Eustás Ó Héidáin OP describes the Blessing of the Bay ceremony held each year in the Claddagh, Galway. He sees it as a colourful expression of ancient, local faith.

James McFadden sees the spirituality of Meister Eckhart in terms of detachment, of letting go of everything and living without a why.

This extract by Brian Grogan SJ tells of Ignatius’s experience of life change when he made his general confession at Montserrat and how he set out on the adventure of being a poor Christian.

Brian Grogan SJ points out how in Barcelona in the years 1524-25 St Ignatius’s person radiated something that brought veneration and affection in others. Many made mention of a light that lit up his face.

Did Our Lady spend her last days in a small mountainside house overlooking Ephesus? Donald Carroll looks at the background to a great archaeological find near Kushadasi on the Aegean coast of Turkey.

Missionary theologian Donal Dorr says that spirituality is about our deep longing and search for meaning, peace and a sense of our personal call in life. In eighteen short and accessible pieces he ranges over the experiences, the calls and the activities that give our life meaning. Here we have [...]

Una Agnew SSL looks at how Kavanagh was able to uncover “the radiances of life”, though many of those who knew him as gruff and uncouth would have found that hard to believe.

Sean O’Conaill takes a look at a book which queries many of our received notions about depression, and he wonders if people who suffer from this condition might not need deep friendships more than prescription drugs.

For his journey to Rome Ignatius wanted to give up all human security and rely completely on God’s providence. Brian Grogan SJ explains how he got on.

It was Socrates who held that “the unexamined life is not worth living”. The Jesuit practice of reflection and interiority is a development of this. St Ignatius of Loyola gave “rules for the discernment of spirits” and the “consciousness examen” described here by Brian O’Leary SJ (distinct from the “examination [...]

Bishop John Kirby maintains that some ancient statues of the Madonna carved from local trees are proof that devotion to Our Lady of Clonfert dates back over 700 years.

Tom Stack introduces a selection of Kavanagh’s poems, highlighting their mystical dimension. He alerts us to how we too, like Kavanagh himself, can experience poetry as “a hole in heaven’s gable”.

The Power of Dreams acts as a practical handbook that can be used over the course of a month. Gerard Condon analyses and discusses the scientific, psychological, theological and spiritual sides of sleep and dreaming in this easily accessible and interesting book.

David Regan CSSp believes that Latin America is poised to give a valuable lesson in theology to the rest of the world, now that it is experiencing the building up of communities inspired by the spirituality of liberation theology.

Continuing his series of articles on St. Ignatius, Brian Grogan SJ details the saint’s recovery after his crushing defeat at Pamplona.

Continuing in the footsteps of St Ignatius, Brian Grogan SJ recounts Ignatius’s vision of “Our Lady with the Holy Child Jesus” and what effect this had on his journey on for the greater glory of God.

In what it has to say about Mary Vatican II inserted a special chapter into the Constitution on the Church “Lumen Gentium”. By this it was signalling that it wished Mary to be seen as a prototype of the disciples of Jesus. Philip Fogarty SJ develops this spirituality.

Margaret Silf invites us to participate in the great conversation about our origins and our destiny, what it might mean to become fully human and our own response to these challenges. Written in lay terms it offers an emerging synthesis between science and spirituality.

Families come in a variety of configurations: divorced or separated, widowed, single-parent stepparent, childless, blended, adoptive, multigenerational, aging. Wendy M. Wright aims to adapt her spirituality to suit all configurations. It is a book that digs deep and touches many a nerve.

Patricia Carroll OCSO draws our attention to Aelred of Rievaulx, a Cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of the relationship between God and each person.

Some movies do it, some movies don’t. Michael Paul Gallagher SJ identifies what is required for movies to contribute to our reflections on the meaning and mystery of our existence.

Brian Grogan SJ continues his series on St. Ignatius of Loyola, delving into that most crucial moment in the reformation when Inigo’s heart came alive.

St Ignatius read the “Life of Christ” allowing his imagination to situate him among the people and places where the events were taking place and encouraged his followers to develop a similar contemplative attitude in prayer. This enables the follower to develop an interior knowledge of the Lord. Brian O’Leary [...]

In 2002 Pope John Paul II suddenly introduced five new “mysteries of light” to the Rosary. Was it that he recognised that there was “a gap” in the traditional Christian faith statements, like the Apostles’ Creed and used the popular devotion of the Rosary to try to remedy it? Patrick [...]