Library

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Location and hours of opening

The Library is situated in the room adjoining the church - at the end of the passage beyond the Sacristy.

The Library is open on weekends only at the following times: -

  • Saturday evening - 30 minutes before the 6pm Mass
  • Sunday morning - 20 minutes after the 7.30am Mass
  • Sunday morning - 30 minutes after the 9.00am Mass * This may have to change
  • Sunday evening - 30 minutes before the 6pm Mass

Note: There is a box in the Library where you can return books and DVDs if no one is on duty. 

OCTOBER
The Library theme for October is the Bible, and the October Book of the Month is Bible Basics for Catholics by Dr John Bergsma.


New books

These two new library books are on the display shelf above the DVD display - unless someone has taken them out!
1.       From Teilhaard to Omega, edited by Ilia Delio (Yellow 3 TEI)
2.        Just Water by Christiana Z Peppard (Yellow 3 PEP)

 

Readers’ recommendations

A parishioner writes: Practitioners of centering prayer may be familiar with Thomas Keating’s  book Open Mind Open Heart (in the library under Green 2 KEA). The book describes the history of this prayer practice and provides good guidelines for following this type of prayer. Another recommended book from the library is David Frenette's The Path of Centering Prayer (Green 2 FRE).

Another parishioner, who has read a good sample of the books in St Michael’s Parish Library, makes the following recommendations from our collection:
Spiritual and devotional reading; books by Richard Rohr (all under ROH in the ‘Green’ section):

 Other titles in the same category that our reader recommends are:

 

 What's in St Michael's library?

The parish library contains nearly 3000 books - of which many are recent additions - and a growing number of DVDs (currently 35). The material is predominantly Roman Catholic in its subject matter.

Topics covered include:

  • THE BIBLE - Old & New Testament, Gospels, Apostles, Commentaries on the various Books of the Bible etc.
  • ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH - Dogma & Doctrine of the Church, Jesus, God, the Trinity, Science & Religion, Apologetics etc.
  • DEVOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL READING - Prayer and Meditation, Personal Experiences.
  • LITURGY & THE MASS - the Sacraments & Social Theology
  • CHURCH HISTORY BIOGRAPHIES & AUTOBIOGRAPHIES e.g. John Henry Newman, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Oscar Romero, Desmond Tutu etc.
  • BIOGRAPHIES - Lives of the Saints & the Popes e.g. Teresa of Calcutta, Therese of Lisieux, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, St. Augustine, etc. OTHER BIOGRAPHY - Mary, Mother of Our Lord (include the Rosary & Apparitions).
  • CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS - Catholicism (traditions & customs), Anglicans, Baptists, Presbyterians etc.
  • NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS- Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Agnosticism, Atheism.

Library Committee

The library is managed by a committee currently consisting of 6 members and managed by a Library Co-ordinator. A list of current Committee members and their contact details is available both in the library and on the library notice board in the church porch. The Library Committee is responsible for the selection, purchase and processing of all library reading material.

Library users

The library is intended exclusively for the use of registered parishioners of St. Michael's Catholic Church, Rondebosch. Unfortunately it is not open to parishioners from other Catholic churches within the diocese, nor to the general public.

Volunteers

The Library is manned by a large group of volunteers who give generously of their time to provide a wonderful service to our parishioners.

How the Library is organised

Books are colour-coded for your convenience and are covered in plastic for protection and hygiene. An expanded version of the Dewey decimal classification system's 200 category (Religion) is used. Four manual indexes (red A4 files on the lower shelf on the left of the window) are available in the library for consultation - categorised according Author, Title, Classification and Accessions. They are updated at least two to three times a year. An online catalogue is currently in the process of being developed and should be available for use in the near future.

Unfortunately the location of the Library does allow for research or reference work at present.

For any queries / requests, please use the form provided in the library / on the notice board in the church porch. Otherwise, kindly contact the Library Co-ordinator, Winnie Thomson on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or any of the other Library Committee members (details in the library and in the church foyer).

Water is Life

Click here for the Pastoral Letter on the use of Water

Prayer for police officers

O Almighty God,
Whose great power and eternal Wisdom embraces the universe, Watch over all police officers that we today commend to your loving care. Grant them your protection as they risk their lives to keep us and our families safe and secure. Unite them safely with their families after their duty has ended. We pray, help them keep our streets and homes safe, day and night. Fill their spirit with strength to do what is right and needed in their daily assignments. For the police officers who have died in the line of duty, we ask that You show them your mercy and grant them eternal rest. We ask that their families be healed, comforted and protected from more harm.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Parents Prayer

Oh, Heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all their questions kindly.

Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.

May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power. Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal.

And guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.

May I ever be mindful that my children are children and I should not expect of them the judgement of adults.

Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves and make decisions.

Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests, and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm.

Make me fair and just and kind.

And fit me, O Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated by my children. Amen.