Very little in this world stays fresh and life-giving for 1,500 years. But when that happens we should ask ourselves why and what that had to do with us.
In this book, The Radical Christian Life: A Year with Saint Benedict, Joan Chittister encourages us to look at that question. In an introductory essay she examines how the insights and values of the sixth-century Visionary Saint Benedict can illuminate today's search for a meaningful life. Then she leads us through the year, reflecting on twelve stories from Benedict's life, anecdotes that give us glimpses into his soul. More than that, she draws from these stories daily thoughts for the development of our own spiritual lives in this day and age.
Joan Chittister, OSB, is a Benedictine sister and international lecturer who has been a leading voice in spirituality for more than thirty years. She has authored over forty books, most recentlyUncommon Gratitude and The Monastery of the Heart, part of a program she is helping to develop to enable lay groups to live Benedictine spirituality in a contemporary way.
For those interested in knowing more about the foundations of their own worship, Paul F. Bradshaw provides in Early Christian Worship a sound introduction to worship in the first four centuries of the Church. Bradshaw not only describes what rites Christians actually performed during this period but also explains why they acted as they did. He answers such questions as "Why did they choose some patterns instead of others?" "What did they understand themselves to be doing in their worship?" "What effect did all this have on developing Christian ideas, and what effect did the ideas in turn have on the worship?" Chapters under Christian Initiation are ?Beginnings,? ?Syria and Egypt," ?Rome and North Africa,? ?The Fourth-Century Synthesis,? and ?From Adult to Infant Baptism.? Chapters under Eucharist are ?Communion: The Sacred Meal,? ?Anamnesis and Epiclesis: The Eucharistic Prayer,? ??The Bloodless Sacrifice,?? ?Holy Food,? and ??Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.?? Chapters under Liturgical Time are ?Daily Prayer,? ?Sunday,? ?Easter and Pentecost,? ?Christmas, Epiphany, and Lent,? and ?Saints? Days."?... recommended for pastors, other worship leaders, and even laypersons who want to know more about Christian worship in the New Testament and succeeding centuries.? Southwestern Journal of Theology?For the ?seasoned? student of liturgy, the entire work is a welcome review of the practices of the early church that formed and informed our theology of baptism and Eucharist ... for the beginning student of the study of liturgy and the early Church it is an excellent textbook.? Liturgy Network{ad copy]For those interested in knowing more about the foundations of their own worship, Paul F. Bradshaw provides in Early Christian Worship a sound introduction to worship in the first four centuries of the Church.
