Religion Catholicism

In The First Society: The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Restoration of the Social Order, Scott Hahn makes the startling claim that our society's ills and its cures are rooted in whether we reject or accept the divine graces made available through the sacrament of holy matrimony.

Andreas Widmer gives a behind-the-scenes look into Pope John Paul II, the most authentically human person he's ever met, and reveals how those memories shaped and forged his success as a corporate executive. In what papal biographer George Weigel calls a powerful example of leadership at work, Widmer recounts his personal experiences serving Blessed Pope John Paul II in the Swiss Guard, and the secrets of successful leadership that he learned at the feet of the great pope.

Originally published in 1951, this book covers the nature of God, the nature of man, the meaning of life; the nature of religion, the sources of Faith, the necessity of prayer, the duty of belief; the consequences of sin, the Commandments of God, the Holy Trinity, belief in Christ, the Redemption; the supremacy of the Pope, the Mystical Body of Christ, the Sacraments, the Mass, the priesthood, devotion to Mary and the Saints, what happens after death, the devotional life of a Catholic. Very interesting and very popular!

The world-changing appearance of Our Lady at Fatima ushered in a continuing series of remarkable apparitions worldwide that the Church has either officially approved or marked as likely authentic. Author and Mariologist Wincenty Laszewski summarizes the powerful and urgent messages of these apparitions in this unparalleled, encyclopedic work—instantly the new standard on the subject. Most of these riveting chapters include portentous warnings—some are ominous, others more hopeful.

With prophetic insight into our times, Benedict warns of a "radical manipulation of man" in the name of tolerance, insisting that the only "authentic counterweight to every form of intolerance" is Christ himself—and Christ crucified. A lifelong Catholic, the late pope pays tribute to some of the giant figures of Christianity who have served him through the years as guiding stars: his predecessor Pope John Paul II, the 20th-century German Jesuit martyr Alfred Delp, and the silent carpenter Joseph, his patron saint.

With the papacy embattled in recent years, it is essential to have the perspective of one of the world's most accomplished historians. In Absolute Monarchs, John Julius Norwich captures nearly 2,000 years of inspiration and devotion, intrigue and scandal. The men (and maybe one woman) who have held this position of infallible power over millions have ranged from heroes to rogues, admirably wise to utterly decadent.

This work was originally composed by St. Teresa of Avila for her fellow sisters of the Carmelite Order. Although written for nuns it is very much accessible to modern readers. In this classic book she guides her fellow sisters on the way to union with God through prayer and meditation, offering helpful advise for readers to seek self-perfection. Her words are practical and heartfelt, coming from her personal experience. The book is less formal and gives a more clear form of St. Teresa's theological views than her autobiography or her famous book, The Interior Castle.

Picking up where he left off in his electrifying Letter to the American Church, Eric Metaxas renews and deepens his call to believers not to “practice” their faith but to live it—heroically and with joy. Invoking famous but misunderstood words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he shows that God’s answer to evil is “religionless Christianity”—the rejection of religiosity and the embrace of a living and active faith, one that consumes the whole person and affects every aspect of his life. The awakening of this faith will bring revival, a “new birth of freedom,” and a renaissance of Christian culture.

The Golden Arrow tells of both the life of Sister Mary of Saint Peter and her life's work: the devotion, granted to her by Jesus himself, to his Holy Face. Approved by Pope Leo XIII and promoted by St. Therese of Lisieux half a century later, the devotion to the Holy Face may be the single most important devotion of our time that still remains relatively unknown.

Purgatory (Latin "purgare", to make clean, to purify), in accordance with Catholic teaching, is a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions. The whole penitential system of the Church testifies that the voluntary assumption of penitential works has always been part of true repentance. The councils of the Church remind the faithful that God does not always remit the whole punishment due to sin together with the guilt.

What mountain is threatening you? It's time to talk to your mountains. We talk to ourselves and each other about our problems all day long when we should be talking to our problems. Jesus said, "Say to this mountain." He has given us authority and power over fear, worry, and every negative stronghold oppressing us.

Somehow, this long-discredited economic philosophy is making a comeback, not only on college campuses and political talk shows, but among sincere Catholics. Some think that it could be the answer to greed and globalism. Others even argue that it’s the best way to obey Christ’s command to help the poor. Let’s give socialism a fresh chance, they say. A democratic socialism, this time, friendly to religion and ordered to the common good like the church says the economy should be.

As faith-filled Catholics, we are called to go out and spread the good news of the Gospel, build up the Church, and fuel its mission. We are supernaturally empowered by God to do this through the charisms we receive at baptism. Learn about each charism, what they are, and how discipleship unleashes these powerful gifts to produce fruit that lasts.

There may be no person on the globe who knows more about the story of Fatima than Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho. As a little girl growing up in Portugal, she used to pray at the tombs of Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Many years later, as a sister of the Alianca de Santa Maria, she would become the postulator for their cause of canonization. This journey would lead her to visit with Sister Lucia several times and eventually become the vice postulator for her cause as well. Now, she gives her profound testimony about Fatima.

In From Silence to Silence: A Benedictine Pilgrimage to God’s Sanctuary, Fr. Francis Bethel, OSB, a Benedictine monk from Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma, draws from the centuries-old monastic tradition of prayer and his own personal experience to provide a spiritual guide for Catholics who want to silence the distracting noise of this fallen world to hear more clearly the quiet or “silent” voice of God. To understand and partake in the divine mysteries requires that we block out the cacophony of disruptions that plague our lives and separate us from God.

This is the story of a precious child of God who was born into royalty, yet never used or abused it. It is the story of a great woman, a daughter, a wife, a widow, a benefactress of the poor, a glowing example of a soul endeavoring to love her Lord more purely, yet faithful to her calling as wife and mother.

Firmly rooted in the Church's magisterium and the wisdom of the Saints, Life of Union with Mary presents a simple philosophy of life that is built around the relations of Mary to God and to man. That devotion to her can be a part of everyday life is a recurring theme in this devotional book that explains the extreme importance of union with Mary by showing its marvelous results. Father Neubert not only gives the dogmatic basis for union with Mary, but details methods of working at and achieving it.

Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition—and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular—for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.

Empress Zita of Austria (1892—1989) was declared a Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI. But who is she? What is it about her life and spirituality that inspired the Church to open the investigation into her beatification?

Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes, France in 1844. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette eighteen times at the Grotto in Massabielle. When Bernadette was twenty-two years old, she entered the Sisters of Charity Religious Order in Nevers, France. To this day, Lourdes remains one of the greatest healing centers in the world.