A Catholic Quest for the Holy Grail

Description

The Holy Grail: it conjures images of a rich and fantastic world full of magnificent adventures and perilous quests by gallant knights. It whispers of strange mysteries and fabled conspiracies staged by Templars, Cathars, Nazis, and innumerable secret societies. Was it the Cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, or something else? Is there any truth to the wonders and marvels bards and poets associated with it?  After years of being co-opted by pop culture and New Agers, what significance can this fairy tale still hold for Catholics? Ah, but this is no fairy tale! As A Catholic Quest for the Holy Grail shows, not only does the Grail exist, its whereabouts are known today!  Charles Coulombe examines the fabled vessel s literary and historical connections, but he offers far more than a stuffy history of a dusty old cup.  Rather, he shows how the Holy Grail is the key to an entire genre of glorious relics and miraculous phenomena that extend from the time of Christ to the present day. A Catholic Quest for the Holy Grail uncovers the Grail s intrinsic connections to Catholic Monarchy and Chivalry, to the Precious Blood of Christ, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts devotions, and to the Kingship of Christ and Queenship of Mary, as well as its ties to the Passion of Our Lord and the Blessed Sacrament.  Indeed, the Holy Grail is not a myth, but a living reality, a key to a new understanding of the world in which we all live. As far in time and space as the Crucifixion at Golgotha and Medieval deeds of knightly valor, and as close as the next Mass you attend, the Holy Grail is there, a real myth. The Grail is proof that when J.R.R. Tolkien asks: Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight? it can truly be answered: A man may do both ... The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!   In these pages, discover the reality of the legend of the Holy Grail! Introduction Prelude 1The Adventure Begins 2Origins of Church and Grail 3Kings, Knights, and Crusaders 4The Landscape of the Holy Grail 5Relics of the Passion: Clues on the Way to the Holy Grail 6Candidates for the Grail 7The Contents of the Holy Grail 8The Sacred Heart 9Precious Blood 10Queen of the Holy Grail 11The Quest Fulfilled … and Begun Anew Bibliography Gazetteer: The Kingdoms of the Grail Appendix: Blood Relics and Eucharistic Miracles