The writings of the Fathers of the Church have never been more widely available, yet obtaining an exhaustive and userfriendly volume of patristics can still be a daunting task. Without realizing it, many priests, seminarians, members of religious communities, and even laity already own a patristic library their Liturgy of the Hours. In the four volumes of the Liturgy of the Hours, the official daily prayer of the Catholic Church, there are nearly 600 selections from the writings of Fathers and saints. Seeing the potential of this vast collection as a theological resource, Milton Walsh has organized these selections by topics according to the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This topical concordance allows the reader to compare what the various authors have written on the same themes, while a chronological timeline of the readings shows their relationship to each other in time. Walsh has also provided background on the liturgical celebrations of the Church, as well as historical information on each author. In addition, there is a chapter on how patristic readings can assist in understanding the Bible. This fresh and original presentation of material that is literally at the fingertips of anyone praying the Liturgy of the Hours can be a tremendous aid to both religious devotion and theological study.

This is a collection of essays on the literature of "saints' lives" in Anglo-Saxon literature.

From the earliest days of the Church through modern times, women have always played a unique and critical role in the story of Christianity. Jesus Christ called both men and women to be his disciples, and countless women in Church history have stood out for the holiness of their lives and the wealth of their teaching. In each chapter, derived from catechesis given during his weekly general audiences from September 2010 to April 2011, Pope Benedict XVI expertly and thoughtfully explores the life stories and writings of these seventeen holy women: Saint Hildegard of Bingen Saint Clare of Assisi Saint Matilda of Hackeborn Saint Gertrude the Great Blessed Angela of Foligno Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Saint Bridget of Sweden Marguerite d'Oingt Saint Juliana of Cornillon Saint Catherine of Siena Julian of Norwich Saint Veronica Giuliani Saint Catherine of Bologna Saint Catherine of Genoa Saint Joan of Arc Saint Teresa of Ávila Saint Thérèse of Lisieux The remarkable examples of the feminine genius in Holy Women are still relevant today. These models of prayer, faith, and good works will help you gain a fuller understanding of Church history and serve as guides on your faith journey.

In the period between 1200 and 1500 in western Europe, a number of religious women gained widespread veneration and even canonization as saints for their extraordinary devotion to the Christian eucharist, supernatural multiplications of food and drink, and miracles of bodily manipulation, including stigmata and inedia (living without eating). The occurrence of such phenomena sheds much light on the nature of medieval society and medieval religion. It also forms a chapter in the history of women. Previous scholars have occasionally noted the various phenomena in isolation from each other and have sometimes applied modern medical or psychological theories to them. Using materials based on saints' lives and the religious and mystical writings of medieval women and men, Caroline Walker Bynum uncovers the pattern lying behind these aspects of women's religiosity and behind the fascination men and women felt for such miracles and devotional practices. She argues that food lies at the heart of much of women's piety. Women renounced ordinary food through fasting in order to prepare for receiving extraordinary food in the eucharist. They also offered themselves as food in miracles of feeding and bodily manipulation. Providing both functionalist and phenomenological explanations, Bynum explores the ways in which food practices enabled women to exert control within the family and to define their religious vocations. She also describes what women meant by seeing their own bodies and God's body as food and what men meant when they too associated women with food and flesh. The author's interpretation of women's piety offers a new view of the nature of medieval asceticism and, drawing upon both anthropology and feminist theory, she illuminates the distinctive features of women's use of symbols. Rejecting presentist interpretations of women as exploited or masochistic, she shows the power and creativity of women's writing and women's lives.

The Observant Movement was a widespread effort to reform religious life across Europe. It took root around 1400, and for a century and more thereafter it inspired or shaped much that became central to European religion and culture. The Observants produced many of the leading religious figures of the later Middle Ages—Catherine of Siena, Bernardino of Siena and Savonarola in Italy, Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros in Spain, and in Germany Martin Luther himself. This volume provides scholars with a current, synthetic introduction to the Observant Movement. Its essays also seek collectively to expand the horizons of our study of Observant reform, and to open new avenues for future scholarship. Contributors are Michael D. Bailey, Pietro Delcorno, Tamar Herzig, Anne Huijbers, James D. Mixson, Alison More, Carolyn Muessig, Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli, Bert Roest, Timothy Schmitz, and Gabriella Zarri.

Discover the Bible-believing, Jesus-centered, morally pure Christianity of the Middle Ages Superstitious peasants and relic-hawking clergy—if this says Medieval Christianity to you, then think again. Not only were those years filled with dynamic Catholic leaders and thinkers, but they flourished in times very like our own: an increasingly secular culture hostile to Christianity, threats to religious liberty, scandal in the Church, cultural degradation and more. In Positively Medieval you’ll encounter some of the leading figures of the time, men and women who not only passed on the torch of Christian faith, but also rebuilt society in the wake of the barbarian invasions. Their energetic response to very dark times will inspire you to meet today’s challenges with the same smart, creative, clear-eyed confidence.

Pilgrimage inspired and shaped the distinct experiences of commoners and nobles, men and women, clergy and laity for over a thousand years. Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages: A Reader is a rich collection of primary sources for the history of Christian pilgrimage in Europe and the Mediterranean world from the fourth through the sixteenth centuries. The collection illustrates the far-reaching significance and consequences of pilgrimage for the culture, society, economics, politics, and spirituality of the Middle Ages. Brett Edward Whalen focuses on sites within Europe and beyond its borders, including the holy places of Jerusalem, and provides documents that shed light upon Eastern Christian, Jewish, and Islamic pilgrimages. The result is an innovative sourcebook that offers a window into broader trends, shifts, and transformations in the Middle Ages.