Monday, 30 May 2022
Saturday, 28 May 2022
The Prayer Of The Presence Of God by Dom Augustin Guillerand
Paperback: Learn to pray as monks pray.
For nearly a thousand years, monks of the Carthusian Order have withdrawn from the world so they can place themselves in the presence of God.
Alone in their cells, they pray, work, and take their meals, freed from worldly distractions and the cacophony of thoughts that course through your mind and mine, when, at the end of busy days, we finally kneel down to pray.
A thousand years' silence has enabled the Carthusians to perfect a way of praying suited for the cloister, but it is also right for those of us whose obligations force us to work and pray in the rush and hurry of the world.
In these pages, the monk Augustin Guillerand reveals the secret of the Carthusian's remarkable prayer of the presence of God. Obviously, this way of praying excludes quick Our Fathers and hasty Hail Marys, but it also requires that we do more than pause and say our prayers slowly.
In fact, the Carthusians know that the prayer of the presence of God is not primarily a question of speed or even of speech. Like love, it is not so much a deed as an attitude - a habit of tranquil listening that allows God to enter our souls by all paths and to establish His presence there.
Failure to listen poisons love in marriages; and failure to listen poisons love of God. That is why the prayer of the presence of God is essential not just for monks, but for all of us, no matter what our circumstances may be.
Yet how can we listen in a way that allows God to enter our souls?
How can we even hear Him in the noise of our days and ways?
A thousand years of Carthusian experience in The Prayer of the Presence of God (2005) provide sure answers to these questions. Though this is not a step-by-step manual (listening cannot be reduced to steps), you will learn where you must begin and how to proceed if you are finally to bring to maturity in your own soul the habit of tranquil listening that is essential for all those who would know God and love Him as they ought.
The Prayer of the Presence of God, a 1965 translation of Face à Dieu (1956), was formerly published in 1965 by Dimension Books, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. This 2005 edition by Sophia Institute Press contains minor editorial revisions.
About the author: Dom Augustin Guillerand (1877–1945) was a French Carthusian monk. He entered the Carthusian Order at La Valsainte in Switzerland in September 1916, after his ordination. In 1935, he was appointed Prior of Vedana in Italy and convisitor of the Italian Province. In June 1940, he was forced to leave Italy due to World War II; he found refuge at Carthusian Motherhouse, the Grande Chartreuse, where he was immediately appointed coadjutor to the Father General. He held that post until his death in April 1945.
Dom Guillerand was noted for his calm, peaceful demeanour, attained by his long, continuous struggle to master his fiery nature. This serenity shows through in his writings. Despite their richness, beauty and wealth of spiritual insights, Dom Guillerand thought little of his writings, and even destroyed most of them. Fortunately a few of them, left to his nephew, have been preserved and published for the benefit of today's readers.
Thursday, 26 May 2022
The Life Of St Philip Neri: Books I and II by Father Pietro Giacomo Bacci
Paperback: The Life of St Philip Neri (2017) by Fr Pietro Giacomo Bacci was published in 1622, just 27 years after St Philip's death in 1595. Fr Bacci was a member of the Roman Oratory, the Congregation founded by St Philip, and he based his book on the Processes instituted for St Philip's canonization. These Processes began just two months after Philips' death and depended on sworn testimony from hundreds of witnesses to Philip's extraordinary virtue and his many miracles. The Processes led to Philip's beatification in 1615 - also the year Guido Reni completed his famous painting of St Philip Neri in Ecstasy (see book cover) that hangs over Philip's tomb at Chiesa Nuova in Rome - and ultimately his canonization in 1622.
While there have been many books written on St Philip Neri, Fr Bacci's book is a classic that has been translated into many languages and republished numerous times in the hundreds of years since St Philip's death.
In republishing Fr Bacci's The Life of St Philip Neri also for Kindle, it is the editor's (William R Bloomfield) intention to increase access to this fine work. Ultimately, it is the editor's hope that we may all learn to imitate St Philip's deep love of God and neighbour.
This paperback edition of The Life of St Philip Neri is based on the 1902 revised edition of Fr Frederick Ignatius Antrobus of the London Oratory.
The Life of St Philip Neri includes six books (Volumes I - VI). This first volume contains books one and two.
The Life of St Philip Neri is edited by William R Bloomfield.
The Life Of Little Nellie Of Holy God 1903-1908: The Little Violet Of The Blessed Sacrament) compiled from Authentic Sources
Booklet: There will be saints among the children. - Pope St Pius X
Nellie was a spirited child and a unique little masterpiece of God. No one knows where she learned the name "Holy God" and no one knows how she instantly recognised Holy God when she first saw the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar.
Nellie Organ spent the last few months of her life with the Good Shepherd Sisters in Cork, Ireland. Her great desire was to receive "Holy God," and with permission from her bishop, she received Him about 32 times before her death at age four and a half.
The Sisters lovingly treasured up their experiences with this special child who had been entrusted to their care, and those anecdotes are here passed on to new generations of Catholics.
Many favours have been obtained through Nellie's intercession, and her body was found intact a year after her death. The great Pope St Pius X requested and received a relic of Little Nellie. Children and adults alike will in Nellie Organ an exquisite example of love and reverence for Our Lord in the Holy Eurcharist.
The Life Of Little Nellie Of Holy God 1903-1908: The Little Violet Of The Blessed Sacrament (2007, 2013) is an imprint of Saint Benedict LLC and TAN Books, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Framed In Monte Carlo: How I Was Wrongfully Convicted For A Billionaire's Fiery Death (True Crime) by Ted Maher, Bill Hayes and Jennifer Thomas
Paperback: As featured on 60 Minutes, Dateline, Inside Edition, and 48 Hours, Framed in Monte Carlo: How I Was Wrongfully Convicted for a Billionaire's Fiery Death (2021) is the shocking true story of banker Edmond Safra's death and the man wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the crime.
When billionaire banker Edmond Safra died in the ashes of Monaco's La Belle Époque building on 3 December 1999, the event made international headlines-for many reasons. One, of course, was the sheer wealth of the Lebanese mogul and his formidable presence in the international banking world. But the more seductive reason for the worldwide attention was the strange and intriguing way Safra died -ensconced within the armoured walls of his vigilantly secured residence in the "safest city in the world."
At 4:45 in the morning, a firestorm gutted Safra's opulent Monte Carlo penthouse, trapping and killing Safra and one of his nurses, Vivian Torrente. When the fire was ruled arson, a fast finger was pointed at the only other nurse present: former Green Beret Ted Maher.
The true, bizarre circumstances that led to Safra's death and to the subsequent imprisonment of Ted Maher are contained within the pages of Framed in Monte Carlo: How I Was Wrongfully Convicted for a Billionaire's Fiery Death (2021). The story features a play-by-play of that deadly night, as well as Ted's sham of a trial that put him behind bars for seven years and eight months. Brutal betrayals, harrowing kidnappings, prison breaks straight out of The Great Escape, and more pepper the pages of Framed in Monte Carlo.
Ted was freed when the judge from his trial came forward with a stunning revelation. But his life was never the same. And since his return to American soil, he has continued to unearth more and more disturbing details about his ordeal.
Armed with fresh facts, a greater understanding of the players, and a wider lens of perspective, Ted now reveals all, including his never-before-released findings that seek to answer the lingering big question:
Who did kill Edmond Safra?
The powerful famous names legitimately put forth by the author will shock you.
About the authors: TED MAHER is an ex-Green Beret who became a private nurse to billionaire banker Edmond Safra. Wrongfully convicted for Safra's death, he was imprisoned abroad for almost eight years.
BILL HAYES is a bestselling nonfiction author, featured in documentary films and TV shows and for his extensive knowledge in a variety of fields. He received the prestigious Silver Spoke Award for his body of literary work in the motorcycling community.
JENNIFER THOMAS is an award-winning author, editor, designer, and publisher. With a BA from Columbia University and a Specialized Certificate in Copyediting from the University of California, San Diego, she has produced dozens of books of every genre, including her and Hayes' Hullabaloo!, Triumphs and Tragedies, and Butterfly Tears.
Forward: MICHAEL GRIFFITH Esquire is a partner of the International Legal Defense Counsel whose high-profile clients include Billy Hayes - the man whose story inspired the Oliver Stone movie Midnight Express. An international criminal law expert, he has counselled individuals imprisoned in dozens of countries. He has been featured in major media outlets about his famous cases and expertise such as 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Dateline, 20/20, Good Morning America, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, to name a few.
Monday, 23 May 2022
East Side Voices: Essays Celebrating East And Southeast Asian Identity In Britain (Literary Essays) edited by Helena Lee
Hardback: In this bold, first-of-its kind collection, East Side Voices invites us to explore a dazzling spectrum of experience from the East and Southeast Asian diaspora living in Britain today.
Showcasing original essays and poetry from well-known celebrities, prize-winning literary stars and exciting new writers, East Side Voices takes us many places: from the frontlines of the NHS in the midst of the Covid pandemic, to the set of a Harry Potter film, from a bustling London restaurant to a spirit festival in Myanmar. In the process we navigate the legacies of family history, racial identity, assimilation and difference.
East Side Voices (2022) is edited by Helena Lee, founder of the East Side Voices cultural salon and Acting Deputy Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, featuring writing from: Romalyn Ante, Tash Aw, June Bellebono, Gemma Chan, Mary Jean Chan, Catherine Cho, Tuyen Do, Will Harris, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Claire Kohda, Katie Leung, Amy Poon, Naomi Shimada, Anna Sulan Masing, Sharlene Teo, Zing Tsjeng and Andrew Wong.
Saturday, 21 May 2022
Last Testament In His Own Words by Pope Benedict XVI with Peter Seewald
Hardback: Since retiring from the papacy in 2013, the first Pope in over 700 years to do so, Pope Benedict has lived quietly in a convent in the Vatican gardens in Rome. He has devoted himself to a life of prayer and study and vowed to remain silent, until now.
So much controversy still surrounds Pope Benedict's time in office – in this book, written with bestselling German author Peter Seewald, he addresses the issues of his papacy and reveals how, at his late age, governing and reforming the Church was beyond him.
Last Testament In His Own Words (2016) is also an autobiography, recalling Pope Benedict's childhood in Germany under Nazism, his early development as a priest, and eventually his appointment as Archbishop of Munich. After becoming Pope, his account deals with the controversies that rocked the Catholic world – how he enraged Muslims with his Regensburg speech, what he did and did not do to stamp out the clerical sexual abuse of children, the 'Vatileaks' scandal and how he broke up a gay cabal within the Vatican itself.
At all times, we see a man who is shy and retiring and modest being exceptionally open and frank with the outside world. In this Last Testament In His Own Words, a unique book insofar as no other living Pope has had the opportunity to write an account having left office, Benedict gives in his own words an unprecedented view of the difficulties, the achievements and the consequences of his time as head of the Catholic Church worldwide.
Benedict breaks his silence on issues such as:
The "Vatileaks" case in which his butler leaked some of his personal letters that alleged corruption and scandal in the Vatican (the butler remains in jail)
The presence of a "gay lobby" within the Vatican and how he dismantled it
His alleged Nazi upbringing
His attempts at cleaning up the “dirt in the church” (clerical sexual abuse)
The mysterious private secretary “Gorgeous George”
Last Testament In His Own Words (2016) is translated from the German by Jacob Phillips. It was originally published in German as Benedikt XVI: Letzte Gespräche mit Peter Seewald (2016).
About the authors: Pope Benedict XVI is widely recognized as one of the most brilliant theologians and spiritual leaders of our age. He served as Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. As Pope, he authored the best-selling Jesus of Nazareth; and prior to his pontificate, he wrote many influential books that continue to remain important for the contemporary Church, such as Introduction to Christianity and The Spirit of the Liturgy. Benedict XVI has written 66 books, three encyclicals, and three apostolic exhortations. Last Testament In His Own Words is his final book.
Peter Seewald is a veteran German journalist who has done two other internationally best-selling book length interviews with Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI): Salt of the Earth and God and the World. He is one of the most admired authors on religion in Germany today. He is also the author of Benedict XVI : An Intimate Portrait, and the photo-biography, Pope Benedict XVI: Servant of the Truth.
Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Fátima Priest: The Story Of Father Nicholas Gruner, The Most Controversial Priest In The Roman Catholic Church Today by Francis Alban with Christopher A Ferrara
Paperback: The first edition of Fátima Priest appeared in 1997, bringing the story of Father Nicholas Gruner’s life and work, dedicated to the service of Our Lady of Fátima, before the general public in a comprehensive and integrated format. A great many Catholics and devotees of Our Lady were already to some degree familiar with this courageous priest through his Fátima Crusader magazines, which have been in circulation since 1978.
But this inspiring, long-awaited biography by Francis Alban, was a much-needed marshalling together of all the pieces of an increasingly complex story into a book-length format, assuring a greater impact and durability of all the varied aspects of this history.
Three subsequent editions followed within three years of Fátima Priest’s initial 1997 printing, through the collaboration of another well-known author, Christopher A Ferrara. Nevertheless, the landscape of the Fátima controversy has continued to change so rapidly and so dramatically that it has not been easy to keep Father Gruner’s readership aware of the progress of his work toward the fulfilment of Our Lady of Fátima’s requests.
This battle for souls has raged more fiercely year by year, year after year, and so much has taken place since the fourth edition’s printing in 2000, that many people have urged the publisher to issue a new edition of this ever-timely book, so that the whole story of his thirty-six year struggle to make the full Message of Fátima known and understood, might again be available to readers in a single edition.
This new edition of Fátima Priest (2013) brings the previous 2000 edition up to date. It is in many ways a heartening chronicle of events, though we are not yet at the stage of securing peace for the world and salvation for many souls in the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But the truth of Father Gruner’s position has been vindicated in the most stunning and public ways imaginable. Thus the title of Part IV is “A New Day for Fátima”.
Parts I through III (“In Person,” “Politics vs. Prayer,” and “A Fatima Spirituality for the 21st Century”) find their long-overdue climax in the exciting breakthroughs made against the ruthless efforts of Our Lady’s enemies to silence and distort Her Message.
Six new chapters trace a dramatic arc in the story of the Fátima Priest, ascending toward what must be, in the end, the triumphal climax Heaven itself demands for the divinely written saga that began at the Cova da Iria nearly a century ago.
The many surprising developments of the past twelve years demonstrate God’s desire and power to bestow upon us the blessings He has promised through Our Lady of Fátima - and also how generously He blesses the efforts of those who persevere in the labours of His vineyard.
After thirty-six years of dogged persistence, Father Gruner continues to publish proofs of our obligation to believe and obey Our Lady, and perseveres in knocking on the doors and minds of all Catholics, stirring them to wake up before the entire world is enslaved and various nations are completely annihilated, ie wiped off the face of the earth.
It is time the whole world knows why he won’t give up: one 71-year-old priest against all the powers of the false friends of Fátima (especially the powerful Secretary of State inside the Vatican).
We dedicate this work anew to the Holy Mother of God and to all cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, priests, religious and lay persons who have dedicated themselves in humility and love to Her service; and, above all, to Him Who sent Her on a mission of mercy to the Church and the world.
May God speed us all to a successful conclusion of Our Lady of Fátima’s final vindication.
About the authors: Francis Alban is a respected Catholic journalist and writer.
Christopher A Ferrara is an American Roman Catholic lawyer, pro-life activist, GOP partisan pundit, and writer. He is the founder and president of the American Catholic Lawyers Association. He is also a regular columnist of The Remnant, a traditionalist Catholic newspaper.
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
The Seven Ages Of The Church: Revelations From The Apocalypse by Father Marshall Roberts (Translator)
Paperback: The Seven Ages of the Church (2021) is a translation taken from two works: a Commentary on the book of Apocalypse written by Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (1613-1658) and a portion of the important two-volume work De Ecclesia, a seminal work of Ecclesiology, by Cardinal Louis Billot (1846-1931).
Both of these men write about the seven ages of the Church: these seven ages are the seven churches of Asia contained in Apocalypse 2-3. The letters to these seven churches unveil the strengths and weaknesses of each period in the Church's seven ages, culminating in the fearful persecution of the Antichrist.
In an age when many Catholics are discouraged, The Seven Ages of the Church is important in revealing the coming age of triumph in which the Catholic Church will attain its greatest age of triumph in this world, and Christ's kingship over the nations will be universally accepted.
Cover art is from the Apocalypse tapestries presently held in Angers Castle, France.
Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser - a German mystic to whom God had revealed events that were to transpire in the future - wrote in the 17th century while Cardinal Louis Billot did so in the early 20th century, yet both are remarkably similar in their descriptions of the various ages through which the Church would pass until the end of the world.
In this present time of confusion in the Church and world, much comfort can be gained by the promised triumph of the Church to come in the sixth age (we are presently in the midst of Modernism and Liberalism or the Fifth Age), an age that corresponds remarkably to the time of peace promised by Our Lady at Fátima.
About the translator: Father Marshall Roberts was ordained a Catholic priest in 1996. A native of Kentucky, Fr Roberts obtained a BA in Religion from Berea College before continuing to Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota. Later, he studied Medieval History at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Sunday, 15 May 2022
The Price Of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite by Miguel Maria Arribas OCarm
Paperback: The Price of Truth (2021) is the biography of a Carmelite, born in Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1991, who dies in the concentration camp in Dachau, Germany in 1942 and is beatified as a martyr for the Catholic faith by St Pope John Paul II on 3 November 1985.
As president of the Catholic schools and assistant of the Union of Catholic Journalists in the Netherlands (UCIP), Father Brandsma denounced with authentic and prophetic courage the trampling of human and religious rights by the Nazi movement, defended the Jews, as well as educational freedom and the Catholic press during the invasion of the Netherlands.
"He is a dangerous little friar," shouted the Nazis and they arrested him. After enduring several jails and concentration camps, Brandsma found himself at the terrible camp in Dachau where he suffered unspeakable physical and moral tortures and underwent the infamous biochemical experiments of the Nazis. He was killed with an injection of carbolic acid on 26 July 1942.
This biography is based on the acts of the process of canonization as well as biographies in various languages. To better understand Brandsma’s spiritual journey, the author visited The Netherlands and Germany, in pilgrimage to the places of birth, life, and death of this “martyr for freedom of expression.”
These pages bring before you the life of a simple, cordial Carmelite, a multifaceted priest as well as a mystic, passionate journalist, rector magnificus of the Catholic University of Nijmegen. But in all of these, Brandsma lives as a courageous witness to Christ, even to the point of giving his own life for the Truth.
The Price of Truth (2021) is the first major biography in English published by Carmelite Media and edited by William J Harry OCarm. It is translated from the Italian with additions of the work from El precio de la verdad: Tito Brandsma, Carmelite (1988).
Cover picture: Painting of Carmelite Titus Brandsma seated in Cell 577 in Scheveningen Prison by the Irish-American artist Colette Mills (1934-2014). This painting now hangs in the Carmelite Friary in Kinsale, Ireland.
Friday, 13 May 2022
A Column Of Fire (Kingsbridge Series) by Ken Follett
Paperback: Millions of readers have been enthralled by the saga that began in The Pillars of the Earth (1989) and World Without End (2007), which now continues and ends with Ken Follett’s magnificent, gripping A Column of Fire (2017).
A World in Turmoil
1558, and Europe is in revolt as religious hatred sweeps the continent. Elizabeth Tudor has ascended to the throne but she is not safe in this dangerous new world. There are many who would see her removed, not least Mary Queens of Scots, who lies in wait in Paris.
A New Order
Elizabeth determines to set up a new secret service: a group of resourceful spies and courageous agents entrusted to keep her safe and in power. As she searches for those who will make the difference, one man stands out.
A Man Who Would Die for his Queen
For Ned Willard the opportunity to serve his queen is God-sent. He cannot stay in Kingsbridge and watch the love of his life marry another, and as fires burn and extremism begins to spark throughout Europe, Ned makes his choice. He will spend his life protecting his monarch from the tyrants who aim to destroy her or die trying.
About the author: Ken Follett is a Welsh thriller and historical fiction writer, whose works are phenomenal bestsellers around the world. Over 181 million copies of the 36 books he has written have been sold in over 80 countries and in 40 languages. Follett’s first literary success came in 1978 with the spy thriller Eye of the Needle, which he wrote whilst Deputy Managing Director of independent publishing house Everest Books. After a run of espionage novels, including The Key to Rebecca and The Man from St Petersburg, Follett changed tack with the historical epic The Pillars of the Earth in 1989. A multi-generational story set in 11th century England, the book became an incredible bestseller, spawning two sequels and the 2020 prequel The Evening and the Morning known collectively as The Kingsbridge Series.
Follett returned to historical saga during 2010-14, with the Century Trilogy, which followed the fortunes of several dynasties through the 20th century.
Rating: 5/5
Inside The Light: Understanding The Message Of Fátima by Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho
Hardback: "We stopped, astounded, before the apparition. We were so close that we were inside the light which surrounded her, or rather, which radiated from her."- Lucia de Jesus
There may be no person on the globe who knows more about the story of Fátima than Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho. As a little girl growing up in Portugal, she used to pray at the tombs of Jacinta and Francisco Marto.
Many years later as a sister of the Aliança de Santa Maria, she would become the postulator for their cause of canonization. This journey would lead her to visit with Sr Lucia several times and eventually become the vice postulator for her cause as well.
Sister Angela brings this unique and privileged perspective to the story of Fátima, going beyond a chronicle of the events to the theological meaning of the Fátima message, as well as taking a deeper look at the lives and spiritualities of each of the three seers. Relying on her extensive research as a postulator advice postulator for their causes and on her own personal story touched early by suffering only to be healed by the embrace of Our Lady of Fatima, she helps readers discover the relevancy of this message for our post-modern world.
For many years, Sister Angela has traveled the world and spoken to thousands of people. Now, for the first time in print, she gives her profound testimony about Fátima. Her hope is that she may take each of us inside the light - the light that is God - that washed over the three shepherd children on that miraculous spring day in 1917.
Inside The Light (2020) is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
About the author: Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho grew up in Porto, Portugal and joined the Aliança de Santa Maria in 1995. Since 2009, she has served as vice postulator for the Causes of Canonization for Saints Francisco and Jacinta of Fátima, and in 2012 became Roman postulator for the same causes. In 2014, she became the vice postulator for the Cause of Canonization for Sister Lucia. Today, she lives in Fátima and travels the world speaking and spreading the message of Fátima.
On Living Simply: The Golden Voice Of John Chrysostom compiled by Robert Van de Weyer
Paperback: This meditational book contains more than 90 excerpts from the sermons of Saint John Chrysostom, a major spiritual thinker of the early Church.
Robert Van de Weyer has selected thematic passages from the written record of these sermons in order to inspire, challenge, remind, and reassure a new generation of readers.
John Chrysostom was a spell-binding preacher and the leader of the Church of Constantinople during the fourth century. He chastised the rich for failing to share their wealth with the less fortunate, and he described generosity to another not as gift-fiving but as a required repayment of a debt. He viewed the goal of marriage as companionship on the journey to heaven.
On Living Simply (1996) brings these and other views across the centuries in a message whose modernity, bluntness, and vigour is undimmed by time. On Living Simply was originally published by Arthur James Ltd Publishers under the title John Chrysostom: The Golden Voice of Protest.
About the author: The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John (c 349 - 407), the great preacher (his name means “golden-mouthed”) from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics.
If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours.
His lifestyle at the imperial court was not appreciated by many courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favours. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man.
His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam’s fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives were. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.
Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.
Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407. (Franciscan Media)
About the compiler: Robert Van de Weyer is an Anglican priest and the founder of the modern-day spiritual center which is patterned after an earlier community established in 1626 at Little Gidding, near Cambridge, England, by Nicholas Ferrar. Like the earlier foundation, the community attracts both families and singles who follow a simple rule and practice of prayer. He also lectured for twenty five years in Cambridge on economics, philosophy and religion, and has written and edited over 50 books on those subjects.
Among the many works that Robert Van de Weyer has compiled are Daily Readings with Søren Kierkegaard; Daily Readings with Blaise Pascal; The HarperCollins Book of Prayers: A Treasury of Prayers Through the Ages; Feasts and Fasts: A Cycle of Readings for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost; and Revelations to the Shepherd of Hermas: A Book of Spiritual Visions.
Tuesday, 10 May 2022
AA-1025: Memoirs Of The Communist Infiltration Into The Church revealed by Marie Carré
Paperback: Absorbing and compelling reading from beginning to end, AA -1025: Memoirs of the Communist Infiltration Into the Church (1973, 1991) is a must read for every Catholic today and for all who would understand just what has happened to the Catholic Church since the 1960s.
In the 1960s, a French nurse, Marie Carré, attended an auto-crash victim who was brought into her hospital in a city she purposely does not name. The man lingered there near death for a few hours and then died. He had no identification on him, but he had a briefcase in which there was a set of quasi-autobiographical notes. She kept these notes and read them, and because of their extraordinary content, decided to publish them.
The result is this little book, AA-1025: Memoirs of the Communist Infiltration Into the Church, a strange and fascinating account of a Communist who purposely entered the Catholic priesthood along with many others, with the intent to subvert and destroy the Church from within. His strange yet fascinating and illuminating set of biographical notes, tells of his commission to enter the priesthood, his experiences in the seminary, and the means and methods he used and promoted to help effect from within the auto-dissolution of the Catholic Church.
No one will read this book without a profound assent that something just like what is describer here must surely have happened on a wide scale in order to have disrupted the life of the Catholic Church so dramatically.
This book was originally published in May 1972 in French under the title ES-1025 (The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle) by Editions Sigieb, France. The English edition of this book was originally published in 1973 by Editions Saint-Raphael, Canada. This English edition was published by TAN Books in 1991 with another reprint in 2013.
The cover image is of Saint Peter's Basilica by Father Lawrence Lew OP.
AA-1025 makes profoundly thought-provoking reading today, when we in our time have seen virtually all the changes discussed in this book come to pass.
From the French edition: This book is a dramatized presentation of certain facts which are occurring in the Church and which are perplexing to many of the faithful.
About the author: Marie Carré was a French nurse and a convert from Protestantism in 1965. She died in Marseille, France, in 1984. In May 1972, she had AA-1025 published by Editions Segieb in Freneuse, France, under the title ES-1025, which stands for Eleve Seminariste-1025, or "Seminary Student-1025."
Sunday, 8 May 2022
Memoirs From The Heart Of A Priest by Father John Rizzo
Booklet: Father John Rizzo is chaplain to the Tyburn Nuns - the Benedictine Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre, a community of cloistered nuns living according to the Rule of St. Benedict in Parramatta, Australia.
Originally from Boston, he was born one of eight siblings in 1960. Subsequently, Father Rizzo studied for the priesthood under the auspices of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX). He was ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on 19 May 19 1985. However, in 1993, he left the SSPX, which holds no canonical standing in the Church, and entered the Fraternal Society of St Peter. Since 2012, he has been carrying out his ministry in the Diocese of Parramatta as a diocesan priest.
In June 2021, Father Rizzo published his memoirs about his life as a priest. Throughout these pages he recounts anecdotes of his years as a priest, the people he has ministered to and those he has brought back to the Church. It is clear he is a man who has one aim in life: to save souls for Christ. As this short passage demonstrates:
“Sometimes the presence of Christ is only realized in their midst in terms of a priest, whose path they may cross. I often travel, and do so wearing my Roman collar so that others recognize that I am a priest. I can recount several occasions where strangers have approached me either to talk about problems that they have, or to make a good confession. I have heard many confessions at train stations and airports. One day when I was on a train platform at Parramatta, within the span of half an hour, three different people came to me asking me to hear their confession. The last one was responsible for me missing my train! Oh well …!”
For further copies of this booklet, please email priestmemoirs@gmail.com
About the author: Father John Rizzo serves the Tyburn Nuns, a community devoted to Eucharistic adoration, in Parramatta, Australia.
Wednesday, 4 May 2022
In Solitary Witness: The Life And Death Of Franz Jägerstätter by Gordon Zahn
Paperback: There is no hiding the fact that it is much harder to be a Christian today than it was in the first centuries, and there is every reason to predict that it will be even more difficult in the near future. When it becomes the "sacred duty" of a man to commit sin, the Christians no longer knows how he should live. There remains nothing else for him to do but bear individual witness - alone. And where such witness is, there is the Kingdom of God. - Reinhold Schneider
In Solitary Witness (1964, 1986 revised edition) is a true story of almost matchless heroism and a work of humanity and great scholarly conscience.
For more than twenty years unknown and ignored by his church and fellow countrymen - today a national hero and acclaimed as an authentic martyr and saint.
This is the book that discovered Franz Jägerstätter and his inspiring story of unyielding resistance to Nazi orders and his commitment to the dictates of conscience even at the cost of life itself.
When German troops moved into Austria in 1938, Jägerstätter was the only man in his village to vote against the Anschluss (Annexation of Austria).
Although he was not involved in any political organization and did, in fact, undergo one brief period of military training, he remained openly anti-Nazi and declared he would not fight in Hitler's war.
This twentieth-century martyr, a husband and father of three, was beheaded for his refusal to serve a ruler his conscience could not accept.
About the author: Gordon Charles Zahn (1918-2007) was an American author, sociologist, pacifist, and professor who was a conscientious objector during World War II. After receiving his PhD from The Catholic University of America, he taught at Loyola University. The author of numerous book and articles, he focused on the topics of conscience and war.
Pete Cross earned his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts and has been narrating audiobooks since 2015. He received an Audie nomination for 2016's A Time to Die. In 2017, he garnered both an Earphones Award and a Parent's Choice Award for his narration of Openly Straight. An Ohio native, he spent eight years in Los Angeles where he coached actors, was lucky enough to work with French director Quentin Dupieux, and despised the traffic.
Tuesday, 3 May 2022
Monday, 2 May 2022
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