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The Catholic Collection: 734 Catholic Essays and Novels on Authentic Catholic Teaching
THE CATHOLIC 734 CATHOLIC ESSAYS AND NOVELS ON AUTHENTIC CATHOLIC TEACHING CATHOLIC WAY PUBLISHING — 734 Catholic Essays and Novels, each around 7,000 Words — Over 5.5 Million Words, equivalent to 500 Full Length Books — Books by Saints, Priests, Pope's and people from all walks of life — Includes Illustrations by Bernardo Strozzi — Includes an Active Index to all 734 Books — Includes NCX Navigation to all 734 Books This is a large E-Book; please ensure you have sufficient resources on your device to read the E-Book. Use the Look Inside feature to view the list of 734 Books and Authors and 10% of this Collection. Included is this Collection are 734 Catholic Essays and Novels on all areas of life. If you want to read about the Saints, look no further. Interested in Catholic Moral teaching? It’s here. Looking to sharpen your Apologetics, this will help you. Wanting to foster devotion to the Blessed Virgin? There are numerous Essays on Mary. There is also Christian Fiction! Also included is indispensable advice for pilgrims on the path to perfection; Indulgences, Papal Authority, Famous Shrines, Catholic Fiction, Meditations, Prayers, Novenas, the Sacraments and much, much more. All of these Essays and Novels and Novels are Church-approved, containing completely sound Catholic teaching. Highlight in this Collection FATIMA AND FIVE SATURDAYS By Rev. F. P. O’Shea, C.SS.R. FRIENDSHIP by Saint Francis de Sales HOW TO PRAY AT ALL TIMES by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori A NOVENA OF THE HOLY SPIRIT by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori IN THE LITTLE WAY OF SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX by Saint Therese of Lisieux HAVE YOU RELIGION IN YOUR HEART? by Saint John Mary Vianney THE SERMONS OF SAINT JOHN MARY VIANNEY by Saint John Mary Vianney CHRIST OR BARABBAS? Daniel A. Lord, S. J. DAILY DEVOTIONS TO SAINT JOSEPH by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori REFUTING ERRORS CONCERNING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori DEVOTION TO THE HOLY FACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Compiled by A Member of The Ursuline Community PURGATORY by Father Faber MARY, THE MOTHER OF CHRIST By Father Clement Beck, S. V. D. NOVENAS TO OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL, OUR LADY OF FATIMA, AND SAINT JOSEPH By Rev Daniel A. Lord S. J. OUR LADY OF FATIMA by Rev. Bernard O’Connor CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori MEDITATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori PADRE PIO, WHO IS PADRE PIO? by Laura Chanler White DAILY THOUGHTS FROM THE LITTLE FLOWER By Rev. Francis Broome, C.S.P. GETHSEMANE by Fr. Pichon S.J. HOW TO TALK TO GOD by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori ADVICE TO PARENTS by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori HILAIRE BELLOC by Karl G. Schmude SAINT PHILOMENA by Annonymous MARY SPOUSE OF THE HOLY GHOST By Monsignor John T. McMahon, M.A. LISTENING TO OUR LORD BY Ceile Dé THE CATHOLIC FAITH by Annonymous THAT JESUS CHRIST IS GOD by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori CATHOLIC WAY PUBLISHING
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First published March 1, 2013
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May 15, 2023
I started reading this fine collection of writings in April 2019 and finished reading in May 2023. Most of these are short essays that take from an hour to hour and a half to read. Publishes give number of pages at 13,388. There are many fine pieces here--too many to evaluate properly. I highly recommend downloading the entire collection at a very affordable cost. I kept record of my reading. There are many unforgettable essays here and a large number of the selections are listed in goodreads separately. I was somewhat displeased that there were sixty-five articles by anonymous authors. That was the largest group. Rev. Daniel Lord, S.J. wrote about forty articles. Rev. Dr. Leslie Rumble, M.S.C. about eighteen and Rev. Robert Nash, S.J. a dozen. There are dozens of articles that I rated using the goodreads rating with five stars.
These that I summarize below are not in goodreads and may serve as an example of what this collection is about:
Nash, Rev. Robert, S.J.
“Imaginitis”
Father Nash explains “imaginitis” as a “disease of the mind which distorts the truth in one of two ways,--sometimes by over-emphasizing the difficulties of a given course of action, and sometimes by failing to lay sufficient stress on them.” All of this is connected with walking the straight path as God commanded and avoiding all sin as prescribed by the Ten Commandments. “It is to train ourselves, as far as possible, to live in the present.” It helps to remember and often invoke “I can do all things in Him Who strengthen me.”
“What do we think of, even we Catholics, for the greater portion of our waking hours? We are absorbed in and ruled by trivialities.”
“Our present Holy Father has been telling us that one of the most terrifying evils of the day is the world’s loss of the sense of sin.”
“The truth is that we can attain to a very large measure of control over our imagination.”
Father Nash gives a brief “outline of what we believe as Catholics.”
Anonymous
“Saint Camillus de Lellis,” (1575-1614)
This is a biography of the founder of Congregation of Clerics Regular, ministers of the sick, Patron of the Sick and of Hospitals. A short history of the Congregation follows. The Red Cross begins with the congregation this saint started. They carried a red cross on their black robes. The work they did during the most horrific epidemics of the seventeenth Century and later, the nineteenth Century’s cholera, and dozens of other outbreaks defies credibility. The description of the Saint’s life and death is overwhelming, his digging his own grave and death in particular.
Herbert, Lady
“Saint Jean B.M. Vianney Cure of Ars”
The further I read into this vast collection the more comes across from the readings. Two lessons that immediately come from this biography of a country priest are that he dedicated himself to serving the needs of a single small country parish and that though that he dedicated his life to prayer as the first means to have the strength to work extremely long hours with his flock and ever-growing pilgrims as his reputation spread he was deeply troubled by dark forces that he was in ever greater depth to God for his past life, experienced fear of death and damnation. The life of this extraordinary saint was one of “self-sacrifice, devotion, prayer, charity, patience, humility, mortification.” He worked many miracles through a special devotion to St. Philomena. His conversions were voluminous. He had a gift of recognizing those in a crowd who most needed it.
I connect these two themes from this reading immediately in my experience. A pastor of the first parish where I was born was one who came to our parish when he was 25 in 1938 and stayed in it for the rest of his life—prematurely at 59.
The second theme is self-explanatory.
Maher, M.J.
“St. Francis Regis”
I never heard of this saint but I am well aware of Regis High School on upper East Side, Manhattan, close to the Metropolitan Museum. My old friend’s son graduated from Regis. (So did Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President.) This high school offers free tuition to students who meet the grade to be admitted.)
St. Francis Regis worked in Southern France. He worked very hard, a Jesuit. He converted many including Calvinists and Huguenots. He worked many miracles during his lifetime and after and saved many young girls and women from houses of evil.
“The Real Presence” by Eustace Boylan, S.J. (1869-1953)
Born in Dublin, educated in Ireland and Belgium he immigrated to Australia in 1906 where he spent the rest of his life. His biography is available:
https://www.academia.edu/39055192/The...
Quotes from the text alone present his message:
“Sincere and honest non-Catholics may, like some of the first disciples, find the doctrine of the Real Presence a hard saying.”
“the doctrine of the Real Presence is this: that in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist Jesus Christ, in His entirety, is as really and truly present as He was twenty centuries ago in the stable of Bethlehem, or in His little home of Nazareth, or on the hill of Calvary.”
“The feeble human mind may cast its plummet into the Infinite, but it can never sound those depths.”
“Three basis statements held by all Catholics:
(1) The first is that the doctrine of the Real Presence is contained in the clearest and most explicit terms in the Holy Scripture.
(2) The second statement is that the doctrine of the Real Presence was taught in the Church from the beginning.
(3) It is the claim to an infallible teaching authority within the area of the faith delivered by Jesus Christ.
“It is not to be supposed for a moment that Jesus Christ handed over His wonderful teaching in a haphazard way to the ravages of time, to the changes of fashion, to the deadly processes of decay. He was very precise on this point. 'Heaven and earth, He said, 'shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away.
“the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass from the moment of the Consecration, and wheresoever else in our churches the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.
Such are these three important statements. If a person tending towards belief in the Catholic Church, or anxious to believe in it, has doubts and anxieties concerning the Real Presence, I would suggest to him, as one method of solution, 'Settle the question of infallibility, and all your difficulties will automatically disappear.
'People say that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is difficult to believe
'Why should it not be? What's to hinder it? What do I know of substance or matter?
“ there is a rising school of philosophy now which considers phenomena to constitute the whole of our knowledge in physics. The Catholic doctrine leaves phenomena alone. . .
It deals with what no one on earth knows anything about, the material substances themselves.
“But since we already know-and reason itself forces the knowledge on our minds-that the Divine Nature is present, whole and entire, everywhere, we may brush aside any difficulty which may arise regarding the presence of the Sacred Humanity in all places where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.
“Nevertheless, the Real Presence is a great test of faith, and Christ Himself made it a test case-in, fact, the Great Test. It was after the great miracle of the loaves and fishes that He first propounded the doctrine, yet many of those who had witnessed the miracle, or, at all events, had authentic information about it, said: 'This is a hard saying, and who can hear it? 'And after that many of His disciples walked with Him no more. Then Our Lord turned to the Twelve and said: 'Will you also go away. Peter stepped to the side of Christ and used those memorable words which are the universal language of faith: 'Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that Thou art Christ, the Son of God.
“We cannot, and must not, put ourselves on a worldly standpoint;
“No, first cross the line, and submit to the will of Jesus and acknowledge His holy Mystery; then make honest research and effort with all the resources of science.
“The Holy Eucharist is the unerring touchstone of faith.
“In the grain of wheat, for example, we may contemplate a miracle and a mystery which all may see but none may understand.
“The whole atmosphere of the place palpitates with miracle and mystery-the miracle and mystery of the life which animates that seed.
“And the life of all the stalks in those boundless harvests lies hidden in this single grain of wheat, from which, through successive reproduction they derive their being.
“The multiplication of the wheat is a miracle of the natural order; Transubstantiation is a miracle of the supernatural order.
“The multiplication of the wheat is a miracle of the natural order; Transubstantiation is a miracle of the supernatural order.”
Catarinich, J., Dr.
"I am Afraid"
Read June 2020
It is difficult to identify the true author of this long essay. It most likely belongs to John Catarinich a Doctor possibly a psychiatrist of Croatian roots who lived in Australia in the first half of the twentieth Century. Dr. John was a director of mental hygiene and advisor to Australian government ministers.
This essay is divided into several chapters. He explains in “Fear in Early Life” that the instinct of fear originated with Adam. God gave Adam two commandments to work on tending the garden and to be obedient to Him. Once Adam disobeyed fear came into his world: the beasts of the garden no longer recognized Adam’s control, danger crept in along with death.
Author deals with the psychology of fear in children and adolescents and related issues of growing into adulthood along with Catholic environment in education. A chapter on scruples addresses this condition as a “mild mental disorder” comparable to other phobias. He gives good advice on dealing with it. Catarinich criticizes thinking that religions originated out of fear of events in nature.
He is against the “modern idea . . . that children should not be restrained or punished in any way.” But he warns against severe punishment and parents showing anger. This would cause a child to fear the parent.
Author cautions about the difficulties that arise during the dangerous growing years of puberty and beyond. He reminds us that the Popes have laid down the parents to instruct their children during this difficult period.
He advises about fears caused by scruples when no amount of effort overcomes then.
All people fear death even those who do not believe in afterlife as the unknown. One thing that is certain is immediately judgment before Christ. Death need not be a painful process. Fear comes from lack of confidence and understanding. The sacrament of extreme unction offers peace and confidence along with our usual and sincere prayers. Complete faith in God’s goodness and mercy is opposite of fear.
Anonymous,
“How the Church in England Became Protestant”
This sad history covers mostly a brief but horrific period of English history starting in 1527 when Henry VIII moved to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. It does not even mention the execution of Anne Boleyn and his other wives. It does remember the countless victims faithful to the Catholic Church during his and Queen Elizabeth’s reigns of terror.
Huber, Fr. M.J., CSSR
“Hell Questions and Answers”
We may witness someone dying and may be quite moved by it but there is something more horrifying than death. It is anyone going to hell and meeting with eternal punishment. There may be people dying right now or on their way there and who refuse to acknowledge and face that possibility. Levelheaded people, Catholics included avoid the subject of hell and its existence. But to get to heaven we must admit that hell exists and we need to avoid going there. People deny hell like they often deny sin pretending that what is sin is not sin. Denying hell is due to pretending that there is no hell. They forget Christ’s warning:
“Depart from Me accursed one, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Mt. 25. 31-46)
Theologians describe the nature of the suffering in terms of the loss of the beatific vision and fire which will extend to the bodies of the resurrected at the end of the world. The Blessed Virgin who appeared to the Fatima children reminded the world of “Hell where the souls of poor sinners go.”
“We need hell to keep us from sin . . . because sin is an assertion of self and denial of love of God.”
Father Huber recommends: “Yes, it is good to say to ourselves often, ‘There is hell,’ and to think about the terrible punishments of hell. But let us always begin and conclude our meditation on that place of eternal punishment by saying: ‘All is vanity, except to love God and to give yourself to him.”
Crudden, Rev. P.F.
“The Holiness of Saint Patrick”
Any news about the semi-legendary St. Patrick is welcome. “Semi-legendary” because the known calendar of his life is brief, There is so little history about him that this is appreciated. This article does provide some of that. He was born in Roman Britain about 385 and died in Ireland in 461. He was captured after 400 and carried off to Ireland as a slave where he worked for six years. About 407 he escaped and arrived in Gaul during a Vandal invasion of Genseric. He was captured and enslaved again. His next escape and wonderings lasted “a few years” before he found his way back to his home country Britain where he spent perhaps the next fifteen years. He heard the call to Ireland again where he returned to find that British Christian slaves already converted many pagan Irish. He was appointed Bishop to succeed the Pope’s first Irish Bishop Palladius though how this came about is unknown.
St. Patrick’s own record is very brief and includes “Confession” where he gives some account of his life. St. Patrick introduces himself “I am Patrick a sinner.” Author of this article gives a quote by Romano Guardini which he says sums up St. Patrick: “Holy God, teach me to recognize your love, so that I may see how great is my guilt. But grant that his recognition may also become confidence.”
These that I summarize below are not in goodreads and may serve as an example of what this collection is about:
Nash, Rev. Robert, S.J.
“Imaginitis”
Father Nash explains “imaginitis” as a “disease of the mind which distorts the truth in one of two ways,--sometimes by over-emphasizing the difficulties of a given course of action, and sometimes by failing to lay sufficient stress on them.” All of this is connected with walking the straight path as God commanded and avoiding all sin as prescribed by the Ten Commandments. “It is to train ourselves, as far as possible, to live in the present.” It helps to remember and often invoke “I can do all things in Him Who strengthen me.”
“What do we think of, even we Catholics, for the greater portion of our waking hours? We are absorbed in and ruled by trivialities.”
“Our present Holy Father has been telling us that one of the most terrifying evils of the day is the world’s loss of the sense of sin.”
“The truth is that we can attain to a very large measure of control over our imagination.”
Father Nash gives a brief “outline of what we believe as Catholics.”
Anonymous
“Saint Camillus de Lellis,” (1575-1614)
This is a biography of the founder of Congregation of Clerics Regular, ministers of the sick, Patron of the Sick and of Hospitals. A short history of the Congregation follows. The Red Cross begins with the congregation this saint started. They carried a red cross on their black robes. The work they did during the most horrific epidemics of the seventeenth Century and later, the nineteenth Century’s cholera, and dozens of other outbreaks defies credibility. The description of the Saint’s life and death is overwhelming, his digging his own grave and death in particular.
Herbert, Lady
“Saint Jean B.M. Vianney Cure of Ars”
The further I read into this vast collection the more comes across from the readings. Two lessons that immediately come from this biography of a country priest are that he dedicated himself to serving the needs of a single small country parish and that though that he dedicated his life to prayer as the first means to have the strength to work extremely long hours with his flock and ever-growing pilgrims as his reputation spread he was deeply troubled by dark forces that he was in ever greater depth to God for his past life, experienced fear of death and damnation. The life of this extraordinary saint was one of “self-sacrifice, devotion, prayer, charity, patience, humility, mortification.” He worked many miracles through a special devotion to St. Philomena. His conversions were voluminous. He had a gift of recognizing those in a crowd who most needed it.
I connect these two themes from this reading immediately in my experience. A pastor of the first parish where I was born was one who came to our parish when he was 25 in 1938 and stayed in it for the rest of his life—prematurely at 59.
The second theme is self-explanatory.
Maher, M.J.
“St. Francis Regis”
I never heard of this saint but I am well aware of Regis High School on upper East Side, Manhattan, close to the Metropolitan Museum. My old friend’s son graduated from Regis. (So did Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President.) This high school offers free tuition to students who meet the grade to be admitted.)
St. Francis Regis worked in Southern France. He worked very hard, a Jesuit. He converted many including Calvinists and Huguenots. He worked many miracles during his lifetime and after and saved many young girls and women from houses of evil.
“The Real Presence” by Eustace Boylan, S.J. (1869-1953)
Born in Dublin, educated in Ireland and Belgium he immigrated to Australia in 1906 where he spent the rest of his life. His biography is available:
https://www.academia.edu/39055192/The...
Quotes from the text alone present his message:
“Sincere and honest non-Catholics may, like some of the first disciples, find the doctrine of the Real Presence a hard saying.”
“the doctrine of the Real Presence is this: that in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist Jesus Christ, in His entirety, is as really and truly present as He was twenty centuries ago in the stable of Bethlehem, or in His little home of Nazareth, or on the hill of Calvary.”
“The feeble human mind may cast its plummet into the Infinite, but it can never sound those depths.”
“Three basis statements held by all Catholics:
(1) The first is that the doctrine of the Real Presence is contained in the clearest and most explicit terms in the Holy Scripture.
(2) The second statement is that the doctrine of the Real Presence was taught in the Church from the beginning.
(3) It is the claim to an infallible teaching authority within the area of the faith delivered by Jesus Christ.
“It is not to be supposed for a moment that Jesus Christ handed over His wonderful teaching in a haphazard way to the ravages of time, to the changes of fashion, to the deadly processes of decay. He was very precise on this point. 'Heaven and earth, He said, 'shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away.
“the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass from the moment of the Consecration, and wheresoever else in our churches the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.
Such are these three important statements. If a person tending towards belief in the Catholic Church, or anxious to believe in it, has doubts and anxieties concerning the Real Presence, I would suggest to him, as one method of solution, 'Settle the question of infallibility, and all your difficulties will automatically disappear.
'People say that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is difficult to believe
'Why should it not be? What's to hinder it? What do I know of substance or matter?
“ there is a rising school of philosophy now which considers phenomena to constitute the whole of our knowledge in physics. The Catholic doctrine leaves phenomena alone. . .
It deals with what no one on earth knows anything about, the material substances themselves.
“But since we already know-and reason itself forces the knowledge on our minds-that the Divine Nature is present, whole and entire, everywhere, we may brush aside any difficulty which may arise regarding the presence of the Sacred Humanity in all places where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.
“Nevertheless, the Real Presence is a great test of faith, and Christ Himself made it a test case-in, fact, the Great Test. It was after the great miracle of the loaves and fishes that He first propounded the doctrine, yet many of those who had witnessed the miracle, or, at all events, had authentic information about it, said: 'This is a hard saying, and who can hear it? 'And after that many of His disciples walked with Him no more. Then Our Lord turned to the Twelve and said: 'Will you also go away. Peter stepped to the side of Christ and used those memorable words which are the universal language of faith: 'Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that Thou art Christ, the Son of God.
“We cannot, and must not, put ourselves on a worldly standpoint;
“No, first cross the line, and submit to the will of Jesus and acknowledge His holy Mystery; then make honest research and effort with all the resources of science.
“The Holy Eucharist is the unerring touchstone of faith.
“In the grain of wheat, for example, we may contemplate a miracle and a mystery which all may see but none may understand.
“The whole atmosphere of the place palpitates with miracle and mystery-the miracle and mystery of the life which animates that seed.
“And the life of all the stalks in those boundless harvests lies hidden in this single grain of wheat, from which, through successive reproduction they derive their being.
“The multiplication of the wheat is a miracle of the natural order; Transubstantiation is a miracle of the supernatural order.
“The multiplication of the wheat is a miracle of the natural order; Transubstantiation is a miracle of the supernatural order.”
Catarinich, J., Dr.
"I am Afraid"
Read June 2020
It is difficult to identify the true author of this long essay. It most likely belongs to John Catarinich a Doctor possibly a psychiatrist of Croatian roots who lived in Australia in the first half of the twentieth Century. Dr. John was a director of mental hygiene and advisor to Australian government ministers.
This essay is divided into several chapters. He explains in “Fear in Early Life” that the instinct of fear originated with Adam. God gave Adam two commandments to work on tending the garden and to be obedient to Him. Once Adam disobeyed fear came into his world: the beasts of the garden no longer recognized Adam’s control, danger crept in along with death.
Author deals with the psychology of fear in children and adolescents and related issues of growing into adulthood along with Catholic environment in education. A chapter on scruples addresses this condition as a “mild mental disorder” comparable to other phobias. He gives good advice on dealing with it. Catarinich criticizes thinking that religions originated out of fear of events in nature.
He is against the “modern idea . . . that children should not be restrained or punished in any way.” But he warns against severe punishment and parents showing anger. This would cause a child to fear the parent.
Author cautions about the difficulties that arise during the dangerous growing years of puberty and beyond. He reminds us that the Popes have laid down the parents to instruct their children during this difficult period.
He advises about fears caused by scruples when no amount of effort overcomes then.
All people fear death even those who do not believe in afterlife as the unknown. One thing that is certain is immediately judgment before Christ. Death need not be a painful process. Fear comes from lack of confidence and understanding. The sacrament of extreme unction offers peace and confidence along with our usual and sincere prayers. Complete faith in God’s goodness and mercy is opposite of fear.
Anonymous,
“How the Church in England Became Protestant”
This sad history covers mostly a brief but horrific period of English history starting in 1527 when Henry VIII moved to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. It does not even mention the execution of Anne Boleyn and his other wives. It does remember the countless victims faithful to the Catholic Church during his and Queen Elizabeth’s reigns of terror.
Huber, Fr. M.J., CSSR
“Hell Questions and Answers”
We may witness someone dying and may be quite moved by it but there is something more horrifying than death. It is anyone going to hell and meeting with eternal punishment. There may be people dying right now or on their way there and who refuse to acknowledge and face that possibility. Levelheaded people, Catholics included avoid the subject of hell and its existence. But to get to heaven we must admit that hell exists and we need to avoid going there. People deny hell like they often deny sin pretending that what is sin is not sin. Denying hell is due to pretending that there is no hell. They forget Christ’s warning:
“Depart from Me accursed one, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Mt. 25. 31-46)
Theologians describe the nature of the suffering in terms of the loss of the beatific vision and fire which will extend to the bodies of the resurrected at the end of the world. The Blessed Virgin who appeared to the Fatima children reminded the world of “Hell where the souls of poor sinners go.”
“We need hell to keep us from sin . . . because sin is an assertion of self and denial of love of God.”
Father Huber recommends: “Yes, it is good to say to ourselves often, ‘There is hell,’ and to think about the terrible punishments of hell. But let us always begin and conclude our meditation on that place of eternal punishment by saying: ‘All is vanity, except to love God and to give yourself to him.”
Crudden, Rev. P.F.
“The Holiness of Saint Patrick”
Any news about the semi-legendary St. Patrick is welcome. “Semi-legendary” because the known calendar of his life is brief, There is so little history about him that this is appreciated. This article does provide some of that. He was born in Roman Britain about 385 and died in Ireland in 461. He was captured after 400 and carried off to Ireland as a slave where he worked for six years. About 407 he escaped and arrived in Gaul during a Vandal invasion of Genseric. He was captured and enslaved again. His next escape and wonderings lasted “a few years” before he found his way back to his home country Britain where he spent perhaps the next fifteen years. He heard the call to Ireland again where he returned to find that British Christian slaves already converted many pagan Irish. He was appointed Bishop to succeed the Pope’s first Irish Bishop Palladius though how this came about is unknown.
St. Patrick’s own record is very brief and includes “Confession” where he gives some account of his life. St. Patrick introduces himself “I am Patrick a sinner.” Author of this article gives a quote by Romano Guardini which he says sums up St. Patrick: “Holy God, teach me to recognize your love, so that I may see how great is my guilt. But grant that his recognition may also become confidence.”
April 16, 2014
I picked this up on my Kindle over a year ago. It cost me $2 and so I thought, "why not?" I expected that this would be a collection of sappy Catholic stories, children's stuff or silly modern Catholic stuff. When I started to read it, I was pleasantly surprised.
Despite the title of this collection, there are no "Catholic novels" in this collection. It is a collection of biographies, essays, articles and homilies, written mostly between 1850 and 1950, with a smattering of writings from the 60s and 70s. The essays cover every conceivable topic from Church history to spirituality to the sacraments to apologetics to the lives of the Saints or prominent Catholics. What really amazed me was how well written these articles are. Most of these were produced by the various Catholic dioceses in the English speaking world, along with a healthy load of writings from the Catholic Truth Societies. The writers are not crafting some wishy-washy story to be printed in a parish bulletin. These are professional writers who are trying to advocate a rich Catholic spirituality and defend Catholic teachings. If you are looking for the semi-antiCatholic writings of modern Catholic theologians, you won't find them here. This stuff is unapologetically Catholic, and rightly so.
Another good thing about these writings is that they generally take about a half hour to read. They are "bite size" essays that offer an in depth look at the topic while still being capable of being read in a single sitting. I really enjoy taking out this collection and reading an essay while I am waiting for an appointment or looking for something to bide my time for a half hour or so. The fact that it's on the Kindle makes it very easy to carry around. This is 734 different writings, and if you had this collection on printed material, it would fill several volumes (perhaps not 60 volumes as advertised, but certainly at least 20 volumes). It is very much worth getting. In fact, this may be the best $2 I ever spent.
I highly recommend this collection for all Catholics and for people who are interested in learning about Catholicism.
Despite the title of this collection, there are no "Catholic novels" in this collection. It is a collection of biographies, essays, articles and homilies, written mostly between 1850 and 1950, with a smattering of writings from the 60s and 70s. The essays cover every conceivable topic from Church history to spirituality to the sacraments to apologetics to the lives of the Saints or prominent Catholics. What really amazed me was how well written these articles are. Most of these were produced by the various Catholic dioceses in the English speaking world, along with a healthy load of writings from the Catholic Truth Societies. The writers are not crafting some wishy-washy story to be printed in a parish bulletin. These are professional writers who are trying to advocate a rich Catholic spirituality and defend Catholic teachings. If you are looking for the semi-antiCatholic writings of modern Catholic theologians, you won't find them here. This stuff is unapologetically Catholic, and rightly so.
Another good thing about these writings is that they generally take about a half hour to read. They are "bite size" essays that offer an in depth look at the topic while still being capable of being read in a single sitting. I really enjoy taking out this collection and reading an essay while I am waiting for an appointment or looking for something to bide my time for a half hour or so. The fact that it's on the Kindle makes it very easy to carry around. This is 734 different writings, and if you had this collection on printed material, it would fill several volumes (perhaps not 60 volumes as advertised, but certainly at least 20 volumes). It is very much worth getting. In fact, this may be the best $2 I ever spent.
I highly recommend this collection for all Catholics and for people who are interested in learning about Catholicism.
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