Winner of the Bisexual Book Award for Best Novel Natalie has made a promise: a vow of celibacy, signed and witnessed by her best friend. After a string of sexual conquests, she is determined to figure out why the intense romantic connections she's spent her life chasing have left her emotionally high and dry. As Natalie sifts through her past and her present, she confronts her complicated feelings about her plus-sized figure, her bisexuality, and her thwarted career in fashion design. Piecing together toxic relationship patterns from her past, Natalie finds herself strutting down fashion runways and rekindling her passion for clothing design in the present. All the while, her best friend, Anastaze, struggles with her own secret--whether or not to reveal her true identity to the thousands of fans of her popular blog and her potential first sexual partner. Clever, sexy, and hilarious, Vow of Celibacy delves into the perilous terrain of love and relationships, the uncertainty of early adulthood, and the sustaining force of friendship. This is an irresistible novel about the stories we can't help but tell ourselves about others, and it captures in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.

The author of "Quantum Theory and Reclaiming Spirituality" offers an original work that expands the meaning--and potential for good--of the three traditional religious vows.

We live in a cultural milieu in which it is no longer possible to have any confidence in external supports from society or the media to help one remain chaste - in the single state or in a life consecrated to God by vows. Today much depends on the strong personal motivations of the individual coupled with the grace of God and a heavy dose of common sense for one to live this lifestyle. Still it is not only possible to do so, but to do so with joy. This little book on celibacy and virginity for the sake of the Kingdom seeks to help create the kind of motivation necessary, drawing heavily on texts from the New Testament which address many of the problems and objections frequently leveled against the very idea of living chastely with the restraint, discipline and self-control required. Young people, for whom this book was mainly written, are shown how to live the charism of virginity and celibacy charismatically - that is "as a gift, in all humility, with joy and perfect freedom."

Celibacy and Soul: Exploring the Depths of Chastity is for women and men who have chosen to live into celibate chastity. It is also for those people who live celibate love, and though not vowed to a religious calling, know the way of celibate love as their path. You may find yourself celibate not by choice or you may hope it is a temporary stage. Perhaps life interrupted your plans with the death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, the situation of illness, the trauma of abuse, or you simply didn’t settle with the desired partner and you want to find meaning in your life as a celibate person. Celibacy and Soul is also useful for those in the helping professions, as the work of a therapist asks a celibate kind of loving that can be catalyst for change in both clients and practitioners.

"Fr Christian Cochini has made a thorough examination, based on years of extensive research, of the topic of clerical celibacy in the first seven centuries of the Church's history. ...." [from back cover]

Pope Francis has called mandatory priestly celibacy a "gift for the Church," but added "since it is not a dogma, the door is always open" to change. As this Church discipline continues to be debated, it is important for Catholics to delve into the theological and not merely pragmatic reasons behind its continuation. Priestly Celibacy: Theological Foundations, therefore, fills a critical gap in the current theological literature on this important topic of ecclesial ministry and life, and also helps to contribute to the advancement of the rather underdeveloped theology of priestly celibacy.

Based on one hundred fifteen interviews augmented by biographical, survey, and historical research, Keeping the Vow tells the story of married priests and their wives, their unusual and difficult journey from Anglicanism, and their life in the Catholic Church. The book combines personal narratives and sociological analysis to provide a clear view of the priesthood's collective features, and discusses the implications of the married priesthood for the future of the Church.