Prayer
As the Master, So the Disciple
by Fr. John Hugo
Fr. Onesimus Lacouture was a Jesuit who had the great gift of being a masterful director of souls. Being a Jesuit formed in the old mold of true Ignatian spirituality and deeply affected by the so-called “French School” of Cardinal Berulle, St. John Eudes, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort, his retreats, given to over 6000 American and Canadian priests, produced extraordinary results. His most well known disciple and good friend, Fr. Hugo, has produced for posterity, the Notes from those Ignatian retreats as given by Fr. Lacouture and subsequently by himself and many other priests.
A Sign of Contradiction is Fr. Hugo’s apologia for the work of Fr. Lacouture and the “spiritual movement” that grew spontaneously from the ardent, enlightened, and effective preaching of the retreats. He describes the movement, its opponents and its supporters as well as the revelatory doctrines so convincingly presented by Fr. Lacouture.
This book is spiritually motivating, historically informative, and powerfully illuminating in regard to the condition of the Church and the faithful in North America during the mid-twentieth century. His other works include Applied Christianity and The Gospel of Peace.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 412 pages
Table of Contents
Loreto Publications Foreword
Foreword
Part One
A Christward Movement
I. A Retreat on the Supernatural Life
II. The Effect of the Retreat
III. Practicing the Retreat
IV. The Doctrine of the Retreat
Part Two
History of the Movement
V. Father Onesimus Lacouture, S.J.
VI. Opposition in the Society
VII. The Spirit of the Society
VIII. The Law of Contradiction
IX. The Particular Spirit
X. Difficulties of the Movement
XI. Spirituality of the Movement
Part Three
Backgrounds of the Movement
XII. Religious and the Movement
XIII. Laity and the Movement
XIV. Clergy and the Movement
XV. The Movement and Authority
XVI. Giving the Devil his Due
Postscript
Loreto Appendix:
Death of Fr. Lacouture by Dorothy Day
by Msgr. Gaumé
The holy Sign of the Cross is the most important prayer and symbol of our Christian faith. It is at once the image of Christ's passion, the sign of the redemption of all mankind, the awesome testament of the destruction of the power of the devil and of his kingdom on earth. The resurrection is the promise and seal and guarantee of eternal life which consummated the work of the Cross.
Christians rejoice and the demons tremble to see the Sign of the Cross emblazoned everywhere as proof of Christ's victory over the world. Christ said "all power is given to me in heaven and on earth" and the Cross is the seat of that power. There is no place on earth where a person who makes the Sign of the Cross is not immediately recognized as a Catholic, and there is no miracle that has not been worked under this sign. It is the "nuclear bomb" of prayers and with it the faithful can clear away all enemies and temptations with the simplest of wordless gestures. Msgr. Gaumé has compiled a magnificent collection of history and commentary from the saints and fathers and doctors, as well as his own meditations and exhortations regarding this most powerful prayer. All Catholics should avail themselves of this information and make it fruitful in their own lives.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 158 pages
Thirty-Six Sketches
by Msgr Francis J Weber
Recently retired from over fifty years of service to God and to the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Monsignor Weber has allowed us to publish some of the delightful, insightful, and very succinct homilies he has given on real and literary characters found in the holy gospels.
The four gospels tell us the story of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, the Savior of the world. In the course of those gospels, Jesus Christ tells us many stories that reveal God the Father’s loving plan for our salvation. Through the homilies collected here Monsignor Francis Weber does what a good preacher always does, that is, he points out the spiritual truth the gospels reveal, and then connects that truth with our own faith and daily experiences as disciples of Jesus Christ.
By “real characters” Monsignor Weber indicates the real life men and women whom Jesus met and engaged during his life and ministry, such as Peter and Paul and Pontius Pilate. “Literary characters” are the imaginary figures in Christ’s parables, such as the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan.
Contents include:
| Zachariah and Elizabeth | Sons of Thunder | The Prodigal Son | Judas Iscariot | Simon of Cyrene |
| The Magi | The Apostles | A Widow and Her Mite | John the Beloved | Dismas, The Good Thief |
| Simeon | Thomas the Doubter | Bartimaeus | A King and a Marriage Feast | Nicodemus |
| Mary | Rich Man and Lazarus | Good Samaritan | Joseph of Arimathea | Barrabas |
| John the Baptist | Young Man Whom Jesus Loved | Adulterous Woman | Mary Magdalen | |
| Peter, the Prince & Vicar | Peter and Paul | Mary, Mother of God | Herod Antipas | |
| The Householder | A Leper | Martha | Pontius Pilate | |
| Peter the Rock | Woman of the Streets | Zacchaeus | Veronica |
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 80 pages
Meditations for each Hour, Day & Season of the Liturgical Year
With the completion of this book, a step has been taken which we hope will bring the Church that much closer to fulfilling Sister Lucia’s dream. For the first time (to the best of our knowledge), the Church’s Liturgy and the Virgin’s Rosary, long intimately united in their supernatural end, are connected in a tangible manner. With sets of meditations corresponding to each day of the Liturgical year and to each hour of the Divine Office, the Rosary can now be prayed with holy Mother Church, as it were, guiding the thoughts of our hearts even as holy Mother Mary has long guided the images of our imaginations. Truly, these mysteries are not meant to be merely remembered. They are meant to be entered into. They are meant to be lived.
Features:
- Foreword by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski: Should the Laity Pray the Breviary or the Rosary?
- The Prayers of the Rosary in English and Latin
- A Simple Method of Chanting the Rosary with Suggested Rubrics and Antiphons
- The Fifteen Promises of Our Lady to Those Who Pray the Rosary
- The Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary Synoptically Recounted
Meditations Taken from:
- Each of the Canonical Hours for Each of the Days of the Week
- The Votive Masses for the Days of the Week
- Each of the Feasts of the Sanctoral Cycle
- Each of the Feasts of the Seasonal Cycle: Advent Through Pentecost
- The Common Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- The Common Masses of the Saints
Soft leather cover, Gold foiling, Sewn binding, size 6.73" x 4.25”, Blue, Red & Black ribbons, 528 pages
by Benedict R. Avery, O.S.B.
The life of every Christian soul on it’s pilgrimage through this vale of tears must be fed primarily on two foods. The origin of these two foods is the two trees in the Eden of our first parents, of which trees one was allowed to their use and one was forbidden. The Tree of Life was intended to feed the life that God had breathed into Adam and Eve. We now have a replacement for the food of that tree. That food is God Himself as the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. Adam’s disobedience regarding the command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the cause of mankind’s fall from grace. Now that man knows of evil, God has given us something to teach us to distinguish the evil from the good. Of this tree we also have a new bread to eat, as Jesus himself told us, “Not by bread alone (temporal bread) doth man live, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.” The word of God is two things, scripture and Jesus—especially in the Eucharist. These two foods are essential to us to sustain our life of grace that will, hopefully, lead us to eternal life.
Daily reading in the scriptures is the best way for a Christian to partake of this bread that God has given us. On Palm Sunday, 1978, Brother Francis gave us this daily schedule. Some have followed it ever since, and can testify to the sweetness and depth that this practice can bring to one’s spiritual life.
Douay Rheims version of the English bible as the very best translation available from which to read scripture. It corresponds more accurately to the original Vulgate than any of the more recent translations and the language is most beautiful.
Booklet, size 8.5" x 5.25", 40 pages
by St. Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine’s "On Christian Doctrine" provides a masterful guide to reading and interpreting Sacred Scripture rightly, grounding interpretation in the graces of faith, hope, and love so that Scripture leads the reader to God’s eternal truth. Covering language, signs, figurative expressions, and the proper relationship between faith and reason, it guards against interpretive error and shows how all Christian learning must be ordered toward love of God and neighbour.
- Explains principles for discerning truth and meaning in Sacred Scripture rooted in the Church’s tradition.
- Shows how faith, hope, and love are indispensable graces for proper scriptural interpretation.
- Teaches the proper use of language, signs, and figurative expressions in Scripture.
- Warns against reading Scripture too literally or too loosely, aligning interpretation with charity.
- Challenges readers to pursue not merely knowledge, but true understanding directed toward God.
Paperback, size 7" x 5", 408 pages
The Autobiography and Revelations of Sister Mary of St. Peter (1816-1848) on Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
by Sister Mary of Saint Peter
Born in 1816 in Brittany, France, Sister Mary of Saint Peter lost her mother at age 12. Soon after entering the Carmelite convent at Tours in 1839 at age 23, she began to receive remarkable and intimate communications from Our Lord, Who told her of His great distressed over the evil actions and blasphemous declarations of the Marxist revolutionaries of the time. He also bemoaned the indifference to and profanation of Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation of even Christians. These errors, begun in Sister Mary's time, have grown monstrously ingrained in our present fearful age.
But the Lord provided Sister Mary over a century and a half ago with the means of fighting these catastrophes and making solemn reparation: devotion to His Holy Face. In addition, He gave her a prayer, a "Golden Arrow" fit to pierce His Heart delightfully, in reparation for the painful "poison arrows" of blasphemy launched by so many poor sinners, even children.
The Golden Arrow tells of both the life of Sister Mary of Saint Peter and her life's work: the devotion, granted to her by Jesus Himself, to His Holy Face. Approved by Pope Leo XIII and promoted by St. Therese of Lisieux half a century later, the devotion to the Holy Face may be the single most important devotion of our time that still remains relatively unknown.
In our age so sorely afflicted by the same grievous errors as Sister Mary of Saint Peter's, learn to adore Our Blessed Saviour's wounded Face, so as to make reparation for the sacrileges and blasphemies of our decadent age.
May the most Holy, most Sacred, most Adorable,
Most Incomprehensible and Ineffable Name of God
Be always Praised, Blessed, Loved, Adored and Glorified,
In Heaven, on Earth and in Hell,
By all the Creatures of God,
And by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
In the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Amen.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 248 pages
compiled from Traditional Sources
Prayers within include:
- How to pray the Rosary
- How to practice the First Saturday Devotion
- Rosary meditations of St. L. De Montfort
- Seven Sorrows of Our Lady
- Devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help
- Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christmas Prayer
- The powerful Thirty Days Prayer
- Fatima Prayers
- The Rosary in Latin
- Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary
- And so much more!
The perfect size to carry always, its daily use will aid your devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the perfect gift for those faithful with a lifelong devotion to Mary, as well as for those who are just beginning to ask the Blessed Virgin to intercede on their behalf.
Booklet, size 6" x 3.75", 73 pages
by Fr. Daniel A Lord, S.J.
St Benedict Novena booklet includes 24 pages of exclusive Italian 'Fratelli Bonella' fine art and special prayers. The cover displays a colourful gold outlined image of St Benedict from the exclusive Italian 'Bonella' art collection. Each page is filled with beautiful prayers, surrounded by colourful, decorative designs.
Booklet, size 6" x 3.75", 24 pages
by unknown
St Patrick Novena booklet includes 24 pages of exclusive Italian 'Fratelli Bonella' fine art and special prayers. The cover displays a colourful gold outlined image of St Patrick from the exclusive Italian 'Bonella' art collection. Each page is filled with beautiful prayers, surrounded by colourful, decorative designs.
Booklet, size 6" x 3.75", 24 pages
by Thomas à Kempis
After the Bible, The Imitation of Christ is the all-time favorite book of Catholics throughout the world. And of the English editions, none can equal this inspiring translation by Bishop Richard Challoner.
This book speaks to the soul of every true Christian, reminding us of the fleeting nature of earthly joy as opposed to the eternity of happiness with God.
The guide of the saints since it first appeared in 1418, it was the sole spiritual reading of St. Therese of Lisieux, who loved it and knew it by heart.
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange asserted that the true mysticism of which it speaks is accessible to all, if they are willing to follow the way of humility, the cross, continual prayer, and docility to the Holy Ghost.
Other versions also available.
Leatherette Deluxe Hardcover, size 8.9" x 5.9", 432 pages
by St. Bonaventure, St. Francis of Assisi
WILL YOU NOT WATCH ONE HOUR WITH ME?
The saints of the Church have often produced aids for those desiring to grow in devotion to Our Lord, especially to his Passion; and while the saints have employed many different genres to inform devotion to Christ, there is perhaps none greater than the devotion offered in a liturgical Office.
This little book, which presents two of these Offices by two of the great saints of the Church, is what men and women of the medieval period would have called a Book of Hours.
It is these types of shorter daily Offices which are customarily found in Books of Hours designed for lay devotional use. The most popular of these “Little Offices” was that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but other offices were often included alongside it the Office of the Dead, the Office of the Cross, the Office of the Holy Ghost, or an Office of the Passion as we have here. St. Francis is known to have said the Church’s Office and his own Office of the Passion every day.
Offices dedicated to the Passion commemorate Christ’s suffering by connecting specific hours of prayer to the moments of His Passion: the Crucifixion, for example, was always remembered at the hour of Sext. St. Bonaventure and St. Francis of Assisi were particularly suited to produce rich texts for devotional prayer on the Passion. To the initial texts of his Office, St. Francis added more and more pieces over the course of his life, until the Office of the Passion assumed the shape it now.
In 1257, St. Bonaventure was elected Minister General of the Franciscan order. He served in this capacity into the 1270s, when he was made a Cardinal Bishop. The Franciscans at Paris had developed close ties with the royal court of St. Louis IX. St. Bonaventure preached before the royal family on many occasions. It is traditionally believed that St. Bonaventure composed the Office of the Passion at the request of St. Louis IX for the royal saint’s own use.
The two Offices presented here begin the narrative of the Passion in slightly different places: St. Bonaventure’s begins at Matins and Lauds, remembering Christ imprisoned in the early hours of the morning, while St. Francis’s Office begins at Compline the night prior by commemorating the Agony in the Garden.
These Offices invite us to enter more deeply into the memory of the Lord’s Passion, and more deeply into the devotional lives of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure, and even St. Louis IX. In St. Bonaventure’s Office we are taken by a more conventional route into the Passion of Christ. In St. Francis’s Office of the Passion, we find a more unique Office composed of texts that invite us into St. Francis’s own prayers. The Seraphic Father not only presses us to become more devoted to Christ’s suffering; he teaches us to praise God through the created world, to grow in devotion to Our Lady, and to more clearly recognize God as the source of all the goods we have, those of nature gifted to us through creation and those of grace gifted to us by God’s redeeming acts, especially Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Here is how we can better know these saints and, with them, take on the mind of Christ, their Lord and Master: by taking up their prayers daily.
This is a beautiful book that will delight all who use it.
Soft cover, Gilded pages and cover lettering, three ribbons, size 6.5" x 4.3", 179 pages
by St Peter of Alcantara
Since St. Peter of Alcantara (1499–1562) wrote this treatise in 1556 to help people prepare their lives for eternity, readers need not be reminded that sin and eternity hasn’t changed in the last 450 years. St. Peter offers less a practical guide on prayer and meditation than a path to deepening and enriching one’s interior life in order to prepare the soul for its fi nal end. The author does so by providing a series of considerations on the elements of the spiritual life, on the Sacred Passion, and on ways to improve piety (which the author calls “devotion”) and to overcome the difficulties and temptations in its achievement.
This book was highly recommended by other contemporary saints including St. Teresa of Avila, whom the author appeared to upon his death. This book is a modernized edition of an English translation from the late 1920s.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 140 pages
Methods of Praying the Rosary with Fruit
This book contains numerous ways of praying the Rosary with many beautiful coloured pictures of stained glass windows to inspire you.
Specially included are:
- a Douay-Rheims Scriptural Rosary,
- two additional Rosary formats with meditations for each Hail Mary,
- the Rosary with added prayers to each Hail Mary,
- a Latin Vulgate Rosary and
- a Gregorian Chant Rosary.
This book will be a great help for anyone wanting to meditate well upon the mysteries of the Rosary whether privately, with family or parish.
Sewn hardcover, size 7.4" x 4.25", 160 pages
Profound and Brief Meditations
by an Anonymous Carthusian Monk
Key points of examination to find inner peace and foster union with God.
These brief words of advice are a summation of the lessons learned by an anonymous Carthusian monk over the course of his monastic life. The advice is precise, profound and eternally valuable. If you've been looking for a way to quickly remove inner turmoil, find peace of mind and soul, and develop reliance on God, this small text will be a profound aid.
"Consent to forget the world, the universe, and yourself. If you hesitate to lose your life in Him and for Him, go no further. As much as it is possible for you, in exact obedience and perfect charity, you must avoid four things which are major obstacles to interior silence, and which render habitual contemplation impossible: interior noise, interior discussions, obsession, and worries about yourself. This being done, you will have passed through the doors of silence."
Booklet, size 7.3" x 4.2", 58 pages
(March 20 - June 21)
by Fr. Patrick Troadec
“The best way to celebrate the saints is to imitate them. Why not try to live as they did, if only for one day, their day, the day consecrated and blessed by the Church, when they are ‘on duty’ to help us?”—Monsignor Ghika
This book of daily meditations is the fourth volume released in a four-volume series entitled Praying with the Saints by Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. These books serve as a brief daily guide to following in the footsteps of the saints through the liturgical year as well as on our life-long journey to eternity. The example of a new saint everyday will surely direct and motivate souls to a deeper union with God and a habitual higher level of sanctity.
Begin your day with the following inspiration:
• Life of the Saint
• Brief Meditation
• Prayers
• Thoughts
• Invocations
• and Three Resolutions to aid in concrete, daily, spiritual growth.
If you are looking for a way to integrate prayer or spiritual reading into your daily life or want a daily reminder that sanctity is not only achievable but in fact our sole purpose here on earth then this is a series for you. Short, profound, daily meditations on the saints and the liturgical year by best-selling author Fr. Patrick Troadec.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 254 pages
Our Lady in Doctrine and Devotion
by Fr William G Most
For the first time in the history of Marian writing, here is a book that co-ordinates and integrates the dogmatic truths underlying devotion to Mary with a solid, unsentimental, and balanced application of these truths to the life of the soul.
The author lucidly demonstrates that, since God has given Mary an all-pervading place in His scheme for the redemption of man, it follows that if we wish to grow in love of God—the goal of all spiritual striving—we will give Mary a corresponding place in our soul-life.
This book shows us how to achieve such fusion of God-centered and Mary-informed spirituality. It provides a basic orientation in ascetic principles and explains the classic steps in spiritual and mystical growth, drawing always on the texts of Scripture, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, the great commentators, and the modern papal pronouncements.
OUR LADY'S PART IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
This is a fundamental text of Marian spirituality, for private study, for class and study-club use, for aid in spiritual direction. It is at once simple, clear, and logical, yet fortified by rich documentation and reference material. With Index and questions for discussion.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 332 pages
Meditations on thoughts for Lent, Christ's sufferings and Christ the King
by Fr Robert Maeder
Three excellent, easy to read, sets of meditations by the famous preaching priest and Catholic newspaper editor, Fr. Robert Mader. His delivery of the total faith was so much in the apostolic spirit of primitive Christianity that he was called "the Thunder of the Holy Ghost".
Thoughts for Lent:
| Christ's Sufferings:
| Christ the King:
|
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 166 pages
Practical Meditations for Each Day of the Month of June
by Abbé Berlioux
After the devotions of May to His Blessed Mother Mary, we turn now to June, the month of His love. To increase our fervor, The Month of the Sacred Heart, by the Abbé Berlioux, contains a valuable trove of practices and sentiments toward sanctifying the month of June. Excellent as a daily reader for the month, but also very useful for the monthly First Friday devotions and home enthronement preparations and ceremonies, as well as matrimonial devotions, anniversaries and vow renewals.
Each chapter contains the whole day’s reading, prayer, and a fitting example for the reading, usually taken from the author’s personal knowledge or some other historical example. Much of the life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is included, as well as incredible inspiration and pearls of hope from the tumultuous nineteenth century – a century that echoes our own in social and spiritual unrest. This is what gives the book a unique atmosphere, and timeless appropriateness. As each of the thirty days of June progress, the subjects cover every possible facet of the Sacred Heart devotion, solidifying for the devotee a rich theological truth and piety.
The subjects range from the origins of the devotion and life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the incredible promises of the Sacred Heart devotion, the material and spiritual objects of the devotion, a description of, and ways to devote oneself to each symbol within the Image itself, the various desires of our Lord’s Heart, the terrible “thorns”, or sorrows, with which His people wound His Heart, the means of honoring His Heart, beautiful ways to execute the practice of this devotion in our everyday lives, the hearts of the Holy Family, and more. The readings are short and easy for modern man to complete for a morning meditation, between the labors of a busy life, and for raising to a higher level one’s entire being to live each moment in honor of His Divine Heart. Let us make impossible the words of St. Francis of Assisi that, “Love is not loved”.
The examples after each reading reflect upon each truth taught each day. Many of the stories are literally of conversions and miraculous events occurring due to a petition to the Sacred Heart, and others are simply inspiring about individuals who lived deeply devoted lives, consecrated to the Heart of Jesus. Truly, those who persevere through this devotion will save their own souls, the souls around them, and deliver many souls from the fires and pains of Purgatory.
The prayers that follow each daily reading are written specifically to inspire a greater love in relation to the subject treated for that day, perfectly-matched to the theme of the reading.
The Month of the Sacred Heartwas first published in the French language in Grenoble. The book was soon after translated for the English-speaking world and published in 1885. The Abbé Berlioux was a priest of the diocese of Grenoble and was the Curé, or parish priest, of the church of St. Bruno. In his works he often uses a literary charm of addressing the reader personally. In this work, he calls out to the reader, addressing him by the name, “Christian”, or “Christian”, in nearly each day’s reading as he gets to the point of what the individual could do to utilize and live a Christian life based on a greater devotion to the Sacred Heart, increasing the seriousness of the tone as well as gripping the attention of the reader with it.
Read The Month of the Sacred Heart to increase in the soul the love of Christ’s love! The devotion taught in its pages will take the reader by the hand and lead him to live more fully the life of a brother of Christ. In its pages you will find:
- An organized 30 days of Sacred Heart devotions for the complete month of June
- Daily spiritual reading on the various facets of the devotion to Jesus’ Heart
- A detailed study of the Image of the Sacred Heart and ways to personally apply the message
- Daily prayers to the Sacred Heart
- Daily examples of true-life stories that draw out the truths within each day’s reading.
- A collection of devotions and prayers, including a special means of attending Mass through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Paperback, size 8" x 5", 173 pages
Also available in Hardcover with dust jacket upon request (additional cost)
by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Amidst the backdrop of World War II, the great Fulton Sheen wrote Preface to Religion, his first book published after the war ended. As the world was recovering from death, destruction, and despair, Sheen’s timely work tackles the most salient questions pertaining to happiness and sanity. With simplicity and frankness, Sheen declares, “If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of ten it will be yourself. If there is no God, then you are a god.” Throughout this work, Sheen addresses the perennial subjects of fallen nature, forgiveness, the four last things, how God remakes us, the role of religion in the process, and the gift of second chances.
Contrary to the modern world, God does not give us what “we want for our pleasure” but “what we need for our perfection.” Preface to Religion reminds us of education’s primary purpose, which is to train the mind to use freedom rightly. God chose to make a moral universe, but morality is impossible without freedom. And therefore, the reader will see that the body must always serve the soul.
Finally, Sheen writes on faith, that “the modern man who is not living according to his conscience wants a religion without a Cross, a Christ without a Calvary, a Kingdom without Justice,” and a pastor “who never mentions hell to ears polite.” For anyone seeking to find true happiness and true freedom, Preface to Religion will be your guide.
Hardcover, size 8.75" x 5.75", 184 pages