In 1295, a house fell from the evening sky onto an Italian coastal road by the Adriatic Sea. Inside, awestruck locals encountered the Virgin Mary, who explained that this humble mud-brick structure was her original residence newly arrived from Nazareth. To keep it from the hands of Muslim invaders, angels had flown it to Loreto, stopping three times along the way. This story of the house of Loreto has been read as an allegory of how Catholicism spread peacefully around the world by dropping miraculously from the heavens. In this book, Karin Vélez calls that interpretation into question by examining historical accounts of the movement of the Holy House across the Mediterranean in the thirteenth century and the Atlantic in the seventeenth century. These records indicate vast and voluntary involvement in the project of formulating a branch of Catholic devotion. Vélez surveys the efforts of European Jesuits, Slavic migrants, and indigenous peoples in Baja California, Canada, and Peru. These individuals contributed to the expansion of Catholicism by acting as unofficial authors, inadvertent pilgrims, unlicensed architects, unacknowledged artists, and unsolicited cataloguers of Loreto. Their participation in portaging Mary’s house challenges traditional views of Christianity as a prepackaged European export, and instead suggests that Christianity is the cumulative product of thousands of self-appointed editors. Vélez also demonstrates how miracle narratives can be treated seriously as historical sources that preserve traces of real events. Drawing on rich archival materials, The Miraculous Flying House of Loreto illustrates how global Catholicism proliferated through independent initiatives of untrained laymen.

Winner of a 2016 Association of Catholic Publishers 2016 Excellence in Publishing Award: Inspirational Books (Second Place). Our Lady, Undoer of Knots: A Living Novena is a unique guided meditation from veteran Catholic journalist Marge Fenelon, who has created a new devotional practice from this classic novena that is a favorite of Pope Francis. Since the seventeenth century, Catholics facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles have turned to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots through a special novena--nine days of prayer for divine intervention. Catholic columnist Marge Fenelon resurrects this ancient tradition, also known as the Unfailing Novena, by reflecting on nine sacred sites associated with Pope Francis's 2014 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Reflecting on such holy places as Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, and the Temple Mount, Fenelon helps readers explore the "knots" or impossible situations in their own lives in order to find peace.

A major revision of this classic revenge tragedy. The comprehensive introduction covers recent developments in criticism and key theatre productions, as well as relating the play to other early modern tragedies. The edition gives students and teachers a reliable, annotated text and a stimulating overview of the play's context, critical perspectives and an exploration of its stage history. An invaluable resource for study and performance.

Unlike the traditional terms Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform, this book does not see Catholicism from 1450 to 1700 primarily in relationship to the Protestant Reformation but as both shaped by the revolutionary changes of the early modern period and actively refashioning itself in response to these changes: the emergence of the early modern state; economic growth and social dislocation; the expansion of Europe across the seas; the Renaissance; and, to be sure, the Protestant Reformation. Bireley devotes particular attention to new methods of evangelization in the Old World and the New, education at the elementary, secondary and university levels, the new active religious orders of women and men, and the effort to create a spirituality for the Christian living in the world. A final chapter looks at the issues raised by Machiavelli, Galileo and Pascal. Robert Bireley is a leading Jesuit historian and uniquely well placed to reassess this centrally important subject for understanding the dynamics of early modern Europe. This book will be of great value to all those studying the political, social, religious and cultural history of the period.

Originally published: 1978, in series: Lectures on the history of religions; new ser., no. 11. With new introd.