Don Pietro Leome - PB 246 pages
In our days the war against God and His Church has become deeper and broader than at any time in history. No longer are the powers of darkness content to attack only the institutional Church that God founded. The truth is that the human nature that God the Father created is now the subject of the adversary’s most violent persecution, and through the undermining of the very concept of human nature and the natural law enshrined in it the enemies of God hope to make any consideration of the concept of ‘super-nature’ and super-natural life disappear from the minds of men.
The Church has always been the true guardian of not only supernatural life, but of the natural law as well. Since the natural law is the law that God put into our nature and it is discernible in the light of reason, the Church, speaking for God, is the champion of sound reasoning. With the natural law as well as supernatural law governing human sexuality and family life under attack, Don Pietro Leone has risen to defend (and to properly distinguish) those areas, so that those who wish to defend the Church and human society in our age may have sound teaching upon which to base their actions.
In the course of this treatment of these topics he makes a detailed critique of certain novel presentations of themes found in the Magisterium from the time of the Second Vatican Council onwards. Amongst these doctrines is one he terms ‘Magisterial Personalism’ and another called the ‘Theology of the Body.’ Drawing upon scholastic philosophy and the perennial teaching of the Church, Don Pietro brings light to a subject recently plunged into obscurity and darkness that is not currently being dispelled sucessfully, even by the guardians of Truth themselves.
Ascetic and pastoral reflections for young priests, that they may become apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Translated from German by Michael J. Miller - PB 188 pages
Based on the 6th French edition (Paris: Téqui) This book was composed shortly after World War I by an Italian priest who wished to remain anonymous.
“Manete in dilectione mea,” Our Blessed Lord tells us all, but especially is this counsel given to his chosen vessels, those men of his royal priesthood, so that their priesthood may be one of power and fruitfulness beyond measure. Abide in his love and all power will be given unto you, O Royal sons of David!This jewel, this precious book, speaks to the heart of every zealous, but sometimes timid, priest who desires with desire to do the will of God and to glorify him in the infirmity of their humanness. You know who you are my brothers in Christ! You have been called to the most sublime office on earth. You feel unequal to the task. You yearn to do great things for God. You thirst to help souls! Rejoice! Here is the recipe for all you desire. Recommended by Pope Pius XI and penned by an anonymous Italian priest who had just passed through the fire and agony of World War I—the Great War—this book shall be a light unto your path.
Father Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp. PB - 144 pages
I repeatedly promised Saint Peter that if I ever got the chance, I would teach the truth about his Master in the way he and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, wanted it done. That is what I have striven to do and am doing.” — Fr. Denis Fahey Denis Fahey was born in Golden, County Tipperary, Ireland, on the land and among kinsmen whom he dearly loved. The parish of Knockavilla where he was baptized is part of the Diocese of Cashel. He was, by the grace of God born into a devout Catholic family that was blessed with three sons. Thomas was the oldest. John died very young, and Denis was the youngest son of his parents, Thomas and Brigit (Cleary), who were deeply devoted to the Church. Denis was sent at the age of twelve to Rockwell College, where he was educated by the Holy Ghost Fathers among whom his vocation to the priesthood was nurtured and eventually came to fruition.
Fr. Fahey’s life work was the promotion of the Catholic social doctrine of Christ the King. He firmly believed that “the world must conform to Our Divine Lord, not He to it.” He always defended the Mystical Body of Christ without compromise. He called the social doctrine “Our Lord’s Program for Order.”
Fr. Denis Fahey was the great champion of the Kingship of Christ in the 20th century. This is the best introduction to his work, since it is the most concise and yet comprehensive summary of the great battle of our age. It is a clear outline of the eternal battle between the fallen angels with their worldly allies and Our Lord in his Mystical Body, the Catholic Church.There are two cities, with two armies, battling for the victory of God’s kingdom on earth. He of course already reigns without opposition in Heaven as it says in the Lord’s Prayer.
The Mystical Body of Christ and the Reorganization of Society is Father Fahey’s magnum opus, and his other books are all worthy of our attention, however, we at Loreto feel that this is the best short introduction to Father’s teachings.
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8.5” x 11’ Spiral-bound • 136 Pages • $19.95
This spiral-bound, lay-flat, book is designed for choral use. For years this book was the “gold standard’ volume for use by parish choirs for Chant in the Mass. Carlo Rossini’s choirbook includes ALL OF THE PROPERS—words and notation—in sheet music format for every Sunday and feastday of the liturgical year. Organ accompaniment and Gregorgian Psalm-tone notation is provided. Discount available for 20 or more copies.
Father Denis Fahey - PB - 128 pages
“I repeatedly promised Saint Peter that if I ever got the chance, I would teach the truth about his Master in the way he and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, wanted it done. That is what I have striven to do and am doing.” —Rev. Denis Fahey
This book is the first published by Fr. Denis Fahey, the great apostle of the Kingship of Christ in the 20th century. In it he lays down the essential philosophical and theological principles that undergird and enliven the entire published corpus of his life’s work in defense of the Social Rights of God, in direct opposition to the nefarious Declaration of the Rights of Man that was the published declaration of war against Catholic civilization issued by the “enlightened” Freemasons who were responsible for the French Revolution. The war that Fr. Fahey so clearly delineated and chronicled is still engaged, even though few Catholics understand the nature and the extent of this war against human society and especially against Our Lord in His Mystical Body, the Catholic Church. The two ancient battle cries “We will not have this Man rule over us!” and “Non Serviam!” have been vividly revived in the 20th century by a host of enemies of Christ’s Kingship over human society. Until all human society—especially national governments—publicly recognize that Kingship, civilization will continue on its downward spiral. We hope that the re-publication of Fr. Fahey’s works will assist the Faithful in their attempts to restore all things in Christ for the future of our children and our children’s children and for the Greater Glory of God!
Adapted from the French of Rev. A. Phillippe, C.S.S.R. - by Rev. Denis Fahey C.S.Sp. - 138 pages
If one were to state succinctly the predominant supposition that underlies all modern thinking and action regarding human societies it would be that God has no absolute rights over the laws and governments of men; that men are sovereign over their own lives both individually and collectively.This is the antithesis of reality. It is the devil’s doctrine. “You shall not die the death.You shall be as Gods!” This was the first lie and it is still the most destructive. Belief in that lie is almost universal today, both in thought and in practice.God is the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Savior, and Sanctifier of all men. All men belong to God and we owe him our love and obedience in every aspect of our lives. Jesus Christ the God-Man is our King by every conceivable right and title, both human and divine. He has the RIGHT to be obeyed and honored by all human societies, especially governments. The Rights of Man are all subject to those of Christ the King, and all so-called ‘human rights’ will disappear if God’s rights are not properly honored by society.
FATHER LEONARD FEENEY - 294 PAGES - Hardcover $24.95 - Softcover $14.95
Very few American priests have been as famous or have had as much influence on the Catholic church in the 20th century as Father Leonard Feeney, (S.J.) M.I.C.M. The doctrinal firestorm that arose when he accused Archbishop Cushing of Boston of protecting and defending certain priests and teachers at Boston College who were openly denying the thrice-defined dogma that “there is no salvation outside of the Catholic church” was front page news in 1949 and is still a burning issue today seventy years later. Three years after the Boston Heresy Case burst upon the post World War world, Father’s Bread of Life was first published, and it has remained continuously in print since then.
This is the only edition since the first to appear with anything but the original text. Three articles written by loyal and ardent disciples of Father Feeney are included in order to clarify certain questions that have arisen since the original publication in 1952.
As the modern world continues to find itself largely lost and bewildered 100 years after Our Lady appeared at Fatima and 78 years into the atomic age, the challenge of the everlasting message of the Catholic Faith is more relevant than ever. “Oh beauty ever ancient and ever new” was the cry of Saint Augustine 1600 years ago, and this is still the same joyful utterance made by Saint Benedict Center and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to an unbelieving world.
These Three Hearts:
Saint Claude de la Columbiere, Saint Margaret Mary Aloocoque, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus
By Margaret Yeo - PB - 282 pages
“My pure love unites forever these three hearts.”These were the words spoken to St. Margaret-Mary on Friday, June 21, 1675 by Our Lord as she received Holy Communion from the hands of St. Claude de la Colombière, just after they had knelt together before the Blessed Sacrament and dedicated themselves to serve the Sacred Heart.This was not the first time, nor the last, that Our Lord had spoken to her. Indeed, most of her life was lived in constant and intimate communion with the Sacred Heart of her spouse. The first time she laid eyes upon St. Claude Our Lord told her, “This is he whom I have sent you. He is My faithful servant and perfect friend.”This book, unlike others about St. Margaret-Mary or the revelations of the Sacred Heart, contains the full story of St. Claude’s life and the role that he played in hers and in the task of “making known” the Sacred Heart and the promises made to those who live and promote that devotion.On May 31, 1992, Claude de la Colombière was canonized. His feast day is Feb 15.
By John F. McManus - 244 pages PB
This book, written by a prominent and well known Catholic American, isthe product of almost seventy years of close observation and deep study in aturbulent world of rapid change and degradation of church and society.Recently, the courageous Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò published an acknowledgmentof the problems discussed in this book in his now world famous Open Letter toPresident Trump where he spoke of Freemasonry and the ‘deep church’. Becausethat letter appeared as this book was going to press, The Deep Church Revealedwas added to the original title as a fitting description of its content.
The revealing begins with a description of the Enlightenment philosophersand their anti-Catholic hatred, and the author proceeds from there to detail inforty-one astonishing chapters the story of how those men and the organizationsthey inspired grew and and spread their pernicious doctrines throughout theworld and the Church.
The plans that these Freemasonic organizations laid were remarkably successful,even though vigorously opposed by every Pope for over 200 years. “Anenemy hath done this” Our Lord said in the parable of the wheat and the cockles.Truly, this can be said today of the situation in His Church. The holy andvigilant Padre Pio told Fr. Luigi Villa in 1963 when he assigned Fr. Villa the taskof exposing these enemies “Courage, courage, courage! For the Church is alreadyinvaded by Freemasonry that has already reached the Pope’s slippers.”We are thankful to Mr. McManus for telling this story briefly, succinctly,and with unbounded love for our Holy Mother the Church. He advises us,like Saint Peter, “Be sober and watchful, for your adversary the devil goethabout like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Whom ye shouldresist, fortes in fide.”
By Michael Haynes with an Introduction by Archbishop Viganò - PB 164 pages
Sixty years after the Pastoral Council, that the promotional advertising told us was to usher in a new springtime for the Church, is sufficient time for the faithful to stand back and calmly observe the glorious fruits of the work of that Council. We at Loreto have done so, and many Catholics (even some who have spent years committed to implementing the principles of Vatican II) have done so as well. The historical facts appear to us to belie the promises made by Pope John XXIII and others.As Pope John Paul II said, three of the most important fruits of the Council are: the New Liturgy and sacramental rites, the New Code of Canon Law and the New Catechism. With all of these brand new and very modern(ist?) post-Conciliar alterations in the laws and teachings of the hierarchy forced upon the faithful having had its trial of sixty years, it is now time to judge these fruits objectively. Surely, even those who have collaborated, either wholeheartedly or with reservations, in the advancement of these changes must agree that a just and prudent accounting should now be made of the blessings or curses upon the Church and the world resulting from the work of the Council.This penetrating analysis produced by Michael Haynes under the direction of a faithful Priest, and prefaced by a faithful Shepherd, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó is what we hope will be a first of many groundbreaking studies of the new Catechism.
The Canons and Decrees of Trent and Vatican I - In Latin and English - PB 170 pages
Here you will find all of the essential documents and infallible teachings of these two modern councils of the Catholic Church. They are beautifully laid out in a two-column format with large readable fonts of both the original Latin and Cardinal Manning's English translation side by side.
ForewordTo say that the Catholic world is in a state of doctrinal confusion today would be an almost comical understatement, were not the issues involved—the individual salvation or damnation of every man, woman, and child on the planet—so important. Despite the wealth of defined dogmatic teaching that the Church has produced over twenty centuries, the actions of many prelates, priests, and theologians (some in the highest reaches of the hierarchy) have obscured the truths of the Faith for many, if not most, Catholics and non-Catholics.This has happened before. In the 16th century, the successive revolts of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII and their brethren, together with pre-existing abuses and doctrinal questions that opened the door for their defections, created an enormous amount of confusion in the Church. All areas of Catholic life—pastoral, devotional, and liturgical—suffered. As kings and princes began to create their own state churches and enforce membership in these fake churches on their hapless subjects, Pope Paul III (1534–1549) decided, in concert with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, that the time had come to call a new Ecumenical Council. This was slated to air Protestant complaints, reform Catholic practices, define or redefine disputed dogmas, and reconcile Christian princes, with a view to uniting Christendom and reviving the Crusades. Pope and Emperor agreed that it would convene at Mantua on May 23, 1537. Renewed war broke out between the Emperor and the French, thus delaying the opening. Two years of delays led the Pope to cancel the whole process.Emperor Charles V, however, was very keen on the idea, and on December 13, 1545, the Council at last convened at the city of Trent. The seat of a Prince-Archbishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, it was Charles’ choice for the Council’s location. During the next few years in eighteen sessions, doctrinal decrees would be issued on the Holy Scriptures, Original sin, Justification, the Sacraments in general, Baptism, and Confirmation. An outbreak of the plague and various other things, including Paul III’s death, led to the Council being prorogued indefinitely on September 17, 1549.The new Pope, Julius III (1550–1555), agreed with Charles V that there should be no further delay. The Council Fathers gathered at Trent on May 1, 1551. The Emperor and Pope concurred that the Protestants should appear at the Council and present their case—although without being able to vote. Although some of the Reformers did set out for the Council, in the end none appeared because of their inability to vote. Nonetheless, important work was done, and decrees defining Catholic teaching on the Holy Eucharist, Penance, and Extreme Unction were passed by the delegates. Unfortunately, at this juncture, the Emperor’s war against the Protestants took a turn for the worse, and Maurice, the Elector of Saxony invaded Tyrol. The Council was broken up by the threat on April 28, 1552. As Julius III retreated ever more into his strange interests, the prospect of reconvening the Council receded, while his successor, the stern reformer Paul IV, had other fish to fry in clearing out from Rome the moral detritus left by Julius. Moreover, Charles V had abdicated in 1555; his brother and successor as Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, was not as interested in Council as his brother had been—at least initially.Pius IV (1559-1565) was determined that the council should be reopened and brought to a successful conclusion. From January 18, 1562 to December 4, 1563, the Council met at Santa Maria Maggiore, and continued until its final adjournment on 4 December 1563. The final doctrinal decrees were on Matrimony; Cults of Saints, Relics, and Images; and at last the very topic that had excited Luther so much way back in 1517: Indulgences. The documents were signed at last by 255 Council Fathers, and the bull of ratification was published by the Pope on January 26, 1564.The Council had asked the Pope to continue its work by publishing definitive versions of a catechism based upon its decrees; shepherded through by Pius IV’s nephew, St. Charles Borromeo, this appeared in 1566, and remains today as the most clear, unambiguous, and authoritative catechism in print. Having appeared under St. Pius V, the catechism was soon joined by revisions of the Breviary and Missal, the latter of which remained substantially unchanged until the mid-20th century.Almost two centuries later in the 18th century, the Catholic world had changed considerably. On the one hand, Latin America, the Philippines, and various other new regions had been added to the Church; but on the other Protestantism had solidified into its own bloc of nations, the Enlightenment and the French and succeeding Revolutions had toppled Monarchs, and there was no more Holy Roman Emperor. Scientism and Socialism were sapping the faith even of Catholics—and the supposedly Catholic government of the new Italian Kingdom was struggling with the Papacy for control of the remainder of the Papal States. At any moment, Bl. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) faced an imminent invasion of his own capital, Rome.The many struggles around the world between Catholics and governments intent on usurping the rights of the Church in various ways were at once symbolized by and subsumed into the one the Pope faced. This fact, combined with the spread of the telegraph, newspapers, and steamships put the Pope very much into the forefront of the Church’s worldwide struggle. The Ultramontanist party in every Catholic land called for the closest possible unity between the national Churches and the Holy See and with each other. In the face of all of this, Bl. Pope Pius IX convoked an Ecumenical Council, Vatican I. Although they all refused in varying tones from polite to contemptuous, all of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs had been invited as full participants to the Council by the Pope as an attempt to end the Eastern Schism.Opening on December 1869 at St. Peter’s Basilica rather than the Lateran (where the prior five councils in Rome had met) and adjourned on October, 20 1870, a month after the Italians at last conducted their long-threatened seizure of Rome, Vatican I accomplished far less than Trent. Nevertheless, it did deal definitively with two important matters. The first—the pretended clash between Faith and Reason, which Liberalism had pushed to the forefront of national life in so many countries—was dealt with in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith (Dei Filius). Far more controversial and hotly debated at the time was the dogma of Papal Infallibility, at last defined in the First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ (Pastor aeternus). The Council was then prorogued. It would not be officially concluded until the eve of Vatican II.Much of course has changed since then. But what has not changed is the essential nature of these defining documents. Regardless of changes in technology, fashion, liturgy, or anything else, these pages contain the bare minimum of what it is to be Catholic: if one can read it all and agree with it all, he is a Catholic; if not, not. In the current period of confusion, a clear guide to spiritual reality such as this is utterly essential; we all owe a debt of gratitude to Loreto Publications for making it available. Charles A. Coulombe Trumau, Austria Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist - 23 June 2022
The Council of TrentSymbol of Faith - Canonical Scriptures - Original Sin - Justification, Sin, & Merit - The Sacraments in General - Baptism - Confirmation - The Eucharist - Penance - Extreme Unction - Communion: Under both Species & of Children - The Mass - Holy Orders - Matrimony - Purgatory - Relics - Indulgences - Profession of Faith The Council of Vatican IDei FiliusDogmatic Constitution on Faith - God the Creator - Revelation - Faith - Faith & Reason — Canons: God the Creator: Revelation: Faith: Faith & Reason
Pastor ÆternusThe Church of Christ - Papal Primacy - Perpetual Papal Primacy - Nature of Papal Primacy - Papal Infallibility
The major works of compadres G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc have been widely circulated in the past few decades among an expanding circle of Catholics seeking a more universal knowledge of our Christian perspective, history and faith. At this time Loreto Publications cannot carry these treasures of wisdom, which are voluminous (Belloc wrote about 150 books), however a good supply can be obtained from other Catholic publishers. What we have chosen to do is periodically promote certain of their productions which we feel are particularly timely and potentially formative. Outline of Sanity and The Free Press preeminently qualify as fare for any soldier whose enlistment in the Church militant is more than perfunctory. The Free Press is a new release from IHS Press. It was written in 1917, the same year Our Lady came to Fatima. The media’s manipulation of thought among the masses, which Belloc warned about back then, by the financial power elite (motivated by capitalist interest rather than truth) has grown exponentially over these last four score industrial and technological decades. Yet this eighty page essay is not a wailing sheet of moral nor intellectual despair. The mighty author was too much of a Catholic, too much a man of hope, to see nothing but gloom and darkness on the literary horizon.
Twelve Types is a collection of short biographical essays, by one of 20th-century England's greatest essayists. In keeping with the spirit of IHS Press, that there is a Catholic way to look at everything, this book evaluates the place of such figures as Tolstoy, St. Francis, Savonarola, William Morris, and others, in the history of the West and from an unabashedly Catholic perspective. With typical wit and flair, Chesterton accomplishes what modern biography most often fails to do: discuss the important and central elements of the characters it presumes to examine, while omitting tedious discussion on matters of little import. Chesterton looks at the souls, the characters, and the lives of some of the West's most important figures, providing modern readers with a sane and Catholic orientation to their approach to these great individuals. Originally published: London, 1905.
IHS Press is pleased to present a new Preface to this edition by Dr. Malcolm Brennan. Malcolm Brennan is Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the Citadel, South Carolina, and is the author of numerous works, including a collection of essays on the history of the English martyrs. The social doctrine isn't just about economics. Make this slim volume part of your Catholic cultural library today!
Also Available as Ebook
Msgr. Francis J. Weber - PB 84 pages
Recently retired from over fifty years of service to God and to the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Monsignor Weber has allowed us to publish some of the delightful, insightful, and very succinct homilies he has given on real and literary characters found in the holy gospels. The four gospels tell us the story of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, the Savior of the world. In the course of those gospels, Jesus Christ tells us many stories that reveal God the Father’s loving plan for our salvation. Through the homilies collected here Monsignor Francis Weber does what a good preacher always does, that is, he points out the spiritual truth the gospels reveal, and then connects that truth with our own faith and daily experiences as disciples of Jesus Christ.By “real characters” Monsignor Weber indicates the real life men and women whom Jesus met and engaged during his life and ministry, such as Peter and Paul and Pontius Pilate. “Literary characters” are the imaginary figures in Christ’s parables, such as the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan.
By Fr. John J. Hugo - PB - 176 pages
Fr. John Hugo (1911–1985) was a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburg who spent much of his life giving retreats based upon those that he had participated in while still a young priest in the 1930s. Those retreats were given by Fr. Onesimus Lacouture S. J. and Fr. Hugo was one of over 6000 priests to whom the retreat was given over a course of several years. The Retreat, as it was affectionately called by its devoteés was an electrifying and life-changing experience for many of them. It was nothing more nor less than the Spiritual Excercises of Saint Ignatius. But these retreats given by Fr. Lacouture were, as the saying goes “the real deal.” They were given as St. Ignatius intended, for the proper length of time and according to the true Ignatian spirit. They got to the real “roots” of Christian living. They were, in short, radical.Fr. Hugo became a disciple of Fr. Lacouture in the sense that he experienced the fruits and saw the necessity of the retreat for Catholic Americans. He determined to continue that work as part of his priestly vocation. Fr. Hugo became the spiritual advisor of Dorothy Day (and the Catholic Worker Movement) who took the retreat more than twenty times during her life.This book, The Gospel of Peace, is one fruit of that work, and it was very controversial at the time of its publication in 1943. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is always controversial because it is “out of step” with the world.
The Most Rev. Dr. James Butler’s Catechism - Small booklet - 88 pages
Revised, Enlarged, Approved, and Recommended by the Four R. C. Archbishops of Ireland as a General Catechism for the Kingdom
Rev. Dr. James Butler, the Bishop of Cashel in Ireland, first published his world-famous catechism in 1775. Soon it became the “official” catechism for all of Ireland, approved for use by all of the bishops. At the Third Council of Baltimore in 1884 it was favored by many U.S. bishops as the basis for the new Baltimore Catechism soon to be published. In the end, the Council decided to use the catechism of St. Robert Bellarmine as the basis for a new catechism for Americans. Butler’s Catechism has always been widely used in the United States as well as the Baltimore Catechism, especially by Americans of Irish descent. At the 1st Council of Quebec it was decided that Butler’s would be the only catechism authorized for the English speaking faithful in Canada, and in 1871 Bishop Lynch of Toronto published it as the official catechism for his diocese. We have compared the various editions approved in Ireland and in Canada and they are (except for some slight re-arrangements in the order of the lessons and some different prayers) the same. This particular printing is that published in Dublin in 1944. It is a wonderfully simple and straightforward catechism useful for children and adults, especially for those who are interested in converting or who have just decided to enter the one true church.
Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.One can detect a definite influence from the priest poet, Father Feeney, in the rhyme and rhythm of the philosopher poet, Dr. Maluf. The former, however, has that Irish flair for painting with words; the latter that Semitic gift for impressing with similitudes. Brother Francis Maluf wrote these fifty-nine poems for leisure. Those of us who know him would have a hard time imagining him sweating for too long over a verse. When he was deeply moved, whether it be by a devotional grace, by wonder at something beautiful to behold, by a gospel story or character, or even by astonishment over some mystery of iniquity, his contemplative heart would seek a means of expression. These poems are the expression of Brother Francis’ contemplative heart.
by Father Leonard Feeney, S.J.
To My Mother, from her 'Minstrel Boy'.
So, you do not like poetry. Too many flowers and angels and stars and clouds. And too many adjectives ending in “Y”. Besides, the better the poem the less you can understand it, right? You are an ordinary Joe who prefers more solid food for his mind and you do not really care if the words rhyme anyway. Well, Joe, lighten up! Let your mind get a taste of Father Feeney’s verse. Your whole family will enjoy the new turf. It will warm the heart. In fact, every one of Father’s poems comes with that guarantee.
Night Noises
Angela died today and went to Heaven; We counted her summers up and they were seven. But why does that trouble you, unloosened shutter, That flap at my window in the wind's wild flutter!
Angela's eyes tonight are cold and dim, Off in the land of song and Seraphim. But what does that mean to you, O creaking stair, And mice in the wall that gnaw the plaster there!
Angela's little hands are folded white, Deep in the meadow, under the starry night. But why should an ugly gnat keep finely whining Around the candle-flame beside me shining!
And never again — and never again will she Come running across the field to welcome me. But, little sheep-bells, out on the distant hill, Why, at this hour, do you wake and tinkle still!
And not any more—alas!— and not any more, Will she climb the stairs and knock at my lonely door. But, moaning owl in the hayloft overhead, How did you come to know that she was dead!
Msgr. Gaumé
The holy Sign of the Cross is the most important prayer and symbol of our Christian faith. It is at once the image of Christ's passion, the sign of the redemption of all mankind, the awesome testament of the destruction of the power of the devil and of his kingdom on earth. The resurrection is the promise and seal and guarantee of eternal life which consummated the work of the Cross.
Christians rejoice and the demons tremble to see the Sign of the Cross emblazoned everywhere as proof of Christ's victory over the world. Christ said "all power is given to me in heaven and on earth" and the Cross is the seat of that power. There is no place on earth where a person who makes the Sign of the Cross is not immediately recognized as a Catholic, and there is no miracle that has not been worked under this sign. It is the "nuclear bomb" of prayers and with it the faithful can clear away all enemies and temptations with the simplest of wordless gestures. Msgr. Gaumé has compiled a magnificent collection of history and commentary from the saints and fathers and doctors, as well as his own meditations and exhortations regarding this most powerful prayer. All Catholics should avail themselves of this information and make it fruitful in their own lives.
Marie Thérese Peterson - 166 Pages Paperback
Is the Holy Eucharist REALLY the Body and Blood of Christ, as the Church has taught for 2,000 years, or do we receive only a symbolic reminder of Jesus at the Last Supper? Statisticians claim that a high percentage of Catholics in our time have lost the true meaning of Holy Communion and demonstrate their unbelief by neglecting to genuflect in the presence of Christ, or by talking in Church as if it were a social hall. Our author has gone to the heart of the matter and has shown conclusively that this is the GREAT sacrament that nourishes every life that was recreated in the sacrament of baptism - making the recipient true blood brothers and sisters of Christ by sharing intimately in His very Divine nature.. Color photos show Padre Pio in ecstasy as he celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Beautifully written and thoroughly convincing. A great gift item for those who may be weak in faith or poorly instructed.
Small (3.75" by 5") abridged 1914 Edition of the Little Office - 220 pages PB
The ancient prayers in this book are shown in both Latin and English text. The left page is Latin and the right page English. This layout method is easier to read than when the English and Latin are split in two columns on the same page.
A more complete version of the Office is also available on this website.
Fr. F. J. Remler, CM - PB 180 pages - 5" x 7"
Learn how to resist temptation now — before it’s too late!
You’ve no doubt taken steps to ensure your safety — and your family’s — from various kinds of worldly calamities. But if you haven’t made sure you’re properly on guard against temptations, you’re setting yourself up for a spiritual disaster of immense proportions. No matter how devoted to Christ you are, temptations are going to come to you. That’s why How to Resist Temptation is essential reading for every serious Catholic.
The author, Fr. Francis J. Remler, C.M., helps you prepare yourself so that, when temptations begin to assail your soul, you’ll be ready. Learn from Father’s experience Fr. Remler gives you the benefit of his expertise as a confessor and shepherd of souls, as he shows you how to identify and guard against common misunderstandings of what temptation really is and what it is not — misunderstandings that can paralyze your spiritual growth. He details ways you can recognize the elements of temptation — and be on guard against often-unrecognized causes of individual temptations. He reveals how you can keep the memories of your past sins from troubling and tempting you now, and clarifies why God allows temptation to exist in the first place. He even explores the role of the demonic in day-to-day temptations — with firm faith in God’s power.
A marvelously encouraging and optimistic book, How to Resist Temptation even contains useful directions on how you can — believe it or not — actually benefit from temptation, and how you can learn from others’ examples as you fight against temptation. So the next time the siren song of temptation starts to sound in your ears, don’t try to tough out the struggle alone — call on God’s ever-plentiful grace, and go to battle against sin armed with the wisdom of How to Resist Temptation!
Fr. Robert Lange - 168 Pages - PB
“He is a priest forever! Father Lange’s fascinating account of his lifelong path to the priesthood and his experience of grace is intensely personal, and yet he accomplishes his purpose of reminding us about universal truths and the possibility of a permanent, loving relationship with God. This inspiring book is equally suited for Sunday afternoon reading and as a required text for students and seminarians.”Patrick J. Reilly President, The Cardinal Newman Society
Father Robert A. Lange’s engaging memoir, Windows into the Life of a Priest, supplies exactly what the book’s title indicates, namely, an anecdotal account of one man’s Catholic priesthood. While it is autobiographical in the sense that it is based largely on Father Lange’s life and experiences as a priest, the aim and purpose of the book belong more to the realm of Catholic faith and devotion generally, and, indeed, to that of Catholic apologetics, giving reasons for the faith, offering “a defense…for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Pet 3:13). Among other things, Father Lange turns out to be quite an effective apologist for the faith. At various times in the text, Father Lange remarks, in effect, that “It’s not about me!” Rather, it’s about faith and God’s grace, how important and indeed necessary they are, and how they literally make life worth living. Father Lange certainly shows that they have made his life worth living—and worth recounting too, for the benefit of others, especially for those he calls wayward Christians. If God could save him—and by save here is meant not only eternal salvation, but rescue from an aimless and empty life here and now—why could he not save you or me as well? That, in fact, is precisely what God wants to do for all of us; he wants to save us from ourselves—if only you and I will respond to his love, abundantly offered to everyone, and cooperate! This is an important part of the message that Father Lange never tires of repeating.Kenneth D. Whitehead
Hilaire Belloc - PB 130 Pages
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc, 1870-1853, was born in France of a French Catholic father and an English protestant mother. His mother later converted under the influence of Cardinal Manning, a good friend and mentor of Hilaire. His only sister, Marie Lowndes, was a fairly well-known writer like her brother Hilaire. Belloc’s father died young, leaving his widow in dire financial straits with two young children to support. They moved to England, and they settled in Slindon, West Sussex, where Belloc lived for most of his life. In 1906, he married Elodi Hogan, from Napa California. Their brief. but ecstatically happy. marriage ended with her death in 1914, after she had borne him five children. He never remarried, and he wore mourning for the rest of his life. This beautiful and precisely chiseled, almost fairy-taleish narrative, subtitled A Tale of Affection in Youth and Age, must certainly have been a poignant reminder that he himself had, by the inscrutable providence of God, been granted that deep measure of affection in his youth that is so idealistically pictured in Belinda, but denied that affection in old age that is equally well-depicted. This brief novel of human love and affection idealized is a delightful and cheerful reminder that indeed, life can have its moments of beauty, if even only as a foretaste of the delights promised to those blessed with the grace of perseverance unto salvation.
Fr. Didier Bonneterre - PB 148 pages
Historically Dom Gueranger and Pope Saint Pius X are truly at the origin of the liturgical movement, that is, "the renewal of fervor for the liturgy among the clergy and the faithful." But it is a false and pernicious claim that there has been a "homogenous development" in the movement begun by them resulting in the New Order of Mass! This deception cannot be accepted. That is why this book was written. The Novus Ordo derived from the thought of Dom Gueranger and Pope Saint Pius X?! No way! The Liturgical Movement is a fast-reading book on the history of the liturgical movement of the last century: -How was it diverted from its course? -Who made up the brain-trust which led its early deviation? -What was the principal error of these liturgical radicals? -In the end, who hijacked the movement to propagandize for Vatican II and a New Mass? Find out who were the major players hounding the Popes of the era: Beauduin, Bea, Parsch, Guardini, Casel, Jungmann, Lercaro, Botte, Reinhold, Winzen, Congar, Harscouet, (Gaspar) Lefebvre, Danielou, Fischer, Bugnini, Nocent, Bouyer, Thurian, Gy, etc.
Mario Peterson & Tom Concert — 96 Pages - PB
Searching for Fine Pearls is an easy-to-read summary of the monumental Catholic classic The Mystical City of God that was written by Venerable Mary of Agreda, a 17th century Franciscan abbess, who had mystical visions and revelations concerning many intimate details of the life of our Lord and his Blessed Mother not revealed in the Gospels. These revelations were described and published in four volumes, in Spanish, during her lifetime.For those readers who might be daunted by the thought of reading the full work of over 2,000 pages, this short summary may encourage them to make the effort. Many saints, popes, religious, and other holy men and women, as well as humble laymen from all walks of life have found great grace and consolation in the pages of The Mystical City of God.This work has received the approbation of seven popes and has been read and meditated upon by millions in the four centuries since its original publication. An English translation was produced in 1912 and has enjoyed a wide readership.Mary of Agreda’s incorrupt remains and the well documented facts of her evangelizing bilocations to the New World attest to her holy life. Fray Junipero Serra, the founder of so many of the famous California missions, and a brilliant scholar and theologian, was profoundly influenced by her inspirational writings. He always carried with him three books; his breviary, a copy of the bible, and The Mystical City of God.
Don Pietro Leone - PB 122 pages
Don Pietro Leone is the author of this most useful summary of the history of the destruction of the Roman rite and the substitution of a modern rite called the Novus ordo (new order) in its place. In his General Audience of November 9, 1969, Pope Paul VI had this to say (among many other things) about substitution of the new rite for the Roman rite of all times: “This change has something astonishing about it, something extraordinary. This is because the Mass is regarded as the traditional and untouchable expression of our religious worship and the authenticity of our faith.”No truer words were ever spoken by a pontiff, except perhaps by the high priest who once said: “You know nothing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the sins of the people and that the whole nation perish not.”Some, upon contemplating these extraordinary changes, go so far as to think that the attempts of the Church’s enemies to eradicate once and for all “Popish superstition” from the world have made significant progress towards their goal when the Pope himself allowed the introduction of, in his own words, “a new rite” into the heart of the Church. Others seek to understand God’s will in these matters and consider that these changes and the resulting chaos in the life of the Church might be among those vague “chastisements” mentioned by Our Lady at Fatima. Still other observers of the Church in the latter half of the 20th Century and into the third millennium believe that the new mass is a great development of human progress and is the harbinger of a new “springtime” in the life of the Mystical Body, while yet others, many of the lay-faithful, struggle to maintain their faith and to live the life of faith somewhat passively in a spirit of docility in the face of the radical changes in liturgy and the life of the Church. Countless others have just dropped out of the daily life of the Church altogether.There is no question that the new rite has changed the Church. This little book seeks to serve as a scholarly and objective summation of the changes and their effects. The substance of the work is taken largely from the mouths of those who were responsible for promoting and producing the changes as well as from several lengthy and scholarly books published by those who oppose them.
Fr. Hugh P. Donlon - PB - 150 pages
Auriesville - The Martyr’s ShrineThe breathtaking view of the Mohawk river valley from the front of the Shrine of the North American Martyrs at Auriesville New York gives the visitor cause to stop and remember that one day, long ago, our martyrs “ran the gauntlet” up that hill from the riverfront to the hilltop on which he now stands. Modern day Pilgrims who have for almost 20 years now made the yearly Pilgrimage for Restoration on foot, either from the Shrine of Kateri Tekawitha at Fonda New York only seven miles away, or the three-day Pilgrimage from the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament (Lake George) 72 miles away, can attest to the energy it takes to climb that hill after their long hike—and that is without running any gauntlet of blood-thirsty Mohawks!This shrine is one of the glories of the Catholic church in North America and all who can visit it are encouraged to do so, at least once in their lives. The editor can attest to the deep spiritual peace that is present on that hallowed ground. The famous Ravine where St. René Goupil’s relics were lost (and presumably are still part of the landscape there) is hauntingly beautiful and a place where many graces have been bestowed and received.This is the story of that Shrine and of the heroes who made it a place of heavenly peace and grace—The Land of Crosses!
By M. L. Cozens - 118 pages - Paperback
This most concise and helpful reference work was first published in 1928. It was reissued in 1945 by Sheed & Ward publishers and is presented by Loreto again in 2016 because we feel it will be very useful for students, seminarians, priests, and Catholic laity of all walks of life, since so many of these heresies are once again rearing their ugly heads in these most troubling times. Therefore, we must be not only quick to recognize their manifestation in the era in which we live, but we should also be capable of the refutation of these death-dealing errors for those who would look to faithful Catholics for guidance. Saint Paul in 1Cor. 11:19 says “For there must be also heresies: that they also, who are approved, may be made manifest among you.” Now at first impression that might seem an odd thing for Saint Paul to say— that there must be heresies? Yet the verse gives its own explanation. It is so that truth (those approved teachers and believers) may be made clear among you. It is often the case that truth or light stands out more clearly when contrasted against untruth or darkness and that is one very fine reason why those seeking the truth in more depth of understanding may wish to study heresies. It is so that truth may be made more manifest!That is exactly what the author does in this book. Not only does heexplain and state clearly the errors but he does three other things that are most helpful to the reader: 1) he describes how and why the heresy arose, and 2) he shows the true teachings in opposition, and 3) he draws out the logical conclusions and implications for thought and behavior that flow from the acceptance of the error. This is a great teaching tool for high schools, colleges and seminaries, or adult study groups.Saint Anthony - Hammer of Heretics - Pray for us!
Also Available in Print
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.
Father Denis Fahey - PB - 440 pages
The principal purpose of The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World is to deal, from the theological, philosophical and historical standpoint, with the modern revolt against the divine plan for the organisation of human society. Dr. Fahey writes at length of the various errors and the nefarious forces which at present menace the divinely-constituted social order. His work is a most important one. Perhaps never before, since the establishment of Christianity, has there been such an organized effort to overthrow it, to dethrone Christ, to destroy His Church, to set aside God and the order which He has established. In some countries, notably Russia, Mexico, and Spain, the veil of secrecy has been withdrawn; in many others the same Masonic and Communistic influences are at work, but their activities are to a large extent underground. An essential prerequisite for a proper preparation (to defend the Church) is a knowledge of the nature and extent of the menace, of the organization of the forces behind it, and of the diabolical hatred of Christianity and of everything supernatural with which these forces are imbued. This knowledge is to be found in Dr. Fahey’s work; in fact nowhere else, as far as we know, is there such a logical, co-ordinated treatment of the subject.
George J. Hill, M.A. - 360 pages - EBOOK - PDF
Few stories grip the heart and stir the soul like those tales of faithful Catholics who have risen up in arms to throw off the tyrrany of anti-Catholic oppressors. The great stories from the bible such as that of young David or Judas Macchabeus and his sons have their numerous counterparts in the history of the Church as well. What Catholic has not thrilled to such stories as that of the First Crusade, or the defense of Malta or the Battle of Lepanto—all victories for the Catholics. But even when the Catholic cause is not immediately sucessful as in such epic wars as the Jacobite rebellions, the nine-years war of Red Hugh O’Donnell and The O’Neill against Queen Elizabeth, or the fight of the Cristeros for a Catholic Mexico, the stark reality of such glorious sacrifices for the Faith inspires us down through the ages.
Such is the story of the War in LaVendée and the courage of youth displayed in the story of the Little Chouannerie by the teenage scholars of Vannes. The satanic explosion of hatred of Christ, of his Church, and of all that was decent in Catholic France that is known to history as the French Revolution was valiantly opposed in the west of France by a peasant army in both Brittany and in LaVendée. This is their story.
The names of Charette, LaRochejaquelein, Abbé Bernier, Cathelineau, Le Tiec, and Jean Chouan should be as well known to Catholics as those of Red Hugh O'Donnell, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Padre Pro, Godfrey deBouillion, Don Juan of Austria and others.
This story will break your heart…and will mend it as well.
Vive la Nation! Vive le Roi! Vive la réligion Catholique!
PrefaceIt is commonly argued by writers on the French Revolution that the state of the Church, as well as of the nation in general, must have been exceedingly corrupt, and that both clergy and people were equally destitute of religious belief and of moral principle, or so total a disruption of all the bonds of society could never have taken place, attended as it was with circumstances of unprecedented confusion and horror; and they point to the fact of priests and religious, and even bishops, openly apostatizing from Christianity, and abandoning themselves to all the infamous license of the times, and the atrocious crimes perpetrated by a people so lately, in profession at least, Catholic.
That society was radically and irretrievably corrupt especially in high places, and that many of the clergy, and in particular those about the court, were deeply infected with the taint of infidelity, is unhappily too true. But such writers seem utterly to overlook a fact equally patent and remarkable, that hundreds of ecclesiastics not merely retained and avowed their religious belief, in spite of persecution and contempt, but shed their blood for the faith; enduring the grossest insults and the most agonizing torments, not only with meekness and resignation, but with a touching piety, and a sweet and tender charity towards their murderers, such as make their constancy and fortitude differ in kind from any thing which mere natural heroism, however exalted, has at any time exhibited; while thousands risked their lives and abandoned all things for conscience sake. If a few traitors and apostates—for few they were in comparison with those who stood firm in the hour of trial, and nobly suffered all that a diabolical malice could inflict, rather than abate one tittle of their obedience to the divine law; if this wretched minority are to be taken as a proof of the inroads that vice and infidelity had made upon the Church of France, how triumphant is the demonstration afforded by her numerous martyrs and confessors that she was yet sound and pure at heart!
And as respects the people at large “To judge of a whole nation,” says Mr. Belaney in his Massacre at the Carmes, “by the conduct or manners of its populace in its capital and larger cities in times of great excitement, would lead to as false and unjust, as well as ungenerous conclusions, in respect to that nation, as it would to judge of an individual only by what he did when under the effects of delirium tremens or intoxication.” “The populace,” as he elsewhere observes, “required to be deceived, as well as bribed into the commission of acts which cause us to shudder when we look back on them, even at a distance of sixty years.” An execrable faction, devoid of every principle of morality and every feeling of humanity, had usurped the power of the state; and while over-awing the better portion of the nation by wholesale proscription and slaughter, drove the masses of the people to enact, in a frenzy of terror and fury, excesses which, left to themselves and in their sober senses, they would never have had the heart to perpetrate. That under the seething surface of vice and impiety which covered the land, there lay hid all the while, even in the worst days of the Revolution, fathomless depths of sanctity and devotion beyond the ken of the godless world, the annals of the times sufficiently testify; and that, even when the nation had passed through its fiery conflict, and a generation to whom religion was an effête superstition, and priests but tyrants and impostors, appeared upon the scene, there still remained, not only among the country populations, but among the inhabitants of the towns, a vast amount of supernatural belief, which waited only for an occasion to manifest itself, one circumstance alone would prove:—the demonstrations, not of sympathy and affection merely, but of religious veneration, with which Pius VII was everywhere received on his entrance into France, a prisoner, in the year 1809; multitudes crowding round the carriage in which he was seated, and begging his benediction on their knees as he passed along.
But if the clergy of France contributed its noble army of martyrs at Paris, Lyons, Nantes, her peasantry of Brittany and La Vendée sent forth an heroic band of veritable soldiers of the cross, as admirable and as worthy of being held in everlasting honor as their enemies are deserving of the universal reprobation of mankind. Brave, generous, honorable, merciful, and pure, in the heat of the fight resolute and undaunted as veteran soldiers, and in the hour of victory as tender-hearted as children—what a contrast do these “brigands,” as their opponents called them, present to the self-styled “patriots” of the Republican forces! Sensual, treacherous, bloodthirsty, breathing only hatred and revenge, exhibiting a cruelty and a ferocity truly satanic, their delight seemed to be only in massacre and rapine, and in the commission of the most hideous crimes. Catholic France may well be proud of her heroes of La Vendée. What but simple, supernatural faith could have produced such an army of patriot crusaders, and inspired a system of warfare so truly Christian?
For it is not possible to separate the religion and devotion of the Vendean peasants from their natural virtues and martial qualities. As they fought primarily for their Church, and only secondarily and, as it may be said, accidentally, for their king, so first and before all things they were Catholics: —to their heart’s core they were what the pseudo-philosophers of the day would call “superstitious and bigoted;” as much so as the priests who walked calmly forward to meet their assassins with their breviaries in their hands, and the names of Jesus and Mary on their lips. These men, so intrepid, so cool and yet so daring, so generous and so noble-minded, recited their rosaries on their way to the battlefield, and threw themselves on their knees before the image of the Crucified as they charged down upon the bayonets of the foe. Abstract from the Vendean his faith, and he is no longer the same man: that faith not only inspired his actions, it made him what he was.
As to the conduct and results of the war, it is unnecessary to anticipate here remarks that are made in the course of the narrative. In spite of some signal and palpable blunders, no candid mind, which considers the disadvantages under which they labored, will withhold from both generals and subordinates a very high need of praise, not only for their courage, which was undoubted, but for their strategic skill and address. Unhappily, as the contest proceeded, and their first chosen leaders perished in battle, serious evils began to show themselves; fatal jealousies were engendered, dissensions broke out amongst the new commanders, cruelties were perpetrated which rivaled in barbarity the enormities by which they were provoked, unjustifiable severities were adopted even against members of their own body, and the whole morale of the army notably degenerated. Such were but the inevitable consequences of long-continued warfare, and that of so embittered a character, the subversion of all established order, and the absence of any legitimate head. And yet to the end sufficient of the old spirit remained to excite the fears and even to elicit the admiration of their foes. Despite the terrible reverses encountered in the field, and the general disorganization that ensued, their bravery and tenacity had made themselves so effectually felt, that the Vendean insurgents succeeded finally in obtaining an honorable peace. But their greatest glory consisted in the fact, that the Catholic religion never ceased to be openly professed in La Vendée; nor did they consent to lay down their arms until liberty of worship was guaranteed to them, and their priests were recognized and protected by the laws.
Hence the moral effects of this war it is hardly possible to overrate. Not only did it prove that France never could be one and indivisible, never could be at peace with herself until religion was re-established; not only did the valor and enthusiasm which were evoked insure respect to the religion which was able to produce such sensible effects—but the multitudes whom terror had silenced and isolated, the weak, the timid, the despondent, and even they in whom the light of faith was well-nigh quenched, felt the influence of a struggle in which they took no part; it awoke and sustained a secret sympathy in their breasts, and kept them in a state of continual readiness to welcome back, even with acclamations, the religion for which they had neither the courage nor the will to suffer or to contend.What, therefore, may not the France of this day owe to La Vendée! How much of the religious revival which now fills Catholic Christendom with admiration and joy may be due to that contest, so obstinately and so fruitlessly maintained, as some may think, in that little corner of the west? And this in two ways; first, as has been intimated, by keeping the lamps burning in her sanctuaries when elsewhere they had been extinguished and the very altars themselves overthrown, and leaving them as beacons to announce to all failing and faltering hearts that an incarnate God still had worshippers, and Peter loyal subjects, among a rebellious and apostate people; and secondly, and principally, by willingly offering that sacrifice which God never fails to accept and to requite—the sacrifice of the heart’s-blood of the best and purest of her children. That blood, like the blood of the martyr-priests, has never ceased to cry out, not for vengeance, but for mercy and for blessings—the richest and the choicest, because spiritual and heavenly—on the land that poured it out as though it had been the blood of brute cattle that die unpitied in the shambles, or rather of the wild beasts of the forest whom it was a necessity to exterminate. Certain it is that nowhere has religion, so trodden down and all but exterminated as it was, had so speedy and so astonishing a resurrection as in once infidel France, and to what can this be more probably attributed, than to that spirit of immolation which animated alike the priests of the Carmes and the peasants of La Vendée? If the butcheries of Tyburn are one day to yield, as we may piously hope, a fruitful harvest of souls to the Church in our land, what might England long ere this have become, had more of her sons bled and died with the gallant Nortons around the banner of the Five Precious Wounds, and the gibbets stood tenfold thicker between Newcastle and Wetherby?
The strength and reality of the principles for which La Vendée contended, and the ardor with which the flame there enkindled burned on, despite the indifference and secularity which weighed upon the land, may be estimated by the enthusiasm excited in the breasts of the young students of Vannes, and the bravery and fortitude displayed in their defense. Singular phenomenon that some hundreds of boys should turn soldiers in sober earnest, all because the great emperor bullied the Pope, changed their catechism, and gave them Charlemagne for their patron instead of St. Catharine and St. Nicholas; but no ambiguous omen of bright and glorious days to France, that, in what with many would have passed for a mere piece of state-policy, with which they had no concern, these schoolboys and seminarians should feel to the quick that a great principle was at stake, for which they were bound, as with all their hearts they were willing, to fight and to die.
The scholars of Vannes—as many as survive—have now passed the prime of their life; but during the forty years that have gone by, what services have they not rendered, by their labors, their writings, their courageous examples, to the Church, to literature, to society! And whence had they derived their first inspirations, but from those annals of the old Chouannerie which as boys it was their delight to collect, and from those bearded men, with their bronzed countenances and thoughtful brows, who had returned to renew the studies of their youth, only that they might complete, as ministers of peace at the altar, the warfare they had begun on the battlefield? True patriots, whose patria is not of this world; though accidentally and from circumstances associated with monarchy, their Catholicism was subservient to no form of government, albeit respectful and friendly to all; upholding obedience to constituted authority as the ordinance of God, it looked, above all things, to maintaining intact the liberties of the Church and the independence of the spiritual power. To such men and such principles France owes everything; and on France at this moment hang the destinies of the world.
The story of La Vendée and of the Little Chouannerie is gathered from the various extant sources; but in the case of the latter, which is drawn principally from M. Rio’s own narrative, an endeavor has been made to assign to that gentleman the position which rightfully belonged to him, but which his modesty and humility prevented him from assuming.
The reader will find a most striking description of the old “Chouans” and the “Little Vendée” among M. Sonvestre’s Tales and Sketches of Brittany and La Vendée, published in Constable’s Miscellany of Foreign Literature. The incidents, which were taken by the author from the mouth of one of Jean’s brothers-in-arms, are related in a style as graphic and touching, as it is simple and unadorned.
The conflict in La Vendée had its counterpart in Flanders. M. Hendrik Conscience, in his spirited historical tale of the era, has described with much dramatic power the sufferings of the people, and their determined, but disastrous, and, as it turned out, fatally ineffectual resistance to the revolutionary forces, and (in the worst sense) revolutionary principles of France. The work in question has just been translated into English. Although fictitious in form, it adheres faithfully to the facts of history: the notes to the original Flemish show, by extracts from the accounts, proclamations, etc., which appeared in the Antwerp newspapers of the time, that the gatherings, skirmishes, and principal events therein depicted, down to the great battle with which the story closes, actually occurred as represented. A few resolute and courageous men, while the masses of their countrymen “looked on in dumb terror” at the destruction of all they held dear and venerable, kept up a continual harassing warfare against the invader, until they were either individually taken and shot, or mowed down in hundreds by the musketry, or hewed and hacked to pieces by the merciless sabers of the French soldiery. But though crushed, and to all outward seeming annihilated, that insurrection against the most intolerable of all despotisms, the tyranny of an impious liberalism, and in defense of altar and hearth, faith and liberty, had as in La Vendée, a most powerful moral effect at the time, and exerted doubtless, both in the natural and in the supernatural order, influences the operation of which we have still before our eyes. For we may well consider the present prosperous condition of Belgium, the freedom, both political and religious, which she enjoys, and the simple piety of her people, to be at once the result and the reward of the spirit displayed, and the sufferings endured, in that truly patriotic struggle.
Sidney Ohlhausen - Illustrated - EBOOK - 462 pages
This collection of documents and letters grant us an intimate look into the life of an extraordinary priest. Rev. Haydock is most often remembered today as the author of the famous “Haydock” bible which contains the Douay-Rheims text along with the copious footnotes and commentary by Haydock himself. His purpose was not merely to give the persecuted Catholics of England the best in scriptural text and exegesis taken from the Fathers and Doctors for their own education and edification, but also to give them scholarly ammunition to assist them in the conversion of their protestant family and friends who had been so confused by the various heretical texts and sermons available to them. The life of Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774–1849) neatly enclosed some of the most remarkable decades in the history of the post-Reformation English Catholic community, as its lay and clerical members moved forward from an ad hoc tolerance to a fuller legal equality. Three years after Haydock’s death, in 1852 St John Newman (1801–90) was to hail the period that took in his own conversion in 1845 as embracing a ‘second spring’, in which England’s Catholic Church re-emerged from centuries of oppression and obscurity, since the Tudor Reformation of the 16th century.
Dr. Robert Hickson - Hardcover - 782 pages
It is a great joy to present to the readers of this volume a collectionof essays written by Dr. Robert Hickson in the course of some fiveyears, in the last stage of his life as a Catholic author.
This book contains around 80 essays, and they are a sequel to thelast set of two volumes that we published, entitled The Collected Essaysof Dr. Robert Hickson (Loreto Publications, 2022), which containedalmost 100 essays written from 2012 until 2018 and published by thewebsite Catholicism.org. In light of his own life experience as a military man, a literary andphilosophical scholar, a father of ten children, and, most importantly,a defender of the Catholic faith at a time of a great crisis of the CatholicChurch, the essays touch upon a large variety of topics.
The Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent - Hardcover - 608 pages - 6" x 9"
Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests - Issued by Order of Pope St. Pius VTranslated by order of Pope St. Pius V. English translation and notes by John A. McHugh, O.P. and Charles J. Callan, O.P.Easy to read modern typesetting.
Foreword by Charles A. Coulombe“Catechesis,” in the sense of teaching the truths of the Faith, is as old as the Catholic Church; Christ Himself was the first and best of our catechists. Indeed, catechesis and evangelisation are inseparable, and always have been. But “catechisms,” in the way we think of them, are a relatively new phenomenon. It was in fact the Protestant Revolt that launched the genre–starting with Martin Luther’s large and short catechisms, in which he laid out his mixture of truth and heresy in a simple question and answer format. In rapid succession, this method was used by Calvinists and others for the same purpose–Cranmer even composed one for the Book of Common Prayer. It turned out to be a devastatingly effective method. Not too surprisingly, beleaguered Catholics responded in kind, St. Peter Canisius, for example, producing one in 1555.Aware of this background, the Fathers of the Council of Trent decided that a basic catechism explaining the truths of the Faith was an urgent necessity. At the suggestion of St. Charles Borromeo, on February 26, 1562 the Council Fathers resolved that “to apply a salutary remedy to this great and pernicious evil, and thinking that the definition of the principal Catholic doctrines was not enough for the purpose, resolved also to publish a formulary and method for teaching the rudiments of the faith, to be used by all legitimate pastors and teachers.” Thus, the idea was not to publish a popular catechism for everyone to read, but to produce a resource that would allow priests to use it in teaching their people. To be taken primarily from the Council texts, Pius IV entrusted the composition of the work to four theologians: the distinguished Papal diplomat, Archbishop Leonardo Marini of Lanciano; the Knight of Malta, Archbishop Muzio Calini of Zara; Bishop Egidio Foscherari of Modena, renowned for his work with orphans; and the Portuguese Dominican Francisco Foreiro, theologian, Biblicist, and close collaborator with several of his country’s Kings. St. Charles Borromeo supervised the whole work, and it appeared at last in 1566.The Council Fathers intended that their catechism should have a definite weight. Thus we read in the seventh canon, De Reformatione, of Sess. XXIV: “That the faithful may approach the Sacraments with greater reverence and devotion, the Holy Synod charges all the bishops about to administer them to explain their operation and use in a way adapted to the understanding of the people; to see, moreover, that their parish priests observe the same rule piously and prudently, making use for their explanations, where necessary and convenient, of the vernacular tongue; and conforming to the form to be prescribed by the Holy Synod in its instructions (catechesis) for the several Sacraments: the bishops shall have these instructions carefully translated into the vulgar tongue and explained by all parish priests to their flocks...”.Although subsequent centuries would see any number of Catholic catechisms written for the laity by various writers and authorities, this Roman or Tridentine catechism remained the basic standard and the most authoritative – not least because so much of it was taken directly from the Council. In 1979, Pope John Paul II spoke of it as the “Roman Catechism, which is also known by the name of that council [Trent] and which is a work of the first rank as a summary of Christian teaching and traditional theology for use by priests.”Of course, it was John Paul II who commissioned the Catechism of the Catholic Church which in the minds of many has replaced or eclipsed the Roman Catechism. But this would be a grave mistake. Whereas most of the former comes more or less directly from the Council and so has a certain level of solemnity, the CCC is decidedly a mixed bag. What was written about the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church by its authors is also true of the CCC: “In studying this Compendium, it is good to keep in mind that the citations of Magisterial texts are taken from documents of differing authority. Alongside council documents and encyclicals there are also papal addresses and documents drafted by offices of the Holy See. As one knows, but it seems to bear repeating, the reader should be aware that different levels of teaching authority are involved.” For reasons having to do with modern fashions in theology, there are a few places where the two documents contradict each other quite plainly.The most notable of these is the question of the necessity of Baptism. The Roman Catechism’s Question XXX, “Baptism is necessary to all unto salvation” states that “If the knowledge of the matters which have been hitherto explained is to be deemed most useful to the faithful, nothing can appear also more necessary than that they be taught that the law of baptism is prescribed by our Lord to all, insomuch that they, unless they be regenerated unto God through the grace of baptism, whether their parents be Christian or infidel, are born to eternal misery and perdition. The pastor therefore must give a frequent exposition of these words of the Gospel: Except a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The CCC, on the other hand, for the same question, tells us “The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are ‘reborn of water and the Spirit.’ God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments. The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament. For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament. ‘Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery.’ Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity. As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,’ allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.”These two statements are in large flat out contradictory (indeed, there are internal contradictions in the CCC’s own text). But the Roman Catechism simply reflects explicitly the defined teaching of the Council of Trent, whereas–as a perusal of the CCC’s footnotes shows–the latter document’s sources are of far less authority. Indeed, the most contradictory statements are not footnoted at all, but must be assumed to be the opinions of the CCC’s authors–and thus, in and of themselves, of no weight when contradicting the Roman Catechism.But it would be a second error to presume on that account that the CCC is worthless. Save in those very few areas where it contradicts Trent, it explores in a very orthodox way many issues that have arisen since Trent, and also cites Eastern Catholic teaching and worship in a way that helps bring out very clearly the universality of Catholic doctrine. Those things having been said, it would seem to this writer that the well-prepared Catholic catechist would begin by reading and making his own the Roman Catechism, in the light of which he would then read the CCC. Afterwards, he could then use the St. John Neumann, Baltimore, or any other catechism for actual teaching in the proper light.But the Roman Catechism remains the gold standard and the essential place to start for anyone undertaking the essential role of catechist. Loreto Publications is to be thanked for once again making easily available to the public an essential document in the life of the modern Church that is only too often allowed–as with so many other things–to slide into obscurity. Charles A. Coulombe Trumau, Austria July 1, 2022 Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
Father Karl Stehlin, F. S. S. P. X.
Father Stehlin quotes extensively from Saint John Eudes, Cornelius a'Lapidé, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, and Lucia of Fatima. This treatise is one of the most succinct and clear explanations of the complete economy of salvation ever penned. The full role of the Immaculata is explored and refined, and its relevance to the world in our time is detailed in an easy to read and understand format. This is militant Catholic theology made simple for this Marian age.
by Antonio Socci
Blockbuster Best Seller!
Previously available only in Italian, German, Portugese, and other European languages
Newly translated into English - Over 100,000 sold in English already!
Father Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp. - Small book - 100 pages
I repeatedly promised Saint Peter that if I ever got the chance, I would teach the truth about his Master in the way he and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, wanted it done. That is what I have striven to do and am doing.” — Fr. Denis Fahey Fr. Fahey’s life work was the promotion of the Catholic social doctrine of Christ the King. He firmly believed that “the world must conform to Our Divine Lord, not He to it.” He always defended the Mystical Body of Christ without compromise. He called the social doctrine “Our Lord’s Program for Order.” This is the second book Father Fahey wrote exposing Communism as it was actually practised in Russia. The first book, The Rulers of Russia was published ten years earlier and was widely appreciated for its exposure of the truth about those who brought about the ‘birth’ of Communism. “See to it, Venerable Brethren, that the faithful do not allow themselves to be deceived! Communism is intrinsically wrong.” — Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, on Atheistic Communism
By Rev. Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp., D. D., D. PH., LA — Small book - 96 pages
Well footnoted and impeccably researched, this book was first published in 1938 on the eve of World War II.
Much had been written by that time about the persons who were the primary movers of the Revolution of 1917 in Russia that had been spoken of by Our Lady to the children at Fatima and at many other times much later to Sr. Lucia. A new war that was predicted to Lucia “if Russia is not consecrated to my Immaculate Heart” was humanly inevitable by the time this book was published. Her words to the children, “Only I can save you now!” have echoed through the mind of millions since that fateful hour when the Consecration of Russia was indefinitely postponed by Pope Pius XI.
Before the Bolshevist revolution, which was engineered and perpetrated largely by the ancient enemies of Christ, had even occurred its imminent fruition called forth from Heaven the “Woman clothed with the Sun” to speak words of warning and of comfort to a world in the midst of the what many have called ‘the bloodiest century’ and what Yuri Slezkine has named ‘The Jewish Century.’
“We will not have this Man to rule over us!” has been the cry of Jewish revolutionaries since the days when the incarnate God walked among us. Nothing much has truly changed since the time of the Gospels and in this knowledge there resides much wisdom. He who has ears to hear, let him understand. Father Fahey speaks to us plainly and lets the facts fall as they may.
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.
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.
Fr. John Kane
How to make your Confessions less difficult and more fruitful
If you still drag your feet about going to Confession, here's the help you need to enable you to overcome your reluctance and open your soul to the vast reservoir of mercy found in Confession.
This down-to-earth, practical guide shows you how to transform your confessions from embarrassing moments in a dark room into profound experiences of God's love. The author, Fr. John Kane, provides solid guidelines for how you can (and must) make the most effective possible use of the sacrament of Reconciliation. Even better, he shows you how to carry the grace of Confession into your daily life, so that you'll start winning — consistently — your battles against sin.
Get Fr. Kane's help to confess well and avoid sin:
Fr. Denis Fahey, C. S. Sp. - Paperback - 72 pages
Mental prayer is, in a certain sense, the most important exercise of the spiritual life. Fidelity to it (saints tell us) will ensure salvation; its complete abandonment may lead to perdition; progress therein means a corresponding progress in the interior life of union with God.Hence, the special value of books which treat of mental prayer. The excellence of the present work lies in the source from which it is drawn. St. Thomas Aquinas holds a unique place among the Doctors of the Church. He has become the official theologian of Christ’s Mystical Spouse, her Universal Doctor. She has canonized his teaching, making it her own in all its essential elements.This is the first of of Fr. Fahey’s books to be published, and it remains one of his most important for it presents the foundation of his spiritual life of prayer that was so fruitful.
192 pages, softcover
By Louise D'Angelo
This book presents to the reader the information which they need to protect their own faith or the faith of someone they love from the attacks of the Witnesses. This book was written after 16 years of toil and research by the author. There is nothing like it in print today. It contains full explanations of what the Witnesses believe and how they use the Bible to try to trap unsuspecting Catholics.
by Cornelius aLapide, S.J. - 120 pages - PB
This small book on the interpretation of Holy Scripture is taken from the first volume of the Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide. It is comprised of the Foreword to that book and the 120 or so pages of a Lapide’s preface as well as his Chronology of the life of Christ and his priceless Canons (or standard rules) of Scriptural Interpretation that he composed and followed for his lifetime project.
Being, as we at Loreto believe, the best standards of interpretation ever devised, we felt it important that they receive wider readership. Hence this small volume. Should you be so fortunate as to possess his Great Commentary on the Four Gospels this book is redundant, but either way this handy volume is a great reference tool and one of the best introductions to Holy Scripture available today.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword General Preface Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Monotessaron: Chronology of the Life and Work of ChristCanons of Interpretation Scriptural References
This inspiring book unveils the incomparable history of the Catholics of Ireland, who clung valiantly to the Faith for hundreds of years through some of the worst persecutions ever inflicted on a people. Their unrelenting love of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a clarion call for us in these times when attendance at Holy Mass has waned and the desacralization of the liturgy advances.
From the golden hour in which St. Patrick, as bishop, said his first Mass on Irish soil down to the coming of the Normans, love of the Blessed Eucharist was one of the dominant characteristics of the Irish race. Even during the Protestant Reformation, with its monastery closures, confiscation of Church treasures, and universally hostile treatment of Catholics, King Henry VIII nevertheless left one thing untouched — the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. But the attacks would soon begin.
You will be astonished by the assaults on the Mass during Queen Elizabeth’s “reign of terror,” which resulted in the martyrdom of more than two hundred Irish Catholics — many killed in the sanctuary! James I continued the rule of terror, which was brought to new depths of cruelty by the ruthless Oliver Cromwell.
In these pages, Fr. Augustine Hayden reveals a myriad of shocking details that are highly relevant to our time, including:
What the Council of Regency did to Protestantize the Mass (Has history repeated itself?)
“The Mass was the focus of the enemy’s hatred,” wrote Fr. Augustine, “and it was also the magnet of the people’s devotion. Masses infinite in churches, Masses in houses, Masses in every corner — these were the ‘crimes’ with which the people of this country were charged.”
You will see why the heroic Catholics of Ireland believed that the Holy Mass and the Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament are worth cherishing — even unto death. Amid war, starvation, and relentless cruelty, our Eucharistic King gave the Irish the graces they needed to remain steadfast and become a bastion of devotion for the world.
Gary Potter - 272 pages - Ebook
Also Available in print edition
To go after something is to inquire into it, to be in search of it, to seek the truth about it. In this book, veteran Catholic journalist Gary Potter goes after the truth concerning one of last century’s principal religious controversies, the so-called Boston Heresy Case, and its chief figure, Rev. Leonard Feeney, S.J.The most famous Jesuit of his day, Fr. Feeney broadcast on the radio, his books were best sellers, his poetry was mandatory reading in parochial schools. Suddenly, newspapers throughout the country were reporting that he was charged with heresy, expelled from the ranks of the Jesuits, and even “excommunicated.” Now his verse was removed from textbooks and Catholics were forbidden by high Church authorities to have any association with him. Scores of young men and women, students of Saint Benedict Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, defied the ban. On Sunday afternoons, they accompanied the famed cleric to Boston Common, the public park where he took to preaching when he was denied a pulpit. Leading magazines labeled him the “hate priest” on account of his preaching. Did he hate? Was he excommunicated? Was it because he preached that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation? Gary Potter sorts the facts from the myths and the result is more than the true story of Fr. Leonard Feeney and the “Boston Heresy Case.” As Fr. Dennis P. Smith describes it in his Preface to the book: “In an era when our Catholic people and prospective converts are being force-fed on a starvation diet of watered-down doctrine and junk-food liturgy, Gary Potter has provided a banquet for the heart and soul.
Gary Potter is a native of California. After attending public schools, a professional theater academy, and college, he spent two years sailing in the Merchant Marine and another four living in France, where he discovered the Faith. Following baptism into the Church and time working in advertising in New York, he began his career in Catholic journalism in 1966 as a founding editor of the legendary Triumph magazine. Besides Triumph and two publications of which he later was editor, Truth & Justice and CCPA News & Views (the publication of Catholics for Christian Political Action), articles by him have appeared in National Review, Human Events, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The National Catholic Register, Faith & Reason, The Wanderer, The Remnant, The Angelus, From the Housetops, and numerous other publications. Mr. Potter lives with his wife, Virginia, in Washington, D.C.
Also Available in Print Format
The principal author of this book, Father Aladel, was a member of the Congregation of the Mission founded by Saint Vincent de Paul. More importantly, he was the spiritual director and confessor of Saint Catherine Laboure. The Miraculous Medal was designed by the Mother of God and communicated by her to Sister Catherine with the instruction that this devotion be spread throughout the Church. The inscription: O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee, anticipated the definition of the Immaculate Conception by nearly a quarter of a century. This book relates not only the heavenly visitations given to this humble saint, as well as her adventures and crosses endured for Our Lady’s cause, but also it gives the ensuing history of the medal itself with many accounts of miracles which accompanied its pious reception.
By Trent Beattie Paperback - 168 pages Are you deeply concerned about religion, not simply as a devout soul, but to the point of being frantic? Are little, inconsequential things the occasion of losing your peace of mind? Do you feel as though you need to repeat what has already been sufficiently done, such as a confession? If so, you’re likely suffering from scrupulosity. What is scrupulosity? In psychological terminology, it is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D.) directed toward religious matters. To use religious terminology, it can be defined as an uneasy and persistent concern that things might be sinful when in fact they are not. Some of the greatest saints of the Church suffered at times from bouts of scrupulosity, saints such as Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Jane de Chantal (1572-1641), Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), and Katharine Drexel (1858-1955). Far from being taken as insurmountable obstacles, these saints emerged from their scruples into the clarity of God’s truth and merciful love in His Catholic Church. This book is meant to help scrupulous souls better understand and effectively battle their spiritual difficulties by uniting themselves with Our Lord, through the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church. This is done by presenting the clear and simple teachings of the Church on matters relevant to the scrupulous, with emphasis on the writings of great saints. No obstacle is too difficult to overcome for one who prayerfully trusts in God, and this includes the problem of scrupulosity. “Heaven is filled with converted sinners of all kinds and there is room for more.” Saint Joseph Cafasso"At the very moment when we imagine ourselves to be utterly lost and altogether bereft of His protection, then it is that God in His infinite goodness seeks us out in a special way and takes care of us.” Catechism of the Council of Trent“Let these souls so dear to God, and who are resolutely determined to belong entirely to Him, take comfort, although at the same time they see themselves deprived of every consolation. Their desolation is a sign of their being very acceptable to God, and that He has for them a place prepared in his heavenly Kingdom, which overflows with consolations as full as they are lasting. And let them hold for certain, that the more they are afflicted in this present life, so much the more they shall be consoled in eternity…” Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Fr. John Hugo - 422 Pages - EBOOK - PDF, Kindle, & EPUB
Fr. Onesimus Lacouture was a Jesuit who had the great gift of being a masterful director of souls. Being a Jesuit formed in the old mold of true Ignatian spirituality and deeply affected by the so-called “French School” of Cardinal Berulle, St. John Eudes, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort, his retreats, given to over 6000 American and Canadian priests, produced extraordinary results. His most well known disciple and good friend, Fr. Hugo, has produced for posterity, the Notes from those Ignatian retreats as given by Fr. Lacouture and subsequently by himself and many other priests.A Sign of Contradiction is Fr. Hugo’s apologia for the work of Fr. Lacouture and the “spiritual movement” that grew spontaneously from the ardent, enlightened, and effective preaching of the retreats. He describes the movement, its opponents and its supporters as well as the revelatory doctrines so convincingly presented by Fr. Lacouture. This book is spiritually motivating, historically informative, and powerfully illuminating in regard to the condition of the Church and the faithful in North America during the mid-twentieth century. The Gospel of Peace, and Applied Christianity (the retreat notes of Fr. Lacouture) by Fr. Hugo are also available from Loreto Publications.
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.
We are indebted to Brian Kranick for this illuminating exposition of the Book of Exodus. One who reads this book will have amuch clearer understanding of the four Gospels because Exodus, along with the prophecy of Isaias, is the best and clearest revelationin the Old Testament of the Savior to come and his mission.
The typology that the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have spoken of is here collected and examined and presented for ouredification. One glance at the table of contents will be enough to convince you that this book is crucial for understanding theGospels and the history of God’s people both in the Old and New Testaments.
He specifically reminds us of the fact that God himself designed all of the liturgical seasons and feasts and that he alsogave explicit directions for every minute rubric and prayer of all of the liturgical rites, sacrifices, and architecture. Our Lord and hisapostles carried on these rituals in the new and eternal sacrifice, not only the one on Calvary, but also in the continuing sacrificeof the Mass as given to us by Our Lord himself. That ritual had for almost 2000 years been called the Roman Rite.After reading this book you will re-read the Gospels, especially the descriptions of the Passion, with new “eyes to see.” But ifthe Gospels are newly enlivened for you, just wait until you assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Roman Rite once again.It becomes a deeper and more contemplative experience because now, the Book of Exodus, through this work will have beenopened to you, and the phrase from Luke 24:32; “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way andopened the scriptures to us?” shall amaze you with its immanent relevance to each of us in today’s increasingly perfidious, andtherefore confusing, world.
J. J. Barry - 516 pages - EBOOK - PDF, Kindle, & EPUB
Christopher Columbus is one of the most saintly and heroic Catholic laymen in the annals of our glorious history, whose true life-story should be known by all Catholics, but especially by Catholic Americans who owe so much to him.It is very important for Catholics to have a sense of gratitude, and to express it. Columbus Day is still, in this age of secularism and hatred of the Faith, a civil holiday; one that should be celebrated with great reverence, especially by Catholic Americans.The true story of his life and the glories of his achievement (indeed all of the achievements of that great Catholic nation called Spain), have been under attack for a long time now by the Christ-haters, some of whom even pretend that it might be true that the people of the Americas would have been better off without Columbus’ discoveries and the subsequent events of conquest and evangelization due to his efforts. This book refutes those calumnies.To recognize and admit that the success of the great voyages of discovery was truly due to the special designs of the providence of God and under His direct protection, was the first impulse of the heart of Columbus. His life of faith and devotion is truly inspirational.The miraculous nature of Columbus’ life and work is the subject of this extensive biography. Here you will discover the hidden reasons and plans that propelled him on his voyage of discovery, and how God ultimately frustrated some of those plans and made others fruitful.
By Dom Guy Marie Oury, O.S.B. Translated by Hope Heaney - 440 pages - EBOOK - PDF, EPub & Kindle.
After the devastation of the French Revolution, the first abbot of Solesmes launched the ecclesial movement which invitedall Christians to experience a spiritual participation in the liturgy, “the initial source of the true Christian spirit.” DomGuéranger worked to instill knowledge and love for the origins of Christianity and the Church of the Fathers, thus preparing afertile and fruitful “return to the sources” for the entire Church.
He defined himself as “a man of the spiritual order,” opposed in every way to the naturalism of his era. It seemed to him, andrightly so, that God’s mystery could not be treated as were the human sciences—He transcended them. Throughout his entirelife, Dom Guéranger never stopped protesting against “the diminished truths” mentioned in Psalm 11:2.
Volume One: The Church and the World in which the Church was Founded - EBOOK - PDF
Msgr. Philip Hughes - PB - 344 pages
The first volume, then treats of the Church in the West up to the conversion of Constantine (312) but in the East up to Justinian I—or rather a century and a half beyond to allow for the consummation of the disunion that followed Chalcedon.
Volume One: The Church and the World in which the Church was FoundedVolume Two: The Church and the World the Church CreatedVolume Three: The Church and the Revolt against it of the Church-created World
Volume Two: The Church and the World the Church Created - EBOOK - PDF
Msgr. Philip Hughes - PB - 500 pages
The first volume, then treats of the Church in the West up to the conversion of Constantine (312) but in the East up to Justinian I—or rather a century and a half beyond to allow for the consummation of the disunion that followed Chalcedon. This second volume carries the history through to the time of St. Thomas Aquinas, while the third volume takes the story from Aquinas to Martin Luther.
Volume Three: The Church and the Revolt against it of the Church-created World- EBOOK - PDF
Msgr. Philip Hughes - PB
Pio Nono:A Study in European Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth Century
by E. E. Y. Hales - 378 pages - EBOOK - PDF, Kindle, & EPUB
At the time of his death in 1878 Pope Pius IX had served as pope longer than any pope besides Saint Peter. His papacy, from 1846 until 1878, was the political and religious pivot-point of the nineteenth century.He was elected pope as the candidate of the politically “liberal” party in the College of Cardinals. By liberal here we mean those who were sympathetic generally towards the new republican and anti-monarchical leanings of so many leaders and thinkers in those post-enlightenment years; but the violent revolutions of 1848 convinced him that the liberals had far more than merely political ends in mind. In fact, he now believed that the destruction of the Church was their ultimate goal, and for many of the leaders, it was. Because of that, he became, although not by his choice, a political as well as a religious warrior. Because the position that Pio Nono inherited as Pope was that not only of the universal shepherd of the faithful and vicar of Christ, but also that of a temporal Prince and sovereign, the task of leadership before him was inextricably intertwined with political and revolutionary affairs. The great battles of church and state that dominated that century were, by the grace of God, his to fight. Mr. Hales beautifully and faithfully tells us the story of that battle and Blessed Pio Nono’s part in it.
Fourteen Epochal Documents by Pope Leo XIII on the Social Teachings - EBOOK - PDF
Edited and annotated by Fr. Joseph Husslein, S. J. - Cloth Hardcover -300 Pages
Few American Catholics truly understand t he social teachings of the Catholic Church. This may be in part due to the fact that many of he best papal teachings on this subject have either been ignored or not widely read by Americans. Father Husslein tried very hard to remedy this situation with the publication of two books in 1940 dedicated to solving this problem. He gathered together all of the encylicals by the two popes who wrote most on the topic and made certain that the english translations were well organized, accurate, and easily understandable and readable in translation. He also made many notes that are helpful to the reader. The service he performed is treausred by all students of the Church's social doctrine and these two books, so long out of print, are now available agai exactly as they were originally published.
If you have not read many of the encyclicals that were published before the modernization of encyclical writing that took place after the 2nd Vatican Council you are in for a real treat! The brevity, clarity, and chastity of the language will surprise you. Leo is no phenomenological exegete. He speaks the way one would expect the Vicar of Christ to speak, in clear, unambiguous, and manly language that is full of charity and pius unction and truth. No one who reads these most important social encylicals will come away confused. Be warned however, their brevity is deceptive. They are overflowing with profound insights and exhortations, therefore, small doses properly savored and meditated upon is the best way to imbibe the true wisdom and sound doctrine found here.
Eighteen Enclicals of Social Reconstruction by Pope Pius XI - EBOOK - PDF
Edited and annotated by Fr. Joseph Husslein, S. J. - 450 Pages
Mary Perkins - 232 pages- EBOOK - PDF
Mary Perkins worked for Sheed & Ward publishers in the 1930s and was a close friend of Fr. Leonard Feeney who encourged her to publish this book. It is without doubt the best Latin textbook for a neophyte who wishes to learn well the language of Holy Mother Church. The Latin is taken directly from the Missal and as a teaching tool this book is simple and thorough and not intimidating. Highly recommended, especially for Catholic homeschoolers or anyone new to our language.