As David deSilva has experienced the ancient wisdom of the Book of Common Prayer, he's been formed spiritually in deep and lasting ways. In these pages, he offers you a brand new way to use the Book of Common Prayer, exploring how Christians can be spiritually formed by the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist, marriage and last rites.

Just outside the realm of visibility, the sacraments of the Church lie ready to effect real change in our lives. We need only to let them in. In Holiness and Living the Sacramental Life, Fr. Philip-Michael Tangorra lays out the mystical and invisible realities that are present during the celebration of the sacraments and explains how they can lead us to living ever more in tune with God. Read how the sacraments aren’t empty ceremonies, but rather powerful, effective signs that bring grace crashing through the cosmos and into our world. See how beauty—expressed in art, music, and architecture—can bring us deeper into the mysteries of God. Fr. Tangorra teaches the average Catholic how to abandon a lukewarm spirituality and start living a sacramental existence, allowing God to imbue life with a constant sense of union and communion with the divine.

Christians tend to divide into three camps: evangelical, sacramental, and pentecostal. But must we choose between them? Drawing on the New Testament, Christian history, and years of experience in Christian ministry, Gordon T. Smith argues that the church not only can be all three, but in fact must be all three in order to truly be the church.

God is to be found in the simplest of our daily activities and especially through total surrender to whatever is His will for each of us. That is the message of this 18th-century inspirational classic by Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Its encouragement to live in the present moment, accepting everyday obstacles with humility and love, has guided generations of seekers to spiritual peace and holiness. In this timeless spiritual classic, de Caussade presents the simple, profound gospel message that Jesus lived and taught: My meat is to do the will of my Father in heaven. The author states, The will of God gives to all things a supernatural and divine value for the soul submitting to it. The duties it imposes and those it contains become holy and perfect because everything it touches shares its divine character.This special volume of the famous spiritual treatise also includes the many insightful letters of Father de Caussade on the practice of self-abandonment. These numerous letters provide a great additional source of wisdom and much practical guidance for how to grow in abandonment and to deepen our union with God in our daily lives.De Caussade shows that this practice of self-abandonment to God's will is the key to attaining true peace and virtue, and that it is readily available to all people - from beginners to those well advanced in the spiritual life. He also shows how to determine what God's will is for us. He reveals that it is not extraordinary feats that God expects for our growth in holiness, but rather heroic attention to every detail in our lives and humble acceptance of our daily lot in life as coming from His hand. The rich spiritual lessons in this book have stood the test of time, offering real and practical assistance to all people because its message is simple and clear, one that the reader will find to be a rare treasure of inspiration and direction to be referred to again and again.

We Catholics simply don't expect enough of the sacraments. Sometimes I think they must be the most underutilized power sources on the planet.—from Chapter One The sacraments lie dormant for many because we don't understand them and don't know how to tap into their supernatural energy.Living the Sacramentsweaves together Scripture, the writings of the saints, and personal stories to help us understand these seven gifts of the Church and experience their practical and spiritual rewards.

The most solemn, majestic, and beautiful gifts that Jesus Christ gave to the world are His sacraments. He endowed them with unprecedented and unparalleled power—power to change lives, save souls, and share God’s very life. The sacraments are the ordinary means by which God directs the course of each human life and all of world history. The Church celebrates seven sacraments: baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, matrimony, holy orders, confession, and anointing of the sick. Each was established by Jesus for the sake of salvation. When Jesus spoke of the sacraments, He made clear that they were essential: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:5) . . . unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6: 53). In Swear to God, Dr. Scott Hahn explores the richness of Christ’s sacraments—their doctrine, history, symbols, and rituals. Drawing upon the Bible and the Church’s tradition, he shows how God’s covenants—with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—became the driving forces in history. When Jesus came to fulfill all these covenants, He established a new covenant, with greater power than ever before. Christians are God’s children now. Joined to Christ by baptism, we can already share in the eternal life of the Trinity, a life we hope to know fully in heaven. But heaven is with us, even now, in the sacraments.

Recounts the author's experiences founding a faith-based community garden in rural North Carolina, and emphasizes how growing one's own food can help readers reconnect with the land and divine faith.