Liturgy, Books and Franciscan Identity in Medieval Umbria


Book Description

In Liturgy, Books and Franciscan Identity in Medieval Umbria, Anna Welch explores how Franciscan friars engaged with manuscript production networks operating in Umbria in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries to produce the missals essential to their liturgical lives. A micro-history of Franciscan liturgical activity, this study reassesses methodologies pertinent to manuscript studies and reflects on both the construction of communal identity through ritual activity and historiographic trends regarding this process. Welch focuses on manuscripts decorated by the ateliers of the Maestro di Deruta-Salerno (active c. 1280) and Maestro Venturella di Pietro (active c. 1317), in particular the Codex Sancti Paschalis, a missal now owned by the Australian Province of the Order of Friars Minor.




Beatitudes


Book Description

Meditations on the beatitudes given to Pope Benedict XVI and the papal household. Anyone who has tried to live the beatitudes will confirm that the task can be daunting. What does it mean to be a peacemaker? Do you really want to be "reviled" by others? If you're not rich compared to your immediate neighbors and friends, but you're rich compared to most of the world, what are you supposed to do about that? Father Raniero Cantalamessa will lead you not only to a deeper appreciation of these famous words of Jesus, but also into the presence of Jesus himself who lived them perfectly and who will give you the ability and enthusiasm to do the same. The beatitudes are not a burden to be shouldered but an invitation to a joy-filled life of surrender to the Lord who came not to be served, but to serve.




The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton


Book Description

Daniel Horan, O.F.M., popular author of Dating God and other books on Franciscan themes—and expert on the spirituality of Thomas Merton—masterfully presents the untold story of how the most popular saint in Christian history inspired the most popular spiritual writer of the twentieth century, and how together they can inspire a new generation of Christians. Millions of Christians and non-Christians look to Thomas Merton for spiritual wisdom and guidance, but to whom did Merton look? In The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton, Franciscan friar and author Daniel Horan shows how, both before and after he became a Trappist monk, Merton’s life was shaped by his love for St. Francis and for the Franciscan spiritual and intellectual tradition. Given recent renewed interest in St. Francis, this timely resource is both informative and practical, revealing a previously hidden side of Merton that will inspire a new generation of Christians to live richer, deeper, and more justice-minded lives of faith.




Franciscan Literature of Religious Instruction before the Council of Trent


Book Description

This book provides, for the first time, an exhaustive discussion of the Franciscan production of texts of religious instruction during the later medieval period (c. 1210-c. 1550). In eight chapters, it introduces the reader to the most important Franciscan sermon cycles, the Franciscan guidelines for living the life of evangelical perfection, the many Franciscan novice training manuals, the Franciscan catechisms and confession manuals, the Franciscan output of liturgical handbooks, the large number of Franciscan texts containing more wide-ranging forms of religious edification, and Franciscan prayer guides. This book provides medievalists and Renaissance scholars alike with a new tool to assess the intellectual and religious transformations between the thirteenth and the sixteenth century, and contributes to the current re-interpretation of the late medieval pastoral revolution.




A Franciscan Christmas


Book Description

Each piece of the Nativity has its own story and meaning in Franciscan history and Christian spirituality. Take a closer look at the crche and learn why Christmas is central to Franciscan spirituality and how families can find a deeper meaning in the simplest of seasonal decorations.







Women of the Streets


Book Description




Seeing Differently


Book Description

This timely book brings together the stories of St Francis – his preaching to birds, rejection of wealth, caring for lepers, befriending animals and living simply, his poetry and hymnody in praise of creation that is still sung today – and the influential writings and examples of inspiring Franciscans who have followed him such as Clare, Bonaventure, Duns Scotus and Angela of Foligno, and draws them into conversation with contemporary concerns for our planet. It gathers 800 years of accumulated wisdom and practical examples of how Franciscans have found ways to live at home and at peace with creation. It explores that long tradition and experience to ask what lessons can be drawn for today to challenge and enable readers to re-visit their own relationship with creation.