The Imitation of Christ has enjoyed an unparalleled place in the world of books for more than five hundred yesars, second only to the Bible itself. Estimates of the number of published editions run between three and five thousand, and it is said to have been translated into almost every language in the world.

Read and applauded by world leaders, ordinary men and women, and religious figures of every sort,, it offers comfort and counsel for everyone who seeks to live a more integrated, whole life.

The book transcends its time, and geographical origins, even the author's individuality, and becomes a document for all times, speaking to the perennial human condition and dealing with the issues of our human relationship to the divine.

Prayer is our constant, indestructible link with God - our insight that can take us to Him wherever we are so that we may adore, petition, give thanks and express sorrow.

This little book of prayers was prepared to help you turn your thoughts to God and to let you know that you are in the thoughts and prayers of many.

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During the Turkish occupation of the Holy Land in the late Middle Ages, when pilgrims were prevented from visiting its sacred sites, the custom arose of making replicas of those holy places, where the faithful might come to pray. One of the most popular of these devotions was the "Stations of the Way of the Cross," which were imitations of the "stations," or stopping places of prayer on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. By the late sixteenth century the fourteen stations, as we know them today, were erected in almost all Catholic churches.

Among the best known prayers for the Way of the Cross are those first published in Italian by St. Alphonsus Liguori in 1761, which are presented here in a new, revised translation. In his brief introduction to this devotion, St. Alphonsus wrote: "The pious exercise of the Way of the Cross represents the sorrowful journey that Jesus Christ made with the cross on His shoulders, to die on Calvary for the love of us. We should, therefore, practice this devotion with the greatest possible fervor, placing ourselves in spirit beside our Savior as He walked this sorrowful way, uniting our tears with His, and offering to Him both our compassion and our gratitude."

A great international bestseller, the book in which, on the eve of the millennium, Pope John Paul II brings to an accessible level the great theological concerns of our lives. He goes to the heart of his personal beliefs and speaks with passion about the existence of God; about the dignity of man; about pain, suffering, and evil; about eternal life and the meaning of salvation; about hope; about the relationship of Christianity to other faiths and of Catholicism to other branches of the Christian faith.

With the humility and generosity of spirit for which he is known, John Paul II speaks directly and forthrightly to all people.

His Message: Be not afraid!