Spiritual Life
by St Bonaventure and Arnold of Bonneval
From the pulpit of the cross, Christ gave His final and most riveting sermon: His seven last words. In times past, Christ frequently spoke in parables, but no more. No, Christ penned these words with His royal blood like a calligrapher using the most delicate of strokes. Christʼs seven last words are the greatest utterances ever recorded in the history of the world—greater than the words of any esteemed orator, heroic leader, or even saint, because they were the last words of God to mankind. They are the “mystical compendium of the entire Gospel,” the perfection of the Beatitudes. Yes, Christ saved the best for last, just like at the wedding feast of Cana—only this time, it was the blood and water from His side that were offered freely to His own bride, the Church.
In this engrossing work, the seraphic doctor, Saint Bonaventure, and Arnold of Bonneval, a Benedictine abbot, offer some of the most profound insights into the seven last words of Christ. Arnold, a friend of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, is believed to be the first person to write on the seven last words, inspiring Bonaventure. While the seven last words have been glossed over for centuries by Christians, it is now time to uncover their hidden and powerful meaning—for there is no greater meditation than pondering the Teacher’s last lecture. In Christ’s seven last words, we find the necessary direction to reach the heights of perfection.
Hardcover, size 7.25" x 5.25", 136 pages
by Cardinal Nicolas Patrick Wiseman
“The Christian can have no true devotion at all, if he have it not for the sufferings and death of Christ. For we can have no true devotion without love, its only true foundation.” (Cardinal Wiseman)
Each one of these forty texts on the different aspects of Our Lord’s Passion will give Catholics beautiful food for meditation right throughout the time of Lent and Passiontide.
Cardinal Wiseman does not allow us to be mere passive spectators of a tragedy which, though it may arouse our pity and compassion, would have nothing to do with us personally. Instead, he compels us to acknowledge our own part in the terrible drama of Christ’s sufferings and encourages us to take practical resolutions to change our life accordingly.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 182 pages
Finding the Meaning of Life Within God's Plan
by Venerable Louis of Grenada
What is the meaning of life? What is love? How can I be happy?
These are questions that people today often ask rhetorically, as though there were no answer. Others hunt down answers in self-help books, guides from experts, or television.
The great Dominican, Venerable Louis of Granada, best known for his work The Sinner’s Guide, penned this treatise—The Quest for Happiness—to help us see that we cannot trust in man’s own work to bring about happiness.What is the meaning of life? It is not a rhetorical question, rather, the Church has the answer! To know, love and serve almighty God. This book gives the answer of how to proceed on such a quest out of the unhappiness of the world and toward the happiness of God.
This new edition of Venerable Louis’ work, lightly edited and adjusted for the problems that modern man faces today, is a map to navigate the wasteland of modernity and discover true happiness.
Paperback, size 7" x 5", 96 pages
Toward Easter
Daily Readings and Meditations to Pray Alone or as a Family
by Fr Patrick Troadec
“O God, who desirest not the death, but the repentance of sinners, in Thy goodness vouchsafe to bless these ashes which we purpose to put upon our heads in token of our lowliness and to obtain forgiveness: so that we who know that we are but ashes…may deserve to obtain from Thy mercy the pardon of all our sins, and the rewards promised to the penitent.” – Meditation on Ash Wednesday.
Fr. Troadec’s best-selling series continues in this third book Toward Easter. Father uses the liturgy of the Lenten season to assist us in our daily prayer, meditation and spiritual growth.
Each of the daily meditations covered in this book includes a:Quote: Taken from Scripture, the Mass, or the Spiritual Fathers.
Meditation: A particular truth of the Faith and how it applies to us.
Prayer: Two short daily prayers for the reader to choose from.
Thoughts: Daily recollections that illustrate a profound point
Resolution: Three simple and practical resolutions.
Anyone looking to draw closer to God through the liturgy of His Church while developing the habit of daily spiritual reading and meditation needs to read this series! It continues to be a wonderful and trusted aid for Catholics of any age or walk of life. A profoundly Catholic and truly practical guide to daily growth in holiness.
The series includes:
From Advent to Epiphany
From Epiphany to Lent
Toward Easter
Eastertide Day by Day
From Trinity Sunday to the Assumption
From the Assumption to Advent
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 218 pages
The Mother of Sorrows is the woman of the interior life who leads us to the Master of the interior life, the Man of Sorrows. There is no better way to contemplate the passion of Christ than through the eyes of Mary, she who loved Him above everything, she who loved Him with a mother’s heart, and she who stood firmly when everyone else fled.
Hardcover, size 7.25" x 5.25", 162 pages
by Fr Francis Xavier Lasance
A Guide for the young Catholic man.
In this book by Fr. Lasance, he provides counsels, reflections and prayers for young Catholic men. This is a good source for young men on a variety of subjects, including: how to conquer sin and the occasions of sin; virtues needed to fight in the battle for salvation; choosing one's state in life; and guidance to various devotions for Mass, Confession and Holy Communion.
ANGELUS PRESS has completely re-typeset this Catholic classic from 1905. This edition is printed on beautiful cream paper and encased in a gold-embossed hardback cover with a black ribbon.
Hardcover, 760 pages
A Spiritual Bouquet for each day of the year. 366 inspiring New Testament quotes. Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Mt. 4:4)
64pp. vinyl cover. pocket size.
by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Every human person seeks happiness, but few find it, because they have not discovered the source of all happiness: God. In Way to Happiness, Futon Sheen reflects on the most fundamental aspects of our lives: love, politics, motherhood, work, teens, forgiveness, rest, meditation, and more.
In a culture stricken with anxiety, boredom, despair, and fear, Sheen desires to reignite healing, hope, and contentment in the reader. While the secular world holds the mistaken belief that hunger for infinity can be satisfied by an infinity of material things, Sheen warns that they really wish for the infinity of divine love. Addressing the philosophy of pleasure, Sheen reminds the reader of the centrality of self-discipline and detachment.
At the heart of the Way to Happiness is heroically living out the spirit of charity: love of God and love of neighbor. To achieve a spirit of service and self-donation, a strong interior life is a perequisite. True peace is born in meditation.
Lastly, Sheen provides a blueprint to overcome bad habits through introspection, avoiding the occasion of sin, willing the good, and a right philosophy of life. In an age when so few people have time to make a retreat, allow the retreat master, Sheen, to take you on a spiritual journey that will spur you on to holiness. For anyone seeking a clear path to a happy and saintly life, the Way to Happiness will be your guide.
Hardcover, size 8.75" x 5.75", 272 pages
by Fr Louis Pieronne, SSPX
While beauty lifts souls upward, modesty goes further - attracting all who witness it to goodness and guiding them towards God. This short book will provide readers a deeply Catholic perspective on a topic that is practically forgotten today.
Booklet, size 6" x 4", 24 pages
by Fr. Bernard A Fuller, S.J.
This pamphlet takes you, in spirit, to the last hours of our Lord’s crucifixion. You see the various groups of people. In one group, the soldiers of Rome, the hired executioners, are there with all the Judases of the world who sell their souls for worldly pleasure and their God for gold. In another group stand the holy women and Magdalene and John and Mary, the Mother of Jesus. That is our place! Magdalene, the sinner, bids us come, and Mary, our Mother, holds out her arms to welcome us. The Seven Last Words of Jesus are explained with emotion, making us realize that all of the suffering of our Lord was caused by our sins.
Booklet, size 8" x 5.3", 32 pages, Impr 1930
by Mother Mary Loyola
In 1906, Mother Mary Loyola was asked to write the story of Our Lord for American missionaries. Her writing style had so endeared her to children the world over that, despite the many excellent versions of this Greatest Story Ever Told, its publishers were confident that it would bring its readers closer to Our Lord.
Though it was originally intended for children, like most of Mother Loyola's work, it has a very broad appeal across all ages. For this reason, the same book was subsequently published under the current title--The Story of His Life Simply Told--as a way to encourage adults that this story is not for children alone.
Thus, while the content of this book is exactly the same as Jesus of Nazareth: The Story of His Life Written for Children, even down to the illustrations, we have followed the lead of these earlier publishers and created this edition for adult sensibilities.
Paperback, size 5.5" x 8.5", 460 pages
By Dom Prosper Guéranger
The 19th century background of France during which time Dom Prosper Guéranger classic work, The Liturgical Year, appeared is fundamental to understand the importance of this multi-volumes set.
France was going through such a continuous series of political, social and ecclesiastical upheavals from 1789 (the French Revolution) up to the 20th century that one wonders how it was able to maintain its sanity. The governments changed no less than six times within that period. These wars, revolutions and depressions plagued the French people. And the Church suffered much during and after the French Revolution so that direction was needed to bring it back on track. Seeing the suffering and depression of the French Catholic Church and her people, Dom Guéranger began writing his monumental work in 1841. He died in 1875 after writing nine volumes.
The remaining volumes were completed by another Benedictine under Dom Guéranger's name. Dom Guéranger's belief was that the Mass and the cycle of the Church s year could help restore what had been forsaken. Indeed, one can say that the mission of Dom Guéranger was to restore the more than thousand-year tradition of Christianity and its forgotten riches which were abandoned during the French Revolution and its aftermath. He began in post-revolutionary France by founding the 1st Benedictine community in 1836. In 1841 he began the Liturgical Year to bring back Catholic culture and consequently Western Civilization by turning to the Catholic Mass which is the source of all graces and the soul of Catholic worship. His commentaries, explanations and historical observations as contained in this work are profound, devotional and instructive. Each Mass during the entire Church’s yearly cycle is analyzed and explained in simple terms so as to make the reader appreciate the vast treasure and importance of that particular Mass during the year. The Introits, Collects, Epistles, Gospels, Offertory prayers, etc. all have appropriate explanations which bring out the richness of the Mass.
Preserving Christian Publications’ reprint of this set is made to last many readings with a durable hardback light-blue binding that is sewn. Each volume is numbered on the spine for the season it covers.
Hardcover
The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent
Given in the Year 1622
by St Francis de Sales
One of the most profoundly influential and deeply inspirational saints in the last five centuries of the Church, St. Francis de Sales is famous for his personality and writings, which have earned him, respectively, the appellation "The Gentleman Saint" and the designation Doctor of the Church.
De Sales’s tempered and gentle yet firm and determined approach to spiritual direction made him a true pearl of great price in the Church’s spiritual patrimony. No one ever mastered the doctoring of souls quite like this gentle Doctor of the Church—as countless saints formed by his legacy will attest. His Marian devotion and dedication to educating the laity by means of modern communication (at that time, leaflets) placed him ahead of his time, and his erudition combined with his sweetness mark him as a highly unusual man in the story of the Church, particularly during his time.
As a bishop of the Church, St. Francis was emboldened by the charism of preaching the Word of God in a truly apostolic manner. In this volume of The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales: For Lent, the Gentle Saint preaches twelve sermons, given during Lent 1622, on key aspects of the Christian life. Chief is St. Francis's treatment of the virtue of mortification: Through fasting, abstinence, and almsgiving, we can learn to resist temptation, avoid losing our souls, live the faith, approach death with a Christian attitude, conduct ourselves properly in illness, and live in mutual charity. In addition, of special interest is the master of meditation's exposition on Our Lord's Passion. Let St. Francis teach you the way to eternal happiness through the toils and labors of Lent, which can be all joy if done for love of God.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 256 pages
by Marguerite Duportal
These pages will help you gain happiness and peace by showing you how to understand - and conquer - any trouble, no matter how great. Here you'll learn how to avoid the mistakes most of us make when we're suffering - mistakes that only make our burdens heavier. You'll come to see that misfortunes are not the blind workings of chance, but are vital elements in God's loving plan. With the wisdom in these pages, you'll soon be using your troubles as instruments to unleash God's healing power in your soul.
Here you'll discover:
- How to preserve your peace even amid troubles you can't avoid
- Pain: the surprising role it can play in God's loving plan for you
- Suicidal? Why this suffering world is better than no world at all
- How to find the beauty hidden in the most unappealing duties
- Peace with God: how bearing your suffering well can lead you to Him quickly and directly
- The very worst temptation you'll face in your troubles - and how to prepare for it in good times
- Hope: how you can gain the life-transforming power of this virtue
- How you can bring Christ's light to others in their own sorrow
- How to turn even your worst troubles into opportunities for good
- Why suffering is no compelling argument against Faith
- Despair: the amazing way you can avoid giving in to it, no matter how heavy your burdens
- And a wealth of practical wisdom to help you sing God's praises even in the worst of times!
Paperback, size 7" x 5", 128 pages
by Bl Dom Columba Marmion, OSB
Christ, the Life of the Soul is a modern spiritual classic. Drawing upon the Scriptures, the Liturgy, and the Doctors of the Church, Blessed Columba Marmion shows us the path towards freedom from self-bondage and the enlargement of our souls - to realize, with St. Paul, that "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
As Blessed Marmion puts it, "Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all sanctity." The author shows how to die to sin and live for God, and the primary sources of our spiritual nourishment in the Eucharist and prayer, until the consummation of our adoption in Christ Jesus in the mystical body of Christ.
Perhaps Pope Benedict XV said it best: "Read this - it is the pure doctrine of the Church ... and singularly conducive to excite and maintain the flame of Divine love in the soul." "He bequeathed to us an authentic treasury of spiritual teaching for the Church of our time. In his writings he teaches a way of holiness, simple and yet demanding, for all the faithful." - Pope John Paul II "
The works of Marmion are outstanding in the accuracy of their doctrine, the clarity of their style, and the depth and richness of their thought." - Pope Pius XII "Abbot Marmion carries us back to a wider and more wholesome tradition, and many will rise up to bless him, as they find in his teaching new strength, and fresh vigor in their striving after God." - Francis Cardinal Bourne Born in Ireland in 1858, Blessed Columba Marmion became Abbot of Maredsous Abbey, Belgium, and one of the great spiritual masters of the 20th century. His conferences and books have influenced popes, cardinals, priests, monks, and laity alike.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 384 pages
by Sir Joseph A Glynn
What did alcoholics do before there was Alcoholics Anonymous?
Let us consider a few parts of this holy man's life: "He was not quarrelsome when drunk, but went quietly home to bed when the public-houses had closed for the night. No matter how much drink he had taken the night before, he was up in time for his work, which started at 6 a.m., and left the house clean and tidy in his person. He acquired the habit of taking the Holy Name in vain and of using strong language when talking with his fellow workers, and he began to neglect the Sacraments, though he went to Mass on Sundays. His prayers consisted of blessing himself when he got out of bed in the morning, as he was, usually, too drunk to say any prayers going to bed. For two, if not three, years before his conversion he had not been to the Sacraments of Penance or the Holy Eucharist. "The picture which Matt Talbot presents to us at this period is that of a young fellow going fast on the road to ruin; the craving' for drink gradually mastering him; the duties of his religion almost completely neglected; and the duties to his parents entirely ignored. The picture is dark, but it is not all black. All his troubles came from the one sin-indulgence in drink. He had no other vice and his moral character was irreproachable."
From his early teens until age 28 Matt's only aim in life had been liquor. But from that point forward, his only aim was God. Matt became increasingly deout. He lived a life of prayer, fasting and service, trying to model himself on the sixth century Irish monks. Though he has not been formally recognized as a saint, Matt Talbot may be considered a patron of men and women struggling with alcoholism.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 112 pages
or Sick Calls from the Diary of a Missionary Priest
by P.J. Kennedy
Originally printed in 1891.
Consists of 16 different stories of dying penitents. The stories are diverse to include the rich banker, the poor, the drunkard, the miser, the wanderer, the burglar and 10 others. Each story is told as a novel and each is replete with Catholic lessons to be learned about the moral pitfalls that can happen in life and the effect on dying penitent.
Paperback, size 8" x 5.25", 366 pages
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.