Biography

Meet a modern-day Joan of Arc. Whether in scrubs, camouflage, or a religious habit, Sr. Dede Byrne, in her threefold calling as a professed religious sister, renowned surgeon, and U.S. Army colonel, inspire us to both virtue and action.If the apostles had remained hidden in the Upper Room, we would never have a Church today. Similarly, Sister's inspirational life serves as a call to emerge from the safety of the Upper Room and enter the public square to courageously infuse culture with an una...

Who, having witnessed a miracle, can deny the power of God?This awe-inspiring compendium of testimonies of the miraculous reinforces the role of supernatural grace in the life of the Church. The stories demonstrate how miracles prove the omnipotence of God, who speaks through His saints to heal and convert souls.Miracles of the Saints is a colorful treasury that includes stories of well-known saints as well as new intercessors in the Church Triumphant.Illustrated with holy images and photogra...

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...

In this moving and insightful memoir, a veteran firefighter recounts his struggle to navigate the difficulties of his dangerous job while standing firm in his Catholic faith. Here is not only a thrilling window into life as an emergency worker, but also a gripping tale of one man's struggle to withstand the spiritual challenges of a secular workplace--a battle that will resonate with Catholics across the board. How is one to preserve one's faith, and share it with others, in a society that ha...

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...

The most important biographical record of the Reagan years--from the Reagan governorship to the 40th president's period in the White House--has not been written, until now: it is the story of Ronald Reagan's indispensable man, confidant, and single most important adviser: William P. Clark, known to many as simply "The Judge." With his record, resume, and the respect he earned from so many quarters, why did Bill Clark never pen an autobiography? Why did he never write memoirs, even while less ...

In sixth-century Ireland, the memory of the great missionary Saint Patrick was strong, but so was the influence of the old pagan religion. There was still much work to be done to spread the Christian faith.This book tells the story of one of the greatest saints of the Emerald Isle after Patrick, Saint Kevin, whose monastery at Glendalough was a beacon of light for eight hundred years. Saint Kevin worked miracles, communed with animals, and inspired thousands to leave everything to follow Chri...

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen was one of the greatest spiritual leaders--and entertainers--in America's tumultuous twentieth century. His television shows, for which he eventually won an Emmy Award, reached millions of viewers, and in the 1950s and '60s, "Fulton Sheen" was a household name.But his greatest gift was in finding lost sheep. Through his thought, wit, and compassion, many thousands of people likely entered the Church, from all walks of life. Among them were jazz legend Ada "Bricktop" ...

"Let us leave a saint to write the life of a saint."--St. Thomas Aquinas In the annals of Christian sanctity, Dominic Savio emerges as a luminary, guiding the path of the faithful with the light of his youthful innocence and zeal. St. John Bosco, the venerable servant of God, chronicles the life of his spiritual son, offering us a window into a soul graced with divine favor. Born to Italian peasants, Dominic's journey mirrored that of St. Pius X, sharing humble origins, a love for learning, a...

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...

"My Father, I put myself in your hands", wrote Charles de Foucauld in his journal. "Whatever you make of me, I thank you, I am ready for everything, I accept everything, I thank you for everything."When he was killed by bandits in 1916, the French aristocrat-turned-monk was virtually unknown. Over the course of a century, however, the radiance of Foucauld's hidden life has spread more and more, and the Church now recognizes him as a saint.His youth and early adulthood read like a novel--the l...

This inspiring work profiles sixteen heroic Catholic men and women who defied the odds to advance civil and human rights around the world. Spanning from the birth of the United States to World War II Germany to the current Latin American immigration crisis, this book features people whose faith drove them to courageously defend the dignity of the children of God, especially the most vulnerable, transforming many lives and paving the way for a more equitable society. To understand human rights...

This inspiring book gives you a splendid example of how to live as a Christian in a secular environment that can be indifferent or hostile to your Faith. For Elisabeth Leseur had two great loves: God and her husband Felix, who was an atheist. Felix loved Elisabeth as well; yet to their mutual sorrow, he couldn't share the life of the Spirit that Elisabeth cherished. Occasionally the happiness of their life together in upper-class Parisian society was shattered by Felix's frustration and impat...

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...

St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617), Patroness of the Americas, is the first canonized saint of the New World. She was the tenth of thirteen children, and her mother experienced no pain at her birth. Though exquisitely beautiful (hence her nickname, Rose), she refused to marry, and while helping support her family by needlework and growing flowers, she practiced heroic charity and lived as a Dominican Tertiary in her parents' home. Rose tenderly cared for the sick, even those with repulsive wounds, ...

In recent years, Blessed Columba Marmion's writings and teaching have become increasingly available to the faithful throughout the world. The depth of his spiritual knowledge and the beauty and simplicity of his teaching have not been lost to us. Yet what still remains is a portrait of this great saint. The present biography fills in this gap. Compiled of essentially two parts, Dom Raymond Thibault first traces the historical details of Blessed Marmion's life to reveal a man tried by sufferin...

This collection of testimonies by people who’ve found new life in the Catholic Church is one of the most potent weapons for the Faith ever crafted! These authors don’t just tell their stories — they also give you an insider’s view of the fatal weaknesses in the creeds and belief systems that beckon unwary Catholics every day: Fundamentalism, New Age paganism, Mormonism, materialistic hedonism, and many others. You’ll discover why these converts forsook beliefs cherished by their families and ...

The story of the Martyrs of Castelfidardo is one of faith, heroism, and sacrifice. During the 1860s, the Papal States were under attack by a revolutionary movement to unite Italy under the banner of anti-clericalism. This attack was pushed by Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont and Italian secret societies.On September 11th, 1860 the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont invaded the Papal States, hellbent on seizing the patrimony of St. Peter, which stood for over 1000 years. The largest battle fo...

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...

C. Bernard Ruffin's Padre Pio: The True Story is a captivating account of the life of one of the most revered Catholic figures of the 20th century. From his humble beginnings as a Italian farm boy to his years as a beloved spiritual leader, Padre Pio's journey is one of deep faith and miraculous deeds.Ruffin draws on extensive research and interviews with those who knew Padre Pio best to paint a intimate portrait of a man whose intense spirituality and holiness transformed the lives of all wh...

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...