Forbes, F.A.
F. A. Forbes was the pen name of Mother Frances Alice Monica Forbes, RSCJ, a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart from Scotland and a religious author.
Saint Monica (C. 332-387)
Saint Monica (C. 332-387)
Model of Christian Mothers
by F. A. Forbes
No one can love quite like a mother, as the Virgin Mary attests. And no one quite imitated the Mother of God's sorrowful love of her sinful children as much as St. Monica, whose daily tears for her son Augustine bore the fruit of a magnificent Doctor of the entire Church and a pillar of the Latin tradition. Truly, St. Monica was a suffering mother, even a martyr for the cause of her son's salvation; and as the Blessed Mother Mary is the cause of our salvation by giving birth to God the Word, so is Monica the mother of many souls in Christ by giving birth to the great Father Augustine, whose teachings have saved many.
Born in 333 to Berber Christian parents in North Africa, St. Monica married a pagan Roman official of the town of Tagaste. He seems to have been a cruel husband, but St. Monica bore her suffering with patience and ministered to other unhappy wives in the city. She had three children, the oldest of whom was Augustine. For a long time, Monica's pagan husband held out against their baptism. While Augustine was away studying at Carthage, however, the first fruits of Monica's tears blossomed: her husband became a Christian. He soon died, and St. Monica vowed to be a celibate widow and not remarry. However, her son Augustine was to cause her more pain than her husband ever had.
When he returned from Carthage, Augustine was a Manichean heretic, which sent Monica into tears of woe that persisted for seventeen years while he languished, moving between lustful living and heretical teachings. She followed him to Rome and then to Milan, a beleaguered and mournful mother crucified by the impious infidelity of her son. At last, under the auspices of St. Ambrose of Milan, she saw her son converted and even baptized after almost two decades of his waywardness. Soon after, she died in Ostia on the return trip to North Africa, exhausted by her years of supplication finally fulfilled. Her cult took a long time to become popular, but her relics eventually found their way to the Basilica of Saint Augustine in Rome.
In this short biography of an illustrious saint, find the moving and inspiring story of a mother so dedicated to her Faith and to her son that she spent her life in tears for both. Those tears were not in vain, and they produced bountiful fruit in due season.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 115 pages, 4 Illus
Model of Christian Mothers
by F. A. Forbes
No one can love quite like a mother, as the Virgin Mary attests. And no one quite imitated the Mother of God's sorrowful love of her sinful children as much as St. Monica, whose daily tears for her son Augustine bore the fruit of a magnificent Doctor of the entire Church and a pillar of the Latin tradition. Truly, St. Monica was a suffering mother, even a martyr for the cause of her son's salvation; and as the Blessed Mother Mary is the cause of our salvation by giving birth to God the Word, so is Monica the mother of many souls in Christ by giving birth to the great Father Augustine, whose teachings have saved many.
Born in 333 to Berber Christian parents in North Africa, St. Monica married a pagan Roman official of the town of Tagaste. He seems to have been a cruel husband, but St. Monica bore her suffering with patience and ministered to other unhappy wives in the city. She had three children, the oldest of whom was Augustine. For a long time, Monica's pagan husband held out against their baptism. While Augustine was away studying at Carthage, however, the first fruits of Monica's tears blossomed: her husband became a Christian. He soon died, and St. Monica vowed to be a celibate widow and not remarry. However, her son Augustine was to cause her more pain than her husband ever had.
When he returned from Carthage, Augustine was a Manichean heretic, which sent Monica into tears of woe that persisted for seventeen years while he languished, moving between lustful living and heretical teachings. She followed him to Rome and then to Milan, a beleaguered and mournful mother crucified by the impious infidelity of her son. At last, under the auspices of St. Ambrose of Milan, she saw her son converted and even baptized after almost two decades of his waywardness. Soon after, she died in Ostia on the return trip to North Africa, exhausted by her years of supplication finally fulfilled. Her cult took a long time to become popular, but her relics eventually found their way to the Basilica of Saint Augustine in Rome.
In this short biography of an illustrious saint, find the moving and inspiring story of a mother so dedicated to her Faith and to her son that she spent her life in tears for both. Those tears were not in vain, and they produced bountiful fruit in due season.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 115 pages, 4 Illus
Model of Christian Mothers
Saint Teresa of Avila
Saint Teresa of Avila
by F. A.Forbes
Saint Teresa of Avila, mystic, Carmelite reformer, and Doctor of the Church, is one of the greatest people to ever walk the face of the Earth—and even one of the greatest saints. Her position as a spiritual master is uncontested and, as this short, readable biography will attest, her life was one of astounding sanctity and humility.
Such was the soul of the great St. Teresa of Avila, reformer of Carmel. In her youth, Teresa had all but forced herself to become a nun, and in the ensuing years she would also make many other courageous decisions. Her life would include remarkable mystical graces, fears of delusion by Satan, a vision of her potential place in Hell, many travels to found new Carmelite convents, work with other great Saints and dealings with difficult persons, and more. She was zealous in mortification and frequently exerted herself to the point of illness. She experienced interior visions (i.e. without sensory manifestation) of Our Lord, levitations, and other graces, including the famous transverberation, where her heart was mystically pierced by a lance borne by a seraph.
But Teresa's principle work in life was to reform the Carmelites; she traveled all about Spain establishing new convents and, with St. John of the Cross, men's monasteries. Throughout all of her reform work, her attitude was joyful, saintly, and profoundly charismatic. The same personality shines through in her works on mystical theology, all of which are masterpieces, but the greatest of which is The Interior Castle, a guide of the spiritual journey of the soul through seven "mansions" of spiritual progress.
This is the story of St. Teresa of Avila, a woman of great heart and immense common sense, one of the most remarkable women in the history of the world. She reformed Carmel—thus making the Carmelite Order into a mother of saints—and leaving a tremendous mark on the Catholic Church even to this day.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 120 pages, 5 Illus
by F. A.Forbes
Saint Teresa of Avila, mystic, Carmelite reformer, and Doctor of the Church, is one of the greatest people to ever walk the face of the Earth—and even one of the greatest saints. Her position as a spiritual master is uncontested and, as this short, readable biography will attest, her life was one of astounding sanctity and humility.
Such was the soul of the great St. Teresa of Avila, reformer of Carmel. In her youth, Teresa had all but forced herself to become a nun, and in the ensuing years she would also make many other courageous decisions. Her life would include remarkable mystical graces, fears of delusion by Satan, a vision of her potential place in Hell, many travels to found new Carmelite convents, work with other great Saints and dealings with difficult persons, and more. She was zealous in mortification and frequently exerted herself to the point of illness. She experienced interior visions (i.e. without sensory manifestation) of Our Lord, levitations, and other graces, including the famous transverberation, where her heart was mystically pierced by a lance borne by a seraph.
But Teresa's principle work in life was to reform the Carmelites; she traveled all about Spain establishing new convents and, with St. John of the Cross, men's monasteries. Throughout all of her reform work, her attitude was joyful, saintly, and profoundly charismatic. The same personality shines through in her works on mystical theology, all of which are masterpieces, but the greatest of which is The Interior Castle, a guide of the spiritual journey of the soul through seven "mansions" of spiritual progress.
This is the story of St. Teresa of Avila, a woman of great heart and immense common sense, one of the most remarkable women in the history of the world. She reformed Carmel—thus making the Carmelite Order into a mother of saints—and leaving a tremendous mark on the Catholic Church even to this day.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 120 pages, 5 Illus
St John Bosco
St John Bosco
by F. A. Forbes
St. John Bosco was a priest of the diocese of Turin, Italy, and founder of the Society of St. Francis de Sales. Famous for his kindliness and gentleness, he is a patron of disadvantaged youth because of his caring for children on the streets and juvenile delinquents, whose welfare he made his life's work. Giving them shelter and care, teaching them skills for future employment, and even enticing them with his uncanny magic tricks and juggling skills, Don Bosco was famous as a helper of the poor and needy children created by the Industrial Revolution, as well as a beloved publisher of catechetical works.
He was called to the priesthood at an early age and, through struggle and hard work, obtained the education necessary to be ordained. His life work was among the poor and needy, both young men and women (through the congregations he founded especially). He wrote volumes, including over 220 works, in addition to all the other efforts he made, which included pioneering a method of education that was based on love rather than punishment and guiding the Salesians to become one of the largest religious orders in the world. All of his students grew to love him, and he was ever seen teaching and guiding many youths to greater charity. He died in 1888; his funeral was attended by thousands.
But there was yet far more inside this powerhouse saint than meets the eye. Recorded in his memoirs, St. John Bosco's mystical dreams—provided in this short biography as well—reveal a side of the gentle saint that is scarcely recognizable, taking him squarely from the image of the saint of social welfare to one as a mystical pastor of souls. The dreams—really allegorical visions, and terrible ones—saw him tossing on the waves of the high seas of modernism that roiled and rocked the Barque of the Church, or facing a horrifying, massive snake that was strangled in the rope of the Rosary, or permeating by divine guidance straight to the depths of Hell and back again. Yes, Don Bosco was also a mystic—and an extraordinary one at that. Most of all, Don Bosco's life of service to others, especially the youth, and bringing them to Christ, show this: that the interior life is always the source of exterior action. Here is the life of an underrated and extremely important saint for our times.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25, 209 pages
by F. A. Forbes
St. John Bosco was a priest of the diocese of Turin, Italy, and founder of the Society of St. Francis de Sales. Famous for his kindliness and gentleness, he is a patron of disadvantaged youth because of his caring for children on the streets and juvenile delinquents, whose welfare he made his life's work. Giving them shelter and care, teaching them skills for future employment, and even enticing them with his uncanny magic tricks and juggling skills, Don Bosco was famous as a helper of the poor and needy children created by the Industrial Revolution, as well as a beloved publisher of catechetical works.
He was called to the priesthood at an early age and, through struggle and hard work, obtained the education necessary to be ordained. His life work was among the poor and needy, both young men and women (through the congregations he founded especially). He wrote volumes, including over 220 works, in addition to all the other efforts he made, which included pioneering a method of education that was based on love rather than punishment and guiding the Salesians to become one of the largest religious orders in the world. All of his students grew to love him, and he was ever seen teaching and guiding many youths to greater charity. He died in 1888; his funeral was attended by thousands.
But there was yet far more inside this powerhouse saint than meets the eye. Recorded in his memoirs, St. John Bosco's mystical dreams—provided in this short biography as well—reveal a side of the gentle saint that is scarcely recognizable, taking him squarely from the image of the saint of social welfare to one as a mystical pastor of souls. The dreams—really allegorical visions, and terrible ones—saw him tossing on the waves of the high seas of modernism that roiled and rocked the Barque of the Church, or facing a horrifying, massive snake that was strangled in the rope of the Rosary, or permeating by divine guidance straight to the depths of Hell and back again. Yes, Don Bosco was also a mystic—and an extraordinary one at that. Most of all, Don Bosco's life of service to others, especially the youth, and bringing them to Christ, show this: that the interior life is always the source of exterior action. Here is the life of an underrated and extremely important saint for our times.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25, 209 pages
Pope St Pius X
Pope St. Pius the X
by F. A. Forbes
Few men have had the nigh unimaginable privilege and definitely unconscionable weight of duty as those who have occupied the Throne of St. Peter as the Supreme Pontiff and Pastor of the Universal Church; even fewer have exercised that office in so tremendous and saintly a manner as Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, the son of poor peasants who became one of the most formidable occupants of the papal office of all time. Born in 1835 to a village postman and his wife, Giuseppe worked hard to gain an education in Latin and basic liberal arts. In 1850, he was given tonsure by the Bishop of Treviso; he was ordained priest in 1858. After becoming a parochial vicar and arch priest and later various other offices in the diocese, he was named Bishop of Mantua. In 1893, Leo XIII made him Cardinal-Patriarch of Venice. In 1903, at last he arose to the vocation God had had in mind for him from the beginning: he was elected Pope of Rome.
His pontificate was as immense as his personal holiness impelled it to be; he chose as his motto to "Restore all things in Christ." To this end, he promoted various liturgical reforms, such as lowering the typical age for First Communion to seven, the age of reason, and reforming the Liturgical calendar to allow more Sundays to take precedence over Saint days. In addition, he commissioned a revision of the Breviary and promoted the restored use of Gregorian Chant. Of greatest importance, however, was his doctrinal crusade against Modernism, which he aptly labeled the "synthesis of all heresies." He opposed it on all fronts, making it his personal mission to root out the error of errors that has since led to perdition. If only Catholics had heeded his calls for reform earlier!
Nothing, however, can take away from the life of this saintly Successor of Peter. It is undoubted that he is one of the greatest; Pope Saint Pius X will show you why. His odor of sanctity has never waned in the intervening years since his passing into eternal beatitude. Even in death, the Pious Pope remains a Rock of the Faith, a Servant of the Servants of God, a Holy Father to us all.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 184 pages
by F. A. Forbes
Few men have had the nigh unimaginable privilege and definitely unconscionable weight of duty as those who have occupied the Throne of St. Peter as the Supreme Pontiff and Pastor of the Universal Church; even fewer have exercised that office in so tremendous and saintly a manner as Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, the son of poor peasants who became one of the most formidable occupants of the papal office of all time. Born in 1835 to a village postman and his wife, Giuseppe worked hard to gain an education in Latin and basic liberal arts. In 1850, he was given tonsure by the Bishop of Treviso; he was ordained priest in 1858. After becoming a parochial vicar and arch priest and later various other offices in the diocese, he was named Bishop of Mantua. In 1893, Leo XIII made him Cardinal-Patriarch of Venice. In 1903, at last he arose to the vocation God had had in mind for him from the beginning: he was elected Pope of Rome.
His pontificate was as immense as his personal holiness impelled it to be; he chose as his motto to "Restore all things in Christ." To this end, he promoted various liturgical reforms, such as lowering the typical age for First Communion to seven, the age of reason, and reforming the Liturgical calendar to allow more Sundays to take precedence over Saint days. In addition, he commissioned a revision of the Breviary and promoted the restored use of Gregorian Chant. Of greatest importance, however, was his doctrinal crusade against Modernism, which he aptly labeled the "synthesis of all heresies." He opposed it on all fronts, making it his personal mission to root out the error of errors that has since led to perdition. If only Catholics had heeded his calls for reform earlier!
Nothing, however, can take away from the life of this saintly Successor of Peter. It is undoubted that he is one of the greatest; Pope Saint Pius X will show you why. His odor of sanctity has never waned in the intervening years since his passing into eternal beatitude. Even in death, the Pious Pope remains a Rock of the Faith, a Servant of the Servants of God, a Holy Father to us all.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 184 pages
Saint Athanasius
Saint Athanasius
by F. A. Forbes
St. Athanasius of Alexandria is one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church and perhaps the single greatest champion of the Divinity of Christ. From an early age, he was marked for the clerical life, and even for becoming the successor of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Although still a deacon under thirty years of age, he was present in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea as the secretary of Patriarch Alexander, playing a great part in the promulgation of the "consubstantiality" of the Son and the Father. Soon after, Athanasius succeeded in the Patriarchate and became the most prominent and aggressive defender of Trinitarian orthodoxy against Arianism, which said that the Son was not God but a creature.
He underwent no fewer than five exiles and multiple rigged trials, standing up to emperors and numerous Eastern bishops who supported some form of Arianism. It goes without saying that Athanasius's faith and dedication to Christ was undying to the last. Saint Athanasius: The Father of Orthodoxy details the life of this holy and excellent bishop, Doctor of the Church, and Champion of Orthodoxy in a way accessible to young and old alike. Let the reading of this great saint's life fill you with zeal for the truths of the faith and gain you a powerful heavenly intercessor.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 116 pages, Impr, 3 Illustrations
by F. A. Forbes
St. Athanasius of Alexandria is one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church and perhaps the single greatest champion of the Divinity of Christ. From an early age, he was marked for the clerical life, and even for becoming the successor of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Although still a deacon under thirty years of age, he was present in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea as the secretary of Patriarch Alexander, playing a great part in the promulgation of the "consubstantiality" of the Son and the Father. Soon after, Athanasius succeeded in the Patriarchate and became the most prominent and aggressive defender of Trinitarian orthodoxy against Arianism, which said that the Son was not God but a creature.
He underwent no fewer than five exiles and multiple rigged trials, standing up to emperors and numerous Eastern bishops who supported some form of Arianism. It goes without saying that Athanasius's faith and dedication to Christ was undying to the last. Saint Athanasius: The Father of Orthodoxy details the life of this holy and excellent bishop, Doctor of the Church, and Champion of Orthodoxy in a way accessible to young and old alike. Let the reading of this great saint's life fill you with zeal for the truths of the faith and gain you a powerful heavenly intercessor.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 116 pages, Impr, 3 Illustrations
Saint Vincent de Paul
Saint Vincent de Paul
by F. A. Forbes
The Apostle of Charity
St. Vincent de Paul, called the Apostle of Charity, stands as a monument in the life of the Church. He transformed utterly how both the Church and the secular world (copycatting the former) undertook the infrastructure of organized charitable action. Far from doing social work for social work's sake, St. Vincent de Paul sought out the good of souls both temporally and spiritually, as his massive labor and remarkable life attest.
Born to a peasant family, he was ordained in 1600. In 1605, he was captured and taken to Tunis by Turkish pirates as a slave, but he escaped after two years, having converted his master. Later he became the almoner of the French queen, Marguerite of Valois. He performed peasant missions for ten years, eventually gathering a group of priests to go with him; these conferences also involved performing charitable works. Much of his work included going to the convicts in French galleys—ships for transporting prisoners. The prisoners endured squalid conditions, and Vincent took care of both their temporal and spiritual needs, converting many. In time, he founded the Vincentians (known as Lazarists in Vincent's time), a society of priests who gave conferences and spiritual retreats for seminarians, priests, and the laity, especially in the poor peasant regions of the country. As part of his work, he also established seminaries all over France, eventually taking control of 11 seminaries!
He also founded his Daughters of Charity in 1629, mainly for noblewomen who would care for the poor and destitute. Eventually, young women were enlisted to form a legitimate religious order, who would visit prisons, hospitals, and slums to care for tens of thousands of poor, including eventually 4,000 orphan children; 40,000 poor of Paris; and thousands more in rural, war-torn regions of France. The works of charity these sisters undertook included especially soup kitchens and providing some useful means of work for the poor. St. Vincent's concern also reached the poor slaves of Barbary, whose fate he once had shared, and his missions cared for or ransomed up to 30,000 of them. Finally, St. Vincent's works of charity also included occupying himself with caring for Irish and English Catholic refugees and burying many dead from the 30 Years War.
by F. A. Forbes
The Apostle of Charity
St. Vincent de Paul, called the Apostle of Charity, stands as a monument in the life of the Church. He transformed utterly how both the Church and the secular world (copycatting the former) undertook the infrastructure of organized charitable action. Far from doing social work for social work's sake, St. Vincent de Paul sought out the good of souls both temporally and spiritually, as his massive labor and remarkable life attest.
Born to a peasant family, he was ordained in 1600. In 1605, he was captured and taken to Tunis by Turkish pirates as a slave, but he escaped after two years, having converted his master. Later he became the almoner of the French queen, Marguerite of Valois. He performed peasant missions for ten years, eventually gathering a group of priests to go with him; these conferences also involved performing charitable works. Much of his work included going to the convicts in French galleys—ships for transporting prisoners. The prisoners endured squalid conditions, and Vincent took care of both their temporal and spiritual needs, converting many. In time, he founded the Vincentians (known as Lazarists in Vincent's time), a society of priests who gave conferences and spiritual retreats for seminarians, priests, and the laity, especially in the poor peasant regions of the country. As part of his work, he also established seminaries all over France, eventually taking control of 11 seminaries!
He also founded his Daughters of Charity in 1629, mainly for noblewomen who would care for the poor and destitute. Eventually, young women were enlisted to form a legitimate religious order, who would visit prisons, hospitals, and slums to care for tens of thousands of poor, including eventually 4,000 orphan children; 40,000 poor of Paris; and thousands more in rural, war-torn regions of France. The works of charity these sisters undertook included especially soup kitchens and providing some useful means of work for the poor. St. Vincent's concern also reached the poor slaves of Barbary, whose fate he once had shared, and his missions cared for or ransomed up to 30,000 of them. Finally, St. Vincent's works of charity also included occupying himself with caring for Irish and English Catholic refugees and burying many dead from the 30 Years War.
Never neglecting his duties as a priest only for social work, he also undertook to fight the Jansenist heresy in France, ultimately inducing 85 bishops to convince the pope to condemn the errors of the Jansenists. He also acted as spiritual director to many congregations of religious women and sent missionary priests to go to the Roman countryside, Genoa, Savoy, the Piedmont, Ireland, Scotland, the Hebrides, Poland, and even Madagascar. His prayer, modesty, humility, piety, and asceticism were intense and marked despite all his manifold exertions.
Such was the soul of the Apostle of Charity, St. Vincent de Paul. This is the story of the great saint who put charity onto an organized basis and thus transformed not only Paris but the history of the Catholic Church and the world, its imitator.
Paperback, size7" x 4.25", 120 pages, Impr, 5 Illus
Saint Catherine of Siena
Saint Catherine of Siena
by F. A. Forbes
Saint Catherine of Siena's life was of such astoundingly glorious sanctity that even the great saints seem to pale in comparison to her magnificence. She was born to a merchant family in Siena in 1347 and dedicated her virginity to God at 7. Around then she also began to have visions of Christ in majesty. In her difficult teenage years, her desired path forward in steadfast religious devotion and stringent fasting was opposed by her family. To her mother's chagrin, she cut her hair to avoid suitors, following her own advice to "build a cell inside [the] mind, from which [one] can never flee." At 21, she experienced a mystical marriage with Christ and soon received the stigmata as well.
Catherine attempted to negotiate peace between Florence, Siena, and the Papal States; she made it her goal to save the papacy from crumbling, inducing the pope to return from Avignon to Rome. In addition, she wrote heavenly tracts, the seraphic wisdom and mystical doctrines of which made her centuries later declared a Doctor of the Church. In her last years, she was summoned to Rome to defend the papacy again when the Great Western Schism broke out. After all that, she died, worn down by her enormous stringencies, at only 33 years old.
In this short, popular biography for young and old alike, meet the saint who saved the papacy and married Christ, who bore His wounds and survived on His Eucharist. In short, meet the saint among saints, surely a "wise virgin of the number of the prudent."
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 110 pages, 6 Illustrations,
by F. A. Forbes
Saint Catherine of Siena's life was of such astoundingly glorious sanctity that even the great saints seem to pale in comparison to her magnificence. She was born to a merchant family in Siena in 1347 and dedicated her virginity to God at 7. Around then she also began to have visions of Christ in majesty. In her difficult teenage years, her desired path forward in steadfast religious devotion and stringent fasting was opposed by her family. To her mother's chagrin, she cut her hair to avoid suitors, following her own advice to "build a cell inside [the] mind, from which [one] can never flee." At 21, she experienced a mystical marriage with Christ and soon received the stigmata as well.
Catherine attempted to negotiate peace between Florence, Siena, and the Papal States; she made it her goal to save the papacy from crumbling, inducing the pope to return from Avignon to Rome. In addition, she wrote heavenly tracts, the seraphic wisdom and mystical doctrines of which made her centuries later declared a Doctor of the Church. In her last years, she was summoned to Rome to defend the papacy again when the Great Western Schism broke out. After all that, she died, worn down by her enormous stringencies, at only 33 years old.
In this short, popular biography for young and old alike, meet the saint who saved the papacy and married Christ, who bore His wounds and survived on His Eucharist. In short, meet the saint among saints, surely a "wise virgin of the number of the prudent."
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 110 pages, 6 Illustrations,
St Ignatius of Loyola
St Ignatius of Loyola
by F. A. Forbes
The Soldier of Christ
The founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola was one of the most startling and imposing saints in the history of the Church. Born in 1491 to Spanish nobility, he spent his youth as a courtier, focused on worldly things like his appearance and gaining temporal glory. He described himself later as a manifold sinner. Eventually, he became a soldier in the Spanish army.
In 1521, at age 30, his life conversion struck: hit by a cannonball, he was forced into a convalescence of several months. To spend the time, he read; when he found the romantic and knightly novels he requested were not available, he read the lives of the saints and of Christ. His heart was stirred to repentance and imitation of the saints, and he began to compare his dreams for his life: serving the king and wooing a particular woman of the king's court or serving God and imitating the penances and fasts of the saints. The former left him sad and dissatisfied, and the latter left him peaceful and joyful: thus he knew what was the way, and this became the foundation of his method of discernment.
After his recovery, Ignatius was a new man. After confessing and vowing his life to Our Lady, he lived in a cave for a time and performed exceeding fasts and penances. Throughout this period, he was tempted by suicide and was filled with scruples, but he persevered and gained the grace of visions and discernment of spirits. He recorded the first elements of his famous Spiritual Exercises, made a harrowing pilgrimage to the Holy Land (only to be turned away), and studied at universities for 11 years. Eventually, he gathered six companions and formed the basis of the Society of Jesus, that monumental, titanic, and legitimately world-shifting religious order which owes its existence to him. After ordination, Ignatius took 18 months to prepare for his first Holy Mass. When at last the society was formalized, the pope took a great liking to them. Among their constitutions were the revolutionary rule not to accept ecclesiastical dignities and the extremely long period of probation. Ignatius guided the order through massive growth spurts and trials, ultimately succumbing to illness in utter peace, passing quietly into eternity.
This life of the soldier saint will inspire you and invigorate your faith life. No one is too far gone to turn back to God, and, if his own life experience is any indication, this biography will work wonders in stoking your desire to become a saint!
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 114 pages, 4 Illus, Impr.
by F. A. Forbes
The Soldier of Christ
The founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola was one of the most startling and imposing saints in the history of the Church. Born in 1491 to Spanish nobility, he spent his youth as a courtier, focused on worldly things like his appearance and gaining temporal glory. He described himself later as a manifold sinner. Eventually, he became a soldier in the Spanish army.
In 1521, at age 30, his life conversion struck: hit by a cannonball, he was forced into a convalescence of several months. To spend the time, he read; when he found the romantic and knightly novels he requested were not available, he read the lives of the saints and of Christ. His heart was stirred to repentance and imitation of the saints, and he began to compare his dreams for his life: serving the king and wooing a particular woman of the king's court or serving God and imitating the penances and fasts of the saints. The former left him sad and dissatisfied, and the latter left him peaceful and joyful: thus he knew what was the way, and this became the foundation of his method of discernment.
After his recovery, Ignatius was a new man. After confessing and vowing his life to Our Lady, he lived in a cave for a time and performed exceeding fasts and penances. Throughout this period, he was tempted by suicide and was filled with scruples, but he persevered and gained the grace of visions and discernment of spirits. He recorded the first elements of his famous Spiritual Exercises, made a harrowing pilgrimage to the Holy Land (only to be turned away), and studied at universities for 11 years. Eventually, he gathered six companions and formed the basis of the Society of Jesus, that monumental, titanic, and legitimately world-shifting religious order which owes its existence to him. After ordination, Ignatius took 18 months to prepare for his first Holy Mass. When at last the society was formalized, the pope took a great liking to them. Among their constitutions were the revolutionary rule not to accept ecclesiastical dignities and the extremely long period of probation. Ignatius guided the order through massive growth spurts and trials, ultimately succumbing to illness in utter peace, passing quietly into eternity.
This life of the soldier saint will inspire you and invigorate your faith life. No one is too far gone to turn back to God, and, if his own life experience is any indication, this biography will work wonders in stoking your desire to become a saint!
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 114 pages, 4 Illus, Impr.
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