Religiøse og spirituelle personer

Filled with humor, insight, and faith, this true story tells how one young woman overcame challenges, stereotypes, and personal struggles at Harvard Divinity School and emerged an ordained minister.As a bright young girl from Ohio, Andrea Raynor always wanted to be a doctor. Instead, she landed—almost by accident—at Harvard Divinity School, which, she quickly discovered, was no typical semi­nary. When she attended, in the 1980s, HDS was a place overflowing with creative expression and freedom of thought. Her classmates included two men who were undergoing sex changes and a woman who fancied herself a geisha. There was a lively gay and lesbian caucus, marches on Washington, civil disobedience, and more sexual intrigue than could be found in a stereotypical college fraternity house. Providing a bird’s-eye view of life within the hallowed halls (and beneath the crimson robes), Incognito is a humorous and poignant glimpse inside one of the nation’s most revered institutions. From navigating relation­ships to exploring whether a pretty girl can truly wear a collar, Incognito tackles our assumptions about spirituality, the church, morality, and identity, and affirms that God often works in ways—and in people—we least expect.

"Meet the heroines of Christianity's formative years!"The Witness of Early Christian Women: Mothers of the Church demonstrates the radical nature of Christianity's understanding of women and their roles, especially in a pagan society that viewed them as little more than property. The variety of women here is striking: poor widows, consecrated virgins, heroic martyrs, but also businesswomen, the wealthy, and an indomitable traveler on a world tour.Each chapter features a concise biography accompanied by writings from the early Church about the woman in question.The Mothers of the Church include: Holy Women of the New TestamentSt. BlandinaSt. Perpetua and St. FelicitySt. HelenaSt. TheclaSt. Agnes of RomeSt. MacrinaProba the WidowSt. MarcellaSt. PaulaSt. EustochiumSt. MonicaEgeria the TouristExplore the impact of each of these women on the Church, then and now. Their stories will enthrall you. Their writings will inspire you. Their witness will empower you.

Born about the year 1140 in the foothills of the Alps near Grenoble, Hugh of Avalon became a Carthusian monk at La Grande Chartreuse, observing an ascetic discipline devoted to prayer and contemplation. In his mid-40s, he was summoned to England to help found the first Carthusian monastery in that country at Witham in Somersetshire. His success was such that in 1186 he was elected Bishop of Lincoln. As bishop, Hugh helped to make Lincoln a center of learning, rebuilding the cathedral in the new Gothic style and winning the respect of the leaders of his age, including Pope Innocent III and the kings of England, Henry II, Richard I, and John (who helped carry the bier at Hugh's funeral in 1200). Hugh gained a reputation for sanctity and mercy during his life thanks to his concern for the poor, his love for children, his hospitality, and his defense of the Jews. His kindness, wit and cheerful disposition won him a wide circle of friends, including a wild swan which guarded him while he slept and subsequently became his chief iconographic emblem. Hugh was perhaps most famous for delivering a stinging public rebuke to Richard I, which the king received with grave humility. Hugh was canonized a saint in AD 1220. This edition of the Vita Sancti Hugonis, originally written by St. Hugh's contemporary Gerald of Wales, is the earliest biography of Hugh and contains both the original Latin and a translation in English by Richard M. Loomis. Divided into two parts, the first treats of Hugh's life, deeds, virtues and death. The second part contains a fascinating litany of miraculous events associated with those who visited the saint's tomb. The volume also includes a detailed introduction by the editor and an appendix containing an excerpt from the Metrical Life of St. Hugh describing the construction of Lincoln cathedral, as well as several illustrations and photos. Overall, the work provides an intimate portrait of one of the outstanding churchmen of the age and offers a window into life in 12th century England.

Three hundred and thirty-two years after her death, Kateri Tekakwitha has become recognized as a saint of the Catholic Church. Read about her extraordinary life through the eyes of someone who actually knew her: Fr. Pierre Cholonec, one of the two main biographers of St. Kateri. Father Cholonec's account of Kateri's life, as presented in this book, helped solidify her name and reputation within the Catholic world and began the process that would culminate with her canonization in October of 2012. This new edition of Fr. Cholonec's abridged biography, written in 1715, brings the courageous and endearing story of the Lily of the Mohawks out of hard-to-find academic texts to modern readers. Also included in this volume as an addendum to the biography of St. Kateri is Fr. Cholonec's heartwrenching and fascinating account of the Iroquois martyrs, the friends and neighbors of St. Kateri who preferred to die by torture than to give up their hard-won faith.

One of the most important figures of the Sixteenth Century, St. Philip Neri was a Roman Catholic Priest and Founder of the Congregations of the Oratory - the Oratorians. His simple way, emphasizing prayer, the sacraments, and the Word of God, is followed by countless believers around the world. In this little book, the Fathers and Brothers of the Cardiff Oratory have drawn together Devotions to St. Philip Neri from the wealth of English-language sources, particularly those written by St. John Henry Newman of the Birmingham Oratory and by Fr. Wilfrid Faber of the London Oratory, so that the faithful can join in the annual Novena - nine days of prayer leading up to his feast-day on 26th of May. A wonderful resource for anyone with devotion to St. Philip, or those curious to learn more about such a compelling life. Useful for praying the Novena 17-26 May, but also any time around the year. Includes nine devotions and prayers written by St. John Henry; the Litany to St. Philip in Latin and English; Cardinal Baronius' prayer to St. Philip; and four English hymns to St. Philip from the British Oratorian repertoire.

Combining Scripture, quotations from St. Thérèse's Little Way, and images of the traditional fourteen Stations of the Cross, this book is perfect for personal devotion, group prayer, and parish use. The Little Flower promised to let fall a shower of roses, and in this beautifully illustrated Way of the Cross, she fulfills that promise once again

Fifty percent of Americans, including clergy, are lonely, according to leadership development consultants Mary Kay DuChene and Mark Sundby. In A Path to Belonging: Overcoming Clergy Loneliness, they offer research, tools, and remedies for clergy to embark on the path toward a healthy sense of contentment and belonging and more effective leadership.

"Dear reader! you are about to take part inperhaps the greatest tragedy of an age that wrote Hamlet and Macbeth. Greater even than the writer's part will be yours, the reader's and hearer's part. Only your hearing ear and your seeing eye will bring the tragedy to its own. But your seeing eye and hearing ear must first recognise that a greater than Hamlet or Macbeth is here. They are but splendid fiction. But the tragedy of the first and only Cardinal to receive the martyr's crown is as real as the Yorkshire moors where John Fisher was born, or as Tower Hill where the Cardinal Bishop of Rochester was beheaded. Do not expect anything melodramatic ormiraculous in this tragedy of tragedies: all on the hero's side is as sober in colouring as the heather on a Yorkshire moor. All is as normal as the steadiness of the hills or the falling of flakes of snow. Search as you may in the plain tale of this Yorkshireman who was spokesman of England's faith and chivalry, you will find no gesture, no stir, no noise, but only a humble self-distrusting quest of the best. But, dear reader, in this outwardly emotionless love of God and men to see a tragedy beyond all telling or seeing will call from you the best of your mind and heart." -From the Introduction Fr. Vincent McNabb, O.P., a prolific Dominican known for his humility and preaching, takes advantage of the historical research of his contemporaries to weave the drama of St. John Fisher's amazing life. This is a short work, rather than a detailed historical analysis, that is both endlessly enjoyable as literature-even a work of art, yet at the same time pious and inspiring to faith. McNabb's life of Fisher traces the saint's early days from his childhood to his enrollment in Cambridge, his becoming a priest, a chaplain to Lady Margaret Beaufort, and at last, being appointed Bishop of Rochester, in which office he would be cruelly put to death by Henry VIII, the exemplar of tyrants. Fisher is an important study for us today, not only because he died for the Catholic Faith, but also because he died for not believing as the monarch would have him believe. Henry VIII, in his quest to divorce his wife to marry his mistress, created the model of the Totalitarian state. Fisher is for us, a witness both of solid adherence to faith, as well as the courage to speak out when most others are content to get along.

Every great religious order runs into difficulties, and God provides a saint to redress them. Where would the Benedictines be without St. Maurus, the Franciscans without St. Bonaventure, or the Dominicans without Blessed Jordan? Likewise, where would the Poor Clares be without St. Colette? Colette of Corbie was born in one of the most turbulent times in the Church, the 14th century. She moved within the world of the Western Schism, having interacted with many of the great figures of her day, men as diverse as the anti-Pope Pedro de Luna, Pope Martin V, and St. John Capistrano. She was also active during the close of the Hundred Years' War between France and England and was a contemporary of St. Joan of Arc. But her most enduring legacy is her reform of the Second Order of St. Francis, the Poor Clares. Mother Mary Francis tells the amazing story of this great saint, whose life was filled with miracles, who defeated the devil with humility, prayer and trust in God. She writes Colette's life with flowing prose that connects her to the great and dramatic events of her time, while at every turn bringing out the work of God in her soul. Saint Colette is a saint to know better, who along with others in laboring in the troubled vineyard of the 15th century, did so much to heal and reform the Church.

The papacy is no stranger to controversy. In many ways it's Catholicism's defining doctrine--but also its most divisive. From medieval pontiffs who acted like princes to a modern pope whose every casual statement sets off a social-media firestorm, there has been plenty for non-Catholics to criticize and for the faithful to feel anxious about. We profess that Jesus made St. Peter the visible head of his Church on earth and that his successors throughout the ages are guided by the Holy Spirit to govern, teach, and sanctify it. How can we strengthen this belief in the papacy in the face of challenges (both outside the Church and within it) and so strengthen our faith in the One who instituted it? In Pope Peter, Joe Heschmeyer says that papal flaws are an opportunity to understand what the papacy really means, not to abandon it (or the Church). Drawing deeply on the scriptural and historical witness, he offers a thorough but accessible defense of the papal office and an edifying picture of the extent--and limits--of its authority. Jesus made Peter the Rock of the Church and promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Pope Peter will confirm your faith in that promise and help you proclaim its truth to others.