The renovation of the Jesuits after the Second Vatican Council has been a sign of hope and a cause for consternation. Especially during the turbulence right after the Council, the Jesuits were in the eye of the storm. In this historical memoir, Patrick Howell gives personal insight into how the Council impacted the Society of Jesus and precipitated a radical rethinking of the mission of the Jesuits today. The Council mandated a return of religious orders to the vision of their founders. The Jesuits fortunately had a strong, charismatic founder in St. Ignatius of Loyola with a rich religious and intellectual tradition. By rediscovering their spiritual heritage and restructuring their mission around the signs of the times and the needs of the world, the Jesuits were able to move adroitly into the twenty-first century as a continuing dynamic force for the Church and for the world. Fr. Howell brings a unique personal perspective to the nature and style of the Church prior to the Council and “an insider’s view” throughout his fifty-seven years as a Jesuit in which he has met many of the personages, witnessed all the changes, and been a direct participant in many of them.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter's, on 29 June, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, in the year 2016, the fourth of my Pontificate.FRANCISCUS

ÊCan life really be "merry" inside a Poor Clare cloister? This happy book reveals the challenges, cares and joys of that cloistered life from an "insiders" view. The poet's cry, "O world, I cannot hold you close enough!" is the heart's cry of the enclosed contemplative. No one who has not lived in a cloister can fully understand just how intertwined are the lives of cloistered nuns. Their hearts may be wide as the universe and bottomless as eternity, but the practical details of their living are boxed up into the small area within the enclosure walls. Cloistered nuns rub souls as well as elbows all their lives, and if they do not step out of themselves to get a true perspective, they can become small-souled and petty and remain immature children all their lives long. But, as Mother Mary Francis points out, they also have "as great a right to be merry as any lady in the world." Nor is merriment all. "Hidden away from the glare and noise of worldly living," Mother Mary Francis writes, "we are enclosed in the womb of holy Church. I walk down the cloisters, and my heart moves to a single tune: Lord, it is good, so good to be here!"

Une étude savante complète de l'histoire, de la réception et de l'impact de Vatican II au Canada. A thorough scholarly examination of the history, reception and impact of Vatican II in Canada.

This unique collection presents an insightful liturgical study and review of each of the sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council.

The perfect gift! A specially priced, beautifully designed hardcover edition of The Joy of the Gospel with a foreword by Robert Barron and an afterword by James Martin, SJ. “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus… In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” – Pope Francis This special edition of Pope Francis's popular message of hope explores themes that are important for believers in the 21st century. Examining the many obstacles to faith and what can be done to overcome those hurdles, he emphasizes the importance of service to God and all his creation. Advocating for “the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned,” the Holy Father shows us how to respond to poverty and current economic challenges that affect us locally and globally. Ultimately, Pope Francis demonstrates how to develop a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, “to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small.” Profound in its insight, yet warm and accessible in its tone, The Joy of the Gospel is a call to action to live a life motivated by divine love and, in turn, to experience heaven on earth. Includes a foreword by Robert Barron, author of Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith and James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

The sixteen official documents—constitutions, decrees, and declarations—of the Second Vatican Council are now available from Liturgical Press in the most popular and widely used inclusive-language edition translated by Irish Dominican Austin Flannery (+October 21, 2008). As the worldwide Church continues to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Council (1962–65), there is a great need in college classrooms and parish faith formation groups—as well as for individuals—to again have access to these documents in contemporary English. As Flannery wrote in his introduction to the 1996 edition, “The translation of the texts of the Vatican documents in the present volume differs from that in the previous publication in two respects. It has been very considerably revised and, in place, corrected. It is also, to a very large extent, in inclusive language. “I say ‘to a very large extent,’ because we have used inclusive language in passages about men and women but not, however, in passages about God, except where the use of the masculine pronoun was easily avoidable.”