Biographies

Sohrab Ahmari was a teenager living under the Iranian ayatollahs when he decided that there is no God. Nearly two decades later, he would be received into the Roman Catholic Church.

In From Fire, by Water, he recounts this unlikely passage, from the strident Marxism and atheism of a youth misspent on both sides of the Atlantic to a moral and spiritual awakening prompted by the Mass. At once a young intellectual's finely crafted self-portrait and a life story at the intersection of the great ideas and events of our time, the book marks the debut of a compelling new Catholic voice.

What makes Pope Francis tick? And why does it matter? As the first Jesuit pope in history, Francis has brought a radical shift in focus that stems directly from a long line of Jesuits dating back to St. Ignatius of Loyola. In All the Pope's Saints, you'll get to know many Jesuit saintsboth famous and notwho are the Holy Father's heroes and role models.

The question asked by this story is not "Is abortion wrong?" but rather "Do American citizens have the right to say that abortion is wrong?" -from the Introduction

On Friday, March 20, 2009, fifteen months after the City of Oakland, California, passed a law making it illegal to approach a woman entering an abortion clinic without her consent, Walter B. Hoye II went to jail for standing on a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic with a sign saying, "God loves you and your baby. Let us help you."

The ordained Baptist minister could have accepted a lesser sentence of community service, provided he agreed never to return to the clinic. But he preferred spending thirty days in the county jail to forfeiting his constitutional right to free speech and his Christian duty to offer help to women in need, most of whom were black like him. Two higher courts eventually exonerated him: one overturned his criminal conviction and the other judged that the enforcement of the Oakland "bubble law" was unconstitutional.

Walter's dramatic days in prison, where he lived and preached the Gospel and won the hearts of fellow inmates, is detailed in this book. The political machinations that created the bubble law and then entrapped Walter are also described, using public records. Both stories are told in the context of Walter's background as the descendant of black slaves and the disciple of his hero, Martin Luther King Jr., whose niece, Alveda, has written the foreword for this book.

What is Catholic Traditionalism? Under what historical and cultural circumstances has it appeared? Why do some devout, knowledgeable Catholics embrace the paradoxical position that remaining true to Tradition entails deserting the official, traditional structure of the Church? Most importantly, what steps can be taken to help restore unity in the Body of Christ?

Matthew Arnold, a Catholic convert, answers these and other questions about Catholic Traditionalism. His moving first-hand account powerfully demonstrates how a faithful Catholic's legitimate desire for a reverently celebrated liturgy led him to tolerate the irregular situation of Holy Mass celebrated validly, but illicitly, outside the diocesan structure. His compelling testimony also explores how the licit celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass, can have a positive impact on the life and the liturgy of the Church.

Told in the context of Arnold's personal witness and spiritual journey, this book concisely documents the century-long movement to reform the liturgy. This candid, poignant, and often humorous book exposes the spiritual peril at the heart of radical Traditionalism while remaining compassionate toward the legitimate aspirations of Traditional Catholics.

The Confessions of St. Augustine from Catholic Book, Publishing is - after the Bible and the Imitation of, Christ - the most widely translated and highly, esteemed, book in Christian history. Translated by J.M. Lehen, Ph.D. this Confessions of St. Augustine is, published in a prayer book format, offering a more, participatory reading and prayer experience based on, St. Augustine's confessions of his youthful errors. With a red vinyl cover, this classic Confessions of, St. Augustine will make a tremendous personal resource or, gift.

"Conversations with Mother Teresa" is a lively and personal portrait of this modern-day saint that captures Mother Teresa's vision, energy, determination, and great love for Jesus in the poorest of the poor. Italian Journalist Renzo Allegri relates his impressions upon meeting this "diminutive woman in love with God" in a way that makes us feel as if we were there with him. He also includes lesser known stories about her life: her Albanian family and the hope she never realized of seeing her mother and sister again; her successful plan to place a miraculous medal in the Kremlin; and the suffering she felt when leaving her convent to launch her new mission. All who read this book will share Allegri's admiration and amazement of Blessed Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity she founded, which he calls "an army that defies the impossible."

"I went from an indifferent apathetic Sunday Mass attending Catholic Christian to an on fire Catholic Christian in a few short years. What reignited my faith? The many encounters I had with the occult and diabolical."

So says renowned Catholic apologist and retired veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Jesse Romero. Now for the first time in print, Romero reveals the harrowing details of his experiences with the demonic while working for the LASD. Discover the true stories of spiritual warfare being waged in the streets and alleys of L.A., including:

Romero's encounters with Richard Ramirez, the infamous "Night Stalker"

How the Rosary drove out a demon that had taken hold of a young man

What happened when inmates involved in the occult would try to say "Jesus is Lord"

How a young man who had committed suicide returned to beg his parents for prayers to release him from the pains of Purgatory

...and much more.

The Devil in the City of Angels is much more than a catalog of strange and terrifying events. It exposes Satan as the Father of Lies so we can see how he works, and how to defeat him. Drawing on his own experiences as well as the most authoritative sources, Romero offers the reader numerous cautionary tales, ut also that hope that is only found in Jesus Christ and his Church.

Autobiography of one of the pioneers of the psychology of affirmation, a Gospel-based approach to healing and wholeness.

Jean-Marie Elie Setbon, the son of non-observant French Jews, was first attracted to Jesus when he saw a crucifix at a young age. He hid a crucifix in his room and contemplated it often, even though he knew his family would be hurt and angry if they ever caught him.

Seeing the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur from his apartment window, he was drawn to the church, where he found himself powerfully pulled toward Jesus in the Eucharist. After several years of surreptitiously attending Mass, he resolved to convert to Catholicism in spite of the scandal it would cause, but God had other plans.

Upon graduation from secondary school, Jean-Marie moved to Israel to delve deeper into the faith of his ancestors. He lived in kibbutzim, learned about the history and religion of his people, served in the Israeli Army, and attended two different rabbinical schools. Eight years later he returned to France as an ultra-Orthodox Jew.

While teaching in a Jewish school, Jean-Marie married a woman who shared his faith, and together they began raising a family; yet his yearning for Jesus remained, becoming the source of a long and difficult internal struggle.

Jean-Marie's moving and unusual conversion story is about his battle between loyalty to his identity and fidelity to the deepest desires of his heart. Above all, it is a love story between Christ, the Lover--the relentless yet patient pursuer--and man, his beloved.

An intimate look at this important spiritual writer's life, enriched with the personal accounts of some of the people closest to him: friends, family, and colleagues. A twelve-page photo section is included.

A deeply personal story of one man's spiritual odyssey and the unflagging faith which enabled him to survive the ordeal that wrenched his body and spirit to near collapse.

Captured by a Russian army during World War II and convicted of being a "Vatican spy," Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent 23 agonizing years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. Only through an utter reliance on God's will did he manage to endure the extreme hardship. He tells of the courage he found in prayer--a courage that eased the loneliness, the pain, the frustration, the anguish, the fears, the despair. For, as Ciszek relates, the solace of spiritual contemplation gave him an inner serenity upon which he was able to draw amidst the "arrogance of evil" that surrounded him. Ciszek learns to accept the inhuman work in the infamous Siberian salt mines as a labor pleasing to God. And through that experice, he was able to turn the adverse forces of circumstance into a source of positive value and a means of drawing closer to the compassionate and never-forsaking Divine Spirit.

He Leadeth Me is a book to inspire all Christians to greater faith and trust in God--even in their darkest hour. As the author asks, "What can ultimately trouble the soul that accepts every moment of every day as a gift from the hands of God and strives always to do his will?"

Into the Deep traces one woman's spiritual odyssey from birthright evangelicalism through postmodern feminism and, ultimately, into the Roman Catholic Church. As a college student, Abigail Favale experienced a feminist awakening that reshaped her life and faith. A decade later, on the verge of atheism, she found herself entering the oldest male-helmed institution on the planet--the last place she expected to be. With humor and insight, the author describes her gradual exodus from Christian orthodoxy and surprising swerve into Catholicism. She writes candidly about grappling with wounds from her past, Catholic sexual morality, the male priesthood, and an interfaith marriage. Her vivid prose brings to life the wrenching tumult of conversion--a conversion that began after she entered the Church and began to pry open its mysteries. There, she discovered the startling beauty of a sacramental cosmos, a vision of reality that upended her notions of gender, sexuality, identity, and authority. Into the Deep is a thoroughly twenty-first-century conversion, a compelling account of recovering an ancient faith after a decade of doubt. ""There are events in life that leave you changed forever, right down to the very roots and heart of your being, because they go 'into the deep.' Like this book. Reading it is bound to be an event like that in the lives of two classes of readers if they dare to read it with open minds and hearts: those who call themselves Evangelicals and those who call themselves Christian 'feminists.' The theology is profoundly Christ-centered, the psychology trustably honest, and the style winsomely alive."" --Peter Kreeft, Boston College ""Religious conversion narratives tend to be unrealistic, focusing on single epiphanies that are rare to most human beings. Not Into the Deep. Abigail Favale has written a conversion memoir that focuses on the slow process of conversion, one that unfolds through a union of practice and intellectual inquiry . . . She is more like a tour guide, bringing even cradle Catholics like myself into a deeper appreciation of the mystery of the Church. Into the Deep is Augustine's Confessions written for our own age."" --Tim O'Malley, Notre Dame ""With sympathetic and smart satire that is reminiscent of Flannery O'Connor, Favale finds both sincerity and shallowness in the waves of ideological affiliations that tided her youth. Favale, the unlikely convert, persuades us that by sacramental grace and the communion of saints, the Church can see the meanest sinner hold her breath long enough to work out Her shared salvation in fear and trembling."" --Joshua Hren, author of Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good: J.R.R. Tolkien and Political Philosophy ""Into the Deep is a beautifully written story of conversion. In this raw and compelling narrative, Favale reminds us that, in the most mysterious of ways, God's grace can reach all of us."" --Carrie Gress, best-selling author of The Marian Option Abigail Favale is Associate Professor of English at George Fox University, where she teaches in the William Penn Honors Program. She was awarded the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction in 2017.

Poet, philosopher, playwright, peacemaker, political activist, pope: this is a brief look at the rich life of Karol Wotyla, whom we know today as Pope John Paul II. He was the most widely traveled of all popes, and made pastoral visits to 129 countries in all. He was instrumental in bringing about the fall of communism in Poland; it is said that the attempt on his life in 1981 was in direct response to his efforts to bring down communism.

John Paul II was a man of deep Christian love and commitment. He balanced the traditions of the Church with a need to re-establish it as a viable and modern presence in the world. Though many felt that he was too much a conservative, he was guided by his belief in the Church as a redemptive organization, and worked to make it relevant to the lives of Catholics throughout the world.

John Paul II: A Short Biography highlights his early years, his lifelong devotion to Mary, his outreach to young people, and his role as intercessor in seeking reconciliation with institutions and peoples alienated from the Church by past actions. This is a book to be enjoyed and treasured as we witness the recognition given John Paul II as a saint for our times.

No other pope of this century has aroused so much interest and universal affection throughout the world as has Pope John XXIII. Journal of a Soul is an inspiring reading experience that records this pope's thoughts and traces his spiritual development from adolescence to the seminary to a career as a priest, a European papal diplomat, Patriarch of Venice, and finally Pope John XXIII.

This Image Books edition features a biographical portrait of Pope John by his personal secretary, Monsignor Loris Capovilla. It also includes several of his most moving prayers, sixty brief thoughts and aphorisms, his "Rules for the Ascetic Life," many of his letters, even his last will and testament. Christians everywhere will welcome the reissue of "one of the most original, interesting, and inspiring revelations of intimate personal experiences ever written," which "ranks well with the classic spiritual autobiographies" (Critic).

Journal of a Soul, the first ever such work from a Roman pontiff, opens new windows onto the soul of the man himself.