Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centuries AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world.

    The Life You Save May Be Your Own is their story - a vivid and enthralling account of great writers and their power over us.Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk in Kentucky; Dorothy Day the founder of the Catholic Worker in New York; Flannery O'Connor a "Christ-haunted" literary prodigy in Georgia; Walker Percy a doctor in New Orleans who quit medicine to write fiction and philosophy. A friend came up with a name for them - the School of the Holy Ghost - and for three decades they exchanged letters, ardently read one another's books, and grappled with what one of them called a "predicament shared in common."A pilgrimage is a journey taken in light of a story; and in The Life You Save May Be Your Own Paul Elie tells these writers' story as a pilgrimage from the God-obsessed literary past of Dante and Dostoevsky out into the thrilling chaos of postwar American life. It is a story of how the Catholic faith, in their vision of things, took on forms the faithful could not have anticipated. And it is a story about the ways we look to great books and writers to help us make sense of our experience, about the power of literature to change - to save - our lives.

    In the Gospels there are few people who understand love for Jesus as well as Mary Magdalene, which is the reason she is a prophetess of eucharistic love.This work is an extended meditation on the life of Saint Mary Magdalene, known as the "Apostle to the Apostles" because the Risen Christ appeared to her first and then sent her to announce the Resurrection to the apostles. Based on the biblical texts traditionally associated with Mary Magdalene, this book helps readers to learn from her inspiring example and to enter more deeply into adoration of Jesus Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.In telling the story of Mary Magdalene's profound conversion after the Lord had to expel seven demons from her soul, this book shows how she is a shining witness to the transforming power of an encounter with Jesus Christ. Mary Magdalene is the perfect model for those who have experienced the redeeming love of Christ and who seek to deepen their devotion to him and to the Eucharist.

    Catholic Tradition teaches that God has given each of us a special Guardian Angel from the moment of our birth. In this book Fr. O’Sullivan explains that this Angel’s great love for us can only be compared to that of a mother. Further, he shows how, with all their power and magnificence, the Angels are also immensely kind, faithful and generous and actually even grateful for our own poor love, repaying us many times over for our little acts of love toward them. With their superior intelligence and power, they are willing and able to prevent accidents, to comfort us, to defend us from the attacks of the devil and to help us in our spiritual and temporal affairs.In this fascinating little book, Fr. O’Sullivan tells stories about St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, plus stories of the Angels and St. Gemma, St. Agnes, St. Frances of Rome, St. Dominic, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Rose of Lima, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Isidore the Farmer, St. Francis of Assisi, the children of Fatima, and many others, both famous and obscure, plus the wonderful story of St. John Bosco’s mysterious dog.All About the Angels is a book uniquely conceived to open our eyes to the invisible world of the blessed spirits all around us, our powerful, holy friends who love us and humbly desire to guide us and assist us daily in countless ways—if we will only acknowledge their presence and call upon them for assistance.

    Protestant readers will delve into issues fundamental to their search for the fullness of the truth. For Catholics, this book will deepen their appreciation for the rich heritage of their faith, as well as arm them with practical arguments to defend the Church's claims.With clarity and tact, Rose synthesizes Church history with theology, making the complex subjects that divide Catholics and Protestants accessible. He covers ecumenical councils, the papacy, the canon of Scripture, the Protestant Reformers, the saints, sacraments, and many more. Personal anecdotes and true stories of Protestant friends who are wrestling with the Catholic Church's claims are interspersed throughout the book.

    —from Chapter Eight What happens when women give their lives over to God? They become vessels of grace, bearers of healing, consolation, encouragement and strength to a troubled world. Far from being passive, the woman of grace will actively embrace God's will, actively seek out the suffering and lost, and actively bring God's healing love to others. If she accepts God's call to authentic womanhood, her role, in the words of a closing speech at Vatican Council II, becomes nothing less than to "aid humanity in not falling." Full of Grace will empower all women to fully embrace their God-given identity. This edition of Full of Grace is now correlated to The Women of Grace® Foundational Study Series. A Servant Book. "A beautiful woman-to-woman book on the way to holiness for Catholic women. A book for all ages."—Ronda De Sola Chervin, Ph.D., author and speaker "Johnnette Benkovic masterfully combines the teachings of Scripture and the Church with a down-to-earth program for the way to holiness, upholding the mission of Christian women in the world today."—Father George T. Montague, S.M., author of The Woman and the Way "Well-written, well-researched and filled with spiritual insight, this spiritual manual is a true aid to those who seek holiness."—Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph.D., author, The Authority of Women in the Catholic Church "A glowing account flowing out of a maternal heart that illuminates the glorious mission God has confided to women in the world and in the Church."—Alice von Hildebrand, Ph.D., author and speaker

    Logic, clarity, and simplicity permeate this eminently readable book.

    Through these visionaries, Mary and Jesus warned of the looming holocaust, which (they assured) could be averted if Rwandans opened their hearts to God and embraced His love.Mary also sent messages to government and church leaders to instruct them how to end the ethnic hatred simmering in their country. She warned them that Rwanda would become "a river of blood"-a land of unspeakable carnage-if the hatred of the people was not quickly quelled by love. Some leaders listened, but very few believed. The prophetic and apocalyptic warnings tragically came true during 100 horrifying days of savage bloodletting and mass murder.Much like what happened at similar sites such as Fátima and Lourdes, the messengers of Kibeho were at first mocked and disbelieved. But as miracle after miracle occurred in the tiny village, tens of thousands of Rwandans journeyed to Kibeho to behold the apparitions. After the genocide, and two decades of rigorous investigation, Our Lady of Kibeho became the first and only Vatican-approved Marian (related to the Virgin Mary) site in all of Africa. But the story still remained largely unknown.Now, however, Immaculée Ilibagiza has changed all that. She has made many pilgrimages to Kibeho, both before and after the holocaust, has personally witnessed true miracles, and has spoken with a number of the visionaries themselves. What she has discovered will deeply touch your heart!

    

    Karen Armstrong's superbly readable exploration of how the three dominant monotheistic religions of the world - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - have shaped and altered the conception of God is a tour de force. One of Britain's foremost commentators on religious affairs, Armstrong traces the history of how men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham to the present. From classical philosophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the modern age of skepticism, Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one compelling volume.

    He was baptized a Catholic, but his faith journey led him to Protestant evangelicalism. He became a philosophy professor at Baylor University and president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). And then, in 2007, after much prayer, counsel, and consideration, Beckwith decided to return to the Catholic church and step down as ETS president.This provocative book details Beckwith's journey, focusing on his internal dialogue between the Protestant theology he embraced for most of his adult life and Catholicism. He seeks to explain what prompted his decision and offers theological reflection on whether one can be evangelical and Catholic, affirming his belief that one can be both. EXCERPTIt's difficult to explain why one moves from one Christian tradition to another. It is like trying to give an account to your friends why you chose to pursue for marriage this woman rather than that one, though both may have a variety of qualities that you found attractive. It seems to me then that any account of my return to the Catholic church, however authentic and compelling it is to me, will appear inadequate to anyone who is absolutely convinced that I was wrong. Conversely, my story will confirm in the minds of many devout Catholics that the supernatural power of the grace I received at baptism and confirmation as a youngster were instrumental in drawing me back to the Mother Church. Given these considerations, I confess that there is an awkwardness in sharing my journey as a published book, knowing that many fellow Christians will scrutinize and examine my reasons in ways that appear to some uncharitable and to others too charitable.

    Ignatius of Loyola is the core work of religious formation for members of the Society of Jesus, the single largest religious order within the Roman Catholic Church. For four and a half centuries  in many thousands of editions in all languages, The Exercises have embodied fundamental spiritual principles essential to authentic Christian living. The mystical insight informing Ignatius's own relationship with God--which he distilled in The Exercises--is that the divine love of God is providentially present in all the details of our existence. Here Ignatius shows how the faithful can be joined to God in all things, according to the Jesuit motto, Ad majorem Dei gloriam, "For the greater glory of God."

    No available in paperback edition - see ISBN 9781938983917

    Surprisingly, though, the Bible does not have one answer but many "answers" that often contradict one another. Consider these competing explanations for suffering put forth by various biblical writers:The prophets: suffering is a punishment for sinThe book of Job, which offers two different answers: suffering is a test, and you will be rewarded later for passing it; and suffering is beyond comprehension, since we are just human beings and God, after all, is GodEcclesiastes: suffering is the nature of things, so just accept itAll apocalyptic texts in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament: God will eventually make right all that is wrong with the worldFor renowned Bible scholar Bart Ehrman, the question of why there is so much suffering in the world is more than a haunting thought. Ehrman's inability to reconcile the claims of faith with the facts of real life led the former pastor of the Princeton Baptist Church to reject Christianity.In God's Problem, Ehrman discusses his personal anguish upon discovering the Bible's contradictory explanations for suffering and invites all people of faith—or no faith—to confront their deepest questions about how God engages the world and each of us.

    Benedict was not interested in fame, power, or legacy. He was only interested in living the Christian life to the fullest and helping those around him to do the same. The rest is history—and the work of Providence. St. Benedict is regarded as the Father of the Benedictine Order of both religious men and women that follow his Rule, a key principle of which is ora et labora—pray and work. Today, many people wear holy medals of St. Benedict, invoking his intercession for protection against the powers of evil. Not only consecrated religious but also many lay people find inspiration in his call to balance, discipline, and prayer. Historically, St. Benedict helped bridge the early Church with the medieval period by standing on the shoulders of the fathers of the monastic tradition and bringing that tradition solidly into a new era.