Book Reviews Book Reviews

Birthing The Holy:Wisdom from Mary

By Christine Valters Paintner

£15.50

PRODUCT CODE: 11749

ISBN NO:9781932057270 www.rpbooks.co.uk

Christine Valters

Paintner invites you to better know Mary and her heart through thirty-one of her titles, and, along the way, you’ll nurture the new growth in your life.

The Blessed Mother is known by many beautiful titles, some of which are familiar—Virgin, Queen of Peace, and Star of the Sea—and some we may not be aware of—Vessel of Grace, Greenest Branch, and Our Lady of Silence.

Paintner offers a flexible format to reflect on Mary’s titles through a thirty-one-day personal retreat, a series of novenas, or with visio divina exercises using striking images by printmaker Kreg Yingst. As you reflect on Mary in her role as Mother of Good Counsel, Woman Clothed with the Sun, Mystical Rose, Mother of Sorrows, Queen of the Angels, and other titles, Paintner invites you to hear what God calls you to develop in your life, help that dream or vision grow, and then nourish it in the world.

Whether you’re meeting Mary for the first time in these magnificent titles or revisiting her as a beloved companion, Birthing the Holy invites you to see the exploration of Mary and your life as a spiritual and creative act, one that can help deepen your faith even as it sparks new growth within you.

I Belong Children’s Book - First Holy Communion

By Aileen Urquhart

£7.95

Product Code: 1051

ISBN No: 9780852313770 www.rpbooks.co.uk

An original First Holy Communion Programme that contains lively, colourful material in which illustrations and examples are used to reflect the world where today's children live and experience faith.

I Belong is a programme that contains lively, colourful material in which illustrations and examples are used to reflect the world where today’s children live and experience faith. It is hoped that the children using this book will create a personal momento of this special time in their relationship with God. At the end of each chapter is a “Family Time” page with suggestions for prayer and something to do together as a family. Small information boxes have been added throughout the book. These cover areas such as:search the church for particular items, explanation of Catholic practices, what to look out for while at Mass and new words associated with reconciliation, First Holy Communion and the Mass. There is also a symbol of a Bible to check out bible references at the end of scripture passages. A small candle features on the corner of each page which, when coloured, indicates progress through the book.

Living The Word: Catholic Womens Bible

£51.95

Product Code 11743

ISBN NO:9781646801251 www,rpbooks.co.uk

Do you long to connect with a variety of women just like you who live the Word of God in the world each day?

That connection is what makes the Living the Word Catholic Women's Bible different from other Bibles for women: it includes almost four-hundred pages of special features created for women by women--more than forty scholars, teachers, religious, authors, ministers, and speakers--such as Leah Darrow, Sarah Christmyer, Johnnette Benkovic Williams, and Sr. Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi, FSP--who come from a variety of backgrounds and reflect the diversity of the Catholic faith. You can walk through scripture in community with other women who seek to become closer to God by reading his Word and living it in their daily lives.

The stunning beauty of the Living the Word Catholic Women's Bible also makes it stand out among its peers. The extraordinary and elegant design enhances your reading experience by connecting various features throughout the text including fifty profiles of women in the Bible, ninety-seven Living in the Light of Faith essays, Take it to Heart questions for reflection and journaling, and quotations from saints and holy women. The tranquil colors and other design elements help you feel at home in the Bible.

Stations of the Cross – Inspired by the Work of SVP

Fr Gerard Bogan

£3.50

CTS Product Code: D846

Please refer to this code when ordering over the phone

ISBN: 9781784697549 ctsbooks.org

Walk alongside Jesus in his passion and Cross and be prepared to walk with compassion alongside our suffering brothers and sisters, with these meditations on the Way of the Cross in light of the work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

This meditation on the Via Crucis – the Way of the Cross – reflects on Jesus’ suffering through the inspiration of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam and the society he founded to help the poor and those in need: the Society of St Vincent de Paul. Walking alongside Jesus in his Passion and Cross prepares us to walk with compassion alongside our suffering brothers and sisters, to learn to love them as Christ loves them, and to enter more deeply into the mystery of God’s mercy revealed in his holy cross.

Peace of Heart –According to St Benedict

Fr Bernard Ducruet, OSB

£3.50

CTS Product Code: PA66

Please refer to this code when ordering over the phone

ISBN: 9781784697426 www.ctsbooks.org

Learn to welcome peace beyond trials and to see it as a limitless gift from God, through teaching marked by the Spirit of St Benedict.

Trials quickly take Peace away from us. Does this mean peace of heart is impossible? No, for Jesus himself promised it to us. There is peace beyond our trials, but we do not receive it according to the way of the world. Fr Bernard Ducruet, through teaching marked by the Spirit of St Benedict, leads us to welcome the peace as a limitless gift of God and the fruit of struggle.

A Year of Mindfulness

Dr Clare Campbell

£12.50

ISBN: 0855977825 www.amazon.co.uk

In mindfulness and meditation, we can hear the voice of our own heart, which can be drowned out by our busy lives and minds.

I first learned about mindfulness and meditation on a headteacher’s retreat to Assisi, and in that beautiful, spiritual place, I found great peace from taking part in daily meditation practice. Before I had experienced it in secular ways and during Yoga, but never before had I used it as a way to pray. I had seen the benefits of mindfulness and meditation as a way to relax and calm down, but by using scripture as a focus, it became one of my favourite ways to pray.

When I got back to school, I wanted to share this peace with the children. Children in 2023 have such busy lives, they can have more stimulation in a weekend than their grandparents would have had in an entire year. It is more important than ever that we build a time for silence and stillness into the school day and teach the children the skills they need to still themselves, regulate their breathing and calm themselves down. Mindfulness aims to develop skills for stilling the body and mind in preparation for prayer. This can be done as part of prayer and liturgy through guided meditation based on sacred scripture as part of collective worship, or in group or individual meditation as and when needed. Breathing slowly, concentrating on the inhalation and exhalation of breath, focusing on a Mantra, a prayerful word or phrase, listening to prayerful music and carefully listening to the words of the leader are the tools that you can use to deepen your spiritual life and that of the children in your care.

Over the years I have been exploring different ways to pray and I found the 4 pillars of prayer to include, the saying prayer, the doing prayer, the thinking prayer and the being prayer. I would argue that mindfulness and meditation includes each one of these pillars of prayer at once. Meditation in the saying prayer can be a Mantra that you use, focusing on a spiritual word or phrase, being still is still an action, which is why it is linked to the doing prayer. And one of the elements of the being prayer is silence. Being still and being in the presence of God. With children I use the term, “going into our heart rooms,” this is the most special part of our guided meditation, where children can be in their own personal “heart room” with God and speak to Him and listen to Him in their hearts.

Mindfulness is moving beyond ourselves to be transformed in God’s divine love.