The personal tones of the translations, the blend of reverence and humor so characteristic of him, show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth-century Christian Fathers who sought solitude and contemplation in the deserts of the Near East.The hermits of Screte who turned their backs on a corrupt society remarkably like our own had much in common with the Zen masters of China and Japan, and Father Merton made his selection from them with an eye to the kind of impact produced by the Zen mondo.

    He addresses such topics as widespread doctrinal confusion, the limits of papal authority, the documents of Vatican II, the Society of St. Pius X, anti-Christian ideologies and political threats, the third secret of Fatima, the traditional Roman rite, and the Amazon Synod, among many others. Like his fourth-century patron, St. Athanasius the Great, Bishop Schneider says things that others won’t, fearlessly following St. Paul’s advice: “Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching” (2 Tim 4:2). His insights into the challenges facing Christ’s flock today are essential reading for those who are, or wish to be, alert to the signs of the times. Reminiscent of The Ratzinger Report of 1985, Christus Vincit will be a key point of reference for years to come.“At this critical moment in the life of the Church we must reflect carefully on all that confronts us and discern what is true, good, and beautiful from what is evil. We cannot but be grateful to a faithful apostle such as Bishop Athanasius Schneider for his clear and courageous analysis of the state of the Church in our day. May this book assist all who read it in living their particular vocation with greater fidelity and zeal, for the glory of Almighty God and the salvation of souls.”—ROBERT CARDINAL SARAH“No other bishop in recent memory has so tirelessly given of himself in the service of the truths of the Catholic Faith. In this wide-ranging interview, Bishop Schneider, through the account of his life and ministry and through his responses to the crucial questions of the day, gives powerful witness to his profound love of Our Lord and of His Mystical Body, the Church. This book will be of great help to the faithful, and to all people of good will, in navigating the grave confusion, division, and error prevalent in our times. It reveals the heart of a true shepherd of souls, after the Heart of Christ, the Good Shepherd.”—RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE“St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (‘the Little Flower’) said that humility is courage for the truth, and courage to serve. Bishop Schneider is a humble and heroic witness to the truth, and a courageous servant. His love for Christ and the Church is strong and deep and heartfelt, like St. Paul’s (Gal. 2:11–20). To the various questions regarding the crises we face (relativism, secularism, modernism, indifferentism), he responds as a faithful pastor and a perspicacious theologian. I found myself inspired and challenged.”—SCOTT HAHN“A product of the persecuted Church in the Soviet Union, Bishop Athanasius Schneider powerfully appeals in this interview for a return to the classical doctrine, worship, and devotion of the Roman Church. Not all readers will agree with everything in his analyses, but they will find it difficult to dissent from his fundamental perception: the Church requires a radical re-supernaturalization that will save it from internal secularization, free it from the domination of all-too-human agendas, and inspire it with new ardor for its divinizing mission.”—FR. AIDAN NICHOLS, O.P.“Reading this wide-ranging interview with one of the most outstanding bishops in the Church today is an experience of profound joy and gratitude. Bishop Schneider explains and defends Catholic truth with deep insight and total conviction.

    The Lost History of Christianity unveils a vast and forgotten network of the world's largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church—died.Jenkins takes a stand against current scholars who assert that variant, alternative Christianities disappeared in the fourth and fifth centuries on the heels of a newly formed hierarchy under Constantine, intent on crushing unorthodox views. In reality, Jenkins says, the largest churches in the world were the “heretics” who lost the orthodoxy battles. These so-called heretics were in fact the most influential Christian groups throughout Asia, and their influence lasted an additional one thousand years beyond their supposed demise.Jenkins offers a new lens through which to view our world today, including the current conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Without this lost history, we lack an important element for understanding our collective religious past. By understanding the forgotten catastrophe that befell Christianity, we can appreciate the surprising new births that are occurring in our own time, once again making Christianity a true world religion.

    A true catechism from which, throughout the history of the church, other catechisms have drawn and learned including the recent Catechism of the Catholic Church which quotes Augustine extensively. Within the context of the three theological virtues, faith, hope and love, Augustine masterfully covers the faith. He first works his way through the creed and then the Lords prayer as recorded by Matthew, ending with the sacraments. This is a colossal work in one small volume. Augustines Enchiridion On Faith, Hope and Charity, here called The Augustine Catechism, expresses his mature thinking and is an ideal introduction to studying his theologyhis teaching on the Trinity, the Church and the Sacraments, his doctrine of Original Sin and of redemption through Christ. It provides an admirable orientation to understanding his thought. Gerald Bonner Professor Emeritus Durham University Profound and complex in his theological vision, Augustine of Hippo could nonetheless synthesize and simplify when occasion needed. This fresh translation of his handbook of the Catholic faith. along with helpful introduction and commentary, makes accessible to the contemporary reader both the profundity and simplicity of the thought of Augustine of Hippo, revealing once again why he remains a Christian teacher and spiritual guide for all ages. Thomas F. Martin, O.S.A. Villanova University

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    Preoccupied with the relationship between faith and reason, he was influenced both by Aristotle's rational world view and by the powerful belief that wisdom and truth can ultimately only be reached through divine revelation. Thomas's writings, which contain highly influential statements of fundamental Christian doctrine, as well as observations on topics as diverse as political science, anti-Semitism and heresy, demonstrate the great range of his intellect and place him firmly among the greatest medieval philosophers.

    He tackles the tough issues in an attempt to expose how the opposition is misunderstanding the Scriptures and history. He uses many Protestant scholars and historians to support the Catholic position. This book contains the most complete compilation of Scriptural and Patristic quotations on the primacy of Peter and the Papal office of any book available. It has over 500 footnotes with supporting evidence from Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, and non-Christian authorities.

    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.

    1181-1226) is popularly remembered for his dedication to poverty, his love of animals and nature, and his desire to follow perfectly the teachings and example of Christ. During his lifetime and after his death, followers collected, for their own purposes, numerous stories, anecdotes, and reports about Francis. As a result, the man himself and his own concerns became lost in legend.In this authoritative and engaging new biography, Augustine Thompson, O.P., sifts through the surviving evidence for the life of Francis using modern historical methods. The result is a complex yet sympathetic portrait of the man and the saint. Francis emerges from this account as very much a typical thirteenth-century Italian layman, but one who, when faced with unexpected crises in his personal life, made decisions so radical that they challenge his own society--and ours. Unlike the saint of legend, this Francis never had a unique divine inspiration to provide him with rules for following the teachings of Jesus. Rather, he spent his life reacting to unexpected challenges, before which he often found himself unprepared and uncertain. The Francis who emerges here is both more complex and more conflicted than that of older biographies. His famed devotion to poverty is found to be more nuanced than expected, perhaps not even his principal spiritual concern. Thompson revisits events small and large in Francis's life, including his troubled relations with his father, his contacts with Clare of Assisi, his encounter with the Muslim sultan, and his receiving the Stigmata, to uncover the man behind the legends and popular images.A tour de force of historical research and biographical writing, Francis of Assisi: A New Biography is divided into two complementary parts--a stand alone biographical narrative and a close, annotated examination of the historical sources about Francis. Taken together, the narrative and the survey of the sources provide a much-needed fresh perspective on this iconic figure. As I have worked on this biography, Thompson writes, my respect for Francis and his vision has increased, and I hope that this book will speak to modern people, believers and unbelievers alike, and that the Francis I have come to know will have something to say to them today.

    Saint Francis of Assisi is quite possibly the most popular of all Christian saints. Perhaps it is his adoration for all living things or his unrelenting generosity that has made so many people open their hearts to him. Perhaps it is the deep conviction and piety expressed not only by the saint himself, but in his name, in the Franciscan orders throughout the centuries.Whatever the reason, in a world that is quickly developing in a direction diametrically opposite to the saint's own simple asceticism, Saint Francis of Assisi still stirs strong emotions and compassion. How close he found God, in the very nature around him, is inspiring.All books in The Life and Prayers series come complete with a Touch-or-Click Table of Contents, divided by each section. Enjoy.

    Many people who visit communities for retreats and quiet days look for help in integrating into their daily lives some of the things they see and experience. This handbook will help people follow the Rule of Benedict as it explains the essential elements of Benedictine spirituality. It provides information on the spread of the Benedictine movement, its outstanding figures, and the main branches of the Benedictine family today. It also includes a simple version of the Daily Office and a collection of Benedictine devotions. It is a member's handbook" that deepens the sense of belonging among those who seek regular contact with a Benedictine community.The Benedictine Handbook will appeal to a broad range of readers who may or may not be familiar with Benedictine literature. The contributors to The Benedictine Handbook come from Benedictine backgrounds in the United States and Europe.Chapters and contributors include in Part One: Tools of Benedictine Spirituality *The Work of God, - by Demetrius Dumm; *Lectio Divina, - by Michal Casey; *Prayer, - by Mary Forman; *Work, - by Lauren McTaggart; *Perseverance, - by Kym Harris; *The Vows, - by Richard Yeo; and *Hospitality, - by Kathleen Norris. Part Two: The Benedictine Experience of God includes *A Simple Daily Office, - by Fr. Oswald; *Benedictine Prayers, - by Fr. Anthony; *A Benedictine Who's Who, - by Robert Atwell; and *Benedictine Holy Places, - by ColmanO'Clabaigh. Part Three: Living the Rule includes *In Community, - by Columba Stewart; *In Solitude, - by Maria Boulding; *As Oblates, - by Patrick Phelan; and *In the World, - by Esther de Wall. Part Four: The Benedictine Family includes *A Short History, - by Joe Rippinger; *Benedictine Orders, - by Dominic Milroy; and *The Cistercian Tradition, - by Nivard Kinsella. The contributors to Part Five: A Glossary of Benedictine Terms are Terrence Kardong and Jill Maria Murdy. A Benedictine Handbook also includes *Preface to the Rule, - by Patrick Barry; and *The Rule (Patrick Barry's Version). -"

    It brings to vivid and shocking life the age in which Shakespeare lived and in which the English martyrs died." Joseph PearceWriter-in-Residence, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

    Mr. Blai is an auxiliary member of the International Association of Exorcists, a peritus of religious demonology and exorcism in the Roman Catholic church, and he trains priests in exorcism and deliverance on a national level in the United States. He has worked on demonic cases for about 10 years and has combined this with his professional training in adult clinical psychology, brain research experience, and clinical exposure to mental illness. This unique perspective and experience has been summarized here for the public audience.

    His jackets were tailored to hold his machete. His drug deals earned him thousands of pounds. Penthouse apartment, luxury cars, designer clothes and women. John Pridmore had everything he wanted. Until one night outside a London club he nearly killed a man.

    But in the first half of the nineteenth century, the foundations upon which the church had rested for centuries were shaken. In the eyes of many thoughtful people, liberalism in the guise of liberty, equality, and fraternity was the quintessence of the evils that shook those foundations. At the Vatican Council of 1869-1870, the church made a dramatic effort to set things right by defining the doctrine of papal infallibility.In Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church, John W. O'Malley draws us into the bitter controversies over papal infallibility that at one point seemed destined to rend the church in two. Archbishop Henry Manning was the principal driving force for the definition, and Lord Acton was his brilliant counterpart on the other side. But they shrink in significance alongside Pope Pius IX, whose zeal for the definition was so notable that it raised questions about the very legitimacy of the council. Entering the fray were politicians such as Gladstone and Bismarck. The growing tension in the council played out within the larger drama of the seizure of the Papal States by Italian forces and its seemingly inevitable consequence, the conquest of Rome itself.Largely as a result of the council and its aftermath, the Catholic Church became more pope-centered than ever before. In the terminology of the period, it became ultramontane.