History
Nineteenth-century Catholics and the Myth of Modern Freedom
by Dr John Rao
19TH CENTURY CATHOLICS AND THE MYTH OF MODERN FREEDOM Among American Catholics, there is a certain unwillingness to see anything amiss with modern civilization as embodied in the American dream of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Often, this is because the only alternatives to democracy we know are the much more frightening specters of socialism and communism. To many, it seems the only way to have an effective voice in the American political arena is to align ourselves with the so-called conservative "Right." Yet if we follow the logic of the "Right" today, we may wonder why people who support individual rights and freedom of conscience in the economic and political realm are so vehemently opposed to the supremacy of individual rights and freedom of conscience in the moral realm. Many Catholics give up following the logic at this point and cast their vote in favor of freedom of conscience as the most important principle - because it is the most advantageous to them at this moment.
LEARN THE TRUTH The Catholic Church, however, has never been concerned primarily with what is the most advantageous political system at a given point in history, but rather with the truth. In Removing the Blindfold, Dr. John Rao explains the conundrum that modern Catholics face in dealing with the current socio-political climate and traces the roots of this problem back to the French Revolution and the principles it espoused. He shows how most modern Catholics have embraced some form of revolutionary thought without even being aware of it, and reveals how revolutionary ideals are incompatible with Church teaching, and always have been.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 200 pages
A Defense of Tradition Grounded in the Historical Context of the Faith
by Prof Roberto de Mattei
Cherish Catholic Tradition and its essential role in Christ's indefectible Church through the ages!
Apologia for Tradition is a powerful, well-documented defense of sacred Tradition as a solution for the modern crisis in the Church. This book demonstrates how the Catholics of history and today are united in a timeless battle to defend Tradition. A battle that stretches from the sands of the Colosseum to the cultural arena of today's post-Christian era. The book shows:
- The triumph of Tradition over persecution and heresy
- Historical examples of the Church's method of adherence to Tradition
- How in every era, Christ raised up saints to defend the Tradition of Holy Mother Church
- How evil has attempted to eradicate Tradition, especially today
In the unhappy event of a conflict between the "living Magisterium" and Tradition, the primacy can be attributed to Tradition alone, for one simple reason: Tradition, which is the "living" Magisterium considered in its universality and continuity, is infallible in itself, whereas the so-called "living" Magisterium, understood as the current preaching of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, is infallible only under certain conditions. - Roberto de Mattei
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 122 pages
by Nicolas C. Prata
The year is A.D. 1565 and the tiny island fortress of Malta, defended by an anachronistic crusading order called the Knights of St. John Hospitallers, is all that stands between the war machine of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and the very heart of Christendom. Pitifully outmatched and against impossible odds, the indomitable Grand Master Jean Parisot de La Valette nevertheless inspires his knights to "strike a blow for Christ" and sacrifice their lives to halt the invading Turks at the gates of Europe. Nicholas Prata relates the actual events of the Great Siege in riveting and graphic prose which brings the extreme heroism of the knights and the horror of combat sharply into focus.
Age range: 12 years up
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 292 pages
Saint Pius V
The legendary Pope Who Excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I, Standardized the Mass, and Defeated the Ottoman Empire
by Prof Roberto de Mattei
Few Catholic writers have been as prolific as University of Rome Professor Roberto de Mattei. Over decades he has produced a wealth of incisive analyses about the Catholic world’s collapse and charted an authoritative path back to health and sanity.
He has now written an exceedingly compelling and powerful biography of Pope Pius V, widely recognized as one of the boldest and most courageous popes of the past millennium, who decisively defeated the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto and fought head-on the Protestant Reformation, which had assailed the Church.
The life of every Christian is a battle, and St. Pius V offers us a luminous example of leadership in a time of trial. In these pages, you’ll learn:
- How the “Revolution of Luther” was met with a papal shrug — that is, until Pius V became pope
- The inside story of how Pope Pius V led the Counter-Reformation on multiple fronts
- How the devastating Sack of Rome in 1527 forever changed the Holy See and had deadly consequences for clergy and religious alike
- Why St. Pius V’s no-compromise approach toward both the Renaissance and Humanist corruption preserved the Church to this day
- The behind-the-scenes story of the Council of Trent — the most dramatic conclave in the history of the Church
- The role inquisitions played in the time of Pope Pius V and what they enabled him to accomplish
- How St. Pius V dealt with stray bishops and how his rebukes and mandates led to meaningful reform of both their lives and the Church
- How St. Pius V dealt with rebellious Catholics in France and England and what led to the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth
You’ll also learn of Pope Pius V’s remarkable spiritual life and regimen, his foresight and prudence in dealing with the iconoclastic fury of the Huguenots in France, and the way he handled the trials of excommunicated heretics and reformed the rotting religious orders of his
day.
Professor de Mattei makes clear that Pope Pius V was so effective and so holy that no pontificate can be judged accurately without measuring it against his. In page after fascinating page, he shows contemporary Catholics what it means to be “a great pope” or “a saintly bishop.” Here, at last, is the complete life and times of one of the Church’s greatest prelates by one of her finest historians.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 464 pages
In this book, French historian Yves Chiron turns his attention to one of the most influential figures of 20th-century Catholicism: Annibale Bugnini, guiding spirit of liturgical reform in the period surrounding the Second Vatican Council. Highly controversial in his day, and down to the present, Bugnini has attracted high praise from his disciples and vilification from his detractors—but all agree that without his energetic organizational skills and access to the levers of power, the most extensive overhaul of the Roman Catholic liturgy in the history of the Church would not have taken place as it did.
Yet who was Bugnini, really? What were his formative experiences, personal ideals, intellectual assumptions, practical aims? How did he accomplish so much in so short a time? Why, after such a singular collaboration with Pope Paul VI, did he suddenly fall from grace and suffer exile? Should he be remembered as liturgiae amator et cultor, lover and servant of the liturgy (his epitaph), or as the éminence grise of an unscrupulous reinvention of Catholic worship? Can we cut through the legendary, the polemical, and the partisan, to arrive at a clear portrait of the man and his work? Until now, there has been no biography that makes extensive use of all available documentary sources, including Bugnini’s own memoirs, Vatican publications, private correspondence, interviews, articles, and lectures. The present book has filled this lacuna with the scholarly care and dispassionate analysis for which the author’s books are praised at all points on the ecclesiastical spectrum.
A Family’s Heroic Witness in an Age of Intolerance
by Patricia W. Claus
This is the true story of four courageous men who played pivotal roles in the religious and political struggles which nearly ripped England apart, from Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the 1530’s through the Civil Wars and the Restoration of 1660.
John Hampden, “The Patriot”, was a Puritan member of Parliament who reluctantly fought against King Charles I; his friend and relative the Reverend Robert Lenthall left England’s shores only to return home, disillusioned, barely three years later. Two of the Reverend’s relatives, the Speaker of the House of Commons William Lenthall, and the Speaker’s uncle St Robert Southwell, also played their parts in the political and religious upheavals of the times. The Speaker defended Hampden and four other men accused of treason by boldly asserting the rights of the House of Commons when Charles invaded it in January of 1642, a moment remembered forever in the annals of the Commons. But he also abandoned the faith of his ancestors to cling to power under the Puritan Parliament during the Civil Wars, a source of bitter regret at the end of his life.
His uncle St Robert Southwell, a Jesuit priest, poet and writer of some renown, paid the highest price of all these men for the freedom of conscience, dying as a martyr at Tyburn for the crime of being a Catholic priest. In a world in which religion was absolutely central to the individual, at a time when all Englishmen were forced to choose irrevocable political and religious paths according to their consciences, they all risked imprisonment or martyrdom; but their sacrifices ultimately led to the enshrinement of the ideas of freedom of speech and religion which are now the bedrock of the political systems of the entire English-speaking world.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 228 pages
by Michael E. Giesler
As the beautiful daughter of a Roman senator, Junia enjoyed the best that life had to offer in second century Rome. She was grateful and anxious to please her family, a dutiful and obedient young woman of privilege. That is, until a chance friendship and its abrupt end sparks an interest in a new religion that will lead to a destiny she never imagined. Junia is a fictional exploration of life at the very beginning of Christianity from a very personal point of view. It shows how the attractions of the new religion were accompanied by social struggle, family division, and the risk of a disgraceful death to those courageous enough to embrace it.
Paperback, size 8" x 5", 120 pages
by Michael E. Giesler
Set in the second century of the early Christian Church, Grain of Wheat takes you into the heroic lives of the early Christians. Along the way, it shows the beauty and dignity of the Christian family, along with the power of the vocation to celibacy — a charism lived not only by priests and bishops, but by many of the lay faithful. These brave men and women, both single and married, followed Christ and spread his Kingdom while remaining in society. Through their courageous faith an entire culture was transformed, one person at a time, one family at a time.
This work of fiction draws on early Christian testimonies, as well as more recent historical and contemporary books. It continues the saga which the author introduced in Junia (2002) and Marcus (2004).
Paperback, size 8" x 5", 211 pages
by Rev Michael E. Giesler
In second-century Rome, Marcus tries to resume his life as a student of philosophy at the Athenaeum. His sister, Junia, had been executed in the Amphitheater for the crime of becoming a Christian. A few weeks after her death, Marcus himself is saved from being run over by a reckless charioteer. A young passerby, a Samarian, instinctively throws him out of the path of danger. And through this selfless act of a stranger, Marcus is led to share a new world based on truth and love, but a world beset with new dangers.
Continuing the story of Junia and of early Christian experience in the Roman Empire, Marcus reveals how the followers of Jesus, the Christ, began to transform pagan society. Social and family connections intertwine with friendship and betrayal, prejudice and loyalty, as those who are drawn to the Way must make decisions that define their own lives and forever change the world in which they live.
Paperback, size 8" x 5", 127 pages
Where They Went and How They Got There
by J. Charles Wall
The Jews usually burned the crosses used by the Romans after executions but following Jesus' crucifixion they quickly threw the Cross in a ditch to get it out of sight before the feast of Passover. That preserved the True Cross, and memory of the events preserved its location.
Disgusted with continued Christian veneration of the spot, pagan Roman Emperor Hadrian erected on the Cross's burial site a statue to Venus, hoping thereby to obliterate their memory. It didn't work.
Indeed, because of the statue, when the Empire became Christian, St. Helena knew the exact spot where she would find the very Cross on which Christ died. All relics from Christ's crucifixion have a similarly fascinating story, all of which are told here in this 1910 work by the enterprising Catholic investigator Charles Wall.
Among the things you'll discover in these pages:
- The miracle that revealed to St. Helena which of the three discovered crosses was that of Jesus.
- The horse's bit made from a nail of the True Cross, and the successes it brought the horse's rider.
- The nails and why there are so many in existence today. A history of the fortunes the Crown of Thorns to those who held them, and a list of towns where thorns are found.
- Where, in 1492, workman accidentally discovered again the actual board on which "King of the Jews" was written.
- The modest Frenchman who saved a holy nail from profanation during the French RevolutionDrawings of the spear of Longinus, and reports of its later use in battles.
- Relics of Jesus' actual blood from the Crucifixion: and why it makes sense that some still exists.
- The veil of Veronica, Christ's seamless robe, and much more!
Paperback, 144 pages
How Christendom Defeated the Ottoman Turks
by Dane Moczar
Historian Diane Moczar pulls back the curtain on one of the most important acts in the drama of Muslim aggression against the West: the 500-year-long siege of Europe by the Ottoman Turks. Tracing the rise of the Turkish people from wandering Asian tribe to mighty pan-continental empire, Islam at the Gates chronicles the heroes and villains, the battles and atrocities, the tragic errors and timely miracles, that marked the Ottomans incursions from Europe s borders to the very heart of Christendom; and then, by the grace of God, their eventual repulsion and final defeat.
In these pages you'll encounter:
- The bold sultans, timid emperors, and vile traitors who aided the Turkish advance and the popes who tirelessly preached Crusade against it
- Brave saints who rallied Christian forces against the invaders including the hardy warrior-monk who died in battle at the age of sixty-one
- The island fortress whose rag-tag defenders continually thwarted superior numbers of Ottoman attackers defying even the great sultan Suleiman
- The suffering of millions of Christian families in occupied lands their children kidnapped and forced into Muslim armies and harems
- Folk heroes from the hills of Hungary and Albania who rose up against their Ottoman overlords and whose guerilla tactics inspired their people
- The tragic fall of Constantinople, seat of Eastern Christianity its people slaughtered, its treasures plundered, its sacred places befouled Europe s pivotal, improbable pair of victories at Lepanto and Vienna, and the defeat of the last great Turkish offensive on September 11, 1697
Solid history and dramatic narrative make Islam at the Gates a moving look at Europe s long struggle against the Turks.
But the author's shrewd Catholic outlook also makes it an edifying one. Had these events unfolded just a little differently, Christian civilization might have been conquered by the sword of Allah. If we fail to learn the lessons of history, Dr. Moczar warns, the West may yet fall.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 243 pages
by Henry Garnett
It was fall 1570, and rumors of an invasion by the Turks were spreading throughout Venice. Down by the docks, Guido Callata listened to the sailors as they discussed past battles and speculated about more fighting in the future. From the altar of St. Mark's, a message from His Holiness Pope Pius V had been read, calling for crusade to repel Turkish advances. A fleet of Venetian and Spanish vessels would be assembled, and Guido's father, like other wealthy Venetians, had agreed to build and equip a galley for the Christian fleet. Secretly, Guido hoped to sail to battle with his father's crew; instead, he was whisked off to the safety of a monastery, far from the excitement of the Venetian waterfront. How Guido finally manages to join the fleet and help to defeat the Turks in the memorable Battle of Lepanto is a colorful tale of danger, suspense, and adventure in sixteenth-century Italy.
Paperback, size 8" x 5.2", 186 pages
Love for the Papacy & Filial Resistance to the Pope
In the History of the Church
by Prof Roberto de Mattei
In this book, Roberto de Mattei steers us perceptively through centuries of Church history concerning both the wise, and the disastrous, decisions of popes and councils: from the role of Pope Liberius in the Arian crisis to the troubled Vatican compromises with the French Third Republic; from the Ostpolitik and liturgical rupture of Paul VI to the erosion of dogmatic truths and moral absolutes under Pope Francis. In these and in many more examples de Mattei’s judgment rings true: popes have been mistaken in their political, pastoral, and even magisterial acts, and the resistance of the faithful to such acts is a duty and a cause of benefit.
Along the way we are offered an illuminating catechism in ecclesiology, the nature of the Magisterium, and the limits of papal authority. Especially helpful are de Mattei’s discussion of the hypothesis of a heretical pope, his clear explanation of the difference between filial resistance and disobedience to the Successors of the Apostles when they make heterodox pronouncements, and his ample treatment of the significance and profound implications of recent public remonstrations with the current pontificate on behalf of orthodoxy. The author’s rich historical narratives, deftly intertwined with dogmatic, moral, and canonical principles, make this work a potent resource for grappling with the current crises of the Church.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 232 pages
by Marie de Sainte-Hermine
Inspired by first hand accounts, this touching story of the French Revolution is a great example of the popular Catholic literature of the 19th century. Plunged into the disasters following the murder of Louis XVI, Marie de Sainte-Hermine recounts, as only a grandmother can, the history of her noble family and their struggle against the tyranny of the Revolution. The reader learns of her guilded childhood in the manor house of Bois-Joli, and follows her through the tragic hours of the Vendean War of 1793, the massacres and atrocities of the revolutionaries, and the sinister prison of Nantes, where her family paid the ultimate price. Through the darkness of the Terror, however, shines the light and power of Christian nobility and virtue - a lesson fit for all ages.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 357 pages
A History of the Christian City Beneath Pagan Rome
by Fr James Spencer Northcote
Enter into the shadows of the Roman catacombs where early Christians attended Mass and hid in fear from Roman soldiers seeking their death for refusing to renounce the Christian Faith.
You'll read dramatic acts of faith and courage as Fr. James Spencer Northcote, the world-renowned 19th-century expert on the catacombs, relates the intense belowground life of the catacombs.
For over three centuries, Christians buried their dead in often elaborate crypts hollowed out for them underground by fossors — designated diggers whose status was just below that of deacons and priests.
With scores of maps and illustrations in these pages, you'll see that the architecture of many crypts was as elaborate as buildings above-ground, creating under the streets and fields of Rome a second-city—indeed, a Christian city in the very heart of pagan Rome—graced with broad underground tunnels and large rooms where assemblies could be held.
In good times and in bad, during peace and during persecutions, the catacombs were central to the vibrant life of the early Church, whose history is here retold from its creation to its eventual decline, loss, and then, hundreds of years later, its rediscovery.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 154 pages
If you want to be strong and of good courage, be sure that you care less about death than about shame.
-Geoffroi de Charny
Battles - Honour - Miracles!
This book is filled with amazing stories of little-known Catholic heroes presenting spectacles of bravery and valour never exceeded in all the annals of history. Demonstrating his gallantry through daring feats of arms, the knight's faith, coupled with his marvellous courage, made him nearly invincible on the field of battle. Built around a stirring chronicle of the Knights of St. John, these inspiring accounts bring to life Catholic heroes who fought with courage, chivalry, and an unwavering trust in God to protect their neighbour, their country, and their Faith.
"You must in no way indulge in too great fondness for pampering your body, for love of that is the worst kind of love there is. But instead direct your love toward the preservation of your soul and your honour, which last longer than does the body."
- Geoffroi de Charny, a 14th century knight and author of The Book of Chivalry
252 pp. Softcover.
This is the true account of the martyrdom of Catholics, who, because they chose to bear witness to the Faith, died for it. Of the many jewels that form the Christian diadem of Spain, that of the martyrs is the most beautiful. In cities, towns, and villages throughout the land, people were tortured for witnessing to the Truth. Many priests, religious brothers, nuns, men, women, and children were murdered. "You be the judge of the following events and decide if they are only terrible or also triumphant in their eternal heroism."
The example of the Spanish martyrs makes us aware of the futility of our attempts to avoid guilt and escape from God by removing Him from society altogether. Their heroism forces us to take a long, clear, and unwavering look in the mirror. Is it possible that we find ourselves unknowingly in the enemy’s camp? Have we allowed ourselves to be absorbed by our culture merely to enjoy the safe but sterile existence of a microbe in a plastic society? Has much of what transpired in Spain in the heat of persecution already occurred here and passed unnoticed? Are we deserving of persecution? The Spanish martyrs have left us an admonition proper for the age: Imagined paradises lead to real hells. The martyrs are models of what Christians, armed by the grace of God, can be. They rise above themselves, their infirmities, and the vicissitudes of history to escape the gravity of the world. In so doing, they provide us with an example that we can ignore only at our peril.
THE BLOOD OF MARTYRS IS THE SEED OF THE CHURCH.
The Rising in the Vendee
by Michael Davies
It is a matter of regret that very few English-speaking Catholics know anything whatsoever about the events that took place in the Vendee region of France during the French Revolution of 1789.
The aim of this book is to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul II to the Vendee, where the people remained faithful to the Vicar of Christ and attached to their parishes and their priests, in spite of the cruelty of persecution to which they were subjected during the French Revolution. There is no more noble or inspiring story in the history of the Church than that of the heroic struggle of the people of the Vendee to defend their altars and their King.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 100 pages
by J.K. Wittbrodt
“Studying the history of the English Reformation can help us to see how a handful of people—educated, well-positioned and imbued with revolutionary ideology—can force unwanted and destructive changes onto a peaceful nation by using their political power, propaganda, agitation and stirring up riotous mobs of big cities. It happened numerous times during the history of mankind. It always brought about huge economic losses and the murder of a large number of innocent citizens of the society in which the turmoil was instigated by the revolutionary activists.” - J.K. Wittbrodt, Author’s Note
“This book is about those who gave their life for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, saints who were outlawed, mocked and hated by the ruling elite of their times. Their great conflict was played out in prison, in torture chambers and on the scaffold. They gained victory by witnessing to the Catholic dogma of the Mass as a bloodless sacrifice and Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Most of them were priests, fugitive in their homeland, who were caught by the pursuivants while saying Mass. Others were lay men and women attending the banned Catholic worship or hiding hunted priests. Some of them were bishops who first fell into schism with Henry VIII due to their cowardice but redeemed themselves during the reign of Edward VI and Elizabeth I by standing up for Catholic dogmas, especially for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. May the example of these saintly English heroes increase our devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar in our troubled times plagued by disbelief in the sacrificial nature of the Mass and irreverence towards the Blessed Eucharist.” -J.K. Wittbrodt, Author’s Note
This stunning book is a fascinating and essential read for all Catholics of today. Much is to be learned from these heroes who not only kept the Faith but spread it in spite of an anti-catholic government who sought their destruction at all times and at every turn. A must-have for every catholic library.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 260 pages