One quiet morning, as the sun peeps through the small window, the little one hops into bed between Mum and Dad and asks, `Do you love me?' Smiling, their answer slowly unfolds..

Mark Patrick Hederman, former headmaster of Glenstal Abbey School, and now Abbot of Glenstal Abbey, looks at the flaws in the Irish education system and how it should be doing more to develop the imagination of our children to help them meet the challenges that lie ahead. Drawing on examples from literature and popular culture, Hederman proposes a child-centred model of education, containing self-directed and independent learning, which encourages the student to play an active role. By turns cutting and humorous, The Boy in the Bubble is an astute portrait of a system which has been criticised by many as being outdated and destructive, and offers in its place a fresh and progressive vision for the future of education in Ireland.

Kassia the Nun offers a unique glimpse into ninth-century Byzantium in the only woman whose works were included in the corpus of liturgical hymns. This volume explores Kassia’s thought on Christology, on gender, and on monasticism itself. It provides readers with an opportunity to know this woman of remarkable intellect, wit, and piety by drawing primarily on her own words. Kassia’s is one of the only female voices from ninth-century Byzantium and this volume accordingly examines her reflections on gender in the context of her society and concludes that she represents a perspective that might be described as feminist.

A sensitive and evocative treatment of the role of the Holy Spirit in worship. With a keen awareness of the tradition of Syrian Christianity, Brock begins his exploration with the role of the Holy Spirit in the Syriac Bible. A striking aspect of this tradition is the imagery used for the Spirit, including: compassionate mother, fire, olive oil, as well as the more common image of dove. Brock also summarizes commentaries and other literature on the baptismal rite, touching on Syriac literature and works translated from the Greek.

A selection of essays on magic and divination in relation to the biblical world, including Mesopotamian demonology, Akkadian literary influences, exorcism, healing, calendars, astrology, bibliomancy, dreams, ritual magic, priestly divination, prophecy, magic in the Christian Apocrypha and the New Testament, magic in rabbinic literature, and Jewish Aramaic magic bowls.

Understanding Differently considers the four main religions – Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism – that, along with Christianity, represent ancient and vibrant visions of God at work in the world and in peoples. Showing the particular radiance, rationality and spirituality of each tradition and Christianity’s relationship and dialogue with them, Jo O’Donovan explores what it means to be Christian in a multi-religious world.

This anthology on Eve brings together an international group of scholars to discuss how this character has been interpreted by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In a time when the history of women is being reassessed, it is natural that women look to the paradigmatic female figure. This treatment of Eve covers her wide range of roles as mother of our race, victim, stooge, wife, companion, independent thinker, and “helper”. A venerated figure by many modern feminists and a denigrated figure by those who blame her for original sin, no reader will leave these pages indifferent to the first woman.

Marking the start of the new liturgical year, Veritas presents The Gospel According to Matthew. Full colour and beautifully illustrated, this special edition makes a wonderful addition to any church, school or parish centre. Also featured is the Lectio Divina, an ancient way of praying with scripture and promoting communion with God.

This book is the first in a two-part series designed to help parents and families prepare for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist with their children. It takes a step-by-step approach to the Sacrament of Reconciliation using accessible, child-friendly language and illustrations, and emphasises the sacrament as a joyful moment of healing with God and with each other. The book is divided into eight parts, each ending with a ‘PJ Prayer’ to be said before bed.

This record in pictures and words of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress is proffered as a souvenir of the great event held in Dublin in June 2012. Giving a flavour of the proceedings in images, it also seeks to record the popular esteem in which the event was received and held by all those who attended it. To this end there appears throughout reminiscences from some of those present at different events and in different capacities throughout the week. Likewise, the photographs included endeavour to portray the national and international flavour of the Congress, as well as documenting in some small detail the great opening and closing Masses in the RDS and Croke Park.

Full colour and beautifully illustrated, this special edition boxset of The Gospels According to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John will make a wonderful addition to any church, school or parish centre. The books feature Lectio Divina, an ancient way of praying with scripture and promoting communion with God.

This volume provides an analysis of a late fifteenth century document, a hitherto unpublished narration of the life and accomplishments of Yūḥanun Bar Šay Allāh, a fifteenth-century Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. It includes considerable unique historical information, shedding light on the history of the Syriac community in relation to other communities. It also supplies descriptions of events that brought important changes to the Syriac Church in Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt.

This book is full of useful and creative ideas for spiritual practice with children. It seeks to encourage youngsters to reflect on growing up and on making a positive contribution to the world. It takes deep themes and presents them in accessible, interesting and sometimes quirky ways, making a number of relevant, thought-provoking and challenging points for both children and adults to consider in relation to their place in the world and their dealings with one another. The practices in this book have been tried and tested over the past five years through the author’s contact with primary school children in a number of schools.

This volume takes its cue from the theme of the International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin in June 2012, ‘Communion with Christ and with one another’. In almost eighty short articles, a host of leading scholars from the worlds of history, liturgy, theology, philosophy, art history and Celtic Studies reflect upon aspects of the history of the Christian tradition in Ireland from the fifth to the twenty-first century, with a special emphasis on the relationship between the Irish people and the Eucharist. This is a wide-ranging illustrated collection which draws from the major Christian denominations in Ireland and includes entries on significant people, texts, images and events that have shaped the Irish Christian experience.

As the year 2000 approached, Blessed John Paul II, who had himself participated in the Second Vatican Council, referred to it as ‘this great gift of the Spirit to the Church at the end of the second millennium’. Looking towards the coming millennium he asked to what extent the fruits of the Council could be seen in the Church. This year, 2012, fifty years after the Council opened, is a good opportunity to reflect again on that question. A complete examination of all the rich teaching of the Council and how it has been implemented is beyond the scope of this book – or perhaps of any book. What is written here is one person’s reflection on five themes of the Council and their implications for today’s world.

In this book, Fr Gabriel Harty tells his story in relation to the Rosary, the cultivation of his lifelong devotion to it, and the healing and grace it holds for all who partake in it. After serving as a chaplain and parish curate for some years, Gabriel M. Harty OP made the decision to devote his life to the service of the Mother of God in whatever way she wished. His search led him to the Dominican Order, and he was professed a friar of the Order of Preachers in 1950. Since then, Fr Gabriel has directed all his energies to the apostolate of the Rosary. This work is a wonderful testament to that apostolate