Catholic Books

God has no need for anything, proclaims St. Paul in the midst of the Areopagus. God has no need for mankind: He creates men and women out of pure generosity. The priesthood, remarks Monsignor Ronald Knox, is similarly the fruit of the Divine largesse: God “could have done without [priests], but he preferred to have, once more, a kind of tool through which his action should express itself. Tools in his hand, that is what we priests were to be.” Comprising sixteen retreat talks, The Priestly Li...

In this insightful guide, Archbishop Luis M. Martínez delves into the depths of the spiritual life. He explores the balance between active and contemplative prayer, offering practical advice on cultivating a deeper relationship with God. Drawing on the wisdom of spiritual masters like St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Ávila, Martínez reveals the secrets to a truly fulfilling and transformative spiritual journey.

As Ronald Knox was preparing to enter the Catholic Church, he took with him, as a spiritual-reading traveling companion, Virgil's Aeneid. The physical journey of Aeneas toward Rome provided a well-polished mirror to the spiritual voyage of Knox to that other, perfect Rome-the Eternal City of Christendom. "Ingeniously constructed on the Virgillian frame," as Evelyn Waugh writes in his Foreword, A Spiritual Aeneid is Knox's account of his conversion from the Anglican Church to the one, holy, Ca...

A translator, comments Monsignor Ronald Knox in his On Englishing the Bible, has two methods at his disposal: the literal and the literary. In translating Sacred Scripture "for the benefit of a person who wants to be able to read the word of God for ten minutes on end without laying it aside in sheer boredom or bewilderment," then only a literary translation will suffice. And such is the "Knox Bible," the fruit of nine years' solitary labor to craft a fresh translation of the sacred texts. Th...

A Religious Revolution: The Protestant Reformation is the fourth installment in Henri Daniel-Rops' magnificent History of the Church of Christ. This volume includes the first four chapters of that work, examining the triple crisis in the Church-of authority, as the scandal of the antipopes leads to the Great Western Schism; of unity, as the Hundred Years War, the chaos of famine and plague, and the fall of Byzantium spell the disintegration of Christendom; and of spirit, as moral decay and in...

An Age of Renewal: The Catholic Reformation is the fifth installment in Henri Daniel-Rops' magnificent History of the Church of Christ. This volume surveys the re-awakening of the Catholic soul which began even before the advent of Luther's revolution and which culminated in the tireless devotion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and his founding of the Society of Jesus; provides a superbly detailed summary of the Council of Trent and a fascinating analysis of the decrees and canons and various metho...

"We are workers with you for your joy," states St. Paul, "because you stand firm in the faith." These words, declared Pope Benedict XVI in a 2008 ordination homily, are the very program of the priesthood. To fulfill this program, he told the ordinandi, "the fire of the Gospel must burn within you and the joy of the Lord dwell in you. Only then will you be able to be messengers and multipliers of this joy."Remarkably, the eight reflections of Ministers of Your Joy antedate that homily by thirt...

On July 17, 1794, a group of Carmelite sisters stand at the foot of the scaffold in the Place de la Révolution. Convicted of the capital crime of being fanatics-anti-revolutionary, anti-libertarian fanatics-they have been condemned to death and now confront the final, fearful steps to martyrdom. Before this ultimate moment, their community has been sifted like wheat: the youngest among them, the aristocratic Blanche de la Force, afraid equally of life and of death, has run away. Now, in this ...

The atomic bomb marked a catastrophic leap in the history of human achievement. Never before had a man-made instrument dealt out, in an instant, such death and destruction. Once done, it could not be undone. The leap was made; the atomic age begun. To live in this new age, a new spirit was required-a spirit that would prevent mankind becoming the destroyer of all worlds. The father of the atomic bomb himself, J. Robert Oppenheimer, perceived this need, calling for "radical changes not only in...

The Church of the Classical Age: The Era of Great Splintering is the seventh installment in Henri Daniel-Rops' magnificent History of the Church of Christ. This volume surveys the eighteenth century's intellectual revolution, wrought by Galileo, Descartes, and Rousseau (among others); appraises the Church's missionary efforts-in Asia, with the Chinese rites controversy and the spirited work of de Nobili and de Britto in India; in Canada, with the heroic endeavors of Sts. Isaac Jogues and John...

No matter the stage, the career of Saint Gregory the Great was marked consistently by excellence. Appointed Prefect of Rome around the age of thirty, Gregory forsook his worldly success in favor of monastic silence and communion with God, establishing at his ancestral home the Monastery of St. Andrew. There, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, he lived a "life of permanent dialogue with the Lord in listening to his word." Providentially, Gregory was called in turn to leave the monastery for th...

The Church's Liturgical Year reflects the fullness of Divine Revelation. In the various celebrations and commemorations of the Year of the Lord, the Church recalls the mysteries of faith: the Incarnation of God's only-begotten son, his passion, death, and resurrection which won redemption for mankind, and his institution of the sacraments and founding of his Church for the salvation of souls. Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, first published in 1958, is a masterful summary of the orig...

The Summa Theologiae is a work of astounding breadth and scope: five folio volumes of closely packed print, and more closely packed thought; incredibly, it was a work intended, not for the learned and wise, but for beginners. Walter Farrell, O.P., fully honors that intention with his four Companion volumes to the Summa, which together offer an easy guidebook to St. Thomas's greatest work. These are not simply more books about St. Thomas or about the Summa; rather, they are a distillation of t...

The Summa Theologiae is a work of astounding breadth and scope: five folio vol-umes of closely packed print, and more closely packed thought; incredibly, it was a work intended, not for the learned and wise, but for beginners. Walter Farrell, O.P., fully honors that intention with his four Companion volumes to the Summa, which together offer an easy guidebook to St. Thomas's greatest work. These are not simply more books about St. Thomas or about the Summa; rather, they are a distillation of ...

A proper examination of conscience is surely one of the most challenging tasks of the Christian life. For the laity, charged with the work of sanctifying the world "from within as a leaven" (in the words of Lumen gentium), this task is made especially difficult by the clamorous distractions which come simply from being in the world, even if not of the world. To ease the difficulty of this task, Monsignor Knox offers in The Layman and His Conscience a retreat specifically for lay people to "re...

The laity-in the words of Lumen gentium-live in "the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of existence is woven." Where in that web is there room for anything resembling a retreat? Is a retreat for lay people practical, let alone possible? In these two dozen conferences, Monsignor Ronald Knox answers these questions resoundingly in the affirmative, addressing the foundations of the Christian life, the sacraments, and the virtues; the life and death of our ...

Historical in substance, romantic in spirit, heroic in scale, A Distant Trumpet is a novel of the American West. At its center is Matthew Carlton Hazard, born in 1857 at Fox Creek, Indiana; raised by his mother after his father's death in the Battle of Chickamauga; and designated, at the solemn age of seven, by President Abraham Lincoln himself to the Army of the United States. Commissioned in 1880 as second lieutenant of cavalry, Matthew reports for duty to Fort Delivery, Arizona, where he w...

In the words of a 1944 review, written well in advance of twenty-first-century outcomes of educational malpractice: "It is for man that education must exist. Such a statement may seem too obvious to make at all. Yet its meaning is rarely understood today." Education at the Crossroads fully comprehends that meaning. Bringing to bear the full weight of his wisdom, Jacques Maritain argues for education as objectively ordered toward man "in his personal life and spiritual progress, not in his rel...

The Church of the Revolutionary Age: A Fight for God is the ninth installment in Henri Daniel-Rops' outstanding History of the Church of Christ. This volume surveys (1) the crisis of Modernism, "the crossroad of all heresies"; (2) the outbreak of the Great War and Pope Benedict XV's fight against the flames which laid unprecedented spiritual and material waste; (3) the continued success of Catholic social teaching and the rise of Catholic Action in the years after World War I, crowned by Pius...

The Meddlesome Friar and the Wayward Pope tells the story of two men whom the patterns of Providence brought into mortal conflict: Fra Girolamo Savonarola of the Order of Preachers and Pope Alexander VI of the Borgia family. Each representative of certain High Renaissance ideals, they are well-known as historical figures yet poorly understood as individuals. For Michael de la Bédoyère, that poor understanding obscures the magnitude and complexity of their story. Was Alexander VI, the "bad Pop...

Dust on the King's Highway tells of Francisco Garcés, the Spanish Franciscan friar whose missionary efforts brought the Catholic faith to the peoples of the Pápago, Yuma, Pima, and Apache tribes. In the summer of 1771, Fray Garcés concludes his offering of Holy Mass and is met by a delegate of four men of the Yuma nation. Having heard of the generosity and good deeds of the "Old Man," they request his presence among their people, the Yumas of the great rivers, that they might give him welcome...

Father Francis Chisholm is a good priest-somewhat peculiar, perhaps, but a good priest all the same. Forged as a youth in the fires of suffering and tragedy, Francis accepts his vocation and strives to serve his people in humility and good humor, with compassion and courageous heart. After two spiritually eventful but conventionally unsuccessful assignments as a curate, Father Chisholm is sent as a missionary to China. Upon arrival, he finds his mission in ruins: the property deserted, the ch...

The Blessed Mother and the Twelve Apostles remained in the Upper Room in prayer for nine days after the Lord's ascension. From those nine days of prayer, the tradition of novenas -- praying for a specific period of time for a special intention -- was born. The word novena is derived from the Latin novem, meaning nine. The Handy Little Guide to Novenas is your easy-to-read, down-to-earth introduction to this beautiful devotion. In this brief booklet, author and novena enthusiast Allison Gingra...

Throughout the Church's history, holy men and women have found that one of the best and most reliable ways to get close to Jesus is through the Eucharist. By reading and sharing their stories in our families, we can imitate Jesus in a very important way, extending his mercy again and again, that the kingdom of God might shine a little more brightly in the world.Stories of the Eucharist invites families to celebrate the transforming power of the Eucharist in our lives by exploring Eucharistic ...

Our experience of God's grace in the Eucharist isn't meant for us alone. Like the fire we light at the Easter Vigil, we must light the candles of our own lives from the Light of Christ and pass that flame to others. This can happen when we embrace a spirituality, a worldview, and a way of living our Faith that is centered on Christ in the Eucharist.For the Life of the World is an invitation to Eucharistic mission. As part of the National Eucharistic Revival in the U.S. Catholic Church, this b...

Many Catholics view fasting as hard, burdensome, weird, or only for Lent. This little book demonstrates that fasting can be so much more than that! It's an opportunity for prayer, reflection, and solidarity with the suffering of the world. The Handy Little Guide to Fasting is your easy-to-read, down-to-earth introduction to this ancient practice. Author, speaker, and award-winning journalist Deacon Greg Kandra presents a way to blend faith and fortitude to make fasting more spiritually fulfil...

In recent years, there has been a growing theological-pastoral interest in ministerial service and ministries in the Church, with a particular emphasis on the diaconal ministry and role that deacons have in the Church. The Compendium on the Diaconate: A Resource for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons explores how bishops, along with their helpers, the priests and deacons, have taken up the service of community, exercising the divinely established ecclesiastical ministry on...

Infertility is a crisis, often silently brewing, within the fabric of our families, communities, and Church. According to the CDC, one in six couples now face a diagnosis of infertility. Infertility deeply affects the hearts and minds of couples everywhere, and we need better support and resources.Many of us don't have pastoral guidance on how to navigate this difficult and unexpected situation that touches the core of our womanhood -- until we learn how to enter into our suffering constructi...

Padre Pio was well known during his lifetime as a spiritual director to many souls all over the world. What if you, too, could receive his guidance and counsel? You will find just that in the treasures of his letters, written about 100 years ago to his spiritual directors and to his spiritual daughters.Dearest Soul offers spiritual guidance for every soul in Padre Pio's own words, drawn from those letters. This book illustrates his journey as a prophet of our time, as one who is so similar and...

It's no secret we live in a time of confusion, scandal, and chaos. Our response is often despair, hopelessness, or uncertainty of what to do next. The world, however, needs to be repaired; what is broken needs to be rebuilt. Jesus famously asked Saint Francis of Assisi to rebuild his Church. Today, so many Catholics want their lives, families, nation, and Church repaired as well.Let Us Begin highlights the unmatched witness of Francis on how to repair the brokenness of the human heart as well...

In his Confessions, Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote to God, "Allow me to speak: for I am addressing your Mercy, not a man who would laugh at me." The Confessions have been read by countless readers, but Augustine wrote to communicate with God about his childhood, his gratitude to his mother, his friends, his triumphs and tragedies, and his hope for eternal life. Like Augustine, we can pray in a similar way, writing to God and sharing our innermost thoughts, feelings, dreams, despairs, and hope...

"When I was a child," Saint Paul writes, "I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways" (1 Cor 13:11). This distinction, and the transition from boyhood to manhood, does not seem as easy for us today. Our society, with its increasingly grotesque masculine identity crisis, cannot define "the things of a man."In this revised and expanded edition, author Jason Craig, cofounder of Fraternus, a Catholic mentoring program for bo...

"St. Marianne shows us that this world's ways can lead us to the Most High in both darkness and light."--Sr. Margaret Carney, from the foreword "I am hungry for the work. I am not afraid of any disease." Mother Marianne Cope, July 12, 1883 A letter of invitation in 1883 beckoned her to travel from Syracuse, New York to the islands now known as Hawai`i. Surprised by grace, she gave an emphatic yes to God, even after she learned that her work would be among persons stricken with Hansen's diseas...

One of the most wonderful images I thought I received from Jesus in the 8th decade of my life was this: "Stop dog-paddling in the waves of life and let Me float you to the shore of eternity." Gradually I have slowed down on speaking at conferences or for parish groups. This year, my 86th, I stopped writing big books and wrote, instead, lots of small booklets, as well as a compendium of my best thoughts under the title of 77 Soundbytes of Love. Now I sensed, in prayer, that the Holy Spirit wan...

In this research, the significance of curing and healing will be explored with an emphasis on how both are vital to Catholic health care. This essay aims to show that only by embracing both components can health care professionals truly care for the whole person. Moreover, Christian health care professionals ought to follow Christ's example in order to serve in His mission of caring holistically for those that are ill. As Luke's account of the Haemorrhoissa (Lk 8:42-48) not only provides a vi...

In recent years, Blessed Columba Marmion's writings and teaching have become increasingly available to the faithful throughout the world. The depth of his spiritual knowledge and the beauty and simplicity of his teaching have not been lost to us. Yet what still remains is a portrait of this great saint. The present biography fills in this gap. Compiled of essentially two parts, Dom Raymond Thibault first traces the historical details of Blessed Marmion's life to reveal a man tried by sufferin...

Color, learn, pray! Father Donald Calloway, MIC, presents a fun way for children of all ages to grow closer to St. Joseph, the ultimate superhero and the "Terror of Demons." Learn more about this great Saint by coloring the wonderful illustrations by Sam Estrada, each portraying a different title of St. Joseph.

Perfect love casts out fear, and God is love (see 1 Jn 4:16-19). So let us allow His Word to find a home in our hearts each day with these 366 Scriptural exhortations to fear not, as we journey through the books of the Bible using verses drawn from the Divine Mercy Catholic Bible (Revised Standard Version--Catholic Edition 2). At the beginning of his pontificate, the Great Mercy Pope, St. John Paul II, told the world, "Do not be afraid!" That wasn't just an exhortation to be stoic, tough, and...

The times are tough -- we need the help of St. Michael and all the holy angels more than ever! Award-winning author Marge Steinhage Fenelon has written an excellent introduction to devotion to St. Michael, especially by praying the Chaplet of St. Michael. The Archangel himself made three promises to all who faithfully pray the Chaplet in his honor: an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine choirs of angels when approaching Holy Communion; his continual assistance and that of all t...

The Marian Fathers and, more importantly, the magisterium of the Catholic Church teach that there is no contradiction or competition between the message of the Sacred Heart as revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the Divine Mercy message and devotion as revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska. Devout Catholics know this. After all, it's the same Jesus who revealed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and, centuries later, revealed the Divine Mercy message and devotion to St. Faustin...

"We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20). This heartfelt appeal of the apostle Paul has never ceased to resonate in the Church which still today invites every man to convert and to believe in the salvific power of the Gospel. However, so that the words "mercy," "reconciliation," and "conversion" do not remain mere catchy slogans, experience of the love of God must be continuously renewed. This is what happens every time in the celebration of the Sacrament of Rec...

A vital part of the treasury of the Divine Mercy message and devotion, this edition of God is Mercy, a short work by St. Faustina's confessor Bl. Michael Sopocko (1888-1975), introduces us to the place of Divine Mercy in salvation history. Enriched by Dr. Robert Stackpole's expert commentary, this special edition of a Divine Mercy classic belongs on every Catholic's shelf.

Eucharistic Gems is an aid to the Eucharistic Revival currently under way in the United States. The specific time-frame set aside by the bishops for a period of Eucharistic Revival will come and go, but the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament will always remain in the tabernacles of Catholic churches around the world. What better way, then, to make sure there always remains an on-going fruit of the Eucharistic Revival than to have a book that offers timeless quotes on the Eucharis...

How much do you really know about St. Joseph? He was once a little boy and played like all children. He had royal blood, and could have been a king. He was a young man when he married Mary. He was a wonderful father to Jesus. He was the brave and steadfast protector of the Holy Family. He's the model of manhood. He's worked many miracles and is a powerful intercessor for us . . . And he had a pure, chaste heart. Join Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, as he tells the dynamic and inspiring story of St....

Protect your family! Entrust your family to St. Joseph. Why? Because God, Himself, did. God entrusted the Holy Family to St. Joseph to keep them safe, and so should you. Drawing on the wealth of the Church's living tradition, Fr. Donald H. Calloway, MIC and co-author Scott L. Smith, Jr., call on all of us to turn to St. Joseph, entrust ourselves, our children and families, our Church, and our world to our spiritual father's loving care. Watch for wonders when the Universal Patron of the Churc...

Endorsed by EWTN hosts Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, and Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, this do-it-yourself retreat combines the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius with the teachings of Sts. Therese of Lisieux, Faustina Kowlaska, and Louis de Montfort. The author, Br. Michael Gaitley, MIC, has a remarkable gift for inspiring little souls to trust in Jesus, The Divine Mercy. As Danielle Bean, editorial director of Faith & Family magazine, puts it, "The voice of Christ in these pages is one that even...

The words of Jesus form the very heart of St. Faustinas Diary, as the Merciful Savior calls her and each of us to an intimacy with Him and the mission of bringing mercy to the whole world. Jesus tells her, I see your efforts to please Me, and they delight My Heart (Diary, 1061). He also instructs her, My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart and I will fill it with ...

Saint Faustina is well known for the revelations of Divine Mercy that she received from Jesus and recorded in her Diary. But few know that she also received many revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary and enjoyed a special relationship with her. Now, in Purest of All Lilies, a prominent Marian priest with a background in Mariology explores St. Faustina's rich relationship with Mary from her love of Mary growing up in Poland to the many Diary passages that she devoted to the Mother of God wh...