A perfect way to live Lent to the full this year - Lent is a time to refocus our hearts and revive our love of the Lord and one another.A Companion for the Forty Days of Lent, featuring original meditations on the Gospel reading of each day by fifteen gifted authors.Each issue of the Lenten Companion is never the same as the last and contains these one-of-a-kind extras that you won’t find anywhere else:- Inspiring reflections from some of the most gifted Catholic writers for each day- Faith-filled essays- Prayers, poetry, and devotions- Meditations for the Way of the Cross- A treasury of spiritual insights

    Originally published in Italian by the Vatican Press, this book offers readers insights into the sacrality which ought to surround the distribution and reception of Holy Communion  Relying on accurate history and good theology, the author makes a plea for a return to distributing the Eucharist to kneeling communicants on the tongue — the practice now restored at papal liturgies by Pope Benedict XVI.  The book comes with the endorsement of the two highest officials in the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

    My Daily Bread is a series of short, daily reflections on the spiritual life. Written with loving care by Father Anthony Paone, this devotional will strengthen your love for Christ and his teachings. Written as a dialogue with Christ himself, Father Paone leads the reader through the three ways of the spiritual life: Purification, Imitation, and Union. Arranged for daily reflection, this pocket-sized book is an indispensible guide to the spiritual life. My Daily Bread overflows with reflections and prayers specifically designed to help you grow in the spiritual life and overcome failings, including: • How to cultivate, recognize, and follow your conscience (p. 18) • A contemplation of the Four Last Things that will help keep our focus on the eternal (p.25) • The power of prayer as the first remedy to temptation (p. 99) • A detailed guide on how to conquer a host of bad habits (p. 153) • How to overcome our fear of suffering and instead embrace it as Christ embraced it (p. 203) • How to live for Christ daily through spiritual reading, prayer, overcoming distractions, and cultivating devotions • Achieving union with Christ through the Eucharist (p. 382) • And much more… Each daily reflection begins with Jesus speaking directly to you, kindly, patiently, and with great love. The next part of the reflection asks you to consider the truths presented in the words of Jesus. The final part consists of a prayer asking for God for the help to receive His wisdom and use it fruitfully in your life. With more than one million copies sold, My Daily Bread is a true Christian classic. It's simple, yet carefully crafted daily reflections have led thousands to a drastically improved interior life and a deeper love for Christ. A portion of the proceeds from every purchase of this Confraternity of the Precious Blood title go directly to The Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn, NY to support them in their vocation.

    She became a renowned pro-life leader and brilliant debater, who was struck with breast cancer and died at the young age of forty-one. Ruth's inspiring story is told primarily through her humorous, sparkling and insightful letters in which her realistic cheerfulness shines. A biographical overview by her husband fills in important details about her life, and a collection of her talks on abortion, faith and being a Catholic wife and mother conclude the volume.  Ruth Pakaluk exemplified the powerful integrity of someone who lived what she believed. She was steadfastly committed to Christ and to the culture of life, and this commitment was manifested in her consistent affirmation of life in her family, in society and even in the face of her own death. Peter Kreeft, well known Professor of Philosophy and author, described Ruth as the best, most effective and inspiring pro-life speaker he had ever heard. She was such a compelling, articulate pro-life debater that eventually Planned Parenthood spokeswomen refused to spar with her in public.All Ruth's virtues revealed in this book  - her love as a devoted wife and mother, her zeal for the truth, and her faith & hope while battling a terminal illness  - offer inspiration and encouragement to anyone striving to put Christian faith into action.

    When a chance encounter with Chris ends with an invitation, Rebecca says yes. The authentic way Chris lives his life attracts Rebecca and garners her affection. Chris loves Rebecca and her innocence, but he's confounded by the emotional scars she bears from her parents and an attempted assault. Her father's disdain for Chris's faith and career only make matters worse. With the counsel of their friend Father John, can Rebecca and Chris overcome every obstacle and bridge the deepening gulf between them and her dad? Or will a crucial lapse in judgment and its repercussion end their relationship?

    The rosary is perfect for those times when words can't express our feelings, when we want to contemplate the basic truths of our faith, or when we simply want to enter into God's presence. Finley includes a brief and accurate history of the rosary, explains why it is a Christ-centered prayer, and provides background on the individual prayers of the rosary and a short commentary on each of the twenty mysteries.This book will help Catholics who have prayed the rosary all their lives but want to know more about it as well as those who want to begin anew or try it for the first time.

    Thomas wrote, then turn to The One-Minute Aquinas, the fast-paced book that provides busy readers with simple, readable explanations of the truths that, for 750 years now, have caused the works of St. Thomas to be sought out by kings and popes, scholars and saints, as well as by ordinary souls like you — hungry to know God and to love him more and more.In this book’s lucid pages, author Kevin Vost gives you small, digestible portions of St. Thomas’s life-giving wisdom that you can enjoy one minute at a time. Tables and graphics will help you grasp and remember St. Thomas’s key ideas with a minimum of time and effort.Best of all, in The One-Minute Aquinas you’ll find quick, sure refutations of the countless relativistic, secular, and pseudoscientific ideas that are so influential in our culture today — and so shallow, contradictory, and wrong!Pope John Paul II declared that “the Church has been justified in consistently proposing St. Thomas as a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology.” Now The One-Minute Aquinas enables even those with limited time and only a modest education to benefit from the wisdom of this great saint.Here, with minimal effort and among scores of other things, you’ll finally come to know and understand:--Why God permits evil--Heaven: what it is (and is not)--Five simple proofs that God exists--Why God became man--Why Jesus let himself be tempted--How you can grow quickly in virtue--Why all souls need the sacraments--Why Jesus let himself be crucified--The causes of lust--The natural law and the Commandments--The soul, free will, sin, and damnation--The angels, their ranks, and their powers--How God governs (and refrains from governing)--God’s power and its limits--The Bible: why didn’t Jesus just write it himself?--The surprising qualities of our resurrected bodies

    As chaplain to the Fire Department of New York, Father Mychal Judge was officially the first to go. A loving priest with a gift for the gab-gregarious yet humble, a healer with the ability to wipe away a widow's tears and put a smile on a fireman's face.And on September 11th Father Mike rushed to the fires at the World Trade Center as quickly as those who fought them, losing his own life while tirelessly ministering to New York's bravest.Father Mike recounts the colorful, astonishing and at times troubled life of a priest who saw the potential for good in everybody-in the homeless person he slipped a dollar to on the street; the alcoholic he sought to coax to an AA meeting; the early victims of AIDS he embraced and comforted; the troubled young men he visited in jail; and the thousands of firefighters he blessed as they rushed to their rigs answering the call. Here was a priest who rejoiced in the life around him and understood that even the most terrible times present us with wonders-that good always arises from the bad in the most unexpected ways. Or as Father Mike would say, "My God is a God of surprises."In this touching book, author Michael Daly retraces the footsteps of Father Mike as his vocation takes us inside the firehouse, inside his friary and his Church, and inside the chaos that often befalls New York.This is the tale of a larger than life priest who, in death, became a symbol of how much we truly lost that Tuesday in September. Father Mike is the inspirational story of a hero priest who blessed so many lives and will long be remembered by it.

    Drawing together history and readings from scripture, Wills explains the beads on the rosary and the moments in Christ's life they represent, illustrating each mystery with a stunning Tintoretto painting. The result is an illuminating and poignant exploration of the power of prayer that will edify and inspire readers.

    Through stories, domestic insights from Zelie's correspondence, and running commentary on their faith and family, we see in vivid detail how Louis and Zelie created a joyful Catholic home amid the daily stresses of ordinary life with their children.

    

    Then terminal cancer happened. The best doctors despaired. And Artie dared to look for a miracle. Artie had never put much stock in mysticism or miracles. But when his best friends bought tickets to fly with him to Croatia to the controversial shrine at Medjugorje where healings were known to happen, he dared it all. They found themselves in powerful ways sharing spiritually, even praying together, something they would have found very odd before. And when they came home Artie was healed—completely. The cancer was gone. The doctors at Mass General Hospital were astounded yet could offer no explanation. Six Months to Live relates not only Artie’s miraculous healing but his spiritual transformation and the hope and inspiration he offers to thousands who hear his story.

    —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

    The story of these men is unrecognized, submerged in the overall history of the concentration camps.From all countries and of all ages, the priests were gathered behind the barbed wire of Dachau according to an agreement wrested from the Reich by Vatican diplomacy. For eight years, both tragedies and magnificent gestures punctuated the journey of the clergy at Dachau, from the terrifying forced march of -Holy Week- in 1942 to the heroic voluntary confinement of priests in the barracks of those dying of typhoid, to the moving clandestine ordination of a young German deacon by a French bishop. Never in the course of history have so many priests, monks and seminarians been murdered in such a small area: 1,034 lost their lives.Beyond the personal journeys of which it is composed, the history of the priests at Dachau sheds new light on Hitler's system of concentration camps, on the intrinsic anti-Christian animus of Nazism and, beyond the strictly historical perspective, on faith and spiritual commitment. This book deals with many questions about the priest barracks, including:How does the experience of the priests at Dachau compare to those who were laymen? What were their privileges and what were their particular sufferings? Did the Nazi persecution against the clergy have ideological or political underpinnings? Did the faith and religious commitment of the priests reinforce them against the methodical dehumanization in the camps? Were their moral convictions, forged by the Gospel and the tradition of the Church, able to resist the perversion of values imposed by the SS? Did the sufferings endured by the priests at Dachau bear fruit within the ecclesiastical institution and also outside, at the peripheries of the Church?In Guillaume Zeller's recounting of this strange story, this fragment of the tragedy of the concentration camps allows us to learn answers to these and other intriguing questions.

    And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none." --Mark Twain