Books published by Liturgical Press

In this follow-up to his popular book What Are We Hoping For? he extends his reflections on hope in the Scriptures. He draws us into the striking images of the psalms the mountain, the sun, refuge, the kingdom, sheltering wings, the olive tree, and the shepherd to lead us to the discovery that hope is the predominant image of the book of Psalms.

Consecrated Phrases has been a standard and valued reference work for theology students for many years. This new third edition is expanded by more than fifty percent from the previous edition. It includes many new entries, while entries from earlier editions have been expanded and extensively cross-referenced. The resulting volume functions better as a reliable guide to translation and a primer on the tradition out of which the consecrated phrases arose. The third edition contains many entries from canon and civil law, as well as terms from philosophy and theology.While Latin has often been called a dead language," Consecrated Phrases demonstrates convincingly that the tradition continues not just to live but to thrive. This book will aid generations of students yet to come in understanding, appropriating, and developing the best of that tradition.

This work comes at an opportune hour: a time in which many complain that contemporary theology lacks a general theory of sacraments.Chauvet charts a reorientation in sacramental theology from the scholastic treatments, which appropriated the metaphysical categories of causality and substance to develop an essentially instrumentalist appreciation of grace, in favor of an approach through the category of "symbol." In this approach the subject is as much "grasped" (and transformed) by the symbolic representation as is the object being interpreted.Chauvet commands a wealth of scholarship which he deploys to powerful effect. His work in developing a foundational theology of sacramentality will remain the standard for years to come.

This is the first book in English on priesthood in religious life to be published in twenty years. Its fourteen contributors search for new ways forward in the understanding of the distinct identity and ministry of religious men--committed to community, the prophetic lifestyle of vows or promises, and the particular charisms of their congregations--who have also answered the call to priesthood. Essays in this collection include reflections from a bishop, from the perspective of a lay theologian, from an expert in the social sciences, and on Pope Francis's teachings on priesthood. Included as well are essays that are rooted in particular cultural traditions, in spirituality, and in canon law.

Using vignettes set in or near his monastery in downtown Newark, New Jersey, Benedictine monk Albert Holtz helps us to see that the Easter mystery, which can often seem abstract and distant, is in fact present all around us. As we accompany him through the fifty days of the Easter season, we listen in on his intriguing interactions with local street people and his inner-city high school students--an insider's look at what goes on in a monk's heart as he chants Vespers to the sound of police sirens. Anyone wishing to deepen his or her experience of the Easter mystery will find this a valuable and engaging book.

Jesus Ben Sira combines secular wisdom from Near Eastern wisdom sources and divine revelations from the Hebrew Bible to create the Book of Sirach. By applying from criticism to Ben Sira's book, the author provides students with historical information of the psychological and sociological context underlying Ben Sira's teachings.

This multiauthor book celebrates the bicentenary of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), founded by St. Eugène de Mazenod, and arises from an international conference on French spiritual traditions hosted by the Oblates in San Antonio, Texas, in November 2016. More broadly, this book aims to make available to a wide readership the riches of the important family of French spiritual traditions originating between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries--not least the emphasis on mission to the poor. French traditions have been greatly underestimated in conventional histories of Christian spirituality, but their spiritual wisdom offers much to today's believers.

Understanding Catholic Liturgical Music

The Perfect Measure of the Christian Life

The Relentless Widow Year C

Thomas Merton's sessions with the young monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani showcase Merton's brilliant ability to survey the key figures and synthesize their writings, inspiring his listeners and readers with what it means for the spiritual life. Like its companion volume, A Course in Christian Mysticism, this book is a collection of fifteen lectures that get to the heart of Merton's belief that monastic wisdom and spirituality are applicable for everyone. This compact volume allows anyone to learn from one of the twentieth century's greatest Catholic spiritual teachers. The study materials at the back of the book, including additional primary source readings and thoughtful questions for reflection and discussion, make this an essential text for any student of Christian desert spirituality.

The Benedictine Oblate Way of Life

We know that prayer should be like breathingjust a normal part of our daily lives. Yet, like the first disciples who asked Jesus how to pray, we need help and so do our youth. Prayers for the Classroom provides that help with structured daily communal prayers, particularly for private school teachers who want to begin class with a prayer. In keeping with the seasons, these community prayers enrich the liturgical spirit of every part of the academic year.Prayers for the Classroom incorporates the needs of the group and the social and individual character of each participant, and helps youth learn how to pray with others as well as on their own. These prayers are universal, tried and tested, touching hearts in a personal way.Celebrating diverse cultural origins, Prayers for the Classroom draws on a variety of sources, including expressions of East and West, women and men, youth and sages, biblical and non-biblical beliefs.A simple resource that encourages consistent use, Prayers for the Classroom can be used as a daily program or as an occasional prayer resource; the collection is arranged and indexed by themes so that it can be used easily either way. The format is easy to follow: it is divided into the months of the school year from September through June, with each month divided into four weeks with five distinctive prayers for each week.Each prayer includes a short introduction and background and follows the general pattern of the liturgical season. In November, Thanksgiving prayers are presented; December includes several prayers relating to the Christmas theme; in February and March, lenten prayers are provided; April contains resurrection themes; and May has Pentecostal prayers. In addition to furthering the celebration of the liturgical seasons, this collection captures the poetic and mystical spirit of spring and fall. The variety of these selections allows teachers or students to choose a prayer at random depending upon the desired theme.

Written from her deep experience in the monastic tradition, this resource empowers the reader to renounce violence in all its bold and subtle forms.

A Primer

Spirituality for Daily Life

Volume 3A source-book of theological and historical passages from the writings of St. Augustine to the end of the patristic age. Volume 3 ends with St. John of Damascene (d. 749).Volume 1: the Pre-Nicene and Nicene erasVolume 2: the Post-Nicene era through St. Jerome;Volume 3: St. Augustine to the end of the patristic period. The passages selected are keyed to the numerical order established in M. J. Rouët de Journel's Enchiridion Patristicum. In no sense, however, are these volumes a translation of that standard work. The author has made his own investigation of theological textbooks in common use and has selected the patristic passages most frequently cited, including much that is in Rouët and much that is not. All passages have been freshly and accurately translated from the best critical editions. Preceding each selection is a brief introduction treating the authorship, date and place of composition, and the purpose of the work from which the selection is taken. The author's scholarship and sprightly sense of humor are evident in these prefatory remarks. Of immense value to the reader is the Doctrinal Index provided for each volume. Here one can find the texts pertinent to particular doctrinal points, a method especially useful to homilists. In addition, each volume is enhanced by comprehensive Scriptural and General Indices.

During his twenty years as abbot of the Yorkshire monastery of Rievaulx, Aelred preached many sermons: to his own monks, in other monasteries, and at significant gatherings outside the cloister. In these thirty-one homilies on Isaiah chapters 13-16, together with an introductory Advent sermon, Aelred interprets the burdens that Isaiah prophesied against the nations according to their literal, allegorical, and moral senses. He sees these burdens as playing a role both in the history of the church and in the progress of the individual soul. This collection of homilies is an ambitious, unified work of a mature monk, synthesizing biblical exegesis, ascetical teaching, spiritual exhortation, and a theory of history.