Religion Catholicism

Whether you struggle to believe in God, are a beginner in prayer, or are more advanced in your spiritual practice, renowned spiritual master Ronald Rolheiser will gently lead you to a deepening experience of God in prayer. Your own yearning and intuition mark the starting point. Drawing from Scripture, ancient and modern writers, and experience, Fr. Rolheiser clears common misconceptions about prayer and offers both consolation and challenge.

Cardinal Ratzinger compellingly shows us the biblical, historical, and theological dimensions of the Eucharist. The cardinal draws far-reaching conclusions, focusing on the importance of one's personal devotion to and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, for the personal reception of communion by the individual christian, as well as for the life of the church. For Ratzinger, any transformation of the world on the social plane grows out of the celebration of the Eucharist. He beautifully illustrates how the omnipotent God comes intimately close to us in the Holy Eucharist, the heart of life.

Macarius was born in Upper Egypt around AD 300. As a young man, he was a saltpeter smuggler and became familiar with the desert. He was known for his wisdom and was called "old young man" by his friends. While in the desert, he visited Anthony the Great and learned monasticism from him. After he left, around the age of 40, he returned to his former desert and governed a monastic community there for the rest of his life. St. Macarius is venerated in all Christian denominations, and his spiritual homilies have always been held in high regard throughout the ages.

Recent decades have been marred by pervasive Eucharistic abuse, from violations of liturgical norms and rubrics to practices that encourage irreverence and facilitate habitual sacrilege. The coronavirus crisis in 2020 has occasioned a further wave of sacramental manipulation, desacralization, and deprivation that has left almost no Catholic in the world unharmed. The Holy Bread of Eternal Life is a powerful and timely book by scholar Peter Kwasniewski that exalts the divine gift of the Blessed Sacrament, which can never be too much loved or too much sacrificed for.

Just as she’s turning 60, a life-altering event brings Lisa face to face with this startling realization. The mother of three beautiful children, grandmother to a sweet newborn grandson, a woman with close friends and plenty of activities to keep her busy, Lisa thought she was satisfied with her ordinary life. But now, she just can’t shake the feeling that something is missing.

A beautiful rendition of all the mysteries of the Rosary, with accompanying Scripture passages for each mystery, to help better understand each of the 20 aspects of the life of Christ and His Holy Mother that we meditate upon in the four sets of mysteries. A beautiful, spiritual, meditative aid for the proper and devotional recitation of the Holy Rosary.

In 1858 a German princess who had been recently inducted into the convent of Sant'Ambrogio in Rome wrote a frantic letter to her cousin, a confidant of the Pope, claiming that she was being abused and that she feared for her life. What the subsequent investigation by the Church's Inquisition uncovered were the extraordinary secrets of Sant'Ambrogio and the illicit behavior of the convent's beautiful, young mistress, Maria Luisa.

The convent in which Dina spent her nine years as a religious nun burned to the ground in 1983. Therefore, there was no room where she had lived, no infirmary where she died, and nothing physical that you could touch in the new convent and school which was built after her death. But she was there, in every room we visited, every corner we turned, in the chapel where she is buried, and most importantly, in the eyes and spirit of every sister in the community. They all reflected the spirit of their sister in Christ, the precious little Saint of Québec.

Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) was a Latin archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal in the Catholic Church. During his time, he was perhaps the leading figure of the Counter-Reformation movement against the Protestant Reformation. In his role, he was responsible for significant reforms within the Catholic Church. One of his strategies was to provide education to many clergy, and so he went about founding schools and seminaries and colleges.

For current Regnum Christi members in every state of life, as well for inquirers and future members, the Statutes of the Federation will remain a firm reference point as we journey forward together serving the Church. And so, a short introduction to the Statutes - a presentation of their critical numbers and concepts, and of the new doors they open for living out the Regnum Christi vocation - could be a useful tool. That is what this Regnum Christi essay, What Is Regnum Christi? will attempt to provide.

St. Benedict was not interested in fame, power, or legacy. He was only interested in living the Christian life to the fullest and helping those around him do the same. The rest is history - and the work of Providence. Not only consecrated religious, but also many lay people, find inspiration in his call to balance, discipline, and prayer. Historically, St. Benedict helped bridge the early Church with the medieval period by standing on the shoulders of the fathers of the monastic tradition.

A short, famous classic on "true devotion to Mary" - an excellent, easy means of attaining holiness and salvation, a way followed by popes and saints, but also perfect for laypeople. It is at least every bit as good as his True Devotion to Mary! Small but powerful, it seems almost divinely inspired!

The Imitation of Mary from Catholic Book Publishing is an excellent companion volume to the beloved and highly esteemed book Imitation of Christ. In this book, culled from the deeply spiritual works of Thomas à Kempis, the listener is treated to beautiful writings about Our Lady set forth in the style of the Imitation of Christ. He offers the listener a splendid way to grow in following Jesus through imitating His Blessed Mother. This book is a profoundly spiritual road map for listeners who wish to travel with Mary and Jesus.

Lovely short anecdotes from the lives of the saints, showing us in a warm, encouraging, and inspiring way the importance of prayer and the ease with which we can all derive great benefits therefrom, without yet being saints ourselves. Covers the meaning of the basic Catholic prayers; plus, the Mysteries of the Rosary and the wonders of the Mass. Written for all and all should listen to it.

The world-changing appearance of Our Lady at Fatima ushered in a continuing series of remarkable apparitions worldwide that the Church has either officially approved or marked as likely authentic. Author and Mariologist Wincenty Laszewski summarizes the powerful and urgent messages of these apparitions in this unparalleled, encyclopedic work—instantly the new standard on the subject. Most of these riveting chapters include portentous warnings—some are ominous, others more hopeful.

N'a-t-on pas tout dit, tout écrit, tout publié sur sainte Bernadette Soubirous ? C'est sans compter avec le Père Marie Antoine, celui qu'on appelait le "Grand apôtre de Lourdes" qui "aidait la Sainte Vierge à faire ses miracles". Il a connu Bernadette, elle a reçu la communion de ses mains. Il s'en est fait le défenseur confiant quand on parlait de l'enfermer au cachot.

Ancient Rome's brutal culture exploited the weak and considered human life expendable...Four centuries later, even ordinary men and women prospered in what had become a vigorous new Christian society, a society that served the vulnerable, exalted women, treasured virtue, and loved peace. These audiobook document the many ways in which Christians penetrated and civilized that debased Roman empire, introducing then-radical notions such as the equal dignity of women, respect for life, protection of the weak and vulnerable, and much more. Listen to find out more....

Saxum - the Latin word means rock - is a term that St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, sometimes used in letters to Alvaro del Portillo to describe him. Don Alvaro, as he came to be known, was for many years the founder's closest associate as well as his successor and first Prelate of Opus Dei after it became a personal prelature-a foundational rock for this dynamic international Catholic group devoted to promoting sanctity in ordinary life.

In How to Converse with God, St. Alphonsus Ligouri teaches us how to use the small events of everyday life to raise our hearts and minds to God: in praise, contrition, hope, joy, and union with God's will. In this way, we can “pray unceasingly” and converse with God in the way most pleasing to him - personally and confidently.

In Lessons in Hope, George Weigel tells the story of his unique friendship with St. John Paul II. As Weigel learns the pope "from inside", he also offers a firsthand account of the tumult of post-Vatican II Catholicism and the Cold War's endgame, introducing listeners to the heroes who brought down European communism. Later, he shows us the aging pope grappling with the post-9/11 world order and teaching new lessons in dignity through his own suffering.