Dark Night of the Soul


John of the Cross
    

The Mystical City of God (4 Volume Set)


Mary of Agreda - 1990
    Pope Clement XI and Benedict XIV gave like decisions.

Life is Worth Living


Fulton J. Sheen - 1953
    This book contains the full-length scripts of forty-four of those top-rated programs that drew thousands of letters weekly to Sheen from his viewers in response to the advice and insights he gave on his shows.Bishop Sheen's writings, tapes and videos are as popular today as when he was alive. His timeless insights offered in this book give wise, personal and inspiring guidance on the problems affecting our lives in today's world. His talks cover an amazing variety of subjects, from the character of the Irish to the handling of teen-agers. He discusses education, Christianity, relativity, and world affairs. He speaks about love, conscience, fear, motherhood, work. He tells amusing anecdotes, recites poetry, and ponders the fate of the free world as well as America's destiny.Among his many best-selling books, none has greater universal appeal than Life Is Worth Living. It offers a stirring and challenging statement of Bishop Sheen's whole philosophy of life and living. It is a book for everyone - of immediate concern to all people seeking understanding, belief, and purpose in these troubled times.

Resisting Happiness


Matthew Kelly - 2016
    and how to start choosing happiness again!Are you happy? It may be the wrong question. Most of us think we are relatively happy, while at the same time knowing that we could be happier—maybe even a lot happier. Ordinary people and the finest philosophers have been exploring the question of happiness for thousands of years, and theories abound. But this is not a book of theory. Resisting Happiness is a deeply personal, disarmingly transparent look at why we sabotage our own happiness and what to do about it.Are you overwhelmed? Do you procrastinate? Do you sometimes feel like you are your own worst enemy? Are you ignoring your dreams? Have you lost the courage to truly be yourself? Do you feel that your life lacks meaning and purpose? Do you find yourself avoiding the real issues in your life and focusing on the superficial?We all experience these feelings and doubts from time to time. But do you know what to do when you experience them? In this fascinating book, Matthew Kelly, uses his signature combination of the profound and the practical, to help us understand why we feel these things and how to rise above them.Breaking through resistance, Kelly tells us, is essential to becoming the-best-version-of-ourselves and living with passion and purpose.What is resistance? It's that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you. It's the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you. It's the desire and tendency to delay something you should be doing right now.It is resistance that stands between you and happiness. In these pages you will learn not only what it is, but how to recognize and conquer it in your own life.

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.

Theology of the Body In One Hour


Jason Evert - 2017
    Through his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II unveiled the beauty of God’s plan for human love. In 60 minutes, discover how the human body—in its masculinity and femininity—reveals who we are and how we are called to live.

Catechism of the Catholic Church


The Catholic Church - 1992
    This book is the catechism (the word means "instruction") that will serve as the standarad for all future catechisms.The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. Here is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.The Catechism of the Catholic Church is, as Pope John Paul II calls it, "a special gift."

The Crowd, The Critic And The Muse: A Book For Creators


Michael Gungor - 2012
    Human beings are made in the image of God, the ultimate source of creativity, yet many of us don't recognize the inherent creativity we have. I have written a book for creators called "The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse" that addresses the soulishness of human creativity. It is a book that reminds us who we are, and aims to inspire us to be who we are made to be. The book was inspired by a conversation that started with a blog I wrote last year called "Zombies, Wine and Christian Music." I wrote that blog thinking very few people would pay any attention to it, but within a couple days of posting, it had nearly fifty-thousand hits! This surprised me, but it also showed this is a conversation people are wanting to have. A lot of the most popular creative expressions of our culture (religious or not) have become anemic and soulless. We live in a noisy, technologically-crazed, consumeristic, fame-worshiping culture that has provided a less-than-healthy ground in which to plant our creative endeavors. In the book I suggest we must address this problem by looking deeper than the art itself; into our cultural conditioning as well as our most basic beliefs, doubts, passions, instincts, and gears. Our creativity comes directly from our humanness, and if we want our creative work to be richer and more robust, we must not simply try harder; we must become different. This is a book for creators written from the perspective of an artist. Through story and reflection, I hope to inspire some fresh thought and awareness of the roots of our creative endeavors. How we order creation is directly entwined with what it means to be human. So what shall we make of the world?

Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God


Scott Hahn - 2001
    In Hail, Holy Queen, he employs the same accessible, entertaining style to demonstrate Mary's essential role in Christianity's redemptive message.Most Christians know that the life of Jesus is foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament. Through a close examination of the Bible, as well as the work of both Catholic and Protestant scholars and clergy, Hahn brings to light the small but significant details showing that just as Jesus is the "New Adam," so Mary is the "New Eve." He unveils the Marian mystery at the heart of the Book of Revelation and reveals how it is foretold in the very first pages of the Book of Genesis and in the story of King David's monarchy, which speaks of a privileged place for the mother of the king. Building on these scriptural and historical foundations, Hahn presents a new look at the Marian doctrines: Her Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Assumption, and Coronation. As he guides modern-day readers through passages filled with mysteries and poetry, Hahn helps them rediscover the ancient art and science of reading the Scriptures and gain a more profound understanding of their truthfulness and relevance to faith and the practice of religion in the contemporary world.From the Hardcover edition.

The Jeweler's Shop: A Meditation on the Sacrament of Matrimony Passing on Occasion Into a Drama


Karol Wojtyła - 1960
    In this illuminating three-act play—here in the only English translation authorized by the Vatican—he explores relationships between men and women, the joys—and the pain—of love and marriage.The action unfolds in two settings at once: a street in a small town, outside the local jeweler's shop (people go to buy their wedding rings there), and the mysterious inner landscape of personal hopes and fears, loves and longings. Each act focuses on a different couple: the first happily planning their wedding, the second long-married and unhappy, the third about to marry but full of doubts. Writing with power and understanding about a love that survives the grave, a love that has withered and died, a love budding out of complexes and insecurities, the Pope addresses such fundamental human concerns as: What does it mean to fall in love? When do we know that a love is real—and can it last? If it dies, how do we go on living—and loving again? There are no easy answers, and there is no happy ending—such is the nature of men and women, and such is the nature of love—but there is hope, if we only acknowledge our need and accept the risks of a deep and lasting commitment.This is a play full of wisdom on a subject of great relevance to all, and it provides a special insight into the thoughts of the man who, like no other, has captured the imagination of people of all faiths throughout the world.Karol Wojtyla—Pope John Paul II—has long been involved with the theater. As a student of literature, then priest, bishop and archbishop, he acted, directed, wrote dramatic criticism, made a Polish translation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and has authored six plays.

The Spiritual Exercises


Ignatius of Loyola
    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."

Wisdom from the Lives and Letters of St Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal


Louise Perrotta - 2000
    Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. As they did for so many others, these master spiritual directors can guide you gently and lovingly to Jesus, so that he can reign in your own heart. On a host of subjects—whether it be how to trust in God, accept your imperfections, deal with temptations, or serve others with love—these saints provide timeless, inspirational advice.

A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward


Ralph Martin - 2020
    While much has been done to counter false teaching over the last four decades, today the Church faces even more insidious threatsƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"from outside and within. In A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward, Martin offers a detailed look at the growing hostility to the Catholic Church and its teaching. With copious evidence, Martin uncovers the forces working to undermine the Body of Christ and offers hope to those looking for clarity.A Church in Crisis covers:-polarization in the Church caused by ambiguous teachings-initiatives that accommodate the culture without calling for conversion-Vatican-sponsored partnerships with organizations that actively contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church-and the recycling of theological errors long settled by V

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art


Madeleine L'Engle - 1980
    In this classic book, Madeleine L'Engle addresses the questions, What makes art Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian artist? What is the relationship between faith and art? Through L'Engle's beautiful and insightful essay, readers will find themselves called to what the author views as the prime tasks of an artist: to listen, to remain aware, and to respond to creation through one's own art.

The Didache


Anonymous
    Traditionally ascribed to the Twelve Apostles.