Religious Biographies

The Little Flowers of St. Francis is a classic collection of popular legends about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Composed at the end of the 14th century by an unknown author, this manuscript is a version of the Latin Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius, which can be dated to 1390 AD. Most scholars are now agreed that the author was Ugolino Brunforte (1262-1348). The text was the inspiration for Roberto Rossellini’s 1950 film Francesco, giullare di Dio (Francis, God’s Jester), which was co-written by Federico Fellini.

Superbly narrated by Mike Fraser, F. J. Sheed’s remarkable translation of this classic spiritual autobiography is finally in audio format, with an introduction by noted historian of late antiquity Peter Brown. Incorporated in this edition are a wealth of notes on literary, philosophical, biblical, historical, and liturgical topics by Michael P. Foley, an Editor’s Preface, and a timeline.

St. Ignatius, first-century Bishop of Antioch, called the “God-bearer”, is one of the earliest witnesses to the truth of Christ and the nature of the Christian life. Tradition tells us that as a small child, Ignatius was singled out by Jesus himself as an example of the childlike faith all Christians must possess. In Bearing God, Father Andrew Damick recounts the life of this great pastor, martyr, and saint, and interprets for the modern listener five major themes in the pastoral letters he wrote.

When Bri’s world is turned upside down by a supernatural encounter with God, she embarks on a journey that takes her beyond the boundaries of limited beliefs. This narrative is a gripping account of her tireless quest for the divine, filled with supernatural wonders and divine insights.

"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?" Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978, and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her.

In this deeply personal account of her first year as a missionary, Elisabeth Elliot shares what it was like to work in the jungles of Ecuador with a small group of women, bringing the Word of God to the indigenous tribe that martyred her husband. With fascinating detail, she captures the stark realities of life among these complex people and reflects upon the "strange ashes" that can result when an act of obedience is passed through the fires of God's perfect--yet mysterious--will.

Marie Laveau may be the most influential American practitioner of the magical arts; certainly, she is among the most famous. She is the subject of songs, films, and legends and the star of New Orleans ghost tours. Her grave in New Orleans ranks among the most popular spiritual pilgrimages in the US. Author Denise Alvarado explores Marie Laveau's life and work - the fascinating history and mystery. This book gives an overview of New Orleans Voodoo, its origins, history, and practices. It contains spells, prayers, rituals, recipes, and more.

In 1972, Perry Bulwer, a naive sixteen-year-old growing up in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, dropped out of high school to run away with the Children of God, one of a number of millennial Christian cults that sprang up in the 1960s and 1970s. Bulwer takes the listener on an extraordinary trip through the world of biblical literalism, fundamentalist endtime fantasies, paranormal spirituality, evangelical extremism, ritual abuse, and liberally interpreted Biblical teachings that were used to justify licentious sexual doctrines, evangelical prostitution, and child sexual abuse.

God spoke to Don Bosco in dreams. These fascinating dreams of St. John Bosco involve prophecy, parables, and reading of hearts, with a powerful spiritual message. These stories include: "To Hell and Back", "Two Boys Attacked by a Monster", "The Snake and the Rosary", and many more. Those dreams led to many conversions and will instruct, admonish, and inspire many today!

What if Mother Teresa or Billy Graham lived and worked — and nobody knew their names? What if one of the church’s most influential missionaries went almost unnoticed? Meet Katharine (Katy) Barnwell. Within Bible translation, she’s a legend. Outside of Bible translation, few have heard of her. But not even Billy Graham holds a candle to what God did through Katy.

Since they were first discovered in the caves at Qumran, in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have aroused more fascination - and more controversy - than perhaps any other archaeological find. They appear to have been hidden in the Judean desert by the Essenes, a Jewish sect that existed around the time of Jesus, and they continue to inspire veneration and conspiracy theories to this day. John Collins tells the story of the bitter conflicts that have swirled around the scrolls since their startling discovery, and sheds light on their true significance for Jewish and Christian history.

This audiobook offers a vast look at the life of St. Teresa. Authored by her own hand, she details her life and experiences, along with her mystical encounters with God.

Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and a writer. Then early one winter morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. "I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian," she writes, "or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut." But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed.

Dès les premières pages, Benoît XVI présente Jésus comme un roi de la Paix, de la simplicité et des pauvres. Jésus n'est pas un révolutionnaire politique, il ne vient pas comme destructeur, il ne se fonde pas sur la violence, il ne déclenche pas d'insurrection militaire contre Rome; il vient avec le don de la guérison, il se consacre à ceux qui sont marginalisés. Son pouvoir est différent : c'est dans la pauvreté de Dieu, dans la Paix de Dieu que réside son seul pouvoir salvifique. Ce deuxième tome parle de la vie de Jésus de l'entrée dans de Jérusalem à la Résurrection.

Jonathan Edwards is widely hailed as the greatest theologian in American history. In Edwards on the Christian Life, Dane Ortlund invites us to explore the great eighteenth-century pastor’s central passion: God’s resplendent beauty. Whether the topic was the nature of love, the preeminence of Scripture, or the glory of the natural world, the concept of beauty stood at the heart of Edwards’s theology and permeated his portrait of the Christian life.

On February 29, 1948, Romanian secret police abducted Richard Wurmbrand off the streets of Bucharest because of his bold Christian witness. Despite the torture and great suffering he endured in a Communist prison, he loved and encouraged both his cellmates and his oppressors through the hope he had in Christ. In his book In God's Underground, Richard shares his story of triumphant faith amid deep anguish.

Begun five years after he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, The Sign of Jonas is an extraordinary view of Merton's life in a Trappist monastery, and it serves also as a spiritual log recording the deep meaning and increasing sureness he felt in his vocation: the growth of a mind that finds in its contracted physical world new intellectual and spiritual dimensions.

Raised in a militant atheist family, Sy Garte fell in love with the factual world of science. He became a respected research biochemist with an anti-theistic worldview to bolster his work—and he had no intention of seeking a God he didn't believe in. That is, until the very science he loved led him to question the validity of an atheistic worldview.

Wacker paints a richly textured portrait: a self-deprecating servant of God and self-promoting media mogul, a simple family man and confidant of presidents, a plainspoken preacher and the “Protestant pope.” America’s Pastor reveals how this Southern fundamentalist grew, fitfully, into a capacious figure at the center of spiritual life for millions of Christians around the world.

Hildegard von Bingen was never meant to be remembered by history. The 10th child of one of the Graf von Sponheim’s knights, she was given to Disibodenberg monastery partly out of gratitude to God, but also partly because her visions made her too odd to make a suitable wife. When she succeeded Jutta von Sponheim as magistra and prioress of Disibodenberg monastery, she found herself unable to keep her visions secret any longer. What happened next led her to revolutionize not only monastic life for women, but the whole world too.