Prayers for use by the laity in waging spiritual warfare from the public domain and the Church's treasury.

One of the best-kept secrets in the church is the story of the emergence of the Catholic laity from "pray, pay, and obey" passive spectators to men and women assuming their rightful roles in liturgy, ministry, and other church functions. This evolution is not merely a response to the ever dwindling number of priests and thus the need for others to assume these functions, but is primarily a recognition of the laity's call to serve through the sacrament of baptism in which they all share. In this well-researched book, Aurelie Hagstrom describes the emergence of the laity during the twentieth century and presents a compelling theology of the laity based on scripture, on a renewed understanding of the sacrament of baptism and, especially, on the great watershed in church thinking brought about by the Second Vatican Council. She assures Catholic lay persons that their everyday lives are the "stuff" by which they attain a holiness that is as valid as that lived by clergy and religious. Book jacket.

Liturgy and Laity is a prayer book designed to help average Catholics share deeply in the Church's rich, liturgical life. Ideal for personal and liturgical use, it offers a series of reflections on the doctrines of the Liturgy as outlined in the Constitution on the Liturgy. The first part is a series of reflections followed by discussion questions that examine the fundamental truths underlying the liturgical life of the Church. The second part is a series of prayer exercises known as Bible Vigils, which are meant to increase our knowledge and love of the Word of God. They were selected and designed to prepare us for the Mass and to foster a continual renewal of the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the Church. Liturgy and Laity is a complete guide to the liturgy of the Church offering both the theological basis of the liturgy as well as liturgical devotions, including: - How each of us becomes united with the Mystical Body of Christ through the Mass (p. 57) - - A comprehensive guide to the Liturgical Year and its major feast days (p. 85) - - The salvific nature of the Sacraments and their relation to the Liturgy (p. 127) - - Bible Vigils for more than thirty feasts and sacraments including Baptism, St. Joseph the Worker, All Souls Day, Our Lady of Guadalupe This book is perfect for use in group prayer among the family, study groups, and parish life.

Christianity in the late antique world was not imposed but embraced, and the laity were not passive members of their religion but had a central role in its creation. This volume explores the role of the laity in Gaul, bringing together the fields of history, archaeology and theology. First, this book follows the ways in which clergy and monks tried to shape and manufacture lay religious experience. They had themselves constructed the category of 'the laity', which served as a negative counterpart to their self-definition. Lay religious experience was thus shaped in part by this need to create difference between categories. The book then focuses on how the laity experienced their religion, how they interpreted it and how their decisions shaped the nature of the Church and of their faith. This part of the study pays careful attention to the diversity of the laity in this period, their religious environments, ritual engagement, behaviours, knowledge and beliefs. The first volume to examine laity in this period in Gaul – a key region for thinking about the transition from Roman rule to post-Roman society – The Religious Worlds of the Laity in Late Antique Gaul fills an important gap in current literature.