Pope John Paul II is a man who can 'only be known from within', as he himself said. Through his story, this book uncovers the spiritual message of the life of Karol Josef Wojty a. Often called 'John Paul the Great' - and Time magazine's 'Man of the Century' - he had a truly remarkable pontificate: the collapse of Communism as a power-block, the introduction of World Youth Days, the teaching on the Theology of the Body, the missionary journeys to country after country. Now declared a saint, he joins the ranks of those canonised by the Church: in exploring his spiritual life, we can learn what inspired and nourished this great man and share the spiritual journey with him. Karol Wojty a was a very private person and rarely spoke of his interior life. Though deeply rooted in Poland, he was heavily influenced by Spanish mysticism. This is a not a man easily categorised - an intellectual giant, a philosopher of brilliance, a widely read academic - and we will never know the battles he had in co-operating with God's grace. Pope John Paul II's exhortation 'Do not be afraid ' with which he opened his pontificate alluded to a simple self-giving to God. Christ was at the centre of John Paul's being. He was able to inspire and uplift people on an extraordinary scale, because he lived with daily faith and courage. Studying the inner life of this most remarkable man - philosopher, poet, playwright, priest, Pope - we come to understand that at its heart were simplicity and joy.

Life is a great adventure. God calls each of us to do something that is unique, to give some particular service that only we can give. As we grow up, we pray about this, and are open to hear God's call. This book is about men who did that. They are heroes, men who put a priority on God and on truth, on serving others and on doing the right thing. They knew that these things are much more important than personal comfort or well-being. Reading the stories of heroes can be exciting, but also a bit daunting. It can make us think "Would I be brave enough to do that?" But people aren't born brave. They acquire courage as we can acquire other virtues - by prayer and by practice. Today there are still martyrs for the Faith - and people who endure hardship and difficulty rather than betray what they know to be true. In this book, Joanna Bogle has written about some of the great saints and heroes from long ago - St Peter, the very first Pope, St Edmund, the boy-king in Saxon England, St Thomas More, who lived and died under King Henry VIII. But half of the book is about men who lived in more modern times - including the 20th century and one who lived into the 21st. These are men whose lives really are quite close to our own. And who will be the saints and heroes of the years to come?

The Servants of God Mother Riccarda Hambrough and Mother Katherine Flanagan, English women called to serve the Church as Bridgettine nuns, provided a courageous witness during the Second World War, sheltering Jews from Nazi persecution. Their story is the story of many religious in wartime Italy, and it provides a special insight into the role of the Church, often much misunderstood, and of Pope Pius XII himself. Here is a clear account of the inspirational lives of these two holy women, and of the heroic stance of the Pope himself. Mother Riccarda is remembered especially for helping to hide about sixty Italian Jews from the Nazis during the Second World War in her Rome convent, the Casa di Santa Brigida. Born in 1887, she was baptised at St Mary Magdalene's Church, Brighton, at the age of four after her parents converted to the Catholic faith. The parish was then in the Southwark diocese. She was guided towards the Bridgettine Order by Father Benedict Williamson, who was the Parish Priest of St Gregory's Parish, Earlsfield, between 1909 and 1915. Sister Katherine Flanagan was baptised at St Gregory's Church, Earlsfield. She too, was guided by Fr Benedict Williamson and joined the Bridgettine sisters. She spent many years at the Bridgettine convent in the Piazza Farnese, Rome, and later became the Mother Superior to various Bridgettine communities: Lugano (1928), England (1931), and Vadstena (1935).

The world needs Christian heroines: women of faith and courage who will serve God and neighbour in every different situation. Down the centuries, there have been remarkable women heralded as saints: martyrs, mystics, missionaries, women involved in politics and community life, women working in education and in medicine, women raising families, women shining with courage in grim or terrifying places. This book is about some of them, including some honoured by the Church in recent decades, whose stories are only just beginning to become known, heroines for new generations to discover.

Through the great men and women of the English Church we can see the continuous inspiration of the Catholic Faith in England as an unbroken tradition shaping life and work, history and culture, for more than fourteen centuries. In this book a group of distinguished authors with varying interests, champion the achievements of twenty-three seminal figures in the history of the English Church - from the seventh century to the present time - who through their Catholic witness have made a contribution to the spiritual, intellectual, ethical and physical welfare of the nation which can be fairly described as 'heroic'. Heroism takes many different forms. Self-evidently heroic are the martyrs of the penal years who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Faith, others earn their place in this book because their achievements in many different fields of endeavour are truly heroic - as queens, wives and mothers, in education, nursing and social teaching, in journalism and literature, and in challenging the nation's conscience and our national consciousness. The continuity of the Catholic witness in England is often overlooked because of the dislocation caused by the English Reformation, the three subsequent centuries of suppression of the Church, and the rewriting of history to create a new national myth. However, in these lives we can see the impact of Catholicism across the centuries and find inspiration for our own times. Joanna Bogle, Leonie Caldecott, Simon Caldwell, Judith Champ, Mgr Antony Conlon, Mark Elvins OFMCap., Patti Fordyce, Andrea Fraile, Dominic Savio Hamer CP, Etheldreda Hession OSB, Emily Keyte, Mac McLernon, Dora Nash, Fiorella Nash, Josephine Robinson, Penny Roker RSM, Tracey Rowland, Gemma Simmonds CJ, Pauline J. Shaw MFIC, John Skinner and Lucy Underwood share with us their English Catholic Heroines.

What is the Christian calendar? Would you know how to make an Advent wreath? When is Candlemas? Who was the original St Nicholas? Why do we eat Hot Cross Buns? These and many other questions are all answered in A Year Book of Seasons and Celebrations - a guidebook to the traditional Christian year, which is also a cookery book, a mine of interesting information, and a source of amusement, inspiration, and faith. Living the calendar, celebrating its feasts, enjoying the ways in which they mesh with the natural seasons of the year, gives a new appreciation of the gift of life itself and our relationship both with the natural world and with the customs and culture that we have inherited. At a time when many old and valued traditions are in danger of being neglected, and when families are seeking ways of giving real meaning to celebrations such as Christmas and Easter, this is a practical handbook which provides both the background and the practical information for enjoying the seasons of the year. Written to celebrate our Christian heritage, it can be enjoyed by everyone. Joanna Bogle is a Catholic writer, broadcaster, and journalist. She is the author of several historical biographies, and also, under her pen-name 'Julia Blythe', a children's book. Her earlier Book of Feasts and Seasons, published in 1986, became a popular classic - this new book, with fresh ideas and further information, is sure to follow. She has made both a television and a radio series showing ways of celebrating the Christian year with things to make, do, eat and sing. Joanna Bogle is married to barrister Jamie Bogle, who is also an author, and they live in London.

When Pope Benedict XVI was elected in April 2005 much of hte media in the English-speaking world reacted with hostility. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he had for over twenty years been the Catholic Church's voice as upholder of orthodox doctrine. Media comment assumed that this meant he should be unpopular. But within just a few weeks perceptions had changed, and the real person had been discovered: this was clearly a popular pastor, reaching out with a worldwide message at his inaugural Mass, cheered to the echo by over a million young people at World Youth Day, drawing huge crowds in St Peter's Square, sitting with First Communicants at a children's rally to teach and answer their questions. The Holy Father has emerged as a person of warmth and gentleness, communicating the Christian message with clarity, and emphasising the hope and joy it can bring to the world. For Catholics and non-catholics alike, the person of the Pope is a fascinating one. In this book we meet the man who is St Peter's successor, read what he actually says and discover the way he thinks and acts. From a boyhood in a traditionally Catholic family in Bavaria, throught years as a professor, writer, and lecturer, to the years in Rome, his is a story worth discovering - and he is a teacher whose message is worth hearing. Joanna Bogle is a Catholic author, broadcaster and journalist. She writes for the Catholic press in Britain, America and Australia and broadcasts regularly with EWTN, the international Catholic television network. her many books include the best-selling A Book of Feasts and Seasons (celbrating the Church's year in home and family) and biographies of Fr Werenfried van Straaten (the founder of Aid to the Church in Need, Blessed Karl of Austria (A Heart for Europe) and Caroline Chisholm (The Emigrant's Friend).

Nightingale Square stands some way back from the noise of Balham High Road in South London. With its tall trees and pleasant late-Victorian houses, it is a reminder of an earlier Balham, a time when no local families owned cars, when people wore formal clothes for everyday wear, when no pop music blared in shops, when Queen Victoria ruled and London was the heart of a great empire. The church and school in the corner of the square have a direct link to those days. Built in the 1890s, Holy Ghost Church has been in daily use for over a hundred years. The first priests who served the parish were French, and many of the people who attended Mass were Irish. Today, over 1,000 people pour in and out of the church on a typical Sunday - some of them with family roots that link them to Africa, the West Indies, and many parts of Asia, Europe, and the Americas. This is the story of a community and a church in a quiet corner of a busy London suburb, a story that spans two world wars and the massive social changes that marked the last years of the 20th century - a story that continues today. Joanna Bogle is an author, broadcaster and journalist. She writes for Catholic newspapers in Britain, America and Australia and broadcasts regularly with EWTN, the international Catholic television network. Her books include A BOOK OF FEASTS AND SEASONS with ideas on celebrating the Church's year, and several historical biographies including A HEART FOR EUROPE, a life of the last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, written jointly with her husband, Jamie.

Fr Werenfried van Straaten is almost a legend in the Catholic Church. A Dutch Norbertine priest, he has become known and loved throughout the world thanks to his powerful message of charity and love, and its fulfilment in the work of the charity that he founded in 1947, Aid to the Church in need. Often travelling illegally, trusting entirely in prayer and love, this giant of charity organised secret help from the West to the 'Church of Silence' in Eastern Europe during the bitter years of Communist persecution. His life and work spanned one of the most desperate periods of the Church's history; a period when against- all the odds- terror and despair were overcome by faith, hope and charity. He spoke steadfastly for the forgotten and the abandoned, and for the modern martyrs of the Catholic Church. Joanna Bogle is a Catholic writer, boadcaster and journalist who knew and worked with Fr Werenfried for over 25 years. She frequently appears on the television station EWTN.