The Living Spirit: Prayers and Readings for the Christian Year

Front Cover
Margaret Hebblethwaite
Rowman & Littlefield, 2000 - Religion - 432 pages
The Living Spirit is a richly diverse anthology of prayers and readings which offers round-the-year spiritual sustenance as it follows the seasons of the Christian year and remembers the witness of those who have left a mark on our lives, from the great saints of the past to those who have challenged the evils and injustices of our own age. Many women are commemorated here and devotional material is included for such occasions as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Remembrance Day and Homelessness Sunday. In her preface, Margaret Hebblethwaite writes, "the liturgical year is the spiritual air that we breathe...It gives us a balanced diet in which every aspect of our faith finds its appropriate place, saving us from the tyranny and smallness of our preoccupations of the moment. The liturgical year reflects the seasons of waiting and penance, the measured pace of Jesus' ministry, the climaxes of joy and the exuberance of mission...It builds up a store of spiritual responses in us that can be drawn upon year after year was we live through the familiar cycle." The imaginative variety of this collection makes it ideal as a resource for worship and intercession, and as an inspiration for personal devotion throughout the year.

From inside the book

Contents

1st Sunday of Advent
1
Dorothy Day 29 November
3
C S Lewis 29 November
5
Etty Hillesum 30 November
7
Jean Donovan 2 December
9
Migrants Day 3 December
11
2nd Sunday of Advent Bible Sunday
13
Immaculate Conception 8 December
15
3rd Sunday of Easter
215
3rd week of Easter
217
Julian of Norwich 13 May
219
4th Sunday of Easter World Day of Prayer for Vocations
221
4th week of Easter
225
5th Sunday of Easter
227
5th week of Easter
229
6th Sunday of Easter
231

Human Rights Day 10 December
17
Thomas Merton 10 December
19
3rd Sunday of Advent
21
St John of the Cross 14 December
23
4th Sunday of Advent Expectant mothers
25
Christmas Eve 24 December
27
Christmas Day 25 December
29
St Stephen 26 December
34
St John the Evangelist 27 December
36
Holy Innocents 28 December
38
Josephine Butler 30 December
43
New Years Eve 31 December
45
Jubilee 1 January
48
World Day of Prayer for Peace 1 January
52
Mary Mother of God 1 January
55
1st week of the year
57
Epiphany 6 January
59
2nd week of the year
65
3rd week of the year
67
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 1825 January
69
4th week of the year
74
St Francis de Sales 24 January
76
St Angela Merici 27 January
78
St Thomas Aquinas 28 January
80
Homelessness Sunday
82
5th week of the year
84
Mary Ward 30 January
86
St Brigit of Ireland 1 February
88
Presentation of the Lord 2 February
90
Pedro Arrupe 5 February
92
6th week of the year
94
St Scholastica 10 February
96
World Day for the Sick 11 February
98
7th week of the year
100
St Valentine 14 February
102
Education Day 3 Sundays before 1st Sunday of Lent
104
8th week of the year
106
Michael Hollings 21 February
108
9th week of the year
110
St David I March
112
1st Friday of March
114
Sunday before ist Sunday of Lent
119
St Perpetua and St Felicity 7 March
121
Ash Wednesday
123
1st Sunday of Lent
127
1st week of Lent
129
St Patricks Day 17 March
131
2nd Sunday of Lent
133
2nd week of Lent
135
Lent Fast Day
137
Oscar Romero 24 March
142
Annunciation 25 March
144
3rd Sunday of Lent
146
3rd week of Lent
148
4th Sunday of Lent Mothering Sunday
150
4th week of Lent
152
Martin Luther King 4 April
154
5th Sunday of Lent
156
5th week of Lent
158
Dietrich Bonhoeffer 9 April
160
Palm Sunday
162
Monday of Holy Week
165
Tuesday of Holy Week
167
Wednesday of Holy Week
169
Maundy Thursday
171
Good Friday
176
Holy Saturday
182
Easter Sunday
188
Easter Monday
193
Easter Tuesday
195
Easter Wednesday
197
Easter Thursday
199
Easter Friday
201
Easter Saturday
203
St Catherine of Siena 29 April
205
2nd Sunday of Easter
207
2nd week of Easter
209
St Joseph the Worker I May
211
Donald Nicholl 3 May
213
6th week of Easter
233
St Joan of Arc 30 May
235
Visitation 31 May
237
Ascension Day Thursday after 6th Sunday of Easter
239
7th Sunday of Easter World Communications Day
244
7th week of Easter
246
Pentecost
248
Cardinal Basil Hume 17 June
253
Trinity Sunday
255
11th week of the year
260
Corpus Christi Thursday after Trinity Sunday
262
St Thomas More and St John Fisher 22 June
267
Birth of St John the Baptist 24 June
269
12th week of the year
271
St Peter and St Paul 29 June
273
Sacred Heart 2nd Friday after Trinity Sunday
275
Immaculate Heart of Mary 2nd Saturday after Trinity Sunday
277
13th week of the year
279
Sea Sunday 2nd Sunday in July
281
14th week of the year
283
St Benedict 11 July
285
15th week of the year
287
St Mary Magdalene 22 July
289
16th week of the year
291
17th week of the year
293
St Ignatius of Loyola 31 July
295
18th week of the year
297
Transfiguration 6 August
299
St Dominic 8 August
301
St Edith Stein 9 August
303
St Clare II August
305
Florence Nightingale 13 August
307
Assumption 15 August
309
20th week of the year
312
St Bernard 20 August
314
21st week of the year
316
St Monica 27 August
318
St Augustine 28 August
320
St Aidan 31 August
322
Diana Princess of Wales 31 August
324
22nd week of the year
326
Mother Teresa of Calcutta 5 September
328
Birth of the Virgin 8 September
330
Racial Justice Sunday 2nd Sunday in September
332
23rd week of the year
334
Exaltation of the Holy Cross 14 September
336
Home Mission Sunday 3rd Sunday in September
338
24th week of the year
340
St Matthew 21 September
342
Henri Nouwen 21 September
344
Harvest Festival Sunday between 22 and 28 September
346
25th week of the year
348
Sunday for Older People Sunday nearest 1 October
350
26th week of the year
352
St Teresa of Lisieux 1 October
354
St Francis of Assisi 4 October
356
Harvest Fast Day 1st Friday of October
358
week of the year
363
Mechthild of Magdeburg 8 October
365
28th week of the year
367
St Teresa of Avila 15 October
369
World Mission Sunday penultimate Sunday in October
371
29th week of the year
373
30th week of the year
375
All Saints 1 November
377
All Souls 2 November
381
31st week of the year
384
Remembrance Day 2nd Sunday in November
386
32nd week of the year
390
St Margaret of Scotland 16 November
392
St Elizabeth of Hungary 17 November
394
Prisoners Sunday 3rd Sunday in November
396
33rd week of the year
401
Sunday before Advent
403
Sunday before Advent
405
Acknowledgements
410
Index
426
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2000)

Margaret Hebblethwaite is an Assistant Editor of The Tablet, the renowned international Catholic weekly, and is the author of numerous books.