If you are like most Christians, you know you should be praying more often, taking it more seriously, and giving it more priority in your life. But what often gets missed is that prayer is not a requirement but a privilege! Prayer is the pathway to building a relationship with the Savior. Through prayer, the Creator and Sustainer of everything actually listens to us. In Praying with Power, you will explore what the Bible has to say about this fascinating two-way communication with God. You will explore journaling prayers, praying the Scripture, and how to pray your way through a desert or valley. You will also discover the incredible power of prayer and the promises God provides when you go to Him with your needs. The Women of Faith (R) Bible Studies provide intriguing insights into topics that are relevant to women's lives today. Each guide includes twelve weeks of study, down-to-earth illustrations, and reflections to help you move the truth from your head to your heart. A leader's guide for use with small groups is also included.

"That prayer is most likely to pierce heaven which first pierces one's own heart." For the Puritans, prayer was neither casual nor dull. Their prayers were passionate affairs, from earnestly pleading for mercy to joyful praise. These rich expressions of deep Christian faith are a shining example of holy living. The Puritan combination of warm piety and careful intellect have fueled a renaissance of interest in their movement. This combination is on display in Piercing Heaven, a collection of carefully selected prayers from leading Puritans. The language in these prayers has been slightly updated for a modern audience while still retaining the elevated tone of the Puritans. With prayers from Richard Baxter, Thomas Brooks, John Owen, and many more, each prayer reminds us that heartfelt prayer is central to the Christian life.

This book examines in detail the concept of "abrogation" in the Qur'an, which has played a major role in the development of Islamic law and has implications for understanding the history and integrity of the Qur'anic text. The term has gained popularity in recent years, as Muslim groups and individuals claim that many passages about tolerance in the Qur'an have been abrogated by others that call on Muslims to fight their enemies. Author Louay Fatoohi argues that this could not have been derived from the Qur'an, and that its implications contradict Qur'anic principles. He also reveals conceptual flaws in the principle of abrogation as well as serious problems with the way it was applied by different scholars. Abrogation in the Qur'an and Islamic Law traces the development of the concept from its most basic form to the complex and multi-faceted doctrine it has become. The book shows what specific problems the three modes of abrogation were introduced to solve, and how this concept has shaped Islamic law. The book also critiques the role of abrogation in rationalizing the view that not all of the Qur'anic revelation has survived in the "mushaf", or the written record of the Qur'an. This role makes understanding abrogation an essential prerequisite for studying the history of the Qur'anic text.

This former Deputy Warden of Iona Abbey presents a selection of the liturgies she wrote for worship there which aim to stimulate a rediscovery of God in everyday life. As well as exploring aspects of creativity in worship design, she also provides numerous poetic reflections, stories and duologue's designed for people of different ages and backgrounds. This work is ideal for churches wanting to discover fresh insights into the Gospels as well as for individual reflection, prayer and meditation.

This book examines the historical development of the blessing of waters and its theology in the East, with an emphasis on the Byzantine tradition. Exploring how Eastern Christians have sought these waters as a source of healing, purification, and communion with God, Denysenko unpacks their euchology and ritual context. The history and theology of the blessing of waters on Epiphany is informative for contemporary theologians, historians, pastors and students. Offering important insights into how Christians renew Baptism in receiving the blessed waters, this book also proposes new perspectives for theologizing Christian stewardship of ecology in the modern era based on a patristic liturgical synthesis. Denysenko presents an alternative framework for understanding the activity of the Trinity, enabling readers to encounter a vision of how participants encounter God in and after ritual.

What is the point of the Lectionary? What are the problems and opportunities that it presents to those who use it? What are its strengths and weaknesses as an aid to worship? How can it be used and communicated most effectively today? These are among the key questions that Thomas O'Loughlin explores in this stimulating and much-needed guide.

In 100 succinct summary statements that serve as a basic overview of the parts of the Mass, this compact volume provides an introduction to understanding the greatest prayer of the Church. Perfect for RCIA use, returning Catholics, or as a concise, handy reference. Illustrated.

This tried and test collection is a must for anyone leading intercessions in the Church of England. It provides prayers for every Sunday, Holy Day and Festival, Years A, B and C that can be easily adapted to local contexts. The prayers reflect the Bible readings of the day, creating a more integrated act of worship. This expanded edition also contains forms of intercession for numerous extra occasions: * Principal Feasts - e.g. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, the Transfiguration * Other Holy Days - e.g. The Birth of John the Baptist, Holy Cross Day * Red Letter Saints' Days * Pastoral occasions in the context of a Eucharist - baptism, confirmation, marriage, funeral, healing service, Remembrance * Installation of a new incumbent A trusted liturgical resource for many years, regularly used in hundreds of parishes, this continues to be the essential handbook for Lectionary-based intercessions.

The book is an annotated critical edition of an unpublished collection of hymnographical texts, preserved in the eleventh-century Greek manuscript 11 of the library of Leimonos monastery, Lesbos, Greece. This important codex is a Menaion for June comprising thirty akolouthiai on saints; nineteen of them are hitherto unpublished. The edition of the texts is accompanied by an introduction, a liturgical, palaeographical, and hymnographical commentary, appendices of unpublished hymns preserved in manuscripts other than Lesbiacus Leimonos 11, and indices. The introduction examines codex Lesbiacus Leimonos 11 and its importance from a liturgical, hymnographical, and palaeographical perspective. It is divided into four chapters. The first presents the liturgical environment of the period from the ninth century, when most of the texts edited were composed, to the eleventh, when the production of the codex could be placed, and the liturgical books used in the period, the structure of the akolouthiai and the festal calendar of the Byzantine church. The second chapter deals with the content of the texts edited. Chapter Three presents briefly the life and the hymnographical work of the authors of the texts. The last chapter of the introduction is devoted to the manuscript tradition of the texts.

The Imitatio Christi is considered one of the classic texts of Western spirituality. There were 800 manuscript copies and more than 740 different printed editions of the Imitatio between its composition in the fifteenth century and 1650. During the Reformation period, the book retained its popularity with both Protestants and Catholics; with the exception of the Bible it was the most frequently printed book of the sixteenth century. In this pioneering study, the remarkable longevity of the Imitatio across geographical, chronological, linguistic and confessional boundaries is explored. Rather than attributing this enduring popularity to any particular quality of universality, this study suggests that its key virtue was its appropriation by different interest groups. That such an apparently Catholic and monastic work could be adopted and adapted by both Protestant reformers and Catholic activists (including the Jesuits) poses intriguing questions about our understanding of Reformation and Counter Reformation theology and confessional politics. This study focuses on the editions of the Imitatio printed in English, French, German and Latin between the 1470s and 1650. It offers an ambitious and comprehensive survey of the process of translation and its impact and contribution to religious culture. In so doing it offers a fresh analysis of spirituality and devotion within their proper late medieval and early modern contexts. It also demonstrates that spirituality was not a peripheral dimension of religion, but remains at the very heart of both Catholic and Protestant self-perception and identity.

This 2009 book provides a comprehensive historical treatment of the Latin liturgy in medieval England. Richard Pfaff constructs a history of the worship carried out in churches - cathedral, monastic, or parish - primarily through the surviving manuscripts of service books, and sets this within the context of the wider political, ecclesiastical, and cultural history of the period. The main focus is on the mass and daily office, treated both chronologically and by type, the liturgies of each religious order and each secular 'use' being studied individually. Furthermore, hagiographical and historiographical themes - respectively, which saints are prominent in a given witness and how the labors of scholars over the last century and a half have both furthered and, in some cases, impeded our understandings - are explored throughout. The book thus provides both a narrative account and a reference tool of permanent value.

'This journey, of course, is not without its challenges . . . And yet facing those challenges also lends enchantment to the journey.' Join Professor Roderick Strange as he presents the core doctrine of the Catholic faith in a warm and accessible way. Using the liturgical calendar as a roadmap for the journey, Roderick invites us to follow Jesus of Nazareth from Advent through the Church's festivals to Pentecost. Through meditative reflection and powerful personal anecdotes, Journey into Light is the perfect introduction for those new to the Catholic faith.

'I offer Thee Every cloud that ever swept O'er the skies and broke and wept In rain, and with the flowerlets slept. My King. Each communicant praying Every angel staying Before Thy throne to sing. Adoramus Te! This extract from the ancient Irish prayer, Glorificamus Te, beautifully captures both the Celtic peoples' devotion to the Psalter, and their desire to express their love for God in every situation. There is much to gain from their approach to worship. David Adam's wonderful compilation celebrates the enduring Celtic dreams of Creation, Protection, Glory, Guidance and Praising God, through songs and poems that have enriched his own private devotions and public ministry.

Some Daily Prayers for Church of England People - the product of decades of parish ministry - hits the spot in many crucial areas. Laid out in a way that makes a daily pattern of prayer possible and sustainable, it has a wealth of common-sense teaching about faith and the practice of it, and an imaginative and catholic selection of material. Over 100,000 copies sold since first publication, and a perfect confirmation present. 'I cannot recommend this book too highly. It could be used as a gift to any kind of enquirer and searcher with complete confidence.' Andrew Hawes, Warden, Edenham Retreat House 'A publishing phenomenon [that has] occupied the Church Times best-seller lists for many weeks.' Church Times

This helpful book is the first of two volumes that encourage parishes and other communities to explore the way they mark the festivals and seasons, and that offer practical advice on how to celebrate the Christian story through the Christian year. Celebrating Christ's Appearing covers the year from All Saints to Candlemas and comments on seasonal aspects of the celebration of daily prayer and Christian initiation. The second volume, Celebrating Christ's Victory, will cover the period from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost and include a number of agricultural celebrations.

Worship has always been affected by its surrounding culture. This book examines the changing perspectives in and discussions on worship styles and practices from the Restoration to the death of Wesley, in England and Scotland. Moving beyond the text, Spinks grounds the discussion within the changing cultural and intellectual framework of the period referred to as the Enlightenment. The focus is the end of the early modern period, when already the upheaval of the English Civil War, the methods of the Cambridge Platonists, and the thinking of Descartes and Spinoza were making the period one of transition, and Newtonian thought and the thought of John Locke impacted theological thought and worship forms. It is against this framework that the worship in England and Scotland will be described and assessed. As well as published and unpublished liturgical documents, this book draws on contemporary accounts and descriptions of worship, catechisms, sermons and theological works, and contemporary diaries. Musical and architectural changes are also noted, particularly the late seventeenth century hymns of Richard Davies of Rothwell, Joseph Stennett and Benjamin Keach. This book places worship in the society which it served, and from which changes sprang. It explores the interaction of cultural thought and worship, drawing parallels between the Enlightenment period and problems of late modernity and the worship wars of the late twentieth century.

A re-evaluation of the mysterious "charms" found in Anglo-Saxon literature, arguing for their place in mainstream Christian rites. Since its inception in the nineteenth century, the genre of Anglo-Saxon charms has drawn the attention of many scholars and appealed to enthusiasts of magic, paganism, and popular religion. Their Christian nature has been widely acknowledged in recent years, but their position within mainstream liturgical traditions has not yet been fully recognised. In this book, Ciaran Arthur undertakes a wide-ranging investigation of the genre to better understand how early English ecclesiastics perceived these rituals and why they included them in manuscripts were written in high-status minsters. Evidence from the entire corpus of Old English, various surviving manuscript sources, and rich Christian theological traditions suggests that contemporary scribes and compilers did not perceive "charms" as anything other than Christian rituals that belonged to diverse, mainstream liturgical practices. The book thus challenges the notion that there was any such thing as an Anglo-Saxon "charm", and offers alternative interpretations of these texts as creative para-liturgical rituals or liturgical rites, which testify to the diversity of early medieval English Christianity. When considered in their contemporary ecclesiastical and philosophical contexts, even the most enigmatic rituals, previously dismissed as mere "gibberish", begin to emerge as secret, deliberately obscured texts with hidden spiritual meaning.

In this book Allan Doig explores the interrelationship of liturgy and architecture from the Early Church to the close of the Middle Ages, taking into account social, economic, technical, theological and artistic factors. These are crucial to a proper understanding of ecclesiastical architecture of all periods, and together their study illuminates the study of liturgy. Buildings and their archaeology are standing indices of human activity, and the whole matrix of meaning they present is highly revealing of the larger meaning of ritual performance within, and movement through, their space. The excavation of the mid-third-century church at Dura Europos in the Syrian desert, the grandeur of Constantine's Imperial basilicas, the influence of the great pilgrimage sites, and the marvels of soaring Gothic cathedrals, all come alive in a new way when the space is animated by the liturgy for which they were built. Reviewing the most recent research in the area, and moving the debate forward, this study will be useful to liturgists, clergy, theologians, art and architectural historians, and those interested in the conservation of ecclesiastical structures built for the liturgy.

Communion and otherness: how can these be reconciled? In this wide-ranging study, the distinguished Orthodox theologian, Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, seeks to answer that question. In his celebrated book, Being as Communion (1985), he emphasised the importance of communion for life and for unity. In this important companion volume he now explores the complementary fact that communion is the basis for true otherness and identity. With a constant awareness of the deepest existential questions of today, Metropolitan John probes the Christian tradition and highlights the existential concerns that already underlay the writings of the Greek fathers and the definitions of the early ecumenical councils. In a vigorous and challenging way, he defends the freedom to be other as an intrinsic characteristic of personhood, fulfilled only in communion. After a major opening chapter on the ontology of otherness, written specially for this volume, the theme is systematically developed with reference to the Trinity, Christology, anthropology and ecclesiology. Another new chapter defends the idea that the Father is cause of the Trinity, as taught by the Cappadocian fathers, and replies to criticisms of this view. The final chapter responds to the customary separation of ecclesiology from mysticism and strongly favours a mystical understanding of the body of Christ as a whole. Other papers, previously published but some not easily obtainable, are all revised for their inclusion here. This is a further contribution to dialogue on some of the most vital issues for theology and the Church from one of the leading figures in modern ecumenism.