Books published by Gracewing

Ways of Praying provides a thorough introduction to the many different methods of prayer in the Christian tradition, and allows the reader to understand their own prayer practice ¿ and go deeper. For over thirty years this little book has provided sure and helpful guidelines for developing a personal life of prayer."This book should prove a useful and easily available reminder to priests, religious and laity, and especially to young people, of the vital importance of prayer. Personal prayer is possible for everyone and is an indispensable means of fostering a close relationship with Christ Our Lord. I am particularly pleased to see the emphasis given to the reception of the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and also the part played by sacramentals in prayer. I hope that Ways of Praying will be read and used regularly by all those who desire to grow in the spiritual life." Cardinal Basil Hume

When asked to comment on this, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) remarked: '...it is a fact that the choice of "little things" and "little people" is characteristic of God's dealings with humanity. We see this characteristic first of all in the fact that God chooses the earth as his theatre of action, this grain of dust in the universe; and in the fact that there Israel, a virtually powerless people, becomes the vehicle for his own action; and again in the fact that a completely unknown village, Nazareth, becomes his home; finally, in the fact that the Son of God is born at Bethlehem, outside the village in a stable. All of this is consistent' (God and the World, p. 213).Francis and Thérèse Great 'Little' Saints expresses how this 'characteristic of God's dealings' with men and women is at the heart of the spiritual life of Francis of Assisi and Thérèse of Lisieux. If Baptism plunges us into the Paschal Mystery of Christ, this man of the thirteenth century and this woman of the nineteenth expressed its energy of dying to self and rising to life in Christ through a path of littleness. The Poverello, 'Little Poor One', wanted his brothers and sisters to live among their peers by a comparative adjective minor (lesser) that would challenge them always to be the least. Centuries later Thérèse recognized herself as a 'little flower' and described her journey of the spiritual life as the petite voie (little way). Both chose that same characteristic of God's dealing with our humanity to deal with his divinity. This book pursues growth in an awareness of being little, of focusing on the little people, the little things, and the little actions of daily life! This is the challenge of being lesser before others as we are before God! Such is the energy of Francis and Thérèse that needs to be revitalized so that the hands of those of us in the twenty-first century may join theirs in making the world a new Bethlehem.

Is it still possible to say something new about love? Although we all claim to know what love is, the great variety of meanings that the word has makes it difficult to say what it really is. In this book, the author offers an attractive and clear exposition of the essential elements of love.When we try to understand what love is, we do it in the hope that it will help us improve our relationships and our lives. To go through life without knowing what love is, is like driving in the city of Los Angeles without a map-one gets lost. The chapters of this book are like a "map of life," in the sense that they deal with such important issues as the nature of love, the nuptial meaning of the body, the meaning of loyalty to our commitments, the connection between love and excellence, the importance of forgiveness, and the relationship between love and freedom.

Los siete sacramentos están en el centro de la vida y de la experiencia cristiana, porque por medio de ellos la Santísima Trinidad, alcanza la vida y el corazón de las personas. Actualmente este libro es uno de los pocos que ofrece una síntesis global de los temas principales del misterio sacramental, en el cual el universo humano y divino, material y espiritual, están íntimamente ligados. Paul Haffner ilustra el hecho que los sacramentos tienen un significado central en la Iglesia, pues con ellos el pueblo de Dios se reconcilia con el Padre, mediante Su Hijo, por obra del Espíritu Santo. El libro propone algunas cuestiones clásicas, como las condiciones para la validez y la eficacia de los sacramentos, desarrolla los temas del ministro, el receptor y los efectos de estos misterios sacros, asimismo trata algunas particulares problemáticas, como la necesidad del bautismo, el carácter sacrificial de la Eucaristía y la naturaleza del matrimonio. En el análisis de cada sacramento, el autor explora también las nuevas cuestiones ecuménicas y su influencia sobre la comprensión sacramental cristiana. Este libro, escrito originalmente en inglés, ha sido también publicado en idioma italiano y ruso.

Gavan Duffy's book is a first of its kind. It deals specifically with the development of Catholic Social Thought in its application to the rights and duties of labour. Beginning with sacred Scripture, it discusses those passages of both the Old and New testaments, which evidence biblical teaching in respect of what we would today call " the worker". The biblical attitude to the worker can be condensed to two words, "justice and fairness". The book discusses the institution of slavery in the ancient world, and shows how the advent of Christianity and its tenets, had the effect of ameliorating the condition of slaves throughout the Roman Empire. Labour and Justice then traces the evolution of slavery to serfdom during the early medieval period and the development of the "guild system" in which the Church was a major participant. The book discusses the decline of the guilds following the Reformation, the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the Proletarian class, and consequent division of society into Capitalist and Proletarian classes. The book discusses how Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, promulgated in 1891, was in many ways the Church's answer to The Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels published in 1848. Beginning with Leo XIII, often called the 'workers' pope', the Church has built a body of teaching on labour and capital through the encyclicals and statements of successive popes, up to the present time. This body of teaching has been augmented by Gaudium et Spes, one of the documents of Vatican II, by Vatican submissions to international forums ,and by the declarations of episcopal conferences. Gavan Duffy discusses the application and interpretation of the encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno by those notable men of letters, Hilaire Belloc and Gilbert Keith Chesterton, whose writings have had a profound influence on Catholic social thought since the late 1920s. In the later chapters of the book, the author examines at length, the antinomy between Catholic social thought in its application to the employee, and many of the practices of what he terms 'Neo liberal capitalism', or, in its global application, the philosophy of 'Globalism'. He argues that the ascendancy of the neo-liberal philosophy has resulted in a regression of employee rights, as many of the 19th century attitudes to labour re appear. He says that once again, labour is increasingly regarded by capital and government, as merely one more factor in the processes of production. This, he argues, is contrary to Church teaching. Gavan Duffy raises the question as to whether the modern corporation, has departed from the model so ardently supported by Adam Smith, and raises the need for greater accountability by corporations to "the people," who originally conceded the benefits which corporations take for granted. The book examines work structures in which the employees are recognised as partners in the enterprise. It also looks at cooperative structures, such as those in the Mondragon region of the Basque country in Spain, as alternatives to traditional work structures. Labour and Justice: The worker in Catholic Social Teaching is a valuable addition to the literature on the social teaching of the Church - George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of SydneyGavan Duffy was born in India in 1946 emigrated to Australia in 1951 with hisparents. He became involved in Catholic Action when a student of eighteen years of age, and has maintained that involvement for the greater part of his life. He was admitted to the Bar in 1974. His previous book, Demons and Democrats (2003), is a study aof the events leading up to the split in the Australian Labour Party of the 1950s.

True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture was first published in 1841, when Pugin was 29 years old. Here he presents coherent arguments for the revival of the Gothic style, the case for which he had made pictorally in his sensational book Contrasts (1836). For Pugin, the Gothic Revival was 'not a style, but a principle' and this he laid down in his most influential architectural treatise, True Principles, which introduced functionalist and rationalist as well as moral criteria into architectural discourse, much of it still resonant in the twentieth-century Modern Movement.It is reprinted together with his Apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture, first printed in 1843. Much of his thought here is on architectural education, and in shuffling off the straitjacket of neoclassical architectural principles Pugin exercised a great influence in mid-Victorian architecture and the applied arts, and in a wider design reform movement.These two seminal books, presented in one volume, are introduced by the architectural historian and Pugin authority Dr Roderick O'Donnell

In The Church and the World the philosopher and commentator John Haldane explores a range of issues concerning the condition of Roman Catholicism, its leadership and teachings, and examines the ways in which these connect with, complement, or challenge trends within Western Society. Over the course of some twenty five essays he discusses matters as diverse as the Papacy of John Paul II, the role of philosophy in articulating Catholic teaching, evolutionary theory, Christian humanism, medical and sexual ethics, religious architecture and Catholic schooling. The chapters display the analytical mind of the philosopher, the sensibility of the art critic, and the fluency and descriptive power of the journalist and broadcaster. In the preface he writes: While it would not be accurate to describe my religious outlook as conservative or traditionalist, nor as liberal or progressive, for these are crude oppositions generally lazily applied, it would be generally appropriate to describe it as 'orthodox'. This outlook informs the essays even when they are not explicitly concerned with doctrine, as they very rarely are. The Church and the World is wide-ranging, informative, humane and certain to prompt readers to carry on thinking about and discussing the issues.John Haldane is a Professor of Philosophy, whose fame has spread far beyond the walls of the University of St Andrews. In this collection of essays, a great cross-section of subjects is introduced in a very stimulating way, encouraging us all to think ever more deeply about those things that really matter. Cardinal Keith O'Brien In presenting an enjoyably readable analysis of any question - from the theory of evolution to the possibility of a religious architecture - John Haldane unearths the rationale beneath surface appearances, which Greek thinkers called the logos, the very root and reason of things. Christopher Howse, The Daily TelegraphJohn Haldane is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Public Affairs in the University of St Andrews. His many publications include An Atheism and Theism (with J.J. Smart), An Intelligent Persons Guide to Religion, Faithful Reason, and Seeking Meaning and Making Sense. He has held the Royden Davis Chair in Humanities at Georgetown University, and in 2006 was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Culture.

In his Epistle to the Corinthians, written around the year 100 CE, Clement of Rome remarked that 'it is by faith and hospitality that Abraham became the son of the Covenant'. Not by faith alone, but also by a hospitality that had its origin in faith. Today, more than ever, it is important that our faith is linked to hospitality: to welocming the stranger in our midst.The tradition of hospitality has always been considered a sacred duty in all of humanity's cultures and religions. The stranger and guest have a right to sanctuary and are seen as directly connected to God, who is present in them. For some years interfaith meetings have been held in monasteries. No longer a matter of casual encounter when individuals venturing aborad are received in monasteries of another faith background, but as part of a programme of structured and often official interchange.This book testifies to the fruitfulness of such an approach for interreligious dialogue. The real challenge, as elsewhere, is the confrontation with a post-Christian world, which we must respond to with the magnanimous hospitality with which Abraham received the angels.Fr Pierre-Francois de Bethune is the Prior of the Monastery of Clerlande. His insights into interfaith dialogue have been gained principally in the Zen Buddhist monasteries of Japan. Secretary General of the Commission for Monastic Interfaith Dialogue, which brings together monks and nuns of different faiths on four continents, he also acts as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

This collection of papers provides a synoptic view of the relationship between music, theology and Christian learning. It includes theological reflections on the nature and power of the musical experience, together with psychological, philosophical and educational perspectives; and draws on practical experience and empirical research.Topics covered include: Composing, performing and listening; worship and hymnody; classical music and jazz; Christian theology and spirituality; aesthetics, education and learning, and the psychology of music.Contributors include: James MacMillan, Martin Haselbock, Jeremy Begbie, John Sloboda, Bill Hall, Ian Ground, Michael Sadgrove

This fascinating narrative of English pilgrims and pilgrimages to Rome from Saxon times to the present day acts as a packed gazetteer of the material trqaces of the English in Rome, enabling the reader to track their presence through the city's monuments, churches and palazzi, and to use the stones and inscriptions of Rome and its environs to recover a sometimes forgotten but enlightening story.Judith Champ teaches Church History at Oscott College, Birmingham.

Raphael, Cardinal Merry del Val, Secretary of State to Pope St. Pius X from 1903 to 1914, was born in the Spanish Embassy in London in1865, the son of a distinguished Spanish diplomat. His father's family was partly Irish, his mother's part Spanish, partEnglish. Brought up and educated in England, Merry del Val remained devoted to the cause of the conversion of England throughout his life - writing the prayer for the conversion of England which Pope Leo XIII included in his encyclical of 1895 to the English people, Amantissima Voluntatis.When Merry del Val had gone to Rome in 1885 to complete his studies for the priesthood his potential was immediately recognized by Pope Leo XIII, who insisted that he be enrolled in the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (for the formation of priests to serve in the papal diplomatic corps or the Secretariat of State). Merry del Val spoke and wrote faultless Latin, English, Spanish, French and Italian, while his studies at the Gregorian University and the Accademia were to give him qualifications in theology, philosophy and canon law. He was ordained priest in 1888.Cardinal Merry del Val also led a penitential, hidden life, and was a great director of souls, spending hours in the confessional, preaching retreats, receiving over forty converts into the Church in the period 1894-1904, and working tirelessly in the Sacred Heart Association he had founded for destitute boys in 1889, to protect and nurture souls.This collection of his spiritual writings focuses on his labours as a shepherd of souls; this is what he asked to have inscribed on his tomb in the crypt of St. Peter's - "souls, souls, give me souls, take all else away". The letters of direction he wrote to his penitents, converts and spiritual children demonstrate that he was a simple, practical, direct and effective shepherd and guardian of souls. These writings form a comprehensive guide to the spiritual life suitable to lay Catholics who are taking the call to personal holiness very seriously.The cause for the beatification of the Servant of God Raphael, Cardinal Merry del Val is ongoing.Harriet Murphy taught modern languages at London, Dublin, Cork and Warwick universities, publishing on Goethe and Elias Canetti, before she began research at the Secret Vatican Archives. A member of the Society of St Pius X, the Society of St Catherine of Siena, and the Latin Mass Society, she contributes to Christian Order and Mater Dei, specializing in the intersection between literature, theology and politics.

This book concentrates on the venerable tradition that links Mary to the heart of la Provence Verte. To the cave in the massif of Saint-Baume where she is said to have ended her days as a hermit, after helping evangelise the area; and to the coffin in the nearby town of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume which is said to contain her bones. Places which for centuries have been a magnet for pilgrims and which remain centres of pilgrimage and spiritual activity today. Provence and Mary Magdalen-two endlessly fascinating subjects. Yet the tradition linking the two is hardly known in the English-speaking world. Here-in a quest both spiritual and historical-is its first full-length examination. Could there be any truth in it?Michael Donley has worked as a Lecturer in English in several countries, and has previously published on French literature and music criticism.

In his best-selling book A Catholic Replies to Professor Dawkins, Thomas Crean gave a clear and sophisticated response to the modern atheist phenomenon. In Letters to a Non-Believer he goes beyond the mere existence of God to look in detail at the more distinctively Catholic aspects of Christian belief: Christ's death and Resurrection; questions of evil, suffering and free will; and the need for the Church and the Sacraments.Writing in his usual clear and precise style, Crean makes the rational arguments which underpin Catholic teaching accessible to every reader, marking himself out as a true philosophical heir to great medieval thinkers like St Thomas Aquinas, and the literary heir to modern Christian expositors such as C S Lewis.Fr Thomas Crean is a Dominican friar, a hospital chaplain in Leicester, and a tutor for the Maryvale Institute. In addition to A Catholic Replies to Professor Dawkins (published in the United States as God is no Delusion), he has also written The Mass and the Saints, a commentary on the liturgy.

MARCH 1ST is St David's Day, the national day of Wales and has been celebrated as such since the twelfth century. So who was St David (or Dewi Sant in Welsh)?Much of what we know about St David comes from a biography written around 1090 by Rhygyfarch, a clerk of St David's. Born on a cliff top near Capel Non (Non's chapel) on the South-West Wales coast during a fierce storm, both his parents were descended from Welsh royalty. An ascetic who ate only bread, herbs and vegetables and who drank only water, David became known as Aquaticus or Dewi Ddyfrwr (the water drinker) in Welsh. As a missionary David travelled throughout Wales and Britain and even made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was consecrated bishop. He founded many monasteries, including one at St David's, which he made his episcopal seat. He was named Archbishop of Wales at the Synod of Brevi (Llandewi Brefi) in 550. St David died in Menevia on 1 March 589 AD, believed to be over 100 years old. This new book traces the background and heritage of this Apostle of Wales, still relevant for the new evangelisation today.

St Therese of Lisieux is one of the best-loved saints of the Church. Her writings are amongst the most popular works of spirituality the world has ever known. Admitted to Carmel in 1888 at the age of fifteen, she only lived nine more years. St Therese wrote with utter simplicity, and yet, because of her outstanding spiritual discernment, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.Her gifts as a poet, however, have remained largely unknon to English-speaking readers - here for the first time ever, are English translations of no fewer than seventy-two of the poems of this remarkable Carmelite nun, more than in any previously published book: translations of all sixty-two of the poems in Un Cantique d'Amour, together with ten verse passages from her plays, the 'recreations pieuses'. These translations have been made from the fully authentic original texts of Therese's manuscripts.Scholarly and sensitive in his interpretaion, Alan Bancroft captures the intelligence and fervour of Therese's verse. These poems - like her prose writing- celebrate her joyous surrender to the Glory of God.

Pope St John Paul II chose Totus Tuus as his apostolic motto. A Latin phrase meaning 'totally yours', it expressed his personal Consecration to Mary, based on the spiritual teaching of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and the Mariology of his writings. The saintly pontiff defined it as an expression of piety but also of devotion, deeply rooted in the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity. St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort showed that there is a sure, quick, and easy way that leads to Jesus Christ; this way is Mary.In Totus Tuus, Maria, commissioned by the Institutum Marianum of Regensburg (IMR) and first published in German in 2002, Mgr Florian Kolfhaus recovers the intention of St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, and presents it to the readers of our day and age in a timely fashion. This text invites the reader to follow this path to sanctity. It does not require simply to be read, but it needs to be prayed and meditated on in order to lead, step by step, to the consecration to Mary. Whoever offers himself up to Mary through this consecration to her, seeks shelter under the protective mantle of the Virgin, as Jesus Christ Himself did, and tries to model his life according to her example of charity and love of God. Is there something more perfect that we can do in our earthly life and for our eternal salvation? The reader will then become part of the communion of those whom the book presents in nine short biographies: the saints. Saints, like Pope St John Paul II, who have found the fullness of life in Jesus Christ through consecration to Mary.

LA CRISI ECOLOGICA non nasce da cause semplicemente tecniche ma da errori dottrinali. Quando la natura e, in primo luogo, l'essere umano vengono considerati semplicemente frutto del caso o del determinismo evolutivo, rischia di attenuarsi nelle coscienze la consapevolezza della responsabilità. Papa Benedetto XVI, sin dall'inizio del suo Pontificato, ha indicato la linea essenziale di una ecologia cristiana: «I deserti esteriori si moltiplicano nel mondo, perché i deserti interiori sono diventati così ampi. Perciò i tesori della terra non sono più al servizio dell'edificazione del giardino di Dio, nel quale tutti possano vivere, ma sono asserviti alle potenze dello sfruttamento e della distruzione.» L'opera inizia descrivendo alcuni dei problemi più seri che oggi gravano sull'ambiente e come questi possano essere valutati sul piano del rapporto fra l'uomo ed il mondo creato, per poi passare alla comprensione storica della questione ecologica; in questo contesto è necessario distinguere l'ecologia come scienza dall'ideologia ambientalista, ormai molto diffusa, che spesso è di tendenza pessimista. In seguito, il testo elabora le risposte remote e recenti dei Papi per quanto concerne la questione ambientale. La parte centrale del testo propone una sintesi della teologia della creazione per l'ambiente. Questa teologia viene poi applicata ad alcune questioni morali. Nei suoi approcci il libro tenta di apportare una novità particolare, presentando una sintesi organica della teologia dell'ambiente, dal punto di visto dell'Occidente e dell'Oriente cristiano.

AUGUSTINE BAKER O.S.B. is arguably the most important English mystical teacher of the post-Reformation period. His output was prodigious, and his knowledge of the spiritual classics all-embracing. Most of his teachings, however, remained in manuscript and largely inaccessible. Now, thanks to the energy of Dr John Clark, nearly forty volumes of Baker's works have been edited and published over the last two decades, the hope being that all his extant treatises will eventually see publication. This present volume, which brings together the work of scholars from a variety of disciplines, is the only major study currently available to explore the rich complexity of Baker's thought.

The author writes: 'If someone asked me to tell them all about the Holy Spirit, and if they had time to listen, this book tells what I would say. Here will be found what the Catholic Church and tradition have held about the Holy Spirit, in simple language which aims to be both enlightening and uplifting. In 2004 I wrote A Way in to the Trinity (also published by Gracewing), and I have often in the past written about God the Father and about Jesus; so it seemed to be high time to write about the Spirit who brings God's love to us, and who takes our love back to God. An unusual feature of this book is the attention paid to the phrase from the Creed: "... who proceeds from the Father and from the Son." What seems to first to be mere words turns out to a key to spiritual freedom, reappearing in many areas of our faith and Christian life.' Gerald O'Mahony was born in Wigan, Lancashire. He joined the Society of Jesus at the age of 18, and was ordained priest at age 30. He was a school teacher for four years, before being invited to join the team of advisers in religious education for the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Ten years on he joined another team, as retreat giver and writer in Loyola Hall Jesuit Spirituality Centre near Liverpool, where he has lived and worked happily ever since.

Father Peter Bristow has done a great service in his book Christian Ethics and the Human Person. Its overall purpose is to fill the need for a presentation of Catholic moral thought as renewed in the second half of the twentieth century by Vatican II, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, John Paul's encyclicals Veritatis Splendor and Evangelium Vitae, and the personalistic theology and philosophy that form the basis of those great encyclicals. Bristow offers readers an accurate and comprehensive account of John Paul's moral thought. His is a most helpful volume.This work lucidly and attractively draws together the main elements in the renewal of Catholic ethics which has been taking place during the past thirty years. It provides an excellent guide to the field as well as a persuasive account and defence of a distinctive Catholic approach to morality.

This book provides the first comprehensive history in English for eighty years of the origins and development of the Holy Week liturgy in the Roman Rite. Describing how the first apostles and disciples, and their immediate successors, came during the years following 33 AD to celebrate an annual feast of the Resurrection, and the form which this first-century celebration took, it goes on to explain in detail how the ceremonies with which we are familiar today began in fourth-century Jerusalem. These ceremonies were then elaborated and developed during the early and late Middle Ages in Western Europe, particularly in the Frankish kingdom, and at Rome itself, down to the Tridentine reform of the 16th century, a reform which endured for some four hundred years with very little change. Looking at the two significant 20th century reforms of the rites, that of 1955 and that of 1970, Philip J Goddard then explains the various changes which were made, the sources from which innovations were introduced, and the reasons for the introduction of those changes and innovations, as given (so far as possible) by those involved in making them. While accessible to the ordinary reader with no particular knowledge of liturgical history, this study will be if great interest to liturgical specialists and scholars, to those in seminaries and religious orders or to clergy interested in the history of the Roman liturgy. Comprehensive notes give full references to both primary and secondary sources.Philip J Goddard is a graduate of the University of Oxford, and has had an interest inliturgical matters for many years. He is the author of 'The Plain Man's Guide to the Traditional Roman Rite of Holy Mass', and contributes articles and book reviews to the magazine 'Mass of Ages'.

The Second Vatican Council exhorted the faithful to 'seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God' (Lumen Gentium, 31). The contours of this mission are given by Catholic social teaching and yet, regrettably, this treasure of the Church remains undiscovered by most Catholics. Conscious of this, the popes of the modern age have consistently expressed their desire that this aspect of the Church's doctrine and mission become more widely known.Responding to that desire, this book guides the reader through the major themes of Catholic social teaching by drawing directly upon the primary source of this doctrine, in particular the social encyclicals of the popes from Leo XIII to Benedict XVI. By going back to the source of this doctrine, the author avoids the polemics that sometimes surround social teaching and gives a faithful, clear, precise, and thorough explanation of what the Church has actually said about human society.The author presents Catholic social teaching thematically, exploring in depth such topics as the family, work, economic and political life, human rights, peace, the International Community, and the environment. In addition, he explains the nature, scope, and application of social teaching, as well as expounding its foundational principles including the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, private property, and the option for the poor.This book is written in an academic but accessible style and is particularly suitable for those who are interested in gaining an authentic understanding of the Catholic Church's vision for human society.