Three sections explore the complex lives of ordinary people who continually made choices about the way they expressed their faith. Part one begins with a brief survey of the context of lay Catholics in Adelaide and Perth between 1922 and 1962, considering the place of Catholics in wider society and
In the heart of sixteenth-century Aztec civilization, Eztli, a defiant young woman, harbors deep resentment towards the Spanish conquerors who have changed her world forever. Tasked with spying on Juan Diego, who claims to have seen the Virgin Mary, Eztli’s life takes an unexpected turn. Witnessing the miraculous apparitions at Tepeyac Hill, she is drawn into a world of divine enigmas and newfound faith. Eztli discovers the profound art of forgiveness through her friendship with a compassionate Spanish nun and indigenous missionaries. Sacred Threads is a captivating historical fiction that unveils the power of faith, love, and reconciliation, offering a unique perspective on the Virgin Mary’s apparitions through the eyes of a fierce Aztec woman. Join Eztli on her transformative journey of cultural collision, as she becomes a beacon of hope and unity in a world torn apart.
The insightful studies contained in this book will be of significant value to anyone interested in experiencing more deeply the intersections between materiality and spirituality. Part 1 introduces readers into Egyptian, Israelite, Christian, and Hindu temples, shrines, or sanctuaries. Part 2 helps readers understand how items of colored fabrics, clothing, robes, and veils, convey ritual meanings. Part 3 reports two panel discussions that exemplify the pathway of fruitful conversation. Matter and spirit might seem to some to be polar opposites. But as these studies by distinguished and diverse scholars demonstrate, spiritual experiences are constructively defined and refined within the coordinates of place and time. Sacred space, as well as sacred cloth, define borders, but not necessarily boundaries, between the sacred and the profane. These material coordinates physically enclose and also spiritually disclose. They both symbolize and synergize, as they encompass and expansively inspire. These original and enjoyable presentations will help all readers to hold tenaciously to the tenets and also the tensions inherent in physical spiritual experiences.
What are UFOs? And what did happen in Hanger 57? This book looks into the stories behind the sightings, including several closed military files that may have some very strange evidence within them.
Upanayana is one of the sixteen samskaras or purificatory rites in which a boy is invested with the sacred thread and thus endowedwith second or spiritual birth and qualified to learn the Veda by heart. In this ceremony the boy goes to an Acarya well-versed in the Vedas with a view to be initiated into Vedic studies or a Guru draws a boy towards himself and initiates him into one of the three twice-born classes. From the day the initiation ceremony takes place the young celibate commits himself to a life of austerity and abstinence; he chooses to lead a life rigorously disciplined by vows and disciplinary rules.
Traces the author's journey to motherhood after a devastating late-term miscarriage, describing the experiences of a struggling mother in India with whom the author shared a poignant effort in international surrogacy.