Chesterton's visit to Ireland in early 1918 resulted in this unique, readable, and thought-provoking book on Ireland and the Irish situation of the early 20th-century from one of England's greatest essayists. In Irish Impressions, familiar Chestertonian themes — distribution of property, industrialism, the Faith and Christian society — are discussed in the context of Ireland's struggle for national and cultural independence from the Britain of the early 1900s. Not mincing words, Chesterton points out both the strengths and weakness of the English and Irish positions during that crucial period, always with wit and wisdom — and an appreciation of religious, cultural, and economic essentials, which is characteristic of Chesterton's work. Originally published: London, 1919.
IHS Press is extremely pleased to be able to offer with this newly edited, extensively footnoted edition, a new Preface by Dr. Dermot Quinn.
Dr. Quinn is an Associate Professor of History at Seton Hall University, and an intimate friend and colleague of Fr. Ian Boyd of Seton Hall's Chesterton Institute. Quinn received his doctorate from Oxford University, is author of Patronage and Piety: The Politics of English Roman Catholicis, 1850 — 1900 (Stanford University Press, 1993), and is a frequent contributor to The Chesterton Review.
Dollfuss: An Austrian Patriot was written by neo-Thomist professor Fr. Johannes Messner based upon his close association and collaboration with Engelbert Dollfuss, Chancellor of Austria. Messner's account of Dollfuss's life provides a brief sketch of biographical details, but, more importantly, illustrates Dollfuss's social vision and provides an account of his attempt to structure Austrian social and economic life along the lines determined by Quadragesimo Anno. As a leading exponent of Catholic Social Doctrine as it was expressed in the Austrian tradition established by Karl von Vogelsang, Messner is uniquely qualified to highlight the reforms initiated by Dollfuss as they relate to the traditional social vision of the Church.
Dr. Zmirak is a student of traditional and Catholic political economy, and the author of Wilhelm Roepke: Swiss Localist; Global Economist. Dr. von Hildebrand is a frequent writer and lecturer on Catholic culture and related subjects. Her husband, the late Dr. Deitrich von Hildebrand, collaborated with Dollfuss and his associates on the paper of the Austrian state, The Christian Corporative State.
George O'Brien In the Department of Human Affairs concerned with the economic activities of man, the old universally accepted code of justice fell into disregard, if not into ridicule; and its place was taken, on the one hand, by the theory that the only safe guide for man to follow in these affairs is his own personal interest, and, on the other hand, and partly as a reaction against this repulsive theory, that the individual has no right of initiative at all, but that his whole being must be subordinated to the welfare of the community. Both these theories would have been equally disapproved by the old, despised ethical authority of the Middle Ages, under whose régime they could not have flourished or developed; but, at the time when they arose, that old authority was no longer universally accepted, and there was no power in Europe strong enough to withstand the march of these two dangerous doctrines. The path to both Capitalism and Socialism had been opened by the Reformation.
The Catholic Land Movement Papers
Here is a collection of essays by leaders of the Catholic Land Movement. Spearheaded by men such as Fr. Vincent McNabb, the movement was a practical embodiment of the salutary truth that economic life must be rooted in property ownership and agriculture. This book expresses that vision through the words of some of Englands wisest social commentators. If youre not able to flee to the fields, someday your children may want to.
G. K. Chesterton - PB 160 pages - $15.95 The great founder of English and American political journalism is here described and lauded by the great Chesterton, and for us, one of the great English heroes of the 19th century is brought to life for our admiration and instruction in the 21st century.
A Comparison of the Traditional and Novus Ordo Rites of the Seven Sacraments
Daniel Graham - PB - 230 pages
Much has been said lately about the poor catechesis of young Catholics over the past fifty years. One of the most important tools that the Church uses to teach is the words and actions used during the administration of the sacraments. Many Catholics tend to think of the seven sacraments only as channels of grace for living the supernatural life in Christ, but they are also critically important for teaching purposes, since they express the will of God and the doctrines of the Faith in a very concrete fashion. Sacramental moments are the most important in every Catholic life, and every detail of their administration and reception should be as solemn and as perfect as possible.That they have not been so, and in fact cannot be to the younger generations growing up since Vatican II, is because the new rites do not express the Catholic Faith without ambiguity and confusion. The results are clear to see in the catastrophic decline in practically every statistical and spiritual indicator for the last fifty years. The lack of clarity, erroneous doctrines, protestantized phraseology, and modernist lingo that characterize the new rites makes it fairly certain that a decline of faith and morality will follow inevitably from the reception of the sacraments in the new rites. In fact, we no longer have to predict that result. The history of the last fifty years proves it to be true.Lex Orandi is a clear and succinct analysis of the differences between the Catholic rites of all seven sacraments as administered from time immemorial and the new rites brutally forced upon the Faithful in the wake of the Council. It is also a call to the Faithful to reject reception of the sacraments in the new rites and demand that their pastors administer the ancient rites as they have always been administered. Church law, and the primary Canonical imperative of lex suprema est salus animarum should compel the Faithful to demand their rights, so that God is honored and souls are saved.
By William Cobbett - 370 pages PB
William Cobbett stunned the Protestant world of 19th century England with his publication in 1824 of his groundbreaking work The History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland.Not only was the book deeply researched and footnoted, but it presented a historical picture that was profoundly contrary to the “official history” that had been drummed into the minds of countless Englishmen for three hundred years. In addition, the fact that it was so well written, so sympathetic to the Catholic cause, AND written by a fellow Church of England Protestant made this book an overnight bestseller running into many editions and reprints over the next thirty years.Theological issues are not treated directly, but the illogic of the Protestant positions is clearly seen in the practical results of the break from Rome. For those who wish an objective history of this critical period of English and American history there is no better book available. The power of Cobbett’s prose and his convincing logic and sardonic wit make for a delightful reading experience as well.
This is one of the best books ever written on the EFFECTS in both the Church and in society of the English Reformation.
By John Haffert -Audio Book - Read by Celia Lynn - 5 Audio CD discs
Saint Nuño of Portugal: The Founder of the Braganza Dynasty and Father of Modern Portugal was Beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1918 and Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Don Nuño Alvarez Perreira went to war, in defense of his country. He fought, he killed, and he received many decorations. He was wounded, but he was “lucky” enough to come home. Five hundred years after he fought his battles, the Blessed Virgin made what was perhaps her most spectacular appearance on earth—her appearance on October 13, 1917, at Fatima, on the very ground on which Nuño fought, and holding in her hands the very symbols under which Nuño led his troops in that place, five hundred years before. This amazing Nuño—Our Lady’s Knight—led a life bridging centuries, stranger than fiction, fraught with the mystery of war and evil, gold-touched by the sun of the promise made in 1917 by Our Lady at Fatima: “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph and there will be peace.”
This classic introduction to the basics of economic theory offers a constructive approach to economic education by defining terms and introducing key concepts without using insider jargon and complex theories. The fundamental questions about why the economy fluctuates and how small farmers, small business people, families, consumers, and innovators are affected by these fluctuations are considered. Serious alternatives to modern economic theories are explained, with attention to the realities that have been largely unchanged through the last century.
Hilaire Belloc is a former member of parliament in the British House of Commons. He is the author of more than 100 books, including Charles I, The Free Press, and The Restoration of Property. Edward A. McPhail is an assistant professor of economics at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Alberto Piedra is a professor emeritus of economics at Catholic University of America, where he was a chairperson of the economics department.
Amintore Fanfani
Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism is one of the most scholarly and comprehensive treatments of the antagonism between Catholic doctrine and the capitalist spirit. As such it is eminently persuasive. The author, Amintore Fanfani, was the Chair of Economic History at the University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy, and was the heir to a long and unmatched tradition of Italian Social Catholicism, a tradition effectively sanctioned and promoted by Popes Leo XIII and St. Pius X. Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism will be of particular interest to those seeking to better understand both the preconceptions and mentalities that the pioneers of the capitalist system possessed, and the reaction of Catholicism to that system. The book demonstrates, conclusively, that there is a scholarly, intelligent, and convincing answer to the propaganda which suggests that the world is irreparably divided into two camps, the capitalist and socialist.
In this age of charismatic emotionalism and aberrant neo-Montanistic Pentecostalism, a definitive and scripturally based book on true devotion to the Holy Spirit is as welcome as it is provident. This production is actually a slightly abridged version of Archbishop Luis Martinez’ original work, El Espiritu Santo, which in English translation was re-titled, The Sanctifier. Written over a half-century ago, the Mexican prelate no doubt anticipated the danger that a Church, founded upon the Trinitarian revelation of Jesus Christ, would face if she neglected to adequately educate her members as to the sanctifying role of the Third Divine Person in the economy of salvation. Such motivating and informative chapters as "Your soul’s delightful Guest," "The Holy Spirit forms Jesus within you," "Let the Holy Spirit possess you," and "Possess the Holy Spirit" are so essential to a divine and Catholic Faith that our faith in the mystery of the Incarnation itself is incomplete without this perfecting grace and illumination. Moreover, the seven gifts of the Paraclete, perfecting our conformation in Christ, are not arbitrary — Martinez stresses — they are necessary for salvation. So, too, are the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost necessary, which the author expounds upon in the final chapters. Consolator Optime, O very best Consoler, may this inspired treatise of your admirable Archbishop reach many thousands of thirsty souls!
Hilaire Belloc
In The Last Rally, Belloc narrates with clarity and vigor a central episode in the decline of the English Monarchy. Restored to the throne following the interlude of Cromwell’s “Commonwealth,” Charles II devoted his life as King of England to maintaining the integrity of the throne against all the forces arrayed against it: the power of the great landowners who worked through the Parliament; the influence of the Lawyer’s Guild; and the irresistible mercantile and financial strength of the City of London. The story that Belloc brings to life is thus one of survival: the story of a ship of state brought “through peril and storm under a great captain.” It is also the story of manhood and determination in the face of overwhelming odds; as such it is a story that Hilaire Belloc was eminently qualified to write.
“If kingship would have remained, the Peasantry would have been saved. Also there would have been a considerable and well-organised traditional Catholic body, which might have been a quarter of the nation, or at least a sixth . . . As it was, with the fall of the Stuarts, the Catholic Church in England was utterly crushed out. “ — Hilaire Belloc, 1939
Bishop Jacques Bossuet
This history of the true religion, written some three hundred years ago by the “Eagle of Meaux,” Bishop Jaques Bossuet, is a study of the Old and New Testaments in the light of the continuity of God’s interactive and faithful presence in the salvific affairs of His people. There is no book which better explains the meaning behind the types and figures of so many seemingly enigmatic commandments given to the patriarchs and prophets of old by the Lord God. No book better illustrates God’s particular and permissive providence in the rise and fall of nations and empires demonstrating, too, how those powers willfully estranged from the true religion cannot act outside of the Creator’s universal economy of salvation. Bossuet’s genius for teaching and lucidity of style merge beautifully in this unequaled masterpiece of pious erudition. As you read this book you will understand how it is that nothing of the ancient covenant was left unfulfilled in Christ and/or in the Church, His extended body. This is scriptural theology for clergy, religious, or laity. It is the complete story, this side of heaven, of man’s fall and his consequent restoration in Christ through the Church. Another chapter of this continuity of religion yet remains to be completed — an everlasting one, the Author of which is the Word of God — we pray we may all read the final chapter in heaven.
Dr. Paul Lavin & Robert Lavin
Without knowing anything about the man whose life is recounted on these pages, The Iron Man of China may seem a curious title. Except for a year furlough home in the states, Father Lavin served the Chinese people for twenty years (1932-1953), traversing thousands of miles by foot or bicycle, and exposing himself every day to life threatening dangers. In 1953 the Communists expelled him from the mainland threatening him with death if he should ever return. This well-documented book, written by the Iron Man’s nephew, illustrates one of the reasons why there are ten million Catholics, loyal to Rome, in China today.
For Chesterton fans this collection of articles written over eighty years ago are vintage G. K. The author arranged the articles in book format by sections and chapters giving to the whole the salient title: The Outline of Sanity. Accused by thickheaded social "progressives" of wanting to push society back into an antiquated agrarian provincialism, these insightful socio-economic indictions ought rather to have heralded the Catholic thinker as today’s prophet for social sanity. The perennial truths of the principles making up these critical commentaries will surely be even more evident in today’s restless age of stroboscopic consumerism. Master of paradox that he is, Chesterton, the philosopher, exposes the enslaving and dehumanizing aspects of an economy dependent upon monopolistic plutocrats and their so-called "labor saving" machines of mass production. With his penchant for balancing satire with humor, this literary giant provides a common sense solution to this age’s fast pace trek to nowhere. Modern man must be weaned gradually, he argues, back away from the imperialistic megalith corporation as a statistical wage earner and be productive on his own terms, on his own land. In order for man to achieve happiness, his true end, he must not build his life around some ephemeral retirement plan, but live each day for his real end: eternal retirement with God. Taking the original sense of the word economy as domestic harmony the ideal which the author champions is simply called Distributism. It is the very antithesis of Monopoly.
Fr. Vincent McNabb
Modern "wisdom" urges people to crowd into cities or their suburbs, to have few children, to live on credit. It teaches them to regard Industrialism as inevitable, and to view a life of speed and noise as both normal and desirable. The Catholic Church teaches the contrary. She proclaims rather that life on the land, the raising of large families, the possession of real wealth over artificial tokens, concern for the needs of men and not those of machines, and a focus on the life to come, constitute the only way to true happiness and contentment. The Church and the Land is a collection of essays and articles by England's famous Dominican Distributist. De facto "chaplain" to the Distributists and the Distributist movement, Fr. McNabb was in many ways the most passionate and fervent of those seeking reform of economic life in the name of truly human values. In over 40 short essays, Fr. McNabb tackles subjects as diverse and yet unified as industrialism, morality and economics, working conditions, and the role of the state in shaping and defending the proper economic conditions. Fr. McNabb's is a common and yet unique voice within the Distributist tradition, for he represents the voice of the Church, with its characteristic concern for morality and the salvation of souls, in economic as well as all other aspects of man's daily life. Originally published: London, 1926.
Ethics and the National Economy is a sorely-needed treatise on an essential aspect of economics: the role of morality, and ethical considerations, in economic science. A must read for anyone concerned with the effects of economic thinking upon day-to-day economic life, as well as the accountability and motivation of those who make policies based upon their conception of economic reality.
Written by A Passionist - PB - 400 Pages
Contemplating the Holy Face on the shroud of Turin, one sees a deep wound on the forehead of our Savior where one of the many thorns of His cruel crown punctured that very spot above His eyes where His members in the Church are marked who enter rightly into the penitential season of Lent. From the many figures of that spiny diadem in the Old Testament to the reality of the instrument of torture beaten into the head of the Son of God amidst insults and spittle, this terrible book, unforgettable in its endearing pathos, will surely help us to understand something of the true ugliness of sin and the awesome price the Just One had to pay in conquering it.
The most popular autobiography ever written may well have been that of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Unlike the stigmatist Padre Pio, who is the only saint of modern times to compare in popularity with the Little Flower's universal appeal, Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, during her mortal life (1873-1897), was hardly known outside the walls of her Carmelite cloister. And, she may have never been well known this side of heaven had she not been ordered by her superiors to write a personal journal of her own exquisite growth and fruition in the spiritual life a growth that never idled from the time she was three. From the age of three years, she testified, I never refused anything to the Great God. Before the youngest child of Louis and Zelie Martin left this world, she prophesied that her greatest active work would begin in heaven and that she would employ herself in beatitude doing good upon earth. From there, just as she promised, she has never ceased to let fall a shower of roses upon all who invoke her. Such devotion of the universal church, as that bestowed upon Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, was quickly rewarded by the Vicar of Christ. She was canonized only twenty-eight years after her death by Pope Benedict XV.
Loreto Publications is thrilled to publish Carmelite Father Albert Dolan's unique collection of eight monographs, each of which deals with the temporal spiritual journey of our chosen vessel of grace, either as the saint saw herself in the eyes of God, or as she was intimately known by her parents, four sibling sisters, fellow religious, childhood friends and others whose lives she touched after her death. One might call this redolent nosegay of inspirational testimonies, an anthology, in the Greek sense of that word, for anthos literally means a gathering of flowers. In order to compose his octave of devotion, Father Dolan traveled, in 1924, to France: to Normandy's Alencon, where Saint Thérèse was born, to her family home in Buissonnets, to the Carmel at Lisieux, and to other French towns. Then, he went to Rome, where he and Pope Pius XI had a mutually productive discussion of his apostolate to make the Little Way of the Little Flower better known in homes and monasteries in America. At the Carmelite convent he was blessed by priceless interviews with Saint Thérèse's three sisters (who were nuns there), and one of her teachers. At Caen, he visited a fourth sister, who had joined the Visitation order. One third of this book is dedicated to these precious recollections gathered from her living siblings. In fact, one of the eight monographs, Book Five, is completely devoted to the Little Flower's saintly mother Zelie, who died when Thérèse was only four years old.
Dona Emilio Pardo Bazan
Much more than simply “another life of Saint Francis,” this book will dazzle and enthrall, and educate all readers, from the most erudite to those who have only rudimentary knowledge of (or interest in) the life of one of the greatest and most exceptional saints. Aptly titled, this author provides the reader with a deeply spiritual and radically historical framework in which she illumines the uniqueness of this soul and the depths of the effects upon the world produced by the sanctity of this one human being who cooperated so magnanimously with the ever present grace of God.
Also Available as Ebook
By Dom Prosper Guéranger - PB - 404 pages
In the nineteenth century there was a concerted effort on the part of liberal revisionists to undermine the Church’s history by challenging the veracity of the Acts of the Martyrs. Some miraculous events associated with the lives of very popular saints, whose names were canonized in the Roman Missal, were treated with ridicule by scholars more concerned with documents than the living evidence of common tradition. It was righteous indignation that moved Abbot Dom Guéranger to defend the cause of Saint Cecilia, whose holy celebrity had spanned fifteen centuries. The abbot’s strategy was to validate the traditional accounts of all the martyrs’ lives by exonerating just one. He achieved this in the holy virgin Cecilia’s case by presenting in book form every morsel of factual evidence available, especially that which modern archeological excavations offered. As a result of his labor, there arose a refreshing new devotion to the young martyr, and – at least for a time — the cynical scoffs of the proud were silenced. This particular biography was written in response to the request of his co-reformer and friend, the Benedictine Abbess Cécile Bruyère.
Prospér Louis Pascal Guéranger was born in France, in 1805, at Sablé-sur-Sarthe. In the Napoleonic era, 1827, during the continued anti-clerical aftermath of the French Revolution, he was ordained a parish priest. As a young curé he authored several works on church-state relations. In 1836, having purchased an abandoned priory that was for sale in Solesmes, he and five other parish priests took solemn vows as Benedictines, with the intention of restoring the monastic life in France according to the ancient rule of Saint Benedict. Until his death there in 1875, Abbot Dom Guéranger devoted himself to restoring the cenobitical life as originally cultured thirteen centuries earlier by the father of western monasticism. He did much by his writings and prayers to keep the church in France loyal to the person of the Sovereign Pontiff and away from the dangers of both Gallicanism and Jansenism.
John Haffert - 265 pages - 5" x 8"- PB
Originally printed in 1940. Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. From the Preface by Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen: "Mr. Haffert has in a masterly way laid bare the solid foundations upon which this [Brown Scapular] devotion reposes. His case is so strikingly presented that to challenge this devotion is to challenge to some extent, the tradition and authority of the Church." The Scapular Promise of Our Lady is: "Whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire." Pope Pius IX said, "this extraordinary gift of the Scapular brings its great usefulness not only to the Carmelite Family of Mary but also to all the rest of the faithful who wish, affiliated to that Family, to follow Mary with a very special devotion." The book contains 15 chapters, including, The Origin of the Promise, Meaning of the Promise, Historicity of the Promise, How the Promise is Kept, Scapular Prayer and Communication of Benefits, and much more. This is the most complete book on the subject we have seen. It gives many examples of the powerful protection one gets from the Scapular and that protection is in great need today.
