Showing titles in Catholicism

An award-winning author, former presidential speechwriter, and mother of four weaves stories of her own struggles against comparison and impossible expectations with those of seven ex-perfectionist saints (and one heretic) who show us how to pursue a new kind of perfection: freedom in Christ.

In this popular abridgment of his monumental Preparation for Death, St. Alphonsus teaches the proper attitude toward Death, which is one of readiness; of always having one's "debts cleared". He cautions against letting even one day pass without reflecting on the certainty of death, the shortness of time and the length of eternity. Each chapter is a short consideration on some aspect of death, divided into three points easily understood by people in every state of life.

On many occasions throughout the history of the Catholic Church, God has provided visible proof of the invisible reality of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the holy eucharist. In Eucharistic Miracles, Joan Carroll Cruz documents 36 such miracles. Finally, it also recounts miraculous eucharistic phenomena in the lives of saints: saints who lived with only the eucharist for sustenance, received communication miraculously, or experienced raptures, ecstasies, levitations, visions, locutions, and more.

Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the ongoing growth and perpetual validity of the Traditional Latin Mass, insisting that "what earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden, or even considered harmful". However, with the 2021 release of Traditionis Custodes, his successor has declared the opposite.

Thomas Keating was a Cistercian monk who founded the worldwide 'Contemplative Outreach', teaching people the art of meditation. Invitation to Love provides a road map for the journey that begins when Centering Prayer is seriously undertaken. Pointing to some of the recognizable landmarks on this journey, as well as to its ultimate destination, Father Keating addresses common questions regarding contemplative practice: How will it affect my life? Where does it lead us spiritually? What obstacles will I encounter along the way? How does it work?

Finding an apparently perfect world at Akenside Priory, and a haven after the loss of her father, Catherine Coldstream trusts herself to a group of twenty silent women, believing she is trusting herself to God. As the beauty and mystery of an ancient way of life enfolds her, she surrenders herself wholly to its power, only to find that all is not as it seems behind the Order's closed doors. Cut off from the wider world for decades, the community has managed to evade accountability to any authority beyond itself.

Here are the devastating revelations that triggered a crisis within the Catholic Church. Here is the truth about the scores of abusive priests who preyed upon innocent children and the cabal of senior church officials who covered up their crimes. Here is the trail of "hush money" that the Catholic Church secretly paid to buy victims' silence - deeds that left millions of the faithful in the US and around the world shocked, angry, and confused.

This book describes the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based style of catechesis that focuses on the child’s independent journey to God by working with materials in a specially prepared place called an atrium. Written by Sofia Cavaletti, the Italian scripture scholar who developed the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, this classic work demonstrates the profound spiritual capabilities of children as brought forth through their engagement in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

The resurrection from death is a strong component of the Christian faith, which the Nicene Creed, affirms stating: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." The early Christian writers Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, in the second century, wrote against the widespread idea of their time that only the soul survived. In like manner, we have this later writing of St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-395 AD) which clearly articulates the position that a person is both soul and body and that Christ has promised to raise them both.

In 1972, a young Franciscan friar named Murray Bodo wrote a unique book about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis: The Journey and the Dream offered people a unique combination of lyrical prose and brief, absorbing vignettes that inspired hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to contemplate the life of the famous saint and see him in a new way. Fifty years and over 200,000 copies later, this book still captivates people everywhere, and Fr. Bodo is still writing about St. Francis and the Franciscan way of life.

Angels are everywhere—as a matter of fact, right at your side. Forget the sweet-faced cherubs of popular culture, however, and brace yourself for a far more potent reality: powerful heavenly beings who play a significant role in the personal drama of daily life—your life.

Peter Kreeft brings his unique insights to this most important area of our spiritual lives. He claims he himself is still a beginner in prayer, and this book is for all those, like him, who feel that they are not good at praying but desire to become much better at it. Thus, Kreeft offers simple, but profound advice and practical steps for developing a prayer life based on the time-tested wisdom of the saints and great spiritual writers, especially the principles found in Brother Lawrence's classic, The Practice of the Presence of God.

In this bold, momentous work, the pope, in his first book written as Benedict XVI, seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent "popular" depictions and to restore Jesus' true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and incites us to encounter, face-to-face, the central figure of the Christian faith.

What mountain is threatening you? It's time to talk to your mountains. We talk to ourselves and each other about our problems all day long when we should be talking to our problems. Jesus said, "Say to this mountain." He has given us authority and power over fear, worry, and every negative stronghold oppressing us.

There are more than one billion Catholics in the world, and each one has a similar set of basic beliefs and practices that he or she follows. Some of the teachings of Catholicism are thousands of years old, while others are more recent. So what is the Catholic culture like and what do they believe? Catholicism For Dummies answers these and many other questions.

Through beautiful prose and inspiring meditations, Caryll Houselander depicts the intimately human side of Mary, Mother of God, as an empty reed waiting for God's music to be played through her. Lovingly bringing Our Lady down off her time-honored, ancient pedestal, Houselander shares her insightful and beautiful vision of Mary on earth, Mary among us, Mary as a confused but trusting teenager whose holiness flowered with her eternal "Yes".

This book is not just a biography of a young man on the path to sainthood; it is an invitation to walk with Carlo Acutis, to understand his love for God, and to be inspired by his life of faith, charity, and devotion. Whether you are a long-time devotee of Carlo or newly acquainted with his story, this comprehensive guide offers a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and discover the power of living a life rooted in love and service.

It was said that after the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord was most pleased to dwell in the heart and soul of this saint. As a result St. Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) is the only one who has the name "great" in her title. A classic of Catholic literature, this book records the life and the revelations of St. Gertrude, a German Benedictine nun. In these revelations she is given a clear picture of heaven along with advise for those seeking to advance in the spiritual life.

The spiritual life is not a life then and there, but a life here and now. It is a life in which the spirit of God is revealed in the ordinary enccounters of every day. With a smile and a tear, Nouwen looks at the day-to-day events of our lives and discovers there places where God chooses to dwell and call us.

What is a monastery? A monastery is a place set apart - a place to learn the blessings of powerlessness, and that time is not ours but God’s. Our home and our duties can, just like a monastery, teach us those things. The vocation of monastic men and women is to physically withdraw from the world. But the principle is equally valid for those of us who cannot go off to monasteries. Certain vocations offer the same kind of opportunity for contemplation, and provide a desert for reflection.