Spiritual Life

"Be not afraid to tell Jesus that you love Him; even though it be without feeling, this is the way to oblige Him to help you, and carry you like a little child too feeble to walk."

The Story of a Soul, better known to the English public as The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, was first published in 1899. Today it ranks amongst the greatest Christian spiritual classics and it has been translated into practically every well-known language. Almost every pope since its publication has proposed St. Thérèse's teaching to the faithful for their imitation—Pius XI declared her the greatest saint of our age and John Paul II made her a Doctor of the Church.

The Story of a Soul possesses in some degree a characteristic common both to the Gospels and The Imitation of Christ. Men and women open the book, often quite casually, and are caught by the vivid clarity or simple profundity of some sentence in such a way that their lives are completely changed. The style of St. Thérèse is extremely simple and spontaneous, having a charm that is hard to describe, especially when she rises to poetic heights. The final chapter, written for her eldest sister Marie, is simply a childlike outpouring of her heart to Jesus Himself. This spiritual classic will speak gently to your heart.

“What is it to be a saint? Does it mean that we must macerate this flesh of ours with cruel austerities, such as we read of in the life-story of some of God’s great heroes? [ …] No, no, the hand of God does not lead us all by that stern path of awful heroism to our reward above. […] But sweetly and gently would He lead us along the way of holiness by our constant unswerving faithfulness to our duty, duty accepted, duty done for His dear sake”. Father William Doyle S.J. (page 55).

Father William Doyle (1873-1917) is best known as the heroic Irish chaplain who gave his life while tending to the spiritual needs of troops in World War I. He was loved and revered by the soldiers, who regarded him as a saint.

In the years preceding his appointment to the Front, Father Doyle wrote many letters of spiritual guidance and copious retreat notes, and also kept a diary. His biographer, Father Alfred O’Rahilly, takes excerpts from these writings, and gives us a thought for each day of the year.

Challenging, but encouraging, these thoughts will lead to peace and holiness.

Do we know Christ’s final words on the Cross? Do we know how they apply to our spiritual life today, in the 21st century?

In this beautiful book, Father Jean-Dominique O.P. takes each of Christ’s seven last words and shows how they apply to all times of History, but especially to our day when the Church and the world are plunged in so much darkness, just like they were at the supreme moment of Christ’s life on earth, His final hours on Calvary.

The seven words of Christ on the Cross are a true guide for Christian life in times of apostasy and revolution. They are an endless source of light, joy and peace. They kindle in the hearts of Catholics a sincere love of the Cross and the Divine Crucified, as well as a proactive hope. Therefore, it is time, more than ever before, to receive this “light which shines in the darkness”.

Self –abandonment, is itself the work of God: While he strips of everything the souls who give themselves absolutely to him, God gives them something which takes the place of all; of light, wisdom, life and force: this gift is his love

Fr. Caussade’s Self Abandonment to Divine Providence is a book for all those who in the words of St. Benedict, “Truly seek God”. Fr. Caussades’s spiritual teaching was derived from two extremely pure sources, St. Francis de Sales and St. John of the Cross. Another source of influence on Caussade were his penitents, the Nuns of the Visitation.

Fr. Caussade effectively synthesizes both Salesian and Carmelite traditions in this book, which is comprised of his letters and dialogues on prayer. Fr. Caussade refers to the Salesian teaching of self-abandonment and simplicity, and the Carmelite emphasis on grace as a dynamic force that enlightens and cleanses the soul. When speaking of death to self, he refers to “abandonment” “trust” and “acquiescence”. He impresses upon the reader, that abandonment may be taught and practiced by repeated acts. It is the duty of every Christian to acquire this virtue.

This little book, which brings us from Septuagesima Sunday right through to Holy Saturday, is both rich in theology and eminently practical.

By means of short daily meditations, Father de Dreux helps us to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Passion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Taking each event recorded in the Gospels, Father brings us into the mystery of the Passion, simply but profoundly.

This work was first written in French in the middle of the 17th Century, but was not actually published until 1887, having been lost during the turmoil of the French Revolution. It has been republished in French in recent years. This is the very first English edition.

All is gentle to the gentle, and all is holy to the holy.
We accuse our neighbor for little, and we excuse ourselves in much.
Those who run best in the race do not think of the crowd which is looking at them.

During his life, Francis De Sales had a gift for giving spiritual direction to lay people living ordinary lives in the world. He firmly believed that everyone could grow in holiness, even while engaged in very active occupations, and his books and volumes of letters addressing this need remain beloved works to this day. What is the secret of their longstanding value? It is the intimacy and at the same time practicality of the saint’s direction — for he speaks to us person to person. We recognize ourselves in what is said because he speaks of those things that each of us has experienced. This collection of maxims and sayings gathered from his many pages of spiritual counsel are words of advice that every friend of St. Francis has always been fond of repeating — words that serve as means of encouragement, points for meditation, counsels, exhortations, reminders. For St. Francis speaks as clearly to our twenty-first century condition as he did to that of his own spiritual family.

Rev. Martin Veth, O.S.B. 48 page booklet.

This publication explains how the Medal of St. Benedict was first known  “several hundred years before the year 1647!”  There are two types: the Ordinary Medal and the Jubilee Medal; both are highly indulgenced, but  more so for the Jubilee Medal. “Of the salutary effects produced through the pious use of the Medal, facts are narrated which might fill a large volume.” For this reason, the Church has raised the Medal of St. Benedict to the dignity  of a sacramental and it is the only medal in existence which is honored with a blessing of its own in the Roman Ritual! The generous indulgences are fully explained, along with the history and much more.

Indecision was not in his heart. Surrounded by clerical corruption and unprecedented consumerism, St. John of Avila (1500-1569) led the authentic effort to reform the Church and Christian society during one of its darkest hours.

When faced with spiritually bankrupt seminaries and lax universities, St. John simply founded new ones. When vast regions of his homeland lapsed into spiritual indifference, he spent a decade storming the cities and villages to reignite the Faith. He fearlessly denounced decadent leaders and withstood the subsequent interrogations of the Inquisition with perfect charity, winning over skeptics and melting the hearts of sinners.

For St. Francis de Sales, he was "the learned and saintly preacher." St. Francis Borgia called him "the Great Master" and St. Teresa of Avila named him "the Master of things spiritual."

Pope Benedict XVI recently declared that he would name St. John of Avila the 34th "Doctor of the Universal Church."

And yet, most Catholics have never heard of him.

Among the many lessons you will learn:

• The life-giving habits of an authentic Christian life, which are found not through false "conversions" and "visions," but in the slow and steady steps on the path of holiness.
• How suffering is frequently the means God chooses to reveal His mercy and His design for our lives.
• True beauty: for a Christian it will shine out in poverty, chastity, and fidelity, not in the luxuries and comforts of this world.
• The easy graces of the liturgical year: one of the surest ways to develop in sanctity, and how Christians should ready themselves for the gifts which the Holy Spirit will send.
• The dangers of personal resolutions: These are often built upon pride and mistaken notions, but God sends us every day trials to transform us into His spiritual champions.
• How a Christian should prepare himself for Holy Mass, how to approach the Blessed Sacrament, and what real participation in the Sacrifice means.
• That weakness, persecution, and infidelity are often found within the institutional Church, and what we can do to combat it or at least suffer it faithfully.

Confident that the Church teaches us rightly but knowing as well that each of us must walk closely with God — hearing His voice not only through the Church but in the depths of our own hearts — Newman here shows us how to look to Our Lord and declare:

I need you to teach me day by day, according to each day's opportunities and needs. Teach me . . . to sit at your feet and to hear your word. Give me that true wisdom which seeks your will by prayer and meditation. . . . Give me the discernment to know your voice from the voice of strangers, to rest upon it, and to seek it in the first place. 

This was Newman's greatest desire. It awakened in him ceaseless prayer, countless good works, a profound love of the sacraments, and the habit of daily meditation which strengthened his will, deepened his understanding, and enkindled in him an ever greater love of God.

"I began to think of the soul as a castle made of a single diamond […] in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions."

St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila, is one of the most popular Doctors of the Church. Her teaching on prayer has continued to inspire and guide Christians in their spiritual journeys for over four hundred years.

In The Interior Castle St. Teresa describes the road by which she was led, well aware that the others may be led in a different way. In the heavenly Father’s house, there are many mansions; not only seven, and many paths lead to them. What gives the work such high value is, that it is the result of a most searching inquiry into the various phases whereby a soul is gradually transformed into the likeness of God Himself. Here St. Teresa is at her best. She takes nothing for granted, her own personal experiences are admitted only after having been fully investigated and found to be consistent one with the other, and conformable to the teaching of the Church and the words of Holy Scripture.

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas À Kempis needs no introduction. For more than five centuries it has been the most popular spiritual book second only to the Sacred Scriptures. It presents the fundamental principles of the spiritual life. The Christian soul is invited to follow Christ Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. As we study its contents we are convinced that without that Way there is no going, without that Truth there is no knowing, without that Life there is no real living.

This translation by Bishop Challoner, who revised the Douay-Rheims Bible in the 1740's, is the most beautiful and edifying available. The Imitation of Christ speaks to the soul of every Christian, reminding him of the brevity of earthly joy compared to the eternity of happiness with God. This spiritual classic belongs to every Christian library.

This book is an attempt to outline that love story of God and man, which achieves its consummation in the unity of the whole Christ; and to show that the spiritual life is a partnership of love between God and man which can be summed up in one word: Christ.
-  Dom Eugene Boylan OCSO

Can married couples become holy? Can anyone who is not a priest or a member of a religious institute reach the heights of mystical union with Christ? In this book, Dom Eugene Boylan, Trappist abbot and spiritual writer, shows how the faithful are invited into this intimate union with Him, regardless of their state in life.

Few works can match the completeness of Dom Eugene’s treatment of God’s loving plan for mankind in This Tremendous Lover. He explains how the doctrines of the Redemption and of the Mystical Body form us in holiness through our membership in His Church. A chapter on the Blessed Virgin Mary outlines her essential role in the spiritual life, while a chapter on Marriage and Holiness explains just how exalted and yet attainable, is the ideal of holiness for married couples.

First published in 1946, This Tremendous Lover sold more than a million copies. Decades after it was written, it remains a sure guide to understanding what the love of God for man truly entails.

“A man who prays lives out the mystery of existence, and a man who does not pray scarcely exists.” Thus writes St. Charbel Makhlouf (1828–1898), a Maronite monk and priest from Lebanon whose reputation for sanctity spread widely during his life, and whose heavenly intercession has worked countless miracles after his death. St. Charbel’s homilies and proverbs are reminiscent of the sayings of the Desert Fathers: simple, homespun, and direct, yet shining and profound. 

This holy monk speaks from a reservoir of silence about the fundamentals of the Faith and targets the temptations facing all Christians today: the flight from suffering, excessive attachment to comforts, pride over accomplishments, complacency, factiousness, substituting talk for action, fear of proclaiming the truth in an age of hostile unbelief. Alert to the reality of spiritual warfare, St. Charbel calls each one of us to hold fast to the Cross, “the center of the universe and the key to heaven,” and defy the devil who seeks our ruin. This collection of some of the most beautiful words spoken by St. Charbel is augmented by a short biography that will bring him to the attention of those who have not yet made his acquaintance or profited from his wisdom.

• The Love of God;
• The Flight of the Love of the World;
• The Pleasures of the World;
• Duties of the Rich;
• Portrait of the Christian Woman;
• Woman's Sunday;
• The Useful Life;
• Woman's Conversation;
• The Life of Union With God;
• The Exercise of Prayer and Meditation;
• The Life of Self-Denial;
• The Christian Mission of Women.

Translated by Aletheia Kane, OCD

Elizabeth of the Trinity (Elizabeth Catez), who died in 1906 at the age of 26 in the Carmel of Dijon, is a mystic for our times, with a profound spirituality rooted not in visions and voices but in attention to the indwelling Trinity and in the call to become a "praise of glory" for God. This first volume of her Complete Works contains her major spiritual writings, including two sets of retreat notes ("Heaven in Faith" and "Last Retreat") and her famous prayer "O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore." A comprehensive introduction to Elizabeth's life and spirituality by the editor, Conrad De Meester, is also included, along with detailed notes and 5 pages of photos.

• Format: paperback
• Pages: 204

From the thousands of personal letters by St. Francis de Sales comes this short, practical guide that will develop in you the soul-nourishing habits that lead to sanctity.

St. Francis de Sales is widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual advisors in the history of the Church, and we have drawn from his letters the wisest advice for those prepared to take the next step on their spiritual journey.

As he did for saints and sinners in his own time, St. Francis de Sales will strengthen your resolve, help you gain small victories over unruly passions, and restore in you a trusting confidence in Jesus Christ. Soon you’ll find yourself delivered from the chains of self-love as your soul opens to divine goodness and your heart shaped into a fitting place for Christ to dwell and reign eternally.

If you find it difficult to live amid the clamour of the world with your eyes fixed on Christ alone, let St. Francis de Sales teach you how to live as a true rose among thorns as you learn . . .

• What to do when you stop finding consolation during prayer
• How to place yourself in the presence of God
• How busy people should pray
• Do you fear vice more than you love virtue? A guide to discernment
• How to be patient with your family
• The dangers of too many devotions
• How to know when your feelings are from God or the devil
• What to do about repeated spiritual dryness
• The three things you must do to be at peace
• How to avoid thoughts that give us anxious and restless minds

Absorb the wisdom in these holy pages, and you’ll soon make true progress on your spiritual journey and navigate with confidence the treacherous waters of our secular world.

ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE CALENDAR OF THE TRADITIONAL ROMAN RITE.

St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1845. Ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1846, he became a Cardinal in 1879. His writings, noted for their combination of gentle warmth and firm conviction, have helped innumerable non-Catholics overcome their fears and objections in order to embrace the Catholic faith.

Cardinal Newman has been largely known as a great preacher from his “Parochial and Plain Sermons”, which come from his Anglican days. His sermons as a Catholic priest were generally not written down, but many of his notes for these have been preserved. These notes were collected by the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory, which Newman founded, and were originally published more than a century ago. Largely forgotten for many decades, these notes have now been rearranged according to the liturgical calendar of the traditional Roman Rite.

Cardinal Newman’s Sermon Notes reveal his deeply Biblical approach to homiletics, combined with reflections of a theological, ascetical and apologetic character. As a guide to the liturgical year or as a book for meditation and sermon talking points, it will be of great help to priests wanting to preach in the spirit of its illustrious author.

"WHAT WILL THIS NEW YEAR BE FOR US? 

God only knows, but by our desire for sanctification we can turn for help to Our Lord’s will to save our soul and all souls. How consoling it is to think that our everyday life can be transformed into numerous graces of sanctification and Redemption! So it was throughout the life of Our Lord and of the Virgin Mary."
                 —Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (January 3rd Feast of St. Genevieve)

This little collection of quotes, taken from the sermons and writings of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, assigns a short reading to every day of the year. It is a beautiful and simple way to practice daily recollection and elevate the mind to God. This new collection of the Archbishop’s words helps to develop the daily habits that can shape our eternal destiny.

"With the shepherds, we will go to that little Child, and despite His frail appearance we will believe in His divinity, confronting all those who, on the contrary, think of doing away with the Child as soon as He is born. Herod is already sending his troops to kill all the infant boys less than two years old, hoping that this future King will be among those children. Madman! He is opposing the One who comes to save him."
—Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (December 28th Feast of the Holy Innocents)

191 Pages