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These approvals ensure that religious writings do not harm the faith and morals of the Catholic faithful. The Catholic Church uses two main approvals for books.
Nihil Obstat: Latin for "nothing obstructs," this is a written opinion by a censor that a book contains nothing contrary to faith or morals. It is not an endorsement of the book's content but a declaration that it does not contradict Church teachings
Imprimatur: Latin for "let it be printed," this is an authorization by a bishop to publish a work. It indicates that the book is free from doctrinal error but does not imply endorsement of its content.
Imprimaturs and nihil obstats are not universally required for all Catholic publications today. They are typically necessary for books dealing with religious subjects that claim to represent Catholic teachings, especially those intended for educational purposes or liturgical use. The process involves a censor librorum reviewing the work for doctrinal errors, granting a nihil obstat if none are found, followed by the bishop's imprimatur. However, not all religious texts require these approvals, and the necessity can vary based on diocesan policies.
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The Augustine Way
The Augustine Way
Tags: Psychology, Pornography
The Augustine Way helps participants to break free of unhealthy sexual habits and find new freedom in Christ. Developed in a seminary setting, and now redesigned for widespread use, the program uses an innovative blend of spirituality and psychology to disrupt ingrained habits and help participants establish long-term patterns of chastity.
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Bread That Is Broken
By Fr. Wilfrid StinissenBread That Is Broken
The Holy Eucharist is the Church's most precious treasure, the source and summit of her worship and life. The Church is built upon and around the Eucharist.
In this book, a renowned spiritual writer and Carmelite priest shows how receiving the Lord in the Eucharist has profound consequences, because the Eucharist is not only the great Sacrament that brings about oneness with Christ and with the faithful but also the foundational norm for Christian behavior. Any Christian who wonders how he should act, he writes, will find the answer in the Eucharist. He is called to become like Jesus—bread that is broken"for the life of the world" (Jn 6:51).
According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, all the sacraments are directed toward the Eucharist as toward their final purpose. The author explains that the Church must therefore guard this precious gift. He correctly challenges the faithful to approach the Eucharist with great reverence and a clear conscience so as not to receive the Lord unworthily but to become his sacrificing and serving people.
Tags: Sacraments, Mass, Eucharist, Jesus, Son
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The Case for Catholicism
By Trent HornThe Case for Catholicism
This is the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and thorough defense of the Catholic Church against Protestant objections in print. This book is especially relevant as the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation draws near and discussion of the arguments made against the Church during that time in history receive renewed interest.
The Case for Catholicism answers arguments put forward by early Reformers like Luther and Calvin as well as contemporary defenders of Protestantism like Norm Geisler and R.C. Sproul. It provides a meticulous defense of the biblical and historical nature of Catholic doctrines from Scripture and church history. Finally, in both answering Protestant objections to Catholicism and in providing evidence for the Faith, The Case for Catholicism cites modern Protestant scholars who question Reformation assumptions and show how evidence from Scripture and church history support aspects of Catholic theology.
This book is divided into four sections, with each answering a key question Christians have asked about the nature of their faith. Those key questions are:
What is my authority?
What is the Church?
How am I saved?
Who belongs to the body of Christ?
The Case for Catholicism will become a reliable, resource for any Catholic who desires a well-researched, readable, and persuasive answer to Protestant arguments made against the Catholic faith.
Tags: Apologetics, Protestantism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catechism of the Catholic Church
This book provides the essential elements of our faith presented in the most understandable manner, enabling everyone to read and know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays.
Tags: Magisterium, Apologetics, Prayer, Morality, Sacraments
COMPENDIUM: Catechism of the Catholic Church
COMPENDIUM: Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a summarized version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
Tags: Magisterium, Apologetics, Prayer, Morality, Sacraments
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Divine Intimacy
Divine Intimacy
By Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. This Book of Meditations is a classic and is seeped in Carmelite spirituality. For every day it offers two meditations, in liturgical arrangement, that enable the soul to enter the conscious presence of God and to reflect on the theme of the day. These are followed by a ‘Colloquy’ that helps the person at prayer to start a friendly conversation with God where acts of praise and love, petition and thanksgiving are made, together with good resolutions for the future. Here we are at the very heart of prayer, which is a heart-to-heart encounter in faith with the living God.
Divine Intimacy is the highest state attainable on earth. In this union of love, the soul produces acts of love which have an immense apostolic influence on a multitude of souls. This knowledge of the ways that lead to God, according to the teaching of the renowned Spanish mystics, is distilled into the pages of this book.
Tags: Morality, Carmelite Spirituality, Liturgical, Saints
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Eternity in the Midst of Time
Wilfrid StinissenEternity in the Midst of Time
Can time be our friend? At first glance the question seems ridiculous, because the apparent scarcity of time is a constant source of stress in our busy lives. There are not enough hours in the day, we say as we collapse late at night. Deep down we know that we cannot go on like this.
Father Stinnisen's book dares us to see time with new eyes. The insight that eternity is written in the depths of our hearts helps us to live in time in a way that leads us deeper into God's joy. We are like children in a land of fairy tales where everything is exciting and exploration never ends.We therefore should rejoice that everything around us is great and mysterious and that we can live in eternal wonder.
His intention is not to explain what time is and thus take away its mystery. Instead, his aim is to show us how to see time from different perspectives and to discover how rich and multifaceted it is. Above all, he demonstrates how we can make use of the tremendous possibilities that time offers to us.
Tags: Redemption, Time, Jesus, Son, Hypostatic Union
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The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints
The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints
Ralph Martin, drawing upon the teaching of seven acknowledged “Spiritual Doctors” of the Church, presents an in-depth study of the journey to God. This book provides encouragement and direction for the pilgrim who desires to know, love, and serve our Lord. Whether the reader is beginning the spiritual journey or has been traveling the road for many years, he will find a treasure of wisdom in The Fulfillment of All Desire. It is destined to be a modern classic on the spiritual life.
Tags: Morality, Christian Action
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Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith
Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith
by Peter Kreeft (Author), Fr. Ronald Tacelli (Author)
Unbelievers, doubters, and skeptics continue to attack the truths of Christianity. Handbook of Catholic Apologetics is the only book that categorizes and summarizes all the major arguments in support of the main Christian beliefs, including key distinctively Catholic doctrines. Also included is a Protestant-friendly treatment of Catholic-Protestant issues. The Catholic answers to Protestant questions show how Catholicism is the fullness of the Christian faith.
An expanded, Catholic edition of the popular book Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Handbook of Catholic Apologetics is full of the wisdom and wit, clarity and insight of philosophers Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. This is an informative and valuable guidebook for anyone looking for answers to questions of faith and reason. Whether you are asking the questions yourself or want to respond to others who are, here is the resource you have been waiting for.
Tags: Apologetics, Philosophy
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Into Your Hands, Father
by: Wilfred Stinissen, Sister Clare MarieInto Your Hands, Father
This book has transformed the faith life of many Christians. It uses Carmelite spirituality and all of the revealed theology to help its reader tune their heart to God's Will. In the spiritual life, we need a central idea: something so basic and comprehensive that it encompasses everything else. According to Carmelite Father Wilfrid Stinissen, surrender to God, abandonment to the One who loves us completely, is that central reality. The life of Jesus shows us the centrality of abandonment, for it is truly the beginning and the end of his mission on earth.
In this simple but profound book, Father Stinissen distinguishes three degrees or stages of abandonment. The first stage consists of accepting and assenting to God's will as it manifests itself in all circumstances of life. The second is actively doing God's will at every moment of one's life. In the third stage, abandonment to God is so complete that one has become a tool in God's hands. At this stage it is no longer I who do God's will, but God who accomplishes his will through me.
Tags: Prayer, Surrender
An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas
by Saint Thomas Aquinas (Author), James F. Anderson (Translator), W. Norris Clarke (Introduction)An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas
An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas is an accessible Aquinas and a solid entry into his work. The format is manageable, and the scope, appropriately limited. James F. Anderson's skillful collection and lucid translation makes the pleasure of reading Aquinas available as it has not been before.
Tags: Metaphysics, Philosophy
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Jesus of Nazareth: 3 Volume Set
Jesus of Nazareth: 3 Volume Set
In this bold, momentous work, Pope Benedict XVI seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from today’s “popular” depictions and to restore his true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope incites us to encounter Jesus face to face.
From Jesus of Nazareth: “. . . the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature–the God who showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love.”
Tags: Popes, Theology, Christology
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Knowing the Love of God: Lessons from a Spiritual Master
Knowing the Love of God: Lessons from a Spiritual Master
In this collection of retreat talks, the beloved Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., gives us a blueprint for progress in the spiritual life. He particularly focuses on: The goal of life as supernatural life and love; The obstacles in life brought about by evil and sin; The Lords redemptive work as the source of the spiritual life; The power of mortification and acceptance of our crosses; Conformity to Christ by prayer and devotion to Mary. Permeated with rich doctrine and ideal for devotional use, this book will help those known and loved by God to know and love the same God more than ever.
Tags: Prayer
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Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics
Charles J. ChaputLiving the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics
Addressing the difficult question of what it means to be a Catholic in the twenty-first century, Archbishop Charles Chaput offers a sound, contemporary vision for understanding the teachings of the Church and shows how you live them out with a spirit of love and obedience. How can you experience a fresh, active spiritual life? Find out as you rediscover the vital basics of Living the Catholic Faith. A Servant Book.
Tags: Prayer, Morality, Sacraments
Life-Giving Wounds: A Catholic Guide to Healing for Adult Children of Divorce or Separation
Daniel Meola and Bethany MeolaLife-Giving Wounds: A Catholic Guide to Healing for Adult Children of Divorce or Separation
Over half of the people in the United States will experience the splitting up of their parents, statistics say. Yet no matter how “normal” divorce becomes, it always inflicts a profound wound on families—not only the parents, but the children, whether young or grown. The children of divorce are fractured on the level of their very being: heart, mind, and soul. If left untended, this break could pain them for the rest of their lives, tingeing their relationships, their faith, and their capacity for joy.
Life-Giving Wounds offers a path to recovery for adult children of divorce and separation, and a thorough reference for those who love and care for them. Daniel and Bethany Meola draw from their personal experience, theological formation, and academic research—as well as from their work of accompanying hundreds of men and women from broken homes—to provide a compassionate, spiritually rich, and psychologically sound guidebook following the footsteps of the only true healer: Jesus Christ.
Readers of Life-Giving Wounds learn to recognize the many ruptures caused by divorce and, more crucially, to find new life by grieving, praying, hoping, loving, forgiving, trusting, and committing to one’s vocation. In the Resurrection, God turns suffering into something infinitely beautiful: redemption. This is where we find healing that lasts. Our wounds may remain with us—as Christ’s did with him—but they can, like his, begin to give life.
Tags: Prayer, Morality, Sacraments
The Light Shines on in the Darkness: Transforming Suffering through Faith (Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence) (Volume 4)
Robert SpitzerThe Light Shines on in the Darkness: Transforming Suffering through Faith (Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence) (Volume 4)
Why would an all-loving God allow suffering? Are not suffering and love opposed to one another? Does suffering have any meaning or benefit? Is there any objective evidence for God, for a soul that will survive bodily death, for the resurrection of Jesus? Who is God anyway – benevolent and loving, or angry and retributive?
Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., gives a comprehensive response to these questions and many others, explaining the contemporary evidence for God, the soul, and the resurrection. He discusses how God uses suffering to lead us to compassion for others and eternal life. He also shows how the Holy Spirit guides us through times of suffering toward our salvation, explaining the signs and the interior movements that reveal the Spirit's actions.
Fr. Spitzer not only addresses the perplexing questions associated with suffering but teaches us how to suffer well. He points out some of the most common mistakes people make when trying to interpret God's motives for allowing or alleviating suffering. He demonstrates why suffering – in combination with love – is one of the most powerful motivating agents for personal, cultural, and societal development.
Tags: Psychology, Suffering, Cross, Resurrection
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Mary in the Bible and in Our Lives
Wilfrid StinissenMary in the Bible and in Our Lives
This book offers a clear, beautiful exposition of Catholic beliefs about Mary. Not a history or a compendium, it was written by a Carmelite monk who spent decades praying and pondering the mysteries of the faith concerning the Mother of Jesus.
Catholic Mariology has matured through centuries of meditation upon both the Bible and the Church's faith in the Incarnation. The Marian dogmas of the Church are guarantors of the full meaning of the statement in the Gospel of John that "the word became flesh and dwelt among us" (1:14).
Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen shows that Mariology corrects any attempt to minimize the good news that God became man so that man could become like God. In writing about Mary, he underlines the astonishing truth that God has initiated an intimate communion with mankind. In a world that strives to reduce human dignity, Mary reveals the very high value of man in God's eyes and God's wondrous love and plan for each one of us.
Tags: Blessed Virgin Mary, Sacred Scripture
Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body
John Paul II (Author), Michael Waldstein (Translator)Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body
Internationally renowned Biblical scholar Michael Waldstein offers a new critical translation of Pope John Paul IIs talks on the Theology of the Body, presenting his magnificent vision of the human person with meticulous scholarship and profound insight. A Preface by Cardinal Schönborn, a Foreword by Christopher West, a comprehensive index of words and phrases, a Scriptural index, and a reference table for other versions of the papal texts are included. Recipient of a CPA Award!
Tags: Magisterium, Sacred Scripture, Morality
My Other Self: Conversations with Christ on Living Your Faith
My Other Self: Conversations with Christ on Living Your Faith
Modeled on the fifteenth-century classic The Imitation of Christ, this well-loved Clarence Enzler masterwork helps Christians today hear the voice of Christ. In this powerful book, Christ addresses you personally as “my other self,” urging you to embody his love and compassion for others.
Through a creative dialogue between Jesus and the reader, Clarence Enzler leads you through the journey of the Christian life, beginning with the call to live in friendship with Christ and fulfill his desire. Enzler then examines elements of the Christian life: detachment, virtue, prayer, the Eucharist, and avoidance of sin. Finally, he explores the goal of the journey—a life of union with Christ as his disciple and complete joy with him in eternity.
Each chapter includes short, eloquent meditations on scripture and beautiful prayers, making My Other Self ideal as a daily devotional and source of prayer.
Tags: Prayer
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Natural Theology
by D.Q. McInerneyNatural Theology
This book is a comprehensive account of the basic principles and issues pertaining to natural theology, that part of metaphysics which deals with “God and the things of God,” from the point of view of unaided human reason. The central task of natural theology is proving the existence of God, and this serves as the focal concern of the book.
Tags: Philosophy, Natural Theology
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The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics
Book by W. Norris ClarkeThe One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics
When it is taught today, metaphysics is often presented as a fragmented view of philosophy that ignores the fundamental issues of its classical precedents. Eschewing these postmodern approaches, W. Norris Clarke finds an integrated vision of reality in the wisdom of Aquinas and here offers a contemporary version of systematic metaphysics in the Thomistic tradition. The One and the Many presents metaphysics as an integrated whole which draws on Aquinas' themes, structure, and insight without attempting to summarize his work. Although its primary inspiration is the philosophy of St. Thomas himself, it also takes into account significant contributions not only of later philosophers but also of those developments in modern science that have philosophical bearing, from the Big Bang to evolution.
Tags: Metaphysics, Philosophy
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The Porn Circuit
The Porn Circuit
Understand Your Brain and Break Porn Habits in 90 Days
Science shows us that acting out with pornography taps into our powerful neurochemistry, and this can quickly lead a person to use porn habitually. The good news is that the brain has a lifelong ability to wire and rewire itself. Discover why people become obsessed with pornography, and how to break the cycle of porn use.
Tags: Porn, Science
The Porn Myth
The Porn Myth
The Porn Myth is a non-religious response to the commonly held belief that pornography is a harmless or even beneficial pastime. Author Matt Fradd draws on the experience of porn performers and users, and the expertise of neurologists, sociologists, and psychologists to demonstrate that pornography is destructive to individuals, relationships, and society. He provides insightful arguments, supported by the latest scientific research, to discredit the fanciful claims used to defend and promote pornography.
This book explains the neurological reasons porn is addictive, helps individuals learn how to be free of porn, and offers real help to the parents and the spouses of porn users. Because recent research on pornography's harmful effects on the brain validates the experiences of countless porn users, there is a growing wave of passionate individuals trying to change the pro-porn cultural norm-by inspiring others to pursue real love and to avoid its hollow counterfeit.
Matt Fradd and this book are part of that movement, which is aiding the many men and women who are seeking a love untainted by warped perceptions of intimacy and rejecting the influence of porn in their lives.
Tags: Porn, Science, Psychology
Porn Stats
Porn Stats
250+ Facts, Quotes, and Statistics About Pornography Use (2018 Edition)
Finding up-to-date information about pornography use can be a daunting task for a researcher. This carefully documented compilation of stats, quotes, and figures about porn use, porn and psychology, and the porn industry is a perfect starting place for your own research.
Tags: Porn
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Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart
Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart
BY: Fr. Jacques Philippe
This is a treatise on peace. Taking concrete examples from our everyday life, the author invites us to respond in a Gospel fashion to the upsetting situations we must all confront. Since peace of heart is a pure gift of God, it is something we should seek, pursue and ask him for without cease.
Tags: Prayer
Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
By St. Therese of the Child JesusStory of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
Two and a half years before her death in 1897 at the age of 24, as Thérèse Martin began writing down her childhood memories at the request of her blood sisters in the Lisieux Carmel, few could have guessed the eventual outcome.
Tags: Saints, Prayer, Christion Action
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The Holy Spirit, Fire of Divine Love
Fr. Wilfrid StinissenThe Holy Spirit, Fire of Divine Love
Acclaimed spiritual writer Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen presents insightful reflections on the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, emphasizing the importance of the Spirit in the life of a Christian. He illustrates that the Holy Spirit desires to live in us so that we can love God and others with God's own love. As the Holy Spirit descended upon the early Church at Pentecost to set the world ablaze with the fire of divine love, so He wants to do with us.
God, who is One, also desires the Church to be one, Fr. Stinissen writes. The Lord wants to unify all Christians in one holy Church, and all people in one body. The Holy Spirit is the great unifier, he says, for it is he who makes the Father and the Son one God. If Christians let him live within them, they will grow in unity.
Tags: Holy Spirit
The Word Is Very Near You
Fr. Wilfrid StinissenThe Word Is Very Near You
"My wish", writes Father Wilfrid Stinissen, "is to give some simple advice on how we can draw nearer to God's Word and let it penetrate us in order that it will bear fruit in our lives."
The acclaimed spiritual writer and Carmelite priest says that all Christian literature and preaching are nothing more than an attempt to explain and interpret what God himself has spoken to us in the Bible. God is active in his holy Word, and he is also active in man's seeking and study, in his research and knowledge.
In Judaism, the study of Scripture has always had a prominent place, and the same is true of Christianity from the beginning, as can be seen above all in the writings of the Church Fathers. Some modern scholars have also made important discoveries that help illuminate even more the Bible's broad, colorful vistas.
Yet without prayer, scholarship is only superficial glitter, destined to fade away. Father Stinissen teaches that prayer and the reading of Scripture belong inseparably together, and he shows the reader how combining them leads a person to close communion with God.
Tags: Jesus, Son, Sacred Scripture
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold
C. S. LewisTill We Have Faces: A Myth Retold
A repackaged edition of the revered author’s retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche—what he and many others regard as his best novel.
C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—brilliantly reimagines the story of Cupid and Psyche. Told from the viewpoint of Psyche’s sister, Orual, Till We Have Faces is a brilliant examination of envy, betrayal, loss, blame, grief, guilt, and conversion. In this, his final—and most mature and masterful—novel, Lewis reminds us of our own fallibility and the role of a higher power in our lives.
Tags: Love
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