Pastoral Books

The Book of Blessings from Catholic Book Publishing contains the blessings of the Roman Ritual for the Universal Church as well as additional proper blessings for use in the United States. This liturgical book includes blessings pertaining to persons, to objects, and to various occasions, as well as blessings and services connected with official parish events. Three valuable indices make the Book of Blessings a practical as well as pastoral liturgical resource. The Book of Blessings is set in highly readable 14-pt. type and is durably bound in brown cloth to ensure long-lasting use.

Communion of the Sick from Catholic Book Publishing is a valuable service booklet for Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist that contains all appropriate readings as well as a series of beneficial pastoral instructions and guidelines. Includes texts for both Communion in Ordinary Circumstances and Communion in a Hospital or Institution. Commentary, history, and appendices have been written for Communion of the Sick by renowned author Rev. Joseph M. Champlin. Printed in large type and in two colors with text set in both English and Spanish, Communion of the Sick is bound in a flexible green paper cover. A handy, essential resource for all Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist.

The Divine Office for Dodos from Catholic Book Publishing is a step-by-step guide to praying the official prayer of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours. For those who want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours correctly and completely, The Divine Office for Dodos contains over 90 detailed lessons with questions, helpful hints, and practice sessions presented in a simple style. This book includes everything you need to know to be able to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with confidence.

The Catholic family is a domestic church, rooted in God's love and challenged to hope. Yet Catholic families today are beset with attacks from within and without, as were early Christian house churches. The latter faced persecution and rejection from society and even their own family members. Today's domestic churches face challenges of materialism, individualism, and secularism, coming through technology, media, and the contemporary culture.

The Church must respond to these challenges by seeking new ways to minister directly to families. The future of parish life will depend largely on how a parish supports family life. Drawing on the experience of the early Church, Evangelizing Today's Domestic Churches invites pastors and those engaged in pastoral ministry to take the lead in helping families recognize their responsibility before God to become vibrant domestic churches.

Catholic parishes are staffed by dedicated, passionate members of the laity who are often underpaid and overworked but nevertheless continue to labor in the vineyard of the Lord. Whether you are on staff or a volunteer, faith, hope, and a sense of humor are crucial to surviving and thriving in parish ministry.

Down-to-earth, candid, and funny, author Karen Baker has served on the front lines of her parish, and she can empathize and commiserate with the day-to-day struggles, like when the toilets back up during Sunday Mass. This little book offers a ray of hope and humor by reminding parish leaders that developing holy habits and clothing themselves in Christ can help them navigate the challenging and changing world of ministry.

The Handbook of Indulgences from Catholic Book Publishing is the revised edition of the Enchiridion of Indulgences and the official English translation of the Church\'s book on indulgences. This liturgical book includes a list of the works and prayers to which indulgences are attached. The Handbook of Indulgences is durably bound in a brown cloth cover to ensure long-lasting use.

This handy little book will increase your understanding of this ministry. It will help you to carry it out well. You will discover that you become stronger in your faith in other ways, too. You will come to realize that a lector is far more than someone who simply stands up and reads aloud from the lectionary--much, much more than that. Packed with inspiration, history, voice suggestions. A great Christmas gift for all lectors and especially for newly appointed lectors.
Also available in Spanish: RPS123/04.

A bestselling author and leading expert on the Catholic priesthood, Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti forges a renewed theology of priestly blessing, encouraging his brother priests to embrace the habit of blessing people, objects, and events. In this provocative and inspirational book he shows how the blessing is integral to the identity of priests and crucial to the spiritual wellbeing of all the faithful.

Msgr. Stephen Rossetti fears that many priests shy away from blessing people and objects because of a lack of awareness of the rich tradition of Church blessings and a deficit in training for this important pastoral practice. In The Priestly Blessing, Rossetti urges priests to boldly and frequently embrace this ancient practice because of their unique calling.

Rossetti traces the history of blessing in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. He also explores the various types of blessing, such as praise of God, the invocation of special benefit from God, and being consecrated to God.

The Priestly Blessing also helps priests reflect on what saints and mystics have taught about blessing as a vital activity of the Church, and outlines connections between Catholic sacramental theology, the practice of priestly blessing, and the Catholic understanding of creation that helps make sense of priests blessing objects and animals.

Drawing on fifty-nine years of experience as a Catholic priest, Fr. Kereszty provides spiritual, psychological, and pastoral guidance to priests, deacons, and seminarians for preaching, sacramental ministry, and spiritual direction. He has worked with countless priests struggling to understand their own role and identity in the post-conciliar Church with the laity taking on more leadership and responsibilities.

He has also dealt with the confusion and discouragement from the sexual abuse crisis. His desire is that this book will re-ignite the great gift that priests have received in ordination, and to communicate his own immense joy and gratitude for that gift. Lastly, he tells all priests: to have a happy priestly life, strive to be a true priest of Jesus Christ in service to his flock.

This study edition contains the officially approved texts and rubrics for the following: Institutions of Readers and Acolytes; Ordination of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops; Rite of Religious Profession; Blessing of Persons: Abbot, Abbess; Consecrating to a life of Virginity; Rite of Commissioning Special Ministers of Holy Communion; Dedication of a Church and Altar. Appendices include: Reception of the Bishop in the Cathedral Church, Blessing of Pontifical Insignia, the Rite of the Blessing of Oils, the Rite of Consecrating the Chrism, Crowning of the Image of the Blessed Virgin.

The Shorter Book of Blessings from Catholic Book Publishing is a handy-sized edition of the larger Book of Blessings that includes only the blessings that are celebrated outside Mass. It contains the New American Bible translation for all Scripture readings to ensure conformity with the Catholic liturgical Lectionary. This handy liturgical resource is printed in two colors, with each blessing set in easy-to-read sense lines and carefully arranged for the celebrant. The Shorter Book of Blessings is elegantly bound in black gold-stamped bonded leather.