Books on the Spiritual Life

We are all called to reject sin, to grow in virtue, and, above all else, to love God with all that we are. But some souls suffer from anxiety and feelings of guilt because they see sin where there is none and struggle to embrace God's love and mercy - a psychological and spiritual condition known as scrupulosity. In Scrupulosity: Heal Your Mind, Unbind Your Soul, and Let God Work, clinical psychologist Dr. Kevin Vost provides a comprehensive overview of the ancient and current psychological a...

Here is a powerful, life-changing book that will help you understand and conquer the struggles you face in your spiritual life. It's a book for those who love the Lord and desire holiness yet often feel adrift or stagnant in their search for spiritual growth. All of us encounter valleys on our journey with the Lord -- those periods of spiritual desolation that are a painful yet unavoidable feature of our prayer life. Spiritual desolation is as complex as we are, so understanding what is happe...

"The Sacred Heart of Jesus" by Monsignor Louis Gaston de Ségur, translated by Ryan P. Plummer, is a profound work of devotion offering over thirty lessons and meditations on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Inspired by the revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the teachings of St. John Eudes, this book aims to deepen the reader's love and worship of the Sacred Heart. With an apostolic letter from Pope Pius IX commending Mgr. de Ségur's zeal, this work seeks to be a refuge for souls, alignin...

Imagine some personal hours face to face with Pope Benedict XVI, one of the greatest Catholic thinkers and spiritual writers of the twentieth century. In this slim volume, hundreds of short quotations and sayings taken from Benedict's papal writings, addresses, and homilies have been classified by the Christian virtues of which they speak, and then categorized according to the mysteries of the Rosary and the great themes of prayer, the Church, the Mass, the papacy, Sacred Scripture, the pries...

There have been thousands of books written about prayer and millions of sermons preached about it, yet people continue to wonder: Why doesn’t God answer me when I cry out to him? In light of all the problems we face in life, we want to know why God is often so “silent” when we pray to him. Anthony DeStefano, author of the bestsellingA Travel Guide to Heaven, knew there had to be an answer to this mystery, so he set out on a quest to find prayers that God says yes to all the time. The result i...

Essays on the Beatitudes and The Gifts of the Holy GhostThe Collected Works of Carol Jackson Robinson, Volume 2 This book is the second in Carol Robinson's Collected Works series. Her penetrating and original analysis of the modern world shows the fruit of a mind absorbed in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas— her life-long companion. We hope that these essays will help Catholics understand how the Faith has importance for the totality of their lives which must not be hidden away from the publ...

Letters to the Duchess of Orléans and Meditations on Christian Life The present volume presents a wide selection of letters glowing with affection that Mectilde addressed to Marguerite de Lorraine, Duchess of Orléans (1615-1672).

What does it mean to live as a child of God? In this book, Fr. Piotr Rostworowski offers timeless advice and spiritual counsel to a nun under his direction, aimed at helping her live a life of perfect unity with God. In simple, loving, honest language, this holy father sets out clear guidance and practical methods for how to attain perfection. Likewise, the universality of the issues with which Fr. Rostworowski deals, issues ranging from how to overcome one's own will in temptation to recogni...

Recovering the Christian Mystery of Personhood The Apocalypse of the Sovereign Self is a collection of stories, fictional and factual, highlighting two themes: the autonomous self, now in a profound crisis; and the person, whose Christian sources and contours have too long been overlooked. The ongoing cultural and confessional evisceration of Christianity all too graphically proves the validity of Christ's warning: "Apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). For these words were addressed t...

A young man...a painter. Having converted, he tries his vocation as a monk, but decides that monastic life is not for him. Thrown back on his own resources, he quickly becomes enmeshed in difficulties-not least, when he discovers an unusually sympathetic ear in a young married woman-and he struggles to find a place in the contemporary Church. Throughout his searching, he turns to the Benedictine Dom Hubert for counsel, wondering what to do with his feelings. Dom Hubert, also an artist, offers...

Sermons & Meditations on Seeking Christ & His Mother Born in the silence and simplicity of rural New-England, this book gathers some brief reflections and sermons of a parish Priest. The sermons fix their attention upon the Mother of God, and the author's approach is essentially liturgical. Side-stepping the language of apologetics and controversy, he studies the texts of the Roman liturgy and shares what he finds there. The meditations-concentrated and pithy-consider, beneath the lig...

A Presentation for Beginners "If personal holiness is thought of as being a name at the top of a list it is understood wrong. If it is thought of as something which merits a feast in the Church's calendar it is understood wrong....There is nothing 'superior, ' in the sense of being one up on everybody else, about it. The way to think of sanctity is as something which, by being generous and faithful to grace, gives back to God the love which he has given to the soul." While the glamorous and s...

"The end of penance is God, not more penances. Thus the approach to penance has to be by way of love, not by way of steeling the will to toughness. Penance must have its roots in charity, not austerity." With characteristic Benedictine discretion, Van Zeller here sets straight common misapprehensions of penance, steering the reader past the Scylla of extremism on the one hand and the Charybdis of avoiding this essential virtue of the Christian life on the other hand. "Take up your cross and f...

"These pages do not pretend to furnish theologians and doctors with a new Mariology. My aim is much more modest; I am trying to reach many small souls, for whom a few rays of Holy Mary's beauty will suffice; that they may endlessly admire and better pronounce her name-after the Name of Jesus, the most beautiful of names." Dom Eugene Vandeur's Hail Mary is not another scholarly exegesis on each part of that ancient prayer; it is a poetic, passionate, expressive, rhythmic hymn of praise. In the...

"If my correspondence is anything to go by," writes Benedictine artist and author Dom Hubert Van Zeller, "the problem which men and women living in the world most want to discuss is that of how to handle the affections." The fruit of Dom Hubert's experience as a spiritual director, these 42 short reflections are culled from his correspondence, and engage with questions surrounding the cultural upheaval which followed World War II, the first stages of the sexual revolution, and the modern worl...

An Historical, Liturgical and Devotional Explanation of the Mass according to the Roman Missal "In a word, the service of God is meant to be beautiful, because a true instinct of man makes him realize, even when he is in a state of retrogression and barbarism, that all that is best and noblest must be made subservient to the worship of the Lord and Creator of all." Dom Ernest Graf begins his work The Priest at the Altar with this declaration that beauty is the fundamental form of the Liturgy....

On re-reading this book, Dom Hubert confessed "to being surprised at the tone of attack which runs through a lot of it." But he continues, "I would like to say in this connexion that any blows which are met with in these pages are primarily aimed at myself. All the more combative passages were occasioned by my saying to myself: 'This won't do-it's a misconception (or a mood or a willy) and must be exploded at once.' Then I have sat down and written my piece." Such a candid effort on the autho...

Spiritual Conferences on the Monastic and Religious Life "Every vocation, even the simple Christian vocation, comes from God. Our Lord Himself says 'No man can come to Me, except the Father draw him.' But it is God's love for us-and as we are born miserable, it is His merciful love-which is the origin of this call." A work which goes to the heart of the Rule of St Benedict, this classic of the Irish Benedictine Blessed Columba Marmion has fed generations of God-seeking souls. Capable of touch...

"Prayer must necessarily involve a discipline, but it need not involve a system...In our prayer we must return to the primary purpose of what we are trying to do: we are trying to bring worship to God. The greatest act of worship that man can give to God is to refer back to him what God has already given. Man has nothing of his own to offer, nothing that has not been lent by God." Almost everyone who has believed in God has wondered how to pray to him. But in the same way that no two relation...

Dom Columba Marmion's classic work Christ the Life of the Soul aims at showing forth "the fundamental character of the Christian life, according to the Gospel, the Epistles of St Paul, and the conclusions of theological teaching." Marmion wanted to emphasize that the "Christian life is essentially supernatural, and can only be found in Christ," who is both the model and cause of all holiness. Christ in His Mysteries continues this teaching, demonstrating that Christ's life is manifested to us...

This is the second edition of Dom Hubert van Zeller's short commentary on the Hail Mary which was part of his "In Other Words" series. Originally published in 1963, it has long been out of print. Permission has been granted by Downside Abbey Trustees to republish this wonderful work.

When confronted with the message of the Gospel, the Jews on the day of Pentecost were cut to the heart and said, "Brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) Catholics today are asking themselves the same question. Phillip Campbell's The Way of Life offers a response. Drawing on the spiritual heritage of the Church, the essays in this book call us to refocus our sight on the Lord, cultivating "eyes to see" that we might have confidence in God's providence. Covering a host of subjects ranging fro...

On the Rule of St. Benedict The Commentary on the Rule takes into account the long history of commentary on St. Benedict's rule and discusses this history at length in the introduction. Each chapter has a selection of the rule, following the divisions of dates on which sections of the rule are read in monasteries, then a commentary on that section, followed by an application, through 72 chapters completing the entire Rule. The commentary makes use of the very lengthy Monastic Tradition, works...

Anselm Stolz, the author of this book, was a Benedictine monk of the German abbey of Gerleve. He was called to Rome to teach theology at Sant'Anselmo, the Roman Benedictine college, until his early death from typhus in 1942. In his life and teaching, as his confrère Elmar Salman points out, he united Christian belief and Christian living, he not only talked the talk in books and lectures, he walked the walk, in his life and death. A lifetime later, another Benedictine professor, Gerardo Békés...

Sermons on the Gospels for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany In these modern days of the six-minute homilette, some may question the use of translating musty old sermons. Why bother with the past? Yet if we want to be whole Catholics, we need to know what went before us, as well as our present. In these confusing times where some in the Church are trying to erase any reminder of the past, it becomes all the more necessary to be familiar with the Faith as handed down through the centuries, in or...

The Sanctoral Cycle I In these modern days of the six-minute homilette, some may question the use of translating musty old sermons. Why bother with the past? Yet if we want to be whole Catholics, we need to know what went before us, as well as our present. In these confusing times where some in the Church are trying to erase any reminder of the past, it becomes all the more necessary to be familiar with the Faith as handed down through the centuries, in order to better explain what we believe...

Sermons on Septuagesima, Lent, & Eastertide In these modern days of the six-minute homilette, some may question the use of translating musty old sermons. Why bother with the past? Yet if we want to be whole Catholics, we need to know what went before us, as well as our present. In these confusing times where some in the Church are trying to erase any reminder of the past, it becomes all the more necessary to be familiar with the Faith as handed down through the centuries, in order to bett...

Sermons for Pentecost and the Time after Pentecost In these modern days of the six-minute homilette, some may question the use of translating musty old sermons. Why bother with the past? Yet if we want to be whole Catholics, we need to know what went before us, as well as our present. In these confusing times where some in the Church are trying to erase any reminder of the past, it becomes all the more necessary to be familiar with the Faith as handed down through the centuries, in order to b...

This book consists of a series of daily meditations written by the eminent Latinist Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1885-1971) who served as the Vatican's chief Latinist for over 40 years. The English edition has been out-of-print since 1965. In it, Cardinal Bacci explores vast areas of Catholic principles on the spiritual life using such sources as: Sacred Scripture, the writings of the Saints with particular emphasis on St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church Fathers, many passages from Thomas a Kempis' "Th...

Poems by Saint John of the Cross Regarded by many as one of the finest Spanish poets, the 16th century mystic St. John of the Cross wrote sublime poems that chronicle the soul's purificatory pilgrimage through the dark night of the soul to the joy of mystical union with the Creator. To translate such works, with their passionate, intimate intensity, requires both boldness and delicacy. The translator of poetry faces many challenges. As the late poet Timothy Murphy notes in his introduction, s...

An Unabridged Edition with The Original Four Parts and All Chapters, Table of Contents: On Selection of Men for The Work of The Church - On the Sort of Life, The Pastor Ought to Live - On the Best Methods of Dealing with The Various Types of People Which Every Pastor Will be Likely to Encounter - On the Necessity That the Pastor Guard Himself Against Egotism and Personal Ambition, with footnotes.

An essential addition to the HarperCollins Spiritual Classics series, The Way of a Pilgrim is combined in one volume with its companion work, The Pilgrim Continues His Way. Translated from the original Russian by Reginald M. French and with an introduction by Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions, The Way of a Pilgrim is the chronicle of an anonymous nineteenth century Russian Christian's travels and spiritual inquiries. Eye-opening and extraordinary, The Way of a Pilgrim offers a one...

The mission given to Sister Josefa Menéndez by Our Lord. The divine words of the message, addressed to the people of the world, are a reminder of the Love and Mercy of Our Lord. Jesus considered it necessary to come and confirm the promises of the New Testament with the words of the 20th century. Thus, nineteen centuries after having declared it during his public life, Jesus asks Josefa to remind us, and to confirm to us, in a very clear way, that he is a God of love, forgiveness, and inexha...

Identity means being the same and being different. It is a one-word oxymoron. How on earth can the concept make sense? This brilliant exposition of the question goes-by way of literature, philosophy, and psychology-to show that it can only be answered metaphysically. Identity is the mystery at the heart of creation, and, ultimately, the mystery of its Creator. Personal anxieties about who we are and political tensions about who others are melt before the radiance of God's truth. In that truth...

Navigating the Spiritual Life with Blessed Columba Marmion In the early twentieth century, Blessed Columba Marmion's dogmatically-grounded spiritual theology, expressed in artful prose, set the Catholic world on fire. A century later, in The Grace of "Nothingness," Fr Cassian Koenemann seeks to rekindle that fire for a new generation with his inspired presentation of Marmion's key spiritual insights. To this task he brings a monk's sensitivity to friendship with God, a schoolteacher's focus o...

Chivalry, Christendom, and Catholic Culture Portraits of Spiritual Nobility is a timeless collection of stories, homages and reflections written by world-renowned theologian Tracey Rowland. In this stimulating volume, Rowland illuminates the mysteries and morals espoused by Catholicism and how they are applied in daily life to promote spiritual nobility and charity. From Pope John Paul II to Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Portraits of Spiritual Nobility takes the reader on an incredible journey th...

The Little Way to Jesus The prayer of the heart is one of the dearest treasures of Christianity. It transforms any prayer by the fire of God's love, allowing for an immersion in Christ whereby He is able to communicate to us the Holy Spirit. In his new book Praying with the Heart: The Little Way to Jesus, Jean Khoury entrusts to us the secret of the sustainable and successful way of practicing prayer of the heart. While remaining rooted in the living Tradition, the book offers new and abundan...

The Prayer Life of Jesus and How to Make It Our Own "Lord, teach us to pray"--the petition of the most intimate followers of Jesus--remains the heartfelt petition of every Christian disciple down to the present day. The divine gift of the Our Father is the foundation of our life of prayer, but it is only the beginning of how Jesus leads us through himself to the Father: then as now, he teaches the Church to pray, and he does the same for us in our individual prayer lives. Shane Kapler's Throu...

Thinking on death is the most profitable meditation we can make.Indeed, Our Lord's most holy passion and death offers us the greatest meditation, but pondering our own imminent death can bring us great fruit as it prepares us for the most important thing we will do: enter into eternity."Remember man that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."By meditating on their deaths, many have renounced this fleeting world for the monastery and cloister. By meditating on their deaths, many have con...

The Breviary of Fire is a powerful tome of wisdom. It chronicles the deep friendship between two devoted women—the mystic Mectilde and grand lady Marie. Through an extensive exchange of letters, which took place over twelve years, they explored the multifaceted intricacies of mysticism and psychology in depth. This fascinating record was eventually compiled by Marie de Châteauvieux into a single volume now known as The Breviary of Fire.This classic book is set apart by its ability to deliver ...

The Eucharistic Message of Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament Catherine de Bar (1614–1698)—in religion, Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament—stands out among the luminous spiritual masters of seventeenth-century France as one of the great teachers of the interior life, a woman of the stature of St Gertrude the Great or St Teresa of Avila. This volume offers, for the first time in English, a substantial introduction to her life and teaching. Living in a period marked by superstition,...

This book is a kind of retreat, a coming away to find where Jesus dwells. The author, a Benedictine monk, ponders the word of God and the testimony of poets as he asks: What does it mean for the Lord to “abide in us” and we in Him? The “disciple whom Jesus loved”—the timeless model of all contemplatives—is our principal guide, as we look now at one, now at another aspect of the indwelling of God in our soul and in the people He has given us to love. Fr Luke takes as his structure “seven great...