Well Known/Famous Persons
The Way of Divine Love
by Sister Josefa Menendez
Sister Josefa Menéndez was born into a devoutly Catholic family in Madrid, Spain on February 4, 1890. Endowed with an aptitude for prayer and drawn to the religious life from childhood, she first had to support her povertystricken family as a dressmaker. In spite of many hardships her desire to completely offer herself to God never wavered. She left Spain in 1920 to enter a French monastery of the Society of the Sacred Heart, where she became a Coadjutrix Sister. In the convent she received numerous private revelations that gave her a distinguished place among visionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She died a holy death on December 29, 1923.
The Way of Divine Love is the definitive record of Sister Menéndez’s life and the heavenly messages that she received. It is one of the most complete chronicles of an individual’s extraordinary mystical experiences in the history of the Church. Despite many trials in her daily life, she recorded everything that she received from heaven as faithfully as possible, including her incredibly detailed visions of the Passion of Christ.
Everything in Josefa’s life is grace giving and profoundly moving. Her writings and her life confirm each other, as evidence that all that took place in her was divine in origin. Even the most extraordinary happenings have an aim and significance. There are no unessential details, no record of revelations that do not bring out in clearer light and force some dogmatic truth, giving us deeper insight into the Heart of Our Lord, His love, the value of souls, the happiness of heaven, the irreparable loss of the damned.
Leather hardcover, size 8.5" x 5.5", 584 pages
A Muslim Risks All to Follow Christ
by Joseph Fadelle
During his military service, Muhammad, a young Muslim Iraqi from a leading Shiite family, discovers to his dismay that his roommate is a Christian. Muhammad tries to convert his roommate, but he is the one who is converted.
In Islam changing one's religion is a crime, and Muhammad's family does everything possible to make him renounce his new faith in Christ. After threats and blows come prison and torture. Muhammad, who has become Joseph by his baptism, experiences a long Calvary but does not give in. Finally, he is taken from prison by relatives who threaten to kill him if he does not resubmit to Islam. They shoot him and leave him for dead.
The Price to Pay is the true story of Joseph Fadelle's conversion to Catholicism. He risks everything-family, friends, his inheritance and home, and even his life-in order to follow Christ. In a dramatic and personal narrative style, Fadelle reveals the horrible persecution endured by Christians living in a violent and hostile Muslim world.
Paperback, size 8" x 5.25", 232 pages
by Fr John Gerard, S.J.
Truth is stranger than fiction. And nowhere in literature is it so apparent as in this classic work, The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest. This autobiography of a Jesuit priest in Elizabethan England is a most remarkable document and John Gerard, its author, a most remarkable priest in a time when to be a Catholic in England courted imprisonment and torture; to be a priest was treason by act of Parliament.
Smuggled into England after his ordination and dumped on a Norfolk beach at night, Fr. Gerard disguised himself as a country gentleman and traveled about the country saying Mass, preaching and ministering to the faithful in secret always in constant danger. The houses in which he found shelter were frequently raided by priest hunters; priest-holes, hide-outs and hair-breadth escapes were part of his daily life. He was finally caught and imprisoned, and later removed to the infamous Tower of London where he was brutally tortured.
The stirring account of his escape, by means of a rope thrown across the moat, is a daring and magnificent climax to a true story which, for sheer narrative power and interest, far exceeds any fiction. Here is an accurate and compelling picture of England when Catholics were denied their freedom to worship and endured vicious persecution and often martyrdom. But more than the story of a single priest, "The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest" epitomizes the constant struggle of all human beings through the ages to maintain their freedom. It is a book of courage and of conviction whose message is most timely for our age.
Paperback, size 8" x 5.5", 395 pages
The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann
by Fr. Gereon Goldmann
Here is the astonishing true story of the harrowing experiences of a young German seminarian drafted into Hitler's dreaded SS at the onset of World War II. Without betraying his Christian ideals, against all odds, and in the face of Evil, Gereon Goldmann was able to complete his priestly training, be ordained, and secretly minister to German Catholic soldiers and innocent civilian victims caught up in the horrors of war. How it all came to pass will astound you.
Father Goldmann tells of his own incredible experiences of the trials of war, his many escapes from almost certain death, and the diabolical persecution that he and his fellow Catholic soldiers encountered on account of their faith. What emerges is an extraordinary witness to the workings of Divine Providence and the undying power of love, prayer, faith, and sacrifice. Illustrated
Paperback, size 8" x 5.2", 350 pages
by The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles
Sister Mary Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, founded the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles in 1995 at the age of seventy. Four years after her death, in May 2023, the sisters were preparing for the reinterment of the remains of their beloved foundress after the completion of a St. Joseph Shrine. Upon seeing Sister Mary’s remains, they discovered something incredible, something miraculous— her body appeared to be incorrupt!
In The Life of Sr. Mary Wilhelmina, you will become acquainted with this most humble sister, who, after fifty years of religious life, was called to establish the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, to remain faithful to the traditional religious life and the Latin Mass. This biography includes stories of her life, her experience as a Black Catholic during racial tensions, the founding of a community, and her original poetry. Her entire life is a testament to fidelity, devotion, and surrender to God’s will.
Hardcover, size 8.25" x 5.5", 152 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
The record of a life and of a conflict between two faiths
by Bella V. Dodd
The story of how Bella Dodd left the Catholic Faith of her childhood to become a high-ranking member of the Communist Party USA, and later found her way back to the Church.
Bella Dodd ranks with Whittaker Chambers as a leading converted communist. Her testimony before investigating committees revealed the extent to which communist infiltration had taken place in America, particularly among teachers in schools and colleges. This record of her life describes how she came to be a member of the Communist Party, the reasons for her gradual disillusionment and final break with the party, and her eventual return to the Catholic Church into which she was born.
Her conversion to Communism was a slow usurpation of the mind by an appeal to love of humanity, a vision of a better society, and wider social justice. In time she became a member of the Party’s National Committee, and was intensely active in combating the Rapp-Coudert investigation of communist teachers, in supporting Loyalist Spain, and in the “united democratic front” maintained during World War II. But she was gradually repelled by the dictatorial methods of the Party and the constant struggle for power. Her divorce from her husband, and her own ill health speeded her estrangement from Party leaders and resulted in her expulsion from the Party in 1949.
Dodd’s re-entrance into the Catholic Church—which as a communist she had so bitterly attacked—was a natural result of her new state of mind. In the early 1950s, she provided detailed explanations of the Communist subversion of the Church, reporting that “in the 1930s we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within, [and that] right now they are in the highest places in the Church.” From such positions they were working to bring about change in order to weaken the Church’s effectiveness against Communism. She said further that these changes would be so drastic that “you will not recognize the Catholic Church.”
Bella Dodd’s story is a human document of immense importance to Americans today. Here are the inner workings of the Communist Party in the United States in the early to mid-20th century as seen from the secret counsels and strategy meetings of the National Committee, to which she belonged for a crucial span of years. The climax of the book is a snowy Christmas Eve when Bella finds the reaffirmation of her faith, and is able to say, “I have learned from bitter experience that you cannot serve man unless you first serve God in sincerity and truth.” Not being able to secure her baptismal certificate from Italy after inquiry, she was baptized by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York.
Hardcover with dust jacket, size 8.25" x 5.5", 264 pages
by Fr. Charles Mortimer Carty
Fascinating accounts of a much misunderstood reality, describing well-known and well documented cases: St. Francis of Assisi, Padre Pio, Therese Neumann, etc. A scientific and theological examination. Sparks the interest of all.
Booklet, size 6" x 3.75", 32 pages
The Irish Priest Who Resisted the Nazis
by Fiorella De Maria
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty was working in the Vatican when dictator Benito Mussolini fell from power and Germany invaded Italy in 1943. This courageous Irish priest who resisted the Nazi occupation was made famous by the movie, The Scarlet and the Black, starring Gregory Peck. The Monsignor O'Flaherty brought to life in this story is as intriguing and exciting as the film version.
Witty, brilliant, and fearless, Monsignor O'Flaherty helped escaped Allied prisoners of war and persecuted Jews to elude capture by the Germans. At great risk to themselves, Monsignor O'Flaherty and his equally brave friends—priests, nuns, and lay men and women, including a few aristocrats—saved thousands of lives. They constantly needed to stay one step ahead of the ever-persistent Nazis until their surrender to the Allies in 1945.
Not just a thrilling adventure story, this book offers a portal into a real-life battle between good and evil. It also tells of the need after a war for forgiveness and redemption.
Paberback, size 8" x 5.25", 196 pages
The Life of Satoko Kitahara - Convert and Servant of the Slums of Tokyo
by Fr Paul Glynn, S.M.
Following his acclaimed work, A Song for Nagasaki, in which Fr. Paul Glynn told the powerful story of Dr. Nagai, a Christian convert of remarkable courage and compassion who ministered to victims of the atomic bomb attack on his city, The Smile of a Ragpicker brings us the heroic story of Satoko Kitahara, a young, beautiful woman of wealth who gave up her riches and comfort to be among the ragpickers in the Tokyo slums. Motivated by her newfound faith in Christ, she plunged into the life of the poor, regardless of the consequences.
As Satoko helped the poor with their material and spiritual needs, she also helped them to recover their self-respect and dignity. Satoko’s story demonstrates how one person’s life can affect so many others.
Every day Satoko encountered Christ in some new and challenging way, calling the Church back to identification with the poor. Like Dr. Nagai, she expressed her faith through the sensitivity and beauty of her own Japanese culture. Satoko died a young woman, in dire poverty. Yet her death, mourned by many thousands, reflected her triumphant life of deep Christian faith and charity.
This is a powerful story of reconciliation and healing, between people of different social, economic and religious backgrounds, inspired by a frail young woman of luminous faith.
Paperback, size 8" x 5.25", 289 pages, Illustrated with photos
by Sisters of Society of St Pius X
It is after a long missionary religious life that Mother Marie Gabriel (nee Bernadette Lefebvre) responds to a new call from God: her brother, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, asks her to come and take care of the postulants of a religious congregation that does not yet exist … except in the plans of Divine Providence.
This book narrates the childhood and youth of Bernadette Lefebvre, her missionary vocation, and the devotedness of Mother Marie Gabriel during her forty years in Africa, before giving herself to the task of forming the first Sisters of the Society Saint Pius X.
The reader will discover a summary of this simple, generous and completely given life.
Paperback, size 8.7" x 5.4", 136 pages
A Novel of Baldwin IV and the Crusades
by Susan Peek
A new historical novel about the unusual life of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the leper crusader king who - despite ascending to the throne at only 13, his early death at 24 and his debilitating disease - performed great and heroic deeds in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Teenagers and avid readers of all ages will be amazed at this story and be inspired by a faith that accomplished the impossible!
Age range 13 - adult
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 185 pages
A Story of Venerable Leo Papin Dupont
by Brother Gerard Hagemann, C.S.C.
Known as the Holy Man of Tours, Leo Dupont worked hard to spread the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
Level 2
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 96 pages
The Bishop Who Roared Against The Nazis
by Fr. Daniel Utrecht
“The dear God placed me in a position in which I had a duty to call black 'black' and white 'white'.” These words were spoken by Cardinal Clemens August von Galen, the bishop of the diocese of Münster in Germany from 1933 to 1946. In so doing, he risked death at the hands of the Nazis, one Gestapo leader even urging that he be publicly hanged. Joseph Goebbels and others in the Nazi leadership, knowing the bishop’s popularity, advised waiting, subscribing to the adage that “revenge is a dish best served cold.”
In this, the definitive English-language biography of the great Lion of Münster, readers will encounter the young von Galen as he learns the Catholic faith and love of the fatherland from his family, members of the German aristocracy. A nobleman, a “prince” of his people and of his Church, the boy grew into a man, a six-and-a-half-foot tall giant of a man, who, though he loved his homeland, loved God, His Church, and His law even more; for he knew that calling his homeland back to the ways of God is the one way in which a bishop can best demonstrate that love for the people under his spiritual care. And so, in three magnificent sermons and countless other speeches, communiques, and gestures, the Lion roared.
This story of his life and his stirring words provides readers with an indispensable glimpse into the confrontation between Church and State in Hitler’s Germany and will serve as a reminder to all men and women of good will of the duty to call black ‘black’ and white ‘white.’
Hardcover, size 9.25" x 6.25", 424 pages
Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary
by Charles A. Coulombe
Empress Zita of Austria (1892—1989) was declared a Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI. But who is she? What is it about her life and spirituality that inspired the Church to open the investigation into her beatification?
Zita’s life and her integral role within the House of Habsburg during the tumultuous 20th century are not well known. In Zita: Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, Charles Coulombe takes readers through Zita’s lineage and the political climate she was born into, Bl. Charles and Zita’s marriage, her support of Bl. Charles amid the destruction of the Catholic Monarchy, and much more. Bl. Charles and Zita’s story is one of hope, perseverance, and great faith. Through this couple’s devotion to the Sacred Heart, they inspired their children and their peoples to a greater love of God and country, despite the many trials they faced. As we similarly live in a society that denies God and attacks the family, we can turn to the example of this saintly couple.
Journey with Zita to learn how she persevered after Charles’s death, which left her in exile with their seven children and an eighth on the way, and how she kept the hope of a restored House of Habsburg alive, even under the threat of Nazism.
Hardcover, size 8.5" x 5.5", 424 pages
The Ture Story of a Young Girl and Her Guardian Angel
by Sister Maria Antonia
Under Angel Wings is the true story of a young girl in Brazil who saw and heard her Guardian Angel during most of her life.
The book is filled with real-life anecdotes which are edifying, moving and often humorous. Cecy (See-see) Cony (1900-1937) tells story after story of how her Guardian Angel-whom she calls her "New Friend"-kept her from lying, stealing, revenge, immodesty, and from watching certain movies. She also describes how he protected her in moral dangers which she did not even understand, and how he aided her when she got into trouble because she was a "simpleton," as she puts it. Most beautiful of all, she relates how her Guardian Angel taught her to make sacrifices for Jesus and guided her in practicing acts of charity.
Cecy describes many incidents of temptation from her youth. In each one, we see the beautiful way in which her Guardian Angel led his little charge to perfect contrition for her faults and turned all these difficult situations to good. Under Angel Winds reveals God's great love and care for His children on earth. It reminds us that He has also given each of us our own "New Friend" who has a similar, even if less visible, love and care for us.
"My sisters read a lot. This book, they say, is undoubtedly the best....I think this book is awesome....I think you and your children would benefit from this book A LOT. I recommend it highly, highly."---Mother Angelica
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 246 pages
by Fr Johannes Messner
Introduced in this book is Englebert Dollfuss, the Austrian hero who plotted a course for Austria against Nazism, against Socialism, and against unbridled capitalism until his assassination by the Nazis in 1934. This is the story of the Austrian chancellor who attempted to act as a moral force to bring a divided, bankrupt, and bitter Europe to its senses. It details how he persuaded people of many different political persuasions to follow and support that policy, not through elegant speeches, worthless programs, and empty promises, but through common sense, good humor, overpowering honesty, and tremendous personal sacrifice.
Dollfuss: An Austrian Patriot was written by neo-Thomist professor Fr. Johannes Messner based upon his close association and collaboration with Engelbert Dollfuss, Chancellor of Austria. Messner's account of Dollfuss's life provides a brief sketch of biographical details, but, more importantly, illustrates Dollfuss's social vision and provides an account of his attempt to structure Austrian social and economic life along the lines determined by Quadragesimo Anno. As a leading exponent of Catholic Social Doctrine as it was expressed in the Austrian tradition established by Karl von Vogelsang, Messner is uniquely qualified to highlight the reforms initiated by Dollfuss as they relate to the traditional social vision of the Church.
Dr. Zmirak is a student of traditional and Catholic political economy, and the author of Wilhelm Roepke: Swiss Localist; Global Economist. Dr. von Hildebrand is a frequent writer and lecturer on Catholic culture and related subjects. Her husband, the late Dr. Deitrich von Hildebrand, collaborated with Dollfuss and his associates on the paper of the Austrian state, The Christian Corporative State.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 160 pages
The Spiritual Life of Cardinal Merry del Val
by Rev. Jerome DalGal
In the early part of the 21st century, because of the incessant and often strident media attention to the doings and mis-doings of many highly placed Churchmen, it is good to reflect upon how much good can be accomplished for the greater glory of God and the advancement of religion by even one man of deep holiness who has been placed in a position of great authority and responsibility in the Church.
Such a man was Cardinal Merry del Val. He was born into an aristocratic family of Irish, English, and Spanish parentage (oh happy combination!) in the city of London. His parents were the Marquis Raphael Merry del Val and the Countess Josephine de Zuletta. Among the family of his forebears was a martyr of the Church, St. Domenguito del Val, a child of barely seven who was crucified to a wall in the Cathedral of Saragossa in 1250 by the enemies of Christianity. He is of course best known as the architect and executor of St. Pius X’s war against Modernism, for which great service to God he acquired numerous enemies in his lifetime, and for which we can be sure that he gained many friends in Heaven. But his life was not one of merely temporal greatness. He was a profoundly humble and virtuous man as well.
Saint Pius X had as his Secretary of State a man who was eminently worth of his holy pontificate—Cardinal Merry del Val. In 1931, a year after the death of this illustrious Cardinal, the famous French scholar René Bazin made he following observation: “Judgment was passed in many different ways on Cardinal Merry del Val while he was living. This was due largely to the part he played in the political and religious affairs of his time. But now that he is dead people are getting to know him better, for with death has come the unveiling of the well-guarded secret of his extraordinary spiritual life.”
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 178 pages