Saints In The Limelight

Table of contents

On 29 December, 1170, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was brutally murdered in his own cathedral. News of the event was rapidly disseminated throughout Europe, generating a widespread cult which endured until the reign of Henry VIII in the sixteenth century, and engendering a fascination which has lasted until the present day. The Cult of Thomas Becket: History and Historiography through Eight Centuries contributes to the lengthy debate surrounding the saint by providing a historiographical analysis of the major themes in Becket scholarship, tracing the development of Becket studies from the writings of the twelfth-century biographers to those of scholars of the twenty-first century. The book offers a thorough commentary and analysis which demonstrates how the Canterbury martyr was viewed by writers of previous generations as well as our own, showing how they were influenced by the intellectual trends and political concerns of their eras, and indicating how perceptions of Thomas Becket have changed over time. In addition, several chapters are devoted a discussion of artworks in various media devoted to the saint, as well as liturgies and sermons composed in his honor. Combining a wide historical scope with detailed textual analysis, this book will be of great interest to scholars of medieval religious history, art history, liturgy, sanctity and hagiography.

This day, I speak to the nations of The Earth, the peoples of The Earth, the tongues of The Earth so they may be aware of what is on the way, so they may be prepared for what is round the corner, so they may have the foresight to see what is just below the horizon of man. I speak to encourage preparation for the tempests of the days, the floodings of the days, the shakings of the days, the deserts of the days, the hunger of the days, the butchery of the days. I speak to man of the days of his coming storm: of his desolation; of his tribulation; of his mourning; of his fleeing; of his starving; of his isolation. I speak to man of the days of his coming storm wherein he will be in need of sanctuary. I speak to My people that they may not be left to wander, that they may not be left unsheltered, that they may not be left to hunger, that they may not be left bereft of the necessities of life. I speak to My people that they may read in wisdom of the quartering of The Earth, of the storm of pestilence which follows on the heels of mourning, of the storm of fire which precedes the storm of butchery— where freewill runs rampant until exhaustion seals a day. For the season which holds the days of thunder approaches as a whirlwind in the clouds.

Three of Olivier Messiaen's later works, La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ, Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité, and Saint François d'Assise, are linked by the fact that the composer refers to and quotes from Thomas Aquinas. The composer's reception of Thomistic texts is one of the principles guiding the interpretations in this study. On the one hand, Messiaen had been pondering Thomas's thoughts on the role of music in the life of a Christian and on music's possible spiritual content all through his professional life; on the other hand, the oratorio, the organ meditations, and the opera are the only works in which Messiaen quotes extensive Thomistic sentences addressing purely theological subject matter. The first aspect, Messiaen's appropriation of or felicitous congruence with the medieval theologian's views on music underlies all analyses as a kind of background fabric. The second aspect, Messiaen's quotations from the Summa theologica and their musical translation, determines segments of a larger discussion that, in the book's three main chapters, attempts to do justice to the compositions as a whole. While Thomas' theological aesthetics appears as a thread woven through a texture in a way that brings it only periodically to the foreground, the statements from Thomas's writings provide essential foundations determining the works' content and its musical rendering. This book is part of Siglind Bruhn's Messiaen Trilogy.

A celebration of Taoist art traces the influence of philosophy on the visual arts in China.

The specter of polygamy haunts Mormonism. More than a century after the practice was banned, it casts a long shadow that obscures people's perceptions of the lives of today's Latter-day Saint women. Many still see them as second-class citizens, oppressed by the church and their husbands, and forced to stay home and take care of their many children. Sister Saints offers a history of modern Mormon women that takes aim at these stereotypes, showing that their stories are much more complex than previously thought. Women in the Utah territory received the right to vote in 1870-fifty years before the nineteenth amendment-only to have it taken away by the same federal legislation that forced the end of polygamy. Progressive and politically active, Mormon women had a profound impact on public life in the first few decades of the twentieth century. They then turned inward, creating a domestic ideal that shaped Mormon culture for generations. The women's movement of the 1970s sparked a new, vigorous-and hotly contested-Mormon feminism that divided Latter-day Saint women. By the twenty-first century more than half of all Mormons lived outside the United States, and what had once been a small community of pioneer women had grown into a diverse global sisterhood. Colleen McDannell argues that we are on the verge of an era in which women are likely to play a greater role in the Mormon church. Well-educated, outspoken, and deeply committed to their faith, these women are defying labels like liberal and conservative, traditional and modern. This deeply researched and eye-opening book ranges over more than a century of history to tell the stories of extraordinary-and ordinary-Latter-day Saint women with empathy and narrative flair.

Visit the author's website at www.DutchInk.com In 1996, Hilaire Tavenner and a small group of companions went to France from a city in Ohio named for Alsace Lorraine, France. Lorain, Ohio is the home of the Tavenner family for six generations. Her father, Robert Henderson Tavenner was a French Protestant and her mother, Mary Catherine Montgomery was an Irish Catholic. This was not an unusual combination for "the International City" on the shores of Lake Erie, famous for its eighty ethnic and church denominations! Lorain is also well known for its literary giants such as Helen Steiner Rice and Toni Morrison. Dr. Tavenner had been in a convent in upstate New York for almost twenty years and has a lifetime of devotion to Saints of the Church. Her interest in and love for the Miraculous Medal took her to France with a plan to write of her experiences when she came home. The first half of France, 1996 contains most interesting true stories of St. Catherine Laboure and the Miraculous Medal, St. Vincent de Paul, Sr. Louise de Marillac, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Joan of Arc, as well as St. Bernadette and Lourdes and her travels to Taize and Cluny. The book is written in hybrid fashion in that the first half is more expository than narrative. The second half of the book, "A Week in Paris" is more narrative than expository. It describes some of the most famous locations in the world and the "typically-tourist-yet-personal-and-unique experiences" she and her companions had while there! The reader cannot help but to glean some of the most fascinating historical events and landmarks of France as s/he reads through, "A Week in Paris". The book is really two books in one. You will laugh as you hear her tell of being "mooned" in front of the world famous Opera House and just as equally be amazed to hear her speak of this most remarkable French nation! France, 1996 is a must-read for anyone planning to visit France. Dr. Tavenner has marvelous insights into pre-planning, places to stay and money-saving ideas! The book was originally written as a Christmas gift to her family in 1996, but soon became so popular, many more copies were made and sold to friends and strangers who proclaimed it a "most delightful, informative, and entertaining book." In fact, some readers responded with, "Too amazing to be true!" But it is. France, 1996 is really a series of articles, many of which have already been published around the country. Dr. Tavenner is a well-known public speaker, educator and writer. Each story of this book begins exactly the same way--for the purpose of identifying chapters from this particular book.

Taoism remains the only major religion whose canonical texts have not been systematically arranged and made available for study. This long-awaited work, a milestone in Chinese studies, catalogs and describes all existing texts within the Taoist canon. The result will not only make the entire range of existing Taoist texts accessible to scholars of religion, it will open up a crucial resource in the study of the history of China. The vast literature of the Taoist canon, or Daozang, survives in a Ming Dynasty edition of some fifteen hundred different texts. Compiled under imperial auspices and completed in 1445—with a supplement added in 1607—many of the books in the Daozang concern the history, organization, and liturgy of China's indigenous religion. A large number of works deal with medicine, alchemy, and divination. If scholars have long neglected this unique storehouse of China's religious traditions, it is largely because it was so difficult to find one's way within it. Not only was the rationale of its medieval classification system inoperable for the many new texts that later entered the Daozang, but the system itself was no longer understood by the Ming editors; hence the haphazard arrangement of the canon as it has come down to us. This new work sets out the contents of the Daozang chronologically, allowing the reader to follow the long evolution of Taoist literature. Lavishly illustrated, the first volume ranges from antiquity through the Middle Ages, while the second spans the modern period. Within this frame, texts are grouped by theme and subject. Each one is the subject of a historical abstract that identifies the text's contents, date of origin, and author. Throughout the first two volumes, introductions outline the evolution of Taoism and its spiritual heritage. A third volume offering biographical sketches of frequently mentioned Taoists, multiple indexes, and an extensive bibliography provides critical tools for navigating this guide to one of the fundamental aspects of Chinese culture.