Religion Catholicism

Maybe you’ve wondered just what the Church has to offer. Or maybe you’ve been tempted to give up on it as you realize its weaknesses. The Compact History of the Catholic Church sweeps through the centuries offering a clear-eyed view of the Church’s development and contributions to world history.

Devotion to Our Lord in the Womb embraces a distinct and separate stage in the history of the Incarnation, writes English author and Jesuit priest Henry James Coleridge. Our Lord’s life in the womb of His Blessed Mother, he adds, is a part of His infinite condescension which calls for a corresponding devotion. Beginning with the Annunciation and ending on the eve of the Nativity, it covers the whole unborn life of Our Lord. This portion of His human existence is the period of His greatest humiliation and self-abasement.

"L'Église n'est pas là pour condamner, mais pour permettre la rencontre avec cet amour viscéral qu'est la miséricorde de Dieu. Pour que cela se produise, il est nécessaire de sortir. Sortir des églises et des paroisses, sortir et aller chercher les gens là où ils vivent, où ils souffrent, où ils espèrent." (Franciscus) Chaque page de ce livre vibre du désir du pape François de toucher les âmes qui cherchent un sens à leur vie, un chemin de paix et de réconciliation, un remède à leurs blessures physiques et morales.

Quoi qu'en disent les pragmatiques à outrance, les utilitaires, ce que l'Homme cherche tout le long de sa vie, ce qu'il poursuit plus que le pain et tout le bien-être matériel, c'est le savoir. L'essence même de notre vie est de tendre non pas à être mieux, mais à être plus. Or, un instinct plus fort que toutes les remontrances des sceptiques et des faux sages nous en avertit : pour être plus, il faut d'abord que nous sachions plus.

Though often thought of as a towering intellect and theologian, Cardinal Newman’s writings reveal a man who possessed a simple devotion to Jesus and Mary. These powerful meditations on the Stations of the Cross, originally written for his parishioners in the Birmingham Oratory Church, can aid us with the simple and singular focus on Christ’s passion and our own failings that contributed to it.

In Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics, respected apologist Ron Rhodes provides a practical, step-by-step guide to engaging in meaningful, grace-filled conversations about the core differences between Catholic and Protestant doctrine. This insightful audiobook unpacks essential topics such as purgatory, indulgences, salvation, the reverence of Mary and the saints, papal infallibility, the authority of tradition, and more—all directly sourced from the Catholic Catechism and other official teachings.

In honor of his canonization, this volume draws together Newman’s Marian writings into an anthology of this new saint’s profound writings on our Lady. Some are doctrinal or apologetic, while others are deeply devotional meditations. These two approaches, not only show two sides of Saint John Henry Newman’s character; they will increase your own love and devotion to our Lady. They illuminate the great depths of Marian doctrine from the Church’s treasury with which Newman has so powerfully permeated his own writings and cause us to go to her for aid.

Plus l'Humanité se raffine et se complique, plus les chances de désordre se multiplient et leur gravité s'accentue ; car on n'élève pas de montagne sans creuser des abîmes, et toute énergie est également puissance pour le bien et pour le mal. Tout ce qui devient souffre et pèche. La vérité sur notre attitude en ce monde, c'est que nous y sommes en croix.

In this book, the pope emeritus and the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments give their brother priests, and the whole Church, a message of hope. They honestly address the spiritual challenges faced by priests today, while pointing to deeper conversion to Jesus Christ as the key to faithful and fruitful priestly ministry and genuine reform.

While the 20th century was often a time of turbulence, selfishness, godlessness, and violence, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a witness to love. She was a clear reminder of the goodness within human nature and the beauty of being truly open to God. "Mother" was her religious title, but as she ascended to the world stage, it became her role for the world - to be like a mother to all, no matter their origins. She was accepting and welcoming towards all people, not only towards the good or the like-minded. She continues to serve as an inspiration to people of all walks of life.

The road to the modern age of cultural harmony and acceptance is one of the finest feats of human progress, but having said that, there was once a time when the mere doubt of a religious figure's existence was not only punishable by law, it could very well cost a man his life. This was the crime of heresy. In 1184, Pope Lucius III issued a papal bull that would kick off a long-standing tradition of heretic-hunting, and as a result, the Age of the Inquisitions commenced.

In My Battle against Hitler, von Hildebrand tells of the scorn and ridicule he endured for sounding the alarm when many still viewed Hitler as a positive and inevitable force. He tells how he defiantly challenged Nazism in the public square, prompting the German ambassador in Vienna to describe him to Hitler as "the architect of the intellectual resistance."

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.

In 1939, a team of workers beneath the Vatican unearthed an early Christian grave. This surprising discovery launched a secret quest that would last decades a quest to discover the long-lost burial place of the Apostle Peter. From earliest times, Christian tradition held that Peter, a lowly fisherman from Galilee, whom Christ made leader of his church was executed in Rome by Emperor Nero and buried on Vatican Hill. But his tomb had been lost to history. Now, funded anonymously by a wealthy American, a small army of workers embarked on the dig of a lifetime.

Learn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion; how to open a conversation about faith and belief; how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the great story of Jesus; how to help someone respond to God's call to intentional discipleship; and much more. And be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.

Robert Hugh Benson (1871 - 1914) was an English Anglican priest who left the Anglican church to became a Roman Catholic priest in 1904. He was a prolific writer (perhaps most famous for his fictional book Lord of the World), who also progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911. In this audiobook he recounts his life, focusing mostly on his decision to join the Roman Catholic church. It is a powerful story of the journey of a man who withstood the social pressures of his time to do what he thought was right.

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.

Glory to God for the men of old who endured the persecutions of this world with joy and faith. Much can be learned from those who have looked death in the face and yet remained true to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Advice and encouragement for lay Catholics pursuing a personal relationship with God from a Doctor of the Church. The first book of the Catholic Classics series, Introduction to the Devout Life is an updated translation of St. Francis de Sales’ original text that makes this key work of Catholic Tradition approachable to modern readers. Written as a letter to St. Francis’ lay cousin, this classic yet relevant text features advice on the questions that members of the Catholic laity often ask themselves, such as: