Synopsis: Praying--with the Saints--to God Our Mother celebrates the feminine characteristics of God by uncovering a treasury of texts that have been overlooked for centuries. Over 150 scriptural passages, both from the original biblical languages and other ancient translations, radiate the warmth and vitality of the maternal face of God. Additionally, passages from five Ecumenical Councils, all thirty-three Doctors of the Church, another thirty-six Fathers, and a total of seventy-one saints from every century reveal a vast richness of feminine images of God. Stramara's in-depth scholarship, presented in a format of prayer and meditation, makes this book inviting for all readers. Praying-with the Saints-to God Our Mother will be the standard reference for Christians of any tradition for years to come. Endorsements: "Dr. Stramara has provided not only a rich resource for theologians but a treasury of prayer for the people of God. His introduction alone is invaluable, opening out . . . the depth, breadth, historical and geographical universality, and unquestionable authority and legitimacy in the Christian tradition of the appreciation of the feminine character of God. By embodying his scholarship in the genre of an Office book he encourages the reader/prayer to assimilate the holistic truth of who God is for us not only with the mind but also with the heart." --Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, STD Professor Emerita of New Testament and Christian Spirituality Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University "Stramara has resoundingly substantiated that the use of feminine imagery for God springs from the 'heart of the church, ' endorsed by ecumenical councils, fathers and doctors of the church, and renowned saints from every century. This book provides a beautiful service in furthering one's experience of God." --Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ Distinguished Professor of Theology Fordham University "The fruit of years of reading and research, Praying--with the Saints--to God Our Mother is a monumental achievement of scholarship and devotion. Stramara mines the riches of Scripture and church tradition to reveal a treasury of feminine analogies and metaphors for God. Equally suitable for Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant readers, this anthology will be a standard reference of feminine images for the Divine for years to come." --Wilburn T. Stancil Professor of Theology and Religious Studies Rockhurst University Author Biography: Daniel F. Stramara Jr. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO. He is the author of God's Timetable: The Book of Revelation and the Feast of Seven Weeks (Pickwick, 2011) and has over twenty articles published in international journals.

Sets of seven. 666. The Whore of Babylon and the Seven-headed Beast. How would first-century readers have heard these things? One can get at an answer by asking, How does the Book of Revelation compare with contemporaneous Jewish apocalypses? God's Timetable unlocks the hitherto unseen Jewish background to the Apocalypse based on the seven weeks leading up to Pentecost, the Harvest Feast. The meaning of Revelation suddenly becomes clearer. Stramara situates the Book of Revelation in its original context as a prophetic work regarding the end of the world, the final harvest, and Jesus as the fulfillment of expectations.