New converts and cradle Catholics alike are often perplexed by the myriad of devotions, traditions, practices, and beliefs that the Catholic Church has accumulated over the past twenty centuries. Why pray to St. Anthony to find something lost? Why keep a St. Christopher medal in your car? Or why bury a statue of St. Joseph — upside down! — in your yard when selling your house? In Helen Hoffner’s lovingly-illustrated, encyclopedic Catholic Treasures and Traditions, you’ll find succinct – and sometimes amusing – answers to these and hundreds of other questions. This delightful book explains the origin and nature of most of the common traditions of the Catholic Faith, as well as the source and meaning of many of the quaint and obscure ones. From Forty Hours to First Fridays and from Holy Hours to Holy Days, you’ll find in these pages an informative, delightful compendium of the Catholic way of life, including information about: Novenas * Penance * Prayers for the Dead * First Fridays * Votive Candles * Religious Medals * St. Francis Statues * Bathtub Madonnas * Holy Cards * Crucifixes * House Blessings * Prayer Corners * Advent Calendars * Jesse Trees * Marian Apparitions * Vestments * Icons * Divine Mercy * The Sacred Heart * The Liturgical Year * Holy Days * Religious Orders * The Holy See * The Roman Curia * The Divine Office * Holy Oils * Genuflecting * Relics * Stations of the Cross * The Sacraments * The Angelus * Litanies * Patron Saints and much more to acquaint you with the many wonderful treasures and traditions of the Catholic Faith!

"Rich, full-color artwork, advent calendar with daily prayer, scripture passage, and activity, room to record Christmas reflections and special moments, descriptions of ancient and modern Christmas traditions"--Jacket.

A beautifully illustrated look at Christmas ornaments and the memories they hold on our trees First highlighted in the New York Times, Bonnie Mackay’s annual Christmas tree showcases a lifetime collecting almost 3,000 ornaments. Now, through beautiful photography and illuminating vignettes, Tree of Treasures shares the heartfelt stories behind a hundred of those cherished possessions, whether it’s the story of a family member, like Mackay’s grandfather, a well-known vaudeville performer; long-held relationships with friends and colleagues in the international community of Christmas crafts makers; a memory of a beloved pet; and much more. From serene lace angels and vintage Santas, to exquisite glass-blown spheres and small silk purses, Tree of Treasures showcases ornaments both beautiful and well-loved, illuminating how ornaments, as we unpack and hang them each holiday season, tell the story of our lives.

This newly revised, expanded edition answers the questions most commonly asked by both Catholics and non-Catholics. Dues outlines traditional Catholic religious history, gives an engaging overview of the rich variety of customs associated with Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Lent, and provides a thorough understanding of why Catholics practice their faith the way they do.

Two major historical events have led to Patmos being called 'the holy island of the Aegean'. The first is the arrival there in A.D. 95 of the Evangelist, Saint John the Theologian, who wrote the Book of Revelation on the island; and the second is the foundation in 1088, at the beginning of the second millenium of the Christian era, of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian by the monk Christodoulos, armed with three chrysobulls from the Byzantine emperor, Alexios I Comnenos. During the nine centuries of its life, the Monastery on Patmos has assembled and preserved many precious treasures of art and culture, and, along with the Patmian School, it has supplied the Orthodox Church with patriarchs and other enlightened prelates, and the State and the intellectual world with distinguished personalities. Patmos, Treasures of the Monastery contains chapters on the various kinds of works of art housed in the Monastery from the Byzantine and modern Greek popular traditions, and also on the rare manuscripts and valuable editions in the Library, the richest in the Aegean. These chapters, each lavishly illustrated, deal with the architecture of the fortress-like complex of the Monastery, the outstanding wall paintings and icons, the masterpieces of gold-embroidery and church silver, the exquisite miniatures in the manuscripts, and the other treasures in the Library and the archive.

A large format version of the popular Dorling Kindersley Travel Guide series features meticulously detailed three-dimensional and cutaway illustrations of popular landmarks and sites throughout Ireland, along with fascinating travel information, full-color photography, and detailed captions.

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Monuments Men: "An astonishing account of a little-known American effort to save Italy's…art during World War II." —Tom Brokaw When Hitler’s armies occupied Italy in 1943, they also seized control of mankind’s greatest cultural treasures. As they had done throughout Europe, the Nazis could now plunder the masterpieces of the Renaissance, the treasures of the Vatican, and the antiquities of the Roman Empire. On the eve of the Allied invasion, General Dwight Eisenhower empowered a new kind of soldier to protect these historic riches. In May 1944 two unlikely American heroes—artist Deane Keller and scholar Fred Hartt—embarked from Naples on the treasure hunt of a lifetime, tracking billions of dollars of missing art, including works by Michelangelo, Donatello, Titian, Caravaggio, and Botticelli. With the German army retreating up the Italian peninsula, orders came from the highest levels of the Nazi government to transport truckloads of art north across the border into the Reich. Standing in the way was General Karl Wolff, a top-level Nazi officer. As German forces blew up the magnificent bridges of Florence, General Wolff commandeered the great collections of the Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace, later risking his life to negotiate a secret Nazi surrender with American spymaster Allen Dulles. Brilliantly researched and vividly written, the New York Times bestselling Saving Italy brings readers from Milan and the near destruction of The Last Supper to the inner sanctum of the Vatican and behind closed doors with the preeminent Allied and Axis leaders: Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Churchill; Hitler, Göring, and Himmler. An unforgettable story of epic thievery and political intrigue, Saving Italy is a testament to heroism on behalf of art, culture, and history.