Biography

Learned and filled with holiness, he not only organized the constitutions, and established the Salve Regina after compline but was instrumental guiding the work of others to establish the Dominican Liturgy.Though master-general of the order, Bl. Jordan's humility prevented him from attributing himself as a director of any human authority. He was not and did not wish to be anything but a docile instrument of grace. As a director of conscience in his breadth and delicacy, Jordan had the Catholi...

The sixteenth century was a golden age for the Church in Spain, producing great thinkers such as Victoria and Suarez, and mystics such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Hidden among these towering figures is the venerable Father Louis de Ponte, SJ. Born at Valladolid in 1554, de Ponte lived a remarkably pure and innocent life, advancing steadily in both learning and holiness. Though he served as an administrator within the Jesuit order, ill health eventually led him to withdra...

The eighteenth century is often called an age of “Enlightenment,” a period marked by skepticism, worldliness, and a turning away from God in favor of constructing a purely human society. Yet long before this crisis emerged, God had already prepared an apostle to confront it: St. Alphonsus Liguori. Renouncing prestige, legal success, and worldly advantage, he placed Christ at the center of his heart and devoted his life to setting souls ablaze with love for the Redeemer. But the roots of St. A...

St. Leonard was born in 1676 at Port Maurice, near Genoa. He went to Rome to study, and there took on the Franciscan habit at the friary of St. Bonaventure. St. Leonard was zealous for souls, and wanted to be a missionary to foreign lands; instead he was called by God to give missions to the Christians of his own country.For twenty-four years, amid great hardships and dangers, he preached missions in every corner of Italy. The power of his words, which flowed from his strict life converted co...

The amazing life of Blessed Nicholas Factor tells of a miracle working saint from the 16th century. As a child of five, Nicholas already manifested signs of his future sanctity. He fasted three times a week and gave the food he did not touch to the poor. With cheerful words he comforted the sick, and on visiting the leper hospital, he would at times kiss the wounds of the afflicted persons. A Moorish maid in his home was so affected at the conduct of the holy child that she was attracted to t...

"In this book, Deacon James Keating provides an opportunity for one spiritual director to introduce his mind to the minds of other directors with the hope that his ideas may season their own already developed method of direction. The book does not attend to all the possible realities a director may encounter within his or her training or within the daily execution of this ministry. The author wishes to share his approach to directing seminarians by reflecting upon themes and experiences which...

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the revelation of God's love for man, made flesh. The heart is a symbol of our passions, desires, and will. Meditating upon Jesus' heart can transform our own hearts so we might be one with him.Make Our Hearts Like Yours is a comprehensive collection of meditations on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, drawn from saints and scholars of every age of Church history. Arranged according to the liturgical calendar, this daily devotional highlights the centrality of the Incarna...

Besides the graces of the Sacraments, God has another way for us to grow in faith from a mustard seed into a giant tree. And that way is a life of virtue. A virtue is a habit, something that must be practiced daily if it is to increase. At our Baptism, we received the virtues of faith, hope, and love. In this children's book, authors Patrick O'Hearn and Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, with beautiful illustrations by Adalee Hude, describe 15 of the most important virtues for boys and girls. We begin...

St. Felix of Cantalice was a Capuchin Franciscan in the 16th century. Placed among great personages such as St. Philip Neri, St. Charles Borromeo, and others, St. Felix lived a life of poverty and fidelity to the rule of St. Francis. Born in 1515, he lived as a farm worker until he was 28, when he became a Capuchin. He not only begged alms, but gladly distributed them to the poor. It was said that his alms sack was as bottomless as his heart. He walked bare-foot through the streets of Rome, a...

The chequered life of Ludolph the Carthusian (c. 1295-1378) found its spiritual contentment in the writing of his colossal work on the Vita Jesu Christi in Latin. The book on the Life of Christ occupied some forty years of Ludolph's life in a charterhouse in Mainz. It has been styled as a summa evangelica and as it contains a series of meditations, spiritual instructions and prayers, it has also served to many a medieval scholar as a collation of dogmatic and moral dissertations. These are st...

Domine Exaudi is the fifth of six volumes of Denis the Carthusian’s monumental Commentary on the Davidic Psalms. Denis (1402–1471), known as the “ecstatic Doctor,” devoted himself to expounding all 150 Psalms according to the traditional fourfold sense of Scripture: literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical. This volume continues the effort to make his rich spiritual and theological insights available in English for the first time. Denis understood the Psalter to be the heart of Chri...

The figure of Girolamo Savonarola looms large over Italian secular and ecclesiastical history, but remains obscure to the English-speaking world. Now, as part of a larger project dedicated to the translation and study of the life and works of Savonarola, this highly accessible biography of the Friar of San Marco has been republished in the hopes of introducing faithful Catholics to a man that Pius XII called "an apostle who has a lively sense of things divine and eternal, who takes a stand ag...

For too many of us, life is harder than it needs to be. We have forgotten the ancient system of "super habits" -- a specific set of habits for making decisions, managing our emotions, and dealing with other people that fosters lives of greater ease, happiness, and power.Ancient civilizations relied on these habits to produce some of the greatest achievements in human history. Now, contemporary researchers in psychology, education, and management are rediscovering these habits and empirically ...

Cardinal George Pell was a significant figure in Australian public life and in the life of the Catholic Church from the time of his appointment to the episcopacy in the 1980s until his death in 2023. His imprisonment for some 404 days for a crime he did not commit was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Australian legal history. His scape-goat treatment has been compared to that of Alfred Dreyfus in the period of the Third French Republic. As a defender of Catholic orthodoxy Pell d...

With over one hundred books to his name, Peter Kreeft is the most prolific Catholic author of his generation. He's also one of the most loved, having influenced countless Catholics in the U.S. and beyond. But who, exactly, is the man behind the books? In this new autobiography, Kreeft finally tells readers his own story, including the encounters, people, and ideas that led him to the Catholic Church as a young man. With his signature insight and sharp wit, Kreeft takes readers through his chi...

This in-depth, page-turning biography of Father Joseph Fessio, S.J., founder of Ignatius Press and the University of San Francisco's Saint Ignatius Institute, is written by one of Fessio's earliest Jesuit mentors, historian Father Cornelius Buckley, S.J.Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area during the golden age after World War II, the bold, often reckless Joe Fessio would suddenly enter the Society of Jesus at age twenty and, by divine providence, find himself studying under three of...

What moves us first of all in these 'Conversations' is, in the words of Father Boucher CSsR, Van's spiritual director, 'The unbelievable familiarity and ... the tenderness of which Brother Marcel has been the object on the part of his heavenly interlocutors. On reading the little sheets that he handed over to me each week I had the feeling that this very small Redemptorist brother whom Jesus, Mary and Thérèse were leading by the hand would have a role to play in the Church and in the world.' ...

Elizabeth Prout stands at both the heart and the crossroads of nineteenth-century history. From her birth in 1820 as the daughter of a cooper in a brewery, beside a cotton mill and an ironworks in the suburbs of Shrewsbury, to her death of tuberculosis, beside the glass and chemical works of St Helens, in 1864, she experienced the industrial, educational, social, economic and religious changes that transformed English society at that time. It was, however, her close friendships with those two...

Conscience before Conformity tells the story of German students who dared to speak out against Hitler and the Third Reich, and died for their beliefs. Operating under the name of the White Rose, they printed and distributed leaflets condemning Nazism and urging Germans to offer non-violent resistance to the 'atheistic war machine'. By looking at the cultural and religious journey of the protagonists, Hans and Sophie Scholl, we can see what made them change from active participants in the Hitl...

General Francisco Franco (1892-1975), ruler of Spain for nearly forty years, was one of the most powerful and controversial leaders in that nation's long history. This deeply researched biography treats the three major aspects of his life--personal, military, and political. It depicts his early life, explains his career and rise to prominence as an army officer who became Europe's youngest interwar brigadier general in 1926, and then discusses his role in the affairs of the troubled Second Sp...

The moving story of a young man's amazing journey to discover the roots of the Christian faith in the Ancient Near East, which led him from Protestantism through the Messianic movement and into the Catholic Church. This journey took him to the rainforest of Papua New Guinea, the Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw, and the Judean Desert and into the heart of ancient and medieval Jewish tradition: the Hebrew Bible.Along the way, he met a cast of odd and wonderful characters, false prophets, and saintly ...

Embark on an inspirational journey with this classic best seller about the life of Francesca Cabrini. Angel Studios is proud to bring you a special edition of this biography--and the new motion picture, Cabrini--to tell her story and inspire all people to love with unstoppable determination, as she did. This gripping biography unveils the extraordinary adventures of Mother Cabrini, a visionary Italian American religious sister who defied the odds, founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred ...

Awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1935, Raymond Chambers's acclaimed biography of Saint Thomas More stands as one of the finest accounts of this great figure of English history. Beginning with his early life in late 15th century England, Chambers tracks More's rise through Parliament and the British social hierarchy, culminating in his appointment as Lord Chancellor in 1529. The result of this chancellorship is of course widely known: following the disagreement between King Henry...

The crowning achievement of Symbolist poet and philologist Sergey Solovyov, Vladimir Solovyov: His Life & Creative Evolution remains the most comprehensive critical biography of the great nineteenth-century Russian philosopher, mystic, and ecumenist Vladimir Solovyov. Intended for publication in 1923, this work remained in manuscript until 1977, when it was first published in Brussels, and then finally in Moscow in 1997. This complete English translation is based on both the Brussels and ...

Passion Partners is based on a postgraduate study on Gerard Manley Hopkins by the Orcadian writer George Mackay Brown at Edinburgh University in the 1960s that has only recently become accessible at the National Library of Scotland after purchase at auction in 2018. "Passion Partners" refers to the medieval liturgical fragment from the primers so popular with the laity: "Grant that I may carry within me the death of Christ, make me a partner in his Passion, let me relive his wounds." And inde...

In An Exemplary Couple: Saint Gianna Beretta and Pietro Molla, you will read the story of the spouses Saint Gianna Beretta and Pietro Molla, and with an account, through direct testimonies, of the most significant moments of their married life. This is followed by an analysis of their marital journey through their own correspondence, highlighting the distinctive features of their relationship as fiancés, spouses, and parents. Finally, their daily spirituality is linked with the texts of the M...

In a small French town in the year 1565, the devil took possession of a young Catholic married woman named Nicola Aubry. He revealed himself as Beelzebub, "prince of devils, next to Lucifer." And the devil did not come alone. Twenty-nine minions accompanied the father of lies at one point. Several Protestant preachers tried to expel the devil, and they were quickly humbled. The devil even revealed the secret sins of those present at Nicola's public exorcisms. The battle to free Nicola's soul ...

"The world is too small," Saint Frances Cabrini (1850-1917) once declared. "I would like to embrace it all, to reach every corner." This compelling, authoritative biography chronicles the astounding life of a petite Italian-born religious sister who, with the heart of a missionary, conquered all odds to become the first American citizen canonized a saint.Theodore Maynard traces Cabrini's journey from her humble beginnings in northern Italy to her pioneering mission across the United States se...

A Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, and devout Catholic tells you everything you need to know about keeping your faith at a modern university. Drawing on her recent experience, Aurora Griffin shares forty practical tips relating to academics, community, prayer, and service that helped her stay Catholic in college.She reminds us that keeping the faith is a conscious decision, reinforced by commitment to daily practices. Aurora's story illustrates that when you decide your faith matters to you,...

"One of the 100 best books of the year." --The Times Literary Supplement Christopher Columbus is reevaluated as a man of deep passion, patience, and religious conviction--on a mission to save Jerusalem from Islam. Five hundred years after he set sail, Columbus is still a controversial figure in history. Debates portray him either as the hero in the great drama of discovery or as an avaricious glory hunter and ruthless destroyer of indigenous cultures. In Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem, ...

Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the most popular modern saints in the world, but the details of her life and spirituality are still not widely known and are somewhat of a mystery even to her devoted followers.With over 150 stunning photographs, in-depth text, and plentiful sidebars on history, geography, and themes, this gorgeous work helps us enter into the universe of the greatest saint of modern times to discover the simplicity, yet depth of her daily life and of her relationships, both human...

A Pope for All Seasons: Testimonies Inspired by Saint John Paul II contains reminiscences by people who admired this saintly man as student, actor, professor, mentor, author, priest, pope, political leader, uncle, and friend. Among the nearly 50 men and women who share their intimate thoughts on the Polish pontiff are internationally recognized figures such as Maestro Placido Domingo, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Michael Reagan, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Newt...

In the ancient Christian Apostles' Creed, we speak the fourth line that Jesus Christ "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he went down to the dead (ad inferno-to hell)." This mysterious line of Christ's descent to hell generated a deep mystical spirituality in Adrienne von Speyr (d. 1967), a Swiss laywoman, physician, wife, mother, and spiritual writer. Her extensive, speculative mysticism influenced the critical work of the Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Ba...

Confessions of a Convert is Robert Hugh Benson's autobiographical account of his journey from an Anglican brought up in "the moderate High Church school of thought" to a Catholic priest living under "the sunlight of Eternal Truth." Benson was raised as a faithful, yet unreflective member of the Anglican communion, whose childhood was dominated by his father's, the Archbishop of Canterbury's, unquestioning commitment to doctrine. Theology was merely the family business, and hints at a more per...

Priest of the Eucharist From a young age, (now St) Pierre-Julien Eymard wanted nothing more than to be a priest. Once ordained, young Fr Eymard quickly developed a deep devotion to his Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Consumed by his great love, Fr Eymard devoted his life to increasing devotion to Jesus in all tabernacles. In this biography of the "Priest of the Eucharist", Fr Tesnière, a novice trained by St Pierre-Julien, showcases the prayerful devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament that charac...

The Memoirs of Antonio Cardinal Bacci Antonio Bacci was rector of the archdiocesan seminary of Florence when his exceptional knowledge of Latin caused him to be summoned to Rome in 1922 to join the office of the Secretary of State as an assistant, first to Aurelio Galli and then to Nicola Sebastiani, the chief Latinists of the Holy See. Bacci succeeded Sebastiani as Secretary of Briefs to Princes upon the latter's death in 1931. In the first half of the memoirs here translated, Bacci discusse...

An Old Layman Questions Himself about the Present Time At eighty-five, Jacques Maritain, the most distinguished Catholic philosopher of the twentieth century, has written what he offers as his last book, and it turns out to be a shocker. The "peasant," as Maritain calls himself in the title, is a man who calls a spade a spade; and a storm of controversy descended immediately on the book's publication in France, as both Right and Left reeled from the force of Maritain's criticism.The Peasant ...

St. Thomas More, by E.E. Reynolds, is a complete life of the saint based on primary source accounts, state papers and contemporary registers. Reynolds leaves no written source uncovered in drawing together for us the man who became one of the most famous men not only in England, but even in Europe, who gave his life for the rights of the Church over the tyranny of the state. Reynolds traces More's life and environs, as well as More's writings and poetry, to bring out the man and the hour in w...

Discover the life of Benedict of Nursia in a unique and insightful way with Saint Benedict and His Times, written by Ildefonso Schuster, one of the outstanding ecclesiastical scholars of the twentieth century. Piece together the puzzle of one of the most important figures in Church history with this comprehensive look at the times he lived. A millennium and a half have passed since Benedict penned his great Rule that has guided countless God-seeking souls ever since. Dig deep into history, ju...

Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World A vivid critique of American life today and a guide to how Christians―and particularly Catholics--can live their faith vigorously, and even with hope, in a post-Christian public square. Charles J. Chaput’s Strangers in a Strange Land is a thought-provoking read which expands upon the turbulent landscape of Catholicism and Christianity in our modern America. In this timely treatise, readers will find an authoritative yet accessible exploratio...