The sacraments are at the heart of our life as Catholics, the way we celebrate together our continuing conversion and encounter with God. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing, Marriage, and Holy Orders 'al are activities that require preparation to bring us to the fullness of our life in community and in Christ. Chapter by chapter, Father Lawrence Mick puts these core experiences into their historical and theological context, and illuminates the ways the sacraments bring us together as God's people. Ever conscious of the complex history of the church and its dynamic relationship to ritual, as well as the varied histories of human communities, "Understanding the Sacraments Today" is a book to be visited and revisited, a companion to the ongoing and repeated practices that nourish us.

"Lawrence E. Mick, a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, is a liturgical consultant and writer whose numerous books include "Living Baptism Daly," published by Liturgical Press. He has also been active in parish, retreat, and campus ministries."

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

1888. Pigou is widely and favorably known as a missioner, and has held missions not only throughout England, but also in the United States, which he visited in 1885. Contents: Plan of Lecture or of Instruction; Sermon on Conversion; Address on: Consecration; Renunciation; Faith; Obedience; Means of Grace: Prayer; Means of Grace: The Word of God; Public Worship; Holy Communion; Eve of Confirmation; Address Delivered on the Evening of Confirmation Day; Hints for Confirmation Day; Hints in Connection with First Communion; Short Address to the Newly-Confirmed on the Occasion of their First Communion at the Early Celebration; Short Address Delivered to the Newly-Confirmed at their First Communion; Address to the Newly-Confirmed, Delivered on the Occasion of the First Communion; List of Candidates; Attendances; Confirmation Forms; Rules for a Communicant's Union; Plain Aids for Confirmation Candidates; Hymns and Tunes Suitable to Confirmation; and Books Recommended for the Study of the Bible.

2006 Catholic Press Association Award Winner! The ritual Pastoral Care of the Sick offers the church a wealth of assistance in visiting and praying with the sick, in facilitating services of Communion, and in tailoring the sacramental rites of anointing and Viaticum to meet the particular circumstances of each individual illness and journey into death. Anointing of the Sick is a theological introduction to the rite and focuses on the whole spectrum of pastoral care of the sick. Lizette Larson-Miller explores the sacrament of the anointing of the sick and the crucial role played by a biblical text from the Letter of James in reconstructing a rite for the sick rather than only for the dying. She looks at the central sacramental ideas surrounding the anointing of the sick that emerge from the three primary actions: the prayer of faith, the laying on of hands, and the anointing with the blessed oil. Chapters are An Overview of the Rites of Pastoral Care of the Sick, The Threefold Ritual Center of Anointing of the Sick, Theological Questions from the Rite, and The Contexts of Church and Culture for Pastoral Care of the Sick. Lizette Larson-Miller, PhD, is a Professor at The Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California.

The Holy Scriptures are fundamental for Christianity, providing the basis for faith and morality. They are supremely important because they contain divine revelation. Christians speak of them as the "Word of God." In this study Paul Helm, an experienced philosopher, brings his expertise to bear on such expressions as "infallible," "Word of God," and "propositional revelation," which are in common usage in contemporary Christianity. His aim is to help Christians know what they are claiming when they use these a similar words and phrases. He has performed an indispensable task for all who take the Bible seriously. Paul Helm is J.I. Packer Professor in Theology and Philosophy at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Formerly he was Professor of the History and Philosophy of Religion at King's College. He has also served as President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion. He the author of many books, including The Providence of God, Calvin and the Calvinists, and Eternal God.

An all-encompassing account of Christian attitudes and sources of attitudes to marriage, traced through Near Eastern, Classical and Biblical histories, suitable for the student or lay trainer wishing to know more than an Alpha course. It covers all aspects of marriage- including the on going debate surrounding same sex unions. Peter Coleman, was the author of 'Christian attitudes to Homosexuality', 'A christian attitude towards televsion', and 'experiments with prayer'. Following his tragic death in 2001, when this work was left incomplete, 'Christian attitudes to marriage', is brought to us by the hard work of his family and close friends, particularly Dr Michael Langfor

This guide to the Christian faith is ideal for those preparing for confirmation. Arranged in three parts: "Becoming a Christian", "Belonging to God" and "Belonging to the Church", it is appropriate for personal reading and as a basis for a confirmation course. In uncomplicated language it takes the reader from the first step of making a choice for God and lays a solid foundation of teaching that will hold good for the whole of life.

The authors provide an overview of Reformed faith and spirituality, revealing how it constantly merges tradition with the ever-changing culture of the church community. Outlining the history, theology and rationale of the faith in detail, the book also includes practical discussions of the Church sacraments and ordinances, providing helpful suggestions and resources for their renewed relevance in services today. The book is a useful resource for all who are seriously seeking to understand the Reformed heritage and its value for present-day worship.

The sacraments were a major factor in the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Ever since, they have been an important part of Protestant church life. Major changes have occurred in our time as most traditions have revised their sacramental rites and experienced many changes in sacramental practices. This book traces the most significant practices in the past five centuries, explains how they often led to controversies, and examines the faith that was expressed and experienced in the sacraments. James F. White attempts to depict the whole sweep of Protestant sacramental life, so that an overall picture is possible. And he outlines the possibilities for future developments.

Sidney Batts encourages ministers to work with engaged couples to create unique, individual services that will be meaningful to the pair on their wedding day. The couple is able to give a personal touch to their ceremony by having many options from which to choose. The end result of the minister's and couple's efforts is a service that retains what is best of traditional form and language, but does not include unnecessarily archaic or sexist terms.

A Guide For Godparents is an aid for pastors who deal with ministering to a parade in our constantly moving parish populations. Often godparents arrive from out of town or state. The parents themselves move more often today than ever before in our society.With this book you will cover the theological basics of baptism and the spiritual life in a way that is simple and friendly without being simplistic or condescending.The spiritual basis of the book is suited to the busy couples that the church sees coming for their spiritual nurture and the baptism of their children. The content of this book will not scare off these couples -- parents and godparents -- returning to their church.Peter C. Garrison is pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Burlingame, California. His previously published CSS books are Pastoral Pitfalls and Witnesses To The Cross.

Poet, novelist, dramatist, polemicist, and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini continues to be one of the most influential intellectuals of post-war Italy. In Pasolini: The Sacred Flesh, Stefania Benini examines his corporeal vision of the sacred, focusing on his immanent interpretation of the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation and the "sacred flesh" of Christ in both Passion and Death as the subproletarian flesh of the outcast at the margins of capitalism. By investigating the many crucifixions within Pasolini's poems, novels, films, cinematic scripts and treatments, as well as his subversive hagiographies of criminal or crazed saints, Benini illuminates the radical politics embedded within Pasolini's adoption of Christian themes. Drawing on the work of theorists such as Ernesto De Martino, Mircea Eliade, Jean-Luc Nancy, Alain Badiou, Giorgio Agamben, and Slavoj Zizek, she shows how Pasolini's meditation on the disappearance of the sacred in our times and its return as a haunting revenant, a threatening disruption of capitalist society, foreshadows current debates on the status of the sacred in our postmodern world.

Building on his previous work on embodied liturgy, Frank C. Senn explores the relationship between the sacramental body and blood of Christ, the ecclesial body of Christ, and the body of the communicant. Drawing on the richness of the eucharistic traditions and his own life experiences, this book expands our understandings of the Eucharist to include pilgrimage to the altar (ad altare Dei), a life of gratitude (anaphora), cosmology and praise (preface and Sanctus), body and memory (anamnesis), Spirit and community (epiclesis), Trinitarian orthodoxy and world view (doxology), presence and union with Christ (communion), and initiation and reconciliation (fencing the table). It argues for use of a full eucharistic prayer to express a wider understanding of the Eucharist, including creation themes, an emphasis on the passion of Christ to connect the Eucharist to suffering humanity, an expansion of the fellowship dimension of the Eucharist to embrace the church in heaven and around the world, a recovery of Trinitarian praise, an ecumenical exploration of how we understand theologically the presence of Christ received bodily, and a reconsideration of the value of initiation in sacramental discipline and in the life of faith.

Is there a secret to a successful marriage? Derek Prince believed so, and that this secret is found in the pages of the Bible. Prince discusses the "mystery" of marriage as God established it at creation, and as Jesus restored it through the New Covenant. His exposition combines the profound and the simple in a way that brings God's highest within the reach of every sincere seeker. He goes on to show how the basic principles also make true spiritual union possible between each believer and God, and between fellow believers.

Existing books on Christian ritual and the sacraments tend to presuppose a good acquaintance with Roman Catholic thought and practice. Today, however, even at Catholic institutions students tend to lack even a basic knowledge of Christian ritual. Moreover, for many modern people the word "ritual" carries negative connotations of rigidity and boredom. In this accessibly-written book two noted authors offer an engaging introduction to this important topic. Their goal is first to demonstrate that celebration, ritual and symbol are already central to the readers' lives, even though most do not see their actions as symbolic or ritualistic. Once this point has been made, the book connects central Christian symbols to the symbols and rituals already present in the readers' lives. The Christian theology of symbol, ritual, and sacrament is thus placed in the context of everyday life. The authors go on to discuss such questions as how rituals establish and maintain power relationships, how "official" rituals are different from other "popular" Christian rituals and devotions, and how Christian rituals function in the process of human "salvation." Their lively yet solidly grounded work will appeal to intelligent lay readers and discussion groups, as well as being useful for courses in ritual and the sacraments at the undergraduate and seminary level.

Thomas G. Long, one of America's most trusted and thoughtful pulpit voices, provides a much needed theological and cultural critique of today's Christian funeral. Long begins by describing how the Christian funeral developed historically, theologically, and liturgically and then discusses recent cultural trends in funeral practices, including the rise in number of cremations and memorial services. He describes the basic pattern for a funeral service, details options in funeral planning, identifies characteristics of a "good funeral," and provides thoughtful guidance for preaching at a funeral.

But Long also notes a disturbing trend toward funeral services that seem theologically right and pastorally caring but actually depart from the primary aims of the Christian funeral. Long argues that the proper Christian funeral should be constructed around the metaphor of the deceased as a saint traveling on a baptismal journey toward God, accompanied by the community of faith on "the last mile of the way." He cautions that the cultural conditions for maintaining this view are under stress and a new, less theological and less satisfying metaphor that focuses on the mourner has begun to erode the Christian view. He contrasts the ancient grand community drama with today's trend toward body-less memorial services that focus primarily on the living and grief management, arguing that this is a loss for the church and calling for the church to reclaim the classic metaphor.

Of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, matrimony is the most discussed, debated, disputed, and adjudicated in all of canon law. In this book, Brendan Killeen employs the fundamental question "What brings a marriage into existence?" as the legal and scholarly means to explore the very nature of marriage within the framework of the canon law of the Catholic Church. Killeen conducts his exploration in two phases. First he scrutinizes the canon law's primary sources--texts dating as far back as the Roman Empire--and gives readers a fresh perspective of the law's historical progression. He then examines the papers from the Second Vatican Council and offers both an objective evaluation of the law at present and some possible amendments for its future. Noteworthy for its diligent research and in-depth analysis, "What Brings a Marriage into Existence?" will be useful to both newcomers to the canon law of marriage as well as seasoned scholars.

Most Christians would say that baptism is the one sacrament Christians of al denominations share, that it is the source of ecumenical unity among al Christian churches. But how true is that? Is there really one baptism," as we profess in the Nicene Creed? If we disagree about what baptism does, can we really say that baptism unites us?

To address this central question Susan Wood brings together the history and theology of baptism (systematic, sacramental, and liturgical), focusing especially on the divergent paths taken in the understanding of the sacrament since the Reformation. Founded not only in her study of theology but also in her years of participation in ecumenical dialogues, her perspective will illuminate this problem for readers and point the way toward deeper understanding.

"Susan K. Wood, SCL, is professor of theology at Marquette University. Active in ecumenical work, she serves on the U.S. Lutheran 'Roman Catholic dialogue, the U.S. Roman Catholic 'Orthodox Theological Consultation, the conversation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Baptist World alliance, and the international Lutheran 'Roman Catholic Dialogue. She is an associate editor of Pro Ecclesia and serves on the editorial advisory board of the journal Ecclesiology. In addition to numerous articles, she has published "Spiritual Exegesis and the Church in the Theology of Henri de Lubac "(Eerdmans, 1998), "Sacramental Orders" (Liturgical Press, 2000), and is the editor of "Ordering the Baptismal Priesthood" (Liturgical Press, 2003).""

John Chryssavgis explores the sacred dimension of the natural environment, and the significance of creation in the rich theological history and spiritual classics of the Orthodox Church, through the lens of its unique ascetical, liturgical and mystical experience. The global ecological crisis affecting humanity's air, water, and land, as well as the planet's flora and fauna, has resulted in manifest fissures on the image of God in creation. Chryssavgis examines, from an Orthodox Christian perspective, the possibility of restoring that shattered image through the sacramental lenses of cosmic transfiguration, cosmic interconnection, and cosmic reconciliation. The viewpoints of early theologians and contemporary thinkers are extensively explored from a theological and spiritual perspective, including countering those who deny that God's creation is in crisis. Presenting a worldview advanced and championed by the Orthodox Church in the modern world, this book encourages personal and societal transformation in making ethical and economic choices that respect creation as sacrament.