New prayer periodical to be released in August

By Sue Schulzetenberg
The Visitor

The days when a book simply meant pages bound together and sandwiched by a cover are gone.
Books can be read on a variety of electronic devices, such as the Kindle, Nook or iPad. Computer PDF downloads and applications for smart phones are also growing in popularity.

Responding to the times, Liturgical Press in Collegeville, a publisher of liturgy, Scripture, theology and spirituality materials, is undergoing several changes, including a restructuring with the hopes of responding quicker to clients’ needs and producing more technology-based materials.

“All these technologies are affecting us in how we distribute content, how we gather and curate content,” said Peter Dwyer, Liturgical Press director. “I think that is going to continue to move pretty rapidly. The media we saw as distinct, that is radio, television, Internet, print media, are really converging into multi-media delivered on an electronic platform. We don’t see print disappearing; we’re simply anticipating that we need to deliver content in whatever format is needed for that particular project.”

New formats
Liturgical Press has begun offering many of its new titles in e-book format, in addition to print, within the last year. It has 74 titles available in the e-book format.

Brian Eisenschenk, information technology manager at Liturgical Press, anticipates the e-book trend continuing. In December, the publisher released its first iPad and iPhone application, “Not by Bread Alone: Daily Reflections for Lent,” and it will look at other options for applications for the future, Eisenschenk said.

Liturgical Press has included information technology responsibilities in its web department and is changing its on-line capabilities to allow customers to view the status of their order.

Responding quicker also means restructuring positions. As part of Liturgical Press’ restructuring, the parish, academic/trade and individual consumer departments will each have their own publisher, managing editor and associate publisher. Restructuring began within the last two months and will be completed by July 1.

The change will allow departments to be more responsive and attentive to each set of customers’ needs, Dwyer said.
In the restructuring, some employees received new job titles, five were cut and six were added or will be hired.

New periodical
The individual consumer department will publish a new monthly periodical, “Give Us This Day,” starting in August. Each issue will feature an essay, a column on ways to pray, a new look at a Catholic prayer or devotion, prayers and blessings, liturgical reading insights, daily morning and evening prayers, daily Mass readings and the Order of Mass.

“In some ways I don’t think this day and age is different than any day and age in the past. What is different is that we have a lot in front of us, and we are on the go a lot. I think there is a real hunger for us to have spiritual sustenance day by day,” said Mary Stommes, editor for “Give Us This Day.”

Many well-known writers, including Father Ronald Rolheiser, Father Timothy Radcliffe and Kathleen Norris, are serving as editorial advisors for the publication.

Patricia Sullivan Vanni, publisher in the parish market department, said today is a dynamic time in the church, especially in regard to the launching of the new English translation of the Roman Missal this Advent. Dwyer said the parish arena is also changing regarding the number of clergy available, number of people participating in parishes and the increase in clustering of parishes in rural and urban settings. Liturgical Press will produce Mass missals of the new English translation as well as Mass cards and a variety of books to help people adjust to the changes.

Change is not happening as fast in the textbook world, but Liturgical Press academic/trade publisher Hans Christoffersen, predicts new possibilities with advances in technology. E-books offer a variety of advantages, in addition to being much lighter than textbooks. They can be searched for specific words and include hyperlinks to passages or websites.

Enhanced e-books can include other media such as videos, although adding videos is not cost effective at this time, Christoffersen said. Dwyer said highlighting and note taking capabilities for e-books are ‘clumsy,’ but he predicts they will improve.

Pictured above:
Liturgical Press director Peter Dwyer, Benedictine Brother Aelred Senna and Mary Stommes consider covers for a new periodical, ‘Give Us This Day,’ which is to be launched in August. The Liturgical Press has announced it is implementing several strategies, in addition to the periodical, such as reorganization and more emphasis on technology, to meet the needs of today’s readers. Sue Schulzetenberg/The Visitor