Hilaire Belloc
Belloc has written elsewhere that the victory of the Reformation in England led to its victory in much of the rest of Europe. That victory unleashed the forces of social disintegration, Protestantism, Capitalism, and anti-Catholicism and let them to challenge the tradition of Monarchy on the field of battle. This book tells the story of how Charles I came to face those forces, manipulated by the Money Power, and how and why he failed. Charles I reads like "a ripping yarn", but it explores the personalities, the issues, the clashes, and the circumstances as they were. Thus it is not "acceptable orthodoxy." But it is real history.
Fr. Clement Raab, OFM - 136 pages PB
The Church is essetiay coservative. Her conservatism is not merely a measure of prudence and good judgment; it is an intrinsic necessity. No matter what she may consider, decide, or undertake, she always harks back to the beginning. After twenty [one] centuries the “pillar and ground of truth” has not moved a whit from her primitive position, while all other human foundations have either crumbled to dust or have been driven headlong by the maelstrom of this fast changing world. To these, the ideal looms hazily in the distant future; to the Church, it stands firmly in the distant past. The closer she aligns herself with Christ, the surer she is of ultimate success and victory, being “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone” (Eph. II:20). The present volume is designed to serve as a ready survey and reference book on the history of the councils. It is to serve as an aid, primarily to the cleric or lay student who has neither the time nor the opportunity to delve into, and analyze sources and controversies, but who is satisfied to learn the outstanding facts and findings concerning which Church historians generally agree. This brief and positive sketch of the twenty great events in history, so vibrant with life and so far-reaching in their consequences, will afford him, we trust, a very definite and appreciable knowledge of the nature and history of Holy Mother Church. Originally published in 1937, this re-issue of Fr. Raab’s classic work on the history of the Ecumenical Councils did not include anything about Vatican II, because its convocation still lay in the future. We have not added to his work since so much has already been written of the newest Council elsewhere.
The Papal Plan for Restoration: Restoring the Catholic Priesthood
A Study Guide for Catholic Laity, Seminarans, and Clergy - By Robert Wolfe
Large 8.5" by 11" format 200 pages - paperbackAs the title suggests, this book describes a plan taken from key papal encyclicals that engendered and safeguarded the vitality of the Catholic Faith in the prospering pre-Conciliar Church. That plan is still being followed by small traditional Catholic communities around the world today, producing that same vitality in their members. The families in these communities, particularly the heroic mothers in these large families, produce many priestly vocations. Shepherded by the traditional orders that serve them, these families seed the restoration of the Catholic priesthood.In the Book:
• A wake-up call for Catholics.• Modern popes quoted acknowledging the crisis in the Church.• Extensive statistics on problems currently facing the Church.• A thorough study guide on the problems and their proposed solutions.• More than twenty papal encyclicals quoted.• Six key encyclicals studied in detail.• Six elements of the Plan developed from the encyclicals.• Ten cause-and-effect relationships developed, statistically linking the crisis with the implementation of changes subsequent to Vatican II.• Statistical evidence that the current crisis could have been prevented had the bishops at Vatican II not ignored the quoted warnings of pre-Conciliar popes.• A logical, defendable, statistical estimate of the abundance of Catholic priests the Church would have today if pre-Conciliar Church growth had continued.• Statistical evidence that the current shortage of priests has a proven remedy not being seriously considered by our bishops.• Statistics on vital Catholic communities successfully implementing the Plan.• New seminaries ordaining many traditional priests for the Extraordinary Form Mass.• Integral to the study guide is an extensive survey questionnaire on the Faith, the Mass and The Plan.
The Glorious Mysteries. This is the third volume in this much acclaimed pictorial series on the Mysteries of the Rosary. Traces the Glorious Mysteries from the Resurrection of Christ to the Coronation of His Blessed Mother in 94 outstanding reproductions of sacred art together with the Scriptural texts which inspired them. As in the presentations in the first two volumes, the prophecies of the Old Testament are matched to their fulfillment in the New Testament. These are the mysteries that inspire the virtue of hope in the personal resurrection of each individual soul and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Much needed meditations for our times. Published with Bishop's approbation. 104 pp. PB
Father James Wathen, OSJ - Small booklet - 40 Pages
The Scriptures are an inexhaustible treasure-trove of revelation, mystery, and wisdom; and the people need the fruits of scholarly learning and research. But, mainly, the scholar’s work is on "fine points," facets and minutiae which few can begin to appreciate. Rather, this is to encourage everyone to resort to the Scriptures as the ideal book of devotion, instruction, and moral guidance which it was meant to be.
Saint Thomas Aquinas - PB 432 pages - 6" x 9"
The essentials of Catholic doctrine — clearly and succinctly presented
Two years before he died, St. Thomas Aquinas — probably the greatest teacher the Church has ever known — was asked by his assistant, Brother Reginald, to write a simple summary of the Faith of the Catholic Church for those who lacked the time or the stamina to tackle his massive Summa Theologica.
In response, the great saint quickly set down — in language that non-scholars can understand — his peerless insights into the major topics of theology: the Trinity, Divine Providence, the Incarnation of Christ, the Last Judgment, and much more.
Here, then, is not only St. Thomas’s concise statement of the key elements of his thought, but a handy reference source for the essential truths of the Catholic Faith.
Reminiscences of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity A Carmelite Nun of Dijon 1901-1906
Elizabeth was given the name of the Holy Trinity for her consecrated life in the Carmel of Dijon. In here writings, hovere, she referred to herself as "the Praise of Glory" (Ephesians 1:12) on account of her special gift of penetrating the sublime truths in the epistles of St. Paul. So abundantly fruitful was the life of God in here that she seemed to reflect in here every act the eternal processions of His Truth and Love. Saint Elizabeth has been called "another Thérèse".
Saint Benedict, father of western monasticism, is rather more known for his life and Rule than for a medal cast in his honor. The history of the image and the exorcism engraved on the medal, as well as the power of that Cross which the holy patriarch bears in his right hand, can be traced back to the eleventh century. Before he became Pope Saint Leo IX, one Bruno of Toul was cured of a mortal sickness after Saint Benedict appeared to him in the very guise we see depicted today on this sacramental. The Sisters of Charity under Saint Vincent de Paul also wore the blessed medal on their rosary. Abbot Gueranger, spiritual son of Saint Benedict, wrote this book to promote this very powerful devotion.
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
One of the comments made about Our Lord by his contemporaries was that “He spoke as one having authority.” In the modern world, the Church seems to rarely speak as one “having authority”. This is unfortunate; some might say scandalous, for it is authority that men seek when pursuing truth. Young people are inundated with the message that truth, as an objective reality, does not exist . . . except for you alone. “Well, that’s your opinion!”, or “Make your own truth.”, or even Pilate’s own phrase “What is truth?”, are all too common phrases one hears nearly everywhere today. Even the term “faith” is now one of opprobrium instead of a declaration of virtue. One thing that does still speak with authority however, especially to the young, is example. In this powerful modern novella, one young man considers faith and whether it has any meaning at all to a man who wishes to truly live or whether faith is merely something one grasps onto when no clear answers to the deep questions of life are to be found elsewhere.
Rev. G. E. Phillips
This history of the Holy House of Loreto is the most decisive work in English defending the authenticity of this most hallowed shrine in all Christendom. Our Lady’s Holy House at Nazareth was taken by angels to Dalmatia (Croatia) in 1291 to prevent its desecration by the infidels. Three years later it took flight again to rest in Loreto, Italy, where it remains. Rev. Phillips provides the facts, and excitement behind the story. Many cures, apparitions, and miraculous conversions, have happened within the limestone walls of the Santa Casa.
The truth about Purgatory . . . revealed more than 500 years ago to a canonized saint!
Here is the sensible view of Purgatory, tainted by neither childish superstition nor modern skepticism.
From these holy pages by St. Catherine of Genoa, you’ll learn:
Five hundred years ago, Fire of Love! transformed the world’s view of Purgatory, revealing these purifying fires to be the glow of God’s love. Now is the time to let these pages transform your own view of Purgatory, and to discover in them a sweet manifestation of the unfathomable depths of God’s love.
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.