Classic Authors

The stirring sequel to Father Michael Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory -- published just in time for the Jubilee Year of Mercy!

After a healthy pregnancy, Bonnie L. Engstrom delivered a stillboard baby boy. AFter sixty-one minutes, when the doctors were going to call a time of death, James Fulton's heart began to beat. During that time, the Engstroms had been asking for and counting on the intercession of James's namesake: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. In 2014, medical experts and theological advisors to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints unanimously approved the miracle. Read the amazing true story that teaches us that miracles are possible.

God is to be found in the simplest of our daily activities and especially through total surrender to whatever is His will for each of us. That is the message of this 18th-century inspirational classic by Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Its encouragement to live in the present moment, accepting everyday obstacles with humility and love, has guided generations of seekers to spiritual peace and holiness. In this timeless spiritual classic, de Caussade presents the simple, profound gospel message that Jesus lived and taught: My meat is to do the will of my Father in heaven. The author states, The will of God gives to all things a supernatural and divine value for the soul submitting to it. The duties it imposes and those it contains become holy and perfect because everything it touches shares its divine character.This special volume of the famous spiritual treatise also includes the many insightful letters of Father de Caussade on the practice of self-abandonment. These numerous letters provide a great additional source of wisdom and much practical guidance for how to grow in abandonment and to deepen our union with God in our daily lives.De Caussade shows that this practice of self-abandonment to God's will is the key to attaining true peace and virtue, and that it is readily available to all people - from beginners to those well advanced in the spiritual life. He also shows how to determine what God's will is for us. He reveals that it is not extraordinary feats that God expects for our growth in holiness, but rather heroic attention to every detail in our lives and humble acceptance of our daily lot in life as coming from His hand. The rich spiritual lessons in this book have stood the test of time, offering real and practical assistance to all people because its message is simple and clear, one that the reader will find to be a rare treasure of inspiration and direction to be referred to again and again.

Ray Guarendi, psychologist, husband and father of ten adopted children, considers the most commonly asked adoption questions with insight, humor and a heart for the adoptive family. His aim? To dispel unsettling misperceptions about adoption, to encourage others to think about and act on adoption, and to guide adoptive parents to a more relaxed, rewarding family life for all involved. A must-have resource for those considering adoption, those who have already adopted and those in the mix as family members or friends of adoptive parents.

A brief, engaging, and readable summary of the influential thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the Catholic Church's greatest minds. In this clear, thoughtful and immensely readable book, Francis Selman offers summaries on some of the most complex topics in the writing of St. Thomas Aquinas. Selman deftly draws on the work of contemporary scholars while situating Aquinas in relation to the thinkers and schools of thought he was both confronting and drawing upon. The result provides an overview that places the thought of Aquinas both in his time and in our own.

From the Church's greatest theologian: the essentials of Catholic doctrine. This book contains Aquinas's simple summary of the Faith. He covers the Trinity, Providence, the Incarnation, the Last Judgment, and much more. It's a concise statement of the key doctrines and elements of the Faith.

Well-known author, psychologist and priest Fr. Benedict Groeschel draws on his own years of personal experiences in dealing with people's problems, tragedies and darkness as he offers help and guidance for any Christian troubled or burdened by life. If you are struggling with fear, anxiety, grief, loss of loved ones, hurt, anger or anything that makes life difficult or the road through it dark, then this book was written for you. Fr. Benedict offers practical suggestions on how to keep going and even grow with the help of God's grace, even when this help seems remote. The Christian response to the problem of evil and suffering began with the cross of Christ. Our answer is inseparable from the cross-from Jesus' own encounter with evil and his triumph over it. In this light, Fr. Benedict recalls some of our most frequently encountered sorrows and griefs: the failure of friends, financial and personal insecurity, the failure of some in the Church, our own inconsistent behaviors and weaknesses, and the death of loved ones. As we examine these painful experiences, he shows that we can find solutions in the Gospel and in the lives of saints, heroes, and very brave ordinary people.

In As I Have Loved You: An Interview With Mother Teresa, John Scally discovers a woman behind the blessed face of Mother Teresa. Emerging from her strong faith and good deeds for the poor, we discover a woman whose interior life was also marked with a deep, painful, and abiding feeling of being separated from God, even rejected by Him, along with an ever-increasing longing for His love. This interior, "the darkness," show us the moments that reveal her true heroism. No pilgrimage is without doubt, and no love is without God. Learn the unique spirituality of Mother Teresa and see truth in the hearts of the poor through Mother Teresa's experience.

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Meditations on the beatitudes given to Pope Benedict XVI and the papal household. Anyone who has tried to live the beatitudes will confirm that the task can be daunting. What does it mean to be a peacemaker? Do you really want to be reviled by others? If you're not rich compared to your immediate neighbors and friends, but you're rich compared to most of the world, what are you supposed to do about that? Father Raniero Cantalamessa will lead you not only to a deeper appreciation of these famous words of Jesus, but also into the presence of Jesus himself who lived them perfectly and who will give you the ability and enthusiasm to do the same. The beatitudes are not a burden to be shouldered but an invitation to a joy-filled life of surrender to the Lord who came not to be served, but to serve.

How can you have "the talk" so that your kids will listen? All it takes is a little Respect. Realize what they need to know and when they need to know it. Elicit their thoughts, attitudes, and feelings. Speak the truth. Present a positive, Christian attitude toward sex. Expect to talk about your own struggles when appropriate. Control your temper and the temptation to lecture. Teach your children what the gift of the body is really for.

In this book, Chesterton's brilliance as a writer and thinker again shine through as he explains his understanding of Catholicism and the Catholic Church and how its appeal to reason and truth eventually won him over. For Chesterton, two essentials lay at the heart of conversion, and without these, a man misses the point of it all. He describes these in his own words: "One is that he believes it to be solid objective truth, which is true whether he likes it or not; and the other is that he seeks liberation from his sins." That is why Chesterton became a Catholic, and what he describes in his unique and colorful way in this book.

"Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, was a man whose life was the expression of a richly textured and multidimensional soul. The many layers of that soul took on their first, mature form in Kraków." - George Weigel

In this beautifully illustrated spiritual travelogue, New York Times bestselling author George Weigel leads readers through the historic streets of Kraków, Poland, introducing one of the world's great cities through the life of one of the most influential Catholic leaders of all time.

"To follow Karol Wojtyla through Kraków is to follow an itinerary of sanctity while learning the story of a city." Weigel writes. "Thus, in what follows, the story of Karol Wojtyla, St. John Paul II, and the story of Kraków are interwoven in a chronological pilgrimage through the life of a saint that reveals, at the same time, the dramatic history and majestic culture of a city where a boy grew into a man, priest, a bishop--and an apostle to the world."

With stunning photographs by Stephen Weigel and notes on the city's remarkable fabric by Carrie Gress, City of Saints offers an in-depth look at a man and a city that made an indelible impression on the life and thought of the Catholic Church and the 21st century world.

What does it mean to be a complete thinker? It means being able to take on a wide variety of ideas and disciplines and put them all together in a way that they work together. It means thinking like G.K. Chesterton.The English author G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the most prolific and well-known writers of his time, and one of the most widely quoted in our own. For newspapers and magazines, he wrote social commentary, literary criticism, and poetry with poignancy and wit. Creator of the beloved detective Father Brown, Chesterton also wrote novels and short stories. Thinking, wrote Chesterton, means connecting things. His ideas are not only connected to each other, they are also connected to us, showing that the thought of Chesterton is timeless. In a world of increasing specialization, Chesterton connects us to the big picture by helping us see how the many and varied elements within our experience fit together. He sheds light on almost every subject and opens doors from one thing to another with dazzling clarity. Drawing on literally hundreds of references from Chesterton's vast writings, Dale Ahlquist conducts a symphony, with Chesterton playing all the instruments in perfect harmony. Chesterton's thoughts on almost everything--from east to west, from old to new, from politics to economics, from Shakespeare to Dickens--are woven together to create an illuminating whole.

In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine relates his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of power at the imperial court in Milan, his struggle against the domination of his sexual nature, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother Monica had taught him during his childhood.

Now, Henry Chadwick, an eminent scholar of early Christianity, has given us the first new English translation in thirty years of this classic spiritual journey. Chadwick renders the details of Augustine's conversion in clear, modern English. We witness the future saint's fascination with astrology and with the Manichees, and then follow him through scepticism and disillusion with pagan myths until he finally reaches Christian faith. There are brilliant philosophical musings about Platonism and the nature of God, and touching portraits of Augustine's beloved mother, of St. Ambrose of Milan, and of other early Christians like Victorinus, who gave up a distinguished career as a rhetorician to adopt the orthodox faith. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, yet his work contains many references and allusions that are easily understood only with background information about the ancient social and intellectual setting. To make The Confessions accessible to contemporary readers, Chadwick provides the most complete and informative notes of any recent translation, and includes an introduction to establish the context.

The religious and philosophical value of The Confessions is unquestionable--now modern readers will have easier access to St. Augustine's deeply personal meditations. Chadwick's lucid translation and helpful introduction clear the way for a new experience of this classic.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.