IN THIS introduction to songs and blessings collected from the oral tradition of the Hebrides, Esther de Waal uses the poems themselves to evoke a vision of the wholeness of life. We are seen to belong to a common creation, responsible for the natural world but essentially at peace with it; secure in the knowledge that wherever we go we are under God’s heaven, and that God can be found close at hand, under our very roofs. We are encouraged to make some of the prayers included here our own, to find ourselves befriended by God and the saints as we talk to them with unforced simplicity and candour. So we discover that ‘it is through the rites of ordinariness that the rhythm of eternity penetrates’ our days and nights.

De Waal has brought together some of the most significant Celtic poems, blessings, prayers, and songs that touch the vivid sense of the presence of God that marks Celtic spirituality.

Fairacres Publications 199 Through writing gathered over a lifetime of meditation on doors as ways into the understanding and fulfilment of a Christian life, Sister Raphael SLG guides us gently to an understanding that every aspect of life can be a door into the Love of God, and an opportunity for prayer, reflection and spiritual growth. This is a collection of thoughts and quotations for every situation, for everyone who is looking for a sympathetic and thoughtful support for their daily spiritual life, or for a series of meditations to use on retreat.

St Gregory of Nyssa is the most important author of the fourth century in relation to theological anthropology, and was one of the most outspoken of the early Church Fathers on the subject of slavery. Gregory’s theology is built upon his perception that Jesus Christ was truly human; therefore, to be human is to be made in the image of Christ. We cannot justify slavery if we accept that humans are made in God’s image, because slaves are no less made in the image of God than those who are free. This book examines Gregory’s theology, how he understood and taught about the relationship of human beings to God, and how he applied this theology to the practical issue of slavery.

Fairacres Publications 203 St Gregory of Nyssa is known to theologians as one of the three great Cappadocian Fathers who are credited with the final clarification of the doctrine of the Trinity in the late fourth century. Few have ventured to study his role as a bishop who took pains to teach his flock the mysteries of the faith and how to lead a good Christian life. This short study delves into the moral teaching that St Gregory delivered to his audience by analyzing the specific sins about which he is teaching. Given that he preached all over Roman Anatolia, the details found in his homilies give us some insight into which sins were most notorious in the lands of Asia Minor and which, therefore, needed to be addressed.

Author Nancy Roth says, "Exploring the church's rich tradition of hymnody has been an important part of my life over the last few years. I have found myself drawn in an extraordinary way into the stories of the poets, saints, martyrs, and quite ordinary people who wrote our hymn texts. The words of a hymn draw me into God's presence, creating a quiet space for reflection and contemplation. Often I find that the texts voice my own prayer, like an alternative prayer book." Praise My Soul contains selections from Roth's previous three books of hymn meditations in a special, large-print format to make these meditations more easily accessible to all readers. Nancy Roth's love and enthusiasm for the history and poetry of hymns gives the reader a richer and more complex understanding of even the most familiar hymns, transforming the experience of song into an experience of prayer.

Fairacres Publications 206 I have conversations with people about how they pray the Jesus Prayer as they walk the city streets, as they travel on buses or on the Tube, as they cycle, or as they sit at home. From these experiences I have come more and more to see the Jesus Prayer as a way of praying well suited to urban life; a form of attentiveness practice that can help us to grow in God-experience amid the changes and chances of metropolitan living. This book explains the prayer, its ethos, and how to begin to practise it in daily life.

Fairacres Publications 67 In this essay Professor Andrew Louth shows how the great twentieth-century theologian Karl Barth opens up an illuminating and fruitful approach to the significance of Mary the Mother of God. It was not within the scope of Barth’s Church Dogmatics to develop Mariology, but his insight into the unique role of Mary in the mystery of the Incarnation has an enduring importance for the progress of ecumenical dialogue.

Fairacres Publications 205 A concern for healing and wholeness is common among many people today. This book introduces the thinking and practice of Leanne Payne, a leader in the charismatic healing ministry of the last century. Her focus on coming into the Presence of God as we are, engaging our imaginations and embracing different ways of listening, offers wise guidance in the area of healing. We tease out some of the ways her work engages the mystical tradition and how this tradition might be enriched in dialogue with a charismatic approach to healing. Healing is rarely straightforward but we can nourish hope in the active presence of Christ in our midst.

Fairacres Publications 215 In this short book Sister Edmée examines the importance of silence in a prayerful life, not only outward silence, but the need to achieve stillness within, and what this means in terms of our approach to God in prayer. She also examines a more active silence: that of Christ when he listened to those who brought their troubles to him for healing. Her words come from a place of understanding and sympathy, encouraging us not to despair in the noise and complexity of modern life, but to persevere in seeking God in the silence of our hearts, in prayer too deep for words.