"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8). Christ waits for us, every day, in the Eucharist. But, in the chaos of our lives, we often find it difficult to draw near to him. Even when we make the time to be in his presence, we lose focus, become distracted, or grow impatient with ourselves. 100 Holy Hours for Women provides a solution with its collection of one hundred Eucharistic meditations, giving inspiration for directed, efficacious prayer before Our Lord in the Eucharist. Whether you are a mother, a single woman, or a consecrated religious, this spiritually uplifting work is a valuable resource for cultivating an intimate relationship with our Eucharistic Lord. Originally written as a religious sister's guide for daily adoration, 100 Holy Hours for Women contains a plethora of profound spiritual insight into the mystery of the Eucharist. Each of the mediations focuses on a single verse from Scripture. The first part of the mediation explores the deeper implications of the verse, especially in light of the Eucharist. Then, the second half of the mediation takes the form of a personal examination and a prayer, with questions and exhortations to encourage the adorer to look at and cultivate her own spiritual life. These meditations draw from the entirety of Sacred Scripture, particularly following Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Through them, learn to look to the Virgin Mary and the angels as models of perfect adoration. Be inspired to comfort Our Lord in his agony, as he suffered it in his passion and as he suffers it today through people's abuse and neglect of the Eucharist, his great gift to the Church. By fruitful meditation and grace, develop virtues such as gratitude, faith, love, trust, and humility, all of which are absolutely essential for living in union with Christ. 100 Holy Hours encourages Christian women, of every calling and stage of life, to enter into quiet, loving conversation with Jesus. This book enables all to comprehend the love of Christ, who gave us his Body and Blood that we might come closer to him. Only in the Eucharist can we find the perfect example of total humility, self-sacrificial love, and holy submission. Only through the Eucharist can we hope to attain happiness in this world and the next.

Written in the nineteenth century, rediscovered in the twenty-first, timeless in its wisdom and beauty, Hours of Devotion by Fanny Neuda, (the daughter of a Moravian rabbi), was the first full-length book of Jewish prayers written by a woman for women. In her moving introduction to this volume--the first edition of Neuda’s prayer book to appear in English for more than a century--editor Dinah Berland describes her serendipitous discovery of Hours of Devotion in a Los Angeles used bookstore. She had been estranged from her son for eleven years, and the prayers she found in the book provided immediate comfort, giving her the feeling that someone understood both her pain and her hope. Eventually, these prayers would also lead her back to Jewish study and toward a deeper practice of her Judaism. Originally published in German, Fanny Neuda’s popular prayer book was reprinted more than two dozen times in German and appeared in Yiddish and English editions between 1855 and 1918. Working with a translator, Berland has carefully brought the prayers into modern English and set them into verse to fully realize their poetry. Many of these eighty-eight prayers, as well as Neuda’s own preface and afterword, appear here in English for the first time, opening a window to a Jewish woman’s life in Central Europe during the Enlightenment. Reading “A Daughter’s Prayer for Her Parents,” “On the Approach of Childbirth,” “For a Mother Whose Child Is Abroad,” and the other prayers for both daily and momentous occasions, one cannot help but feel connected to the women who’ve come before. For Berland, Hours of Devotion served as a guide and a testament to the mystery and power of prayer. Fanny Neuda’s remarkable spirit and faith in God, displayed throughout these heartfelt prayers, now offer the same hope of guidance to others.

Christ wants you to join in His saving work. He has called you to be a holy handmaid, a royal princess, a daughter of the Most High: a fighter alongside your King on the spiritual battlefield for souls. To equip you for this mission, author Julie Onderko here brings you exciting tales about bold female warriors of the spirit, from heroic Old Testament women such as Judith, Deborah, and Esther (who prefigured the most courageous of all, the Virgin Mary) to more recent icons of the Faith, including Saint Clare, Saint Monica, and Saint Faustina. From within their diverse circumstances and vocations, these storied women warriors for Christ will teach you the powerful spiritual tactics that they used in their battles against the devil – and that you can use, too! – tactics that will help you grow holy even as you engage in the profoundest endeavor of all: saving souls for Christ. In the great drama of human history and on a continuing basis, souls are won or lost for eternity. With all the angels and saints – and in particular with the Virgin Mary – you are called to play your part. Open these pages to prepare yourself today! Among the additional holy women you'll meet in these pages are: St. Jane de Chantal St. Margaret Bosco St. Zélie Martin St. Thérèse of Lisieux St. Joan of Arc St. Perpetua

Author shares positive examples resulting from asking a number of her friends to participate in a three-day challenge to evaluate their life and actions by asking the question "What would a holy woman do?"

Photographer Donna Ferrato goes on a radical 50-year road trip across the USA as women fight for equality in the bedroom and the boardroom. Holy follows her journey from the sexual revolution of the '60s through the #metoo era of today. Holy is forged from one woman's outrage against a woman-hating world. May it anger you. Donna Ferrato's radical photographs show what women are capable of surviving. More than survive, Holy depicts women who prevail. Holy is an invitation to understand how it feels being held down by the patriarchy-what we are fighting for, what we are up against--and how we manage to maintain a sense of desire and appetite. Fighting for equality in the bedroom and the boardroom, Ferrato's journey follows the sexual revolution of the '60s through the #metoo era of today. Holy is a showcase of power. Donna's images reveal women's bodies in all their monstrous glory-even her own. May these photographs mobilize you, whether you are cis or trans, young or old, butch or femme. Human survival depends on women. Embrace your instincts, desires, brainpower, and strength. Embrace each other.

Manual for Women is for women who seek to grow closer to Christ and his Blessed Mother, for women who seek to discover or rediscover what it means to be a woman after God's own heart. In Part I, noted Catholic author Danielle Bean, using examples from Scripture, the lives of the saints, and modern life, reminds women of today to embrace and cultivate their distinctive gifts: Receptivity, or an openness and welcoming spirit toward others.Sensitivity, or an ability to see and understand the needs and feelings of others. Compassion, or an instinct to suffer with and alleviate the suffering of others. Beauty, or the recognition that the female body is a reflection of her great capacity for nurturing, whether she ever becomes a mother physically or not. Generosity, or an extraordinary capacity for self-giving love. She also reminds readers that they will embrace those gifts most perfectly if they imitate that most immaculate of women, Mary of Nazareth. Bean concludes with practical advice which every woman, whatever her state in life, will benefit from. In Part II, readers will be nourished by the depth and richness of the Catholic tradition's teaching on women. Church documents, wisdom of the saints, relevant passages from Scripture, wisdom from today's Catholic women, prayers, and hymns will inspire, delight, and edify women, young and old, single and married, consecrated to God in the religious life or a member of the laity. Now, perhaps more than ever, women need to be women. But what it means to be a woman has been so distorted by the various ideologies that the modern world imposes. Manual for Women serves as a reminder to women that authentic femininity (and, yes, authentic feminism) springs from an embrace, rather than a spurning, of the great and unique gifts God has bestowed on them, whether they be married or single, in religious life or a laywomen, a homemaker or a women who works outside the home, or, as so many women in today's hectic world are, some combination thereof!

EVERY MOMENT HOLY, Vol. 2: DEATH, GRIEF, & HOPE, is a book of liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving--liturgies such as "A Liturgy for the Scattering of Ashes" or "A Liturgy for the Loss of a Spouse" or "A Liturgy for the Wake of a National Tragedy" or "A Liturgy for the Weighing of Last-Stage Medical Options." These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose and eternal hopes even when, especially when, suffering and pain threaten to overwhelm us. -over 100 liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving -beautiful leather-bound hardcover -over 20 illustrations by Ned Bustard -silk bookmark -gilded edges

Reflections, prayers and responses for personal or group adoration.

Harlot or Holy Woman? presents an exhaustive study of qedešah, a Hebrew word meaning “consecrated woman” but rendered “prostitute” or “sacred prostitute” in Bible translations. Reexamining biblical and extrabiblical texts, Phyllis A. Bird questions how qedešah came to be associated with prostitution and offers an alternative explanation of the term, one that suggests a wider participation for women as religious specialists in Israel’s early cultic practice. Bird’s study reviews all the texts from classical antiquity cited as sources for an institution of “sacred prostitution,” alongside a comprehensive analysis of the cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia containing the cognate qadištu and Ugaritic texts containing the masculine cognate qdš. Through these texts, Bird presents a portrait of women dedicated to a deity, engaged in a variety of activities from cultic ritual to wet-nursing, and sharing a common generic name with the qedešah of ancient Israel. In the final chapter she returns to biblical texts, reexamining them in light of the new evidence from the ancient Near East. Considering alternative models for constructing women’s religious roles in ancient Israel, this wholly original study offers new interpretations of key texts and raises questions about the nature of Israelite religion as practiced outside the royal cult and central sanctuary.