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When we consider the life of a celebrity, especially a Pope, who lived over four hundred years ago we must not make the mistake of looking at his life with our modern attitudes and prejudices. As a religious who assumed the papacy, Sixtus V brought with him the customs and attitudes of his vocation. Sixtus' spirit of poverty and obedience would present a challenge to the more worldly Roman court, and he had also come from a humble background. In addition, few Popes had been in obscurity-and even disgrace- for fourteen years prior to their election. Sixtus V has perhaps been overshadowed by the more famous Popes, Julius II and Pius V. We know of contemporary biographies, which appear to be official versions of his life. In this new biography, W. T. Selley shows how Sixtus V was outstanding in his creation of Renaissance Rome, only fifty years after it had been sacked. He was outstanding, from the point of view of good civic policy and he greatly facilitated the path of pilgrims visiting the churches of Rome. Sixtus was abstemious and devout, living quietly with his widowed sister and earning the nickname of the Hermit of Villa Montalto. He was also very intelligent in his diplomacy. Sixtus' contribution to papal administration survived virtually intact into our own time. One only needs to look at so many of the monuments of Rome, the obelisks and fountains, the frescoes and Church façades, to get an awareness of the measure of this great Pope.

This reader introduces the key theological themes of Catholic Religious Education today, providing an appropriate core text for those who are being educated to become Catholic teachers and preparing to work in Catholic schools. An ideal aid for managers and classroom teachers, it will also be useful for catechists and parents. A Companion to Catholic Education is a resource for Catholic educators designed for use in conjunction with other dedicated textbooks and good curricular material. It is not a stand-alone reference guide for educators but will orientate those new to the study of theology and Religious Education towards the key theological themes they will encounter in their teaching and act as a catalyst for further and deeper study of the range of themes covered. Teachers and student teachers can use this text to chart their way through the many curricular packages with which they are faced today. The book is divided into two sections. The first explores key areas of Catholic thought that are relevant for Catholic educators - God and Philosophy, Scripture, Christology, Ecclesiology, Liturgy, Sacraments, Catholic Moral Teaching and Catholic Social Teaching. The second focuses on pedagogical matters pertaining to Religious Education and the broader Catholic life and identity of the Catholic school. Catholic educators are encouraged to develop their knowledge of theological issues so as to understand better their vocation as both educator (in the secular sense) and faith-former (unique to Catholic education and other forms of faith education). Contributors include: Fr John Bollan, Roisin Coll, John Deighan, Leonardo Franchi, Fr John Keenan, Fr Tom Kilbride, Mary Lappin, Stephen McKinney, Catherine O'Hare, Leon Robinson, Bishop Philip Tartaglia, Karen Wenell, Victoria Harrison"Our schools and colleges have to be different from others, and the key to this is in the word 'Catholic'. It identifies them, and marks them as sharing in the evangelising mission of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church ... This timely publication, which explores key areas of Catholic thought that are relevant for Catholic teachers before looking in closer detail at matters pertaining to religious education and the broader Catholic life and identity of our schools, will enable all who read it to grow in this understanding."Rt Rev. Malcolm McMahon OP, Bishop of Nottingham, Chairman of the Catholic Education Service in England & Wales"A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. A Catholic school, over and above this, should help students to become saints."His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Address of the Holy Father to Pupils, 17 September 2010Leonardo Franchi teaches Religious Education in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. He has a particular interest in St Augustine of Hippo's contribution to Catholic educational thought. He is the editor of An Anthology of Catholic Teaching on Education. Stephen McKinney is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Glasgow (a former Head of Department of Religious Education). His research interests include faith schools and Catholic schools and he has published widely on these topics in journals and books, including his own edited collection from 2008: Faith Schools in the 21st Century.

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.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a comprehensive, authoritative statement of the Church's teachings. In A Tour of the Catechism, Fr Flader unpacks the essentials and explains them in a way that everyone can understand. The book is a must for all those who want to know what the Church teaches, both for their own benefit and for the benefit of others: teachers, catechists, parents, converts and students of all kinds.

This study of the work of Catholic school governors in England and Wales places their work in the context of contemporary school governance, and the extensive (but largely unknown to both scholars and students) literature of the Catholic Church pertaining to education. It identifies issues where the expectations of the Church might be in conflict with those of the state, and examines how the governors seek to resolve them. In doing so, it shows that in some significant areas the way that governors govern their school appears to be at variance with the views of the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education and the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.Although there are many studies of school governance in general, this is the first that relates specifically to Catholic schools. It is therefore wholly innovative as to its content, and fills a substantial gap in current knowledge: it deals with both primary and secondary schools in varied social contexts, and looks extensively at the position of diocesan directors of education, a group hitherto entirely ignored by academic commentators. The book is significant, not only because of the number of pupils being educated in Catholic schools, but also because of their popularity with parents, their success in measuring up to the state's yardsticks, and because of the contemporary controversy surrounding the whole issue relating to what are described as 'faith schools'. Essential reading for anyone involved in Catholic education, this book will be invaluable for Catholic school governors and those in dioceses and Local Authorities involved in Catholic education and in governor training, as well as for all students undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate teacher training courses in England and Wales. It provides the historical context to the tension between the state and the Catholic Church, and treats fully the key contemporary issues confronting the Catholic ethos of schools. Christopher Storr is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education at the University of London. He has spent the whole of his working life in education, and was for almost 20 years Director of Education for the Archdiocese of Southwark, having previously served as a senior officer in the Essex, Kent and Inner London Education Authorities.

This outstanding collection of essays sets out to explore the possibilities for a renewed catholic social conscience in the aftermath of three related-but contrasting-crises namely the demise of european communism, the recent and ongoing international economic collapse and the devastating blow to catholic credibility in the public sphere represented by the widespread and senior coverup of clergy child sex-abuse. Interdisciplinary in nature, the essays seek to reground theological thinking in a fresh way, to draw out traditions that have been lost in the midst of political and cultural struggle and to focus on specific instances of social need. In doing this they tease out emerging tensions between ecclesiastical rhetoric and the Church's institutional capacity, and skills to match words to deeds; the essays also reflect on specific instances of public engagement and theology which have both helped and hindered advocacy for a common good. Hopeful in tone, the collection is mission-centred comprising contributions from those who are leading figures in all of their fields. Catholic Social Conscience will be of particular interest to all Christians who have believed that the Catholic Social Teaching tradition, up to now, had something to offer the Christian community as a whole by way of resources to navigate the call to civic and social action. It will appeal to Catholic parish council members, charity workers, activists, catechists, religious, seminarians, and academics. Indeed, it should inspire those seeking to reflect on the future of Catholic social thought and action in an era when the traction of the social encyclical tradition in the face of economic crisis, and the legitimacy of the Church's frontline figures in the aftermath of the abuse crisis, has never been more important, contested nor more under pressure.

Father Alexander Men (1935-1990), a priest assassinated after the fall of communism, is a highly regarded figure in Russian Orthodoxy. He was brought up during the War and marked by the Stalinist era. Following the completion of his theological studies in Moscow, he was appointed to various parishes around the capital, in particular Alabino and Novaïa Dérévnia. But his personality and influence soon brought him into conflict with the authorities and he was persistently hounded by the police and subjected to interrogations and searches of his home. Father Men was not an agitator but the embodiment of an ideal of spiritual resistance to communism effected through prayer, the liturgical and sacramental life, and the valuing of the human person

A prominent and inescapable feature of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate is the importance which has been given to the sacred liturgy, in its actual celebration, as well as in the pope's Magisterium and theological writings. Not only have we witnessed the reappearance of many elements used in older, but recently-abandoned papal liturgies, but also what amounts to be the virtual liberation of the 'Old Latin Mass'. This has come as a great surprise to many people in the Church, some of whom almost regard it, and the pope's liturgical theology, as a betrayal of recent liturgical reforms. On the other hand, others have viewed these liturgical changes, and the emphasis which Pope Benedict places upon the liturgy in the life of the Church, as positive developments, leading to a more correct understanding of the Second Vatican Council within 'the hermeneutic of continuity' and reform, and the notion of 'organic development'. But, in the midst of conflicting interpretations, how are we to understand these developments and Pope Benedict XVI's re-affirmation of what we now call the usus antiquior? In this book Dr Anselm J. Gribbin explores these and other related questions by examining the liturgical theology of Pope Benedict XVI in his magisterial teachings and writings, particularly in the post-synodal exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, and The Spirit of the Liturgy. Gribbin, in an extensive, and detailed analysis, indicates that the liturgical theology of Pope Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger points the way forward for the Church in the field of liturgy. He also addresses the fundamentally important question of the relationship between the liturgical writings of Pope Benedict XVI as a theologian, and his Magisterium as the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church, and that the latter is best understood with recourse to the former.

Elizabeth Prout stands at both the heart and the crossroads of nineteenth-century history. From her birth in 1820 as the daughter of a cooper in a brewery, beside a cotton mill and an ironworks in the suburbs of Shrewsbury, to her death of tuberculosis, beside the glass and chemical works of St Helens, in 1864, she experienced the industrial, educational, social, economic and religious changes that transformed English society at that time. It was, however, her close friendships with those two giants of the spiritual life, the Passionists Blessed Dominic Barberi and Father Ignatius Spencer, that transformed her own life, enabling her, in turn, to transform her own environment.Slight in build, fragile in health, she spent her life in the service of the poor:the mill girls of Manchester, the refugees from the Irish Potato Famine, the needy of Sutton, St Helens, and the unemployed of Ashton-under-Lyne in the Lancashire Cotton Famine. At the same time she implemented educational changes that raised up the Catholic population. She provided Homes for the motherly care of Catholic working girls. Most important of all, in partnership with Father Gaudentius Rossi CP and Father Robert Croskell of the Diocese of Salford, she founded a religious order for the poor, enabling others, too, to educate, to nourish family life in parish visitation and the instruction of converts and to enrich the drabness of people's lives with the beautiful vestments they made for their churches.Without endowments or wealthy patrons, these Sisters of the Cross and Passion- mainly themselves from working-class backgrounds - worked tirelessly both tosupport themselves and to help the slum dwellers amongst whom they lived; andstill they found time to sanctify their lives and their work with almost incessant prayer.The Cause for the Canonisation of Elizabeth Prout (Mother Mary Joseph of Jesus)was opened by Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool in the Church of St Anneand Blessed Dominic Barberi, Sutton, St Helens, where her remains are interred,like those of Father Ignatius Spencer CP, in the shrine of Blessed Dominic. In 2008 Archbishop Patrick Kelly completed the Liverpool Archdiocesan Process andforwarded Elizabeth Prout's Cause to Rome.Edna Hamer (Sister Dominic Savio CP) was educated by the Sisters of the Cross and Passion at both primary and secondary levels before entering their novitiate. With a BA (Hons) and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Manchester and an M.Litt. from Glasgow, she taught in St Michael's Academy, Ayrshire, for twenty-eight years. Appointed by the Congregation to research into the life of the Foundress, she was awarded her doctorate for her thesis onElizabeth Prout in the context of the social and economic history of Manchester and the North West. This biography of Elizabeth Prout was first published in 1994, the same year that the Cause for the Canonisation of Elizabeth Prout was opened. Appointed to the Historical Commission, Sister Dominic prepared the documentation for the Cause of Elizabeth Prout required by the Holy See. She is the author of With Christ in His Passion, a short life of Elizabeth Prout, also published by Gracewing

The unpublished Oratory Papers of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman edited with an Introductory Study on the Continuity between his Anglican and his Catholic Ministry.These are Newman's Chapter Addresses and other writings on the purpose and characteristics of Oratorian life. As Superior, Newman wanted his community to consist of responsible persons bound together by tact and discretion, obeying an unwritten law of love. He exercised endless patience in his desire to preserve this 'weaponless state' of the Oratory in spite of tensions, dissensions, opposition and even separation.Each paper has been transcribed from the original manuscripts in the Birmingham Oratory Archives, and has been provided with a succinct introduction and notes.The editor has, moreover, furnished a full-length introductory study on Newman's spirituality as a priest against the background of the Anglican Ministry (1824-45), since it is true to say that Newman learned to live as a priest while still an Anglican. Four major areas of his Anglican ministry - the Care of Souls, Preaching, the Eucharistic Ministry and Prayer - have been closely examined both in themselves and in their renewed appearance in Newman's life as a Catholic priest.The editor, Fr Placid Murray, is a Benedictine monk of Glenstal Abbey, Ireland.

The Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thought of with nostalgia. Instead, the Rosary is experiencing a new Springtime. Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. Pope Benedict XVIThe Prayer of the Rosary has been central to the spiritual life of the Church for centuries, and remains as popular and cherished a form of devotion as ever, even further developing in the twenty-first century with the proclamation of the Mysteries of Light by Pope John Paul II.Anne Vail's fascinating book tells how the Rosary evolved over the years into the form we know today.Beginning with the adoption of the rose as the symbol for Our Lady, The Story of the Rosary traces the growth in popularity of collections of prayers or 'roses' in her honour. These eventually came to be counted by beads.When particular prayers began to be associated with the Rosary based on the 'Mysteries' of the New Testament, it was to become a powerful tool for evangelization. While from Lepanto to the gates of Vienna, from Fatima to the shipyards of Gdansk, Our Lady of the Rosary has continued to play a crucial role in the Church's witness to the world.The Holy Rosary remains an inspiration for millions, through it we may relive the important and meaningful moments of salvation history, putting Christ at the centre of our lives through the contemplation and meditation of His Holy Mysteries of Joy, Light, Sorrow and Glory.Anne Vail was born in Dorset into a naval family. She spent her childhood in various countries, finishing her education at the Sorbonne in Paris. She studied Fine Art at Southampton Art College and now lives in Hampshire. As a wife, mother and grandmother she has found Our Lady a constant companion and inspiration in daily life. Her popular guide The Shrines of Our Lady in England is also published by Gracewing..

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman is recognized as one of the greatest spiritual writers of the last two hundred years. Here are his words of consolation for all who are bereaved.Cardinal Manning spoke of John Henry Newman as a 'preacher of justice, of piety and of compassion'. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in his letters to those who were mourning the death of a loved one. This selection links his correspondence with words of comfort from his sermons and other writings. In his lifetime, many found strength and consolation from Newman's sympathy. These words can be used in times of personal grief as well as to bring consolation to others.

Drawing on Pope John Paul's extensive theological and ethical writings this important book explores the status of people with profound intellectual disabilities who some regard simply as 'non-acting'. This book demonstrates that all human beings, whatever their situations or capacities, are acting persons made in the image of God and that all principles whether from Catholic Social Teaching or from Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body apply to every human being as much as to any other. The book also considers liberation theologies of disability and the Pope's reflections on suffering as well as the controversial area of the provision of hydration and nutrition for one most profoundly disabled person, the person in persistent vegetative state. In addition it reflects on spirituality in the life of the profoundly disabled based on Karol Wojty¿a's thesis on St John of the Cross. As the title of the book explains, the profoundly disabled are only apparently non-acting: no one can discount the possibility of an inner spiritual life and alongside all human beings the profoundly disabled have spiritual needs, are called to a life of holiness and are asked to cooperate in that calling as far as they are able. Moreover, all have a part to play in God's plan of salvation for all are 'workers in God's vineyard'.

The thrust for a so-called new evangelization has been one of the most important actions of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI. This expression is rooted in the Second Vatican Council and was used for the first time by John Paul II in 1979, to signify the desire to announce the Christian message with greater impact and freshness. In this era of ideological and cultural crisis within Western society, the Church has the delicate task of guiding man and society towards salvation, towards a life closer to the word of Christ. To this end, Benedict XVI has created a new Vatican department, dedicated specifically to the evangelization of the Western world, under the guidance of Archbishop Fisichella. In this important book, which is a cultural and religious manifesto for the Year of Faith, Archbishop Fisichella explains what constitutes the great task in which he, and the Church, are called upon to propose the centrality of the family, promoting the ethics of finance, redeveloping the presence of Catholics in politics and especially urging people not to get trapped in isolation and indifference.The fact that you call it "new" is not intended to qualify the content of evangelization, but the condition and the way in which it is made. Benedict XVI's Apostolic Letter Ubicumque et semper rightly emphasizes that it is considered appropriate "to provide adequate answers because the whole Church is present in the contemporary world and with a missionary zeal can promote a new evangelization."

On 7 October 2012, Pope Benedict XVI declared St John of Avila a Doctor of the Church, making him the thirty-fourth Saint to have been given this title. St John of Avila was a diocesan priest in sixteenth century Spain and has been honoured there since 1946 as the patron Saint of diocesan priests. Amongst St John of Avila's disciples were St Teresa of Avila, St Francis Borgia, St John of God, and Venerable Anne of the Cross. In fact, St Teresa of Avila, also a Doctor of the Church, had the account of her life and mystical experiences confirmed as authentic by St John of Avila. This account is what we know today as The Book of Her Life. St John of Avila's teaching was extremely beneficial in his own time, and is just as relevant today, in a time when we are all called to be strong Christian witnesses for the new evangelisation. The most effective way we can respond to this call is to enter into a deep and intimate relationship with God. St John of Avila is a Saint for all people and all times; Pope Benedict XVI has called him a 'pioneer in pointing to the universal call to holiness'. St John of Avila is a wise mentor for all those who desire to grow in friendship with God. In simple and accessible language, this book sets forth much of the practical advice which St John of Avila gives in his spiritual work Audi Filia and various letters to those whose spiritual life he directed. In this short book, Dr Oliver focuses on the soul's journey in the life of prayer, how to overcome particular struggles and temptations, and how to recognise deceitful tactics of the devil. She clearly explains the fundamental aspects of the supernatural organism, the graced soul on the road to union with God. And she takes great care to help the reader understand how to differentiate between spiritual experiences which are not essential for advancing in holiness and that which is necessary for growth in the spiritual life. This little book is an essential resource for anyone seeking a deeper and more intimate union with the loving and merciful Lord; for He is always ready to shower His children with the riches of His merciful love.

The title Christian Transition could strike one as non-committal, generalenough to be applicable to a great many subjects. But the urgent messageof the Introduction highlights a very glaring gap for the present generationboth in the contents and the manner of presentation of our Catholic faith.To fill that gap Fr Joseph Shiels suggests a way forward, sharing with ushis awareness of Christian transition, as St Teresa of Avila had described it,taking place within himself.Fr Joseph Shiels is an Irish Columban priest who spent his working yearsas a missionary in the Southern Philippines. Fundamentally, this bookwitnesses to two graces experienced by the author during that time.The first grace, which came early in his career, was a refreshed awarenessof a traditional teaching of the Church. This is the teaching that the real,essential Christianity within us is that we are in this world to be divinised.Christian transition is the name of the process of divinisation. The authorreminds us of this doctrine by presenting it in an unashamedly attentiongettingphrase, namely 'becoming-God-along-with-God'. Such a phrase isno more than the kind of advertisement that comes out of countless publicrelationsoffices. But no less: in terms of its summing-up of the implicationsof what our Christian faith really was, and still is, offering to all itsmembers.His second, supplemental grace is that, in mid-life, after an apparentlychance introduction to a book outlining the teaching of St Teresa, ourauthor tried the contents for size - and found they fitted! The contents gavehim a Teresian understanding that a progression and development - tosome extent verifiable - was possible in the spiritual life of the ordinaryChristian. Still in the style of an advertising executive, Teresian teaching ispresented in simplified form, originally to make it accessible those towhom he had ministered, now, to inform and encourage his readers.Starting from two parables of Jesus, Fr Shiels' fresh and intriguingapproach supplies a strongly scriptural basis for his account of his newawarenesses, and his witness to their potential to transform our lives too.In conclusion he shows that these graces are are really the essence ofChristianity for all Christians; his experience is simply a case study of whatis no more than the humble beginnings of a Christian transition, in accordance with, and by application of, theteachings of St Teresa of Avila.Fr Joseph Shiels opens up the riches of the Christian tradition to a new generation, showing how we too are invited to share in this very transition which will change our lives forever.

Redeeming Grief is a reflection on over 17 years of counselling and study of abortion grief, which is experienced by many women who choose to undergo this elective procedure. These reflections are the result of listening to over 1,500 personal stories and listening to the expressions used by women as they speak about their decision to abort the life of their child. Lastman attempts to reconstruct the meaning that this procedure has had for the aborting woman and how this one procedure has been the catalyst for life changes.Redeeming Grief looks at abortion trauma and grief from the spiritual and the psychological perspective, and its influences on the individuals involved and society.

G. K. Chesterton was one of the most provocative and well-loved English writers of the twentieth century. Renowned for his journalism and as an essayist, he was the author of around eighty books, some two hundred short stories, four thousand essays and several plays. His writing ranged from fiction and poetry, to history, philosophy, political, social and literary criticism, theology and Catholic apologetics. From his short stories, his best-known character is the priest-detective Father Brown. Through his writing Chesterton was to have a profound effect on generations of Christians. His own discovery of the Christian religion was achieved with an intellectual rigour which we can say is the hallmark of all his great writings, a category which includes much of his journalism. And though Chesterton never flaunted his personal faith, his passionate commitment to it could emerge at any time. His works reflect a life that was filled with wonder and joy, a constancy in fighting for the Christian faith in a world losing belief, a lifelong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his love for all men, especially for the poor.But are there good grounds for considering Gilbert Keith Chesterton for canonisation? On his death, Pope Pius XI described Chesterton as a 'gifted defender of the Catholic Faith', while at his Requiem Mass Monsignor Ronald Knox was to say 'Blessed are they that saw him and were honoured by his friendship. They found in him a living example of charity, of chivalry, of unbelievable humility which will remain with them, perhaps as a more effective document of Catholic verity than any word even he wrote.' The late Cardinal Emmett Carter described G. K. Chesterton, on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, as one of those 'holy lay persons' who have exercised a truly prophetic role within the Church and the world. He did not then, although later he changed his mind, believe that it would be possible to introduce a cause for his ultimate canonisation, since he did 'not think that we are sufficiently emancipated from certain concepts of sanctity' to be able to contemplate such a thing. In this book, a range of distinguished contributors contemplate just that. We all know that he was an enormously good man as well as an enormous one. My point is that he was more than that. There was a special integrity and blamelessness about him, a special devotion to the good and to justice ... Above all, there was that breathtaking, intuitive (almost angelic) possession of the Truth and awareness of the supernatural which only a truly holy person can enjoy. This was the gift of heroic intelligence and understanding - and of heroic prophecy. He was a giant, spiritually as well as physically. Has there ever been anyone quite like him in Catholic history? Professor J J Scarisbrick

'A VIBRANT PROPHET OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD' is how Pope John Paul II described Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this compelling book, we enter deeply into her life and spirituality and see just how relevant Elizabeth's message is for those of us living in today's highly secularised society. Attractive, lively, ardent, talented, yet with her share of faults, Elizabeth shows that when we give ourselves to God, he builds on our nature and transforms us gradually into himself. She challenges us to follow her example and respond to God's universal call to holiness, while reawakening us to the immense depth and beauty of the normal channels of God's grace: prayer and the sacraments. The author shows how Elizabeth offers a compelling witness of holiness to the Church of today for 'Her life is what God wills every life to be'. Cardinal Albert de Courtray, former Bishop of Dijon, expressed it succinctly: "It is easy to see how Elizabeth's message is addressed to all Christians. She never for one moment entertained the idea that her calling as a Carmelite conferred some sort of spiritual superiority on her. For Christian spiritual life is founded upon faith, baptism and becoming ever more like Jesus Christ; so that whatever the Christian may be, whatever his or her moral, psychological or social condition, he or she is always that 'new humanity' in which Christ will come again to renew all his mystery". "This is a truly remarkable book. It is written in a clear, simple and engaging style by an author who shares with us her deep love of Elizabeth of the Trinity and her profound grasp of Elizabeth's spirituality, centred on the indwelling presence of God in every baptised person. The book offers us deep insights into the development of Elizabeth's inner life and the major themes in her writings, as seen through the eyes of someone who speaks from first-hand experience and with authority about the life of a Carmelite nun". James McCaffrey, O.C.D. (Editor of Mount Carmel magazine) Sr Marian Teresa Murphy, a Carmelite of St Joseph's Monastery, Liverpool, England completed her MA dissertation on Elizabeth of the Trinity with distinction. She is the author of Always Believe in Love - Selected Spiritual Writings of Elizabeth of theTrinity. An engaging speaker, she has made several CDs on various aspects of Elizabeth's life and spirituality, which form the basis of this inspiring book.

For many the law of the Church, canon law, has little meaning; it appears remote both from the Gospel and from the life of most people in the Church. Yet, it can impinge on them at times if a parish priest urges that a baptism be deferred, where a dispensation is needed for marriage or where there is a query about nullity of marriage. Recently, the scandals over clerical sexual abuse of children have drawn wider attention to the need for law also in the Church. At a time when it is popular to assert 'rights' of all sorts ¿ an identification of authentic rights and of corresponding duties in the Church, as well as mechanisms to ensure that these are respected in practice in a systematic way ¿ justice and law in the Church cannot be neglected. This book seeks to root the Church's law in the values of the Gospel, in particular in the justice which should guide the lives of those called to follow Christ and in the baptism by which they are incorporated into him and into his Church. The 'canon' or measure of how we should treat one another as members of the People of God and participate in our common mission in the service of that Gospel, according to our particular vocations and functions, is the focus of canon law. No law can replace the Gospel or the Holy Spirit, but canon law is an instrument of justice in the service of the Church and of its mission. The revision of canon law, which led to the Code of Canon Law of 1983 for the Latin Church, sought expressly to reflect the key teachings of the Second Vatican Council. That Code, beyond the general norms for understanding and applying its laws as a whole, centres upon the People of God in our common, diverse and complementary forms of living the Gospel, upon the Church's broad teaching function, and upon its sanctifying function, especially through the sacraments. It attends also to the temporal goods of the Church, for which there are responsibilities of stewardship, to penal law and sanctions and to procedural law ¿ the latter designed to ensure that practical implementation of the Church's law which is essential if its affirmations concerning justice and mission are not to remain vacuous. This book attempts to provide a theological and juridical introduction and explanation of these various aspects of the Church's life. The schematic presentation of 'key canons' is designed to enable the reader to understand the principal elements of a specific section and to see how those canons can be broken down so that their inter-related parts may be read, analysed and applied. The Code of Canon Law, then, can be seen as a valuable instrument in fulfilling the Church's mission for those with a passion for justice, rooted in the Gospel of Christ.