Art/Music/Culture

The Vatican, comprising the Apostolic Palace, St. Peter's Basilica, and various other buildings, serves as the headquarters of the Catholic Church. It has done so for nearly two millennium ever since the first Pope, St. Peter, made it his home.

Thousands of Catholics flock to the Vatican and its iconic basilica each year. But what do you really know about this great basilica and the city that houses it?

Here, Father Jeffrey Kirby takes you on a whirlwind tour of this little country (yes, Vatican City is its own country, Fact # 2) and uncovers the secrets and surprising facts about the city, and its famous church.

Discover what language degree you need to work a Vatican ATM, what archi tectural feature of St. Peter's is a map of the universe, and even what the pope's license plate number is. Along the way, you'll find the deep theological meaning woven into the design and architectural features of St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican.

Whether you've already been to Rome or are still planning your first trip, 101 Surprising Facts About the Vatican will transport you to Basilica and City at the heart of the Catholic Church and enable you to appreciate them like never before.

"Know that even when you are in the kitchen, God moves amidst the pots and pans." --St. Teresa of Avila

For over two thousand years, Catholics have been at the heart of the culinary arts. Perhaps this should come as no surprise considering the sacred feast of the Eucharist gives life to our faith. From this foretaste of the heavenly banquet, we return to our domestic churches to gather around the dinner table, where families share joy, laughter, and love.

Yet as with so many other arenas of life, our relationship with food has become compromised, cheapened, unhealthy, and robbed of its wholesomeness and purpose. As we slip more and more into moral poverty, we lose the sacramental nature of eating and the sense of community that comes from a good meal.

The individuals featured in this work have spent a lifetime trying to turn back the tide of this downward spiral. They are farmers, ranchers, chefs, cooks, professors, authors, moms, dads, grandparents, priests. They have appeared on the Food Network, EWTN, and the Catholic Faith Network. They come from different regions--from Colorado to rural Virginia to the Louisiana Bayou--and from difficult cultures--Latino, Polish, Lebanese, Italian, Irish.

It is a wide pallet of humanity. And yet, the one ingredient found in all of them is the Catholic faith. Their faith journeys are as myriad as their backgrounds and favorite dishes, but each of them call Holy Mother Church home.

This cookbook shares an eclectic assortment of dishes, from Chicken Creole to Oyster Gumbo, from Fizzy Tea to Resurrection Rolls, from Butternut Squash Soup to Polish Cream Cake, and more. But it also shares stories of faith from ordinary people striving for heaven. Readers, then, will find in this collection nourishment for their bodies and their souls.

Kiely walks through important scenes of the Gospels, pausing with great painters to consider Jesus, how he looks, how he stands or sits, how he interacts with other figures and the viewer, how his actions and teachings are interpreted and translated by artists more concerned with design than analysis, more in forms than words. Painters and their paintings are the guides--beguiling, challenging, consoling, instructive--displaying colors, skill, and perspective while beckoning the viewer back to scripture and to the Jesus "who accepted to be seen."

After a brief introduction to each Holy Place, Doyle provides the Scripture passages appropriate to those locations. In offering these passages, Doyle reminds us of Pius XII's statement that to find the meaning of God's word, we must go back to the original languages, determine the intention of the author, and take into account the literary form. Following Pius XII's suggestion, Doyle provides his own translation of Scripture passages. By presenting these passages he offers new meaning by exploring a new experience, in a new context, in a new culture.

Doyle explains that there are major differences between going to the Holy Land as a pilgrim and going there as a tourist, or even as a student of history or archaeology. People join a pilgrimage from faith and for faith. This is not the same as a deepening of theological insight, or becoming more knowledgeable about the facts and beliefs of Christianity. The basic vision that distinguishes a pilgrim from a tourist is summed up in a passage by Paul: 'Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, sink your roots deep in him, build your faith upon him, and overflow with thanksgiving' (Col. 2:6). In The Pilgrim's New Guide to the Holy Land, Doyle brings together the elements that facilitate that vision.

Chapters are "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," "Holy Places East of Jerusalem," "Holy Places West of Jerusalem," "Holy Places South of Jerusalem" and "Holy Places North of Jerusalem." Also includes appendices and an index.

Stephen C. Doyle, O.F.M., has guided more than one hundred pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to Greece and Asia Minor. He has taught Scripture and biblical preaching at St. John Vianney Seminary, East Aurora, New York; Christ the King Seminary, St. Bonaventure, New York; Pope John XXIII Seminary, Weston Massachusetts; St. Bonaventure University; St. Michael&'s College; and Emmanuel College.

God fashioned the universe as a seamless fabric, a marvelous, unified, orderly creation. But man's sin tore it asunder, disrupting its great cosmic harmonies. Only Christ could make the symphony ring out again. And through a dazzling array of literature, music, sculpture, art, theater, and dance, men and women of faith, too, can work with Christ to mend the tear in the universe.

According to the late Professor Thomas Howard, the poet and the prophet both speak a loud voice against the tide of secularism and eventual destruction. Yet how does this work? How does myth convey truth? How does architecture reflect eternal verities? How does the written word humanize and sanctify us? What treasure and stability does an ancient faith hold for the unsettled modern mind?

Howard spent his life answering these questions. Christians of all walks of life will appreciate his witty, devout, and cutting observations on faith, art, and the incarnation of Christ. In this volume, readers will also encounter beloved teachers, writers, and friends who influenced Howard's theological imagination, including C. S. Lewis and T. S. Eliot.

Home is where we are nurtured, where we live, and where we love. The language of Home is universal. It is where we find the eternal in the everyday.

But the Home has been neglected. To millions of women today, there is nothing worse than being a "homemaker." If only they knew the supreme value (and reward) of giving loved ones a place to call Home.

Written by two wives and mothers, Theology of Home is a simple guide to help reorient all of us toward our true home, allowing us to think purposefully about how to make our own homes on earth better equipped to get all those living in them to the Father's house. Featuring more than 100 beautiful (and inspiring) photographs from homes around the country, profound words from the saints and other literary figures, and in-depth commentary on the theological and spiritual underpinnings of our love for Home, Theology of Home offers readers a tour of both the Home and the human heart.

Whether you live in a sprawling estate or a humble dwelling, whether alone or with a crowd, this is far more than a book of beautiful photos and great décor ideas. You will also learn how to create a deeper sense of the divine through: