Books - (also see Inspirational Books)

Instructions for my medical treatment, finances, and funeral by various authors.

Preparing for your own death removes a great burden from your loved ones who will be suffering deep sadness upon your death.

Preparing ahead of time will let them grieve without worrying whether they are fulfilling your wishes, and it may prevent conflict among family members. This booklet is a hopeful, prayerful, and practical guide that will help you record your wishes for the end of your life and funeral. It provides space for recording information regarding DNRs, living wills, and finances. It will guide you through the consumer information for funerals, while also providing theological reflections on the Catholic funeral liturgy, so you can select the Scripture readings and music you would like to be offered at your own funeral. This booklet is grounded in Catholic teaching and will help you make arrangements that reflect your faith in Christ.

978-1-61671-679-0 | Saddlestitched | 7 x 10 | 80 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2022

Available in Spanish!

Escrito por Mikki Scibia

In the restored order of the sacraments of initiation, children are confirmed before they receive their first Communion. Because this practice is most likely different from parents' own sacramental experience, this book gives parents a brief but comprehensive overview of the restored order by answering some of the most frequently asked questions they have as their children prepare to receive the sacraments of confirmation and first Eucharist. Parents will come to a deeper understanding of the theology of the sacraments of initiation, their role in the process and the role of the sponsor, and the structure of the sacramental celebration. With concrete ideas for fostering faith within the life of the family, this book also equips parents to nurture their children's spiritual growth and to encourage them to become active participants in the life of the parish community.

978-1-61671-672-1 | Saddlestitched | 5 3/8 x 8 3/8 | 16 pages | Language: Spanish | Copyright Year: 2022

By the liturgical institute and Douglas Martis

The Mundelein Psalter is the first complete one-volume edition containing the approved English-language texts of the Liturgy of the Hours with psalms that are pointed for the chanting of the Divine Office. The music consists of simple yet beautiful Gregorian-based modes composed for this Psalter. The Psalter is designed for use by priests, deacons, religious, and laity, making singing the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours easier for all.

Features of The Mundelein Psalter:

• Translations of hymns proper to each ferial day and a selection of hymns for feasts and solemnities (taken from the editio typica).
• Music with the ancient modal settings is provided for each hymn. Hymns are also arranged to be sung with any long meter (L.M.) tune.
• A collection of 14 optional modes that can be used as needed.

It uses the Grail Psalms and contains Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. It also includes the Sanctoral cycle and the Office for the Dead. "A Pastoral Implementation Guide for the progressive implementation of the Liturgy of the Hours in a parish setting. Hospitable. Durable. Faithful. Flexible: In its beautiful, clear layout of the canonical Office text, pointed and coupled with elemental chant tones, The Mundelein Psalter allows newcomers to the Liturgy of the Hours to participate with ease. These same features, grounded to the bedrock of liturgical and musical tradition, wear well even with those who sing the Divine Office daily.

978-1-59525-019-3 | Hardcover | 6 x 9 | 1344 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2007

Understanding the Lectionary by Regina A. Boisclair

The Word of the Lord at Mass: Understanding the Lectionary introduces the book from which Catholics hear Scripture proclaimed throughout the year. Accenting the vital link between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, this inviting book presents the Lectionary as a book designed to be proclaimed in the liturgy, to give voice to the living Christ speaking to his people. It explains what a Lectionary is, how it developed over the centuries, and how our current Lectionary grew out of the Second Vatican Council and differs from previous ones.

In engaging language, Regina Boisclair explains why readings are chosen and combined, exploring the various implications of those choices. She especially highlights how, in harmony with the liturgical year, the Lectionary presents Bible selections that unfold Christ's Paschal Mystery. She also discusses the ecumenical impact of the Catholic Lectionary, concluding with an explanation of the physical aspects of the Lectionary's layout and an in-depth tour of the four volumes. Designed to be friendly and accessible, this book includes quotes from Church documents, charts, a glossary, and suggestions for further reading. This book will enrich understanding of the Lectionary, for liturgical ministers and for anyone interested in the role of the Bible in Catholic life.

978-1-61671-245-7 | Paperback | 5 3/8 x 8 3/8 | 128 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2015

Ideas y actividades para acompanar a sus ahijados por Elanie Ramshaw

978-1-61671-514-4 | Paperback | 112 pages | Language: Spanish | Copyright Year: 2020

Por Catherine Maresca

Libro del recuerdo del bautismo.

Using age-appropriate text and engaging illustrations, Cuando te bautizaron invites children to reflect on this sacrament through the rituals and symbols of the Baptismal rite: water, light, holy oil, God's Word, and the baptismal garment.

978-1-61671-500-7 | Hardcover | 8 x 10 | 32 pages | Language: Spanish | Copyright Year: 2019

A Lenten parish mission by Paul Radkowski and Rodica Stoicoiu

Water, Light, and Life: A Lenten Parish Mission provides a reasonably priced (and reusable) option that will highlight the talent and knowledge of your staff and other parishioners as retreat mission leaders.

This multi-generational prepackaged mission is practical, adaptable, and easy for any parish staff to organize and implement. During this four-session mission, participants of all ages will reflect on the stories of the Samaritan woman at the well, the curing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus from John's Gospel. It is the perfect way for parish staff to animate parishioners during the Lenten season as the community journeys to Easter and prepares to celebrate baptism and renew baptismal promises.

Taking its cue from the Period of Purification and Enlightenment of the RCIA, this mission invites participants to reflect on sin and the need for conversion and renewal just like the three characters who accompany them through the mission. The mission kit includes all the materials the parish staff needs to successfully put on this parish mission.

Included in each mission kit is a Director's Guide, 25 participant booklets, a flash drive with all the mission materials, and access to an online landing page with PowerPoint presentations, reproducible handouts, a promotional video, and marketing materials to promote your mission.

978-1-61671-639-4 | Package Item | 8 1/2 x 11 | 160 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2022

Order additional packs of 25 participant booklets to supplement the 25 booklets included in your mission kit when you purchased Water, Light, and Life: A Lenten Parish Mission.

Comes in pack of 25. Not sold seperately

By Donna M. Eschenauer

Every pastor and initiation coordinator will want Recruiting and Forming Your Parish Initiation Team in their catechumenal toolbox. This essential resource provides a sketch of the necessary roles needed on the initiation team then outlines the various qualifications for and responsibilities of each role on the team to help parish leaders carefully discern.

Dr. Eschenauer provides pastoral insight from her many years in parish initiation ministry, as well as concrete suggestions to help parish leaders build up and solidly form initiation team members who assist with the The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

978-1-61671-601-1 | Paperback | 6 x 9 | 96 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2021

Una guia para comprender la iniciacion cristiana por Paul Turner

Preguntas y respuestas sobre el RICA is an easy-to-use resource that will assist RCIA teams, catechists, liturgists, priests, and deacons as they navigate the initiation process. Pastorally and succinctly, this resource answers many frequently asked questions about the process of Christian initiation and its rites.

This book:

• provides a quick reference for any member of the RCIA team and parish staff
• is divided by the four periods of the catechumenate process for easy reference
• contains over 100 of the most frequently asked questions
• gives practical guidance and wisdom to help direct initiation ministers

978-1-61671-511-3 | Paperback | 6 x 9 | 128 pages | Language: Spanish | Copyright Year: 2019

Escrito por Paul Turner

Ideas para poder tener un adviento de gracia.

978-1-56854-792-3 | Saddlestitched | 5 3/8 x 8 5/16 | 32 pages | Language: Spanish

Las Glorias de María is a translation of the first book of The Glories of Mary, the masterpiece written by St. Alphonsus Liguori, which explains the "Hail, Holy Queen," or "Salve Regina," a prayer of devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. This book, adapted by Rev. John Duffy, C.Ss.R., is a very accessible version of the classic work about Mary's powerful intercession and€¢in the words of Fr. Duffy€¢the "sublime position of Mary in traditional Catholic devotion."

This cherished gift or personal devotional offers:

• Several prayers to Our Lady by St. Alphonsus
• Evocative illustrations that introduce each of the 10 chapters
• Color inserts with timeless representations of Our Lady
• The Rosary and Stations of the Cross in full color

By Christopher J. Ferraro and Anthony Ruff

Throughout the history of the Church, Christians have consecrated time by pausing at various moments throughout the day to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. Day after day, hour after hour, Christians unite their hearts with Christ and his Church as they pray the Divine Office. This book will assist parish communities and groups of Christians who wish to gather to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

As part of the Preparing Parish Worship series, this book includes:

• Theological reflections on the consecration of time
• A historical overview of the development of the Liturgy of the Hours
• A walk-through of the Hours
• Answers to frequently asked questions with responses to difficult pastoral situations
• Assistance with best liturgical practices
• Inspirational and informative quotations from Scripture and Church documents

978-1-61671-512-0 | Paperback | 6 x 9 | 128 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2020

There were radical changes in the Order of Mass promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Beyond the use of the vernacular, these included a more dialogic format of the Mass, the transformation of the offertory rite to a preparation of gifts, a complete revision of the lectionary, new eucharistic prayers, and communion under both forms. In Eucharistic Adoration after Vatican II, Edward Foley examines the relationship between Vatican II, liturgical prayer, and contemporary eucharistic adoration and devotions.

Edward Foley, Capuchin, is Duns Scotus Professor of Spirituality Emeritus and retired professor of liturgy and music at Catholic Theological Union. Foley has authored or edited thirty books, including A Handbook for Catholic Preaching (Liturgical Press), and his works have been translated into nine languages. A celebrated preacher and presenter, he received a major grant from the John Templeton Foundation for Preaching and the Sciences. A recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, the North American Academy of Liturgy, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, he has lectured in over seventy dioceses throughout the English-speaking world.

Author:  S. Joseph Krempa
Copyright:  2005

These brief and practical reflections for the Sundays an Holy Days of Cycle A, B, and C are ideally suited for the priest €™s regular preparation of homilies, as well as for private personal meditation.  

• Captured Fire €“ Cycle A
• Captured Fire €“ Cycle B
• Captured Fire €“ Cycle C

3 Books: 540 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8189-0984-9

Author:  Joseph A. Slattery
Copyright:  2006

• The Challenge of the Gospel - Cycle A
• The Challenge of the Gospel - Cycle B
• The Challenge of the Gospel - Cycle C

In these three volumes of thoughtful reflections on the Sunday Gospels, Fr. Slattery shows the ways in which the Gospel message can and must be lived if it is to bear fruit in our lives and in the world in which we live.

3 books: 480 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8189-0969-6

Author:  Ernest Ferlita, SJ
Copyright:  1994

Homilies for Sundays and Holy Days

• Paths of Life, The: Cycle A
• Paths of Life, The: Cycle B
• Paths of Life, The: Cycle C

About the Author:  Father Ernest Ferlita, SJ, received his licentiate in Sacred Theology from St. Louis University in 1964 and a Doctorate in Fine Arts from Yale in 1969. That same year he joined the drama faculty of Loyola University in New Orleans. He has often preached in university and parish settings but mainly in the chapel of the Poor Clares, for whom he has served as chaplain for many years. Father Ferlita is the author of several books, including five of scriptural reflections,  The Way of the River,  Gospel Journey, and  The Paths of Life - Cycle A,  B, and  C. One of his plays,  The Mask of Hiroshima, was published in  The Best Short Plays 1989. It was produced Off-Off-Broadway in 1996 with another short play,  The Bells of Nagasaki, under the title  Two Cities.

3 volumes 660 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8189-0707-4

Seasons in the Word, by Fr. John Sandell, is the first of a three-volume collection of homilies covering the Lectionary, including feast days. The book results from decades of prayerful preaching on the Sunday Scriptures by Fr. Sandell to congregations in the Diocese of Fargo.

Useful for priests in their own homiletic preparation, Seasons in the Word, will also be important for lay people who wish to prepare for the upcoming Sunday readings and individual devotion.

ISBN: 9780814625866 

Details: 120 pgs, 6 x 9
Publication Date: 08/01/2002

ISBN: 978-08091-4410-5

Homilies for the Sundays and various feasts of the A Cycle. Helpful for those who lead the liturgy as well as those who want to participate more fully in it.

paperback

ISBN: 978-08091-4288-0

The fifty-six essays in this book present cultural reflections on the gospel reading assigned for each Sunday in Cycle A of the Roman Lectionary. Each essay highlights aspects of the first-century, Eastern Mediterranean cultural world in which Jesus lived and suggests a cross-cultural comparison with contemporary Western culture. With this background information, readers can make more fitting applications of the Scripture to modern life situations.

Used as an aid in preaching, Lectionary-based catechesis, Scripture study, or for the interest and knowledge it brings, The Cultural World of Jesus will add form and substance to your understanding of "the Word that dwelt among us."

John J. Pilch, a highly-regarded biblical scholar and author, taught at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and passed away in 2016. Among his numerous publications areThe Cultural World of the Apostles, and The Cultural World of the Prophets series, and Cultural Tools for Interpreting the Good News, published by Liturgical Press.

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN: 9780814622865, 2286
eISBN: 9780814639917, E3991
Details: 184 pgs , 5 3/8 x 8 1/4
Publication Date: 08/01/1995

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. �  (John 6:51-52)

There is no greater gift that God has given his Church than this: that the Eucharist is a visible sign of the self-sacrificing love, which continues to save the world from sin.

On many occasions throughout the history of the Catholic Church, God has provided us with visible proof of the reality of the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

In her book,  Eucharistic Miracles,  Joan Carroll Cruz documents 36 miracles that occurred from 800 A.D. to the present day.  This book tells of consecrated Hosts that have turned to human flesh, bled, levitated, and have become hard as flint when received by a person in mortal sin. It details the official investigations that have been made into these miracles by scientists throughout the world, as well as the locations of the miracles that can still be venerated today.  Eucharistic Miracles  also recounts miraculous Eucharistic phenomena in the lives of saints: saints who lived with only the Eucharist for sustenance, experienced raptures, ecstasies, levitations, visions, locutions, and much more ¦

Photographs of the miracles, the churches they took place in, the art they inspired, and the people involved are included ”these add the final touch to a comprehensive, detailed, and extraordinary overview of these Eucharistic miracles.

Eucharistic Miracles  is a superb compilation of God's visible testimony of the truth of the Catholic Faith, proving the reality of one of its loftiest mysteries: the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

• True Stories
• Various Prayers
• An Act of Contrition
• A Sacred Heart Reading
• A Spiritual Communion
• And so much more...

The  Order of the Dedication of a Church and an Altar  implores God's blessing on the physical places to be dedicated to God for worship and celebration of the divine mysteries.

Each chapter of blessing or dedication has an introduction that gives valuable guidelines for bishops, priests, and deacons in the celebration of these solemn liturgical rites. It will also be useful for masters of ceremonies, offices of worship, and seminaries, as well as parishes that are building new churches or undergoing major renovations. The book includes the order for laying a foundation stone, rites for dedicating and blessing a church or altar, as well as for blessing a chalice and paten.

The  Order of the Dedication of a Church and an Altar  has an updated English translation that the Holy See approved with its confirmation  in 2017. Beginning on November 9, 2018, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, this text becomes the required English translation for use in the United States.

Ordination of a Bishop, of Priests, and of Deacons, Second Typical Edition,  is the definitive English text for use in the United States for the conferral of the Holy Orders of the diaconate, the priesthood, and the episcopate. It replaces both the 2003 USCCB edition and the 2011 version published in the Vox Clara €� Pontifical.  This new edition is required for use as of the First Sunday of Advent, November 28, 2021.

This beautiful book presents the rites of Ordination by which ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God are constituted in the Church €� (CDWDS Decree). Revised after the Second Vatican Council, these rituals consist in the laying on of hands and the Prayer of Ordination, as well as preparatory and explanatory rites that are part of these ceremonies by ancient tradition.

A bishop, as the minister of Holy Orders, will be the primary user of this book. Cathedral parishes and diocesan worship offices will also want to order a copy for use at ordination liturgies, as well as for study and planning.