Well Known/Famous Persons
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
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
by Comte Paul Biver
The accomplishments of his life are an amazing proof of what one priest can do. His depositions on religious subjects are profound and enlightening. It is said that he said the Rosary almost continually, slept only one or two hours a night, could smell sin through a penitent's perfume, regularly conversed with his guardian angel, effected miracles, and made prophecies.
Paperback, size 8.25" x 5.5, 224 pages
Poor Clare Of Jerusalem (1901-1942)
by Rev. Alain-Marie Duboin, O.F.M.
Life story of Louisa Jaques (1901-1942), author of Spiritual Legacy of Sr. Mary of the Holy Trinity, a Poor Clare of Jerusalem, to whom Our Lord gave messages about the love of His Heart for souls. Her Protestant childhood and youth in Switzerland, religious and philosophical yearnings, great love for her family, guilty friendship with a young married doctor, conversion, vocation and early death. Includes messages from Our Lord (from The Spiritual Legacy), arranged by topic; an article on the Poor Clares of Rockford, Illinois; and 55 photographs.
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 270 pages
Containing a Message from Our Divine Lord for the Clergy of the World
by Fr Patrick O'Connell, B.D.
A 20th-century Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, is Mother Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche, who received revelations from Our Lord about His irrepressible love for mankind and how He desires to communicate it to the world. This book will surprise readers with its profundity and many spiritual revelations.
Mother Louise Margaret Claret de la Touche lived from 1868-1915. She entered the Visitation convent in 1890 at Romans, France and is the artist of the "Picture of Jesus Merciful" painting, which she transcribed after an interior vision. She wrote her Autobiography from 1904-1905 as ordered by Father Alfred Charrier, her spiritual director. She was named superior of her convent two years later and retained the position until 1913. Mother Louise Claret is the author of The Little Book of the Work of Infinite Love, The Love and Service of God, The Book of Infinite Love, and The Sacred Heart and the Priesthood. She died in Vische on the fourteenth of May, 1915, and subsequently earned the title of Venerable.
Paperback, size 8.25" x 5.5", 235 pages
1800-1823
His Life, Reign and Struggle with Napoleon in the Aftermath of the French Revolution
by Robin Anderson
The French Revolution had wrought religious and civil havoc in France and the Italian states. Thousands of French priests had been killed or deported; other priests and bishops were forming a schismatic national Church; the previous Pope had been kidnapped and had died in exile. Catholics were losing the Faith and adopting an attitude of resistance to all authority..This was the beginning of the reign of Pope Pius VII (1800-1823)--one of the most difficult and confusing eras in Catholic history.
Paperback, size 8.25" x 5.5", 240 pages, Impr
Martyr for Truth
by Adam J Koch
Born in 1901, Witold Pilecki is best known as a Polish Cavalry officer, WWII Polish Underground intelligence operative and resistance leader.
In 1940, as the evil of the Nazi regime intensified, he volunteered for a mission which required getting himself imprisoned in the German concentration camp of Auschwitz to gather intelligence and expose its horrors to the world. In captivity he organised resistance and brought comfort to other prisoners.
As the world grows in its awareness of the heroic life of Witold Pilecki we can see clearly why he can be rightly considered one of the greatest heroes of World War II, and indeed, of the entire twentieth century.
This extensively researched account of Witold Pilecki's life shares with us the story of great adventure, one defined by a rare courage, selflessness and virtue, one that cannot help but to inspire and enthral us.
Hardcover, size 9.5" x 6.5", 452 pages
by William Thomas Walsh
Walsh's greatest book about Europe's most powerful king ever. But more, it is a panorama of the entire 16th century. Covers the birth of Protestantism and the secret efforts to undermine Catholic unity, the Huguenot wars in France, the Sack of Rome, Great Siege, Battle of Lepanto, Spanish Armada, Council of Trent, etc.; and, Henry VIII, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I, St. Pius V, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, etc.
Hardcover, size 9.5" x 6.25", 777 pages, 9 Illus,
The Story of a Nun
by Sr Mary Pierre, R.S.M.
Venerable Maria Teresa Quevedo 1930-1950. Maria Teresa Quevedo was a lively modern girl-a talented dancer, an expert swimmer, an outstanding tennis player, who devoted herself to generous works of sacrifice. Her life can be summed up by her own motto, "May all who look at me see you, O Mary."
This book is the first full-length biography of Maria Teresa Quevedo that has been written in English. Teresita, as she was called by her friends and family, was a Spanish girl who was born in 1930 and who died in 1950 at the age of twenty. Throughout her life, Teresita was an inspiration and a delight to everyone around her as she calmly strove to exemplify Christian virtue in her everyday life.
Teresita tried to do everything perfectly. As a girl living with her parents, she was an obedient child. With her friends, she was not only respected but popular. As a sodalist, she gave evidence as being a born leader for Mary. As a tennis player, she was an expert. As captain of her basketball team, she consistently led the group to victory. At any young people's gathering which she attended, she was the life of the party. When Teresita entered the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity, she did so because she desired to become a saint and to devote all her life to Jesus and Mary. But, in her own words, she wished to become a "little saint, for I cannot do big things." Teresita's cause for canonization is now under examination in the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
Hardcover, size 8.25" x 5.75", 250 pages
Little Violet of The Blessed Sacrament
by Anonymous sources
The wonderful story of the 4-year-old child whose story inspired Pope St. Pius X to lower the First Communion age from 12 to 7.
Includes her desire to receive "Holy God;" her First Communion; incidents with the Sisters who raised her; the finding of her incorrupt body and favours received through her intercession.
Perfect to teach, love and respect for Our Lord in the Eucharist! Adult version
Paperback, size 7" x 4.25", 120 pages
by Rev Fr Le Crom
Fr. Simeon Lourdel
Planting the Faith in the Furthest Africa
by F. A.Forbes
Fr Simeon Lourdel, a French missionary priest, became the Apostle of Uganda. In his short life, Fr. Lourdel had transformed the landscape of the entire country.
The charity, the tact and prudence of the missionary were taxed to the utmost. When after years of patient toil, he had the consolation of reaping the first fruits of his conquests for Christ, behold—a cruel and sudden persecution visited the newly established Christian Community, and in an instant, he had the untold sorrow of seeing his mission swept by fire and drenched in blood.
Midst this awful upheaval, the faith and the charity of the apostle waxed the stronger; at the peril of his life, the good shepherd remained close to his flock, encouraging them by day and by night, preparing them for the crown of martyrdom that was soon to be theirs. He hoped too that he would be allowed to share the sufferings of his children and to die with them in testimony for the Faith. But though repeatedly threatened with death and suffering, imprisonment twice—his cross—and could a heavier one be imagined?—was to witness the oppressing, and the slaying of his beloved neophytes.
Mother F.A. Forbes tells the story of Uganda’s first Apostle in a beautiful yet simple to read account that will inspire as well as uplift.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 126 pages
Heroic Catholic Chaplains
Stories of the Brave and Holy Men Who Dodged Bullets While Saving Souls
by Thomas J. Craughwell
For nearly 200 years—standing alongside our heroic military men and women—have been heroic Catholic priests risking their lives to carry wounded soldiers to safety and to console, anoint, and absolve the dying. Heroic Catholic Chaplains spotlights the stories of these courageous, selfless, holy priests who volunteered to bring the Mass and the sacraments to American troops, while also offering them their friendship and spiritual counsel.
In this book, you’ll encounter… Father William Corby, who left his post at Notre Dame to serve the Irish Brigade during all four years of the Civil War; Father Francis Duffy, a World War I chaplain whose story became the subject of a Hollywood movie; Father Aloysius Schmitt, who, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, saved the lives of a dozen men before losing his own; Monsignor James O’Neill, who composed the famous “Weather Prayer” for General Patton, an incident that would be immortalized in film, if not entirely accurately; Father Emil Kapaun, who, during months in a North Korean prison camp, worked tirelessly to save the lives and the souls of his fellow POWs (the process that could lead to Father Kapaun being declared a saint is underway); Father Vincent Capodanno, who was killed by the Viet Cong as he ran to help a wounded corpsman; And more!
Heroic Catholic Chaplains brings to the fore the stories of remarkable priests, most of whom have been overlooked by both military and Catholic historians. Their sacrifice and courage are difficult to imagine. They served so that our servicemen and women would not be without comfort, or without a friend, or be deprived of the Mass and the sacraments; so they would not fall into despair. These chaplains deserve to be remembered, their stories told, and their memories honored.
Hardback, size 8.75" x 5.6", 216 pages
by Sister Catharine Goddard Clarke, M.I.C.M.
History of the Church illustrated by the popes. Starting from the momentous entrance of Saint Peter into the fearsome capitol of Satan's doomed empire, to the triumph of the last Christological Council, Chalcedon, held under Leo I. Includes the major periods of religious crises and tells of those heroic Popes who steered the Church through these gravest trials.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 263 pages
The Story of a Convert
by John Henry Cardinal Newman
The first of two novels by Hohn Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), Loss and Gain is a fictionalised account of Newman's own faith journey, and account of the "Oxford Movement" that shook the English establishment of the day to the core. Potentially rivaling the work of such masters as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, the deceptively simple plot presents a profound understanding of the human condition and English society of the early nineteenth centry. It can be read with enjoyment and profit by people of every faith.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 184 pages
by Michael D. Greaney
The late Dr. Ralph McInerny, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame du Lac, once commented that some Catholic novels are so good, they're bad. He meant that the heroes are so virtuous that you simply can't believe them. Worse, the novels try so hard to be "Catholic" that they fail to be catholic, that is, universal, or even any sort of realistic commentary on the human condition.
Worst of all are probably the novels that try to imitate the authors profiled in this appreciation of the fiction of Nicolas Cardinal Wiseman(1802-1865), John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), and Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914). Part of this is due to the fact that many people misunderstand not only why these writers wrote, but what they wrote. Benson's wonderfully barbed satire, for example, endeared him to Evelyn Waugh, yet it is often characterized as "prophecy"!
This collection of biographical sketches and essays by Mr. Michael D. Greaney, does much to dispel the misimpressions and misunderstandings many people might have of the novels of Wiseman, Newman, and Benson. More than that, this compendium introduces these works to a new generation of readers, and makes it clear that the authors wrote for everyone, not just for Catholics, or even Christians.
Paperback, size 8.5" x 5.5", 268 pages
The Unpublished Memoirs of Edgardo Mortara
by Vittoria Messori
In 1888 Fr. Edgardo Mortara wrote his autobiography so that the world would understand he had not been kidnapped by the Vatican. Here, along with a thorough introduction by Vittorio Messori, his story is published for the first time in English.
As an infant, Mortara was on the point of death and secretly baptized by a Catholic servant employed by his family. He recovered his health, and in the Papal States where his family lived, the law required that he, like other baptized children, receive a Christian education. After several failed attempts to persuade his parents to enroll him in a local Catholic school, in 1858 Pope Pius IX had the boy taken from his family in Bologna and sent to a Catholic boarding school in Rome. There the child grew in Faith and eventually responded to the calling to become a Catholic priest.
The Mortara Case reverberated around the world. Journalists, politicians, and Jewish leaders tried to pressure Pius IX to reverse his decision. The pope's refusal to do so was used as one of the reasons to dissolve the Papal States in 1870. Currently the case is being used as an argument against the canonization of Pius IX, whom John Paul II beatified in 2000.
Paperback, size 8" x 5.5", 190 pages
The Story of Takashi Nagai a Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb
by Fr Paul Glynn, S.M.
On August 9, 1945, an American B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people in the blink of an eye, while fatally injuring and poisoning thousands more. Among the survivors was Takashi Nagai, a pioneer in radiology research and a convert to the Catholic Faith. Living in the rubble of the ruined city and suffering from leukemia caused by over-exposure to radiation, Nagai lived out the remainder of his remarkable life by bringing physical and spiritual healing to his war-weary people.
A Song for Nagasaki tells the moving story of this extraordinary man, beginning with his boyhood and the heroic tales and stoic virtues of his family's Shinto religion. It reveals the inspiring story of Nagai's remarkable spiritual journey from Shintoism to atheism to Catholicism. Mixed with interesting details about Japanese history and culture, the biography traces Nagai's spiritual quest as he studied medicine at Nagasaki University, served as a medic with the Japanese army during its occupation of Manchuria, and returned to Nagasaki to dedicate himself to the science of radiology. The historic Catholic district of the city, where Nagai became a Catholic and began a family, was ground zero for the atomic bomb.
After the bomb disaster that killed thousands, including Nagai's beloved wife, Nagai, then Dean of Radiology at Nagasaki University, threw himself into service to the countless victims of the bomb explosion, even though it meant deadly exposure to the radiation which eventually would cause his own death. While dying, he also wrote powerful books that became best-sellers in Japan. These included The Bells of Nagasaki, which resonated deeply with the Japanese people in their great suffering as it explores the Christian message of love and forgiveness. Nagai became a highly revered man and is considered a saint by many Japanese people. Illustrated
"Christians and non-Christians alike were deeply moved by Nagai's faith in Christ that made him like Job of the Scriptures: in the midst of the nuclear wilderness he kept his heart in tranquility and peace, neither bearing resentment against any man nor cursing God." — Shusaku Endo, from the Foreword
Paperback, size 8" x 5.25", 267 pages
The Catholic Queen
by Warren H. Carroll
One of the most powerful and compelling figures of all history, Isabel of Spain was a force with which to be reckoned, and should rightfully eclipse the better-known Elizabeth of England, both as a woman and a national leader.
The first full scholarly biography of Queen Isabel in English for nearly seventy-five years, Isabel of Spain is extensively annotated and eminently readable.
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 464 pages
by John Lenz
“What we priests were forced to endure under the Nazi regime, especially in Dachau concentration camp, is no more than a cup filled from the vast sea of human suffering in the world today,” wrote Fr. John Lenz. “It is not this suffering as such that is important. The important thing is to show those who have crosses of their own to bear in life just what the grace of God can do for those who follow faithfully in the footsteps of Christ the Crucified. It is no less important to reveal the wickedness of Hell.”
The Nazi hellhole Dachau concentration camp held the largest number of Catholic priests — more than 2,400 — in the Nazi camp system. They came from two dozen countries, from every background — parish priests and prelates, monks and friars, teachers and missionaries. More than one-third were killed.
Among the survivors was Fr. Lenz, who was asked by his superiors to write an account of what he saw — and experienced — so that it would not be forgotten. This book, filled with gripping real-life stories and eighty photos, was the stunning result and became an immediate sensation.
This work is unique among those written on the Holocaust; it reveals how, by tireless sacrifice amid barbaric suffering, the Church was victorious in one of the darkest times in human history. When the Nazis entered several European countries, many people were afraid to speak up. Numerous priests, however, continued to preach the gospel and the truth about the dignity of life and freedom. Through their courageous witness you will learn about:
- The arrest and imprisonment of priests and other faithful citizens
- What really happened at Dachau and the horrific treatment of prisoners
- How priests ministered to fellow prisoners and prayed unceasingly in the camps
- Ways in which priests secretly brought the Blessed Sacrament to the people and heard confessions
- Spiritual lessons learned in the face of death and despair
“Only when we are forced to endure the most profound suffering and hardship do we learn how to catch hold of God’s hand in our misery,” Fr. Lenz reflected. “We learn to pray.”
Paperback, size 9" x 6", 328 pages