Catholic Books

This Homiliary provides a comprehensive guide to doctrinally based preaching for the entire Church year, presented in the Dominican tradition: a preaching of Scripture which takes doctrine as guide to the clarification of the Bible's main themes. Doctrine is necessary to preachers because in its absence the Scriptural claims and themes do not easily hang together. The grace the Word imparts always has a reference to the Mystical Body which mediates all the grace that is given by Christ as the...

What is the Christian calendar? Would you know how to make an Advent wreath? When is Candlemas? Who was the original St Nicholas? Why do we eat Hot Cross Buns? These and many other questions are all answered in A Year Book of Seasons and Celebrations - a guidebook to the traditional Christian year, which is also a cookery book, a mine of interesting information, and a source of amusement, inspiration, and faith. Living the calendar, celebrating its feasts, enjoying the ways in which they mesh...

EARLY CHRISTIANITY explores how in the first centuries the followers of Jesus Christ lived their faith centred upon Him. It provides a comprehensive introduction, starting from New Testament times, to key figures in the rise of Christianity including Mary, Mother of God, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the founders of Christian Rome. The book shows how the theological tradition of the primacy of Rome developed in the Church and with the Papacy. It considers a wide range of issues in the life ...

Since the publication of its predecessor volume Contemporary Catholic Education in 2002, the Catholic education landscape has experienced significant developments and challenges. The notion that the perennial, in the form of the rich heritage of the Catholic education tradition, must remain in constant dialogue with the transitional educational landscape permeates this publication. This is rooted in a sacramental vision of the human person and is anchored in three core principles: the dignity...

The Twenty-Four Conferences or Collations of St. John Cassian, written in the early fifth century, were to have a tremendous impact in the West on the spirituality of monastics and other Religious. A classic of spirituality, they were compulsory reading for St. Benedict's monks, the favourite spiritual reading of St. Dominic in the late twelfth century and were treasured by St. Philip Neri in the sixteenth. The Collations were likened by St. John Cassian himself to the twenty-four elders of t...

Edith Stein admitted that there was time when she 'consciously and deliberately lost the habit of praying'. She tells us this because she re-discovered it during the journey which brought her to Carmel. We all need to make our own spiritual way through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, with guides who help us to see the pitfalls and inspire us to persevere. The journey of prayer is one of the great adventures which we should all undertake because it leads us to the mountain which is God himse...

In the first section of this fascinating study, 'Cistercian Chronicles and the Events of Nature', David Williams reveals the wealth of information to be gleaned from medieval and later Cistercian chronicles on the effects felt from earthquakes, floods, drought, extreme temperatures, pestilence and plague, as well as the impact of eclipses and comets, on the monks themselves and on the wider population. The second section of the book provides an invaluable survey of Cistercian Necrologies from...

"The mystery of the human person becomes truly clear only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word." Taken from the Constitution Gaudium et Spes of the Second Vatican Council, this phrase is the foundation of Christian anthropology, an area very often neglected in theological studies. Mgr Jean Laffitte offers us a wealth of reflections on a wide range of themes including the family, love, life, suffering and death, the moral conscience, society, Christian action, forgiveness and the Heart of Chri...

A vocation is an extremely mysterious reality. The call of God is not something extrinsic; it penetrates to the most intimate centre of the heart. We are what we are on account of this call. The Call of Silent Love is a profound and eloquent examination of the twin themes of vocation and discernment in which the father-master speaks about the nature of a calling, and the internal and external struggles, the discernment of spirits and the overall framework in which we live our lives. 'The read...

Dom Jeremy Driscoll offers a fresh approach both to theology and to the eucharistic celebration itself. He sets forth and develops here a method for the tasks of academic theology inspired by the eucharistic rite. There are studies of the foundational role of the liturgy for conceiving the identity of fundamental theology; a proposal for developing a curriculum on the basis of the shape of the eucharistic rite; historical studies on the relationship between liturgy and doctrine; and suggestio...

St Therese of Lisieux is one of the best-loved saints of the Church. Her writings are amongst the most popular works of spirituality the world has ever known. Admitted to Carmel in 1888 at the age of fifteen, she only lived nine more years. St Therese wrote with utter simplicity, and yet, because of her outstanding spiritual discernment, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church. Her gifts as a poet, however, have remained largely unknown to English-speaking readers - here for the...

In practically the only recent book in English to give a global picture of the theology of creation, Paul Haffner explores God's masterpiece, the spiritual and material cosmos, from the angels to man and woman centred in Christ. Paul Haffner provides an authoritative, detailed and systematic introduction to this fundamental subject in Christian theology. This is the first volume in a series that has now seen publication of The Sacramental Mystery, the Mystery of Reason and the Mystery of Mary...

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American ReadDon Quixote has become so entranced reading tales of chivalry that he decides to turn knight errant himself. In the company of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, these exploits blossom in all sorts of wonderful ways. While Quixote's fancy often leads him astray--he tilts at windmills, imagining them to be giants--Sancho acquires cunning and a certain sagacity. Sane madman and wise fool, they roam the world togethe...

Saint Joseph stands close to Jesus and Mary at the heart of the gospel story. Yet he remains largely in the background, silent and steady. Not surprisingly, Christians throughout the ages have pondered deeply this mystery that is Joseph.Many have speculated about the unknown details of his life, and several mystics were granted visions that portrayed the hidden days--both the ordinary and the extraordinary--of Our Lord's appointed guardian vividly and profoundly. The Life of Saint Joseph as S...

When Servant of God Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres received her famous apparitions -- the Quito apparitions -- from Our Lady, she was so appalled that she died. A doctor confirmed her shocking death. But thankfully, when her sisters prayed, she was raised to life again. Here James Valois masterfully recounts the stunning prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success of the Purification, which, though they occurred four hundred years ago in the capital city of Ecuador, concern the current crisis in t...

New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (Study Edition)  An entirely new and comprehensive commentary by canon lawyers from North America and Europe, with a revised English translation of the code. Reflects the enormous developments in canon law since the publication of the original commentary.  

In the years since his graduation from St. Marquis University, Blake Yourrick has fled his family and Milwaukee, rotating from job to dead-end job-working the Bakken oilfields in Dakota and even signing on as the night caretaker of a rural abbey graveyard. Deep in student debt and estranged from his misanthropic, alcoholic father, Blake is haunted by the memory of his mother's death-and by his relationship with his college mentor, a defrocked priest named Theo Hape, who is known for his adven...

Color, learn, pray! Father Donald Calloway, MIC, presents a fun way for children of all ages to grow closer to St. Joseph, the ultimate superhero and the "Terror of Demons." Learn more about this great Saint by coloring the wonderful illustrations by Sam Estrada, each portraying a different title of St. Joseph.

This is currently the only volume that comprehensively presents the scientific evidence in support of Jesus, the Eucharist, and Mary. Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., closely examines the scientific evidence for: The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus from the Shroud of Turin The Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist from three recent scientifically investigated Eucharistic miracles The supernatural dimensions of the apparitions of Mary manifest in the Tilma of Guadalupe, the Miracle of th...

Imagine the best conversation you've ever had -- one that set your heart on fire, challenged your thinking, brought you closer to God, and inspired you to act. Recall how that conversation made you feel and how it changed your heart and your life. Such interactions rise to the level of the sacred -- sacred conversations -- dialogues that transform hearts, strengthen relationships, and make the world a better place by converting compassionate love into action. Conversations like this are rare ...

The YOUCAT Confession book is a practical guide created for young people to take away undue anxiety about the Sacrament, and to show how it works. It gives all the practical help needed for making a good confession, including how to make a good examination of conscience, special prayers for confession, what is true contrition, spiritual growth with confession, and more. This book came about as a collaboration between young people and clergy, to make it as accessible and helpful as possible fo...

Come Follow Me is a series of exegetical reflections based on the assigned Gospel reading for the Sundays of a liturgical year. Each reflection contains insights that are explained and applied to the lived experience of a Christian disciple. Each insight section concludes with a set of questions intended to help the reader apply the various points to their practical faith lives. The primary focus of this writing is to facilitate both personal discipleship study of the Gospels as well as to pr...

During the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, it was high treason—and therefore punishable by death—to be a Catholic priest in England. In this dangerous era, hiding places were essential whenever pursuivants arrived in search of clergy. Among the master craftsmen responsible for constructing these ingenious “priest-holes,” one name stands above the rest: St. Nicholas Owen. A small and later crippled man, Owen built the majority of England’s priest-holes, saving the lives of countless priests...

Monastic Tradition invites readers—especially those new to the spiritual life—into a deeper search for God through three classic monastic “books”: the book of nature, the book of Scripture, and the book of one’s own lived experience. Drawing from thirty years of monastic life, Sr. Laurentia weaves these strands together in a series of meditative poems that resonate with the rhythms of both the natural and liturgical seasons. Beginning with Advent, the poems unfold through the year, reflecting...

St Bruno was born in Cologne around 1030. He studied at the university in Rheims, where he later taught, and was Rector of Studies for nearly twenty years. Chosen in 1080 as the new Archbishop, Bruno had other plans ̶ he had decided to follow Christ to the desert ̶ and with six of his companions settled in a mountainous and uninhabited spot in the lower Alps, in a place named Chartreuse, under the guidance of the young bishop of Grenoble, Hugh Châteauneuf. They built an oratory with small ind...

Mystery of the Church offers a comprehensive overview of the central themes of contemporary ecclesiology. Beginning with the nature and institution of the Church, the book examines what the Church is at her core, rooted in Christ and sustained by the Holy Spirit. From there it explores the four marks of the Church—One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic—showing how the unity and holiness of the Church endure despite the sinfulness of her members. The volume includes a rich discussion of Catholicit...

The Psalmist wrote: "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). Coming from the deep silence and asceticism of mediæval Carthusian monasteries, this book's prayers and meditations have a unique ardour that reflects the genuine spirituality of their authors. The piety of these monks, strongly grounded in Sacred Scripture and the early Fathers of the Church, cannot fail to impress and to inspire. Like that of Jesus, Carthusian prayer, but also any authentic prayer, is anchored in interiority,...

Neither a theological study of our Redemption nor a devotional commentary of the Cross and Resurrection, but rather an introduction to the liturgical celebration of Holy Week and Easter, this book is written in the double conviction that the depth of meaning of the Paschal Mystery is seriously weakened if it is not given its full liturgical and sacramental expression, and that the Holy Week liturgy demands from all who participate in it a more profound awareness of its biblical background and...

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...

St Philip Neri (1515-1595) is known as the Apostle of Rome and the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory. This translation of his maxims and sayings is the work of Fr Faber, first published in 1847. His Maxims emphasise the constant teaching of the masters of the spiritual life, going back to the Desert Fathers (themselves always the favourite reading of St Philip). Full of good sense, they present us with an essential spirituality, presented as easily accessible reflections for each mon...

This short, beautifully illustrated volume serves as an inviting introduction to St. Francis of Assisi through one of his most beloved works, the Canticle of the Creatures. As G. K. Chesterton observed, the Canticle is a “supremely characteristic work,” so rich with Francis’s spirit that much of his life and character can be discerned from it alone. For newcomers to Francis, the Canticle provides a perfect entry point; for Franciscans—especially members of the Secular Franciscan Order—it offe...

Pope John Paul II called Elizabeth of the Trinity “a vibrant prophet of the presence of God.” This book enters deeply into her life and spirituality to show why her message remains urgently relevant in a secular age. Attractive, lively, talented, and deeply human, Elizabeth was not a plaster saint. Her life shows how God works patiently with our real nature, transforming us gradually into Himself when we surrender to His grace. Far from presenting holiness as something reserved for religious ...

Born in Bilbao in 1907, Pedro Arrupe trained as a physician before a profound encounter with suffering and healing at Lourdes led him to abandon medicine for the priesthood. Entering the Society of Jesus in 1927, he set out to become, in his own words, a healer of souls. Assigned to Japan, Arrupe’s early priesthood was marked by extraordinary trials. During the Second World War he was imprisoned and interrogated as a suspected spy, an experience he later described as one of the most formative...

For more than fifteen centuries, Christianity has cultivated a profound tradition of interior stillness and contemplative prayer aimed at healing inner turmoil and restoring peace of heart. This work presents that tradition as a living response to the modern psychological struggle for calm, clarity, and meaning. Jean-Yves Leloup offers a clear and accessible exploration of the contemplative path known as hesychasm, drawing especially from the wisdom of the Desert Fathers, Evagrius, St John Ca...

The thoughts contained in this book were from the pen of one who, in the silence of the Charterhouse, had already arrived at the summits of the spiritual heights, and dwelt there unceasingly. Souls who have reached such perfection in this life are rare; not so rare, however, are those who ardently aspire thereto. It is chiefly for such as these - to encourage and help them to arrive at those same heights - that these thoughts have been preserved and collected. They Speak by Silences was first...

The seven sacraments stand at the heart of Christian life, where God’s grace touches human experience in a concrete and transformative way. In this accessible synthesis, Paul Haffner provides a unified overview of sacramental theology, showing how the sacraments reconcile us to the Father through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Haffner explains classical theological themes such as validity, efficacy, the roles of minister and recipient, and the spiritual effects of each sacrament. He ...

This concise and insightful study examines Aidan Nichols’s vision for an Anglican Uniate Church, a community united with Rome yet not absorbed into it. In 1993, Nichols argued that full corporate reunion of the entire Anglican Communion was unrealistic, given the Protestant and Liberal elements within Anglican history. Instead, he proposed the reconciliation of a smaller body that was sufficiently Catholic in identity while retaining authentically Anglican patrimony. His prediction proved pro...

Thomas Aquinas stands among the greatest thinkers of the Western tradition, a towering figure whose influence continues to shape theology, philosophy, and contemporary intellectual debate. This accessible and engaging introduction presents both the life and the thought of Aquinas, showing how his synthesis of faith and reason remains profoundly relevant for modern discussions about the future of Christianity. The book highlights Aquinas’s major contributions, the development of his ideas, and...

This book examines the Christian liturgy as a visible manifestation of divine revelation, expressed through ritual signs, sacred space, imagery, sound, and poetic form. Treating the liturgy not merely as a set of texts or actions but as a total environment, it considers how architecture, iconography, and music shape the Church’s encounter with revealed truth. Aidan Nichols explores how the liturgy communicates meaning through beauty and symbol, and how this revelation invites a creative human...

This is the first comprehensive study of the theological significance of Paul Claudel, a poet frequently cited by literary-minded theologians in Europe and theologically-minded poets (such as von Balthasar, de Lubac and Eliot). His writing combines cosmology and history, Bible and metaphysics, liturgy and the drama of human personality. His work, which continues to arouse discussion in France, was acclaimed in his lifetime as the 'summa poetica' of a new Dante. Aidan Nichols' study demonstrat...

Nikolai Nikolaevich Afanas’ev (1893–1966), one of the most important priest-theologians of the Russian Orthodox tradition, stands at the center of this study by Aidan Nichols. Widely regarded as the most influential modern Russian thinker on the nature of the Church, Afanas’ev played a decisive role in shaping the contemporary rapprochement between East and West—especially the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Nichols highlights two major pillars of Afanas’ev’s thought. First is his conviction ...

This concise and insightful study examines Aidan Nichols’s vision for an Anglican Uniate Church, a community united with Rome yet not absorbed into it. In 1993, Nichols argued that full corporate reunion of the entire Anglican Communion was unrealistic, given the Protestant and Liberal elements within Anglican history. Instead, he proposed the reconciliation of a smaller body that was sufficiently Catholic in identity while retaining authentically Anglican patrimony. His prediction proved pro...

The Word Has Been Abroad serves as a clear and reliable guide to the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the most original and demanding theologians of the twentieth century. In this volume, Aidan Nichols introduces readers to Balthasar’s conviction that beauty is not an optional ornament of theology but an essential dimension of divine revelation. Nichols carefully explains the central themes of Balthasar’s theological aesthetics, showing how the “form” (Gestalt) of Chri...

Hans Urs von Balthasar is widely regarded as one of the greatest Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. Few writers have so powerfully revealed the spiritual grandeur of divine revelation or shown how the Church’s art and historic liturgies bear witness to its beauty and depth. Yet for many students and nonspecialist readers, Balthasar’s vast body of work can appear daunting and inaccessible. This volume offers an ideal introduction to Balthasar’s theology. Written by Aidan Nichols, i...

Maximus the Confessor (580–662), one of the towering figures of early Byzantine theology, occupies a place in the Greek patristic tradition comparable to that of Thomas Aquinas in the Latin West. His profound influence as a spiritual and theological master is evident in the vast space dedicated to him in the Philokalia. For Maximus, dogma and prayer were inseparable, and his unwavering defense of orthodox Christology—against the heresies of his time—was grounded in this deep unity of truth an...

Aidan Nichols has been contributing to theological literature since the early 1980s. Now in his seventy-fifth year, he looks back not only on his writings but on the long arc of life from which they arose. Though nominally Anglican in childhood, his earliest sense of the transcendent came through an encounter with God in nature. A pivotal experience in a Russian Orthodox church in Geneva led him to become a confessing Christian. Orphaned as a teenager, Nichols returned home and journeyed from...

C. S. Lewis’s The Discarded Image offers a clear and engaging portrait of the medieval worldview, providing essential background for understanding the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Lewis describes the grand “medieval synthesis” in which theology, science, and history were woven into a single, harmonious vision of the universe. This final book he wrote as a scholar reflects his characteristic clarity, wit, and deep learning. Through explanations of classical and medieval s...

The inspiration for the film starring Anthony Hopkins, journalist Matt Baglio uses the astonishing story of one American priest's training as an exorcist to reveal that the phenomena of possession, demons, the Devil, and exorcism are not merely a remnant of the archaic past, but remain a fearsome power in many people's lives even today. Father Gary Thomas was working as a parish priest in California when he was asked by his bishop to travel to Rome for training in the rite of exorcism. Though...