A primer or refresher on the sacrament of Baptism for new parents, new members, and godparents. This book is about preparing for Christian baptism in the Episcopal Church. While we may hear people say, "I was baptized a Methodist," or "I was baptized Catholic, or "I was baptized Episcopalian," people are not baptized into a denomination; they are baptized into the Christian faith. While various Christian denominations differ both their theology of baptism as it is understood and practiced in the Episcopal Church following the rite found in the Book of Common Prayer 1979. "This short book is full of helpful information, solid history, sound theology, and thoughtful reflection. It is the perfect book to give to adults or to parents of young children seeking baptism through the Episcopal Church. I am happy that I will be able to offer this book to my students for their future use when guiding baptismal candidates. A truly welcome resource."-The Reverend Dr. Nathan Jennings, associate professor of liturgics and Anglican studies, Seminary of the Southwest

El bautismo de tu bebe representa un momento de inmensa felicidad. No por nada hacemos fiesta e invitamos a nuestros seres queridos para que se unan a la celebracion. Pero, que es lo que celebramos?, pues celebramos -y experimentamos- el gran amor que Dios tiene por el y por todas las demas personas que participan de este sacramento. Este dia contiene un profundo significado de vida, mas aun, de vida nueva capaz de hacer que todos podamos volver a nacer. Baptism is the beginning of your child's life of faith. As parents and primary educators, you have the privilege and duty of carrying this new son or daughter of God into Christ's family and bride, the Church. This faith-formation manual will prepare you for your baby's special day, as well as remind you of your own baptismal promises and calling. With the priest or deacon, godparents, parish, friends, and family, your baby's baptism will be a celebration and sign of lifelong love and grace.

The call to care for creation is a central part of our discipleship as followers of Jesus Christ. However, language and imagery of the earth is often absent in our worship services. This book helps reconnect our commitment to creation care with our life of discipleship. The process includes helping congregational members name ways that they are involved in caring for creation and encourage them to see ways that these practices are related to Christian faith. Nurturing the life of our communities is a vital way to fostering our identity as those who care for the earth. At the heart of this process is the importance of discovering and developing biblical imagery and language that will support and foster our care of creation and shape our prayers. As our actions are more closely connected to the language of our prayers, praying and acting will inform each other. In addition, the book includes liturgies that highlight earth care prepared for the major festivals of the church year.

O "Sacramental" de Clemente Sanchez de Vercial, obra pastoral redigida entre 1420 e 1423 em lingua castelhana, depois dos livros destinados ao oficio religioso, foi o livro mais impresso na Peninsula Iberica, desde a introducao da imprensa ate meados do seculo XVI. Conhecem-se treze edicoes em castelhano, uma em catalao e quatro em portugues. Das edicoes em portugues, duas foram impressas no seculo XV (Chaves, 1488; e Braga (?), ca. 1494-1500) e duas no seculo XVI (Lisboa, 1502; e Braga, 1539). Considerado o primeiro livro impresso em lingua portuguesa, o "Sacramental" e um verdadeiro depositario da forma de viver do homem medieval em todos os periodos da sua vida e em todos os momentos do ano, abarcando temas como a alimentacao, as relacoes familiares, as relacoes sociais, a relacao com Deus e o sagrado, o trabalho, o descanso, a saude, a doenca e a sexualidade, o que faz dele um documento indispensavel para o estudo da sociedade medieval.

O "Livro das Confissoes" foi terminado em 1316 por Martin Perez, um clerigo castelhano de grande cultura canonica e teologica. E uma extensa obra de cariz pastoral dedicada aos clerigos minguados de ciencia e aos que se acham brutos e minguados e buscam das migalhas que caem das mesas dos que sao ricos de letras, como o proprio autor indica no Prologo. Foi uma das obras que, dentro do genero, mais circulou entre o clero e os intelectuais ibericos durante o seculo XIV e a primeira metade do seculo XV. Foi traduzida para portugues em 1399 por monges do Mosteiro de Alcobaca. O "Livro das Confissoes" e um testemunho autentico e raro da sociedade medieval peninsular e e um documento indispensavel para a compreensao historica, cultural e social desse periodo historico.

The bestselling Benedictine Fr Anselm Grun applied his extenisve counselling experience, great fund of common sense, biblical insight and analytical training to the seven sacraments recognised by the Catholic Church: Baptism, Eucharist (or Communion), Confirmation, Reconciliation (Penance or Confession), Marriage, Ordination and Anointing of the Sick. Each sacrament's meaning is examined, as well its history, its form - past and present - and its impact on the life of those who receive it and those who administer it. Grun also suggests how the sacraments could be made more relevant to Christians living in the twenty-first century. Everyone can benefit from reading this book: those about to receive any one of the sacraments will gain insight and inspiration; teachers, parish priests, and pastoral workers will find their work enriched and made easier; and both married and celibate will discover elements to celebrate in their own and in others' way of life. As alwasys, Grun combines flashes of radicalism with deep understanding of Catholic tradtion. His is a unique voice, and here he reclaims a vital subject from widespread ignorance and neglect.Anselm Grun is cellarer (administrator) of the Benedictine abbey of Munsterschwarzach in southern Germany. He became a Benedictine in 1964 and directs residential courses in meditation techniques, interpretation of dreams, fasting and contemplation. He is a prolific author whose books have achieved huge sales in many languages. Works available in English include Angels of Grace, The Spirit of Self Esteem, Images of Jesus and the forthcoming Jesus: the Image of Humanity (all from Continuum).

2021 Catholic Media Association Award first place award in Catholic Social Teaching In The Meal That Reconnects, Dr. Mary McGann, RSCJ, invites readers to a more profound appreciation of the sacredness of eating, the planetary interdependence that food and the sharing of food entails, and the destructiveness of the industrial food system that is supplying food to tables globally. She presents the food crisis as a spiritual crisis-a call to rediscover the theological, ecological, and spiritual significance of eating and to probe its challenge to Christian eucharistic practice. Drawing on the origins of Eucharist in Jesus's meal fellowship and the worship of early Christians, McGann invites communities to reclaim the foundational meal character of eucharistic celebration while offering pertinent strategies for this renewal.

When it comes to baptism there is a profound disconnect between what churches and clergy understand it to mean and the understanding of those non-churchgoing families seeking the rite for their children. Clergy and regular churchgoers feel that the church is being used and abused by families seeking a baptism, when they perceive them to be looking for 'just an excuse for a party'. On the other hand, families seeking a christening in their local churches are baffled by the lack of enthusiasm and encouragement they find when they approach their local church. Using a new interdisciplinary approach to practical theology, A Rite on the Edge reflects theologically on the findings of research conducted by Sarah Lawrence into baptism in the Church of England and in English culture more widely, using insights and research methods from corpus linguistics. It offers a profound challenge for those struggling to comprehend how 'outsiders' understand baptism. More fundamentally, it asks how the Church of England can remain 'present and available for all' at a time of heightened tensions and confused expectations about who the church is 'for'.

Baptismal fonts were necessary to the liturgical life of the medieval Christian. Baptism marked the entrance of the faithful into the right relation, with the Catholic Church representing the main cultural institution of medieval society. In the period between ca. 1050 and ca. 1220, the decoration of the font often had an important function: to underscore the theology of baptism in the context of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. This period witnessed a surge of concern about sacraments. Just as religious thinkers attempted to delineate the sacraments and define their function in sermons and Sentence collections, sculptural programs visualized the teaching of orthodox ideas for the lay audience. This book looks at three areas of primary concern around baptism as a sacrament - incarnation, initiation, and the practice of baptism within the institution of the Church - and the images that embody that religious discussion. Baptismal fonts have been recognized as part of the stylistic production of the Romanesque period, and their iconography has been generally explored as moral and didactic. Here, the message of these fonts is set within a very specific history of medieval Catholic sacramental theology, connecting erudite thinkers and lay users through their decoration and use.