Benedict XVI: Way of the Cross

Product Description

Pray through the mystery of salvation with our new pope, Benedict XVI! Experience for yourself the Way of the Cross that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger-now Pope Benedict XV-wrote for this time-honored devotion held on Good Friday at Rome's Colosseum. Curiosity regarding Benedict's spiritual writings has sparked worldwide interest in these meditations and prayers that highlight the new pope's personal prayer life, as well as his vision for the future of the Church.

Customer Reviews:

Benedict XVI Stations of the Cross.......2007-08-09

Scrturally devotional and very inspiring to pray the Stations in a contemporay way in union with the Holy Father and the univesal Church

Lent will never be the same.......2006-03-14

This is a new one for me, with amazing artwork and deep meditations. As a new read on an old topic this one really shook things up for me. It drew me in to the meditations and prayers in a new and intriguing ways.

Prayerful and Powerful.......2006-03-03

This is a beautiful book in which Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) sets forth the Stations which he gave for Lent 2004 at the request of the late Pope John Paul the Great before the latter's death. Like all of Pope Benedict's writings, his message is clear and concrete and it is very easy to read and understand by everyone. Each station is accompanied by a thoughtful and prayerful meditation, as well as a beautiful picture depicting the particular Station of the Cross upon which to dwell as you pray the stations with the help of this book. The meditations are a true masterpiece of love by Il Papa, Il Grande Innamorato - Pope Benedict XVI.

A sublimely beautiful book.......2006-02-01

This book is a feast for both body and soul. It is a book that has been carefully crafted,(from the feel of its pages to the extraordinary Stations of the Cross by Jan Toorop), to draw the reader to another place. The Stations are compelling, insistent on being looked at and thought about. There is a restrained lushness about the stations, the occasion of the passion is somber but there is an overriding sense that beauty walks with Jesus. One can almost say the Stations are modern icons. Within the meditations and prayers there are details of the larger station which are presented in thumbnail size.

Pope Benedict writes with simplicity and clarity. The entire book is an orchestrated prayer. What comes through is his deep love of God and mankind. In an achingly gentle style, he asks the reader to walk with the suffering Jesus. He encourages all to draw near Jesus no matter how broken and demoralized they are.
This book allows the reader, whether devout Christian or searcher for God, to have an experience of the transcendent.

I have already given two people this book as a gift. My hope is that Pauline Books and Media decides to publish a book devoted entirely to The Stations of Jan Toorop

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Great Insight
Powerful Meditations on Christ's Passion

The Way of the Cross
Caryll Houselander
Manufacturer: Liguori Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0764808532

Customer Reviews:

Great Insight.......2006-03-14

This is a reprinting of an older version that was originally published in the 1950's. This author enjoyed great popularity for her spiritual writings in the 40's and 50's. I came across this one last year but only got around to reading it this year. It has an a meditation between 4 and 8 pages per station. It also has woodcut prints by the author at the beginning of each chapter. Also each chapter ends with a prayer composed to tie the meditation to our own lives. The meditations in this edition go much deeper than some of the others. The reflections lead to deep introspection.

Powerful Meditations on Christ's Passion.......2004-02-27

This extraordinary book makes a superb complement to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Houselander was one of England's most popular spiritual writers in the mid-20th century. She was also one of the best, and this is arguably her finest work.

The book is based on the ancient devotional practice of praying The Stations of the Cross. The Stations are 14 incidents in Christ's Passion; for example, Christ is judged; Christ meets his mother while carrying His cross; Christ is stripped; Christ is nailed to the cross; Christ dies.

For each incident, Houselander provides a few pages of profound reflection and a short prayer. Her poignant writing is utterly devoid of sentimentality or flowery ornament. She plunges straight into each moment, showing us how we can walk the painful Way of the Cross with Jesus, and how He in fact walks with us at every moment of suffering in our lives.

Book Description

The Way of the Cross for Mothers is a modern interpretation of the Via Crucis that links the sufferings of Jesus on the way to Calvary to the everyday challenges of family life encountered by today's Christian woman. Its purpose is to help mothers, through reflection, to realize their roles as an image of Jesus' love and a transmitter of his message to their families, and to see the potential for the sacred in everyday activities. The prayers and reflections are designed to help mothers understand that the frustrations, insecurities, and fears often encountered in modern parenting can be opportunities for spiritual growth and self-awareness.

Book Description

One of today’s most popular and respected Catholic writers presents the first guide to the new Stations of the Cross, reflecting the revisions made by Pope John Paul II.

A traditional devotion for Catholics for more than four hundred years, the Stations of the Cross commemorates the route Jesus traveled from being sentenced to death, crucified, and then buried in a borrowed tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem. In the past, the devotion included a number of stations based on popular stories of piety and devotion, but not mentioned in the Gospels. Over the past eight years, however, Pope John Paul II has made substantial changes to the devotion in his Good Friday celebrations of the stations, removing those not found in the Bible and replacing them with stations that more accurately follow scriptural accounts of Christ’s passion.

The revised Stations of the Cross focuses on the condemned Jesus and on the community walking the way with him to the cross. Unrelieved by stories like Veronica’s wiping blood off the face of Jesus and his meeting with his mother; this is a story of an execution. The new stations deal directly with the pain, suffering, betrayal, and injustice to which Jesus was subjected. In explaining his reasons for revising the stations, the Pope has said that the alterations are intended to serve as a model for other devotions and to encourage the return to the Scriptures as the source of and inspiration for contemporary worship.

In this helpful, authoritative guide, Megan McKenna presents the fourteen new stations with the scriptural passages that Pope John Paul II uses on Good Friday. She also provides a basic introduction to the practices and reflections on the importance of the devotion for present-day Catholics and Episcopalians.

Customer Reviews:

Challenges Reader to See Christ in the World.......2006-04-23

For most of us, it's pretty easy to ignore the implications of Matt. 25:34-40 (full passage below), when Christ tells his followers that he is found in the poor and disenfranchised of this world, and that to serve them is to serve him.

"In the New Stations of the Cross," Megan McKenna provides a powerful reminder. For each of the stations, as revised by Pope John Paul II, she provides an intimate glimpse into Christ's experience and then goes on to show how that same kind of suffering can be found in the world today.

This book is worth reading and rereading!

Matthew 25: 34-40 (NAB)
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Excellent meditations for Christians.......2003-11-14

The Stations of the Cross are a series of meditations developed by the Catholic church hundreds of years ago to help Christians commemorate, honor and identify with the sufferings of Christ.

The traditional Stations consist of fourteen meditations on the events of Christ's final day on earth beginning with Christ in the garden and ending with him being placed in the tomb. Since their creation, the Stations' focus on Christ has become intermixed with stories of piety or tradition not necessarily mentioned in the gospel accounts.

I have a 1925 Catholic Pocket Manual with the approved Stations of the Cross in it. I have benefited from the eloquent way the Stations take the reader through the seminal events of Christ's suffering; however, I have also been frustrated by the elevation of Mary's stature in these Stations to one of similar footing as the Lord's.

In The New Stations of the Cross, McKenna bases her interpretation on the recent revisions to the Stations made by Pope John Paul II. His substantial changes have been designed to bring the Stations into stronger congruence with the gospel accounts of Christ's passion.

McKenna's writing is focused primarily on Jesus. Other topics are interpreted in their relation to him and his suffering.
In addition to the traditional fourteen stations, McKenna completes the journey by adding a fifteenth station on the resurrection.

McKenna's writing demonstrates a tenderness and sympathy toward the suffering of Christ that is rarely conveyed in books. She writes from the perspective of one who has spent considerable time studying the topics she addresses in each of the Stations.

The New Stations of the Cross serves as a guide to the Christian desiring to set aside superfluous dogma and focus on the singular chain of events of Christianity.

The writing is superb and attempts to paint the picture of Christ's suffering, so that the reader can see the impact of torture and pain on Christ.

The following is a sample taken from McKenna's writing on the Sixth Station in which Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns, "The way becomes fraught with horror. Now Jesus is utterly alone and handed over simply to be tortured, terrified, made sport of as immediate preparation for his grisly and ghastly public execution...They will intentionally work on dehumanizing him, demeaning him, and instill in him a taste of what is to come, taking his dignity from him piece by piece, as they take pieces of his skin and make him bleed, inflicting pain for the sake of inflicting pain."

McKenna brings the reader face to face with what Jesus endured and with the truly remarkable love and submission he exercised in his endurance.

In some of the chapters, McKenna may seem to digress from her focus on the biblical events as she discusses current issues as relating to the Station being discussed. This reminds the reader that the suffering of Christ does not take place in an historical vacuum but is present today in the suffering of our time.

When we sympathize with the suffering of Christ portrayed in this book and in the gospels, we are encouraged to see the suffering of Christ in the poor, oppressed, addicted and accused around us and not turn a cold shoulder to them.

The New Stations of the Cross is an excellent guide for individuals and groups desiring to look right into the heart of Christianity.

INVITES YOU - to meditation, and daily practice in your life.......2003-05-31

This book provides, I beleive, both ample opportunities for the reader to deepen their capacity for compassion and also guidance as to how to apply lessons from the Cross to their daily living.
Although it can be read quickly it's suggested that you'd be doing your spiritual development an injustice to read it this way. - There are so many instances where the text INVITES you into it, to pause and take the time to explore it, to meditate ......... and somewhere in this process to so ingrain the insight in yourself that you're apt to recall it and then practice it, in your daily living. Isn't this, weather we bring guidance from a spiritual book into practice in our daily living a major measure of the value of the reading ?
Although I doubt that I'll read it again, in entirety, I'm convinced that I'll read portions of it , again, repeatedly !

Average customer rating:

Ah, my favorite science fiction story ever...
I can't believe an 'old' book could be so good.
Inspirational
Wonderful
Simak's Other Masterpiece

Way Station
Clifford D. Simak
Manufacturer: Old Earth Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1882968271

Customer Reviews:

Ah, my favorite science fiction story ever..........2007-06-26

My ragged little 1970s paperback edition of Way Station is one of my most treasured books. I must have been in my early teens when I first read it.

When I ask my students to name several books they want their kids to read, I give my answers as well, and Way Station is one of them.

Like some other reviewers, I've thought for years that it would make an outstanding movie. My only fear is that they'd bastardize it and give us a frenetic, over-acted, gee-whizzed, trivialized version. Think Dune, I Robot, Starship Troopers, War of the Worlds... But, at least it would create a new group of readers!

I can't believe an 'old' book could be so good........2007-03-07

This was a most satisfying read. The depth of imagination, and the prescience of events was a treasure to experience.

Inspirational.......2006-08-10

"That was the way with Man; it had always been that way. He had carried terror with him. and the thing he was afraid of had always been himself." -- Way Station p. 198.

As a young teenager, I fell upon Way Station in my small town library soon after its publication. This relaxed sf tale caught my fancy and that of my friends. I think it was Harlan Ellison who said that sf is at its root juvenile literature at its best, and that can be said of Way Station. Yet, forty years later, the direct simplicity of Simak's tale now comes across as almost mythopoeic. The author could have filled in so much more detail but chose not to. I remember my imagination filling in the physical details of the station -- Simak's light touch was and still is sufficient.

As one who lives in Wisconsin and has driven through the area depicted, I can attest to the accuracy of Simak's vision. That part of Wisconsin remains under-populated and barren with a rocky beauty. It is worth the visit as is Way Station.

Inspiring? Yes, Way Station inspired me to write sf, none of which has ever seen the printed page. More importantly, Simak's yarn about a man of war yearning for peace during turbulent times is so very appropriate today as it was at the height of the Cold War and the beginning of US involvement in Vietnam.

Wonderful.......2005-12-26

This is a wonderful book. The science is outdated, but the writing style seems so slow and deep and luxurious compared to all the more modern sci fi I have read lately. It has a subtle, understated spirituality that I do not normally associate with
sci fi, except in Ray Bradbury.

I think that the fast paced, short attention span mentality of MTV and the internet has in some way harmed the style of lots of the current sci fi writers. There is a quality in Bradbury and in Simak that I don't see anywhere today. I am not a great reader of sci fi though. Maybe there are new Bradburys and Simaks out there that I don't know about.

Simak's Other Masterpiece.......2005-12-22

Clifford D. Simak's "Way Station" was first published under the title "Here Gather the Stars" in Galaxy Magazine in two parts in June and August of 1963. This is an excellent novel which won the Hugo Award in 1964. It has also been remembered by fans by finishing 27th on the Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll in 1966; tied for 25th on the Locus All-Time Poll in 1987, and finished 31st in 1990 on the Locus All-Time Poll for SF Novels published before 1990.

The main character of the story is Enoch Wallace, a veteran of the American Civil War who is 124 years old, and yet only appears to younger than 30. The story is told in a non-linear style, and Simak artfully moves between present and past events, learning about how Enoch became a Way Station for an inter-galactic transportation system, why he has kept it secret, what has happened during his time as the keeper of the station, and why the CIA has finally become aware of his existence.

Simak covers a lot of ground in this story. The political climate on Earth as well as that of the Inter-Galactic Council, the investigation of the CIA, an encounter with his nearest neighbors, Enoch's loneliness and alienation from the modern world, and the theft of an alien talisman all play an important role in this story. Despite these complexities in the plot, it is amazingly easy to follow and is put together wonderfully by Simak.

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Way Station (Leather Bound)

Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000E19SEE

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Thanks!!!
Beauty , Art and Prayer

John Paul II's Way of the Cross
John Paul II
Manufacturer: Pauline Books & Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0819839701

Customer Reviews:

Thanks!!!.......2006-07-05

So Glad That Steven reccommended this book, both here and his blog. These books on the way of the Cross. I Highly Reccommend them also.

Beauty , Art and Prayer.......2006-04-12

These are the meditations led by Pope John Paul II at the Colesseum from Good Friday 2000. The late pope had a great devotion to the stations and to the rosary. Both are evident in these heartfelt meditations and prayers. The images for each station are from classical art, such artists as: Andrea Solario, James Stanfielding, Giotto Di Bondone, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Giovanni Battiste Tiepolo, Fra Angelico, Tiziano, El Greco, Giovan Fracesco Da Maineri, Simone Martini, Hans Memling, Cornelis Van Haarlem Cornelisz, Rembrandt Van Rijn and Carl Bloch. This is a treasure from Pope John Paul II.

Walking the Way of Sorrows: Stations of the Cross

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A touching journey
Walking the Way of Sorrows
Look for Yourself

Walking the Way of Sorrows: Stations of the Cross
Katerina Katsarka Whitley
Manufacturer: Morehouse Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Ritual | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0819219843

Book Description

Each year on Good Friday, Christian congregations all over the world walk the Stations of the Cross, a commemoration of Jesus' walk to Calvary. In Walking the Way of Sorrows, artist Noyes Capehart and writer/journalist Katerina Whitley provide a fresh resource for congregations and individuals who want to explore the meaning of these Stations more deeply. Capehart's stark and powerful blockcuts of the fourteen Stations are accompanied by monologues from the point of view of someone at each station. These monologues, along with biblical references and a brief liturgy, are excellent for individual devotion, but can also be used by groups who walk the Stations together.

Customer Reviews:

A touching journey.......2006-03-17

Katerina Whitley's ability to take the reader into the hearts of her characters is beautifully continued with this book. She and Noyes Caperhart have worked together to bring out the humanity inherent in the walk to Calvary. For each of the stations Whitley has written a monologue for one of the observers in her honest, natural voice.
Our adult Sunday school class spent each week during Lent reading and exploring our reactions to the monologues and blockcuts. I would highly recommend the experience to any one who wishes to deepen their connection to Christ's walk during the Lenten season.

Walking the Way of Sorrows.......2004-03-09

Before reading this book, I was only vaguely familiar with the Stations of the Cross. Though the illustrations are powerful enough to tell the story of each station on their own, the author has done an excellent job of placing the reader inside each station. The writing style the author uses enables the reader to be witness to the stations as they happen ~ as if you were actually there. The reader is moved to tears as the author sheds light on the gravity of the reality of Christ's crucifixion.
I read this book before seeing "The Passion of the Christ" recently.... had I not read the book, the movie would have been profound enough on its own, but the knowledge and perspective I gained from reading it added to the power of the movie and I am very thankful that I had the chance to read the book first.
If you have seen the movie, you will remember each scene distinctly as you read the book... If you haven't seen the movie, read the book first and the movie will be so much more powerful... Either way, I think anyone who reads this book will be so thankful that they did. For both the monologues as well as the illustrations. The artist is incredible ~ you will LOVE the pictures. They are so real and heartbreaking... you just have to see for yourself.

Look for Yourself.......2004-01-31

Walking the Way of Sorrows, Katerina Whitley's third book of biblical storytelling is both similar to and quite different from her previous books. In her earlier books the characters are all women. Each women's story stands alone, connected only by their mutual connection to God. In Walking the Way of Sorrows Whitley chose the linked narrative of the Stations of the Cross. The major change is that the presence of numerous men along the Via Dolorosa necessarily expanded her exploration to include men's reaction to meeting the divine. She speaks, in the introduction, of her trepidation at entering the unfamiliar territory of the male reaction to Jesus. But she needn't have worried. The men all come across as thoroughly masculine and as individual all any of the women she has written about.

The first narrative is of the soldier who escorted Jesus back to Pilate after his examination by Herod during the long night after his capture. He makes sure we understand he is a Roman soldier, not some barbarian riffraff, and that he is tough enough to do his job. But, "I looked into his eyes!" he cries, sorrowing for the good man who must go to underserved punishment because Pilate is afraid of political repercussions.

After a quick read I am looking forward to exploring each story in depth. I read through it in an afternoon, hoping to find material for a family Lenten study. The difficult part is not in deciding to use this book in my education ministry this Lent, but in finding the best way to present it to a group. With each monologue conducted by a different actor the book could lie at the heart an excellent Good Friday liturgy. On the other hand, read and discussed week by week, the narrations in Walking the Way of Sorrows would expand to fill the whole season with Whitley's vision of humanity's response to God.

Book Description

Grounded in historical scholarship and practical experience, The Road to Resurrection takes us on an imaginative journey through the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection.

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