Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, also called Curé D’ars (born May 8, 1786, Dardilly, France—died Aug. 4, 1859, Ars; canonized May 31, 1925; feast day August 4 [formerly August 9]) French priest, the patron saint of parish priests, who was renowned as a confessor and for his supernatural powers.Because of the French Revolution, Vianney received little education and made his first communion and confession secretly. He was ordained a priest in 1815 and was made assistant priest at Écully, F...

"An excellently rounded introduction by an eminent Shinto scholar."—Library JournalShinto, the indigenous faith of the Japanese people, continues to fascinate and mystify both the casual visitor to Japan and the long-time resident. Relatively unknown among the religions of the world, Shinto: The Kami Way provides an enlightening window into this Japanese faith.In its general aspects, Shinto is more than a religious faith. It is an amalgam ...

A "delightful" tour of Rome's St. Agnes Outside the Walls, examining the stories, rituals, and architecture of this seventeen-hundred-year-old building ( The Christian Science Monitor).In The Geometry of Love, acclaimed author Margaret Visser, the preeminent "anthropologist of everyday life," takes on the living history of the ancient church of St. Agnes. Examining every facet of the building, from windows to catacombs, Visser takes readers on a me...

This thoroughly updated and comprehensive edition enhances the classic work as a guide to symbolism in Christian liturgical art, architecture, manuscripts, stained glass, and more.This edition is more heavily pictorial in an effort to provide an even stronger resource for artists and researchers, as well as the general browsing public. It addresses the rich history of Christian symbolism, presented for the twenty-first century reader.This unique resource of...

A preeminent scholar of Catholicism transports readers to Rome for the traditional station churches pilgrimage, offering a vivid and informative guide to the Eternal City and the Lenten season.The annual Lenten pilgrimage to dozens of Rome's most striking churches is a sacred tradition dating back almost two millennia, to the earliest days of Christianity. Along this historic spiritual pathway, today's pilgrims confront the mysteries of the Christian faith through ...

The ebook edition of Cathedral Cats that captures the fascinating life stories of cats who make their homes in and around the grandeur of Britain’s cathedrals.Find out about Tomkin, the patron cat of Chelmsford Cathedral, who was rescued from a derelict house in south London, or Olsen, the Siamese from Chester Cathedral whose nocturnal wanderings often end up at the local jazz club. From Boots of Ely to Winston and Wallace of Edinburgh, Cathedral Cats offers a distinctive insight i...

The walls of medieval churches were brightly painted with religious imagery and colourful patterns.Though often shadows of their former selves, these paintings are among the most enigmatic art to survive the Middle Ages. This beautifully illustrated book is an ideal introduction to this fascinating subject.It tells the stories behind the paintings and explains their purpose, the subjects they showed, how they were made and by whom, and what happened to thes...

From the bestselling authors of The Mass, an insightful and practical guide that explores the architectural and spiritual components of the Catholic Church.Your local church is not only a physical place, but a spiritual home. In this through-provoking book, Wuerl and Aquilina illuminate the importance of the Church in its many guises and examine the theological ideas behind the physical structure of churches, cathedrals, and basilicas. How is a church desi...

Revelation and Trinity provides a guide for the serious study of the systematic theologies of John Calvin and Karl Barth.The controversial debate between Karl Barth and Emil Brunner drew attention to John Calvins theology. Each one claims his theology is more faithful to Calvins theology than the other. In Revelation and Trinity, author Sang-Hwan Lee analyzes and interprets the theologies of Calvins 1559 Institutes and Barths Church Dogmatics and...

The book provides an updated reading on the fortification of the city of Bosa, and the castle church, the Palatine chapel of the judges of Arborea, from an architectural and artistic perspective. Particular attention and emphasis have been placed on the presence inside the sacred building of a cycle almost entirely preserved, a unique example in Sardinia, of fourteenth century frescoes on the themes of Franciscan spirituality.

The book provides a detailed description of the architectural structure and the different phases of construction of the monastic complex. Particular attention is devoted to the pictorial cycle, to the architectural sculptures of the porch, and of those randomly placed inside the church, especially to the binate capitals from the cloister. Finally, a stylistic and iconographic reading of the Retablos, formerly belonging to the Basilica, and now preserved at CE. DO. C. Of Codrongianos, compl...

Egypt, the birthplace of communal monasticism, has a rich store of monasteries and monastic art. Coptic Monasteries takes the reader on a tour of the best preserved and most significant of these ancient religious centers, documenting in exhaustive detail the richness and the glory of the Coptic heritage. An informative introduction by Tim Vivian brings to life the early Christian era, with background information on the origins of the Coptic Church as well as its rites and ceremoni...