Spirituality Catholicism

Angels and saints. Catholics tend to think of them as different from the rest of us. They're cast in plaster or simpering on a holy card, performing miracles with superhero strength, or playing a harp in highest heaven.

Yet they are very near to us in every way. In this lively audiobook, Scott Hahn dispels the false notions and urban legends people use to keep the saints at a safe distance. The truth is that Jesus Christ has united heaven and earth in a close communion. Drawing deeply from Scripture, Dr. Hahn shows that the hosts of heaven surround the earthly Church as a "great cloud of witnesses".

Dr. James Papandrea introduces you to all the major theologians, philosophers, and martyrs of the early Christian church and explains the theological principles that guided the Church from the New Testament era through the apologists, and, ultimately, to the development of the major doctrines. He uniquely situates the teachings of the early Church Fathers against the social and cultural context of the Roman Empire and its relationship to the Church.

When he was elected pope in the fall of 1978, few people had ever heard of the charismatic Karol Wojty³a. But in a very short time he would ignite a revolution of conscience in his native Poland that would ultimately lead to the collapse of European communism and death of the Soviet Union. What even fewer people knew was that the KGB, the Polish Secret Police, and the East German Stasi had been waging a dangerous, decades-long war against Wojty³a and the Vatican itself.

Rarely has a book had such an impact on so many of us here at Ignatius Press. It is one of the most powerful and moving books we have come across. If you can only buy one book this season, this must be the one. Here is the astonishing true story of the harrowing experiences of a young German seminarian drafted into Hitler’s dreaded SS at the onset of World War II.

Bestselling author Kevin DeYoung explores the history, meaning, and importance of the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is a fundamental text that Christians have memorized and recited in church services and personal prayers for centuries. Despite its deep roots, many believers today recite the creed as a routine, often without fully understanding its meaning and significance.

In this remarkable exploration of the Catholic world, prominent Catholic author and papal biographer George Weigel offers a luminous collection of letters to young Catholics, not-so-young Catholics, and curious souls who wonder what it means to be Catholic today. Weigel takes readers on an epistolary tour of Catholic landmarks - from Chartres Cathedral to St. Mary's Church in Greenville, South Carolina; from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to G.K. Chesterton's favorite pub in Oxford; and from the grave of a modern martyr in Warsaw to the Sistine Chapel.

Ce petit livre audio veut aborder un thème fondamental de l'existence chrétienne, celui de la liberté intérieure. Le but est simple : il me paraît essentiel que chaque chrétien découvre que, même dans les circonstances extérieures les plus défavorables, il dispose en lui-même d'un espace de liberté que personne ne peut lui ravir, car c'est Dieu qui en est la source et le garant. Sans cette découverte, nous serons toujours à l'étroit dans la vie et nous ne goûterons jamais un vrai bonheur.

"Crucifixion to Creation" shows that the roots of the traditional Roman liturgy can be traced from the Crucifixion back through the worship in Solomon's Temple to the Tabernacle made by Moses and through to the Garden of Eden and even beyond.

For much of the twentieth century, a series of terrible events—abuse, both physical and psychological, and even deaths—took places inside orphanages. The survivors have been trying to tell their astonishing stories for a long time, but disbelief, secrecy, and trauma have kept them from breaking through. For ten years, Christine Kenneally has been on a quest to uncover the harrowing truth.

Marcantonio Colonna's The Dictator Pope has rocked Rome and the entire Catholic Church with its portrait of an authoritarian, manipulative, and politically partisan pontiff. Occupying a privileged perch in Rome during the tumultuous first years of Francis' pontificate, Colonna was privy to the shock, dismay, and even panic that the reckless new pope engendered in the Church's most loyal and judicious leaders.

Macarius was born in Upper Egypt around AD 300. As a young man, he was a saltpeter smuggler and became familiar with the desert. He was known for his wisdom and was called "old young man" by his friends. While in the desert, he visited Anthony the Great and learned monasticism from him. After he left, around the age of 40, he returned to his former desert and governed a monastic community there for the rest of his life. St. Macarius is venerated in all Christian denominations, and his spiritual homilies have always been held in high regard throughout the ages.

In this compelling new book - drawn from conversations with and narrated by award-winning Vatican journalist John L. Allen Jr. - Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, proclaims in vivid language the goodness and truth of the Catholic tradition. Through Barron's smart, practical, artistic, and theological observations - as well as through personal anecdotes about everything from engaging atheists on YouTube to his days as a young die-hard baseball fan from Chicago - To Light a Fire on the Earth covers prodigious ground.

Incredibly revealing and edifying background of Our Lady, her parents and ancestors, St. Joseph, plus other people who figured into the coming of Christ. Many facts described about the Nativity and early life of Our Lord, as well as the final days of the Blessed Mother–all from the visions of this great mystic.

With St. Teresa of Avila’s masterpiece The Interior Castle as his guide, best-selling author Dan Burke takes you on an illuminating journey through the seven levels of spiritual progress, explaining what God is accomplishing within your soul at each stage, as well as the finely tailored demonic strategies applied to throw you off your path. You’ll learn how the devil is as active in your prayer life as you are, and how the saints were able to counter Satan as he adapted his schemes to correspond with where they were on their spiritual journeys.

There is no better guide than St. Ignatius Loyola if one desires to discover how faith and everyday life can thrive together. In The Ignatian Adventure, Kevin O'Brien, SJ, follows St. Ignatius's lead and offers todays time-strapped individual a unique way of making the Spiritual Exercises in daily life. The first part of O'Brien's book provides helpful background information, including a brief history of St. Ignatius, an explanation of the Spiritual Exercises and their purpose, and a description of different ways to make the Exercises.

Meet the mighty spirits sent by God to enlighten and guide us, defend us from harm, and lead us on the path to eternal life. Learn how angels are invisibly present at every moment of your life, and how they can pray with you and for you, amplifying your praise by reflecting it directly to God face-to-face. Angels do not form a separate universe they are an integral part of our own world sent forth for the sake of our salvation. They are pure spirits who communicate to us God's grace, His goodness, and His truth.

A true treasure of spiritual insights, this little book contains the remarkable meditations on The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane by St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, the stigmatist priest.

When Dorothy Day died in 1980, the New York Times eulogized her as “a nonviolent social radical of luminous personality...founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and leader for more than 50 years in numerous battles of social justice.” Here, in her own words, this remarkable woman tells of her early life as a young journalist in the crucible of Greenwich Village political and literary thought in the 1920s, and of her momentous conversion to Catholicism that meant the end of a Bohemian lifestyle and common-law marriage.

Drawing from the rich tradition of the church and powerful insights from the saints and the Bible, this invaluable resource teaches Catholics how to recognize God's voice, discern spirits, and know which vocation God is calling them to. It will also show you that it is possible to be in the waiting yet fully joyfully alive at the same time. After listening to this book and following this five-step discernment process, Catholics can be at peace with their decision, knowing that they have truly discerned God's will.

This life is preparation for eternity, and from the beginning, God created marriage to help married couples become saints. Indeed, God has given to married couples the profound gift of being able to fulfill the purpose of their creation through, with, and in each other. Marriage is a foreshadowing of Heaven, and each married couple must work with God if their marriage is to be a foretaste of eternity. In this thought-provoking and uplifting book, Fr.