Saint Books
The First Apology was an early work of Christian apologetics addressed by Justin Martyr to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. In addition to arguing against the persecution of individuals solely for being Christian, Justin also provides the Emperor with a defense of the philosophy of Christianity and a detailed explanation of contemporary Christian practices and rituals. This work, along with the Second Apology, has been cited as one of the earliest examples of Christian apology, and many scholars attribute this work to creating a new genre of apology out of what was a typical Roman administrative procedure.
The married saints lived lives of sanctity amid family life's inevitable adventures, risks, sorrows, and joys. From Mary and Joseph to Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi (the first couple to be beatified together), 30 Days with the Married Saints will help you to pray with a variety of holy married men and women of the Church. These married couples did not live picture-perfect lives. They all faced the weariness and trying times that come with every marriage. Many bravely bore the crosses of infertility, deaths of children, disease, false accusations, imprisonments, and unfaithful spouses. But what characterizes them most is not merely their long-suffering in the face of evil but their joy in the good, true, and beautiful. Each day contains vivid portraits of heroically virtuous married saints as well as prayers, moving reflections, questions, and practical suggestions to enrich your marriage and inspire you and your spouse on your journey of sanctity.
In Abide in the Heart of Christ, Rev. Joe Laramie, S.J., offers accessible wisdom from the foundations of Jesuit spirituality--St. Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises--in a ten-day personal retreat that will help you encounter Christ, grow your relationship with him, and shape your heart.
Laramie is your guide through this accessible retreat into the heart of Jesus. Based on a structure and approach he developed as a retreat leader at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Laramie introduces you to classic themes of the Christian life, including sin, forgiveness, and creation.
This book also helps you learn how to use key scripture passages to reflect on your own experiences. Each reflection includes teachings from the Spiritual Exercises and offers examples from Laramie's own life. Reflection questions and activities guide you in further contemplation to help you see what's in your heart, encounter Christ in your daily life, and live more fully in his love each day.
Angels and saints. Catholics tend to think of them as different from the rest of us. They're cast in plaster or simpering on a holy card, performing miracles with superhero strength, or playing a harp in highest heaven.
Yet they are very near to us in every way. In this lively book, Scott Hahn dispels the false notions and urban legends people use to keep the saints at a safe distance. The truth is that Jesus Christ has united heaven and earth in a close communion. Drawing deeply from Scripture, Dr. Hahn shows that the hosts of heaven surround the earthly Church as a great cloud of witnesses. The martyrs cry out from heaven's altar begging for justice on the earth. The prayers of the saints and angels rise to God, in the Book of Revelation, like the sweet aroma of incense. Dr. Hahn tells the stories of several saints (and several angels too) in a way that's fresh and new. The saints are spiritual giants but with flesh-and-blood reality. They have strong, holy ambitions--and powerful temptations and opposition that must be overcome. Their stories are amazing and yet familiar enough to motivate us to live more beautiful lives. In this telling of their story, the saints are neither otherworldly nor this-worldly. They exemplify the integrated life that every Christian is called to live. Still, their lives are as different from one another as human lives can be. Dr. Hahn shows the heavenly Church in all its kaleidoscopic diversity--from Moses to Mary, Augustine to Therese, and the first century to the last century. Only saints will live in heaven. We need to be more like the saints if we want to live in heaven someday. Dr. Hahn shows us that our heavenly life can begin now. It must.Eight modern saints invite you to follow their example to live the Beatitudes--the heart of Jesus's teaching--in your own life.
Through her beautiful full-color art, scripture passages, journaling prompts, and original prayers inspired by the Our Father, popular Catholic artist Jen Norton will guide you to put the Beatitudes into practice as she challenges you to examine the state of your own heart and your willingness to grow in holiness.
Norton compares living what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-13) with climbing a mountain--a difficult, irregular, sometimes fear-filled path that eventually leads to a great reward. But she says that like the saints, if you trust God beyond your own understanding, the end of the climb is heaven.
You will learn about each of the Beatitudes from modern saints, including
This book is perfect for personal or group use.
From the cross Jesus gave us his mother to be our mother, too: a singularly holy model, consoler, and intercessor for our spiritual journey. Yet most Protestants, and too many Catholics don't understand the role that God wants her to play in our lives. In Behold Your Mother, Tim Staples takes you through the Church's teachings about the Blessed Virgin Mary, showing their firm Scriptural and historical roots and dismantling the objections of those who mistakenly believe that Mary competes for the attention due Christ alone. Combining the best recent scholarship with a convert's in-depth knowledge of the arguments, Staples has assembled the most thorough and useful Marian apologetic you'll find anywhere. Relevant and essential -- Mary matters. Read Behold Your Mother and find out just how much.
How does a city boy who only lived to the age of fifteen "go viral" more than a decade after he died? Discover the story of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church.
Born in 1991, the same year as the launch of the World Wide Web, Carlo has been hailed by the pope as an example of love and holiness in our complex digital age. This tech-savvy Italian teen has shown the world that computer coding and video games are no obstacle to sainthood.
From a young age, Carlo's enthusiasm for Jesus was contagious. His witness brought his own family back to faith and even helped convert his Hindu au pair to Catholicism. Carlo called the Eucharist "my highway to heaven" and was eager to tell everyone about the incredible reality of Christ's true presence in the world. To this end, he used his computer to help design an exhibition dedicated to eucharistic miracles that has traversed the globe.
Vatican journalist Courtney Mares has traveled in the footsteps of Acutis across Italy to tell his story in depth, interviewing many whose lives he helped transform. This book paints a portrait of him as seen through the eyes of his friends, family, teachers, priests, doctors, classmates, and followers.
Features an eight-page color photo insert and an account of the miracles attributed to Acutis' intercession, including one certified by the Vatican. Carlo sought no attention for himself while alive, yet in the years after his death, he has become a global "influencer for God".
By PaulaAnne SharkeyLemire. A handy guide for devotion to this popular North American Blessed! This booklet contains a short life of Kateri and a collection of approved prayers, chaplet instructions, and a novena to Blessed Kateri.
Many full-color images of Kateri and photos of places associated with her life. The back cover features the original painting of Kateri which she herself requested in a vision after her death. 32 pp. Softcover. (After this booklet was published, Kateri was canonized.)
Athletic, handsome, and always up for a laugh, Pier Giorgio Frassati was the charismatic leader of a band of rowdy friends. He smoked, pulled pranks, relished extreme sports, and fiercely debated politics into the night--but he also secretly gave his wealth to the poor and plunged into intense experiences of Eucharistic prayer. This inspiring biography captures his spirit and sheds new light on the all-too-short life of the young man John Paul II has called "a man of the Beatitudes."
Lisa M. Hendey, founder of the award-winning CatholicMom.com and bestselling author of The Handbook for Catholic Moms and The Grace of Yes shares her passion for the saints by introducing fifty-two holy companions as guides for the amazing vocation of Catholic motherhood.
Guided by the example of the saints, Hendey eloquently links personal stories, scripture, prayer, and soul-strengthening exercises into a spiritually rich and deeply practical resource for Catholic women. This edition includes a new preface and cover and is updated with information about saints canonized since the first edition.
Allow The Book of Saints for Catholic Moms to help you grow in your faith and enrich your heart, mind, body, and soul by spending each week of the year with Lisa M. Hendey and a different saint. This award-winning spiritual guidebook introduces you to popular saints such as Thérèse of Lisieux, Teresa of Calcutta, John Paul II, and Patrick, as well as lesser known but equally inspiring saints such as Gianna Beretta Molla and Damien of Molokai.
Each week Hendey offers:
There is no greater authority on the saints than Alban Butler, and his enormous research has been the standard reference on the subject for the last two and a half centuries. This new adaptation of Butler's multi-volume Lives of the Saints presents a modernized text for today's reader and provides an illuminating guide to these historic, symbolic, and foundational Christian men and women.
Butler's daily readings from the lives and works of the saints offer readers of all backgrounds the opportunity to engage directly with these great figures. Butler's distinctive contribution to stories about saints was to turn attention away from the superhuman, miraculous themes that are prevalent in earlier works. He gives us saints who are examples of Christian living, who provide inspiration for our own lives, in every time and circumstance. As Butler writes: "They were once what we are now, travelers on earth. They had the same weaknesses we have. We have difficulties; so had the saints."
Important features of this version include mention of recently canonized saints as well as those whose path to official sainthood is still in progress. Also included in the daily readings are more obscure saints whose lives and contributions to Christianity should not be forgotten.
In each generation, heroes of the Faith, whom the Church recognizes as saints, emerge. There are many characteristics that they have in common, but none thus far have used cell phones, played PlayStation video games, or searched for information on Google.
That is about to change.
A young “computer geek” named Carlo Acutis, who created a website cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle in the world and died of leukemia a year later at age fifteen, was beatified in November 2019, after a healing miracle in Brazil was attributed to his intercession. Since the beatification ceremony one year later, solemn crowds have been filing past the exposed relics of the blessed youth in Assisi’s Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Carlo is a sign of contradiction in the modern world who serves as a heroic model for today’s young people—a teenager who programmed computers and enjoyed films and comics yet lived as an authentic and sincere disciple of Christ. In these pages, you’ll discover how he embraced the Faith as a boy and developed the virtues necessary to live a Christ-centered life in a secular society, how he overcame the vices that plagued him, and how he gracefully dealt with heartaches he could not divulge even to his parents.
When he developed leukemia, he offered his suffering both for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Catholic Church, saying: “I offer all the suffering I will have to undergo for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” In this surprising and inspiring book, you’ll also learn:
- How Carlo became holy, in only a few short years
- The young man’s unusual loneliness and how he dealt with it
- His strategy for resisting peer pressure
- How he had fun without losing control and learned to resist gluttony
- How he interacted with teen girls who became his friends
- Why his explanations about the Mass are used in today’s catechism classes in Italy
- How he dealt with friends who were sexually promiscuous and what he told them
- How he responded to the shocking news that he was dying (which happened two weeks later)
- His remarkable Eucharistic Miracles Exhibition—made possible by his computer skills—that is now touring churches all over Europe
Carlo Acutis was a little “different” at school, in the pizzerias, and on the soccer field. What set Carlo apart was his constant pursuit of holiness. In addition to his fun hobbies, he spent time teaching catechism classes and serving in soup kitchens. Carlo loved to attend daily Mass and frequent Eucharistic adoration. The Word of God and the Eucharist were the center of his life. Carlo’s unwavering devotion to the Eucharist inspired him to tell the story of Eucharistic miracles through a website he created just for fun.
Carlo died from a sudden and violent illness in 2006 at the age of fifteen. In less than a decade, his story spread across Italy and around the world. After Pope Francis declared him venerable in 2018, his beatification was celebrated in Assisi on October 10, 2020. The next step will be canonization, making him the first millennial saint.
We have an obligation as Christians to share the Gospel of Christ. But many are at a loss as to how to fulfill this commission.
Good news - we have a clear path we can follow, trod by holy men and women who have successfully brought millions of souls to Christ, the saints!
In his newest book, Casting Nets with the Saints, author and speaker Chris Stewart builds on The Seven Pillars of Effective Evangelization, using entertaining stories of the saints to demonstrate
THE SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE EVANGELIZER
Modeled on the life and ministry of Jesus, a truly effective evangelist must be
Joyful - Humble - Merciful - Peaceful - Faithful - Hopeful - CharitableAs Casting Nets with the Saints powerfully demonstrates, the saints embody these characteristics, and their stories can inspire us to share the Faith. This book is perfect for individuals or parishes searching for an effective program for bringing the Faith to others and growing in it themselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Stewart is a gifted speaker whose talks on catechesis, theology, spirituality, and evangelization have moved audiences all over the U.S. for over 20 years. He has a Masters of Theological Studies from Ave Maria University, and is co-founder of Casting Nets Ministries.
Find strength and healing in the arms of the cross
Fr. Cessario masterfully weaves Saint Catherine’s sublime thoughts and words into an easy-to-read meditation on Christ’s Passion.
These insightful reflections invite us to embrace the challenges we encounter during our journey and, with Saint Catherine, to consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us (Rom 8:18).
A perfect meditation for Lent
A thoughtful gift to help comfort loved ones, family, and friends.
“What do we learn from this description of the suffering Christ? What does Catherine teach us about the transformation that brings the world stillness on Good Friday from noon until three o’clock?
“The answer is simple: We discover that because of his enormous love, Christ’s sufferings and death cause the transformation of all that exists, the transformation we call Christian salvation….
“The transformation that Catherine announces is one that creates in those persons who remain united with Christ a new ground for love, a new sort of loving…. The transformation affects both our persons and our actions.”
Confessions of St. Augustine is--after the Bible and TheImitation of Christ--the most widely translated and highly esteemed book in Christian history. Translated by Rev. J.M. Lelen, Ph.D., this edition is published in a prayer book format, offering a participatory reading and prayer experience based on St. Augustine's confessions of his youthful errors. With a burgundy Dura-Lux cover, this classic book will make a meaningful personal resource or gift.
From 1899 until her death in 1903, the young Italian woman St. Gemma Galgani physically experienced the wounds of Christ every Thursday evening. The stigmata would appear and bleed on her hands, feet, and side, stopping only on Fridayafternoon and leaving white marks as a reminder. St. Gemma also experienced countless visions, raptures, ecstasies, and other mystical graces - as well as intense temptations from the devil.
Here is the remarkable diary of this young saint, which her spiritual director ordered her to write. It will give you an enthralling glimpse into her numerous encounters with Jesus Crucified, with Our Lady, and with her guardian angel, whom she saw almost every day and would even send on errands, usually to deliver messages to her confessor in Rome.
You will witness St. Gemmaï1/2ï1/2ï1/2s courage in fulfilling even laborious duties while wearing the hidden crown of thorns, and youï1/2ï1/2ï1/2ll learn what St. Gabriel Possenti, to whom she was especially devote
This booklet from bestselling author Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC (Consoling the Heart of Jesus and 33 Days to Morning Glory), gives you a brief and easy-to-understand introduction to the Divine Mercy message and devotion. Discover the history and context of Divine Mercy, the essential elements of the devotion, and how you can live the message.
It iIncludes the full prayers of the Divine Mercy Novena and St. Faustina's Litany to Divine Mercy, as well as two bonus appendices: valuable Divine Mercy prayers and Divine Mercy wisdom from Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.