A gorgeously illustrated co-publication with Christine Burgin by “one of the world’s great essayists” (The New York Times). With a guide to the illustrations by Mary Wellesley. Angels have soared through Western culture and consciousness from Biblical to contemporary times. But what do we really know about these celestial beings? Where do they come from, what are they made of, how do they communicate and perceive? The celebrated essayist Eliot Weinberger has mined and deconstructed, resurrected and distilled centuries of theology into an awe-inspiring exploration of the heavenly host. From a litany of angelic voices, Weinberger’s lyrical meditation then turns to the earthly counterparts, the saints, their lives retold in a series of vibrant and playful capsule biographies, followed by a glimpse of the afterlife. Threaded throughout Angels & Saints are the glorious illuminated grid poems by the eighteenth-century Benedictine monk Hrabanus Maurus. These astonishingly complex, proto-“concrete” poems are untangled in a lucid afterword by the medieval scholar and historian Mary Wellesley.

Angels and saints. Catholics tend to think of them as different from the rest of us. They’re cast in plaster or simpering on a holy card, performing miracles with superhero strength, or playing a harp in highest heaven. Yet they are very near to us in every way. In this lively book, Scott Hahn dispels the false notions and urban legends people use to keep the saints at a safe distance. The truth is that Jesus Christ has united heaven and earth in a close communion. Drawing deeply from Scripture, Dr. Hahn shows that the hosts of heaven surround the earthly Church as a "great cloud of witnesses." The martyrs cry out from heaven’s altar begging for justice on the earth. The prayers of the saints and angels rise to God, in the Book of Revelation, like the sweet aroma of incense. Dr. Hahn tells the stories of several saints (and several angels too) in a way that’s fresh and new. The saints are spiritual giants but with flesh-and-blood reality. They have strong, holy ambitions—and powerful temptations and opposition that must be overcome. Their stories are amazing and yet familiar enough to motivate us to live more beautiful lives. In this telling of their story, the saints are neither otherworldly nor this-worldly. They exemplify the integrated life that every Christian is called to live. Still, their lives are as different from one another as human lives can be. Dr. Hahn shows the heavenly Church in all its kaleidoscopic diversity—from Moses to Mary, Augustine to Therese, and the first century to the last century. Only saints will live in heaven. We need to be more like the saints if we want to live in heaven someday. Dr. Hahn shows us that our heavenly life can begin now. It must.

This work explores the lives of the saints, and the hierarchies of angels. It gives details of the lives and works of the most famous saints from around the world. It introduces different types of angels and each of the most famous angels has their own page devoted to them.

A novel of one desperate woman’s hopes and desires set in contemporary Prague from “a literary gem who is too little appreciated in the West” (The Boston Globe). Divorced, approaching fifty, and mother to a rebellious fifteen-year-old, Kristyna is beginning to feel the strain of her bleak existence—until she finds a new sense of joy when she begins a love affair with a man fifteen years her junior But her escape into romance is far from complete. She worries about her daughter Jana, who has been cutting school, and may be using heroin—the latest plague on the city. And Kristyna’s mother has forced her to accept the personal papers of her dead father, a tyrant whose Stalinist ideals she despised. At a crossroads in her life, she must find a way to put the past behind her and deal with the challenges of the present in a Czechoslovakia that is still trying to overcome years of communist oppression. In this Washington Post Best Book of 2001, Klima “unflinchingly presents the problems facing modern Prague and civilization in general . . . [and] fills it with mercy” (San Francisco Chronicle).

Popular Contemporary Christian Music columnist Ben Fischer presents the sequel to his charming first novel, Saint Ben. In this new novel, Jonathan is now a young teenager still coping with the tragic loss of his friend, Ben. Despite his pain, Jonathan must face the world again, discovering he can love others and rally the church as he and Ben did before.

"There is astonishingly little literature in English on painting in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Published in association with the Cantor Center for Visual Arts, this exhibition catalogue explores a little known aspect of the history of art that is increasingly appreciated for its energy and originality. Although the initial impetus for paintings in South America was provided by artists who came from Europe, they were soon outnumbered by natives who become proficient in decorating churches and public buildings. The 56 paintings--never previously published--in the Thoma Collection offer an accurate and compelling survey of the diverse schools of painting that developed in the vast regions of the Viceroyalty which yielded the present day countries of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina."--Publisher description.

Meet the mighty spirits sent by God to enlighten and guide us, defend us from harm, and lead us on the path to eternal life. Learn how angels are invisibly present at every moment of your life, and how they can pray with you and for you, amplifying your praise by reflecting it directly to God face-to-face Angels do not form a separate universe — they are an integral part of our own world sent forth for the sake of our salvation. They are pure spirits who communicate to us God’s grace, His goodness, and His truth. In these pages, Fr. Horgan unveils the surprising role of the angels in our lives — and what you must do to gain their help. You’ll learn how to imitate the angels in prayer and how they offer you the enlightenment and the encouragement God so desperately wants to give you. By praying with the angels, you will be strengthened for what lies ahead, better able to discern and do the Lord’s will in all your actions. You’ll also learn: Why the Church teaches that the angels were created at the time of creationThe responsibilities of the angels at every MassThe key difference between spirits and angelsSeven habits you must develop to grow closer to God through His angelsThe difference between Archangel Gabriel’s apparitions to Mary and ZechariahHow St. Joseph can expose you to the inspirations of the angelsThe difference in the way humans and angels thinkHow you can imitate the warrior nature of the angelsThe three ways you must respond to your angel’s guardianshipThe five roles that every angel takes in their service for the LordThe surprising ways in which angelic warfare is carried out

"Artist-author J. Michael Walker wandered L.A.'s many streets named after saints, uncovering their transcendent beauty. Combining meticulous research with artistic inspiration, Walker depicts historical and contemporary Angelinos as their divine equivalents. Proud, defiant, and illuminative, these "street-saints" reveal their own unique versions of sublimity and, in doing so, challenge traditional notions of what it means to bless and blessed."--BOOK JACKET.

Deepen or discover your devotion to the Holy Angels through these traditional and contemporary prayers honoring the angels, written and compiled by Sr. Mary Mark Wickenhiser, FSP. Our belief in angels is confirmed by Scripture and the continual teaching of the Catholic Church throughout the centuries. As messengers of God’s providential love, angels enlighten our minds and inspire our wills so that we are better able to respond to God's graces. We should call upon the angels to overcome the spirits of evil active in our world today. Part of the Catholic Treasury series, this beautiful collection includes daily prayers, the Rosary of the Holy Angels, litanies and novenas to St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Raphael the Archangel, prayers to the guardian angels and devotions to one’s own guardian angel, plus scripture references and suggested readings. It included a catechesis on angels as they are understood through scripture and the Catholic Church. This is the perfect book for anyone looking to deepen their prayer life and thank God for these heavenly spirits watching over humanity.

Breviaries, books of standard religious readings for particular denominations, are a familiar genre with a long pedigree. But you've definitely never seen a breviary like this one. The Sex of the Angels is a playful, often ironic take on the breviary in the form of a collection of letters that begins by taking up early Christian cosmology and follows the Biblical mutations of the angel from Babylon to the present day. As it goes along, Raoul Schrott also weaves in a history which ranges from ancient Greek legends of the origin of light to the medieval darkness of the eclipse. But there is more going on here than meets the eye: the letters are addressed to an unnamed "other" and chart the course of an elusive affair. They are, we come to realize, a declaration of love--or, more accurately, of yearning--but also a far-reaching poetic essay which moves between etymological history, anthropological anecdote, philosophy, and disquisition on the nature of art. The text is supplemented by sumptuous illustrations by Arnold Mario Dall'O that chart the stories of the saints, and the result is a unique dialogue between literature and art: an extraordinary and rare book about love.