Anne Fedele offers a comprehensive ethnography of alternative pilgrimages to French Catholic shrines dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. Drawing on more than three years of extensive fieldwork, she describes how pilgrims from Italy, Spain, Britain, and the United States interpret Catholic figures, symbols, and sites according to spiritual theories and practices derived from the transnational Neopagan movement. Fedele pays particular attention to the life stories of the pilgrims, the crafted rituals they perform, and the spiritual-esoteric literature they draw upon. She examines how they devise their rituals; why this kind of spirituality is increasingly prevalent in the West; and the influence of anthropological literature on the pilgrims. Among these pilgrims, spirituality is lived and negotiated in interaction with each other and with textual sources: Jungian psychology, Goddess mythology, and ''indigenous'' traditions merge into a corpus of theories and practices centered upon the worship of divinities such as the Goddess, Mother Earth, and the sacralization of the reproductive cycle. The pilgrims' rituals present a critique of the Roman Catholic Church and the medical establishment and have critical implications for contemporary discourses on gender. Looking for Mary Magdalene is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in ritual and pilgrimage.

A vital help for your Passion Play Oberammergau 2020 visit, this handy guide enables you to make the most of your time during your stay. It includes the historical background, traditions, and development of the Passion Play from 1634 to its relevance today, the organization and administration of the Play, and its impact on the village and the area. It looks behind the scenes to the wardrobe rooms and props, the stage, the history of the building, and the recent renovations and alterations. Meet the creative team behind the play and the leading actors. A synopsis of the play, including the sequence of the acts and scenes with the Old Testament Tableaux, is described. Suggestions on what to see in the village and the surrounding area include many of the places holidaymakers will visit en route to or from Oberammergau. The new expanded edition includes more of the Romantic Road, Munich, and the Austrian Tyrol.

Con Laudes, Visperas y Completas. Shortened Liturgy of the Hours with Laudes, Vespers, and Compline.

Looking for a special card to give to your loved ones this Christmas? These cards are crafted with you in mind. Simple, special, personal and plainspoken - with their beautiful designs, these cards do all the talking. In packs of 10, sustainably sourced. Comes in 2 designs, one over a solid blue background with golden 'Silent Night' text and another featuring a red background with accompanying golden 'Joy to the World' text.

Gegenstand der Arbeit ist das Phanomen der arteigenen Religion/Religiositat, welches in Deutschland seit dem ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert bis ins erste Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts zu beobachten ist. Die Arbeit befasst sich sowohl mit den verschiedenen theoretischen Ansatzen prominenter Ideologen und Wegbereiter als auch mit den zahlreichen Stroemungen und Gemeinschaften, die in gegenseitiger Konkurrenz standen. Anhand von Kriterien wie Aufbau und Organisation, soziale Basis oder Lehre wird herausgearbeitet, wo die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen Deutschen Christen, Neugermanen oder okkulten Ariosophen liegen. Gleichzeitig wird der Frage nachgegangen, weshalb die artreligioesen Gemeinschaften ausgerechnet im Dritten Reich ihr Ende fanden. Der Autor nahm im Vorfeld an, dass es sich bei den Entwurfen arteigener Religion primar um eine Reaktion auf eine als bedrohlich empfundene Gegenwart, also um ein Symptom der Zeit handelt. Ziel der empirisch-deskriptiven Studie ist es daher, anhand des Quellenmaterials diese These zu be- oder auch zu widerlegen. Arteigene Religion - ein Symptom der Zeit? Ein Versuch, der Moderne mit ihren sozialen, kulturell-religioesen und oekonomisch-politischen Krisen eine nationale, der deutschen Art und Rasse gemasse religioese Ordnung entgegenzusetzen?

Best-selling Catholic author Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle encourages Catholic families to reclaim a significant tradition: setting apart Sundays as a day of worship, true rest, teaching, and simply spending precious time together. In fifty-two creative chapters Donna-Marie presents fun and meaningful ideas for all fifty-two weeks of the year inspired by the seasons (both natural and liturgical), holidays, Saints days, and holy Scripture, to help keep Sundays holy, just as God said we should!

"American Methodist Worship is the most comprehensive history of worship among John Wesley's various American spiritual descendents that has ever been written. It will be a foundational book for anyone who wishes to understand how American Methodists have worshipped."-Sacramental Life
"This groundbreaking study will help to reshape the way that we think about early American Methodist worship and how it connects to more recent trends."-- The Journal of Religion
"Karen Westerfield Tucker's exhaustive examination of the history of American Methodist worship may indeed launch a new genre in liturgical historiography: denominational liturgical histories. The genius of this contribution is its comprehensiveness in examining for the first time the worship life of an American ecclesiological tradition."--Doxology

"Scott Hahn, the bestselling author of The Lamb's Supper and Reasons to Believe, celebrates the touchstones of the Catholic life, guiding readers to a deeper faith through the Church's rites, customs, and traditional prayers. ""
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"Signs of Life "is beloved author Scott Hahn's clear and comprehensive guide to the Biblical doctrines and historical traditions that underlie Catholic beliefs and practices. Devoting single chapters to each topic, the author takes the reader on a journey that illuminates the roots and significance of all things Catholic, including: the Sign of the Cross, the Mass, the Sacraments, praying with the saints, guardian angels, sacred images and relics, the celebration of Easter, Christmas, and other holidays, daily prayers, and much more.
In the appealing conversational tone that has won him millions of devoted readers, Hahn presents the basic tenets of Church teachings, clears up common misconceptions about specific rituals and traditions, and responds thoughtfully to the objections raised about them. Each chapter concludes with loving, good-natured, inspiring advice on applying the Church's wisdom to everyday life.

With the decision to provide of a scholarly edition of the Works of John Wesley in the 1950s, Methodist Studies emerged as a fresh academic venture. Building on the foundation laid by Frank Baker, Albert Outler, and other pioneers of the discipline, this handbook provides an overview of the best current scholarship in the field. The forty-two included essays are representative of the voices of a new generation of international scholars, summarising and expanding on topical research, and considering where their work may lead Methodist Studies in the future.
Thematically ordered, the handbook provides new insights into the founders, history, structures, and theology of Methodism, and into ongoing developments in the practice and experience of the contemporary movement. Key themes explored include worship forms, mission, ecumenism, and engagement with contemporary ethical and political debate.

The National Shrine in Washington, DC has been deeply loved, blithely ignored, and passionately criticized. It has been praised as a "dazzling jewel" and dismissed as a "towering Byzantine beach ball." In this intriguing and inventive book, Thomas Tweed shows that the Shrine is also an illuminating site from which to tell the story of twentieth-century Catholicism. He organizes his narrative around six themes that characterize U.S. Catholicism, and he ties these themes to the Shrine's material culture--to images, artifacts, or devotional spaces. Thus he begins with the Basilica's foundation stone, weaving it into a discussion of "brick and mortar" Catholicism, the drive to build institutions. To highlight the Church's inclination to appeal to women, he looks at fund-raising for the Mary Memorial Altar, and he focuses on the Filipino oratory to Our Lady of Antipolo to illustrate the Church's outreach to immigrants. Throughout, he employs painstaking detective work to shine a light on the many facets of American Catholicism reflected in the shrine.

R. Andrew Chesnut offers a fascinating portrayal of Santa Muerte, a skeleton saint whose cult has attracted millions of devotees over the past decade. Although condemned by mainstream churches, this folk saint's supernatural powers appeal to millions of Latin Americans and immigrants in the U.S. Devotees believe the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) to be the fastest and most effective miracle worker, and as such, her statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, two other giants of Mexican religiosity. In particular, Chesnut shows Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of drug traffickers, playing an important role as protector of peddlers of crystal meth and marijuana; DEA agents and Mexican police often find her altars in the safe houses of drug smugglers. Yet Saint Death plays other important roles: she is a supernatural healer, love doctor, money-maker, lawyer, and angel of death. She has become without doubt one of the most popular and powerful saints on both the Mexican and American religious landscapes.

Each chapter gives material for the members of the group to read in advance. There is a framework or plan for a group meeting, with detailed ideas for activities and discussion. There is also general advice about group processes, including recruiting and running such groups. There is a framework for prayer, and biblical themes to be considered in context. The sessions are equally for seekers and confirmation candidates, and for teenagers as well as adults.

Dreamers and Stargazers is an imaginative and engaging collection of liturgical worship material for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas, offering a wealth of new words and inspiration. Especially designed for a time of year when churches welcome visitors not familiar with traditional rituals and language, these creative liturgies focus on God's presence among us and in the world, reflecting the grounded reality of the incarnation itself. Complete outlines are provided for reimagined seasonal services for the entire period of Advent to Candlemas, including the lighting of the Advent candle, crib and carol services, and events for the new calendar year. Each one will enable churches to explore the full promise of these seasons as they resonate in the world's joys and sorrows.

Deep emotions pervade our human lives and ongoing moods echo them. Religious traditions often shape these and give devotees a sense of identity in a hopeful and meaningful life despite the conflicts, confusion, pain and grief of existence. Driven by anthropological and sociological perspectives, Douglas J. Davies describes and analyses these dynamic tensions and life opportunities as they are worked out in ritual, music, theology, and the allure of sacred places. Davies brings some newer concepts to these familiar ideas, such as 'the humility response' and 'moral-somatic' processes, revealing how our sense of ourselves responds to how we are treated by others as when injustice makes us 'feel sick' or religious ideas of grace prompt joyfulness. This sense of embodied identity is shown to be influenced not only by 'reciprocity' in the many forms of exchange, gifts, merit, and actions of others, but also by a certain sense of 'otherness, whether in God, ancestors, supernatural forces or even a certain awareness of ourselves. Drawing from psychological studies of how our thinking processes engage with the worlds around us we see how difficult it is to separate out 'religious' activity from many other aspects of human response to our environment. Throughout these pages many examples are taken from the well-known religions of the world as well as from local and secular traditions.