Saint Francis, like Pope Francis today, believed love is the most important quality in life, especially love of God, of others and of the world around us. The Story of St Francis is a charmingly illustrated account of the beloved Italian saint who founded the Franciscan Friars and was renowned for showing kindness to all God’s creatures. We learn how illness and his time spent in prison affected Francis deeply and strengthened his relationship with God. We also discover how Francis devoted his life to helping the poor, his taming of the wolf of Gubbio and his great friendship with a noblewoman named Clare. The Story of St Francis teaches us to follow Francis by carrying out small acts of kindness every day to help our friends, our family, our neighbours and the natural world.

As Abû ʿAbd Allâh al-Ḥusayn, son of ʿAlî and Fâṭima and grandson of Muḥammad, moved inexorably towards death on the field of Karbalâʾ, his sister Zaynab was drawn ever closer to the centre of the family of Muḥammad, the ‘people of the house’ (ahl al-bayt). There she would remain for a few historic days, challenging the wickedness of the Islamic leadership, defending the actions of her brother, initiating the commemorative rituals, protecting and nurturing the new Imâm, al-Ḥusayn’s son ʿAlî b. al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlî b. Abî Ṭâlib, until he could take his rightful place. This is her story.

A study of the identity-formation process that the Christians of Syria-Palestine experienced during the Umayyad Caliphate. It approaches this subject by using John of Damascus and his writings on Islam as a case-study. This provides an exhaustive study of the available historical data in order to stimulate some further thought on John of Damascus’s theology and legacy from a contextual and intercultural methodology. Such an examination has not yet been pursued in the scholarship of Byzantine Christianity during that era. Proceeding from a centralizing ‘context’, the monograph revisits John of Damascus’s legacy (and the Umayyad Christians’ identity-formation of that era) from the perspective of his historical, Islamic-Arabic context, and not from any assumed, metanarrative, common to contemporary pro-Byzantine theology scholars.

Narsai’s memra 33 is made of 12 by 12 syllables, and its title “On the Sanctification of the Church” suggests that it was written for the feast of the Dedication of the Church celebrated by the Church of the East to this day on the first of November. The memra names the Church of the Nations the Bride of the Bridegroom Christ. The Church had a pagan origin but Christ chose her to become his bride. He thus saved her through his suffering, cleansed her with baptism, prepared the bridal feast for her through the Eucharist, and crowned her victory over all the nations.

From Jael’s tent peg to Judith’s sword, biblical interpreters have long recognized the power of the "lethal women" stories of the Hebrew Bible and related literature. The tales of Jael and Judith, female characters who assassinate enemy commanders, have fascinated artists, writers, and scholars for centuries, no doubt partly because of the gender of the characters doing the killing. Tamber-Rosenau presents the first systematic study, both text-centered and deeply engaged with a variety of queer-theoretical frameworks, of the motif of the woman-turned-warrior in ancient Jewish literature. Through analysis from queer-theoretical perspectives and comparison with Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman literature, Women in Drag shines new light on three strong female characters from the Hebrew Bible and the early days of Jewish literature.

Many people like to anchor their daily time of quiet prayer in a Scripture passage. One way of doing this is to reflect prayerfully on the Gospel reading for the following Sunday. In Journeying with Luke, Martin Hogan provides a series of engaging and thought-provoking reflections designed to help those who wish to study the Gospel reading during the liturgical year. These reflections examine the relevance of Luke’s Gospel for Christians today, and will appeal to both clergy and laity wishing to explore the Word of God in greater depth. The author is particularly interested in Luke’s unique handling of subjects that form the bedrock of Christianity, including the representation of Christ as a ‘compassionate saviour’ who champions the rights of the marginalised and dispossessed; the special place of women; the importance of prayer; and the role of the Holy Spirit.

"Father Peyton’s sense of his own mission led him to make a total commitment to his work, and he pursued that with a holy passion every moment of his life, even when he was resting and not working. He was totally engrossed in fulfilling his mission. It was his reason for being. " Mary Jane McQueen Mayo-born Fr Patrick Peyton became famous in the mid-twentieth century for championing the power of prayer with his mantra ‘the family that prays together stays together’ and for travelling the world with Family Rosary Crusades that attracted thousands of devotees. The Rosary Priest brings to life this devout and charismatic figure who became a household America where he produced hit radio shows and films that captivated tens of millions and starred such Hollywood luminaries as Bing Crosby, James Dean, Grace Kelly and Loretta Young. This wonderful biography explores Fr Peyton’s mission to share the gift of the Rosary with the world, a decision largely inspired by his astonishing recovery from tuberculosis as a young man, which he attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary. This book celebrates a remarkable figure in Irish Catholicism who, from humble beginnings in a poor west of Ireland family, criss-crossed the globe converting millions to his simple message of family prayer.

This study challenges the conventional image of the tenth-century Sufi mystic Al-Husayn Ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāğ (d. 929) as an anti-philosophical mystic. Unlike the predominantly theological or text-historical studies which constitute much of the scholarly literature on Ḥallāğ, this study is completely philosophical in nature, placing Ḥallāğ within the tradition of Graeco-Arabic philosophy and emphasizing, in a positive light, his continuity with the pagan Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus.

A refereed journal published annually by the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies.

In this fourth installment of the long Homily 71, On the Six Days of Creation, Jacob treats of the events of the fourth day, the creation of the spheres of light over the earth: the sun to rule over the day, and the moon and the stars to rule over the night.

Inspired by the publication of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ celebrated document exploring the joys and challenges of modern family life, 55 Ways to Connect with Families in your Parish is a timely guidebook for clergy and laypeople that provides thoughtful and practical ideas for involving families in the Church throughout the liturgical year. These imaginative yet accessible suggestions take in key events in the Christian calendar, from Advent and Christmas through to Lent and Easter, and also cover selected feast days and secular dates, as well as periods of particular relevance to children and families. The ideas included here, which incorporate prayers, scripture passages and thought-provoking excerpts from Amoris Laetitia, will inspire all those who help make parish life so spiritually rich and rewarding.

The Mindfulness Workout is a practical and fun guide to building emotional and mental fitness through the practice of mindfulness, meditation and self-care. This conversational, information-packed book will help teenagers to manage their emotions, escape negative loops of self-criticism, build on their strengths and learn to like themselves no matter what pressures they face. Psychotherapist Iseult White demystifies mindfulness through integrating the latest neuroscience research with easy-to-learn mindfulness practices. The book includes specific exercises for coping with exam anxiety, social media, relationship stress, social anxiety, and peer pressure, and provides case studies that show how teenagers have successfully adopted these practices in real life. It is an ideal resource for teachers, mental health practitioners and anyone in the helping professions who works with teenagers, but is written in a clear, user-friendly format that will engage teenagers who are interested in learning how to navigate the inevitable stresses of adolescence.

This volume provides a study and an original edition and translation from Syriac into English of Discourse Two of Gabriel of Qatar's liturgical commentary, written in the first half of the seventh century.

The History of Mar Behnam and Sarah tells the story of two siblings who convert to Christianity under the tutelage of Mar Mattai, a monastic leader and wonderworker from the Roman Empire. In this volume, Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent and Kyle Smith provide the first critical edition and English translation of this fascinating martyrdom narrative.

As an Assumptionist priest and chaplain working in the Hautepierre Hospital in Strasbourg, Denis Ledogar has spent much of his life comforting, consoling and learning from those in the last stages of life and from their families. In Only Love Breaks Open the Tombs, he brings together the testimonies of patients he has encountered who candidly share their thoughts on life, loss and family as they contend with failing health and the spectre of mortality. The goal of this book is to address ‘the delicate subject of the accompaniment of the human being at the end of life’ and is centred on ‘seven stages’ which the author has witnessed in those approaching death. This moving account of one man’s experience offering pastoral care to the terminally ill not only demonstrates how a patient’s final days can be lived with dignity and meaning but how, in ministering to those who are ill, we demonstrate that it is only love that ‘breaks open the tombs’.

This volume explores storm-/warrior-god motif as found in non-biblical ANE texts, followed by an analysis of the language and imagery in several noteworthy theophanic passages in the Hebrew Bible. These characteristics and vocabulary are used in later chapters to identify and analyze similar motifs in the Twelve Prophets, especially focusing on Mic 7:7-20; Habakkuk 3; and Zech 9:9-16 as test cases. By tracing the use of the storm-/warrior-god motif and language associated with it, a detectable shift is apparent in the use of the motif in the HB that corresponds with the development of monotheism within Ancient Israelite religion.