Maryam Baouardy is a daughter of Galilee, from a very poor family. At the age of three, she lost her father and mother and was adopted by her uncle. She never learned how to read or write, but her life became a remarkable succession of supernatural manifestations, worthy of Catherine of Siena or Teresa of Avila, from the stigmata to singular battles against Satan. From where does she draw the heavenly wisdom, childlike yet strong, that made her loved by all? Where does this burning love that consumes her come from? For her, just as for St. Paul, “to live is Christ”. This beautiful “Lily of Palestine” became Sr. Maryam of Jesus Crucified in the Carmelite Order. Both humble guardian of the grille and formidable forewoman, she was often visited by Jesus and Mary. The words she transmits from them, pearls of great price, are significant for us today as they enlighten the future of our broken world. Maryam died in Bethlehem in her 33rd year, on August 26, 1878, shortly after the birth of Thérèse of Lisieux in France. Pope John Paul II beatified her on November 13, 1983. It is impossible to know Maryam without falling in love with her, without yearning for holiness, at her school.

I read your book from cover to cover. Your words completely captivated me and have convinced me on the importance of fasting. I knew already the benefits of fasting, but I wasn’t aware of all its attributes, that you explain so well. Reading this book one discovers fasting. As we know, Our Lady in Medjugorje continuously insists on the importance of fasting, but we avoid putting into practice something when it means we have to make a sacrifice. We struggle to convince ourselves to actually fast. The arguments you present, and the examples that you give in this book, show very clearly the reason why Our Lady insists so persistently on something so precious for the soul and the body, for the apostate on earth and for the souls in Purgatory. I thank you for emphasising such an important topic, very often mentioned in Sacred Scripture, so precious for the living and for the intercession of the dead. The final part of your work, with the words from the saints, will convince even the most reluctant. This book will be nothing less than a true discovery of fasting to whoever reads it. Don Gabriele Amorth

For many years, heartache prevented Nahid Rachlin from turning her sharp novelist's eye inward: to tell the story of how her own life diverged from that of her closest confidante and beloved sister, Pari. Growing up in Iran, both refused to accept traditional Muslim mores, and dreamed of careers in literature and on the stage. Their lives changed abruptly when Pari was coerced by their father into marrying a wealthy and cruel suitor. Nahid narrowly avoided a similar fate, and instead negotiated with him to pursue her studies in America. When Nahid received the unsettling and mysterious news that Pari had died after falling down a flight of stairs, she traveled back to Iran--now under the Islamic regime--to find out what happened to her truest friend, confront her past, and evaluate what the future holds for the heartbroken in a tale of crushing sorrow, sisterhood, and ultimately, hope.

A RICH DISPLAY OF SOME OF THE BEST PROSE WRITTEN TODAY IN THE USA.

Finally, Sister Emmanuel's new book on Spiritual Warfare is out! Spiritual Warfare: The Express Lane to Union With God is a much-needed exhortation for us to wholeheartedly seize the weapon of prayer in our life. We have been given all the tools we need to fend off the attacks of Satan. Now, more than ever, we need to pick up these weapons and use them in our daily spiritual battles. This book looks at what spiritual warfare is—a battle against evil—and encourages us to be on our guard against it. It describes with real examples how cunning the Evil One is, and how easily we fall into his snares without realizing it. "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the Principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:11-12)

“I love The First Christmas. What a charming way Stephen Mitchell has found to tell my favorite story of all, the Nativity, character by character (I love the donkey and the ox), with wise and thrilling interludes about God, reality, truth.” –Anne Lamott In The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced characters and a setting that reflects the culture of the time. Mitchell has suffused the birth of Jesus with a sense of beauty that will delight and astonish readers. In this version, we see the world through the eyes of a Whitmanesque ox and a visionary donkey, starry-eyed shepherds and Zen-like wise men, each of them providing a unique perspective on a scene that is, in Western culture, the central symbol for good tidings of great joy. Rather than superimposing later Christian concepts onto the Annunciation and Nativity scenes, he imagines Mary and Joseph experiencing the angelic message as a young Jewish woman and man living in the year 4 bce might have experienced it, with terror, dismay, and ultimate acceptance. In this context, their yes becomes an act of great moral courage. Readers of every background will be enchanted by this startlingly beautiful reimagining of the Christmas tale.

Why Scandalous Mercy? In these pages the reader will discover unexplored aspects of the Heart of God that you might think are crazy! Crazy with love! You will meet Mother Teresa, Maryam of Bethlehem, a Nazi criminal, a priest condemned to hell, a high ranking abortionist, a drug dealer from Brazil, a furious mother-in-law, a sick child...and in the middle of all this, the most beautiful Heart of Christ, who is calling ALL His children. This beautiful selection of testimonies and "little flowers" picked from everyday life will capture the reader on two levels: first, the reader of this book will find his achy heart soothed and enriched by new ways to find hope in our difficult world today; second, he will be shocked to learn that these stories are true. They will make you laugh, cry, even tremble, but one thing is certain, they will all amaze you!

My passion is embodied learning. Through twenty-five years of teaching, I've learned that students engage with material best when their bodies are active participants in the learning process. I have found this to be particularly true in teaching religious studies and theology. --from the Introduction People are torn by conflict, fractured by cultural, religious, racial, and economic divides. Religion has often been a prime motivator for this violence. Classrooms must be places in which we learn to hold differences and commonalities. Classrooms are opportunities to rehearse, to practice, how we want to live with one another. Religions, says Rue, are more than ideas: they are lived, enacted by human beings in particular ways. And courses in religion need more than a cognitive understanding of central concepts. Rue asserts that students need to viscerally encounter belief, religious practice, religious imagination, and religious experience. Acting Religious, a practical handbook, maps a new approach that uses theatre to teach religion. For many years, Rue has used theatre techniques and plays to introduce students to what she calls the experience of religion, showing how theatre makes theological ideas palatable, visceral, and available. Acting Religious is at once a call to experience meaning and a theatre method to embody it. Experienced and beginning teachers at both college and high school levels, as well as religious educators, will learn how to use the following techniques in the religion or theology classroom: improvisation, characterization, memorization, script writing, performance. From these methods, students will be able to engage religious traditions experientially as well as cognitively.

This small book contains an interview with Maria Simma, an elderly Austrian woman, who testifies to being regularly visited by souls in Purgatory who answer secrets about that realm and who plead for the prayers of the living.

This book's goal is simply to provide information from Quran, Hadith, and Scholarly explanations / Quranic interpretations about the story of Jesus and the counter arguments in the Quran about Jesus, and other Christianity fundamentals. The book will take you back in time and narrate Islamic viewpoints on the day of the crucifixion, the story of disciples of Jesus, Mary, Jesus's disciples and more - all from an Islamic standpoint. You will come to know about the Quranic verses that are specifically addressed to Christians about some of the claims of Christianity, Jesus, and more. In this information packed book, you will learn the following: -The story of the birth of Maryam (Mary) to her parents Imran and Hannah -Maryam's (Mary's) mother promise to God (Allah) -What Allah said about Maryam about her birth -The story of the Rabbis, and Zakkariyyah in Bait Al-Maqdis in Jerusalem -The story of the Jewish Rabbis' lottery about them competing to adopt Maryam -The Hint from God (Allah) to Maryam about Jesus (Eesa's) birth -Maryam's ordeal during and before Jesus's (Eesa's) birth -The Quranic story about Maryam and the Angel that spoke to Maryam -The birth of Jesus (Eesa) in Bethlehem as mentioned in the Quran -Jesus speaking from the cradle in defense of Maryam (Mary) -Ibn Kathir's depiction on how certain Jewish priests hid the birth of Maryam (Mary) -Jesus's (Eesa's) teachings and how they parallel in the Quran and the Bible (Injeel) -Ibn Kathir's story on Jesus's visit to the Jewish temple the night prophets John (pbuh) and Zakariyah (pbuh) died -Islamic views on disciples of Jesus -The story of Jesus's disciples in the Quran -Islamic view on how the story of disciples in Christianity contradicts Biblical teachings and Quranic teachings -Miracles of Jesus (Eesa) as described by Allah -The story how Jesus (Eesa) was asked to prove his miracles -How Angel Gabriel (Jibreel) supported Jesus (Eesa) to do miracles that many mistook as Jesus (Eesa's) miracles -How Allah explicitly mentions that Jesus (being a human being) was granted some powers (through the Angel and others) -A presentation about the strong affirmation in Quran on howJesus (Eesa) was not crucified -The Islamic story about how Jesus (Eesa) was convicted of crimes by certain Jewish priests of the time -The Islamic story about how Jesus (Eesa) spoke to five of his companions about the crucifixion -How Christian scripture too supports that Jesus was not God -Quran's explanation in Quran about the Christian claims of making Jesus (Eesa) as son of God -How Allah questions Jesus about him being worshipped by people -The story about Jesus's (Eesa's) second coming in Islam -The hadith about Jesus breaking the cross in his second coming -Explanation on New Testament's contradictions about Jesus's (Eesa's) life -and much more.......