From the moment that Tsars as well as hierarchs realized that having their subjects go to confession could make them better citizens as well as better Christians, the sacrament of penance in the Russian empire became a political tool, a devotional exercise, a means of education, and a literary genre. It defined who was Orthodox, and who was 'other.' First encouraging Russian subjects to participate in confession to improve them and to integrate them into a reforming Church and State, authorities then turned to confession to integrate converts of other nationalities. But the sacrament was not only something that state and religious authorities sought to impose on an unwilling populace. Confession could provide an opportunity for carefully crafted complaint. What state and church authorities initially imagined as a way of controlling an unruly population could be used by the same population as a way of telling their own story, or simply getting time off to attend to their inner lives. Good for the Souls brings Russia into the rich scholarly and popular literature on confession, penance, discipline, and gender in the modern world, and in doing so opens a key window onto church, state, and society. It draws on state laws, Synodal decrees, archives, manuscript repositories, clerical guides, sermons, saints' lives, works of literature, and visual depictions of the sacrament in those books and on church iconostases. Russia, Ukraine, and Orthodox Christianity emerge both as part of the European, transatlantic religious continuum-and, in crucial ways, distinct from it.

"Pray without ceasing..." Forward Movement presents an elegant, compact companion for your daily prayer life in Hour by Hour. This deluxe, soft-leather edition of the four daily Offices of Morning, Noonday, Evening Prayer and Compline contains the complete offices so that you may say your prayers and worship at all times and in all places. Convenient size for purse, pocket or briefcase.

Throughout the Bible, we read stories of individuals praying desperate prayers--and receiving miracle answers. This leaves us with a question: What does it take to push through--to break the miracle barrier? In this powerful new release, apostolic leader Jennifer LeClaire reveals a surprising key to obtaining breakthrough, veiled in the prayer lives of people crying desperately to see godly desires manifested, loved ones delivered, and enemies defeated. She teaches believers how to cry out to God, and how to sustain the desperate kind of faith undaunted by obstacles, opposition, and odds--prayer in faith that breaks the miracle barrier.

Robert Frykenberg's insightful study explores and enhances historical understandings of Christian communities, cultures, and institutions within the Indian world from their beginnings down to the present. As one out of several manifestations of a newly emerging World Christianity, in which Christians of a Post-Christian West are a minority, it has focused upon those trans-cultural interactions within Hindu and Muslim environments which have made Christians in this part of the world distinctive. It seeks to uncover various complexities in the proliferation of Christianity in its many forms and to examine processes by which Christian elements intermingled with indigenous cultures and which resulted in multiple identities, and also left imprints upon various cultures of India.
Thomas Christians believe that the Apostle Thomas came to India in 52 A.D./C.E., and that he left seven congregations to carry on the Mission of bringing the Gospel to India. In our day the impulse of this Mission is more alive than ever. Catholics, in three hierarchies, have become most numerous; and various Evangelicals/Protestant communities constitute the third great tradition. With the rise of Pentecostalism, a fourth great wave of Christian expansion in India has occurred. Starting with movements that began a century ago, there are now ten to fifteen times more missionaries than ever before, virtually all of them Indian. Needless to say, Christianity in India is profoundly Indian and Frykenberg provides a fascinating guide to its unique history and culture.

This book, in traditional English, provides the complete text for the service of Holy Baptism in the Orthodox Church. Included are the Prayer at the Making of a Catechumen, The Order of Holy Baptism, and the Prayer for Holy Baptism, Briefly, How to Baptize a Child Because of Fear of Death.

This book provides twenty-three pages for listing the names of living Orthodox loved ones to pray for and provides twenty-three pages to list Orthodox loved ones who have died. There is one prayer in English for the living and one prayer in English for the dead as well as two half tone icons. In the Russian tradition, this book is handed to the priest with the small prosphora before the beginning of the liturgy. The booklet has a card cover with saddle stitch binding printed in red and black ink.

Taking seriously the practice and not just the theory of music, this ground-breaking collection of essays establishes a new standard for the interdisciplinary conversation between theology, musicology, and liturgical studies. The public making of music in our society happens more often in the context of chapels, churches, and cathedrals than anywhere else. The command to sing and make music to God makes music an essential part of the DNA of Christian worship. The book's three main parts address questions about the history, the performative contexts, and the nature of music. Its opening four chapters traces how accounts of music and its relation to God, the cosmos, and the human person have changed dramatically through Western history, from the patristic period through medieval, Reformation and modern times. A second section examines the role of music in worship, and asks what-if anything-makes a piece of music suitable for religious use. The final part of the book shows how the serious discussion of music opens onto considerations of time, tradition, ontology, anthropology, providence, and the nature of God. A pioneering set of explorations by a distinguished group of international scholars, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in Christianity's long relationship with music, including those working in the fields of theology, musicology, and liturgical studies.

The dramatic events of the days leading up to Easter Sunday are expressed through biblical readings and the reflections of several well-known Iona Community members: Ruth Burgess - Jan Sutch Pickard - Tom Gordon - Brian Woodcock - Peter Millar - Kathy Galloway - Leith Fisher - Joy Mead - John Davies - Yvonne Morland Connecting the denials, betrayals, suffering and eventual new dawn of this life-changing week with what is happening in our own world today, this book accompanies the reader as an insightful guide. To travel through Holy Week with awareness leads to a greater understanding of God and ourselves.

Mysticism and Intellect in Medieval Christianity and Buddhism explores two influential intellectual and religious leaders in Christianity and Buddhism, Bonaventure (c. 1217-74) and Chinul (1158-1210), a Franciscan theologian and a Korean Zen master respectively, with respect to their lifelong endeavors to integrate the intellectual and spiritual life so as to achieve the religious aims of their respective religious traditions. It also investigates an associated tension between different modes of discourse relating to the divine or the ultimate-positive (cataphatic) discourse and negative (apophatic) discourse. Both of these modes of discourse are closely related to different ways of understanding the immanence and transcendence of the divine or the ultimate. Through close studies of Bonaventure and Chinul, the book presents a unique dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism and between West and East.

Whimsical, simple illustrations and prayers drawn from Episcopal prayer resourcesCommon Prayer for Children and Families is a collection of prayers and liturgies written for kids and the adults or communities who pray with them. Whimsically illustrated with pen and ink, this book contains prayers for morning, midday, and evening; prayers throughout the Church year; and prayers for all sorts of occasions. At the heart of this book is the belief that prayer shapes our lives and should be accessible and meaningful for children. The prayers in this book are called "common" for a variety of reasons; like the Book of Common Prayer, it seeks to provide a language, form, and theology that binds Episcopalians in shared prayer. In addition, prayers reflect themes with which children are commonly familiar, like home, school, and camps. Most of all, these prayers are held in common-always done within God's holy community that includes family and friends, the living and the dead, saints and sinners, angels, archangels, and the company of heaven. Also available in Spanish.

Do you long for a closer, deeper walk with God? Would you like to know more about what the Bible says about spiritual intimacy? We say we know about God's love in our heads, but has it really percolated through to our hearts? The Bible employs the metaphor of Christ, the Lover, and believers, his beloved. Yet this rich relationship potential is relatively unexplored in modern popular books, and we are the poorer for it. Using Song of Songs and other Bible sources, the author explores the dynamics of our relationship. We come to understand more fully what it is for Christ to love us and for us to love him. Contents Desire - You're the one I want Show me your face Jesus is not my boyfriend, but... Is the Song of Songs really about me and Jesus? Insecurity Delight Springtime Belonging Distance Christ finds us beautiful Christ gets crazy for love Finally, consummation Distant again Spiritual intimacy betrayed and lost through porn Porn-spoiled lives restored Reconciled Still beautiful to him Spirals of longing and love Conclusion: the power of spiritual marriage in the storms This portrayal of the living dynamics of a believer's relationship with Christ cannot fail to transform our devotional life profoundly.

The Sacraments of baptism and confirmation are called the sacraments of enlightenment. They are called this because they illuminate the Christian heart and invite us into a community of enlightenment and wisdom. They are the essential passages through which Christians pass in their progressive understanding of the divine. In Come to the Light, Richard Fragomeni meditates on the meaning of the elements that make up baptism and confirmation: water, fire, and oil. Water is the wave into which we are plunged that brings both life and death, that draws us down deep into God. Fire is the refining purity and the passion for God that transforms our souls. The oil is the balm that soothes us and anoints us as we move to a different state in our relationship with God.

In this book, you will find encouragement and a stirring deep in your spirit that will help you press deep into prayer until prayer becomes a part of your daily life. In this book believers will learn the many ways of approaching the throne of Grace and obtaining mercy in all areas of their lives. God gave us the power of prayer; He wants us to use prayer as a daily part of our lives. We must call on Him and communicate with Him in everything we are going through; He is waiting to hear from us. He is our Heavenly Father; no one has ever loved or cared for us like Him. This step-by-step guide will encourage and teach you to make prayer a part of your very existence. It will empower you to call upon your Heavenly Father in the precious name of Jesus with regards to your every need. This book will provide you with the tools to live a victorious life through prayer and answered prayer.