Friar Against Fascism by Leopold G Glueckert OCarm

Paperback: Titus Brandsma (1881-1942) has proven to be a source of inspiration to people all over the world: educators, men and women in the church, journalists and scholars, peace workers, people in distress, fighters for justice, the sick and the lonely, God-seekers.

Titus' significance, for the present as well as for the future, arises from his infectious zeal for authentic piety and humanity, in the spirit of the prophet Elijah, the great example of Mount Carmel.

On 19 January 1942, Nazi secret police arrested Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite priest. After extensive interrogation, they labeled him a "most dangerous man." He was sentenced to the infamous concentration camp at Dachau, where he was executed on 26 July 1942. His ashes were buried in Dachau's "Grave of Unknown Thousands."

Today, he is remembered and honoured throughout the world. His death in Dachau made him a symbol of national resistance for the Dutch people. He exemplifies what one individual can accomplish with personal determination and fidelity to the Christian principle. On 3 November 1985, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Titus Brandsma Blessed and Martyr at St Peter's in Rome. 

Friar Against Fascism (1985, 2002) is the story of his resistance against the Nazis and treat the points of opposition between Titus Brandsma and the Nazis, especially insofar as he felt it necessary to block attempts to draw Dutch society into a Fascist way of thinking. 

This book is also available as part of a four-book set.

About the author: Leopold Glueckert OCarm has taught in the History departments at DePaul and Loyola Universities in Chicago, Illinois. He currently serves on the faculty of Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. 

Vaccination: A Catholic Perspective by Pamela Acker MS

Paperback: In Vaccination: A Catholic Perspective (2020), biologist Pamela Acker provides a balanced examination of the whole subject of vaccination from a Catholic perspective which will allow Catholic leaders from the Pope and the Bishops down to parents and teachers to make an informed judgment on proposals to mandate vaccinations for the novel coronavirus or for other infectious diseases. The author is ideally qualified to undertake this task.  

A devout Catholic with a master’s degree in Biology from the Catholic University of America, Pamela worked in the field of vaccine development and has the right combination of knowledge and experience to evaluate the scientific basis for vaccination as currently practiced.  

In her book, Miss Acker takes the reader through the history of vaccination while giving a comprehensive introduction to the marvels of the divinely-designed human immune system. 

Drawing upon the latest research in the field, Miss Acker elucidates the many problematic aspects of vaccination as currently practiced and explains how they flow out of a materialistic, mechanistic, evolution-based understanding of the human person which tends to see man as a collection of parts rather than as a divinely-designed body-soul composite.  

With powerful examples she shows how the evolution-based approach to the study of disease has had disastrous consequences for scientific and medical research and has supported the maintenance of inadequate criteria for evaluating the efficacy and the dangers of vaccination as currently practiced.

About the author: Pamela Acker holds a Master of Science degree in Biology from The Catholic University of America. She has taught science in a variety of settings (from middle school to college) since 2008. Prior to working as a teacher, Pamela was involved in biological research as a whole genome library maker at The Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University in Saint Louis. She has also conducted research in vaccine delivery using T4 bacteriophage nanoparticles, and was briefly involved in researching novel gene regulation mechanisms in C. elegans.

The Kingdom by Jo Nesbø

Hardback: When Roy and Carl’s parents die suddenly, sixteen-year-old Roy is left as protector to his impulsive younger brother. But when Carl decides to travel the world in search of his fortune, Roy stays behind in their sleepy village, satisfied with his peaceful life as a mechanic.

Some years later, Carl returns with his charismatic new wife, Shannon – an architect. They are full of exciting plans to build a spa hotel on their family land. Carl wants not only to make the brothers rich but the rest of the village, too.

It’s only a matter of time before what begins as a jubilant homecoming sparks off a series of events that threaten to derail everything Roy holds dear, as long-buried family secrets begin to rise to the surface…

The Kingdom (2020) is a simmering and complex thriller full of unexpected twists, devastating family legacies and an ever growing body count.

The Kingdom is translated from the Norwegian by Robert Ferguson.

About the author: Jo Nesbø is one of the world’s bestselling crime writers, with multiple books, including The Son, Macbeth and Knife, all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He is an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 45 million copies around the world.

Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbø played football for Norway’s premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service, he attended business school and formed the band Di derre ('Them There'). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbø continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. When commissioned by a publisher to write a memoir about life on the road with his band, he instead came up with the plot for his first Harry Hole crime novel, The Bat.

Sign up to the Jo Nesbø newsletter for all the latest news: jonesbo.com/newsletter

About the translator: Robert Ferguson has lived in Norway since 1983. His translations include Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting, the four books of Torkil Damhaug's Oslo Quartet, and Tales of Love and Loss by Knut Hamsun. He is also the author of several biographies, a Viking history and, most recently, The Cabin in the Mountains: A Norwegian Odyssey. 

Rating: 5/5

The Story Of A Soul: The Autobiography Of The Little Flower by St Thérèse of Lisieux

Paperback: I will spend my Heaven in doing good upon earth. - St Thérèse on 17 July 1897. 

The success of this book is one of the most amazing stories in publishing history; for St Thérèse died at only age 24, after a nine-year hidden life as a cloistered Carmelite nun. The Story of a Soul, better known to the English public as The Autobiography of St Thérèse of Lisieux, was first published in 1899. 

Translated into many languages, The Story of a Soul (2010, TAN Books) quickly had a phenomenal reception and millions of copies were distributed worldwide. Today, it ranks with the greatest of the Church's spiritual classics. The reading of this book has brought innumerable people into the Church or back to the practice of their religion. 

Written under obedience, the book conveys her secrets of great holiness achieved in ordinary life, teaching the "Little Way of Spiritual Childhood" - her "elevator" to Heaven as she called it. She continually shows us in this book how her "Little Way of love and confidence" comes straight from Sacred Scripture. This method has since been approved and promulgated by Pope Pius XI as a way of holiness for all.

No Catholic should be ignorant of the mighty "little" Thérèse or her Little Way. The Story of a Soul is a book that belongs in every Catholic home.

The translation in this edition is made from the French edition of L'Histoire dune Ame published from the Carmel of Lisieux for the fiftieth anniversary of the death of St Thérèse de L'Enfant Jésus. The manuscript is presented in its three original parts while retaining the chapter divisions of the French edition. In the French, her style is extremely simple and spontaneous, having a charm which is hard to capture, especially when she rises to poetic heights. 

It alters slightly in the three parts:

1) the first eight chapters for Pauline are written without reserve.

2) the two chapters for Mother Marie de Gonzague are more doctrinal and show a certain restraint.

3) while the final chapter, for her eldest sister Marie, is simply a childlike outpouring of her heart to Jesus Himself. 

The Story of a Soul is edited by Mother Agnes of Jesus and translated by Michael Day. 

About the author: St Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as "Thérèse of the Child Jesus" and "The Little Flower", was the last of nine children born to Louis and Zelie Martin, at France in 1873. She was often anxious and depressed in childhood, as she suffered the early death of her mother. After she converted interiorly and began to read Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ, she joined two of her sisters in a discalced Carmelite convent as a nun at just 15 years old. After her oldest sister was elected prioress, Thérèse became a permanent novice to allay suspicions that her family was dominating the small community. She lived humbly, concealing her intense prayer life and countless sacrifices 

Thérèse is the author of her own popular autobiography entitled The Story of a Soul, which she began writing in 1895, and she instituted a simple path to holiness now widely known as the "Little Way". 

She died of tuberculosis on 30 September 1897, at the age of 24 and was canonized only 28 years later, in 1925, by Pope Pius XI. 

She was later installed as the thirty-third Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

Happiness No 101

Cheat On A Book

The Twelve Degrees Of Silent by Marie-Aimée de Jésus OCD

Paperback: The stresses and strains of contemporary life leave so many of us thirsting for peace and clarity of mind and heart. While we may sense that constant distraction hinders spiritual growth, we may find it hard to cultivate attitudes of peace and stillness. We may long to experience closer communion with God, yet feel overwhelmed by the many demands on our attention.

This book invites us to nurture a spirituality of silence through the words and wisdom of the 19th-century Carmelite and mystic, Sister Marie-Aimée de Jésus. Sister Marie-Aimée de Jésus was drawn listen deeply to the sounds of silence and allow them to direct her on her way to giving all to God. 

Silence directs us away from only doing for God, and towards being with God. Silence pulls us along, slowly and surely, to its ultimate aim: the peace and selfless joy of abiding solely in God. 

Through a combination of her measured insights and exercises for personal application by author and spiritual teacher Lucinda M Vardey, the reader is invited on a twelve-movement journey into a silent and intimate union with God. 

An introduction and biography of Marie-Aimée de Jésus explores her influence on other well-known Carmelites such as the saint and martyr Edith Stein.

The Twelve Degrees of Silence (2012) is an original translation from the French by Françoise Reuter and Lucinda M Vardey, who also edited this book. Additional reflections and introductions by Lucinda M Vardey can be found in this English translation. 

About the author: Sr Marie-Aimée de Jésus (1839-1874) was a Discalced Carmelite in Avenue de Saxe (today "the Carmel of Créteil") in Paris. Her hagiographers report that she has several mystical experiences and the experience of the dark night of the soul. She is the author of various spiritual works which marked her time, and which are always reissued. Some of these publications have been the subject of musical adaptation such as "The Twelve Degrees of Silence" which gave rise to an organ work by Christophe d'Alessandro, and a concert in Paris with Markus Noisternig. 

At the end of her life, she was the victim of several attacks and criticisms (until the day before her death). Contradictory and slanderous rumours, sometimes coming from ecclesiastical circles, spread, going so far as to question her writings. These attacks forced the apostolic nuncio to intervene. She died of pleurisy on 4 May 4 1874 in the odour of holiness, according to the testimony of the nuns present. 

About the translators: Lucinda M Varley has written on Catholicism and contemporary spirituality with special emphasis on the works and writings of holy women. Her books include the compilation of the international bestseller of Mother Teresa's A Simple Path, an anthology of women's prayers entitled The Flowering of the Soul, Travelling with the Saints in Italy: Contemporary pilgrimages on ancient paths, and with her husband, John Dalla Costa, Being Generous: The art of right living. She is familiar with beauty and benefits of silence. Her website is www.dallaluce.com

Françoise Reuter was educated in Dominican and Jesuit schools in Marseille. In 1973, she emigrated to Canada, where she taught at the Toronto French School as well as being a private tutor. She is married to classics scholar and philosopher Mark Reuter and lives a quiet, secluded life of contemplation and study of the sacred. 

The Amazing Secret Of The Souls In Purgatory: An Interview With Maria Simma by Sister Emmanuel of Medjugorje

Paperback: It is not often that a book touches the soul so deeply. The Amazing Secret of the Souls in Purgatory (1997, 2005) is such a book. 

Maria Simma, lived humbly in the mountains of Austria. When she was twenty-five, Maria was graced with a very special charism - the charism of being visited by the many souls in Purgatory - and being able to communicate with them! 

In her words, Maria shares with us some amazing secrets about the souls in Purgatory. She answers questions such as:

What is Purgatory?

How do souls get there?

Who decides if a soul goes to Purgatory?

What are the sins that most lead to Purgatory?

How can we help get a soul released from Purgatory?

Are there religions which are bad for the soul?

Are there children in Purgatory?

How can I avoid Purgatory?

This is a remarkable interview on after-death realities, a true revelation for those who have lost a dear one!

About the author: Sister Emmanuel wrote this book in 1997 as a response to the many questions she received about the souls in purgatory and what she knew of Maria Simma. She continues to be grateful to Maria for allowing her to publish this interview at such a crucial time in Christian History.

An Exorcist Explains How To Heal The Possessed And Help Souls Suffering Spiritual Crises by Fr Paolo Carlin

Paperback: From one of the world’s leading exorcists comes this eye-opening book to help you recognize genuine cases of diabolical possession - and know what to do when your friends or family show behaviours that leave you suspicious.

Leaning heavily on Scripture and the teachings of the Church, as well as on his own extensive experiences as an exorcist, Fr Paolo Carlin here unveils Satan’s plan of attack while giving you the telltale signs that the Evil One is at work in your life or in the life of others.

You will learn the special conditions that facilitate the work of the devil - particularly ones that appeal to the youngest and most defenseless among us.

Armed with knowledge of the antics of Satan, Fr Carlin also enumerates the many spiritual weapons that Our Lord has placed at our disposal. Best of all, you will learn to employ each one  effectively to keep the devil and his army of fallen angels at bay.

Finally, Father will show you how to distinguish between mental illnesses and diabolical attacks, as well as how to determine when you must turn away from amateur efforts and urgently seek  the expert help of an official exorcist.

An Exorcist Explains How to Heal the Possessed (2018) is a much-needed guide for priests, educators, parents, and, indeed, for anyone struggling to keep the door to Satan closed.

An Exorcist Explains How to Heal the Possessed is translated from the Italian edition - De cura obsessis: Riconoscere i casi di possessione diabolica, intervenire e accompagnare le persone con problemi spirituali (2017) - by Charlotte J Fasi. 

About the author: Fr Paolo Carlin, of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, is Doctor of Moral Theology. He was the chaplain of the State Police of the Provinces of Ravenna and Rimini from 2010 to 2014 and was then appointed diocesan exorcist of the diocese of Faenza-Modigliana. Fr Carlin is a member of the International Exorcist Association (IEA, officially recognized on 13 June 2014 by the Holy See), acting as counselor, official spokesman and press officer.

Father Elijah: An Apocalypse (Children of the Last Days Series) by Michael D O'Brien

Hardback: Michael D O'Brien presents a thrilling apocalyptic novel about the condition of the Roman Catholic Church at the end of time. It explores the state of the modern world, and the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary religious scene, by taking his central character, Father Elijah Schäfer, a Carmelite priest, on a secret mission for the Vatican which embroils him in a series of crises and subterfuges affecting the ultimate destiny of the Church.

Father Elijah is a convert from Judaism, a survivor of the Holocaust, a man once powerful in Israel. For twenty years, he has been "buried in the dark night of Carmel" on the mountain of the prophet Elijah. The Pope and the Cardinal Secretary of State call him out of obscurity and give him a task of the highest sensitivity: to penetrate into the inner circles of a man whom they believe may be the Antichrist. Their purpose: to call the Man of Sin to repentance, and thus to postpone the great tribulation long enough to preach the Gospel to the whole world.

In this richly textured tale, Father Elijah crosses Europe and the Middle East, moves through the echelons of world power, meets saints and sinners, presidents, judges, mystics, embattled Catholic journalists, faithful priests and a conspiracy of traitors within the very House of God. 

Father Elijah: An Apocalypse (1996) is an apocalypse in the old literary sense, but one that was written in the light of Christian revelation. It is a novel about the crucifixion of the Bride of Christ. It is a speculation, a work of fiction. It does not attempt to predict certain details of the final Apocalypse so much as to ask how human personality would respond under conditions of intolerable tension, in a moral climate that grows steadily chillier, in a spiritual state of constantly shifting horizons. The near future holds for us many possible variations on the apocalyptic theme, some more dire than others. And yet, the central character is plunged into a dilemma that would face him in any apocalypse. He finds himself within the events that are unfolding, and thus he is faced with the problem of perception: outside it and to view it objectively while remaining within it as a participant, as an agent for the good. The reader should be forewarned that this book is a novel of ideas. It does not proceed at the addictive pace of a television micro-drama, nor does it offer simplistic resolutions and false piety. It offers the Cross, but bears witness to the ultimate victory of light. 

Father Elijah is the fourth book in the Children of the Last Days series which comprise of six novels that examine the major moral and spiritual struggles of our times. Each can be read independently of the others. The first three of the series, however, are best read in chronological order, for they form a trilogy within the larger work. 

The books in the Children of the Last Days series, in chronological order, are Strangers and Sojourners, Plague Journal, Eclipse of the Sun (these first three make up a trilogy), Father Elijah, Sophia House, and A Cry of Stone. 

About the author: Michael D O’Brien is the former editor of the Catholic family magazine, Nazareth Journal. He is also the author of several books, including his nine-volume series of novels published by Ignatius Press, notably the best-selling Father Elijah. For more than thirty years he has been a professional artist. Michael and his wife Sheila have six children. He writes and paints full-time at his home near Combermere, Ontario.

Rating: 5/5

Let Us Dream: The Path To A Better Future by Pope Francis in conversation with Austen Ivereigh

Hardback: In this uplifting and practical book, written in collaboration with his biographer, Austen Ivereigh, the preeminent spiritual leader explains why we must - and how we can - make the world safer, fairer, and healthier for all people now.

 

In the COVID crisis, the beloved shepherd of over one billion Catholics saw the cruelty and inequity of our society exposed more vividly than ever before. He also saw, in the resilience, generosity, and creativity of so many people, the means to rescue our society, our economy, and our planet. In direct, powerful prose, Pope Francis urges us not to let the pain be in vain. 

 

He begins Let Us Dream by exploring what this crisis can teach us about how to handle upheaval of any kind in our own lives and the world at large. With unprecedented candour, he reveals how three crises in his own life changed him dramatically for the better. By its very nature, he shows, crisis presents us with a choice: we make a grievous error if we try to return to some pre-crisis state. But if we have the courage to change, we can emerge from the crisis better than before.

 

Francis then offers a brilliant, scathing critique of the systems and ideologies that conspired to produce the current crisis, from a global economy obsessed with profit and heedless of the people and environment it harms, to politicians who foment their people’s fear and use it to increase their own power at their people’s expense. He reminds us that Christians’ first duty is to serve others, especially the poor and the marginalized, just as Jesus did.  

 

Finally, the Pope offers an inspiring and actionable blueprint for building a better world for all humanity by putting the poor and the planet at the heart of new thinking. For this plan, he draws not only on sacred sources, but on the latest findings from renowned scientists, economists, activists, and other thinkers. Yet rather than simply offer prescriptions, he shows how ordinary people acting together despite their differences can discover unforeseen possibilities.

 

Along the way, he offers dozens of wise and surprising observations on the value of unconventional thinking, on why we must dramatically increase women’s leadership in the Church and throughout society, on what he learned while scouring the streets of Buenos Aires with garbage-pickers, and much more.

 

Let Us Dream (2020) is an epiphany, a call to arms, and a pleasure to read. It is Pope Francis at his most personal, profound and passionate. With this book and with open hearts, we can change the world.

 

About the authors: Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 17 December 17 1936, the son of Italian immigrants. He was ordained a priest in the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1969, named Provincial in 1973, and rector of the Colegio Máximo in Buenos Aires in 1980. He was consecrated bishop in 1992. He became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was appointed cardinal in 2001. In March 2013 he was elected Bishop of Rome, the 266th pope of the Catholic Church.

Dr Austen Ivereigh is a writer, journalist, and commentator best known for two highly regarded biographies of Pope Francis: The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (2014) and Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church (2019). He is Fellow in Contemporary Church History at Campion Hall, University of Oxford.

The Favourite Daughter Of Teresa Of Jesus: Mary Of Saint Joseph by Carlos Ros

Paperback: María of Saint Joseph chosen by Teresa of Jesus as her successor in the Reform of Carmel, a woman who has been greatly calumniated in life and silenced after her death. 

María of Saint Joseph is an elegant writer, a fine poet, mystic, defender of the feminine state, fighter in defence of the truth, a woman of prayer and purity. 

She re-emerged after centuries of ostracism in which she had been hidden by misogynist friars who could not tolerate that they too, the men’s branch of the Discalced, had been founded by a woman. 

As Teresa of Jesus was not there they baited the heirs of her Reform. 

María of Saint Joseph, prioress of the Carmels of Seville and Lisbon, suffered bodily in the prison cell of the monastery amid abhorrent calumnies, and died, after an iniquitous exile, in the hidden monastery of Mancha.

The Favourite Daughter of Teresa of Jesus was first published in Spanish as La hija predilecta de Teresa de Jesús: María de San José in 2008. It was translated and completed by Fr John McGowan OCD on the Feast of Saints Joachim and Ann (26 July) and first published in English in 2018. 

About the author: Carlos Ros (b 1941) lives in Seville, Spain, a great friend of the Carmelite nuns in that city. He has written over thirty books about famous historical characters from his region. Besides this book on Sr Mary of St Joseph OCD, Teresa’s great disciple, he has also written books about St Edith Stein and Jerome Gratian.

About the translator: Fr John McGowan was born in London in 1950. He entered the Discalced Carmelite Order in 1975 and was ordained in 1982. In 1985 he obtained a Licentiate in Spirituality from the OCD Carmelite Pontifical College in Rome. At present he works at ODC Carmelite retreat centre, in Preston, England.

I Thought I Was A Writer

Fallen: The Inside Story Of The Secret Trial And Conviction Of Cardinal George Pell (Current Affairs) by Lucie Morris-Marr

Paperback: "Fallen is a tribute to all those affected by clergy sexual abuse in Australia and around the world, and those who have spoken truth to power, sought justice and used their voice to make change for future generations. And in memory of those who never made it through." - Lucie Morris-Marr, Melbourne, July 2019.

There was an eerie silence in the packed courtroom as everyone looked towards the foreman of the jury. 'Guilty' he pronounced five times.

The third most senior Catholic cleric in the world had been found guilty of sex crimes against children, bringing shame to the Church on a scale never seen before in its history.

Investigative journalist Lucie Morris-Marr was the first to break the story that Cardinal George Pell was being investigated by the police. In this riveting dispatch, she recounts how the cleric was trailed by a cloud of scandal as he rose to the most senior ranks of the church in Australia, all the way to his appointment by Pope Francis to the position of treasurer in the Vatican.

Despite anger and accusations, it seemed nothing could stop George Pell. Yet in 2017 he was charged by detectives, returning to Australia to face trial.

Take a front row seat in court with the author as she reveals the many intriguing developments in the secret legal proceedings which the media could not report at the time. Fallen reveals the full story of the brutal battle waged by the prince of the church as he fought to clear his name, including a ferocious bid to be freed from jail. The author also shares her own compelling personal journey investigating the biggest story of her career and the frequent attacks she endured from powerful Pell supporters. This book also charts how Pell's shocking conviction plunged the Vatican into an unprecedented global crisis after decades of clergy abuse cases.

It is a vitally important story that will fascinate anyone interested in the failure of the Catholic Church to address the canker in its heart.

Fallen (2019) is the inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell and winner of the Walkley Book Award 2020. It is shortlisted for Best Debut, Davitt Awards 2020 AU; and Best True Crime, Davitt Awards 2020 AU.

About the author: British-born investigative journalist, writer and broadcaster Lucie Morris-Marr was twice highly commended as Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards while working on domestic and international assignments for the Daily Mail in London. In 2006, she moved to Sydney as Associate Editor of Marie Claire where she focused on long form investigative journalism. She went on to work as a senior writer for the Herald Sun in Melbourne where she became the first reporter in the world to uncover a secret police investigation into Cardinal George Pell regarding child sexual abuse allegations. The author covered the subsequent legal case for The New Daily and CNN. She lives in Bayside, Melbourne with her family.