Books Published by Ignatius Press

Over three hundred years ago, many Frenchmen came to the unknown forests along the St. Lawrence River. Most of them came in search of furs and wealth. But there were some--a handful of Jesuit missionaries--who came not to get, but to give. They wished to give the savage Indians the knowledge of God and of His love for them. One of these missionaries was Isaac Jogues, martyr and Saint. This is the story of his dangerous and difficult life among the Indian tribes in their tree-dark country--of ...

The Bible for Little Ones is a wonderful way to share the timeless stories that have been loved by generations of children. Perfectly crafted for children ages 0-5, this book brings the stories of The Bible to life with unique illustrations and clear language appropriate for even the very youngest readers. Packed with important characters from both the Old and New Testaments, your little one will no doubt find their favorite figures such as Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and David, Ma...

While many Catholics are aware of great female saints such as Catherine of Siena and Thérèse of Lisieux, a view persists that, over the centuries, women played a limited role in the development of Catholic traditions and institutions. In this innovative survey of Church history, Bronwen McShea demonstrates instead that faithful women have always been at the heart of the Church's common life, shaping it and the course of entire civilizations.In Women of the Church, McShea presents a wide array...

Science and Reason in Support of God, the Soul, and Life After Death Today, there is more science-based evidence for God, the soul, and life after death than ever before. Then why are scores of people turning to unbelief because of "science"? The answer is simple: they do not know the science. Science at the Doorstep to God presents in depth the latest evidence to turn the rising tide of unbelief. Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., synthesizes eight recent studies confirming an intelligent creator ...

Mary Fabyan Windeatt presents the powerful story of the famous life and miracles of St. Benedict for the Vision Book series of saints for youth. Known as the Father of Western Monasticism, St. Benedict played a major role in the Christinization and civilization of post-Roman Europe in the sixth century.Having lived in an era of great immorality and vice, Benedict founded an order for monks whose strong life of prayer and work helped convert the godless society around them. It tells how his Be...

This book addresses important moral questions people commonly face when they or their loved ones experience life-threatening injuries, end-stage illnesses, or advanced old age. Due to modern medical technology, patients and their family members often confront such questions as: What medical procedures are morally required, and what procedures are optional? Is providing food and water to a patient an optional medical treatment, or is it basic care necessary for all human beings? What roles do ...

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 ...

The Good News of Jesus Christ is known as the kerygma, based on the Greek word kerysso, meaning "to herald" or "to proclaim". It is the core message of Christ that each of the Apostles, the original heralds of the Gospel, proclaimed to the world. It is Christ's answer to his own penetrating question, "What do you seek?"This is why the Catholic Church emphasizes the importance of what it calls the "First Proclamation" the core Gospel of God's love and the person and mission of Jesus Christ, wh...

Common Sense 101 is the perfect book for any reader looking to add clarity and insight to their worldview. Authored by Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society, this book gives readers a wonderful insight into how G. K. Chesterton looked at the world at large. With over a hundred books published on a variety of topics, thousands of essays in London newspapers, epic poetry, detective stories, illustrations and humor articles under his name, Chesterton has become one of the m...

The Porn Myth is a non-religious response to the commonly held belief that pornography is a harmless or even beneficial pastime. Author Matt Fradd draws on the experience of porn performers and users, and the expertise of neurologists, sociologists, and psychologists to demonstrate that pornography is destructive to individuals, relationships, and society. He provides insightful arguments, supported by the latest scientific research, to discredit the fanciful claims used to defend and promote...

Recognized as a modern spiritual classic and perhaps Dietrich von Hildebrand's greatest work, this sublime and practical study gives a penetrating analysis of the true path to holiness for those who love Christ. The first requisite is the person's desire for change, and with that fundamental attitude in mind, von Hildebrand devotes a chapter to each of the successive spiritual attitudes necessary for those who strive for Christian perfection. The Beatitudes are treated with beauty and depth i...

In this book, Peter Kreeft offers readers a comprehensive view of Thomas Aquinas' seminal work, The Summa Theologica. This timeless volume follows the great medieval theologian in his explorations of faith and reason, revelation and philosophy, and the Biblical and Greco-Roman heritages. Kreeft combines the great philosopher's passages with detailed analyses written in a professional tone that makes the work accessible to modern readers. The volume features powerful essays by Kreeft related t...

This book is a short introduction to the development of the Roman Rite of Mass, the most widely used of the Church's liturgical rites, from its origins in early Christianity until the present day. Over the centuries, the form of Mass most Catholics are familiar with has been shaped by the Apostolic See of Rome in contact and exchange with other local churches. Understanding this rich and complex history will help not only the clergy in their sacramental ministry, but all the faithful in parti...

The question of gender--who we are as men and women--has never been more pressing, or more misunderstood.Weaving personal experience with expert knowledge, Dr. Abigail Favale provides an in-depth yet accessible account of the gender paradigm: a framework for understanding reality and identity that has recently risen to prominence. Favale traces the genealogy of gender to its origins in feminism and postmodern thought, describing how gender has come to eclipse sex, and how that shift is reshap...

Karol Wojtyla's book, Love and Responsibility, is a comprehensive and insightful examination of Catholic tradition in the area of family life and sexual morality. Drawing upon his own experience as a priest and bishop, Wojtyla sheds light on the complexities of interpersonal relationships, which can too often be oversimplified by society. He asks us to consider how our understanding of the human person affects our view of marriage and sexual relations. Wojtyla argues that scientific inquiry c...

Josef Pieper’s “Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power” provides powerful insight into the corruptive power of language when manipulated by those in power. Pieper reflects on how language has been abused to control and manipulate people at the cost of truth, wisdom and reality. He shows how tyranny and propaganda distort reality through their use of language, and shows readers a way out of this dangerous situation. With an energy that is both forceful and restrained, Pieper's book is the perfect r...

Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus, Carthage, Edessa . . . These were some of the ancient cities that once raged against the Gospel and persecuted the Church but later came to admirable faith. Each city had its own unique commerce, culture, and institutions. Each city was different from all the others, and each became more perfectly itself through the influence of Jesus Christ. In the pages of this book, you'll climb the hills of ...

Italian Carmelite Antonio Maria Sicari''s vibrant biographies of saints--from Augustine to Catherine of Siena to Faustina Kowalska--have been read across Europe for decades. In How Saints Die, Sicari turns to the most difficult challenge in the life of a Christian: the hour of death.What he uncovers in this darkest moment, however, is not desolation, but inexplicable joy. I have recounted the death of many saints, he writes, but all of them have confirmed for me the truth of this ancient Chri...

-Man is not merely self-creating freedom. Man does not create himself. He is intellect and will, but he is also nature, and his will is rightly ordered if he respects his nature, listens to it and accepts himself for who he is, as one who did not create himself. In this way, and in no other, is true human freedom fulfilled.- - Pope Benedict XVI Daniel Mattson once believed he was gay, but no longer. Raised in a Christian family, and aware of attractions to other boys at age six, Mattson's lif...

The well-known and very popular Catholic couple, Scott and Kimberly Hahn, have been constantly travelling and speaking all over North America for the last few years about their conversion to the Catholic Church. Now these two outstanding Catholic apologists tell in their own words about the incredible spiritual journey that led them to embrace Catholicism. Scott Hahn was a Presbyterian minister, the top student in his seminary class, a brilliant Scripture scholar, and militantly anti-Catholic...

St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel-On Prayer This book is the fruit of Fr. Dubay's many years of study and experience in spiritual direction and in it he synthesizes the teachings on prayer of the two great doctors of the Church on prayer--St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila--and the teaching of Sacred Scripture. But the teaching that Fr. Dubay synthesized is not collected from Teresa and John for contemplatives alone. It is meant for every Christian and is b...

The thesis of this book is that God intends that sexual intercourse should be at least implicitly a renewal of the marriage covenant. From this it follows that the marriage covenant provides the criterion to evaluate the morality of every sexual act. Thus the title, Sex and the Marriage Covenant, is an appropriate description of the book's contents. Marriage comes into being by a couple unreservedly entering God's covenant of marriage; contraceptive intercourse contradicts the very essence of...

Spiritual Direction from St. Thomas Aquinas.  From a lifetime of studying the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, popular author Peter Kreeft says that his amazement has continually increased not only at Aquinas' theoretical, philosophical brilliance and sanity, but also at his personal, practical wisdom, his "existential bite." Yet this second dimension of St. Thomas has usually been eclipsed by the other. Kreeft wrote this book to help bring that sun out from its eclipse. He provides easily dig...

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...

The Plaque Journal by Michael D. O'Brien This is Michael O'Brien's fourth novel in the Children of the Last Days series, the third book in a trilogy. The central character is Nathaniel Delaney, the editor of a small-town newspaper, who is about to face the greatest crisis of his life. As the novel begins, ominous events are taking place throughout North America, but little of it surfaces before the public eye. Set in the not-too-distant future, the story describes a nation that is quietly shi...

It has been said, quite correctly, that we write as well as we read. It can also be said that we think as well as we read. Since reading well is so important, it is good to get into the habit of reading good books. The better the book, the better will be our ability to think well and write well. In Classic Literature Made Simple, literary expert Joseph Pearce takes the reader on a guided tour of fifty great works of literature. The author of over thirty books, Pearce uses his experience of te...

One morning, attorney Dan Geary, seventy-seven years old, finds himself in the middle of a rolling, polychrome landscape. The greens are bold and bright. Birds sing in the distance. Tall grasses surge like a sea before the wind. He has never seen anything quite like it. But somehow--with the doctors and beeping monitors suddenly gone--he knows exactly where he is: the afterlife.What a relief not to be floating on a cloud, playing a harp. Instead, a hiking pack full of gear sits on his back, a...

In this powerful book, the renowned exorcist of Rome tells of his many experiences in his ministry as an exorcist doing battle with Satan to relieve the great suffering of people in the grip of evil. The importance of the ministry to "expel demons" is clearly seen in the Gospels, from the actions of the Apostles, and from Church history. Fr. Amorth allows the reader to witness the activities of the exorcist, to experience what an exorcist sees and does. He also reveals how little modern scien...

Saint John of the Cross is the Church's premier teacher on contemplative prayer. Catholic tradition even calls him the Mystical Doctor. The sixteenth-century Carmelite priest not only wrote four massive treatises on the spiritual life, along with some of the finest poetry in the Spanish language, but also worked alongside Teresa of Ávila in renewing the Carmelite order. Thérèse of Lisieux claimed she found no other spiritual reading that could satisfy her soul like John of the Cross.Yet the v...

If a life of spiritual growth and connection to God is your goal, then Into Your Hands, Father by Carmelite Father Wilfrid Stinissen is the perfect book for you. Drawing from Jesus’ example on Earth, Father Stinissen takes us on a deep journey of surrendering completely to God in order to meet our goals both in life and in faith. This book outlines three distinct stages of abandonee that help to bring clarity and peace to the practice of respect for the will of God. In the first stage, Into Y...

The life of St. Edmund Campion comes alive in the pages of Evelyn Waugh’s Edmund Campion. This captivating work traces the journey of a remarkable man—from a celebrated Oxford scholar to professorship in Prague and ultimately to becoming a martyr for his unshakable commitment to the Queen and faith. With its combination of striking prose, perfect historic truth and elements that any novelist would admire, this book is bound to captivate any reader. Tracing the arc of Edmund Campion’s incredib...

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...

Island of the World is the story of a child born in 1933 into the turbulent world of the Balkans and tracing his life into the third millennium. The central character is Josip Lasta, the son of an impoverished school teacher in a remote village high in the mountains of the Bosnian interior. As the novel begins, World War II is underway and the entire region of Yugoslavia is torn by conflicting factions: German and Italian occupying armies, and the rebel forces that resist them--the fascist Us...

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 book introduces the reader to thirteen Christian spiritual classics that illustrate the ordinary steps we can take toward living the Gospel life more fully.Drawing on the rich teaching of a particular saint or mystic, each chapter helps us grow in a different aspect of holiness, of intimacy with God. Archbishop Hughes offers an itinerary for becoming a good disciple of the Lord, giving the reader access to an impressive spiritual library that can support and strengthen progress in discip...

This book presents the chief insights concerning the mystery of atonement in the works of four theological guides: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Norbert Hoffmann.The author argues for the central importance and perennial value of a theology of atonement, even as she explains the modern aversion to it. The book's central aim is to deepen our understanding of the biblical claim that God shows himself to be love precisely by sending his Son as atonement...

Growing in the spiritual life can be challenging, but with the right tools it’s sure to be a fulfilling experience. Now, novice and experienced prayer warriors alike have access to invaluable insights in Peter Kreeft’s Prayer for Beginners. Based on timeless guidance from Brother Lawrence’s classic The Practice of the Presence of God, this book enables readers to discover how to connect with God through prayer in meaningful ways. Kreeft shows readers the necessity of prayer, outlining various...

"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...

Looking for a book that offers thoughtful insight into why someone may have chosen to convert from fundamentalist Protestantism to Catholicism? David Currie's Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic is the perfect read. In this book, Currie provides a comprehensive exploration of his personal spiritual journey, tracing his roots in his religious upbringing of fundamentalist Protestantism and how it eventually led him to embrace Catholicism. From theology professors at Moody Bible Institute t...

Saint Anthony and the Christ Child, written by Helen Walker Homan, is a delightful book which chronicles the life of the beloved saint from Padua. Written for young readers, it offers fascinating insight into an important period of time. The book includes a variety of engaging details about Saint Anthony's life and accomplishments, including his visit to Morocco, shipwreck experiences, meeting with Saint Francis in Assisi and powerful preaching skills. In addition, there are stories about the...

Before Austen Comes Aesop presents an in-depth examination of the Children's Great Books, that is, the literature that has made the most profound impact on the lives of children throughout Western history. In addition to its invaluable chronological list of titles, from ancient times to the present, the book provides both students and their parents the guidance they need to read leisurely or study formally the Children's Great Books at home. The book's premise is that children often do not sp...

Augustine's Confessions Unpacked Popular author and philosopher Peter Kreeft delves into one of the most beloved Christian classics of all time--Augustine's Confessions. He collects key passages and offers incisive commentary, making Confessions accessible to any reader who is both intellectually curious and spiritually hungry. The Confessions is a dramatic personal narrative of a soul choosing between eternal life and death, an exploration of the timeless questions great minds have been aski...

This 27th volume in the popular Ignatius Catholic Study Bible series leads readers through a penetrating study of the Psalms using the text itself and the Church's own guidelines for understanding the Bible.Ample notes accompany each page, providing fresh insights by renowned Scripture scholars Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch as well as time-tested interpretations from the Fathers of the Church. These helpful study notes provide rich historical, cultural, geographical, and theological information...

The highly respected and influential philosopher Peter Kreeft presents a thought-provoking exploration of sixteen key questions about the existence of God in his latest book, Because God Is Real.For those looking for clarity on their spiritual journey, no matter where they stand on their faith today, this work of popular apologetics is an ideal starting point. Written from an inviting and easily digestible perspective that seeks to win minds as well as hearts, Kreeft tackles important questio...