Deathbed Conversions: Finding Faith at the Finish Line


Karen Edmisten - 2013
    It is the mercy of God at work.

The Love That Made Mother Teresa: How Her Secret Visions and Dark Nights Can Help You Conquer the Slums of Your Heart


David Scott - 2014
    But she was a woman with a will whose strength has been matched by few souls in history. Mother Teresa broke death’s stranglehold on the poor of Calcutta, and she showed us how to conquer the sin and darkness in what she called the “slums of the hearts of modern man.” Part biography and part spiritual reading, these pages bring to light little-known stories from Mother Teresa’s life that will help you to grow in your love of God. You will learn her approach to reading Scripture, what enabled her to persevere through agonizing nights, and the remarkable — some would say mystical — events that led her to start the Missionaries of Charity. In considering Mother Teresa, her private visions, and her secret sufferings, David Scott has discovered scores of early episodes and chance encounters that point to later, larger meanings. These remarkable patterns, he suggests, show that Mother Teresa’s life was choreographed from above, as if a divine script had been written for her from before her birth. In these pages, you will meet for the first time the Mother Teresa who challenged the ancient Goddess of Death and became the first saint of our global village. You will read as she describes, in long-secret letters, the dark night of her soul. The woman you will meet is one that God himself sent to you as a clear sign that despite pain and suffering in our lives and in our world, God’s good love will prevail . . . beginning in the slums of our hearts. We are all called to holiness, and the saints are sent to us as “real life” examples of God’s love. With Mother Teresa as your guide, you’ll learn how to follow God’s call and find holiness in a world marked by the shadow of death and growing indifference to God. Indeed, you’ll learn how to be an everyday missionary of Christ’s love in the ordinary activities of your daily life.

Storm of Fire and Blood: Sword and Serpent Book III


Taylor R. Marshall - 2017
    Tossed on a ship bearing him to the icy northern reaches of Britannia, Jurian dreams of a mysterious woman and a sword driven into a stone. Kneeling in the candlelight in Cyrene, Sabra hears the whisper of the dragon in the depths of the earth. Taking the mantle from her gravely ill father, Aikaterina rules her fragile city under the threat of imperial disfavor. As the fourth century dawns over Rome, Jurian seeks to regain his honor along the Empire’s brutal northern frontier. When Casca brings back word from the oracle of Apollo, the Emperor decides that the only way to save the Empire is to solve the “Christian problem” once and for all. He needs only one spark to set the world ablaze. As the storm of fire and blood sweeps across the Empire, Jurian relinquishes his sword and the honor he most desires to fulfill the prophecy along with his destiny. Saints aren’t born. They are forged.

A Minute in the Church


Gus Lloyd - 2010
    In this easy to read booklet, you'll find 37 one-minute teachings on how to explain and defend Catholic teaching.

How To Pray At All Times


Alfonso María de Liguori - 2012
    It is therefore one of the earliest works of St. Alphonsus. The Saint entitled it: "A method of conversing continually and lovingly with God;" and to the title he added a note to say that it had been translated from the French, but that he had " augmented it with holy thoughts, affections and practices." It was surely the Saint's humility that made him thus minimise his part in the composition of the book, for as a matter of fact he entirely recast the little French treatise and made it all his own. His biographer, Father Berthe, could write of it: "In this golden little book are to be found the most familiar thoughts of the holy author." (Life Vol. I. P. 575).

Everyone's Way of the Cross


Clarence Enzler - 1987
    Beautiful, bold commissioned woodcuts by Annika Nelson and her mother Gertrud Mueller Nelson help us meditate on the passion and death of Christ and to see how Christ is among us—often in unexpected places. Also available in Spanish, the booklet is ideal for personal or parish-wide use during the Lenten observance of the Stations of the Cross.

New Testament Basics for Catholics


John Bergsma - 2015
    Using simple illustrations and the same clear, conversational style that characterized his earlier book, Bergsma introduces four of the most important writers in the New Testament: Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John.With humor and simple illustrations, theology professor John Bergsma focuses on Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John, whose writings comprise about 90 percent of the New Testament. The gospel of Matthew, written for Jewish Christians, illuminates the life and teachings of Christ as the long-promised Messiah. In Luke's gospel, readers will delve into the infancy and Triduum narratives, as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the life of the early Church. This leads the reader to discover St. Paul and his first and arguably greatest theological treatise: Romans. Finally, "the beloved apostle" St. John draws us in to the unsurpassed beauty of the fourth gospel, as well as the most mysterious book of the New Testament: the book of Revelation. A concluding chapter offers suggestions for further study.Intended as an introductory work for those who are new to scripture study, this New Testament book does not aspire to be a comprehensive guide to all twenty-seven books of the New Testament, but is intended to lay the foundation for a lifetime of scripture reading.

The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful . . . and What Can Be Done About It


Philip F. Lawler - 2018
    In The Smoke of Satan, veteran Catholic journalist Philip Lawler explains why the crisis is even more severe than when it first commanded headlines in 2002, and how the failure of Church leaders goes all the way to the Vatican. In this unflinching look at the crisis threatening the Church and her members, Lawler: --Shows how the sex-abuse scandal is not a question of pedophilia, but of homosexual activity within the clergy. --Explains how Catholic bishops have developed a habit of covering up serious problems, to avoid the serious divisions that have developed within the faith since Vatican II. --Demonstrates a catastrophic rupture in Church unity, causing a breakdown in morale and discipline among priests, bishops, and laity, paving the way for the current crisis. --Reveals the growth of a faction within the Vatican that is ready to make peace with secularism. --Details the charges in the explosive “Vigano testimony,”— and the efforts by Vatican officials including Pope Francis himself to ward off a thorough investigation. --Concludes with a program for reform, led by faithful lay Catholics, demanding a new policy of candor and a forthright proclamation of Church teaching. This crisis, brought about by the failures of corrupt and cowardly bishops and clerics, has been allowed to fester long enough. It is well past time for serious action to be taken at every level before more lives are ruined, more souls are lost, and more fractures divide the Church. In these pages, Lawler details the problems besetting the Church…and lays out a clear plan to overcome them in order that the Church and Her members may once again thrive and bring souls to Christ.

The Catholic Hipster Handbook: Rediscovering Cool Saints, Forgotten Prayers, and Other Weird but Sacred Stuff


Tommy Tighe - 2017
    Being a Catholic Hipster is all about an attitude—an attitude grounded in being part of a countercultural community of believers dedicated to something bigger than themselves in a world dominated by self-centeredness. It’s about yearning to learn more about the faith by seeking out “Catholic cool”—overlooked saints, forgotten prayers and feast days, and traditional practices long set aside by mainstream believers. The Catholic Hipster podcaster Tommy Tighe will help readers rediscover everything awesome about the Catholic faith. The Catholic Hipster started out in 2014 with a little bit of fun—the Catholic Hipster of the Year contest—on Tighe’s blog. But Twitter is where—in all its 140-character glory—that Tighe’s “The Catholic Hipster” movement really took root. That’s where a group of cool and funky countercultural Catholics gather to swap one-liners, hilarious hipster memes, and all things authentically Catholic. Tighe even met comedienne Jeannie Gaffigan, who wrote the foreword for The Catholic Hipster Handbook, on Twitter. She said what drew her to the feed was that Tighe was “an embarrassingly Catholic dude who knew he was embarrassingly Catholic and was not embarrassed by it” and that he was “not preachy or judgey or divisive.” Catholic hipsters in a nutshell. Tighe and a group of hipster friends—including Sarah Vabulas, Anna Mitchell, Fr. Kyle Schnippel, and Lisa M. Hendey—explore the beautiful weirdness of the Catholic Church and invite others along for the journey. They share their love for extraordinary saints, offer up obscure prayers, provide short reflections on something quirky and Catholic they’ve rediscovered, and dare readers to put their faith into action with some cool and challenging practices they can do on their own. Discover what’s awesome about:Wearing a scapularApplying Laudato Si’ at your local farmer’s marketHanging with priests, monks, and nunsLearning to see Christ in making beerPraying the Rosary everywhere you goLoving the Latin MassMaking the Liturgy of the Hours a daily part of your routine The Catholic Hipster Handbook will help readers realize the only way to go against what’s normal and accepted in the culture is to be authentically Catholic.

Lead, Kindly Light: My Journey To Rome


Thomas Howard - 1994
    With grace, charm, and wit, Dr. Howard describes his journey from Evangelicalism to Anglicanism, and finally, to the Church of Rome. In a world saturated with fashionable unbelief, Howard's testimony inspires and informs. Fr. Richard Neuhaus calls it "a marvelously engaging remembrance.

Those Who Saw Her: Apparitions of Mary, Updated and Revised


Catherine M. Odell - 1986
    The Laus apparitions, approved in 2008, were the first Marian apparitions approved by the Church in the 21st century.Let Mary's prophetic messages bring comfort and hope to your life in this thorough and compelling presentation of the extraordinary visits of the Mother of God to her children around the world.

The Unvarnished Jesus: A Lenten Journey


Brian Zahnd - 2019
    These forty-six daily meditations on the life and ministry of Jesus drawn from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are a spiritual solvent to help remove the layers of lacquer comprised of political and cultural assumptions that prevent us from seeing just how challenging and compelling Jesus of Nazareth really is. The Unvarnished Jesus is a forty-six day project to restore the incomparable image of Christ.

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace: Living in the Spirit of the Prayer of St. Francis


Kent Nerburn - 1999
    Francis of Assisi. The Prayer of St. Francis boldly but gently challenges us to resist the forces of evil and negativity with the spirit of goodwill and generosity. And Nerburn shows, in his wonderfully personal and humble way, how we each can live out the prayer's prescription for living in our everyday and less-than-saintly lives. "Where there is hatred, let me sow love...Where there is injury, let me sow pardon..." Expanding upon each line of the St. Francis Prayer, Nerburn shares touching, inspiring stories from his own experience and that of others and reveals how each of us can make a difference for good in ordinary ways without being heroes or saints. Struggling to help a young son comfort his best friend when his mother dies, moved by the courage of war enemies who reconcile, being wrenched out of self-absorbed depression by responding to someone else's tragedy, taking a spirited old lady on a farewell taxi ride through her town-these are the kinds of everyday moments in which Nerburn finds we can live out the spirit of St. Francis.By incorporating the power and grace of these few lines of practical idealism into our thoughts and deeds, we can begin to ease our own suffering-and the suffering of those with whom we share our lives. And, remarkably, find a way to true peace and happiness by tapping into our basic human goodness. As we open our hearts and embrace his words, St. Francis "touches our deepest humanity and ignites the spark of our divinity."Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.Where there is hatred let me sow love, Where there is injury let me sow pardon, Where there is doubt, faith, Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light, And where there is sadness, joy...In this beautifully written book, Kent Nerburn leads us into the heart of the St. Francis Prayer and line by line demonstrates how St. Francis's words can resonate in our lives today.

St. Maria Goretti: In Garments All Red


Godfrey Poage - 1950
    Describes her virtuous life, poverty, holiness, valiant resistance, heroic and lingering death, conversion of her murderer and canonization in 1950 with her mother, her murderer and over 500,000 present. This is the famous, popular, classic biography! This is a good book to read to children, so they have someone worthwhile to imitate. By having Maria put before them as a model, they will learn to appreciate the virtue of purity. For a child to imitate the saints, he or she must first love them -- which in turn requires knowing them. Get your children acquainted with one of the greatest saints of the twentieth century!

Where There Is Love, There Is God: Her Path to Closer Union with God and Greater Love for Others


Mother Teresa - 2010
    This book is in some way a sequel to Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, in which her own very private spiritual struggles were explained.  Sent to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, she assumed their struggles and pain in the depths of her heart. This led to particularly intense anguish which she lived through with heroic courage and fidelity over several decades.  As important as this aspect of her life is, that remarkable testimony of her life and her words intensifies the need and desire to know more of her thought.  There is much she can teach us as we face our daily struggles or sufferings, which can at times be unusually severe.  Where There is Love, There is God, though not an exhaustive anthology of Mother Teresa’s teaching, nonetheless shows what she believed and taught about important issues that confront all people. Due to her constant interaction with people of diverse backgrounds, no life situation was foreign to her and in this book her role is primarily one of teacher and guide.  Love is perhaps the word that best summarizes Mother Teresa’s life and message. The title reflects what she proclaimed during her entire life: God is alive, present, and “still loves the world through you and through me”.  Mother Teresa sought to be an extension of God’s heart and hands in the world of today. She was called to be a missionary of charity, a carrier of God’s love to each person she met, especially those most in need. Yet she did not think that this was a vocation uniquely hers; each person is in some way called to be a carrier of God’s love. Through the practical and timely advice she offers, Mother Teresa sets us on the path to closer union with God and greater love for our brothers and sisters. MOTHER TERESA (1910–1997) was born in Skopje (present-day Macedonia), and joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin in 1928. She left the Loreto order in 1948 to begin the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Her service to the poorest of the poor became her life’s work. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was beatified in 2003. Editor of Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, FATHER BRIAN KOLODIEJCHUK, M.C., Ph.D., was associated with Mother Teresa for twenty years and is now director of the Mother Teresa Center, which has offices in California, Mexico, India, and Italy.  “What you are doing I cannot do, what I’m doing you cannot do, but together we are doing something beautiful for God, and this is the greatness of God’s love for us—To give us the opportunity to become holy through the works of love that we do because holiness is not the luxury of the few. It is a very simple duty for you, for me, you in your position, in your work and I and others, each one of us in the work, in the life that we have given our word of honor to God.…You must put your love for God in a living action.” -Mother Teresa, From Where There is Love, There is GodFrom the Hardcover edition.