Showing results by narrator "Peter Brooke" in All Categories

The Little Office of Our Lady, also known as the Hours of the Virgin, is a liturgical devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in imitation of, and usually in addition to, the Divine Office in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a cycle of psalms, hymns, scripture, and other readings that came into general use in the 10th century, and was so well received that eventually by the 14th century the Little Office was obligatory for all clergy. Although no longer an obligatory prayer book, it is still widely used by those who wish to draw closer to Christ and to the Virgin Mary. 

Lee Staunton and Dirk Krause have been seeing each other for a couple of months when they get the bad news: The firehouse they work at will be closed unless they can come up with the money to complete some maintenance and repairs. The union wants to stand and fight. There's just one problem: The only suggestion for how to raise the money is Lee's. And Dirk hates it.

Firefighters Lee Stanton and Dirk Krause need a vacation. Work seems to have other ideas: They spend the day before their holiday begins battling a fire that claims three lives. Thankfully, Lee and Dirk will have a whole week on the high seas to recover. They're having a wonderful time - until they spot Dirk's miserable, closed-minded father on the ship. Between his father's presence and his guilt over the lives he couldn't save, Dirk feels sure his romantic cruise is going to tank.

The Book of the Pastoral Rule (Liber Regulae Pastoralis) is a treatise on the duties of the clergy written by Pope Gregory I (540 - 604 A.D.) about AD 590, shortly after he was ordained as pope. This book would go on to become one of the most influential works ever composed on the subject. The book itself is addressed to John, the bishop of Ravenna, and is divided into four parts.

On a remote South Pacific island, the struggles of an elderly tribesman to translate Hamlet into local pidgin English are interrupted by the arrival of an unexpected visitor. William Hardt is an obsessive young American lawyer who has come to help. From that moment on, nothing will ever be the same - for what (and who) William finds on the island will challenge both his and our notions about love, life, and even death.

Sammy Lowell has his hands full juggling his music, college, some pesky health problems, and making the uncles who raised him proud. He needs help fulfilling his after-school duties with his siblings. Nobody can be in two places at once - not even Sammy! An injury puts Cooper Hoskins in a tough spot - if he can’t work, the foster sister he’s raising can’t eat. But years in the foster system have left Cooper short on trust, and opening up to accept help isn’t easy.

It is summer 2012. Charlie, a wealthy banker with an uneasy conscience, invites his troubled cousin, Matthew, to visit him and his wife in their idyllic mountaintop house. As the days grow hotter, the friendship between the three begins to reveal its fault lines, and with the arrival of a fourth character, the household finds itself suddenly in the grip of uncontrollable passions. Who is the real victim here? Who is the perpetrator? And who, ultimately, is the fall guy?

In this classic catechism, Fr. Francis Spirago provides an in-depth study of the Catholic Faith both from scripture and the authoritative Council of Trent catechism. The entire work is divided into three parts: 1.) faith, 2.) morals, 3.) the means of grace. This first part covers the aspects of faith and expounds upon each article of the Apostles' Creed. 

One game. Six students. Five survivors. It was only ever meant to be a game. A game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares. A game to be played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round.

The small town where Turner has moved is the perfect hide-away for him to forget he was a cop, a psychotherapist and always an ex-con - until a body is found and Turner is thrust into the investigation and everything he thought he had left behind. Turner slowly becomes reacquainted not only with the darkness he had fled, but with the unsuspected kindness of others.

During the 19th century, there were repeated efforts in the United States to make a uniform textbook of Christian doctrine in English that all Catholics might be able to use. In 1829, the bishops assembled the First Provincial Council of Baltimore to discuss the matter. They recommended using St. Bellarmine's short catechism as a model. Finally, in the Third Plenary Council (1884), the Baltimore catechism in its present form took shape. 

David Shallows wants nothing more than to wipe dragons from the Earth. The evil creatures murdered his parents when he was a young boy, and now he's driven to destroy them and secure the safety of the unwitting humans who believe dragons are a myth. He eats, sleeps, and breathes to impress the secret Dragon Slayers Society which has raised him from childhood. Obsessed with flight, Ethan Millford has been living with a secret for over 20 years, a secret that no human could ever hope to understand.

Preston Tierney, the omega son of a prominent senator, has been taken by a secret group with an ax to grind. Party boy Preston was just out looking for a good time until he was grabbed - plucked right from a party in the middle of a crowd. When he wakes up, he finds himself caged like an animal in a remote cabin far from home.

Dan thinks about just driving, leaving the whole mess behind. He's got enough money. He could just arrange to get his stuff and his horse shipped to wherever he's going. Taking off is what he used to do when things got to be too much, and it worked pretty well, really.

Jeff, Evan, and Dan have been living happily together for the past two years. They still have problems, especially between Evan and Dan, but they're mostly able to convert the interpersonal disagreements to sexual tension - and then resolve it - so nobody's complaining. Then Dan's long-lost sister shows up seven months pregnant and on the run from the law, and the situation goes from complicated to overwhelming.

Dirk Krause is an asshole of the first degree. His life is a hell of his own making, and he makes everyone around him just as miserable. When he's injured on the job while fighting a fire, he's nearly unbearable to the hospital staff, and of course no one from his unit cares enough to visit. Lee Stockton is the new guy at the station, so he gets saddled with the job of bringing Dirk a sympathy bouquet from the guys at the firehouse. To Dirk's surprise, Lee sees through him like a pane of glass and doesn't take any of his crap.

Two years have passed since Turner's lover, Val Bjorn, was shot as they sat together on the porch of his cabin. Then the sheriff's long-lost son comes ploughing down Main Street in what appears to be a stolen car. And waiting at Turner's cabin is his good friend, Eldon Brown. Haunted by his own ghosts, Turner nonetheless goes in search of a truth he's not sure he can live with.

A series of seemingly motiveless murders of supernatural creatures points to a vigilante targeting the supe community of Scranton. Markowski wouldn’t normally have much of a problem with that, but his daughter may be next on the killer’s list... Justin Gustainis was born in Northeast Pennsylvania in 1951. He attended college at the University of Scranton, a Jesuit university that figures prominently in several of his writings. He is currently a Professor of Communication at Plattsburgh State University.

State trooper Brandt's new assignment to infiltrate a sex-cam operation puts him in a very uncomfortable position, especially since he'll have to perform naked on camera for his audition. Fortunately his partner and best friend, Donnelly, has his back - whether that means helping Brandt shop gay boutiques for sexy underwear or offering Jager and encouragement while he researches porn. Despite his mortification, Brandt gives the audition his best "shot" - and becomes an overnight sensation.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is perhaps the most widely practiced of all Catholic devotions, where the heart of Jesus is seen as a symbol of "God's endless and fervent love for all." Evidence of such devotion dates to the 11th and 12th centuries in a number of Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries. It was also widely advocated by the well-known saints Bonaventure (d. 1274) and Gertrude (d. 1302).