Drawing on the Eastern Orthodox tradition of asceticism and integrating it with recent Western thought on liturgy, David W. Fagerberg examines the interaction between the two and presents a powerful argument that asceticism is necessary for understanding liturgy as the foundation of theology

Some think that liturgy is formal, public, and for ordinary people, while mysticism is uncontrollable, private, and for extraordinary saints. Is there a connection between the two? In this volume, David Fagerberg proposes that mysticism is the normal crowning of the Christian life, and the Christian life is liturgical. We intuitively sense that liturgy and theology and mysticism have an affinity. Liturgical theology should reveal liturgy’s mystical heart. Liturgical theology asks “What happens in liturgy?” and liturgical mysticism asks “What happens to us in liturgy?”, and perfects our interior liturgy. In Liturgical Mysticism, Fagerberg directs the reader to look fixedly at Christ, who is the Mystery present in liturgy, and who bestows his resurrection power upon his adopted children. “In a time where both too wild and too mild spiritualities abound, it is audacious to put forward a book on liturgical mysticism. [This book] continues to enrich liturgical theology by amplifying its horizon and solidifying the foundation on which it rests.” Joris Geldhof Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

"Liturgical Theology" is often a convenient label for any theology that has loosely to do with worship or Eucharist. In this innovative book, David Fagerberg distinguishes liturgical theology from a general theology of worship. He proposes two defining attributes of liturgical theology: (1) "lex orandi": It is manifested in the Church's historical rites. (2) "theologia prima": It is theology done by the liturgical community. Theologia Prima is a thorough revision of Dr. Fagerberg's groundbreaking, What Is Liturgical Theology? A Study in Methodology (1992). It contains three new chapters as well as well as more anecdotal material derived from Dr. Fagerberg's extensive experience as a teacher and theologian.

What has liturgy to do with life? The sacred with the secular? This study proposes that the liturgy calls us, in the words of Aidan Kavanagh, "to do the world as the world was meant to be done." The sacramental liturgy of the Church and the personal liturgy of our lives should be as a seamless garment. Consecrating the World continues David Fagerberg's exploration of the Church's lex orandi (law of prayer) by expanding two major themes. The first considers liturgy as the matrix wherein our encounter with God becomes an experience of primary theology. The second illustrates how a believer is made ready for this liturgy through asceticism in both its faces-the one negative (dealing with sin), the other positive (dealing with sanctification). This book turns these two themes outward to a liturgical theology of the cosmos-a mundane liturgical theology of the consecration of the world and the sanctification of our daily life. "David Fagerberg invites us, with the urgency of the gospel, to see God the Trinity in every created thing, and to offer to God as a joyful sacrifice of praise the good things He has made, rather than cleaving egocentrically to these good things. When, through the Dove (the Spirit), Christ frees us to do the world in this way, we become the liturgical priest-kings we were meant to be; we learn how to live and die on the ascending path of Christ. Steeped in the spirituality of the Orthodox East and the Anglican West, enriched by the Catholic masters of Ressourcement, Fagerberg shares his vision in everyday language for all to hear. Just when it seemed that spiritual masters no longer roamed university hallways, God has raised up a true spiritual guide for our time. Open this book, awaken from spiritual slumber, read and rejoice."-MATTHEW LEVERING, Mundelein Seminary "Consecrating the World takes up where David Fagerberg's masterful On Liturgical Asceticism left off, providing a key to living the liturgy in every moment and aspect of human life. That this is indeed an everyday task takes nothing away from its divine content and sublime finality. Fagerberg is rightly regarded as one of the foremost liturgical theologians of our day. His engagement with the tradition is both fresh and fruitful. If we are to be 'thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy, ' we must grasp what the Sacred Liturgy in fact is. For this, Fagerberg is a worthy and rightly demanding guide."-DOM ALCUIN REID, Monastere Saint-Benoit, La Garde-Freinet, France "Consecrating the World is no ordinary book. It is a course in re-training the mind and the senses to perceive the world in a new way. Like the ancient Fathers, David Fagerberg sees all material things as sensible signs leading us to heavenly realities. Like Maximus and Dionysius, he shows us that the cosmos is itself a liturgy, calling us to consecrate ourselves and our work, our passions and the world to God-to sanctify the temporal order. This is a theology most visionary, joyful, and passionate."-SCOTT HAHN, Franciscan University of Steubenville "In David Fagerberg's new book, his trademark genius for integrating liturgical theology, ascetical theology, and the theology of creation is on full display, but here developed in a new, pneumatological direction that seems to lift it all up on the wings of the Holy Spirit. This book fully corroborates Fagerberg's reputation as one of the most creative and inspiring liturgical theologians of our time. It will have a wide readership both inside the academy, in seminaries, and in the hands of anyone interested in learning what is the deep connection between the sacred moments of the liturgy and the mundane moments of life in the world as we all must live it."-JOHN C. CAVADINI, University of Notre Dame"

To Train His Soul in Books explores numerous aspects of this rich religious culture, extending previous lines of scholarly investigation and demonstrating the activity of Syriac-speaking scribes and translators busy assembling books for the training of biblical interpreters, ascetics, and learned clergy.

Annalisa Boyd knows motherhood--its challenges, its joys, and its potential for spiritual growth. In this prayer book she offers a wide selection of prayers mothers can use to intercede for their families as well as to grow in virtue themselves.

Challenging contemporary perceptions of the ascetic in the early modern period, this book explores asceticism as a vital site of religious conflict and literary creativity, rather than merely a vestige of a medieval past.