Biographies
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Martin Sheen : Pilgrim On The Way
$12.95Add to cartMartin Sheen, best known for his role as a Catholic president in the prestigious television series The West Wing, returned to the practice of his Catholic faith at the age of forty after decades away. After years of battling alcohol addiction, a near-fatal heart attack, and a nervous breakdown, the stage, film, and television actor renewed his dedication to his family and activated his faith with energy, grace, and joy.
Through the sacraments, Mass, the rosary, the support of family, and numerous friends and peace and justice activists such as Daniel Berrigan, SJ, and the Catholic Worker Movement, Martin Sheen today sees himself as a man in the pew. He has been arrested more than sixty times for non-violent civil disobedience, speaking out for human rights. Sister Rose Pacatte’s unique biography moves beyond tabloid news to include information and inspiring stories gleaned from interviews with Martin Sheen, his sister and brothers, as well as long-time friends.
People of God is a series of inspiring biographies for the general reader. Each volume offers a compelling and honest narrative of the life of an important twentieth or twenty-first century Catholic. Some living and some now deceased, each of these women and men has known challenges and weaknesses familiar to most of us but responded to them in ways that call us to our own forms of heroism. Each offers a credible and concrete witness of faith, hope, and love to people of our own day.
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Augustine And The Catechumenate (Revised)
$39.95Add to cartSt. Augustine (354-430), one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Christianity, was also a struggling North African pastor who had a flair for teaching and who meditated deeply on the mysteries of the human heart. This study examines a little-known side of his career: his work as a teacher of candidates for baptism. This reconstruction of Augustine’s catechumenate provides fresh perspectives on the day-to-day life of the early church and on the vibrancy and eloquence of Augustine the preacher and teacher.In this new edition, both the text and notes have been revised from top to bottom to better reflect the state of contemporary scholarship on Augustine, on liturgical studies, and on the catechumenate, both ancient and modern. This edition also includes new findings from some of the recently discovered sermons of Augustine and incorporates new perspectives from recent research on early Christian biblical interpretation, debates on the Trinity, the evolution of the liturgy, and much more.
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Discovering The Human Person
$27.99Add to cartA longtime friend and student of the late Pope John Paul II, Stanislaw Grygiel in this book reflects on the pope’s life and thought, giving new insight into his character and his vision of beauty as the path that leads us to God.More than simply biographical information about John Paul II — who was Bishop Karol Wojtyla before he became pope — or a dry academic analysis of his teaching, Discovering the Human Person derives from Grygiel’s extensive firsthand interaction with Wojtyla. Grygiel reflects on the importance of communion as the ground of John Paul II’s life, particularly in response to the communist environment that surrounded him in Poland. He also addresses the pope’s call for a new evangelization, his understanding of marriage and family, and the relationship of those to a genuine, healthy understanding of nation and state.
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Facing Cancer With Gods Help
$8.99Add to cartWe all need God’s help, but that need is most keenly felt at times when we are suffering and are afraid. A life threatening illness placed Jeanne Martin on a personal journey that led her to a closeness with God that gave her hope, taught her to trust, and filled her with peace. Jeanne shares her story in Facing Cancer with God’s Help.
Jeanne lost her battle with cancer in February 2004, in this new, memorial edition Jeanne’s sister includes an epilogue about her last days and how Jeanne’s courage at the end gave her family the strength, and faith, they needed to move forward.
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Joyful Spirit Of Padre Pio
$21.99Add to cartOne of the most popular and beloved saints of the twentieth century, Padre Pio was a man of contrasts. His supernaturally based joyful spirit existed mysteriously alongside heavier emotions, including spiritual desolation. Truly, the joy of the Lord characterized his entire life. This new compilation contains selections from popular titles, breathing new life into classic offerings and creating a devotional with short, inspirational entries.
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Saint John 23rd
$19.95Add to cartMeet the pope who transformed the Church-and the world! Angelo Roncalli won the hearts and minds of people the world over, including many non-Catholics, with his warm style and commitment to further integrate the Catholic Church and the modern world. “We are not on the earth to guard a museum,” he had once said about the Church, “but to tend a blooming garden full of life.” Roncalli introduced himself to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square on October 28, 1958 with the humble words, “I am called John.” Already 77 years old, this son of peasants was expected to oversee a merely caretaker papacy. Surprising many, he convened the Second Vatican Council in October of 1962, which would open wide the doors of the Church and change Catholic life forever, inside and outside the Church. This biography, by revered journalist Christian Feldman, reveals the spiritual heart of this remarkable, thoroughly modern and thoroughly orthodox man.
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He Leadeth Me
$16.00Add to cartCaptured by a Russian army during World War II and convicted of being a “Vatican spy,” Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent 23 agonizing years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. Only through an utter reliance on God’s will did he manage to endure the extreme hardship. He tells of the courage he found in prayer–a courage that eased the loneliness, the pain, the frustration, the anguish, the fears, the despair. For, as Ciszek relates, the solace of spiritual contemplation gave him an inner serenity upon which he was able to draw amidst the “arrogance of evil” that surrounded him. Ciszek learns to accept the inhuman work in the infamous Siberian salt mines as a labor pleasing to God. And through that experice, he was able to turn the adverse forces of circumstance into a source of positive value and a means of drawing closer to the compassionate and never-forsaking Divine Spirit.
He Leadeth Me is a book to inspire all Christians to greater faith and trust in God–even in their darkest hour. As the author asks, “What can ultimately trouble the soul that accepts every moment of every day as a gift from the hands of God and strives always to do his will?”
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Good Pope : The Making Of A Saint And The Remaking Of The Church The Story
$15.99Add to cartOn the fiftieth anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s opening of the Vatican Council II in October 1962 and of his death in June 1963, as well as for his likely canonization in 2013, Greg Tobin celebrates the “Good Pope” as a profile of a greatly beloved religious figure who ushered in an era of hope and openness; and it is this “openness” that powerful internal forces have been battling ever since, causing many of the Catholic crises we see today.
This profile examines Pope John XXIII, the “Good Pope,” as a greatly beloved figure who ushered in an era of hope and openness in the Catholic church. Had the Good Pope’s reforms been accepted, the church could have avoided many of crises associated with it today.
Fifty years after he convened the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII remains one of the most beloved and remarkable figures in the history of the Catholic Church. Affectionately known as Il Buono Papa, or the Good Pope, John is remembered today by Catholics and non-Catholics alike as an enduring symbol of peace, ecumenicalism, and Christian spirituality. In The Good Pope, Greg Tobin recounts John’s remarkable story, from his impoverished childhood in Bergamo, Italy, and his successful tenure as a papal ambassador in war-torn Europe to his surprise ascendancy to the throne of St. Peter. In the process, he traces John’s legacy as the spiritual father of the modern Church and explains why the Good Pope and his great council are as vital, vibrant, and important to Catholicism as ever before. Meticulously researched and engaging, The Good Pope captures the heart, soul, and spirit of the man who ushered in a new era of religion in the twentieth century.
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Padre Pio
$9.99Add to cartBlessed Padre Pio, humble peasant and world-famous stigmatist, spoke simple words of Christian encouragement and inspiration to all who approached him seeking counsel. This biographical sketch and collection of memorable sayings is a compact and accessible introduction to the life and message of one of the great religious figures of the 20th century.
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Joseph : The Man Who Raised Jesus
$18.99Add to cartWho was St. Joseph? Was he just a passive, incidental figure in the drama of salvation? On the contrary, in every way that Jesus needed a father, St. Joseph was that for him. And how overwhelming it must have been for Joseph to be asked to stand in the Father’s place! No man has ever been asked to do so in such an unthinkable way. Every priest, and certainly every man who is a father (biologically or otherwise), should take this to heart.
Caster’s book will provide a unique, in-depth presentation of Joseph from the perspective of the evangelical counsels and the theological and cardinal virtues. Each section will begin with an explanation of what each counsel or virtue means and then show how Joseph models it for us.
The descriptions of St. Joseph’s life and character found in this book, while rooted in the Scripture passages that mention him, are chiefly inspired by Jesus, who spent the majority of his life at home with Joseph and Mary. For years, the three of them lived, prayed, celebrated, studied, and shared, all the while uniting their lives more intimately with God’s own. Those years in Nazareth were a real preparation for the foundation upon which Jesus would build his saving ministry. And as much as Joseph and Mary offered Jesus, he offered them an ever-expanding awareness of the God that had changed both their lives. The reciprocity of love that perfectly defines the home in Nazareth is the very pattern for all family life-and therefore of the Church itself.
Let Fr. Gary Caster introduce you to the man who risked everything to care for Mary and her Son, safeguarding them from harm and cherishing them with a pure and true love. Joseph was a flesh-and-blood testimony of what it means to live according to the Father’s will with one’s mind and heart centered on Christ.
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Saint Francis Of Assisi
$18.99Add to cartSt. Francis of Assisi is one of the best-known and best-loved of all the saints. This classic work puts the him in the context of his historical setting and his spiritual influences. Inspired by a deep and simple love, Francis abandoned his fortune and chose to live simply. His love for Jesus Christ, his love for animals, and his love for nature continue to inspire many to this day.
This version has been redesigned for a modern audience who wish to continue to connect to this simple man of Assisi.
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Edmund Campion : A Definitive Biography
$34.95Add to cartNOTE: This title is available for US Distribution only.
St. Edmund Campion, born in London in 1540, was an outstanding student and orator from his early years. After schooling at St Paul’s, and Christ Church, he entered St John’s College, Oxford, where he studied philosophy, theology and the classics.
Caught in the middle of the Elizabethan Reformation, he compromised his Catholic faith at University, took the Oath of Supremacy, and was ordained an Anglican deacon.
After a change of heart and retreat into Ireland, he eventually went to Rome in 1573 to enter the Society of Jesus. In 1580 he was commissioned by the Jesuit General to minister to the persecuted Catholics in England. He returned to England in June 1580 and began a secret ministry, passing from home to home in thirteen counties, via an underground Catholic network.
A nationwide man-hunt was out for him, but he evaded his pursuers and secretly printed his book, Ten Reasons, which caused a sensation across the country.
Betrayed by a false Catholic, Campion was captured in July 1581, imprisoned in the Tower of London and tortured on the rack. On 1st December 1581, before an enormous crowd at Tyburn, he was fearlessly martyred by hanging, drawing and quartering.
Now, recount the life of Edmund Campion, saint and martyr in this newly revised and definitive version from TAN Books. A new and updated life of St. Edmund Campion, Simpson’s classic biography has been thoroughly revised and enlarged by Fr. Peter Joseph. With a foreword by Cardinal Pell.
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Simply Bonaventure : An Introduction To His Life Thought And Writings 2nd E
$24.95Add to cartSimply Bonaventure provides an introduction to the life, thought and writings of the medieval Franciscan, Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. The majority of the work is devoted to Bonaventure’s theology, which is summarized according to his own metaphysical scheme of origin (God), purpose (creation), and destiny (goal of creation). His trinitarian, Christocentric theology is highly relevant to a global world and to the postmodern Christian experience. Sr. Delio’s work places his theology in the context of contemporary human experience. This second edition includes an updated bibliography.
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Chiara Lubich A Biography
$14.95Add to cartThe New York Times called Chiara Lubich “one of the most influential women in the Catholic Church.” This biography transports readers inside the story of a young woman, born to a poor family in Trent, who felt called to dedicate her life to God. Against the backdrop of WWII’s devastation, Lubich shared her passion first with a group of young women her age. Torno presents a forthright account of Chiara Lubich and her friends’ collective mystical experience and their resulting life, both profoundly spiritual and deeply human, which always aimed at fulfilling Jesus’ prayer “that all may be one.” By the 1960’s, her inspiration had reached every corner of Italy and spread throughout Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, and around the world. Wherever she went – from the jungles of the Cameroon, to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to the skyscrapers of New York, to the Buddhist monasteries of Chiang Mai, Thailand – she shared her choice of God and the lifestyle it generated. This biography brings to life those people Chiara met along the way – from everyday folk to political leaders to popes – and describes how her charism affected each one. He reveals the challenges that arose as a vast movement grew up around Lubich as well as her joy at seeing authentic gospel life spread around the world. Together, they achieved what Chiara defined as “…the great attraction of modern times: to penetrate to the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone.”
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Whos Who In Heaven
$16.95Add to cartIn Who’s Who in Heaven, Fr. Thomas Morrow applies his thirty years of ministry to families in selecting and presenting the lives of the saints. He makes the full spiritual richness of their lives accessible to children, using an age-appropriate style, explanatory notes, and commentary for reflection. Parents can (and should) read to younger children while older children can manage on their own.
Recommended for ages 11-13. -
Walking The Little Way Of Therese Of Lisieux
$17.95Add to cartFrom her early years, Therese of Lisieux desired to be a saint, so the primary focus of her life was to walk the path of love-what she called “the science of love.” But she often asked herself if her love was pure and authentic. With sensitivity and insight, author Joseph Schmidt shows us how Therese discovered certain qualities of the heart that told her that she was indeed walking the path of authentic love. These qualities-inner freedom, creativity, compassion, willingness, self-surrender or abandonment, and gratefulness-“opened her heart to a new depth of God’s life in and through her.” Eventually, they played a very practical role in Therese’s ordinary day-to-day life relationships-and they can in our own as well.
As he did in his earlier book on Therese, Everything Is Grace, Joseph Schmidt breaks new ground in his latest book and offers tremendous food for thought and reflection on the spirituality of this great saint.
* Offers a concrete way to follow Therese’s path to God.
* A “must read” for those interested in the spirituality of Therese. -
Christian De Cherge
$24.95Add to cartChristian de Cherge, prior of the Cistercian community at Tibhirine, Algeria, was assassinated with six of his fellow monks in 1996. De Cherge saw his monastic vocation as a call to be a person of prayer among persons who pray, that is, among the Muslim friends and neighbours with whom he and his brothers shared daily life. De Cherge’s writings bear witness to an original thinker who insists on the value of interreligious dialogue for a more intelligent grasp of one’s own faith.
Christian Salenson shows us the personal, ecclesial, and theological foundations of de Cherge’s vocation and the originality of his life and thought. He shows how the experience of a small monastery lost in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria contributes importantly to today’s theological debates.
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For The Greater Glory
$12.95Add to cartMany people of faith today are asking, “What is the price of religious liberty?” In the 1920’s many Catholics in Mexico answered this crucial question at the cost of their very lives. The new major motion picture, For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada tells the epic tale of Mexico’s heroic struggle for religious freedom in a little-known conflict called the Cristero War – but many questions still remain. Now you’ll go much deeper into the exciting history behind the movie with this fact-filled companion book – and gain important insight into the on-going fight for religious freedom today.
As you read you’ll discover:
*Who were the Cristeros?
*What drove the Mexican government to ruthlessly persecute Catholics?
*Can a priest “wage war”
*What role did groups like the Knights of Columbus play in this armed resistance?
*Why did thousands of Catholics – priests, religious, lay people – willingly give their lives in the Cristiada?
*What role did the U.S. play in ending this bitter conflict?
*What did the Pope do to support the Church in Mexico?
*Which characters in the movie went on to become Catholic saints and blesseds in real life?
*Why is this dramatic episode of history so little known today?
*What is the lesson of the Cristiada for those struggling for religious freedom today? -
All The Way To Heaven
$20.00Add to cartDorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker movement, has been called the most significant, interesting, and influential person in the history of American Catholicism. Now the publication of her letters, previously sealed for 25 years after her death and meticulously selected by Robert Ellsberg, reveals an extraordinary look at her daily struggles, her hopes, and her unwavering faith.
This volume, which extends from the early 1920s until the time of her death in 1980, offers a fascinating chronicle of her response to the vast changes in America, the Church, and the wider world. Set against the backdrop of the Depression, World War II, the Cold War, Vatican II, Vietnam, and the protests of the 1960s and ’70s, she corresponded with a wide range of friends, colleagues, family members, and well-known figures such as Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, Cesar Chavez, Allen Ginsberg, Katherine Anne Porter, and Francis Cardinal Spellman, shedding light on the deepest yearnings of her heart. At the same time, the first publication of her early love letters to Forster Batterham highlight her humanity and poignantly dramatize the sacrifices that underlay her vocation.
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Saint Anthony Of Padua (Expanded)
$16.99Add to cartIn this expanded edition of a perennial favorite, you will learn even more about the beloved saint’s life in Italy and Portugal as well as where the saint hid to pray–interesting details culled from Friar Jack Wintz s recent pilgrimages to the sites where Anthony walked, ministered, preached, and prayed.
St. Anthony of Padua provides a from-the-heart look at the saint’s life, the legends surrounding him, and the prayers and devotions to him. You will connect anew to this follower of St. Francis of Assisi with this useful and inspiring guide.
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Practical Mystic : Evelyn Underhill And Her Writings
$40.00Add to cartEvelyn Underhill (1875-1941) was one of the most widely read spiritual writers in the first half of the 20th century. A prolific writer of letters and diaries as well as novels and spiritual works, she was a popular broadcaster, speaker and retreat leader. She was one of the most prominent Anglo-Catholics of her generation. Fascinated with the nature and meaning of mystical experiences from childhood, her classic works focused on the spiritual life. Yet as a disciple of Hugel, she came to value practical Christian service equally. For her, both the practical Martha and the mystical Mary were needed to offer perfect service to Christ. Her books continue to be widely read and studied and a thriving Evelyn Underhill Association keeps her memory and influence fully alive. Here are selected extracts from a wide variety of her writings from her books and from less accessible sources u together with a valuable introduction and commentary.
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Catherine Tekakwitha
$19.99Add to cartCatherine Tekakwitha was born in 1656 along the Mohawk River in present day United States. She died in odour of sanctity on April 17, 1680 at the Sault Saint Louis in Canada. Soon after her death, her face was suddenly transfigured to become so beautiful from the disappearance of the scars of smallpox. In 1684, Catherine Tekakwitha’s relic was brought into the chapel of Saint Francis Xavier and she was the first in the Americas to be given this honour. She became known after her death from the miracles brought by her intercession. These two basic works on the life of Catherine Tekakwitha are from the French Jesuit missionaries Claude Chauchetiere and Pierre Cholenec. They were the only two missionaries who wrote and witnessed her death. Also, inserts have been included from their letters and collections of Catherine Tekakwitha. These letters and collections have contributed to a most complete history of what had been written of her during her life and after her death.
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Duty Of Delight
$25.00Add to cartFor almost fifty years, through her tireless service to the poor and her courageous witness for peace, Dorothy Day offered an example of the gospel in action. Now the publication of her diaries, previously sealed for twenty-five years after her death, offers a uniquely intimate portrait of her struggles and concerns.
Beginning in 1934 and ending in 1980, these diaries reflect her response to the vast changes in America, the Church, and the wider world. Day experienced most of the great social movements of her time but, as these diaries reveal, even while she labored for a transformed world, she simultaneously remained grounded in everyday human life: the demands of her extended Catholic worker family; her struggles to be more patient and charitable; the discipline of prayer and worship that structured her days; her efforts to find God in all the tasks and encounters of daily life.
A story of faithful striving for holiness and the radical transformation of the world, Day’s life challenges readers to imagine what it would be like to live as if the gospels were true.
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Studying The Life Of Saint Francis Of Assisi
$19.95Add to cartHugo’s workbook is a proven resource that has guided people at all academic levels through a study of the life and writings of St. Francis using primary sources in translation. The worksheets can be done by individuals or in groups or seminars. General readers will enjoy learning about St. Francis and how hagiography shaped the public stories of medieval saints in general. Formation directors who need to teach the life and writings of St. Francis should not be without this extraordinary sourcebook with its readymade lesson plans.
This Second Edition is a thorough revision that is totally compatible with Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. It includes new scholarship and new bibliographic references. More than half the worksheets of the previous edition have been revised, and others have been added.
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Saint John Neumann
$22.99Add to cartRichard Boever has creatively written a biography of Saint John Neumann in the first person, as if the saint were speaking to the reader. This book invites each of us to accompany Saint John Neumann along his path of faithful discipleship, deepening our own commitment of discipleship in living out our unique vocation in Christ.
Justin Cardinal Rigali July 15, 2010
Saint John Neumann: His Writings and Spirituality is the great story of a poor immigrant who rose from priest to bishop and became known for his spirituality, patience, and service. He was the first canonized male saint from the United States, laid the foundation of the Catholic school system in the United States, and introduced the Forty Hours devotion. This book will provide a fresh determination and devotion to your personal prayer and reflection.
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In Good Company (Anniversary)
$16.95Add to cartPreface To The Tenth Anniversary Edition
IntroductionPart I – Restless Hearts
Leges Sine Moribus Vanae
Petals On A Bough
An Unseen HookPart II – Come And See
A Bruised Reed
The Sign Of Jonas
The Manner Is OrdinaryPart III – Late Have I Loved You
Religious By Nature
Simple Tasks
Seeing Life WholeAdditional Info
The New York Times has described James Martin as maybe “the only Jesuit priest with a degree from the Wharton School,” and in the wake of our current economic crisis, the story of his remarkable journey from corporate America to the Society of Jesus couldn’t be more timely. From the halls of General Electric under Jack Welch to his entry into the priesthood, In Good Company tells this seeker’s powerful story with humor and grace. The book’s gems of wisdom will appeal to anyone seeking meaning in daily life. Fast-paced, compelling, and often humorous, his story offers a fresh, inside look at corporate America, the Jesuit vocation, and the human quest for a life well-lived. The Tenth Anniversary Edition features a new Preface by the author. -
Maurice Blondel : A Philosophical Life
$64.99Add to cartFrench philosopher Maurice Blondel had a tremendous impact on both philosophy and religion over the first half of the twentieth century. He was at once a postmodern critical philosopher and a devout traditional Catholic, trying not only to reconcile these two seemingly disparate factors in his own mind, but also to prove to others that the two must go together. / In the first critical examination of the philosopher’s life Oliva Blanchette tells the story of Blondel’s stormy life confronting an Academy dismissive of religion and a Religion uncomfortable with rational philosophy. This book not only follows his biographical history, but also presents his systematic philosophy, from the beginning of his journey to the culmination found in Philosophical Exigencies of Christianity, the book for which he signed the publishing contract the day before he died. / Maurice Blondel is part of the Ressourcement: Retrieval and Renewal in Catholic Thought series, edited by David L. Schindler.
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Mother Teresa : Come Be My Light
$19.99Add to cart“If I ever become a Saint-I will surely be one of “darkness.” I will continually be absent from Heaven-to lit the light of those in darkness on earth .”
-Mother Teresa of CalcuttaDuring her lifelong service to the poorest of the poor, Mother Teresa became an icon of compassion to people of all religions; her extraordinary contributions to the care of the sick, the dying, and thousands of others nobody else was prepared to look after has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world. Little is known, however, about her own spiritual heights or her struggles. This collection of letters she wrote to her spiritual advisors over decades, almost all of which have never been made public before, sheds light on Mother Teresa’s interior life in a way that reveals the depth and intensity of her holiness for the first time. A moving chronicle of her spiritual journey-including moments, indeed years, of utter desolation-these letters reveal the secrets she shared only with her closest confidants. She emerges as a classic mystic whose inner life burned with the fire of charity and whose heart was tested and purified by an intense trial of faith, a true dark night of the soul.
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Elizabeth Hayes : Pioneer Franciscan Journalist
$24.95Add to cartElizabeth Hayes (1823-1894) is a woman whose personal life and achievements are of significance in both British and North American religious, social, and literary history. Born on the Island of Guernsey, the youngest child of an Anglican schoolmaster-clergyman, she embraced the Oxford Movement, the Wantage Anglican sisterhood, Catholicism and the Franciscan movement when a neo-monastic revival found enthusiasts in both the Catholic Church and in Anglicanism.
Strongly committed to living a Franciscan way of life, as foundress, teacher, religious sister and journalist, Elizabeth’s desire for mission in foreign places fired her with a courageous determination. Concerned for the poor, she had a bold and broad vision, while her capacity to mingle comfortably with key religious and literary figures of the period in England, Paris, Rome and North America set her apart.
In the ‘age of journalism’, she ventured confidently into an arena where most women writers struggled for acknowledgement and even took on male pseudonyms in order to succeed. Many journals proved ephemeral, yet Elizabeth’s monthly periodical, published first in Minnesota, then in Georgia, and, finally, in Rome, was to endure. No minor player in Victorian Catholic journalism, she wrote, edited, published and distributed through her Sisters the first English Franciscan journal, initiated in 1874. She continued these roles for twenty-one years until her death, while her periodical itself continued for a century.
Elizabeth carved out a fresh Franciscan path that indicated how she grasped both the purpose of her life and the importance of good journalistic literature for society. Annals’ subscribers were more than readers with needs; they collaborated in a seven-hundred-year-old Franciscan way of life with its rich history, traditions and missions, and in Franciscan spirituality through her confraternity. This was the cornerstone of the ultimate success of Elizabeth’s mission through journalism, a mission that responded exactly to the needs for Catholic evangelism following the great migrant influx (1825-50) in North America.
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Christians Courageous
$14.95Add to cartBold heroes of the Faith! These pages bring vividly to life stories about courageous Christians from the earliest days to modern times. Although written primarily for youthful readers, this is sure to interest all who find encouragement in the courageous achievements of Christians.
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Franz Jagerstatter : Letters And Writings From Prison
$27.00Add to cartAn inspiring testament of faith and courage from a modern martyr of conscience.
“My dear loved ones, the hour draws ever nearer when I shall give my soul back to
God…”Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian farmer, devoted husband and father, and devout Catholic, was executed in 1943 for refusing to serve in the Nazi army. Before taking this stand Jagerstatter had consulted both his pastor and his local bishop, who instructed him to do his duty and to obey the law-an instruction that violated his conscience. For many years Jagerstatter’s solitary witness was honored by the Catholic peace movement, while viewed with discomfort by many of his fellow Austrians.Now, with his beatification in 2007, his example has been embraced by the universal church.He stands as one of the great martyrs of our time.
These writings, including the correspondence between Franz and his wife Franziska and a series of reflections written in prison, represent the first complete English translation of his writings. An introduction by Jim Forest sets these writings in the context of Franz’s life and times, and draws out their meaning for today. Blessed Franz’s moving expression of faith and his unswerving obedience to conscience carry an urgent and timeless message.
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In A Great And Noble Tradition
$22.95Add to cartThe Benedictine abbey of Solesmes in France is famous for the quality of its Gregorian chant, recordings of which are appreciated throughout the world. Nevertheless, the life of its founder, Dom Prosper Gueranger (1805-1875) is still relatively unknown. This is partly due to Gueranger himself, who never sought to promote his life story. While he published many liturgical and spiritual works, this highly personal account of his early life and events surrounding the foundation of Solesmes in 1833 was never intended for publication, and indeed was never completed. For this reason, the manuscript remained in the archives of the abbey of Solesmes for well over a hundred years. Growing recognition of its wider importance and interest led to its eventual publication in 2005, the bicentenary of Gueranger’s birth. The book is far more than a personal portrait of an interesting and innovative individual. Through the prism of events surrounding his early life as a seminarian, secular priest and then Benedictine monk, Gueranger’s account illustrates many of the wider issues at play in early nineteenth-century France and French Catholicism. Gueranger’s first-hand account of various political events under the regimes of Napoleon I, the Bourbon Restoration and Louis-Philippe has its own historical value. Above all, however, the book shows how Gueranger’s project to re-found Benedictine life in France, after its disappearance in the wake of the French Revolution, stood in relation to other currents of religious thought and monastic tradition, notably Gallicanism, Ultramontanism, the Maurists and the Cistercians. Those interested in monastic life and liturgical spirituality will further draw inspiration from Gueranger’s narration of the human relationships and mystical experiences that inspired his Benedictine vocation and subsequent life’s work. Gueranger’s lively text is also enjoyable in its own right. His optimism, determination, creativity, unwavering trust in divine providence, capacity for friendship and often humorous (and occasionally devastating) portraits of the many people whom he encountered give a particular charm and colour to his writing. Ultimately, however, this account of Gueranger’s spiritual and intellectual awakening provides impetus for a renewed contemporary appreciation of his convictions, which are of perennial value for all who are seeking God. The monastic community founded by Gueranger bears witness to the transforming power of contemplative l
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Saint Therese Of Lisieux
$16.95Add to cartSt. Therese of Lisieux is one of our best loved saints. Discalced Carmelite mystic, Doctor of the Church, her spirituality is at once simple and sublime.
Sister Teresa explores her life, devotions, teaching, and her posthumous mission. She shows how a modern saint achieved so perfect a likeness to Christ in her own life, how the unchanging standards of our Savior can be adapted in every way to the needs and problems of this present age. She presents St. Therese of Lisieux as a sure spiritual companion and guide.
Here we meet St. Therese of Lisieux in the light of the Gospels, in the light of the Church’s teaching concerning her virtues and her universal mission, and against a background of genuine Carmelite tradition and the teaching of St. John of the Cross.St. Therese of Lisieux was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, was declared patroness of foreign missions with St. Francis Xavier in 1927, and in 1944 was declared protectoress of France with St. Joan of Arc by Pope Pius XII.
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Thank God Ahead Of Time (Revised)
$21.99Add to cartAppointed by the Vatican as the “External Collaborator to the Relator” for the cause of canonization of Capuchin Father Solanus Casey, the first man born in the United States to be declared “Venerable” by the Catholic Chrurch, Michael Crosby gives us an inspiring and insightful story of one person’s unswerving faith in God’s abiding presence thoughout the universe.
“For Solanus,” Crosby writes, “knowing God demanded a threefold response: apppreciation, love, and service. Solanus wrote that everyone’s ‘purpose as a rational creature is to recognize and to know his Creator, so as to be able, intelligently to love him, confidently to hope in him, and gratefully to server him.'”
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Saint Rita Of Cascia
$16.95Add to cartOne of the most popular Saints in the Church for centuries, St. Rita is known as the “Saint of the Impossible” because of her amazing answers to prayers, as well as the remarkable events of her own life. Desirous of being a nun, she instead obeyed her parents and married. Her husband was cruel, and caused her much suffering, to which she responded with love and prayers and eventually converted him. After the death of her husband and two sons, Rita was able to enter a convent, where she devoted herself to prayer and penance. She abandoned herself totally to God, diminishing herself as He increased in her. An inspiring story of a soul completely resigned to God’s will.
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Called To Question
$14.95Add to cartPrologue: The Journey From Religion To Spirituality
Religion: A Finger Pointing At The Moon
Spirituality: Beyond The Boundaries Of Religion
The Inward Life: A Discovery Of The Obvious
The God Within: Whom Shall I Say Sent Me?
The Presence Of God: The Truth That Sets Us Free
Prayer: Every Time I Do Get Time
The Call Of God: An Echo In The Heart
Insight: The Alchemy Of Experience
Solitude: The Balm Of The Soul
The Self: The Ground Of Our Becoming
Commitment: The Place Of Change In The Spiritual Life
Balance: Going Through Life Whole And Holy
Darkness: A Way To Light
Immersion In Life: The Other Side Of Inwardness
Relationships: To Know And Be Known
Friendship: A Gift Of Independence
Listening: The Beginning Of Wisdom
Resistance: The Gospel Imperative
Justice: Passion For The Reign Of God
Power In The Powerless: The Courage To Refuse Evil
Feminist Spirituality: The Coming Of A New World
Society And Women: The Loss Of The Soul
Men And Women: The Discovery Of The Adult
The Church And Women: Speaking In The Name Of God
Ecology: The Other Side Of The Spiritual Life
Nature: The Voice Of God Around Us
Creation: The Process That Never Ends
Dailiness: The Gifts Of The Mundane
Struggle: The Search For God In Darkness
Joy: The God Who Loves Laughter
Sanctity: The Task Of Growing Into God
Epilogue
Additional Info
Called to Question is Sr. Joan Chittister’s most personal and intense writing to date. Centered around a series of conversations with spiritual writers featured in her private journal, Sr. Joan looks at the common questions or dimensions of life as we know them in our daily lives-not answers as we’ve been given them-in an attempt to unravel their many meanings, to give them flesh, to honor their spiritual import now and here, in our time and in our own lives. By sharing the questions, doubts, and convictions in her own heart, Chittister explores the heart of faith itself and nurtures a spirituality that pushes readers beyond superficial questioning and unexamined faith.The paperback edition includes a new Prologue about the power of questions in today’s society. Following a moving prologue on the nature of faith, Called to Question is broken into six parts that explore key themes- the inward life, immersion in life, resistance, feminist spirituality, ecology, dailiness. Within each theme is a wide array of topics that embody Sr. Joan’s life’s work as a sociologist, theologian, Benedictine nun, rights activist, and spiritual guide to countless people throughout the world. Alive with the raw energy of a journal and polished with the skill of a master storyteller, each chapter is an engaging dialogue between Sr. Joan and many different wisdom sources about such topics as God’s existence and call, experience, struggle, justice, the role of women and men in society and church, living through doubt, and celebrating life. Called to Question is a rare and powerful invitation to look into the center of our own souls, name our questions about God and life, admit the worst, and pursue the best-even when we are unsure where that pursuit will take us.
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Id Rather Teach Peace
$19.00Add to cartAn acclaimed writer takes up the challenge of teaching peace.
“Here is a dedicated teacher’s journal that will help all of us understand how we might live in a better world by trying to understand it, and by trying to make it more peaceful.” -Robert Coles
When acclaimed Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy was invited to teach a course on writing at an impoverished public school in Washington, D.C., he responded, “I’d rather teach peace.” Thus began the work he has passionately pursued for the past 25 years-teaching courses on nonviolence, conflict management, and peace studies. I’d Rather Teach Peace chronicles one semester in six of these schools, as students find themselves challenged and inspired by an unconventional course and by a man who believes that if we don’t teach our children peace someone else will teach them violence.
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African Saints African Stories
$18.99Add to cartFrom the continent of Africa come a wealth of saints and other inspirational people included in the Catholic tradition. Some are well-known, like Saints Augustine, a doctor of the church, and his mother, Monica, while others may be unknown to us, such as Blessed Daudi Okelo, and Blessed Jildo Irwa, 20th century Ugandan martyrs. Regardless of popularity, each holy person included in this book displays perseverance in faith and can inspire us all.
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Martyrdom Of Saint Toribio Romo
$7.99Add to cartChronicles the life of Toribio Romo, a victim of persecution of the Church in Mexico in the 20th century. He was murdered in 1920, and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Today he is becoming well-known as the patron of immigrants. This booklet reconstructs the world in which he lived and examines the tumultous relationship between church and state in Mexico at that time. It is a story of courage in the face of terrorism and an example of how persecution usually makes the Church stronger.
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Seminary Boy : A Memoir
$19.00Add to cartJohn Cornwell evokes a vanished time and way of life in this moving and, at times, troubling memoir of an adolescence spent in the isolated all-male world of the seminary.
Born into a destitute family with a dominating Irish-Catholic mother and an absconding father during World War II in London, John Cornwell’s childhood was deeply dysfunctional. When he was thirteen years old he was sent to Cotton College, a remote seminary for boys in the West Midlands countryside. For the next five years Cornwell lived under an austere monastic regime as he wrestled with his emotional and spiritual demons. In the hothouse atmosphere of the seminary he strove to find stable, loving friendships among his fellows and fatherly support from the priests, one of whom proved to be a sexual predator.
The wild countryside around the seminary, the moving power of church ritual and music, and a charismatic priest enabled him to persevere. But while normal teenagers were being swept up by the rock ‘n’ roll era, Cornwell and his fellow seminarians continued to be emotionally and socially repressed. Secret romantic attachments between seminarians were not uncommon; on visits home they were overwhelmed by the powerful attractions of the emerging youth culture of the 1950s. But when they returned to Cotton College, the boys were once again governed by the age-old traditions and disciplines of seminary life. And like many young seminarians, Cornwell struggled with a natural adolescent rebelliousness, which in one crucial instance provoked a crisis that would eventually lead to his decision to abandon his dream of becoming a priest.
Written with tremendous warmth and humor, Seminary Boy is a truly unforgettable memoir and a penetrating glimpse into the hidden world of seminary life.
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Gospel Of Cesar Chavez
$16.95Add to cartOnce asked to explain how he had sustained himself over so many years of struggle, Cesar Chavez responded: “I don’t think I could base my will to struggle on cold economics or some political doctrine. For me, the base must be faith.”
In evaluating the life and struggles of Cesar Chavez, one of the most recognized Latino leaders in the United States and the first labor leader to successfully organize and unionize U.S. farm workers, many historians, journalists, and other writers have largely missed one significant factor of his life-his faith and deep spirituality. The Gospel of Cesar Chavez uses the prolific leader’s own words to express his profound faith and the way it shaped his life and leadership.
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Silence Solitude Simplicity
$29.95Add to cart“We all need God,” Sister Jeremy says in her first sentence, and readers of all sorts will find here a warm and practical address to that need. The monastic way is not forsaking the world, but for the sake of the world, and Sister Jeremy’s Benedictine wisdom is fundamental human wisdom. Her book is the fruit of decades of practice, and the spiritual journey she recounts is nobody’s but hers-which makes it, paradoxically, something from which everyone can learn. “I did” is much more effective teaching than “one might” or “you should.”
There is nothing musty, cobwebbed, or nostalgic in these pages. Sister Jeremy, in her late 80s, is totally alert to the world around her and within us. She is allergic to sentimentality. Because she has spent so much time in silence-she lived as a hermit for 20 years-she is especially attentive to words and how like a chameleon they can be. Her antennae are sensitive to anything phony. Every sentence glows with her graceful and witty and hospitable spirit. She is an inspired teacher, a trustworthy guide, one of God’s great ones. She shows how a monastic is not on a pedestal or behind a wall, but right in the thick of things with all of us.
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Most Famous Man In America
$25.00Add to cartNo one predicted success for Henry Ward Beecher at his birth in 1813. The blithe, boisterous son of the last great Puritan minister, he seemed destined to be overshadowed by his brilliant siblings–especially his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who penned the century’s bestselling book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” But when pushed into the ministry, the charismatic Beecher found international fame by shedding his father’s Old Testament-style fire-and-brimstone theology and instead preaching a New Testament-based gospel of unconditional love and healing, becoming one of the founding fathers of modern American Christianity. By the 1850s, his spectacular sermons at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights had made him New York’s number one tourist attraction, so wildly popular that the ferries from Manhattan to Brooklyn were dubbed “Beecher Boats.”
Beecher inserted himself into nearly every important drama of the era–among them the antislavery and women’s suffrage movements, the rise of the entertainment industry and tabloid press, and controversies ranging from Darwinian evolution to presidential politics. He was notorious for his irreverent humor and melodramatic gestures, such as auctioning slaves to freedom in his pulpit and shipping rifles–nicknamed “Beecher’s Bibles”–to the antislavery resistance fighters in Kansas. Thinkers such as Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and Twain befriended–and sometimes parodied–him.
And then it all fell apart. In 1872 Beecher was accused by feminist firebrand Victoria Woodhull of adultery with one of his most pious parishioners. Suddenly the “Gospel of Love” seemed to rationalize a life of lust. The cuckolded husband brought charges of “criminal conversation” in a salacious trial that became the most widely covered event of the century, garnering more newspaper headlines than the entire Civil War. Beecher survived, but his reputation and his causes–from women’s rights to progressive evangelicalism–suffered devastating setbacks that echo to this day.
Featuring the page-turning suspense of a novel and dramatic new historical evidence, Debby Applegate has written the definitive biography of this captivating, mercurial, and sometimes infuriating figure. In our own time, when religion and politics are again colliding and adultery in high places still commands headlines, Beecher’s story sheds new light on the culture and conflicts of contemporary America.
