Spirituality Catholicism

Alfred Bessette (later known as Brother André) came from very humble beginnings, much like those of Jesus. He was born on August 9, 1845. The baby was so frail and sickly, his parents were afraid he would not live; and so, Alfred was baptized the moment he was born. He was conditionally baptized (when there is doubt concerning a previous baptism) the following day in the church. With the loving care and prayers of a very pious mother, our future Blessed lived to an old age!

Because of the prophetic nature of her messages, Our Lady of Fatima has been the subject of much controversy and speculation. In this audiobook, Father Andrew Apostoli carefully analyzes the events that took place in Fatima and clears up lingering questions and doubts about their meaning. He also challenges the reader to hear anew the call of Our Lady to prayer and sacrifice, for the world is ever in need of generous hearts willing to make reparation for those in danger of losing their way to God.

John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote a short treatise in dialogue form between his friend Basil and himself, about the dignity of the priesthood. The work includes sections on the importance of preaching, the call to the priesthood, the purity of the priest, and the exalted position of the priesthood.

Now, perhaps more than ever, men need to be men. But what it means to be a man has been twisted into a pale and mangled image of true manhood. Manual for Men serves as a field guide and instruction manual for those husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers who would become real men of God - men who protect, physically and spiritually, those entrusted to them; men who sacrifice, pray, fight, love, and live by the example of Christ. There is a battle for our souls, our families, our world, and Our Lord calls us men to fight. Are you ready to answer the call?

The Contraception Deception: Catholic Teaching on Birth Control by author Patrick Coffin is a comprehensive assessment of the Church's sexual ethic. In this expanded revised edition of Sex Au Naturel: What It is and Why It's Good for Your Marriage, Coffin demonstrates how the rejection of "humanae vitae" impacts more than just our national birth rates.

In this newly updated, expanded version of his popular work of apologetics, Shea presents a lively and entertaining look at his conversion to Catholicism from Evangelicalism and his discovery of Christian tradition. As an Evangelical, Shea accepted the principle of sola scriptura (Scripture alone) as the basis of faith. Now as a Catholic convert, he skillfully explains how and why Sacred Tradition occupies a central role in Divine Revelation.

This is the story of a famous 23-day-long exorcism case of Erling, Iowa, both incredible and frightening. We have received several letters from Iowa verifying that this exorcism really occurred. It is probably the most famous exorcism ever performed in the U.S....

Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a collection of powerful prayers to Mother Mary to intercede for us in our time of need. The devotion to OLPS first began in Crete, Greece, from where it was carried to Rome, Italy, and placed in the basilica of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran under the patronage of the Augustin brothers.

Pope Benedict XVI's second encyclical, Saved in Hope, ("Spe Salvi" in Latin) takes its title from St. Paul, who wrote, "In hope we have been saved." In this audiobook, the Holy Father continues a line of thought he began with his first encyclical, God Is Love. Love and Hope are closely related in the spiritual life. Love of God involves hope or trust in God. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man."

Daughter Zion avoids the extremes of ignoring the biblical foundation for Marian doctrine on the one hand and fundamentalistic proof-texting on the other. Instead, the author beautifully and lucidly develops key biblical themes to help listeners understand and appreciate the mother of God.

Rerum Novarum, the opening words and the title of the Encyclical issued by Leo XIII, May 15, 1891, on the "Condition of Labor". Although the Encyclical follows the lines of the traditional teaching concerning the rights and duties of property and the relations of employed and employee, it applies the old doctrines specifically to modern conditions.

Scott Hahn crafts a powerful message that extols the virtue of confession. According to Hahn, the sacrament of reconciliation is the key to spiritual growth. Through each act of forgiveness, we are able to more closely resemble the divine life.

Mother Teresa's life teaches us that it is never too late to make a difference in the world. As a figure of the 20th century, she saw the rapid changes taking place in the world and among its people. She asked individuals to contemplate the meaning of ideas such as home, love, and family and to be open to new conceptions of these terms in the midst of our changing world. In doing so, Mother Teresa introduced a new, modern way of doing missionary work.

Here, Joseph Pearce, author of Bilbo's Journey uncovers the rich - and distinctly Christian - meaning just beneath the surface of The Lord of the Rings. Make the journey with Frodo as he makes his perilous trek from the Shire to Mordor, while Pearce expertly reveals the deeper, spiritual significance.

It is of vital importance that each individual soul recover this lost sense of sin and to begin the struggle to conquer the deadly sins that threaten his or her salvation. The Manual for Conquering Deadly Sin will help you do just that in your own life. As Fr. Kolinski makes clear, the truest medicine is found in the sacramental life of the church. But, in addition to the graces found in frequent confession and reception of the Eucharist, the Manual for Conquering Deadly Sin will be an indispensable aid in your fight.

How can Christianity touch the imagination of our contemporaries when ever fewer people in the West identify as religious? Timothy Radcliffe argues we must show how everything we believe is an invitation to live fully. God says, ‘I put before you life and death: choose life’. Anyone who understands the beauty and messiness of human life - novelists, poets, filmmakers and so on - can be our allies, whether they believe or not. The challenge is not today’s secularism but its banality.

Behind monastery walls, men of God spend their lives preparing for the passage of death. Best-selling French author Nicolas Diat set out to find what their deaths can reveal about the greatest mystery faced by everyone - the end of life. How to die? How to respond to our fear of death? To answer these and other questions, Diat travelled to eight European monasteries including Solesmes Abbey and the Grande Chartreuse. Through extraordinary interviews with monks, he learned that their death experiences are varied and unique, with elements of peace, pain, humility, sorrow, and joy.

To take a journey, travelers must know where they are, where they are going, and how to get there. Moral theology examines the same three truths. The Christian Moral Life is a guide for moral theology that uses the theme of a journey to explain its key ethical concepts. Based on an examination of the moral methodology in The Bible, the audiobook discusses the importance of participating in divine nature through grace in order to attain eternal happiness.

El camino hacia la edad moderna de armonía y aceptación cultural es una de las hazañas más hermosas del progreso humano, pero habiendo dicho esto, hubo un tiempo en que la simple duda de la existencia de una figura religiosa era no solo un crimen punible legalmente, sino que muy bien podía costarle a una persona la vida. Este era el crimen de herejía.

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope and the first from the Americas, offers a challenge to his Church. Can he bring about significant change? Should he? Garry Wills argues that changes have been the evidence of life in the Catholic Church. It has often changed, sometimes with bad consequences, more often with good - good enough to make it perdure. In this brilliant and incisive study, he gives seven examples of deep and serious changes that have taken place within the last century.