By Father F. X. Lasance - 1922 EditionBlack Leather hardcover 296 pagesAs the composer of numerous volumes, Father Lasance is the master of prayerbooks for Catholics. This is his shirt-pocket size contribution designed especially for children and loved by many adults as well. This handy little book makes a perfect gift for First Communions, Confirmations, birthdays, etc. It contains the responses for serving Low Mass, as well as morning and evening prayers, litanies, pious ejaculations, devotions for Confession and communion, and many other essential Catholic prayers.
By John Haffert -Audio Book - Read by Celia Lynn - 5 Audio CD discs
Saint Nuño of Portugal: The Founder of the Braganza Dynasty and Father of Modern Portugal was Beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1918 and Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Don Nuño Alvarez Perreira went to war, in defense of his country. He fought, he killed, and he received many decorations. He was wounded, but he was “lucky” enough to come home. Five hundred years after he fought his battles, the Blessed Virgin made what was perhaps her most spectacular appearance on earth—her appearance on October 13, 1917, at Fatima, on the very ground on which Nuño fought, and holding in her hands the very symbols under which Nuño led his troops in that place, five hundred years before. This amazing Nuño—Our Lady’s Knight—led a life bridging centuries, stranger than fiction, fraught with the mystery of war and evil, gold-touched by the sun of the promise made in 1917 by Our Lady at Fatima: “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph and there will be peace.”
St. Francis de Sales carried a copy of this in his pocket for 18 years! Its wisdom formed his soul, it inspired him to a life of the deepest devotion, and ultimately it helped him become one of the Church's greatest saints and doctor's! It's no longer fashionable to speak of the Christian life as a "battle", but there's actually no better way to describe the tug-of-war for your soul that's raging right now between the forces of light and darkness. Here, Dom Lorenzo Scupoli helps you take your proper part in this spiritual battle so that you can win, decisively, the war for your soul. This book has been loved by saints and sinners alike ever since it was written four hundred years ago. Why? Because it offers sensible advice to help you overcome spiritual obstacles and achieve spiritual perfection! Dom Lorenzo Scupoli was a disciple of St. Andrew Avellino, the great preacher and spiritual director. His classic Spiritual Combat was first published in Venice in 1589.
Monseigneur Landriot, Archbishop of Rheims, (Formerly Bishop of La Rochelle) Translated from the French by Helena Lyons
Long out of print, this rare jewel is destined to become the favored spiritual guide for Catholic wives and mothers. Msgr. Landriot gave these conferences over 100 years ago, but they are as relevant to us today as the Gospels. This book is a guide for women who want to achieve sanctity in the home. Reading this book is the best thing you could do for your husband and children, as well as for yourself. This book was published to help women to raise and keep their families Catholic.
Hilaire Belloc
Belloc has written elsewhere that the victory of the Reformation in England led to its victory in much of the rest of Europe. That victory unleashed the forces of social disintegration, Protestantism, Capitalism, and anti-Catholicism and let them to challenge the tradition of Monarchy on the field of battle. This book tells the story of how Charles I came to face those forces, manipulated by the Money Power, and how and why he failed. Charles I reads like "a ripping yarn", but it explores the personalities, the issues, the clashes, and the circumstances as they were. Thus it is not "acceptable orthodoxy." But it is real history.
. . . Once [Gustavus Adolphus] took the field, Richelieu found that he had called up the devil, and that the devil was too much for him. Hilaire Belloc, 1930
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.
Jean OussetAction is a definitive manual on Catholic Action by one of the 20th Century's great lay Catholic scholars of Catholic Action. This book discusses not only the theory of Catholic Social Action but examines it from practical standpoints: why should Catholic laymen feel called to action for the spread of Catholic social principles in society, how can they make that action effective, and how can they manage the resources available for action. Anyone who has ever felt that something must be done to save society from chaos and collapse should consider this book a must read.
Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.Without sound philosophy to set the limits of scientific inquiry and regulate its modern tendency for cosmological usurpation, science degenerates into scientism. God is the Creator of the universe. All things are ordered to His ends. All matter is at the ultimate service of mans supernatural vocation. This course was given in the spirit of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Doctor of Creation. Nature and the fidelity thereof, matter, space and time, substance and accidents, wisdom and the laws of nature, unicity and the four causes, and finally, the culminating chapter on the final cause, or teleology (purpose) of things, make a captivating study for every man and woman who wishes to be childlike and repose in the contemplative embrace of wonder.
Saint John Eudes - PB - 290 pages
Never, in the history of the Church, had any tribute to Our Lady's childhood been composed which so marvelously applies so many texts of holy scripture with sound Catholic doctrine and the wisdom of her confessors until Saint John Eudes composed this book. Where do we begin if we are ever to become like the little children God wishes us to emulate? Why not begin by contemplating the immaculate life of the precious and most humble maiden of Nazareth.
Saint John Eudes wrote these profoundly affective pages not only for the educators of young Christian women in his own time but for all time. What better example for the education of Catholic maidens than the most admirable early life of Mary, the “glory of Israel,” as she advanced in wisdom and grace in the days of her preparation for her divine maternity. Father Eudes wishes the faithful to behold the “New Eve,” conceived of such holy parents, Joachim and Anne, and reflect upon her perfect charity, her manifold virtues and her uninterrupted contemplation from the moment of her Immaculate Conception to her consuming “fiat,” which truly compelled, in a most wonderful way, the Son of God to come and “rest within her tabernacle.” This study of the holy childhood of the Mother of God is exactly what the title says. To be sure, other works, based upon private revelation, treat of the Blessed Virgin’s early years, but there is no book that specifically treats of the holiness itself of the wondrous child, accumulating its mass of material from the inspired revelation of the sacred scriptures, the liturgical use of the same (as applied by the Church to Our Lady’s feastdays) and the common testimony of the our Catholic fathers and doctors. Saint John Eudes was born at Ri, a country parish near Caen, Normandy, in 1601. Endowed with extraordinary talents and filled with burning zeal for the salvation of souls, he devoted 50 years of life, until his death in 1680, to the preaching of missions and to the organization of ecclesiastical seminaries. He founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, generally known as the Eudist Fathers, for missionary and seminary work; the Order of Our Lady of Charity with its two observances of the Refuge and the of the Good Shepherd; the Society of the Most Admirable Heart for lay persons aspiring to perfection in the world; and lastly, Confraternities of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary for the propagation among the faithful of the devotion, of which he was the first apostle. He wrote the first Mass and Office for the special feast in honor of the Sacred Heart and of the Holy Heart of Mary, which he established thirty years before the revelations of Saint Margaret Mary.
PB - 236 pages
The Redemptorist Father Michael Müller had a secret weapon which won him more converts than did his indefatigable preaching and writing: the holy rosary. This book was written as a thank you to the Mother of God for graces received. Not only does Father Müller explain what the rosary is, but what the rosary should be. After reading this devoted author, we assure you, you will never again say the rosary mechanically, or wear the scapular apathetically.The Holy Rosary is a gift from the Blessed Virgin Mary, as are her powerful scapulars. This is the theme Father Michael Müller stresses throughout these two hundred and seventy-five pages of grateful acclamation to a devotion upon which the salvation of great multitudes of sinners rests. The heartfelt recitation of the Rosary and meditation on the mysteries thereof is the best “thank you” we can give to Mary for her unfathomable mercies. The scholarly author expounds upon every aspect of this devotion now over eight hundred years old. He relates it wonderfully to the New Testament as well as to the Old. Every single page of this pious work is replete with holy quotations or exciting analogies, inspiring anecdotes or miracles. And, too, there are enough actual accounts of graces spurned, or false, even superstitious devotion, to make us fearful. This is a book that the faithful will love so much that they will feel compelled to share their gift with wayward friends and relatives.
John Haffert - 265 pages - 5" x 8"- PB
Originally printed in 1940. Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. From the Preface by Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen: "Mr. Haffert has in a masterly way laid bare the solid foundations upon which this [Brown Scapular] devotion reposes. His case is so strikingly presented that to challenge this devotion is to challenge to some extent, the tradition and authority of the Church." The Scapular Promise of Our Lady is: "Whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire." Pope Pius IX said, "this extraordinary gift of the Scapular brings its great usefulness not only to the Carmelite Family of Mary but also to all the rest of the faithful who wish, affiliated to that Family, to follow Mary with a very special devotion." The book contains 15 chapters, including, The Origin of the Promise, Meaning of the Promise, Historicity of the Promise, How the Promise is Kept, Scapular Prayer and Communication of Benefits, and much more. This is the most complete book on the subject we have seen. It gives many examples of the powerful protection one gets from the Scapular and that protection is in great need today.
25 Essays Selected by John Edward Dineen - PB 320 pages
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc, 1870-1953, 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 (Belloc) 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.Belloc was a prolific writer and seldom was employed in any other remunerative endeavor during his life, hence the constancy of his precarious financial condition. However he was rarely, if ever, destitute, since he was one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century in both England and America. On this side of the Atlantic he is best known for his political, economic, and historical works. As an essayist he is less well-known, but some think that it is as a poet and essayist that his name will be longest remembered.These twenty-five exquisite essays, selected by John Edward Dineen, were first published as a collection in 1936 and are here offered to a new generation of American readers to savor.
Hilaire Belloc - PB 302 Pages
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc, 1870-1953, 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. Belloc is easily one of the most well-known Catholic writers and apologists of the 20th century. This book, published in 1923 after Belloc spent some time in the United States (his wife was American), is a bit reminiscent of Alexis deTocqueville’s work Democracy in America, published in 1835 after his own extensive travels in America. What is surprisingly different in their conclusions about the American political spirit is that Belloc saw more of a monarchical principle at work here than deToqueville did. The Contrast represents Belloc’s mature considerations of the important and critical contrast between England (and by extension, the rest of Western Europe which Belloc considers to be much closer in spirit and temper to England than to America) and that new, and to him foreign, thing that he encountered in his time here. The different topical areas that he discusses and contrasts are the physical (geographical), social, military, religious, literary, and linguistic. This is a fascinating analysis from the pen of a great Catholic man who was also a deeply provocative political thinker.
Amintore Fanfani
Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism is one of the most scholarly and comprehensive treatments of the antagonism between Catholic doctrine and the capitalist spirit. As such it is eminently persuasive. The author, Amintore Fanfani, was the Chair of Economic History at the University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy, and was the heir to a long and unmatched tradition of Italian Social Catholicism, a tradition effectively sanctioned and promoted by Popes Leo XIII and St. Pius X. Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism will be of particular interest to those seeking to better understand both the preconceptions and mentalities that the pioneers of the capitalist system possessed, and the reaction of Catholicism to that system. The book demonstrates, conclusively, that there is a scholarly, intelligent, and convincing answer to the propaganda which suggests that the world is irreparably divided into two camps, the capitalist and socialist.
In The Last Rally, Belloc narrates with clarity and vigor a central episode in the decline of the English Monarchy. Restored to the throne following the interlude of Cromwell’s “Commonwealth,” Charles II devoted his life as King of England to maintaining the integrity of the throne against all the forces arrayed against it: the power of the great landowners who worked through the Parliament; the influence of the Lawyer’s Guild; and the irresistible mercantile and financial strength of the City of London. The story that Belloc brings to life is thus one of survival: the story of a ship of state brought “through peril and storm under a great captain.” It is also the story of manhood and determination in the face of overwhelming odds; as such it is a story that Hilaire Belloc was eminently qualified to write.
“If kingship would have remained, the Peasantry would have been saved. Also there would have been a considerable and well-organised traditional Catholic body, which might have been a quarter of the nation, or at least a sixth . . . As it was, with the fall of the Stuarts, the Catholic Church in England was utterly crushed out. “ — Hilaire Belloc, 1939
For Chesterton fans this collection of articles written over eighty years ago are vintage G. K. The author arranged the articles in book format by sections and chapters giving to the whole the salient title: The Outline of Sanity. Accused by thickheaded social "progressives" of wanting to push society back into an antiquated agrarian provincialism, these insightful socio-economic indictions ought rather to have heralded the Catholic thinker as today’s prophet for social sanity. The perennial truths of the principles making up these critical commentaries will surely be even more evident in today’s restless age of stroboscopic consumerism. Master of paradox that he is, Chesterton, the philosopher, exposes the enslaving and dehumanizing aspects of an economy dependent upon monopolistic plutocrats and their so-called "labor saving" machines of mass production. With his penchant for balancing satire with humor, this literary giant provides a common sense solution to this age’s fast pace trek to nowhere. Modern man must be weaned gradually, he argues, back away from the imperialistic megalith corporation as a statistical wage earner and be productive on his own terms, on his own land. In order for man to achieve happiness, his true end, he must not build his life around some ephemeral retirement plan, but live each day for his real end: eternal retirement with God. Taking the original sense of the word economy as domestic harmony the ideal which the author champions is simply called Distributism. It is the very antithesis of Monopoly.
Fr. Vincent McNabb
Modern "wisdom" urges people to crowd into cities or their suburbs, to have few children, to live on credit. It teaches them to regard Industrialism as inevitable, and to view a life of speed and noise as both normal and desirable. The Catholic Church teaches the contrary. She proclaims rather that life on the land, the raising of large families, the possession of real wealth over artificial tokens, concern for the needs of men and not those of machines, and a focus on the life to come, constitute the only way to true happiness and contentment. The Church and the Land is a collection of essays and articles by England's famous Dominican Distributist. De facto "chaplain" to the Distributists and the Distributist movement, Fr. McNabb was in many ways the most passionate and fervent of those seeking reform of economic life in the name of truly human values. In over 40 short essays, Fr. McNabb tackles subjects as diverse and yet unified as industrialism, morality and economics, working conditions, and the role of the state in shaping and defending the proper economic conditions. Fr. McNabb's is a common and yet unique voice within the Distributist tradition, for he represents the voice of the Church, with its characteristic concern for morality and the salvation of souls, in economic as well as all other aspects of man's daily life. Originally published: London, 1926.
