Summary: St Gerard Majella, a young 18th century Italian who ‘eloped’, so to speak, in order to join the Redemptorists. St Gerard Majella, one of Ireland’s best-loved saints, known here particularly as the ‘mothers’ saint. He was canonized [...]
Oct 1 – St Thérèse of Lisieux 3. priestly vocation and doctor of the Church
St Thérèse of Lisieux had deep feelings of having a vocation to be a priest and how she dealt with this sense of calling in the light of its impossibility.
Catherine Broome OP examines St Thérèse‘ and her priestly ambitions
Oct 1 – St Thérèse of Lisieux 2. Little Way -Taking the lift:
St Thérèse Way to Holiness. The lift (= the elevator) was a new invention when St Thérèse of Lisieux was trying to find her way to holiness. Brian J. Nolan describes how she used this image to articulate her “Little Way” spirituality.
Carmelite spirituality is like falling in love and the pearl of great price. If your love is real, it will be all-consuming. All lesser loves fall away.
Rema Devereaux's book reminds us that night time is an opportunity to take stock of the day: to celebrate the best, to learn from the worst, to surrender everything to God before going to bed.
Through his intimate experience of Jesus crucified, Paul of the Cross showed his age and ages to come how to interpret reality through and in the light of Christ's Passion.
This presentation on the stages of spiritual evolution is by Fr Korko Moses SJ (Swamy Saranananda) who runs a Christian ashram in India. His thought is in the line of the mystical tradition of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, especially along the third, fourth, and fifth stages.
Heart speaks to heart: the story of Blessed John Newman
Pope Benedict will be present in Birmingham at the beatification of Cardinal Newman. Coincidental with this event, Dermot Mansfield SJ has written an excellent and very accessible biography.
The place of Christian Ashrams in the journey towards spiritual perfection
44 pp. A manuscript for private circulation among Christian Ashramites and well-wishers of Ashram by Swamy Saranananda (Fr Korko Moses SJ).
Contents Introduction 1. Stages in Spiritual Evolution 2. Place of ashrams in the spiritual evolution 3. Place of monastic and religious life in the spiritual evolution 4. Monastic or Religious [...]
In this fascinating book, Mark Patrick Hederman OSB argues that, far from being irrelevant in the twenty-first century, Christianity like art needs to and can find new forms that can give vibrancy and vision to the many different cultures in today’s world.
Listen here God: a spirituality of being yourself with God
In this warm and touching book, Hilary Musgrave RSC recounts childhood memories of colourful family characters, the rigours of Irish Catholicism, first kisses, true love, hurt, forgiveness, death, and wonderings about God. All these memories contribute to her reflections on the journey of being oneself with God.
Tony Baggot SJ describes the contours of that exploration of the self which we need to undertake in order to have compassion on ourselves so that we can grow spiritually.
Paul Murray OP sets the images of ‘descent’ and ‘falling’ alongside the more familiar images of ‘ascent’ and ‘rising’, in explaining the motion of the soul towards God.
Piers Paul Read is a novelist, biographer and historian who says he is baffled that the Catholic Church in England has abandoned many of its traditional positions. In 29 elegant essays on aspects of the faith, the Church, liberation theology, history, sex and marriage, writers and saints he makes his [...]
Billy Swan’s “Creed of Love” is an exploration of the gift of faith and examines among other issues the importance of the Apostles’ Creed to our lives today, the connection between the Church and faith in a post-modern society and the questions asked by believers in the wake of scandals [...]
James McCaffrey OCD gives a thought provoking account of the influence of Mary, Mother of Carmel, on Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Edith Stein and Thérèse of Lisieux, and offers essential insights and fresh observations for both the Carmelite scholar and lay reader alike. [...]
Bernard Cotter OP gives us very brief accounts of some of our favourite saints. Saints give us hope. They’ve known raw fear and terrible worry. Some have done bad things and been hard to live with. This book will amuse and encourage you.
Robert Ellsberg’s book is a collection of women saints whose lives and spiritual gifts down through the ages are recounted with respect and with depth. By briefly looking at their lives, it makes a serious contribution to the newly emerging consciousness of the full equality of women in the Church, [...]
