Everyday Holiness

Mussar is an illuminating, approachable, and highly practical set of teachings for cultivating personal growth and spiritual realization in the midst of day-to-day life. Here is an accessible and inspiring introduction to this Jewish spiritual path, which until lately has been best known in the world of Orthodox Judaism. The core teaching of Mussar is that our deepest essence is inherently pure and holy, but this inner radiance is obscured by extremes of emotion, desire, and bad habits. Our work in life is to uncover the brilliant light of the soul. The Mussar masters developed transformative teachings and practices—some of which are contemplative, some of which focus on how we relate to others in daily life—to help us to heal and refine ourselves. To learn more about the author, visit his website: www.mussarinstitute.org

A girl whose fortunes have plummeted from wealthy aristocrat to servant-girl. A magic hazel twig. A prince. A desperate escape from danger. This is not the story of a girl whose fairy godmother arranges her future for her. This is the story of Selena, who will take charge of her own destiny, and learn that her magic is not to be feared but celebrated.

Here is an accessible and inspiring introduction to the Jewish spiritual tradition known as Mussar. The text features short chapters on 18 key character traits that the Mussar masters emphasize.

Everyday Holiness presents the spiritual journey to and with Christ as possible, noble, challenging, and rewarding. It describes the many aspects of holiness and how it is essential to our growth in Christ. Holiness is the most important developmental area in life and the greatest goal to which we can aspire. The Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales wrote: "All of us can attain Christian virtue and holiness no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life's work may be." This book should be read slowly, prayerfully, and seriously. It invites us to ponder the meaning of life and how holiness benefits every aspect of our church, our society, and ourselves. Because all good things lead to God, the book infuses a deeper meaning into the ordinary circumstances of daily life, thus showing how holiness is not a static reality but a dynamic force that transforms every aspect of our day. The book is replete with concrete examples and practical illustrations that show how living holiness is possible today. Indeed, holiness is our greatest need, deepest joy, and hardest challenge. Everyday Holiness is for everyone who wants to love God more and serve him better.

The myriad events and interactions that make up our everyday life provide a rich opportunity for us to examine our impulses and actions and grow spiritually, according to the Jewish practice of Mussar. Mussar is an eminently wise, practical, and effective way to cultivate awareness, gratitude, personal growth, and ethical action on a daily basis. The path has its origins in Orthodox Judaism but it has become popular with Jews of all affiliations who are interested in a practice that can infuse daily life with more purpose and meaning. This daybook will be an essential companion to anyone who wants to experience this life-changing contemplative practice. Using a "soul trait" such as honesty, courage, enthusiasm, honor, and equanimity as a starting point, each practice page includes: • a teaching that illuminates the trait of the day • an affirmation phrase focused on that trait • a practical exercise to expand our experience of the trait • a space for journaling about experiences with the trait To learn more, visit www.mussarinstitute.org.

Here is a spiritual practice for developing a strong and open heart—drawn from Judaism’s Mussar tradition. Mussar draws from the vast storehouse of Jewish wisdom, law, revelation, and text and brings it right home in a way that is completely practical. Judaism teaches that Torah (the collective wisdom of the tradition) provides the blueprint for human experience—and so the more of it we acquire, the more we gain a clearer, truer perspective on life and learn how to navigate its pathways. The phrase "acquiring Torah" is code for the process of internalizing this wisdom to bring about a genuine transformation of the inner self.In short, accessible chapters, this book describes forty-eight methods through which we can acquire Torah—and turns them into a straightforward practice. These methods include cultivating humility, joy, awe, goodheartedness, closeness with friends, not taking credit for oneself, judging others favorably, and so on. The fruit of working through each quality or method is a refined soul and a strong and open heart.

Jewish by birth, though from a secular family, Alan Morinis explored Hinduism and Buddhism as a young man. But in 1997, in the face of personal crisis, he turned to his Jewish heritage for guidance. In his reading he happened upon a Jewish spiritual tradition called Mussar. Gradually he realized that he had stumbled upon an insightful discipline for self-development, complete with meditative, contemplative, and other well-developed transformative practices designed to penetrate the deepest roots of the inner life. Eventually reaching the limits of what he could learn on his own, he decided to seek out a Mussar teacher. This was not an easy task, since almost the entire world of the Mussar tradition had been wiped out in the Holocaust. In time, he found an accomplished master who stood in an unbroken line of transmission of the Mussar tradition, and who lived in the center of a community of Orthodox Jews on Long Island. This book tells the story of Morinis’s journey to meet his teacher and what he learned from him, revealing the central teachings and practices that are the spiritual treasury and legacy of Mussar. To learn more about the author, Alan Morinis, go to www.mussarinstitute.org.

Everyday Holiness, Bringing the Holy Spirit Home by Patti Gallagher Mansfield238 pages perfect bound editionIt is clear from Patti's writing that the Holy Spirit is not only committed to renewing the great activities of the Church...but even reaches the very heart of Christian life, making the whole of life, with nothing excluded, a "living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Romans 12:2).Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap.Preacher to the Papal HouseholdFrom the mundane to the extraordinary Patti proves that every moment shimmers with grace. Through charming storytelling, gentle instruction, and profound insight Patti shares events from her life that convince us God is always with us and He is always about a work in us.Johnnette BenkovicFounder, Women of Grace®

When Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin were canonized in 2015, they were the first spouses to be declared saints as a couple. Their lives are proof that God works through ordinary families to draw his future saints—like St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Louis and Zélie’s youngest daughter—toward holiness. Even before their first encounter in the small town of Alençon, France, God was preparing Louis and Zélie for marriage. Later, he continued to sustain them powerfully in their married love and family life. Rooted in Love: Louis and Zélie Martin: Models of Married Love, Family Life, and Everyday Holiness explores the stages of Louis and Zélie’s marriage, from the joys of parenthood, through the sorrows of bereavement, and ultimately to the challenges of single parenthood—experiences which many families face today. Author Annette Goulden demonstrates how, amid both the joys and the sorrows of family life, these saints grew in their understanding of God’s love for them. From the initial urge to earn God’s favor with sacrifices and sufferings to a deeper understanding of God’s unconditional love even in the minutiae of daily life, God was their guide on the path to holiness, a path that is open to all married couples. This book is for both families and individuals—to offer them light and guidance to live their ordinary everyday life in closeness with God. No matter one’s vocation in life, Louis and Zélie exemplify how everyday experiences, such as being a working parent, running a business, or raising a difficult child, can be sacramental if one is open to a trusting relationship with God, even when he seems to be absent. Whatever the situation a married couple find themselves in, this saintly couple shows how daily actions and choices—however small and ordinary—are highly valued by God and can lead to holiness, to a close relationship with him, and to forming children who are strong in faith, maturity, and joy. The book contains a fully linked index and 41 photos. About the Author Annette Goulden, O.C.D.S., is a Secular Discalced Carmelite from Newbury, England. In 2002, she helped found a new Secular Order community in Oxford. She has served the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in numerous capacities, including as national president and as a member of the O.C.D.S. National Council. She has written articles and book reviews for Mount Carmel magazine and gives talks and individually guided retreats. Until her recent retirement, Annette worked as a doctor, specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry. She gained an additional qualification in psychoanalytical psychotherapy and has trained in spiritual direction. Her extensive background in both Carmelite spirituality and psychology, combined with her life experience as a mother and grandmother, makes Annette Goulden ideally placed to have written this insightful study of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin.

Presents an inspirational compendium of spiritual wisdom, insights, whimsical reflections, and straightforward advice, culled from never-before-seen interviews, lessons, and broadcasts, along with a collection of original prayers and personal photographs. 100,000 first printing.

A look at the practical meaning of holiness for today’s disciples. George Lyons seeks to bring the power of the scriptural theme of holiness to everyday life. Believing Romans 12:1-2 and Ephesians 4:1-6 to be the key passage to the understanding of holy living in the marketplace, the author guides the reader across the bridge of the centuries-from understanding to the meaning of the ancient text to the application of it’s principles in today’s world. Dr. Lyons suggests that perhaps we have spent too much time encouraging individuals to embark on the journey of holiness and too little time describing the landmarks along the way. Join him as he explores intriguing points of interest on the journey. Paper.

We are all chasing happiness. We spend our lives searching for that one thing we think will finally make us happy. But is happiness something deeper than that, more fundamental? How can universal happiness be achieved? His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa reveals that the secret to happiness lies in the mind. Exploring the simple ways we can train our minds to recognise a happiness that is already there, he gives us the tools to embrace an appreciation for life as it is, rather than as we feel it should be, and helps us flourish as individuals, and as part of the wider world. With Happiness is a State of Mind you can choose to make today a happy one.

Have you ever felt stuck in a relationship that seemed to be going nowhere? Wished you could get closer to your children? Or wondered why some people push your buttons? We often don't realize that we influence and unconsciously dictate how others respond to us. But, if we understand the basic drivers behind human interactions-- the need to increase intimacy and the need to reduce anxiety -- we can unlock the secrets of our relationships with family members, spouses, children, or coworkers. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Clinton McLemore -- a leading expert on interpersonal relationships -- gives you a powerful roadmap for promoting healthy and productive relationships. "Toxic Relationships" draws extensively from psychological research and Christian theology and is filled with practical strategies you can use to create better communication at home and at work. You will learn how to increase appreciation, tenderness, respect, comfort, and understanding in all of your relationships by recognizing the eight basic "default styles" that most of us use to respond to others. By using biblical examples, Dr. McLemore shows how we can change our own destructive behavior and influence the behavior of others by understanding these eight toxic strategies: Controlling Drifting Intruding Freeloading Humiliating Scurrying Victimizing Avoiding Create loving and healthy relationships using these proven methods for transforming toxic interactions with others.

An engaging and practical guide to finding hapiness today, written by one of the most influential Buddhist leaders in the world. “I love the modern world; we have so many opportunities to be generous and inspire each other,” writes His Holi­ness the Gyalwang Drukpa in Everyday Enlightenment. And in this simple, powerful book based on ancient Bud­dhist teachings but framed to be relevant in today’s world, the Drukpa outlines ways for all to find that generosity and inspiration in themselves. As head of the thousand-year-old Drukpa Order, the Drukpa uses Buddhist practices to aid people who feel lost or uncertain, or who want to slow the pace of life and attend to the world around them more thoughtfully. He divides the book into sections including “The Un­common Path,” “Walking Your Path,” and “Overcom­ing Obstacles Along Your Way,” and delineates ways in which readers can absorb into their lives Buddhist teach­ings that will allow them to choose to live more fully. Clear and accessible, optimistic and profound, Everyday Enlightenment is essential reading for all those who want to improve their life by following a different, more meaning­ful life path.

This is intended to be a very simple book, an elementary treatment of a few basic ideas in Christian spirituality. Hence it should be useful to any Christian, and indeed to anyone who wants to acquaint himself with some principles of the interior life as it is understood in the Catholic Church. Nothing is here said of such subjects as “contemplation” or even “mental prayer.” And yet the book emphasizes what is at once the most common and the most mysterious aspect in the Christian life: grace, the power and the light of God in us, purifying our hearts, transforming us in Christ, making us true sons of God, enabling us to act in the world as his instruments for the good of all men and for his glory. This is therefore a meditation on some fundamental themes appropriate to the active life. It must be said at once that the active life is essential to every Christian. Clearly the active life must mean more than the life which is led in religious institutes of men and women who teach, care for the sick, and so on. (When one is talking of the “active life” as opposed to the “contemplative life,” this is the usual reference.) Here action is not looked at in opposition to contemplation, but as an expression of charity and as a necessary consequence of union with God by baptism.

"Love your neighbor" is the central obligation of Jewish life. Mussar, a late nineteenth-century Jewish renewal movement, focused on this precept as a means of self-improvement and spiritual growth. Through the practical applications of Mussar, one can learn how to awaken to a spirituality that is compassionate, moral, and generous. In this book, Rabbi Ira Stone provides a contemporary theological framework for understanding Mussar and describes how participation in a Mussar group can offer support and guidance for this powerful spiritual practice.

Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts, His Holiness provides step-by-step exercises to help readers shatter their false assumptions and ideas of the self and see the world as it actually exists, which is a prelude to right action. Reprint.

The Nobel Peace Prize and Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award-winning Buddhist leader provides a succinct overview of the basic techniques of spiritual development in Tibetan Buddhism, explaining how to transform difficult situations into opportunities for growth through various practices in mind training.