This resource offers pastoral guidance for collaborating with families, preparing the liturgical environment and music, selecting prayer texts, scheduling liturgical ministers, and ways for your parish to be a source of comfort, strength, and hope.

Throughout the history of the Church, Christians have consecrated time by pausing at various moments throughout the day to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. Day after day, hour after hour, Christians unite their hearts with Christ and his Church as they pray the Divine Office. This book will assist parish communities and groups of Christians who wish to gather to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

All Christians are responsible for consoling those who have lost a loved one. An active parish bereavement ministry involves many parishioners performing various forms of compassionate service. In Guide for Forming a Parish Bereavement Ministry, author Robert Valle guides parish leaders toward creating a bereavement ministry that flows from the liturgical and pastoral vision of the Church’s official funeral rites. He explains the theology and key pastoral insights of the Order of Christian Funerals (OCF) and outlines the phases of bereavement ministry, from accompanying the bereaved at the time of death to the preparation of the funeral liturgies, then home visits and acts of compassion throughout the following year. This resource provides practical advice and downloadable materials for training ministers in the theological, spiritual, and human dimensions essential for effective bereavement ministry. Contributing author Paula Kosin provides scripts and other editable downloads for facilitating a grief support group. Guide for Forming a Parish Bereavement Ministry—together with An Introduction to Bereavement Ministry: Caring for Those Who Mourn, a resource for bereavement ministers and Grieving: A Spiritual Process for Catholics, a book for the grieving—provide the training, insight, and guidance for forming a parish bereavement ministry that will bring comfort and peace to all in your community who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

This book presents the basics of liturgy for parish liturgy committees and planning teams, liturgical ministers, and anyone interested in learning more about the way we worship. It offers planners and ministers a way to gain a sense of all the ways liturgy expresses the life of a parish. Whether read from beginning to end or simply selected by a particular topic, these articles assist with teaching and learning about the liturgy. Discussion questions and helpful quotations from a variety of sources are available for individual use or group study. The new revision includes updated quotes from liturgical documents and texts as well as revised study questions and sidebar quotes.

Throughout this e-book, Fr. Stephen S. Wilbricht, csc, emphasizes the link between Baptism and death, assisting Christians in grasping who we are called to be in this life as disciples and who we are promised to become in eternal life as saints. As the author points out the centrality of baptismal identity to the funeral liturgy, he makes apparent that the union established at Baptism continues until all reach Christ. Such an appreciation for life in the Body of Christ will help the community recognize both their responsibilities at the death of a member and the union that remains with that member as all journey to the divine. Wilbricht explores the Church’s theology of Baptism and death, and provides pastoral suggestions that will encourage communities to carry out their commitment to care for the grieving and bury the dead.

The Good Funeral Guide is the first ever independent consumer guide to the funeral industry. It is for anyone who: - needs to arrange a funeral for someone now - has sick or elderly relatives or friends and knows that a funeral is imminent - wants to find a good funeral director and have some say in the funeral itself - wants to make future arrangements for their own funeral - would like to learn about deaths and funerals Authoritative, impartial and empowering, it is indispensable for those who don't want a conventional religious ceremony and invaluable for those who do. This is a book we will all need - probably at least twice.

Words can fail even the most articulate when called upon to speak at a loved one's funeral or memorial occasion. The bereaved desires to say something meaningful, yet services are often held so quickly that there is little time to find something appropriate at the library or bookstore. This book is a collection of poetry and prose appropriate for reading at a funeral or memorial service. To assist the reader in finding a suitable passage, the book is divided into eleven chapters. There are tributes for mothers; fathers; children; spouses and soulmates; friends; siblings and other close relatives; soldiers and victims of war or violence; pets; and general readings appropriate for men, women, or any loved one. These selections will also prove helpful for clergy, counselors, and hospice, hospital, and funeral professionals. Appendices list resources and support organizations, and each selection is indexed by author, title, and first line. A special additional index references pieces by famous uses, such as in a film, novel, or celebrity's funeral, so readers can locate a passage they remember from its context.

More and more people are considering a career in nursing or healthcare, but the thought of undertaking an academic degree at university can be intimidating. Whether you are moving straight from school or college or have been away from education for some time, Getting Ready for your Nursing Degree is essential preparation for anyone considering becoming or about to become a nursing student. It looks at all aspects of university work in a straightforward way and provides advice, examples and activities designed to help you get the most out of classes, research and assessments, from your first lecture right through to sitting exams and learning on placement. Designed with nursing students in mind, this small but perfectly formed guide is tailored to help you develop the skills you will need not only for your course but for your career and lifelong learning as a registered healthcare practitioner.