In this vivid and deeply felt collection of essays, Ron Hansen talks about his novels, childhood, family, and mentors such as John Gardner. He explores prayer, stigmata, twentieth-century martyrs, and the Eucharist. A profile of his grandfather, a "tough-as-nails, brook-no-guff Colorado rancher," finds a place alongside a wonderfully informative portrait of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. A brilliant reading of a story by Leo Tolstoy follows an appreciation of the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Surprisingly intimate, A Stay Against Confusion brings together the literary and religious impulses that inform the life of one of our most gifted fiction writers.

Begun five years after he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, The Sign of Jonas is an extraordinary view of Merton's life in a Trappist monastery, and it serves also as a spiritual log recording the deep meaning and increasing sureness he felt in his vocation: the growth of a mind that finds in its contracted physical world new intellectual and spiritual dimensions.

Theologians and leaders from many Churches and from the major world religions, including the last four popes, have acknowledged as unique in Christian history the spiritual gifts poured forth through Chiara Lubich. Her spirituality of unity has the ultimate goal of contributing to the unity for which Jesus prayed to his Father: May they all be one (Jn 17:21). This volume gathers her essential writings and for the first time presents them in a systematic fashion. It is a summa of the charism of unity, which will lead readers to ponder, understand and experience a spirituality particularly suited to the era in which we live. The history of the Church has seen many radicalisms of love ... that of Francis of Assisi, of Ignatius of Loyola. There is also Chiaras radicalism ... which seeks to make this love victorious in every circumstance. Pope John Paul II

Postmodernity is a name that has been attached to our cultural milieu. Among its features are a sense of historical consciousness, a recognition of the social construction of knowledge, an appreciation for pluralism, and a suspicion of grand narratives. It is a cultural worldview that is naturally suspicious of Christian "mission." Meanwhile, conservative Catholics are equally suspicious of postmodernism, associating it with relativism, secularism, and syncretism). Drawing on his own mission training and experience, John Sivalon believes the gospel can and must be inculturated in any culture, and he believes that postmodernism, rather than rendering Christian mission meaningless, breathes fresh insight, vision, and life into Vatican II's notion that mission is centered in the very heart of God. Above all, postmodernism offers "the gift of uncertainty"--the ground of questioning, Why are we doing this? What should we do? How is it best done? With actual case studies that reflect the new face of mission, Fr. Sivalon offers a hopeful vision of how the Gospel retains its challenge and relevance in an age of uncertainty and change.

A comprehensive and compelling account of the life and work of Pope John Paul II. When the Holy Father first asked George Weigel to write his biography he said: "You have the interior disposition to do this...you know my mind". In this the only account of his life to be written with the Pope's co-operation, a remarkable and unique person is revealed. Drawing on unique access to Vatican papers and based on extensive interviews with the Pope himself, George Weigel draws together the two main strands of the ministry of the head on the Catholic Church. Others have written about the Pope as a political figure, but none with so much privileged information. The spiritual side, however, has largely been neglected by commentators and observers alike. This authoritative and complete biography examines the driving forces of the Pope's Christian faith and his dramatic reform of the papacy for the modern world. It looks at his philosophical position, prophetic outlook, his profound understanding of human freedom and his work for unity. The book explores his challenge to the sexual revolution, his concern for young people and his dialogue with science. For those of all faiths and none, Witness to Hope will make a powerful impact on every reader.

As an ardent feminist Simone de Beauvoir was in the vanguard of French intellectual life for more than forty years. Raised in a strict and highly traditional Catholic family, De Beauvoir rejected the religious and social values of her family early on and advanced a radical political and philosophical debate that was in direct opposition to the Catholic Church. This provocative, carefully argued book reveals that the woman whose most important and famous work - "The Second Sex" - was banned by the Catholic Church, had a tenacious grasp of the rudiments and refinements of Catholicism. Indeed, this was one of the foundations on which she built her philosophy. Joseph Mahon documents the formative influences of home, school, and Church on the mind of France's most famous female philosopher, novelist, and essayist. Examining her memoirs, philosophical monographs, and short stories, Mahon reveals a vocabulary that remains richly Catholic. This book offers a major contribution to feminist philosophy, ethical theory, philosophy of religion, and cultural studies.

In December 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac in what is present-day Mexico City an Indian named Juan Diego beheld an apparition of the Mother of God. With the attire and features of an Indian maiden and addressing Juan Diego in his native tongue she instructed him to tell the bishop to build a shrine on that spot. As a sign she left her image on his cloak - the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Drawing on a lifetime of reflection Father Virgil Elizondo has written Guadalupe, an account of the story and meaning of one of the most powerful religious symbols of our day. For centuries Guadalupe has served as one of the sustaining symbols of Mexican, Latin American, and U.S. Hispanic identity and spirituality. But more than that, in this lyrical and inspiring work Elizondo shows that Our Lady of Guadalupe has an even wider significance and relevance to the church universal at the dawn of a new millennium.

The Autobiography of Sr. Mary of St. Peter (1816-1848)In Tours, France during the 1840's a young Carmelite nun received a series of revelations from Our Lord about a powerful devotion He wished to be established worldwide - the devotion to His Holy Face. The express purpose of this devotion was to make reparation for the blasphemies and outrages of "Revolutionary men" - through whom God is allowing the world to be chastised for its unbelief - as wells as for the blasphemies of atheists and freethinkers, plus, for blasphemy and the profanation of the Sabbath by Christians. Our Lord gave Sister Mary of St. Peter a short but powerful prayer called "The Golden Arrow," by which a person can "shoot directly into the Heart of God" to heal the wounds inflicted on it by the malice of sinners . Anyone who is searching for spiritual method for fighting the enemies of God and His Church and/or who is searching for virtually infallible method of prayer will be delighted with The Golden Arrow.

A major force at Vatican II, Jesuit priest Karl Rahner's writings effect a paradigm shift in modern theology. This anthology showcases the masterful spiritual writings by one of the great religious thinkers of all time.

Bestselling author Scott Hahn explains the 'how and why' of the Catholic faith, drawing from Scripture, his own struggles and those of other converts, as well as from everyday life and natural science. Hahn shows that reason and revelation, nature and the supernatural, are not opposed to one another; rather they offer complementary evidence that God exists. Reasons to Believe unravels mysteries, corrects misunderstandings, and offers thoughtful, straightforward responses to common objections about the Catholic faith. It is the ideal book both for Christians who want to grow stronger in their faith and to share it with others, and for enquirers in search of a belief that satisfies both the mind and the heart.

Charles de Foucauld sought to proclaim the gospel not simply by his words but by his life. Living among the Muslim poor of Algeria, he sought to be a "universal brother", a witness to the love of God for all people. Though at the time of his violent death he had attracted no followers, his story later inspired the foundation of the Little Brothers and the Little Sisters of Jesus. This volume offers a poignant entry into the heart of a modern mystic and martyr.

Invokes the memory and the challenge of the martyrs of El Salvador, including Sobrino's friends and colleagues of the Central American University and the poor and nameless who continue to suffer today.

Published in book form for the first time, Thomas Merton's

The glory of the Italian Renaissance came not only from Europe's Latin heritage, but also from the rich legacy of another renaissance - the palaeologan of late Byzantium. This nexus of Byzantine and Latin cultural and ecclesiastical relations in the Renaissance and Medieval periods is the underlying theme of the diverse and far-ranging essays in ""Constantinople and the West"". Addressing the disputed, provocative question of Palaeologan influence on Italian Renaissance humanism, the author systematically demonstrates that Byzantine scholars were not merely transmitters of ancient Greek writings to the West. More significantly, the Byzantine emigre scholars in Italy, through their intimate knowledge of the Alexandrian and Byzantine traditions, alone were able to unlock and authentically interpret the more difficult texts of Aristotle, Plato, Hermogenes, and other Greek thinkers. Geanakoplos shows that the Byzantine refugee scholars and their Italian disciples were able to promote a fusion of elements of both the Italian and Palaeologan renaissances. Other essays concern the careers of influential Palaeologan humanists such as Theodore Gaza, the leading secular Aristotelian of the early Italian Renaissance, and John Argyropoulos, who was probably chiefly responsible for shifting the emphasis of Florentine humanism from rhetoric to Platonic philosophy. The essays in the second half of the book deal primarily with ecclesiastical relations. The author probes deeply into encounters between Greek and Roman churches at councils in Lyons, Florence, and elsewhere, which reflect the centuries of recurring religious schism and attempted reunion. He also offers a revealing glimpse of the Greek exaltation, and of Hagia Sophia and its properties, after Constantinople's liberation from Latin rule in 1261. While all of the essays have been printed previously, the author has revised and brought them entirely up to date for this volume. ""Constantinople and the West"" should be invaluable to those interested in the Byzantine and Italian Renaissance, and reward students of Medieval history, church history, and those who are interested in the comparative history of the East and West.