Books published by Liturgical Press

A New Translation and Introduction

An Introduction to Lectio Divina

A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons

Sermons on the Song of Songs Volume 3

The Martyrs of Atlas

A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary

Gregory the Great (+604) was a master of the art of exegesis. His interpretations are theologically profound, methodologically fascinating, and historically influential.Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in his exegesis of the Song of Songs. Gregory's interpretation of this popular Old Testament book not only owes much to Christian exegetes who preceded him, such as Origen, but also profoundly influenced later Western Latin exegetes, such as Bernard of Clairvaux.This volume includes all that Gregory had to say on the Song of Songs: his Exposition on the Song of Songs, the florilegia compiled by Paterius (Gregory's secretary) and the Venerable Bede, and, finally, William of Saint Thierry's Excerpts from the Books of Blessed Gregory on the Song of Songs. It is now the key resource for reading and studying Gregory's interpretation of the Song of Songs.

Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk (18631950) is popularly celebrated for his fascinating spiritual life. How could one man, one deeply spiritual man, serve as both a traditional Oglala Lakota medicine man and a Roman Catholic catechist and mystic? How did these two spiritual and cultural identities enrich his prayer life? How did his commitment to God, understood through his Lakota and Catholic communities, shape his understanding of how to be in the world? To fully understand the depth of Black Elk's life-long spiritual quest requires a deep appreciation of his life story. He witnessed devastation on the battlefields of Little Bighorn and the Massacre at Wounded Knee, but also extravagance while performing for Queen Victoria as a member of ';Buffalo Bill' Cody's Wild West Show. Widowed by his first wife, he remarried and raised eight children. Black Elk's spiritual visions granted him wisdom and healing insight beginning in his childhood, but he grew progressively physically blind in his adult years. These stories, and countless more, offer insight into this extraordinary man whose cause for canonization is now underway at the Vatican.

The Origins of, and Controversy about, the Atonement Doctrine

Prior of the Charterhouse

Texts and Archaeology: Third Revised and Expanded Edition

The split between the Gospel and culture is without doubt the drama of our time, wrote Paul VI in 1975. Since that time there has been an increasingly urgent awareness that inculturation is an indispensable task of the church. But inculturation, the dialogue between church and cultures, demands first of all that we who would enter into the dialogue understand what culture itself means and what dialogue entails. To that end, cultural anthropologist Father Gerald Arbuckle gives us this important volume.He traces the history of the development of the concept of culture, and the too-often negative, rarely positive effects of encounters between church and culture. He explores how Jesus Christ approached the cultures of his time, and outlines the current treatment of culture and inculturation in church documents and in Catholic theology. He shows that modest progress in understanding has recently staled, and there are even forces working to turn that progress into regress. He concludes with a description of inculturation as it needs to happen and a sharp critique of those who resist. With a sense of prophetic hope, Arbuckle seeks to help us bridge the lamentable split between Gospel and culture, the drama that continues to unfold in our time.

When asked what he wanted written on his tombstone, Fr. Theodore Hesburgh responded with one word: Priest. This giant of a mana man who advised presidents and counseled popes, who championed civil rights and world peace, who accepted 16 presidential appointments and 150 honorary degrees, who served an unprecedented thirty-five years as president of the University of Notre Damecould have listed any number of accolades. Instead, he chose his first and most important vocation. Fr. Ted never felt that his calling to be a priest set him apart. Rather, it drew him into relationships with others and out in service to the world. It was a call to serve as mediator, to bridge the divides that separate church and society, conservatives and liberals, the powerful and those on the margins. He spent his life bringing people together.This new biography is the first to tell the story of the spirituality that shaped one of the twentieth century's most distinguished public servants. It is a story to inspire all those who strive to live out their faith in the midst of a deeply divided world.

Liturgical Essays of Yves Congar

Gertrud the Great (12561302) entered the monastery of Helfta in eastern Germany as a child oblate. At the age of twenty-five she underwent a conversion that led to a series of visionary experiences. These centered on ';the divine loving-kindness,' which she perceived as expressed through and symbolized by Christ's divine Heart. Some of these experiences she recorded in Latin ';with her own hand,' in what became book 2 of The Herald of God's Loving-Kindness.Books 1, 3, 4, and 5 were written down by another nun, a close confidant of the saint, now often known as Sister N. Book 5 details the sickness, deaths, and afterlife fates of various Helfta nuns, novices, and lay brothers, as witnessed by Gertrud in her visions. It also describes Gertrud's preparations for her own death and her predictive visions of her ultimate glorification in heaven. The Herald concludes with Sister N.'s personal account of her presentation of the whole book to the Lord at Mass, the welcome he gave it, and the privileges he attached to it.The Book of Special Grace, which mainly records the visions of Mechtild of Hackeborn, was probably compiled by Gertrud herself with the help of Sister N. Parts 6 and 7 recount the deaths of the abbess Gertrud and of Mechtild, her younger sister. As many passages overlap, sometimes verbatim, with corresponding chapters in book 5 of The Herald, a translation has been included for purposes of comparison.

Words of Scripture. Symbols of faith. Do you ever wonder what they really have to do with you? Can they truly help to interpret human experiences and change hearts? Does the metaphor of life as a journey make sense to you? Mark A. Villano's latest book offers a path into questions like these. Delve into the spiritual insights that have guided human beings for millennia in order to better appreciate the significance and power they hold. Discover more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, who meets us where we are and guides us along the diverse spiritual landscapes of life. The invitations of grace are all around us. We're all called to participate in the life-changing mystery of Christ. Consider this book as a daily ';retreat,' an invitation to let go of the noise around us and to simply listen. See it as a travelling companion on the most important journey of our lives.

A lot of people would like to learn to pray all over again. Others are not so sure they ought to pray. They want to know whether prayer will help them and, more than that, whether it will be of any use at all to our world. This book gives an answernot in the form of glib instructions, but by introducing the reader to the theology of prayer. It refers again and again to the Bible, especially the Psalms. At the same time, it speaks about personal experiences as well. Gerhard Lohfink writes in inviting, easy-to-read language, answering questions such as: ';To whom do we pray?' ';Does it make any sense to ask for things in prayer?' ';What happens in the Eucharistic Prayer?' ';What is so special about the Psalms?' ';How can I practice Christian meditation?' This book offers an inviting approach to Christian prayer.