RAINBOW  PRAYER

is a meditation rendering of 39 of the 150 Psalms, 11 Canticles, 35 Scripture Readings on the Christian Life, and the 15 Psalms of Francis of Assisi.

(Warning: If you have a very strong preference for the traditional masculine imagery for God, you will not like this meditation rendering.)

     Part A, drawn from the Commons of Mary, Apostles, Martyrs, Pastors & Doctors, and Holy Women & Men, has proven especially helpful for those trying to discern whether they are being called to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

     Part B (Midday Work Hours) is inspired by the psalms and readings of the Midday Hours and reflection on years of working as a student, janitor, launderer, clerk, landscaper, accountant, and parish priest.

     Part C (In Health & In Healing) has roots in a hospital chaplaincy internship, often offering short readings from the Psalter, and watching faithful Methodists, Baptists, Jews and others taking in the sacred word with a reverence that resembles a Catholic receiving holy communion.

     Part D (Psalms of Francis of Assisi) is 15 sets of fragments of psalms and other scripture collected for Franciscan mendicant beggars, a small prayerbook arranged for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent (and Ordinary Time) and Easter.

    The previous edition of this book was Best of the Psalter.

2023, paperback, 4.37"X7", 175 pages, $14.95

DAWN  &  DUSK

RAINBOW  for  ORDINARY  TIME

Traditional Hymns, Psalms,

Canticles, Sayings of Jesus,

and Readings on the Christian Life

is a meditation rendering of Psalms (146 of the 150), Canticles (36), many Sayings of Jesus, Scripture Readings on the Christian Life (28), and traditional songs from the public domain (47), arranged for dawn and dusk (morning and evening) in a two week repeating cycle. Almost all of the Psalms and Canticles and Readings are placed on the same day of the week as in the four-week traditional cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours, weeks 1 and 3 in the first week, and weeks 2 and 4 in the second week.

     (Warning: If you have a very strong preference for the traditional masculine imagery for God, you will not like this meditation rendering.)

     Designed by a former parish priest as a straightforward introduction to praying the Liturgy of the Hours, Dawn & Dusk Rainbow for Ordinary Time can also be used for private prayer and meditation by veterans of the breviary who wish now and then to pray the full Psalter in two weeks.

     Most of the antiphons are Sayings of Jesus drawn from Sunday Gospel readings: In the Sunday Lectionary, the Old Testament readings have connections with the Gospel reading, and the "responsorial psalm" is a "response" to the Old Testament reading. This means that on any given Sunday there is a relationship between the Gospel reading and the Psalm. The antiphons were chosen based on this relationship.

2023, paperback, 4.37"X7", 523 pages, $25.95

DAWN  &  DUSK  RAINBOW  PRAYER

Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter,

& Ordinary Time

Traditional Hymns, Psalms,

Canticles, Sayings of Jesus,

and Readings on the Christian Life

is a meditation rendering of 147 of the 150 Psalms, 39 Canticles, many Sayings of Jesus, 111 Scripture Readings on the Christian Life, and 127 traditional songs from the public domain, arranged for dawn and dusk (morning and evening) in a two week repeating cycle. Almost all of the Psalms and Canticles and Readings are placed on the same day of the week as in the four-week traditional cycle of the Liturgy of the Hours, weeks 1 and 3 in the first week, and weeks 2 and 4 in the second week.

     (Warning: If you have a very strong preference for the traditional masculine imagery for God, you will not like this meditation rendering.)

     Designed by a former parish priest as a straightforward introduction to praying the Liturgy of the Hours, Dawn & Dusk Rainbow Prayer can also be used for private prayer and meditation by veterans of the breviary who wish now and then to pray the full Psalter in two weeks.

     Most of the antiphons are Sayings of Jesus drawn from Sunday Gospel readings: In the Sunday Lectionary, the Old Testament readings have connections with the Gospel reading, and the "responsorial psalm" is a "response" to the Old Testament reading. This means that on any given Sunday there is a relationship between the Gospel reading and the Psalm. The antiphons were chosen based on this relationship.

2023, paperback, 4.37"X7", 775 pages, $33.95

A  JESUS  BREVIARY

Jesus is that man who lived in the first third of what we now call the first century, in Nazareth near the Sea of Galilee in what is now called Israel, who we also know as the Son of God, Christ the Anointed One, Savior, Redeemer, Risen Lord, and a host of other names.

A Breviary is a portable prayerbook, usually with psalms, canticles, songs, scripture readings and prayers.

A Jesus Breviary is full of meditation renderings of scripture passages on the love of God; events, miracles, parables, sayings and the paschal mystery of Jesus; the Holy Spirit; and the Christian life.

2015, paperback, 4.4" X 7", eight 31-day sections, 339 pages, $14.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com   

     Click here for information on ordering and on the 31 Day meditation series.

2016, paperback, 5"X8", 45 pages, $5.95

DRAWING  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD

     The outline is listed on the back cover:

Birth, Shepherds, Wise Men, Escape, The Innocents, Twelve Years Old, Baptism, Wilderness, Marriage Feast, The Twelve, Fish, Teaching, Healings, Pharisees, Son of a Widow, Asleep in a Boat, Calming of Storm, Casting Out Spirits, Beheading, Tears and Hair, Pool of Bethesda, Five Loaves and Two Fish, Walking on Water, Miracles, Sending of Disciples, Death Prediction, Transfiguration, Forgiveness, Generous Master, Unforgiving Servant, A Woman Accused, Compassionate Samaritan, Excuses of Those Invited, Zacchaeus, Prodigal Son, Rich Man and Beggar Lazarus, Proud and Humble Men, Tribute to Caesar, Widow with Two Mites, Lazarus of Bethany, Mary of Bethany, Entering On an Ass, Casting Out Tables, More Blind and Lame, Washing Feet, One Betrayer, Thirty Pieces of Silver, The Last Supper, Three Times, Gethsemane, Judas' Kiss, Peter's Denial, Scribes and Priests, Judas' Life, Pontius Pilate, Beaten Mocked Crowned with Thorns, Behold the Man, Crucify Him, Washes Hands, Nailed Alive, Clothing, People Passing, John the Beloved, Four Women, Mary, Deep Terrible Darkness, Vinegar, It Is Finished, Wrapped and Buried, Mary Magdalene, Stone Rolled Away, John and Peter at the Empty Tomb, Stranger Walking to Emmaus, Shows his Hands and Feet...

2018, paperback, 4"X6", 72 pages, $8.95

2016, paperback, 4.37"X7", 71 pages, $6.95

A  SIMPLE  FAMILY  BREVIARY

from the Psalms of Saint Francis of Assisi

and the Commons of Mary and the Saints

is a modern version of the Little Office of Saint Francis of Assisi by a former parish priest trying to help families pray together. Each prayer session includes a traditional song, a psalm of the season, either a psalm of Saint Francis or a psalm from the commons of Mary and the Saints, and closing praises. The order of prayer is easy to follow and offers variety day to day and month to month, and includes a calendar of major feasts of the church year. This simple once-daily prayer is suitable for a family, the classroom, midday at work, and with co-workers. Stephen Joseph Wolf was a parish priest of the diocese of Nashville, and Angie Bosio is Director of Youth Ministry at St. Stephen Catholic Community in Old Hickory, Tennessee.

Paperback Edition, 2012, 5"X8", 104 pages, $7.95 

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE           go to barnesandnoble.com   

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE           go to barnesandnoble.com      

                                                                                go to amazon.com

HINGE  HOURS  for  CHRISTMAS

is a meditation rendering of Psalms (63), Canticles (14), Scripture Readings on the Christian Life (40), and traditional songs from the public domain (36), arranged for the two "hinge hours" of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer for the cycle of the Season of Christmas, from Evening Prayer on December 24 through Evening Prayer of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Designed by a parish priest as a straightforward introduction to praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the Hinge Hours can also be used for private prayer and meditation by veterans of the breviary.

2014, paperback, 5"X8", 271 pages, $12.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE           go to barnesandnoble.com   

HINGE  HOUR  SINGER

is a book of songs that most Catholics know, or want to know, traditional songs designed for use in Morning and Evening Prayer, called the "hinge hours" of the day in the instruction to the Liturgy of the Hours. Stephen Joseph Wolf is a former a parish priest who has been praying the "hinge hours" at the opening and closing of the day for thirty years, and wanted a set of songs he knows. The songs of Hinge Hour Singer are marked for the individual singer without accompaniment, and are arranged for the seven days of the week for the seasons of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, and the four-week cycle of Ordinary Time. After each song are scripture suggestions for prayer in the singer's own Bible, usually 3 psalms, a canticle, and something from a New Testament letter.

2011, paperback, 5"X8", $9.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE           go to barnesandnoble.com   

PSALTER  of  LECTIO

is a Revised guide to using your Bible to pray the way a monk might pray outside of the monastery. "Psalter" means the collection of psalms and canticles (poems and songs embedded in scripture) used by the early hermits, a collection developed by St. Benedict and the entire monastic tradition, which is always in a state of reform. "Lectio" is shorthand for "lectio divina," which means literally "sacred reading." Psalter of Lectio allows a pray-er to review the antiphons of all of the psalms and canticles prayed by the Church on a particular day of the week, choose an antiphon that seems to speak to him or her, and then go to the related psalm or canticle to listen to what the Lord might want to say on a particular day. Included are concise and descriptive paragraphs on ways to use the book, the traditional four-step process of lectio divina (read, meditate, dialogue, and being open to contemplation), brief summaries of what some of today's teachers of praying are saying, and an invitation into "lectio continua," or continuous day-to-day reading in prayer of the Bible in its entirety, as one abbot says, "omitting nothing, doing honor to the integrity of revelation." Psalms for Night Prayer are also offered, as are simple charts comparing Psalter of Lectio with the Four-Week Psalter used by most priests and religious, and a chapter-a-day reading plan for praying the entire Catholic Bible over 44 months. Most significant are the three blank lines following each psalm antiphon to allow the pray-er to enter the psalm verses prayed, and so build his or her own Personal Psalter for those times when prayer is difficult. Compiled by a former parish priest who loves praying the Psalms and the Gospels, Psalter of Lectio may be the best answer to the oft-repeated question of believers: I want to pray with my Bible; how do I begin?

2009, 2012, paperback, 5"X8", 107 pages, $7.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE           go to barnesandnoble.com   

IN  HEALTH  and  IN  HEALING

is a collection of short readings of psalms, canticles, and other sacred scripture, plus songs from the Christian tradition, arranged for mornings and evenings of the seven days of the week. It is rooted in a summer chaplaincy internship at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, during the '96 Olympic games: a Catholic seminarian offering short readings from the Psalter, and watching faithful Baptists, Methodists, Jews and so many others taking in the sacred word with reverence resembling a Catholic receiving holy communion. This experience deepened a future parish priest's appreciation of the sacramentality of the word. These passages gave great consolation then, and are still helpful in pastoral care. On the occasional day of depression, Stephen Joseph Wolf uses this as his breviary.

Hardback Gift Edition, 2012, 5" by 8", 47 pages, $15.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com  

Paperback Editon, 2012, 5" by 8", 47 pages, $6.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com  

GOSPEL  of  LIFE  PRAYER  CYCLE

is a collection of scripture, song, seven excerpts from a Pope's encyclical, and a little pondering of a parish priest, designed to help Peace and Justice groups to pray, study, act and love. The life issues for prayer are arranged monthly, January to December: The Adoption Option, Health Care With Dignity, Nonviolence of Jesus, God's Good Earth, Work That Works, Being Sexual Beings, Freedom of Religion, Food-Clothing-Shelter, Education, Natural Dying, World Peace, and Sabbath Rest. Each set of scripture is arranged for either group or private prayer, using the New Revised Standard Version. Songs are compiled for singers from well-know melodies. The seven excerpts are from Pope John Paul II's encyclical "The Gospel of Life" (1995). The ponderings are based on the premise that everyone is "pro-life" about something, with that as a starting point for all people of faith.

2007, paperback, 5"X8", 12 prayer sessions, 127 pages, $9.95

     See in the IDJC  BOOKSTORE          go to barnesandnoble.com