History

Ebook (pdf) Dom Prosper Guéranger Abbot of Solesmes

Translated from the French Third Edition by Michael J. Miller

When nineteenth century Christendom shifted its allegiance from a divine vertical authority to the horizontal revolutionary ideals of egalitarian democracy and false liberty, Dom Guéranger’s erudite polemical masterpiece contributed more than any other contemporary work to uphold the papal monarchy in all of its divinely ordained prerogatives. This labor of the holy abbot helped to restore in Catholic Europe the spiritual sword, as well as the magisterial cathedra, to the Vicar of Christ the King. And he did so, not by any clever manipulative abuse of language, but simply by appealing to the simplicity and clarity of the gospels, universal Christian tradition, and the common consensus fidelis. The brilliant hypothetical scenario, drawn by the author, of a college of a dozen apostles, called by Christ, but without a “Cephas” (a Rock) in Peter and his successors, presents even the infant “collegial” church in such an unenviable plight that one might pity them even more than one might pity the Methodists or Seventh Day Adventists, had any of them been at the marriage feast of Cana.

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.

Finally...Loreto's Popular Martyrology is Back in Print! - 372 pages - EBOOK - PDF, Kindle, & EPUB

We have chosen to re-issue the Third Turin Edition of the Roman Martyrology for many reasons. Among them are the nobility of its style, the serene chastity of its language, the continuity of its ancient lineage, and the fact that it is essentially the same text read by countless souls over the centuries on their pilgrimage to the Eternal Jerusalem. In a word, tradition.

You will not find listed here the numerous saints canonized over the last sixty years. This may be unfortunate but some lack cannot be avoided; there are other sources and newer calendars. The historical importance and the spiritual value of this edition is inestimable. We hope that this offering from Loreto will fill the desires of many souls  who will know best how to utilize this volume to their advantage. This 20th century may well have been the bloodiest in the long and glorious history of the Church of God upon earth. Remember that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. God willing, we will reap a bountiful harvest of souls in the 21st century.
May the example of those who have already tread the path of the cross, fortify our souls, give us courage, and provide hope that we too may have the grace to receive, with grateful affection, whatever end the providence of God has destined for us.

Bishop David Arias- EBOOK - PDF

This is an American history book written from the Spanish perspective. The author, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, David Arias, is a church historian, born and educated in Leon, Spain. This magnificent chronological itinerary through the history of the USA from 1492 to the present should be read in American history class and in every Catholic American home. Without it you are missing a very large part of the true picture of our nation's history. This is a great book for Catholic homeschoolers and highschool students.

Ebook (pdf)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.

Foreword

To 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 Trent
Symbol 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 I
Dei Filius
Dogmatic Constitution on Faith  - God the Creator  - Revelation  - Faith  - Faith & Reason  — Canons: God the Creator: Revelation: Faith: Faith & Reason

Pastor Æternus
The Church of Christ  - Papal Primacy  - Perpetual Papal Primacy  - Nature of Papal Primacy  - Papal Infallibility

By John F. McManus - 244 pages PB - EBOOK - PDF, Kindle, & EPUB

This book, written by a prominent and well known Catholic American, is
the product of almost seventy years of close observation and deep study in a
turbulent world of rapid change and degradation of church and society.
Recently, the courageous Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò published an acknowledgment
of the problems discussed in this book in his now world famous Open Letter to
President Trump where he spoke of Freemasonry and the ‘deep church’. Because
that letter appeared as this book was going to press, The Deep Church Revealed
was added to the original title as a fitting description of its content.

The revealing begins with a description of the Enlightenment philosophers
and their anti-Catholic hatred, and the author proceeds from there to detail in
forty-one astonishing chapters the story of how those men and the organizations
they inspired grew and and spread their pernicious doctrines throughout the
world and the Church.

The plans that these Freemasonic organizations laid were remarkably successful,
even though vigorously opposed by every Pope for over 200 years. “An
enemy 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 and
vigilant Padre Pio told Fr. Luigi Villa in 1963 when he assigned Fr. Villa the task
of exposing these enemies “Courage, courage, courage! For the Church is already
invaded 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 goeth
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Whom ye should
resist, fortes in fide.”

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.

380 pages - EBOOK - PDF, Kindle, & EPUB

Matthew Abraham Ryan (he changed his name to Abram because the name Abraham became distasteful to him when Lincoln declared war on his nation, the CSA), was born in Norfolk Virginia of an Irish Catholic family from County Limerick and is known not only as a mystic poet of the Catholic religion but also as the Poet Laureate of the Confederacy. He was the most popular and most quoted and recited poet of his generation in the South and in the North. This is an exact reprinting of the 12^th edition of his complete collected works that was issued at Baltimore in 1888.

Father Ryan worked as a chaplain to the troops of his nation during the long and brutal war that killed all of the hopes for freedom and nationhood among his people who rose so manfully to battle to defend their homeland in 1861. In the hour of defeat Fr. Ryan won the heart of the entire South by his poem Conquered Banner, whose exquisite measure was taken, as he told a friend, from one of the Gregorian hymns.

Beyond and above and permeating his deep and abiding love for the South was his love for our Lord and our Blessed Lady that is so powerfully expressed in his poetry and verse. His was the heart of a lover and a mystic, one who knows life and reality so well that anyone could say that he truly understood what Saint Augustine meant when he said that our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee O Lord! Take up this precious work of his and prepare to be truly moved in your heart and soul with the beauty and depth of these emanations of his beautiful Catholic soul.

From Fr. Ryan’s Sursum Corda:

Lonely hearts! lonely hearts! this is but a land of grief;

Ye are pining for repose—ye are longing for relief:

What the world hath never given, kneel and ask of God above,

And your grief shall turn to gladness, if you lean upon His love.

Lonely hearts! God is Love.

 Publishers’ Preface to the Second Edition.

For years the name of Father Ryan has been a household word. It is known wherever the English language is spoken, and everywhere it is reverenced as the appellation of a true child of song. It is especially dear to the people of the South, among whom he who bears it has lived and worked and touched his tuneful harp. These, his poems, have moved multitudes. They have thrilled the soldier on the eve of battle, and quickened the martial impulses of a chivalric race; they have soothed the soul-wounds of the suffering; and they have raised the hearts of men in adoration and benediction to the great Father of all.

When the announcement was first made that they were to be gathered together into a volume, the news was heard as glad tidings by the friends of the poet-priest, and the book had hardly appeared when the edition was exhausted. The ablest critics were generous in their praise of it, and predicted that it would be for its author a monument more enduring than brass.

Publishers’ Preface to the Twelfth Edition.

The publication of the poems of Father Ryan has reached the twelfth edition. To the Memoir, which found place in the eleventh edition, are now added many beautiful songs, some of which have not heretofore been published; and also many new illustrations.So popular have the writings of the poet-priest become, that many songs and ballads have been printed as emanations of his pen for which he was not responsible.

This edition is printed from new electrotype plates, and is greatly improved in style over all former editions. It includes all the poems written by Father Ryan which, if living, he would offer to the public. His death in 1880 stilled the sweetest voice that ever was raised in behalf of the faith and clime he loved so well.