrina Cristiana, a cura di Monsignor A.N. Gilbey, è stato in origine pubblicato in forma anonima, ed è divenuto un sorprendente e grandioso successo.Seguendo l'impostazione de Il Catechismo della Dottrina Cristiana, In Questo Crediamo illustra la Fede nella classica forma domanda-risposta, eccellendo nella sua accuratezza e profondità, oltre che nelle sue spiegazioni personali ed in quelle colloquiali.Monsignor Gilbey trae dalle Scritture l'immenso tesoro della Teologia Cattolica, le opere dei Santi e le sue opinioni percettive circa la natura umana, per condurre i lettori, passo dopo passo, verso una completa comprensione della Fede Cattolica.Monsignor Gilbey divide le sue lezioni in tre categorie: Fede, Speranza e Amore.La Fede comprende la Rivelazione Divina, la Trinità, l'Incarnazione, lo Spirito Santo, la Chiesa, la Comunione dei Santi, il perdono dei peccati, la resurrezione del corpo e la vita eterna. La Speranza indirizza gli insegnamenti della Chiesa verso la grazia e la preghiera, Nostra Signora, ed i Sacramenti. Infine, la Carità, ci offre una preziosa spiegazione dei Dieci Comandamenti.Con un amorevole affetto sia per la Chiesa che per i suoi studenti, ed un fascino tipicamente inglese, In Questo Crediamo di Monsignor Gilbey è un Semplice Commentario sul Catechismo della Dottrina Cristiana, allo stesso tempo coinvolgente, intimo e stimolante.

In order to understand England today, it is necessary to understand the Reformation. No other event in the last millennium has caused such a sharp historical rupture. Henry VII's break from Rome and the espousal of Protestant ideas caused a shift on the intellectual and artistic levels, an in every aspect of ordinary life. Once the Reformation had established itself, both Protestants and the Catholics who opposed them would view their world in a new, utterly different light. This book explores the ways in which the Reformation left its mark on England in those turbulent years of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.Peter Milward is a member of the Society of Jesus, and has lived and worked in Japan since 1954.

This book seeks to explore the belief that the Catholic Church is the true Church founded by Jesus Christ, both in his earthly ministry (where he commissioned Peter to found his Church, Matthew 16:17-18) and in his resurrection appearances (where he anointed the Apostles with his Spirit, and bestowed on them a ministry of truth, John 20:21-23, as well as confirming Peter in his office, John 21:15-19). All who read Jesus' words should be challenged in their perception and belief in what the Church should really be, how it has come to us historically, and how it subsists now in the modern world.The book is in the form of an apologia, an ancient form of defensive explanation, and seeks to present the truth about the Church in this controversial way, seeking to engage and even challenge the reader to question their presuppositions about the origins and meaning of the concept of church, and its place in the contemporary world. It considers the historical origins, Jesus' intentions, the Apostolic witness, and the succession and leadership following from it (the Petrine Office and the hierarchical episcopacy), the theological foundations, controversies and divisions of opinion. Nothing could be more important theologically, as this affects the type of faith we have in the Gospel, the truth by which the human race seeks for meaning and salvation, and the reality of Jesus' promise to be with us always, "even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).

Canon Francis J. Ripley was a much loved priest, whose many books and ministry of evangelization brought many to the Faith, and gave inspiration and encouragement to countless others.This volume of his prayers, first published as a thank-offering for his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood and dedicated to the memory his dearest friend Frank Duff and to the Legion of Mary that he founded, brings back to a general readership the fruits of a life time of reflection and praise.Born in St Helens, Lancashire, in 1912, ordained priest in 1939, he served as a Chaplain in the Royal Air Force, Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society, Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre in London and the Catholic Information Centre in Liverpool and Editor of Flarepath, Catholic Truth and Booknotes and The Catholic Gazette.For many years Canon Ripley was Parish Priest of the famous parish of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith in Ashton-in-Makerfield, a centre of pilgrimage where the Holy Hand of St Edmund Arrowsmith is venerated.Well known and much sought after as a lecturer throughout the British Isles and the USA and a regular contributor to the Catholic Press, Canon Ripley's many books include This is the Faith, also published by Gracewing.

Clear ideas about cooperation with evil have never been more urgently needed than in the modern world. Nonetheless, confusion still surrounds what has been called the most difficult problem in moral theology. Evaluating the responsibility of a cooperating agent requires understanding the nature of moral evil, the definition of an act's object, and the relevance of both circumstances and consequences. The author presents the history of the issue from the 17th to the 20th century by following the debate about the Servant and the Ladder, a proposition condemned as laxist by Bl Pope Innocent XI. Cummings shows that no thinker has managed to address the question satisfactorily, not even St Alphonsus Liguori, who expended "great effort" and is often credited with having settled the matter. With the help of British analytic philosophy, especially the work of G. E. M. Anscombe, and recent contributions to action theory, which complement the clarifications of Pope St John Paul II, the author proposes a new solution to the centuries-old conundrum. While indeed a novel approach, it is, at the same time, a call to recapture the wisdom of the pre-Reformation Catholic moral tradition.

To reclaim the cultural 'piazza' the Christian message must be attractive, reasonable and relevant. This volume aims to show how Catholic education can contribute to the new evangelisation in the rapidly evolving cultural landscape of the 21st century. What is a Catholic culture for today? How should it relate to prevailing cultural trends? How can Catholics engage and evangelise in a way that respects others' beliefs and values? This book offers unique insights into how Catholic education can enrich the culture of the pluralist society. Drawing on the insights and ideas of the Italian Church's Cultural Project (for the first time in the English language), the book offers ideas and reflections to all who care about Catholic education and culture and who want to share the life-giving content of the Christian message with those at the peripheries of belief, understanding and familiarity with the Christian worldview. With insights from school and university educators and professional communicators this wide-ranging, up-to-date and practical call for a new engagement between Catholics and representatives of secular culture will have a wide appeal.

David H. Williams portrays every aspect of the life of the Cistercian monks and nuns of England and Wales in the half-century prior to the complete extinction of the religious orders. Until the closing years vocations remained fairly stable, and it is evident that despite occasional lapses from the high moral standards the Order expected, their calling was paramount to many of those who chose this path. This book examines in great detail, and as far as extant documentation permits, the role, character, education and spirituality not only of superiors but of their subordinates in the seventy-five male abbeys and thirty female convents of the Order. The material economy which allowed the survival of so many religious communities is treated at length, as is the significant presence of lay folk within their precincts. The problems faced by monasteries and nunneries internally and from external forces are discussed, whilst the part the monks played in the extremely difficult times of the Reformation finds full coverage. For a number it meant martyrdom. The text is accompanied by relevant distribution maps and other diagrams.

Il fascino della ragione propone un pellegrinaggio del pensiero umano alla ricerca di Dio. Le persone hanno sempre trovato indicazioni per dimostrare l'esistenza di Dio incise nel mondo e nella condizione umana. Questo libro esamina le prove classiche dell'esistenza di Dio e afferma la loro perenne validità. Esso mostra che il pensiero umano può essere in relazione con Dio e con altri aspetti dell'esperienza religiosa. Inoltre, descrive come la fede cristiana è razionale, e non è né cieca né nuda. Senza la ragione, la fede degenererebbe nel fondamentalismo: ma senza la fede, il pensiero umano può restare incagliato sullo scoglio della propria autosufficienza. Il testo suggerisce che la mente umana deve essere in stretta relazione con il cuore in ogni sua ricerca di Dio.

Jesus suffers, because He wants to make us loving persons. He calls us to the imitation of the Cross, because He seeks our friendship. Praying the way of the cross is not just an expression of piety, which will bring tears to the eyes of a pious soul, contemplating-from a safe distance-the suffering of Jesus and one's neighbour. No, it is an invitation to follow along the same path. The goal is to let Jesus speak to me personally, then to climb up the Via Dolorosa of my own life. With him, this sorrowful street transforms into a Via Amorosa, a loving route, at the end of which I can discern that no suffering is meaningless, if it is accepted with a spark of love. Life is not about existing by the skin of one's teeth, but about finding salvation.

Pope John Paul II is a man who can 'only be known from within', as he himself said. Through his story, this book uncovers the spiritual message of the life of Karol Josef Wojty¿a. Often called 'John Paul the Great' - and Time magazine's 'Man of the Century' - he had a truly remarkable pontificate: the collapse of Communism as a power-block, the introduction of World Youth Days, the teaching on the Theology of the Body, the missionary journeys to country after country. Now declared a saint, he joins the ranks of those canonised by the Church: in exploring his spiritual life, we can learn what inspired and nourished this great man and share the spiritual journey with him.Karol Wojty¿a was a very private person and rarely spoke of his interior life. Though deeply rooted in Poland, he was heavily influenced by Spanish mysticism. This is a not a man easily categorised - an intellectual giant, a philosopher of brilliance, a widely read academic - and we will never know the battles he had in co-operating with God's grace.Pope John Paul II's exhortation 'Do not be afraid!' with which he opened his pontificate alluded to a simple self-giving to God. Christ was at the centre of John Paul's being. He was able to inspire and uplift people on an extraordinary scale, because he lived with daily faith and courage. Studying the inner life of this most remarkable man - philosopher, poet, playwright, priest, Pope - we come to understand that at its heart were simplicity and joy.

One of the most hotly-debated topics today in the Catholic Church concerns the role of women. Jane Coll upholds as binding the Church teaching that they cannot be ordained as priests. She then explores whether women could be ordained deaconesses. The author takes a new look at this issue and seeks an answer that is compatible with the teachings of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. She has based her work on the premise that the Church cannot introduce any changes that contradict the deposit of Revelation. By discussing the meaning of the Sacrament of Ordination and the role of women in the Church under the teachings of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium she indicates that, while the Church could not ordain women as priests, it could ordain them as deacons. However, are such deaconesses part of the sacrament of Order or are they sacramentals? Could the whole issue of women's ordination be side-stepped by creating an order of non-ordained deaconesses with wide parish responsibilities? This book attempts to answer these questions as well as a host of others on this fascinating and topical theme.

In historical studies of English Catholicism, the eighteenth century, described as a period of 'persecution without martyrdom', has been largely passed over. That neglect is wholly unwarranted. The foundation of the modern Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales dates to 1688 and over the next century and a half Catholic recusants overcame discrimination and oppression to win full citizenship; and, by degrees, the mission emerged from its seclusion in rural backwaters to take a prominent place in the cities and towns. Moreover, the defining characteristics of the old recusant community changed almost completely, amounting to nothing less than a radical transformation of their social structure and outlook. This is an important study of post-Reformation English Catholic history in one of the traditional strongholds of recusancy. It consists of a careful and extensive survey of both laity and clergy and shows how they bravely held their own in the wider society of the north-east despite their deprivations. A major feature of the book is the collection of the individual histories of all the chapels and churches in the region from their foundation. Such a comprehensive account has not been attempted before, and is therefore a major contribution to the narrative of the development of English Catholicism.

When in 1993 Aidan Nichols revived the long-dormant idea of an Anglican Uniate Church, united with the See of Peter but not absorbed, the reaction of many was incredulity. The ideal of modern Ecumenism was, surely, the corporate reunification of entire Communions. This he roundly declared to be unrealistic, for the Protestant and Liberal elements in Anglican history (and Anglicanism's present reality) could never be digested by Roman stomachs. What was feasible was, rather, the reconciliation of a select body Catholic enough to be united, and Anglican enough not to be absorbed. Just over a dozen years later Pope Benedict XVI, responding to the petitions of various Anglican bishops, promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Apostolorum coetibus and the deed was done. The three 'Ordinariates' now established for 'Catholics of the Anglican Patrimony' in Britain, Australia and North America have been described as the first tangible fruit of Catholic Ecumenism. In this short book Nichols reflects on the historical, theological, and liturgical issues involved. He also shows the congruence of the new development with Benedict's wider thinking, and outlines a specific missionary vocation for reconciled Anglicans in England.

In Christifideles Laici (1988), Pope John Paul II exhorts his readers to recognize that "The inviolability of the person, which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, finds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life." For this great champion of life, "the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights ... the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture-is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." This is the conviction that prompted Edward Short to write Culture and Abortion, a study which looks at how our own culture betrays the inviolability of life by invoking what feminists call 'reproductive rights' to justify killing children in the womb. Examining the scourge of abortion from a cultural perspective, Edward Short draws on history, literature and the encyclicals of popes to show how defending the right to life can help us to reaffirm an understanding of culture that is based not on human pride or human power but on what Pope Paul II calls the "civilization of life and love." Wide-ranging and incisive, Culture and Abortion takes a fresh and provocative look at the often unacknowledged evil that continues to define our culture of death.

JULIAN OF NORWICH, England's greatest mystic, became the first woman to write in the English language when she recorded her Sixteen Showings revealing an intimate message of God's love and well-being for his human family. In the week of May 8, 1375, she suffered a series of visions centring on the final sufferings of Christ. Following this overwhelming experience, she became an anchorite in a cell attached to the tiny church of St Julian in the city of Norwich. And here she spent more than twenty years in prayerful contemplation, eventually recording her Showings. The first woman to write in the English tongue, her writings only came to the fore at the beginning of the twentieth century; they have gained a growing audience worldwide ever since.John Skinner's modern translation, A Revelation of Love (published by Gracewing in 2004), with its inclusive language offered a fresh approach to Julian's powerful message of God's love for his human family. The aim of his latest work is to enable newcomers to Julian to understand her complex theology and penetrate her deepest meaning. Using the major part of his original translation, Skinner inserts commentary and interpretation into the text. The result is a flowing account of Julian's work where her voice is to be heard ever more clearly.

The Servants of God Mother Riccarda Hambrough and Mother Katherine Flanagan, English women called to serve the Church as Bridgettine nuns, provided a courageous witness during the Second World War, sheltering Jews from Nazi persecution. Their story is the story of many religious in wartime Italy, and it provides a special insight into the role of the Church, often much misunderstood, and of Pope Pius XII himself. Here is a clear account of the inspirational lives of these two holy women, and of the heroic stance of the Pope himself. Mother Riccarda is remembered especially for helping to hide about sixty Italian Jews from the Nazis during the Second World War in her Rome convent, the Casa di Santa Brigida. Born in 1887, she was baptised at St Mary Magdalene's Church, Brighton, at the age of four after her parents converted to the Catholic faith. The parish was then in the Southwark diocese. She was guided towards the Bridgettine Order by Father Benedict Williamson, who was the Parish Priest of St Gregory's Parish, Earlsfield, between 1909 and 1915. Sister Katherine Flanagan was baptised at St Gregory's Church, Earlsfield. She too, was guided by Fr Benedict Williamson and joined the Bridgettine sisters. She spent many years at the Bridgettine convent in the Piazza Farnese, Rome, and later became the Mother Superior to various Bridgettine communities: Lugano (1928), England (1931), and Vadstena (1935).

After a first part, which is critical of a philosophical vision and which leads from the search for a provisional morality to a morality provisional by nature, this work analyzes the problem of moral and social values in an attempt to arrive at a social morality shared by all. A series of premises is discovered, and they are inalienable - such as work, the person, responsibility, pluralism, the ethics of conflict, the right to truth, a sense of limits, faith in society, citizenship, brotherhood, and their corollaries: freedom, dignity, equality, justice, solidarity, and others, as well - which are the cornerstones of a social life in which all people can fulfil their own, most legitimate aspirations. These social values, in a climate of growing security, make the development of intelligence and growth of culture possible. These aspirations are what characterize human nature.The book concludes with a very brief itinerary for an historical analysis, a draft to enable further research, with the intention of bringing out the fact that despite some recurring pessimistic views, the pathway of humanity is accompanied by a constant effort to improve, even though at times it is strewn with frustrations and dangerous phases of political abnormality.

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) was one of the most eminent and controversial figures of the nineteenth century. His influence spread far beyond the country of his birth, the century in which he lived, and the Church in which he ended his life: he is not only of great importance in the history of religious thought but is known to a much wider circle for his hymns, his books, the text of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius and the Oratories he founded in Birmingham and London. His religious thought laid the foundations for the second Vatican Council. He is widely loved and remembered¿by Catholics and non-Catholics alike¿as a saintly and gentle figure: yet his conversion to the Church of Rome sparked off one of the bitterest and more divisive controversies of the Victorian age, and one which lost him friends and respect, and was to sever him from his beloved University of Oxford. Brian Martin's sympathetic study combines biography with a critical assessment of Newman's achievements. He takes us through from Newman's birth in London and his school-days in Ealing to his death in the Birmingham Oratory, by way of his brilliant university career in Oxford, his leading part as an Anglican clergyman in the Oxford Movement, his conversion to Roman Catholicism, his involvement in the foundation of the National University of Ireland, and his eventual elevation to the Cardinalate. Unlike previous biographies, Dr Martin has made full use of the extensive Letters and Diaries so as to bring out the human side of this saintly man. His major works, such as his great autobiography, Apologia pro Vita sua, and his novel, Loss and Gain, are discussed in the context of his life.

Teresa of Avila was an intensely loving person. The deeper her union with God, the more resolute her devotion to others. Most of all she loved her young spiritual director Gracián. This gave rise to all kinds of envy and misunderstanding in the Order. The saint herself wrote imperiously: 'I can permit myself, my father, to show you a great deal of love, but not all nuns may do this.' Yet after the death of Teresa, Gracián, 'Father of the Reform' of the Carmelite Order, went through very hard times: exclusion from the Order, imprisonment by the Moors, homelessness. Posterity has felt obliged to pass over the life of this prudent and lovable priest in silence.This book compares the intensity of feeling reflected in the letters of the Saint, who wrote almost every day to 'her father' and superior, with Gracián's thoughts about Mother Teresa and her love as recorded in his own often-humorous accounts of his adventures and misfortunes. Looked at through the lens of a sensitive interpretation, these writings (which do not include his letters to the Mother of the Order, now lost) give us a nuanced and very human picture of Teresa, a picture that is deeply moving.

Jeannie and Geraldine were excited to be moving house and going to a new school - but then a surprise visit from their aunt menat that everything had changed. Aunt Win, a teacher, had suddenly been left a big old hotel that she couldn't sell. And she had pupils in Switzerland waiting for her to start a course of private English lessons, and a soldier husband who was about to lead a big expedition to Africa. But one thing was clear - Aunt Win had no intention whatever of starting a school ...Come and meet Aunt Win, and Amamda and Alison, and the twins, and Shelley and Gabriele and Renuka - and discover the adventures at Four Winds!Julia Blythe is a pen-name of the well known Catholic journalist and broadcaster Joanna Bogle. A frequent guest on EWTN, she lectures regularly in the USA and Australia, as well as to schools, colleges, women's organisations and other groups in Britain. She is married to a lawyer and they live in London.

This Homiliary provides a comprehensive guide to doctrinally based preaching for the entire Church year, presented in the Dominican tradition: a preaching of Scripture which takes doctrine as guide to the clarification of the Bible's main themes. Doctrine is necessary to preachers because in its absence the Scriptural claims and themes do not easily hang together. The grace the Word imparts always has a reference to the Mystical Body which mediates all the grace that is given by Christ as the Head. So, precisely as a fruit of grace, preaching is necessarily related to ecclesial awareness. Doctrine ensures that preaching does not fall short of its true dimensions - expressing the biblical revelation, the faith of the Church. The second, third, and fourth volumes of Year of the Lord's Favour cover between them the Temporal Cycle of the Church of the Roman rite: this fourth volume furnishes texts for Weekdays through the Year; the second for the Privileged Seasons - Advent, Christmastide, Lent and Eastertide; the third for Sundays through the Year. Preaching about the lives of the saints provides the subject matter of the first volume of the Homiliary.

This Homiliary provides a comprehensive guide to doctrinally based preaching for the entire Church year, presented in the Dominican tradition: a preaching of Scripture which takes doctrine as guide to the clarification of the Bible's main themes. Doctrine is necessary to preachers because in its absence the Scriptural claims and themes do not easily hang together. The grace the Word imparts always has a reference to the Mystical Body which mediates all the grace that is given by Christ as the Head. So, precisely as a fruit of grace, preaching is necessarily related to ecclesial awareness. Doctrine ensures that preaching does not fall short of its true dimensions - expressing the biblical revelation, the faith of the Church. The second, third, and fourth volumes of Year of the Lord's Favour cover between them the Temporal Cycle of the Church of the Roman rite: this third volume furnishes texts for Sundays through the Year; the second for the Privileged Seasons - Advent, Christmastide, Lent and Eastertide; the fourth for Weekdays through the Year. Preaching about the lives of the saints provides the subject matter of the first volume of the Homiliary.