Every true Christian longs to be closer in their relationship to Jesus Christ, and obtain a more intimate communion with God. This is the point of this puritan devotional. Herle has taken the role of a preacher, and presented the preaching of the Gospel, particularly the passion and death of Christ, in a devotional manner. What is a devotional? A devotional is akin to the meditative aspects of a sermon (direct application to the self) and how the text launches the reader into their own meditations (how it applies to “me” personally) as directly applied to the soul. Devotionals, like this one, do this step by step, one day at a time. Each chapter is a respective day’s meditation. In this work, there are 41 devotionals on the passion and death of Christ, with a concluding meditation on the resurrection; that Christ is a dying and rising Savior. In addition, Herle thought it important to add into each devotional a kind of ending prayer. Each day there are two or three prayers linked to the devotionals that allow you to become more thoughtful about these important biblical points as they relate to what happened to Jesus, what he did for his people, and how they can be prayed back to him for the soul’s edification and benefit. The goal in this devotional is to meditate and consider the passion of the Lord Jesus (from the Garden of Gethsemane to his death at Golgotha), and then consider what happened on the cross as he is nailed there dying for sinners. These devotionals work themselves out daily. Readers would draw the most virtue from this work, and from Jesus Christ, if they deal with one chapter each day for 41 days. But they are only as helpful as they are thoughtful and dedicated about considering them. Devotionals are not about simply flexing one’s theological muscles each day. It is primarily to gain the real blessing of the Spirit, further conformity to the image of Jesus Christ, and a deeper fellowship with the Father as you come to understand the passion of Christ, and his death on the cross in redeeming sinners.

"An interdisciplinary reassessment of the creation and reception of religious imagery, and of its place in the devotional practices of Castilian Christians, situated against the broader panorama of Spanish culture in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries"--Provided by publisher.

A Study of the History and Meaning of Personal Devotion to Jesus Christ for Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians The devotional life of Christians over the two millennia since Jesus' birth has been one of motion, changing and growing in response to the challenges presented to the Church, the temperaments of newly baptized nations, and controversies about how we can and should relate to God. And yet the core of authentic Christian devotion has not changed-it remains today, as it was in the time of the Church Fathers, the trusting and personal encounter with Christ that is both open and foundational to the life of all Christian believers. In this book the well-known spiritual writer and teacher Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C. F. R., surveys the development and trials of Christian devotion from the days of the martyrs until the twentieth century. Tracking it through the centuries and among "sadly divided branches of Christianity", he finds a commonality of experience and even of language that is constantly ignored among Christians themselves. By observing what "image of Christ" the canvas of common devotion portrays, he hopes we will move "not to discredit this image, but to sharpen it and make it more consistent with the New Testament and the ancient Church". Though the devotional life is sometimes brushed off as unimportant in comparison to a theological understanding of Christ, Groeschel warns that such dismissal threatens to make distant, unknown and obscure the Savior who said "I am with you always." The answer instead is to draw near to Jesus in devotion and with authentic expressions of that devotion, which themselves help paint the image of Christ found concretely in revelation onto the minds and daily life of the devout. Begun on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and the result of years of preparation and a whole life of guiding people as priest, public preacher, psychologist and spiritual director, this book will help Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant believers gain not only a comprehensive view of how pious Christians over the centuries have lived out their devotion to God, but the examples and perspective they need to live more devoutly today.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a powerful little booklet filled with many of the treasures to be found in the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Besides containing an explanation of the symbolism found within the Image of the Sacred Heart, it also includes explanations of the 9 First Fridays devotion, known as The Great Promise, the miraculous cure of St. Gemma Galgani as well as many profound exhortations to offer reparation to the Sacred Heart. Authoritative and moving, Our Lord instituted this devotion Himself, saying: " I set neither limit nore measure to My gifts of grace for those who seek them in My heart."

The object of the present book is to set out in as simple and clear a form as may be possible the doctrines about the Holy Eucharist which have been current among Christians. It is not the aim of the author to enter into controversial arguments or theological reasonings to any extent beyond that which the intelligible treatment of facts necessarily involves. . . . But the purpose of the following pages is to provide an historical account of the actual forms in which Christian belief has been held. . . . History has its own ways of avenging itself on those who ignore its lessons. Candid investigation is not always the enemy of faith. And, if there is to be a way out of current controversies, and a lessening of discord, and a step towards that outward unity of Christendom for which true Christians long, it will be as facts are realised and the history of doctrine is grasped and understood. Those who live in the present and work for the future will build on but insecure foundations if they suffer themselves to be unmindful of the past. --from volume 1, chapter 1

Louis de Montfort's 'The Secret of the Rosary' is a classic devotional work that delves into the history and significance of the rosary in Catholic spirituality. Written in a concise and engaging style, the book explores the mysteries of the rosary and provides practical guidance on how to effectively pray this powerful form of devotion. De Montfort's writing reflects the piety and devotion of the seventeenth century Catholic Church, making it a valuable source for understanding the religious practices of the time. Louis de Montfort, a French priest known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary, was deeply involved in promoting the rosary as a means of spiritual growth and intercession. His experiences as a preacher and missionary influenced his writing, as he sought to share the benefits of the rosary with a wider audience. 'The Secret of the Rosary' stands as a testament to De Montfort's dedication to promoting this cherished form of prayer. For readers interested in deepening their understanding of Catholic devotion and spirituality, 'The Secret of the Rosary' is a must-read. De Montfort's insights and guidance offer a rich source of inspiration for those looking to enhance their prayer life and connect more deeply with the mysteries of the faith.

Last Acts argues that the Elizabethan and Jacobean theater offered playwrights, actors, and audiences important opportunities to practice arts of dying. Psychoanalytic and new historicist scholars have exhaustively documented the methods that early modern dramatic texts and performances use to memorialize the dead, at times even asserting that theater itself constitutes a form of mourning. But early modern plays also engage with devotional traditions that understand death less as an occasion for suffering or grief than as an action to be performed, well or badly. Active deaths belie narratives of helplessness and loss through which mortality is too often read and instead suggest how marginalized and constrained subjects might participate in the political, social, and economic management of life. Some early modern strategies for dying resonate with descriptions of politicized biological life in the recent work of Giorgio Agamben and Roberto Esposito, or with ecclesiastical forms. Yet the art of dying is not solely a discipline imposed upon recalcitrant subjects. Since it offers suffering individuals a way to enact their deaths on their own terms, it discloses both political and dramatic action in their most minimal manifestations. Rather than mournfully marking what we cannot recover, the practice of dying reveals what we can do, even in death. By analyzing representations of dying in plays by Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson, alongside devotional texts and contemporary biopolitical theory, Last Acts shows how theater reflects, enables, and contests the politicization of life and death.