Stories for the Festivals of the Year
Told for Children

Irene Johanson

Softbound

$19.95

I had never heard of this little treasure of a book until a few weeks ago. In fact, I had never seen a copy until those I had requested sight unseen arrived at my door.

It's been a long time since I was in a community where simple yet deep and beautiful stories were told at festival times -- Irene Johanson has brought that all back to me and offers it to anyone who opens her book. Although these tales for the Christian festivals are indeed told for children, it is hard for me to image anyone who could listen to or read these stories without loving them.

Most of the stories are quite short, which is good not only because they can be told at bedtime, but because there is so much imaginative gold contained in each that these small portions allow the heart to wrap itself completely around the stories and lets the mind imagine each one to the fullest.

Contents:

• Easter, Ascension and Whitson - 9 different stories
• Legends about St. John (the Baptist) - 10 stories
• The Marriage of the King's Son (for Michaelmas) - 3 stories
• The Animals' Joy at Christmas - 6 stories
• Star Legends for Epiphany - 6 stories
• Holy Week - 6 stories

Christmas Roses
Legends for Each Day of Advent

Includes retellings by such wonderful storytellers as Selma Lagerlöf and Jacob Streit

Hardbound

$39.95

What a find this book is! Everyone who shares these legends with their children (or themselves, should no children be available to give you an excuse) will discover something much more than beautiful stories, bathed in truth and light. I promise you that by the time you close the book on Christmas Eve you will notice that your entire life has been lifted into a rosey realm where Love reigns and peace abounds. Each and every one of these legends has been chosen for it's ability to reach the human heart and retold with a rare grace.

The legends are presented such that there is a tale to be read every evening from December 1 through the 24th. The book was published with the intent that it accompany a special Advent calendar, but it stands beautifully on its own.

Christmas Roses is a feast for the heart - do enjoy!

The Mystery of John
& the Cycle of the Year

Karl König

Softbound

$29.95

The enigma of the two Johns (the Baptist and the Apostle) has be the source of much contemplation, discussion and debate for many centuries. Karl König opens new vistas of understanding and possibility with these lectures that begin with Rudolf Steiner's insights and then go on to elaborate and develop the relationship of St. John the Baptist to St. John the Evangilist. He further unfolds their joint relationship to the cycle of the year, giving fresh meaning to the celebration of the Feast of St. John at midsummer.

These lectures are beautiful and deep, worthy reading any time of the year.

The Little Flowers of St. Francis

Translated by Thomas Okey

Softbound

$3.00

We are so pleased to have found this very inexpensive edition of what must be one of the most beloved accounts ever written about this special saint. Whether you are preparing a main lesson on the saints and want learn stories about St. Francis to share with your students (and who wouldn't?) or would simply like to warm your own heart with these simple, sweet and love-drenched stories, you'll want this book at your side.

The Little Flowers was written in the 15th Century and is a collection of stories chronicling the journeys, activities, and miracles of Saint Francis and his brethren. It is among the world's most popular and most read of the religious classics. This is an unabridged republication of the Thomas Okey translation originally published in 1963.

Teresa of Avila
The Progress of a Soul

Cathleen Medwick

Softbound

$12.95

This biography has become one of my favorite books - I have read it more than once and given it to many people since first finding. Unfortunately, it found its way to the bottom of my "books to upload" pile, so I am only now getting it to you. I can almost hear Teresa saying, "Finally! Now let's get on with it!"

Medwick's retelling of St. Teresa of Avila's life is almost always from the perspective of how Teresa herself would have seen (or has written that she did see) the events around her. I love this, as it offers the utlimate in both historical accuracy and respect toward a very great woman who wove beatiful pathways toward salvation into a fabric of Western Civilization. Additionally, the author's penning of the story itself has the readability of a good novel even as it conveys a mindset and circumstances that, outwardly at least, are so very different from what we commonly encounter in the modern world. I feel that Teresa is a woman for our time as much as she was a woman for her own time - and that this biography offers one of the best portraits of this person who we can all benefit by knowing better.

Here's a glimpse of what you will find between the covers of this book:

From the time Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) entered a convent at the age of sixteen, she exhibited an independence of spirit not readily tolerated by the sixteenth-century Church or the sixteenth-century political community. Her expansive nature, intensity, and energy would fuel a lifetime of accomplishment, including most significantly the reform of Carmelite convents and the writing of a body of work that today is considered the cornerstone of Christian mysticism. In a finely wrought, multidimensional portrait of Teresa, Cathleen Medwick brings to life a woman of very human contradictions: a devoted daughter of the Church who bent the ruls - and barely survived the Spanish Inquisition - to achieve her goals; a practical, no-nonsense manager whose very personal brand of spirituality manifested itself in flamboyant, arguably erotic, raptures; a woman who, despite debilitating illness, traveled around Spain with the assurance (if not the authority) of a man to organize and strengthen Carmelite communities.

There is much more that could be added, but you'll have more fun if I don't tell you every little thing. Do enjoy - this is truly a book for the heart.

The Knights Templar
The Mystery of the Warrior Monks

Rudolf Steiner

Softbound

$22.00

During the early twelfth century, the Knights Templar were established, allegedly, to protect Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. In the process, the knights became famous for their pioneer banking system, crusading zeal, and strict vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty. As membership grew to around 15,000, they came to be seen as a threat by Philippe le Beau of France, who disbanded the group in 1307 and tortured their leaders for confessions of heretical practices. King Philippe accused the order of heresy, sodomy, and blasphemy.

Recent fictional works and popular histories have created a renewed interest in the mysterious Knights Templar, with numerous contradictory and fantastic claims made about them, thus adding to the enigma surrounding the warrior monks of France.

In this unique collection of lectures and writings by Rudolf Steiner, a new perspective emerges. Based on his spiritual perceptions, he speaks of the Templars’ connection to the esoteric tradition of St. John and the Holy Grail and their spiritual dedication to Christ. He describes a secret order within the Templars and their strange rituals. He also sheds light on the Templars’ attitude toward the Roman Church and the spiritual forces that inspired their torture and confessions.

The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail

W. J. Stein

Softbound

$32.00

Walter Johannes Stein was a personal pupil of Rudolf Steiner and one of the founding teachers at the original Waldorf School in Stuttgart. His research of the 9th Century and the various Grail legends coupled with his understanding of reincarnation and karma produced what is really the seminal work on the subject from the perspective of esoteric Christianity: The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail.

In studying the central Grail narrative - Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach - Stein takes a twofold approach. On the one hand he searches historical records in order to identify atual people and events hidden behind the Grail epic's veil of romance. As a counterpoint to that, he deciphers Eschenbach's hidden spiritual messages, revealing Parzival to be an esoteric document containing mighty pictures of the huma beings inner path of development.

Most importantly, Stein reveals the period of the ninth century to be of more than historical and academic interest. It is the karmic ground out of which the destiny of modern times grows - the mighty battle that must take place between the powers of the Grail and those of the anti-Grail.

Note: This is one of those books that has been out-of-print more often than it has been available. We are extremely happy to see it on the shelves once again and encourage you to take advantage of its availablility - it is a truly remarkable work.

The Grail Legend

Emma Jung
and Marie-Louise von Franz

Softbound

$19.95

Emma Jung who, in addition to being married to Carl Jung was also a student of Rudolf Steiner's, made the legend of the Holy Grail her life's work. When she died before completing her work, Marie-Louise von Franz (Carl Jung's best student) took up the task and bought the work to completion. The result is The Grail Legend.

Writing in a clear and readable style, the authors present the Grail legend as a living myth that is profoundly relevant to modern life. We encounter such universal figures as the Fool (the naive young Perceval), the Wise Old Man (the Hermit Gornemanz), the Virgin Maiden (Blancheflor), the Loathly Damsel, and such important theses as the Waste Land, the Trinity, and the vessel of the Grail. Weaving together narrative and interpretation, the authors show us how the legend reflects not only fundamental human problems but also the dramatic psychic events that form the background of our Christian culture.

This is a book that I have found rewarding in both the depth of its insight and the pleasure of its story. A rare combination! Very highly recommended.

Joseph of Arimathea
a Romance of the Grail

Robert de Boron

Translated from the Medieval French by Jean Rogers

Softbound

$10.95

Written around 1200 A. D., probably in monastic circles, this is one of the earliest accounts of the Grail and its importance. It tells, in beautiful images, the story of Joseph of Arimathea's charge of the Holy Grail from the Last Supper to the Crucifixion, where he captures the Blood and the Water in the chalice of the Last Supper; Soon after, he is imprisoned for many years by the Romans, surviving without food and water through the life-giving power of the Holy Grail. When he is freed, a company forms about him to guard the Grail and see it safely to a place where it can be kept for all time.

This is one of the most powerful legends of Christianity - it has a beauty that resonates in the heart long after it is over. If you haven't yet read it or heard it, I can only say, "Do - you'll love it!"

Wandering Joy
Meister Eckhart's Mystical Philosophy

Introduction by David Appelbaum

Translations and Commenatry by Reiner Schürmann

Softbound

$18.95

There are two births-one is into the world, and the other out of the world, that is, spiritually into God. Do you want to know if your child is born? If you reach a state where you feel neither suffering nor vexation from whatever may happen, so that suffering is not suffering for you and that all things are sheer joy to you, then the child is truly born.-MEISTER ECKHART

This remarkable work shows Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century Western mystic, as the great teacher of the birth of God in the soul that shatters the dualism between God and the world and the self and God. It is at once an exposition of Eckhar's mysticism- perhaps the best in English-and, because Eckhart is a profound philosopher for whom knowing precedes being, it is also an exemplary work of contemporary philosophy. Schürmann shows us that Eckhart is our contemporary. Writing as if from experience, he describes the threefold movement of detachment, releasement, and "dehiscence" (splitting open) that leads to the experience of "living without a why" in which all things are in God and which is sheer joy. Going beyond that, he describes the transformational force of approaching the Godhead, the God beyond God.

A man who has experienced the same no longer has a place to establish himself. He has settled on the road, and for those who have learned how to listen, his existence becomes a call. This errant one dwells in joy. Through his wanderings the origin beckons. - MEISTER ECKHART

St. Thérèse of Lisieux
A Transformation in Christ

Thomas Keating

Softbound

$10.00

During the year 2000, the relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1874–1897) toured throughout the United States—at once confirming and stimulating an extraordinary resurgence of interest in the life and work of a Carmelite nun known as the "Little Flower."

In Thérèse of Lisieux: Transformation in Christ, Abbot Thomas Keating reflects on what St Thérèse understood the teaching of Jesus Christ to be. Thérèse had an extraordinary penetration into the heart of Jesus’ teaching, something she developed into a program for daily life. Although she was only twenty-four years old when she died, Thérèse had an extraordinary spiritual maturity. Father Keating writes about the teachings of Jesus in the parables and then shows what extraordinary insight Thérèse had into those enigmatic sayings.

According to Father Keating, St. Thérèse tried to live the Gospel precept, "To love one another as I have loved you!" on a daily basis. She believed it was the best program to propose to people because anybody could do it and because the Kingdom of God was, and is, in everyday life and in what we, as individuals, do with it. As Father Keating shows, St. Thérèse’s teaching continues to reveal to us that if we only build up instead of tear down others and fully and lovingly trust that Christ is with us until the end of time we will be transformed.

Saint Martin de Porres
Apostle of Charity

Giuliana Cavallini

Softbound

$15.00

I first encountered St. Martin de Porres (1579-1639) through Hilda Charleton's lecture about him in Saints Alive! I fell in love immediately and searched high and low for a biography that did him justice. This account by Giuliana Cavallini is the book I was looking for - you can almost feel Martin next to you, so vividly is his life retold.

I think that most of us can benefit from coming to know St. Martin de Porres, but most especially I think his story would be a wonderful addition to those saints that most Waldorf schools teach our children about in 2nd grade. Here is a saint of the New World, whose life and work have so very much to do with our own world. My hope is that adults will read this books and then tell story after story about this saint - I think anyone who does this will find themselves before children held in rapt attention, awaiting each and every word.

Here was a saint whose heart was so big that it seemed to radiate with the warmth of the sun itself. And what he accomplished for children, the poor, his fellow monks - and for us! He was a consummate healer, he created schools that poor children could attend, fed those who were hungry, inspired the rich to give generously and joyously to his many causes, established an orphanage in which the boys were taught a trade and a dowry provided for the girls (so that they would not have to become prostitutes to support themselves - this was the early 1600s), and created the first social services agency on record so that no one in Lima, Peru would have to go hungry or suffer an illness untreated.

He did all this as a mulatto who was called to the Domincan Order at Holy Rosary Church in Lima, Peru where he entered as a lay brother in 1591. Actually, he was barred from entering as anything else, for the Dominicans at that time had a rule against allowing mulattos or blacks into their order. However, Martin's heart was so big and his devotion so inspiring that the Domincan's side-stepped their own rule and insisted - despite Martin's protests that he deserved no honors - that Martin become a friar. St. Martin is therefore called the Patron Saint of Civil Rights - he may well be the first saint to have broken down codified race barriers, and he did it not by attacking them, but simple by melting the hearts of those arround him with his love.

St. Martin de Porres is a joy to get to know - I wish you all this happiness.

The Friend of God from the High Lands

Wilhelm Rath

Softbound

$16.95

The Friend of God was a layman from the 'High Lands' of fourteenth-century Middle Europe whose name was never known. He became the teacher and spiritual mentor of the most famous preacher and mystic of that age, Johannes Tauler, and tradition speaks of his great love and wisdom. His personal letters and writings were rediscovered in the mid-nineteenth century. They describe his founding of a lay-monastery near Strasbourg; intimate details of his life and the inner spiritual trials undergone by himself and those who had gathered in a brother hood around him; and his personal visit to Pope Gregory XI in 1377 to attempt a renewal of the Christian impulse within the established, but spiritually declining Church.

The documents caused a furor among European historians and scholars, and many books were written attempting to identify the Friend of God, or to deny his existence as an historical figure and prove the documents as fraudulent.

Wilhelm Rath was an historian and one of the earliest colleagues of Rudolf Steiner. He undertook years of research on the Friend of God and presents in this book an outline of the Friend's life and experiences. He deciphers the picture-language of the late medieval period to show the deep spiritual processes and experiences that are described by the Friend of God, and places him among the great spiritual leaders of mankind who stand in the background of history.

Looking for Mary
or, The Blessed Mother and Me

The Remarkable Story of One Woman's Stumble from Darkness into Light

Beverly Donofrio

Softbound

$14.00

This is the best true story I have read in years and years. Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys, tells her story with openness, good will, humor and, finally, love - the sort of love that sets real-life miracles in motion and transforms lives. She begins her tale as the well-loved daughter of a good Catholic family who ends her high school career as "the girl who got pregnant." In the course of raising their young son, her husband develops a drug habit of nasty proportions, which leads to divorce, which leads her into a life as bohemian-academic-single-mom and a series of relationships with men which, if they aren't totally disasterous, are nipped in full bloom . . . by her. And I haven't even mentioned what happens to her son.

One day a garage-sale picture of Mary sneaks into her life along with a full-hearted neighbor who teaches her to garden. As is Mary's way, first in small, almost unnoticable ways, Beverly's life begins to change. And then, in some pretty dramatic ways. From Los Angeles to Medjugore to Guadalupe's Mexico, Beverly's journey of the heart, her reunion with the Blessed Mother is a no-holds-barred snapshot of all our lives - and of the promise they all hold. Read this book - you'll love it!

Saints Alive!

Hilda Charlton

Set of 6 Audio Cassettes
Binder Case
Includes 14 saint cards

Approximately 8 hours

Sorry - Out of print - Try your public library

I found these tapes while looking for something else at our local library and felt moved to check them out. What I found as I listened to them was a pearl of priceless worth! Hilda Charlton was a spiritual teacher who offered unconventional and deeply personal classes at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York city during the 1970s and 1980s. Two people attended her first lecture - over a thousand were present for her last one. These tapes present 12 of those remarkable classes - which I had never heard of before but am so very glad to have found.

Hilda brings us saints from Christianity, Hinduism, Classical Greece and even modern America - some of them she met in spirit, some she knew personally. All of them she knew as living, active forces, powerfully alive in the world and awaiting our awareness of them. Her treatment of St. Joan of Arc alone, in my estimation, is more that worth the cost of this set. Hilda was so connected to Joan that as she speaks, Joan's truth and power and love come alive in Hilda's words - Joan steps beyond the pages of history and arrives as a helper in courage and deep great Love.

In addition to Joan, Saints Alive! introduces us to:

• Pericles - responsible for the Golden Age of Greece
• Holy Lady Ammal - who showered miracles upon the needy when they called her name
• Jesus - the master of masters
• Sathya Sai Baba - who performs miracles so that others may believe
• Our Lady of Fatima - an aspect of Mary whose prophecies shook the world
• St. Therese of Lisieux - whose "little way" has become a great light
• Krishnamurti - the teacher that "truth is a pathless land"
• Sri Nityananda - one of India's greatest modern saints
• St. Martin de Porres - a black man born in 15th century Chili, known as the "flying brother" who brings healing wherever he goes
• Sri Ramakrishna - a revered saint of India, said to have come like a comet and left with a light that never dimmed
• St. Colette - who consecrated herself to simplicity
• Yogi Ramsuratkumar - a virtually unknown beggar saint whose profound acts of service were believed to have global effects on the material plane. "By simply putting a stone down, he changed the world."
• George Washington Carver - "the man who talked to plants" and is still leading a people (and the world) out of slavery.

Once you meet these saints, they will always live in your heart. Thank you, Hilda!

Christ Legends and Other Stories

Selma Lagerlöf

Softbound

$10.95

This is one of my favorite collections of stories surrounding the life and reality of Christ. Selma Lagerlöf's telling of these tales - ranging from the story of the surly shepherd of Bethlehem, to the war-hardened soldier at Herod's feast, to St. Veronica's act of grace toward the Emperor Tiberius - is profoundly beautiful and deep. These stories are timeless and will appeal to a wide range of children and adults - some stories are best told only to older children while some can become family treasures at a very early age. All of them will remain a cherished treasure in the hearts of those who hear them.

The Christmas Story Book

Collected by
Ineke Verschuren

$29.50

The Christmas Story Book is one of the best anthologies of Christmas tales available anywhere. The stories are a colorful colleciton, carefully choses to show the spirit of Christmas in many different facets. The book is divided into five sections: Advent, the Birth of the Child, Christmas night through the ages, Christmas in the world, and the Three King's time. Authors include Hans Christian Andersen, Leonid Andreiev, Jane Clement, Maxim Gorki, Gerhard Klein, Selma Lagerlöf and many more.

The Easter Story Book

Collected by
Ineke Verschuren

Illustrated by Ronald Heuninck

$19.50

This collection of over thirty stories, legends and folk tales reflects the season around Easter and early summer. In this season there are also a number of other important religious festivals: Ascension, Whitsun and St. John's.

Some of the stories, like "St. Veronica," are placed in the context of the great Easter and Whitsun events. Others, like "The Bargemaster's Easter," show the effect of these events on the human heart. For younger children, folk tales from all round the world illustrate at a deeper imaginative level the theme of sacrifice and the triumph of love and loyalty over adversity. The motif of resurrection, in which the character throws off an outer skin and emerges in a new, truer and shining guise, recurs again and again.

This collection is another one of those treasures that can grace your family life for many, many years. Excellent.

Hildegard of Bingen
and Her Vision of the Feminine

Nancy Fierro

1 Audio Cassette

90 minutes

$10.95

I learned so much from this tape about Hildegarde's life and contributions to humanity that I recommend it with enthusiasm to anyone interested in this remarkable woman. After listening to Nancy Fierro's biographical/theological research on Hildegarde and then going back and reading and rereading some of Hildegarde's written work, I came away with the realization that Hildegarde was able to leave us with so many gifts in so many different areas of life (arts, theology, medicine, ecology, for instance) because she always spoke only from her own experience. She was someone who saw truly in part because of her innate capacities and in part because she was unfettered by a need to first learn what the "correct" thing to see was. As a result, she penetrated deeply into whatever subject she addressed and left behind a vast treasure of wisdom and insight of such lasting worth that today her work still retains living, practical value.

When you listen to this tape, be sure to take note of the way in which Hildegard of Bingen became St. Hildegard - it is so befitting of the rest of her life that you won't want to miss it!

Passion for Creation
The Mysticism of Meister Eckhart

Matthew Fox

2 audio cassettes

approx. 170 minutes

$18.95

I really liked Meister Eckhart's meditations and thoughts before listening to these tapes - after listening to them, I am both enamored and in awe of the gifts this man brought to the world. For instance, did you know that it was Meister Eckhart who first said that awe and wonder are the foundations upon which we build our spiritual lives? Or that he was the one to say, "If your only prayer is to say 'thank you,' that is sufficient."? Or, and this is what got him into so much hot water with the Church authorities of 14th Century Europe, that his central message - spoken in sermon after sermon - was that God is within each and every person (animal, plant, thing)? That we are all born of royal blood for we are all children of God who is King of kings? Meister Eckhart's proclamation of the wonder of everyday existence has influenced and inspired mystics and scholars of every era since - through these tapes (the best introduction I've found), he can come into your life, also.

I should note that while I find Matthew Fox to be a vibrant lecturer, he does seem to be uncomfortable reading into a microphone. I'm confident that the message of his reading is vibrant enough that everyone who hears them will move pretty quickly past Fox's reserved presentation an into the real excitement of Eckhart's message.

Alive in God's World
Human Life on Earth and in Heaven as Described in the Visions of Joa Bolendas

Joa Bolendas

Foreword by Therese Schroeder-Sheker

Compiled, Translated, and Introduced by John Hill

$16.95

I have found enormous wisdom, insight and warmth in the visions of Joa Bolendas. Whenever I have endeavored to carry into my own life a prayer, an attitude, an awareness gleaned from her work, I have always found it to be true and valuable. Working with the world in this way is so fundamentally healing - for oneself and for the world - that my hope is that many more may become aware of her message. This is the message of life lived in awareness of the unity with the divine - and in an awareness that this is to live as a full human being.

You may also wish to visit Joa Bolendas' web site - www.joabolendas.ch There she shares the heart of her work - I think you'll find it helpful.

Women in Chant
Gregorian Chants for the Festal Celebration of the Virgin Martyrs and Our Lady of Sorrows

The Choir of Benedictine Nuns at the Abbey of Regina Laudis

CD - 60 minutes

Includes a 45 page booklet with stories of the 4 saints, discussions with the Abbess about the music and full translations of the sung texts

$17.98

This album - and this choir - surpasses every expectation I had before I heard it. I expect a Gregorian tribute to the Feminine Sacred. I also expected it to be beautiful.

Instead of a tribute to God's manifestation through different women, I found this extraordinary collection to be in itself a manifestation of the Sacred Feminine itself. The music, the rendering, the care of the subject go well beyond beauty - the song raised by the women of Regina Laudis becomes a vessel pouring out Love itself. As I listened, I kept coming back to how if felt as a child when my mother would bring a cool cloth to place on my fevered forehead. Then she would sit beside me, filled with care, quietly soothing me, lifting me out of my illness and into that deep, healing rest that comes when a fever breaks. This is what is given to us in this music - it is as though Our Lady herself bent to tend our suffering, lifting us into the safety of her Love, granting us Peace.

As though this weren't enough, the accompanying booklet is a treasure. The conversation with the Abbess reveals a depth of love-infused theology that I found heart-opening and heartening. The lives of the four Virgin Martyrs (Sts. Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Agatha) offer the deepest understanding of any I've seen in print - these women are seen as archetypes of the Divine Feminine: Virgin, Bride, Spouse, Mother. The discussion portrays their purpose in a way that also presents us with gifts from their lives. Finally, there are the Latin original and English translations of the chants sung by these women of grace.

This is music not to be missed.

Women in Chant - Recordare
Remembering the Mysteries in the Life of Jesus, Son of Mary

The Choir of Benedictine Nuns at the Abbey of Regina Laudis

Meditations: Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B.

CD - 65 minutes

Includes a 53 page illustrated booklet with an outstanding discussion of the Rosary and chant, the history of the abbey and its impulse, and full text and translation of the sung text and meditations

$18.98

Recordare - "to remember." Here the Choir of Benedictine Nuns joins Mary, Mother of Jesus, in "pondering all things in her heart." These crystaline chants merge two traditions - the Gregorian tradition of the chant itself and that of the meditated Rosary, the beaded prayer that calls the petitioner to stand with Mary as she experiences the mysteries of her Son's life: The Joyful Mysteries from annunciation to finding her twelve-year-old son in the temple; the Sorrowful Mysteries, beginning with the Agony in the Garden and ending with the Crucifixion; and the Glorious Mysteries proceeding from the Resurrection through to Mary's Enthronement in Heaven.

These chants are not performances, but are the prayers themselves, and this infuses the music and the meditations with a life and depth that moves the heart. The multi-layered, living depth of the Rosary prayer/meditation is given yet another dimension by this beautiful choir. This is music that has the power to heal and move us forward.

Hymns to the Night
Spiritual Songs

Novalis

Translated by George MacDonald

Foreword by Sergei O. Prokofieff

Softbound

$13.95

If any of you have ever read some of George MacDonald's fairy tales, you can well imagine the lyrical beauty of these English translations. We are fortunate that this classic rendering of some of Novalis's deepest prose and poetry is once again in print.

In Hymns to the Night, Novalis (b. Friedrich von Hardenberg) eloquently describes his own transformation through the darkness of the death of his fiancé, Sophie von Kuhn. In March 1797 - having barely reached the age of fifteen - she left the earthly world. While he was visiting her grave, Novalis experienced a condition of spiritual inspiration which completely changed him and his whole life. The fruits of this inner enlightenment can be found above all in Hymns to the Night and Spiritual Songs.

Hymns to the Night gives a poetic description of the poet's inspired awakening, while Spiritual Songs expresses the new relationship to the world, humanity and Christianity which thereafter became accessible to his transmuted soul. Both poetic cycles are a consistent development of the central motto which, after the death of his betrothed, Novalis chose for the remainder of his life - a motto which he expressed at the end of his diary in the two words that were most sacred to him: "Christ and Sophia."