Saint The Books

This book opens up reflection about how women may have shared the gospel story within the realms that were available to them in a patriachal society. Hearon works carefully with various texts of the bible to show the flexibility of the story within established broad frames. A delightful book for any interested in the fundamental role of women in primitive Christianity.

The primary surprise awaiting the reader of 'The Mary Magdalene Tradition: Witnesss and Counter-Witness in Early Christian Communities' is that it is not a book about Mary Magdalene. While Mary Magdalene features as a character of importance in the text of Holly Hearon, professor of New Testament studies at my seminary, this is not a biography or history book on Magdalene, but rather on the impact that the primary stories of Mary Magdalene - the post-resurrection stories (and peripherally related, other stories of Magdalene showing her prominence among the followers of Jesus) - have on the early Christian community and Christian development. Hearon's primary questions are the rhetorical functions - 'who told these stories of the appearances to the women, and why did they tell them?' Stories are told for a reason, one assumes - they continue to be told because they continue to have meaning. Can we discover this meaning?

Hearon begins with a brief survey of past scholarship in the Magdalene tradition in the later half of the twentieth century. These studies concentrated on placing the Magdalene tradition in relation to the 'normative' Petrine tradition and other focuses - Hearon's discussion centres on three specific contexts - Matthew, John and the oral tradition of the early Christians during the time the gospels were being written. Hearon does not cover in this text Gnostic traditions (in which Magdalene stories have prominence) or other extra-canonical texts. While she references the longer ending of Mark in various parts of the text, this is not a major focus at any point.

This oral tradition is addressed in terms of the broader storytelling environment in the ancient Eastern Roman Empire - many scholars assume that the majority of the world was illiterate by a significant margin, making oral traditions the primary means of handing down knowledge. Hearon points out the irony of our knowledge of oral traditions of storytelling coming primarily from written texts. Greco-Roman, Jewish and Christian texts each bear different hallmarks, and Hearon discusses each in turn, focusing primarily upon the period between 100 BCE and 200 CE. The Greco-Romans had professional and informal storytellers, and contexts were often fairly clear. The Jewish tradition has more examples, but less contextual clues. Drawing in the Christian tradition, Hearon sets a stage for the examination of the Magdalene stories.

Dealing directly with the post-resurrection stories, Hearon looks first at the origins of stories, preferring the option that the gospel retellings derive from earlier, common oral traditions, rather than a direct borrowing of texts. In the next chapter, Hearon develops a 're-oralised' version of the Magdalene story, an uncommon task that involves identification and understanding of storyteller, story, audience and context in ever-changing combinations. One might wonder again at the task of re-oralising an oral text that has been transmitted via texts, then again commiting the finished re-oralisation to yet another text. Hearon admits the lack of ability of texts to carry the weight of performance here, but it does make for some fascinating imaginings.

Hearon examines in detail the stories in Matthew and John, looking also at the communities of both Matthew and John, with a special look at women in each of the gospels. There are conclusions drawn at each chapter, which feed into Hearon's final conclusions (contained in a remarkably short chapter at the end). The evidence points to a central role of women in early Christianity, and the Magdalene tradition underscores this importance. Mary Magdalene is seen as having the key qualities of discipleship, but the texts show competition and some lack of uniformity among the early framers of the gospels as to leadership and church function roles (who teaches, who is a disciple, etc.). Hearon argues for a persuasive power of storytelling rather than a dogmatic imposition of standards at this early time in Christian development.

There are certain assumptions underlying the whole study. Among these are the lack of uniformity of witness in the early church, the idea that the gospels were composed for particular communities (that were nonetheless not defined by geography or self-identification), and that the world of the writers is reflected in the writing itself, that there is a contextual relationships between the ancient world and the gospel.

This text grew out of Hearon's doctoral dissertation at GTU, under the direction of Ann Wire. Thus, this is a scholarly work as opposed to a 'popular' one - the reader should be prepared for footnote that take up the entire space on the page; on the other hand, such documentation and elaboration is very useful to the scholar, professional and amateur, for doing further investigation on one's own. While there is no subject/topic/modern author index, there is an index of biblical and ancient sources, in addition to several interesting appendices, putting in chart form examples of storytelling, by women and by men, in the different contexts, as well as examples of appearance stories in the different literatures.

Hearon concludes by saying that we are all storytellers of a sort, no matter what kind of story we are telling. But our stories are not static, nor are the interpretations of these stories, and this is at the heart of the gospel process - by hearing the differing voices and interpretations, we are able to hear the voice of the gospel in greater clarity. As one who is quite taken by narrative theology, I found the ideas and examples included in Hearon's text quite intriguing, and information that will be of use in the future.

It is 1849 and Mary Mclean and her family are fresh off the boat from Ireland. Mary is excited to hear about stories and traditions from Ireland that are told by other members of the Irish community where she lives. One of the things she gets told about is the St. Patrick's Day parade. Mary is excited about this and all the stuff that surrounding it. More than anything, she wants to be part of it so she asks Mr. Finnegan, a local shop owner, if she can ride on his cart in the parade with him. Mr. Finnegan agrees but only if Mary McLean can find a perfect shamrock. This is an almost impossible task because it is winter. Mary searches and searches and she can't find one. She finally stumbles across a leprechaun who says he'll give her one later. Months later, he is back the day before St. Patrick's Day. Mary captures him and asks for the promised shamrock. The leprechaun says he lost it and tricks Mary into turning away. Mary goes home dejected. Her father comes home with a surprise! He found a shamrock for her and Mary is able to be in the parade. She's very happy.
This book is priceless. The artwork is fabulous and reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. The artwork is very engaging. Each page is laid out exactly the same. On the left side, there is the text. On the right side, there is a color illustration. The moral of the story seems to be that good things do happen to good people. This is a wonderful theme. It also seems to have a theme of good things happen to those who wait. This is something important to instill in children because so often they want things right now this very instant. The story line is entertaining and easy to follow. It is a wonderful book to read.

This is a story of a little girl who searches for a four leaf clover so she can be in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The fantasy and excitement of a leprechaun appeals to my students. It lends very nicely to creative writing in the classroom. This is a must, especially for primary teachers.

The role of the Virgin Mary in the Church is misunderstood by many. Bertrand Buby discusses Mariology is a straighforward and interesting manner. He deals with issues such as the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the image of Mary, The Woman as a symbol of the Church and the gospel references to Mary in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Buby writes is a refreshingly understandable manner.

This is a very fine look at the role of Mary in the New Testament. It is the first in a 3 volume series that covers Mary from the Bible through the early Patristic period. Certainly it is quite good for scholars who are looking for a solid introduction to Mariology. It follows the guidelines set out in Lumen Gentium chaper 8 and the encyclical Marialis Cultus. A very solid work in general although it depends rather heavily on Fr. Raymond Browns views of the New Testament.

I found this work to be an extremely thorough examination of Pope John Paul II's views, thoughts and teachings that helps shapes contemporary Catholic thinking.

Antoine Nachef has a true vision into the Catholic faith, this book has incredible insight into the philosophy of Pope John Paul II and his ministry, it is an excellent read and only superlatives can adequately describe this magnificant work. As a former student of Nachef I have read all of his works and they are wonderful and Mary's Pope is no exception, an essential read for the faithful Christian.

This was a great book to gain deeper understanding of these 2 very important people in the New Testament.

We often juggle between "doing" and "listening". Camille Fronk Olson has hit the right balance by comparing Mary and Martha to Ourselves.

Tale of Two Sisters: Martha is the hostess with the mostest - preparing who knows what for the LORD, while Mary sits at his feet and listens. Martha pleads with the LORD for some help from Mary. If you don't know this story, it's found in: Luke 10:38-42 KJV

38 ¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

"Mary, Martha and Me" helps us to see the good in both women, and think about which one we most identify with - or not?

Surprise! Most of us are quite a bit like each of the sisters, in more ways than we might imagine.

Please read this little book, or give it as a gift. It will speak wonderful words to your heart and soul :o)

another treasure from amazon... it is full of beautiful works of art, and it comments on each one...holy treasure...

I was with Megan last summer when this book was in the final stages of production. I was impressed with the concept when she was explaining it to me and I was intrigued to see if it would live up to my expectations. It far surpassed them!

The book is a wonderfully simple idea - but so very effective.

It contains an introduction, which gives a very informative explanation about iconography. Following this introduction there are 31 full colour icons. These icons have short explanations and prayerful reflections upon them.

I should recommend this book both as a tool for the study of iconography and more importantly as a deeply spiritual medium for prayer.

Some of you probably remember this as the play Marlowe managed to complete before he was killed in "Shakespeare In Love." It is interesting that even though many critics do not see this as one of Marlowe's better plays, Marlowe (in the movie) said that this was even better than his "Dr. Faustus." The play begins with the Protestant Prince Navarre marrying a Catholic Princess. While some are hoping this will make peace between the Catholics and Protestants in France, many see the approaching war as inevitable. Anjou (the eventual King Henry III) teams up with the overly ambitious Guise and they decide to eliminate the Protestants. Most of the scenes that follow are short murder scenes, but Marlowe knew what he was doing. By keeping the scenes short, he emphasizes that murder is a vile act. (Hollywood has always looked for ways to justify and even glorify killing.) Well, action movies are here today and gone tomrrow, while the classics from Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Dickens will survive time. Quoting a bit of Shakespeare: 'the truth should live from age to age.' Moving on, King Charles IX is understandably sad at the bloodshed. Upon his death, Anjou is crowned King Henry III. Marlowe keeps the tension as the Protestants (under Navarre) start to strike back. Then, there comes a rift between Henry III and Guise. And should we be surprised about this? Ambition seldom knows loyalty. Henry III realizes that Guise is popular, so a secret murder is his best bet. And Navarre is sharp enough to realize that if he helps bring down Guise, he may win Henry III's gratitude. It is interesting that someone even tries to warn the ego maniac Guise of the danger he is in, but Guise compares himself to Caesar and foolishly walks into the death trap. (Undoubtedly Shakespeare had this in mind when he wrote his "Julius Caesar.") Moving on, Henry III plots the murder of a cardinal who he sees as dangerous. (But as in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," some enemies are more powerful after their death.) The death of this cardinal brings about a successful attempt on Henry III's life. And we can see that Henry III's death was revolving in Shakespeare's mind as he wrote his "Hamlet." If we accept Marlowe's words (in "Shakespeare In Love") that this is even better than "Dr. Faustus," we'll have to fight many critics. But the argument is that this play is historical and completely plausible. And the more believable something is, the more scarey it is likely to be. In the movie, Shakespeare choked a bit when Marlowe just said the title. It's sad that this play will probably never get the attention it deserves.

I CAN NOT understand why this play of Marlowe's was never popular. In this chilling masterpiece, not a single page is wasted. This play offers several dramatic passages. Guise's soliloquy in scene 2 is especially powerful. Another aspect of this play that Marlowe handles with the utmost of genius is Anjou's rise to King Henry III, and later his fall. Throughout the play, Guise presents us with chilling moments and his death is handled with dramatically appropriate lines. The reconciliation between King Henry III and Navarre also demonstrates Marlowe's mastery of literature. Finally, King Henry III's death really helps us to see that Marlowe paved the way for Shakespeare in every sense of the word. If you liked Marlowe's "Faustus" and "Edward II," you WILL NOT want to miss this one!

This book is a must read for those who are considering using their canine companions in ministry. Easy to read and insightful, this book give wonderful examples, as well as the "nuts and bolts," of getting started in Canine assisted ministry.

Imaginative and inspirational, as well as instructional. As a dog lover, the book opened my heart and imagination to what the life of Jesus would have been like with a canine companion. The book also provides the reader with suggestions to continue learning about the scriptures. A great book to read and share.

Outstanding! I have all of Wayne Weible books and they always take me right back to Medjugorje, without leaving my home. Being in Our Lady's School of Prayer is very special to me and I can't wait until I can be in Medjugorje again..............

The prayers given by Wayne Weible in this book are certainly inspring, but they are unique, as well. There is controversy about Medjugorje with reported messages to visionaries continuing today, beginning in 1981. I have followed the messages and attended Caritas, a satelite of Medjugorje, south of Birmingham,Al. I have only seen loving and beautiful messages from what is reported to be from Mary, Queen of Peace. This book can be rewarding for those serious about Christian prayer.

This book presents a good overview of how the fair came to St.Louis, the preparations for it, major ingredientes and what happened after that.

This is an excellent choice if you are looking for a feel of the fair and the world at that time. The book starts with how the world was at that time and how the preparations for the fair took place and ends with a narration of what happened to the buildings (and the Ferris wheel) after the fair. It was interesting to read that the fair itself was forgotten until the 1944 film, "Meet Me in St.Louis".

This answered a lot of questions that I had about the fair. If you are looking for a detailed view of the fair, I would recommend "Inside The World's Fair of 1904 - Volume 1 and 2" by Elana V. Fox.

I orginally purchased this book for my 8 year-old niece who is becoming interested in American history. After flipping through the book and being drawn in by the illustrations and their witty captions, I sat down and read the whole thing myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit about St. Louis to boot, including surprises such as the fact that the first Olympic Games to be held in America were at the St. Louis World's Fair. The author does an excellent job of not only bringing the fair to life, but puts it in the proper context of St. Louis and America. Indeed, one can almost smell the ice cream cones and hot dogs, two of the foods said to have been invented there. Nor does he ignore some of the less savory aspects of the Fair, such as the forced confinement of Filipinos in their semi-permanent exhibit under miserable conditions. All told, this was a wonderful book, which my niece very much enjoyed as well, after I finally coughed it up!