Catholic Culture Audiobooks (CatholicCulture.org)

“Holiness and prayer are simple. God's Mother taught me so."

St. Bernadette's own autobiographical account of the apparitions at Lourdes, narrated by Karina Majewski.

Full Text: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/short-life-of-bernadette-5238

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

We'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box!

5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast)

5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast)

5/22, 8pm ET - Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers)

You can use this link to connect to the Mike Aquilina livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNXvhOJuLZ8

The links to the other two livestreams will go up on the Catholic Culture YouTube channel a few days before each one.

“We are now entering on a fresh stage of our life's journey; we know well how it will end, and we see where we shall stop in the evening, though we do not see the road.”

Ring in the New Year with this New Year’s Day sermon by St. John Henry Newman, first released on this podcast in January 2020.

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume7/sermon1.html

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Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The letter of Ignatius sent to us by himself and all the others we have here we send you... and from them you will greatly profit."

St. Polycarp was the 2nd-century Bishop of Smyrna. Though he is known to have composed numerous letters, his Letter to the Philippians is the only one that has survived. 

In this letter, Polycarp insists on the value of closely studying the letters of St. Paul and of St. Ignatius of Antioch, whose letters Polycarp had sent to the Philippians along with this letter.

Mike Aquilina on St. Polycarp: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-polycarp-and-social-network/

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org:  https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1626

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"My Brethren, it is plain that, when we confess God as Omnipotent only, we have gained but a half-knowledge of Him: His is an Omnipotence which can at the same time swathe Itself in infirmity and can become the captive of Its own creatures... We must know Him by His names, Emmanuel and Jesus, to know Him perfectly."

First preached on the Sunday after Epiphany in 1857, Omnipotence in Bonds remains one of St. John Henry Newman's most celebrated sermons. In it, Newman meditates on the subject of the Incarnation, and how by His Incarnation God makes Himself subject to His creatures — even before the Nativity, and even after the Crucifixion.

Links

Omnipotence in Bonds full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/occasions/sermon6.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Among this ever so numerous throng of pure spirits, the highest of hierarchies is that of the great contemplative angels… Next comes those who are ministers of the Most High… and finally there are the angels who simply execute the orders of God, as are the invisible guardians of men, communities, and nations.”

An excerpt from The Sense of Mystery: Clarity and Obscurity in the Intellectual Life, by French Dominican theologian Garrigou-Lagrange.

In this chapter, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange writes from the perspective of an angel. In the angel's own words, he describes the nature, knowledge, and limits of the created pure spirit, and by way of contrast elucidates the limits of our own human intellect. 

Links

Translation courtesy of Emmaus Academic: https://www.emmausacademic.com/publications/2018/5/18/sense-of-mystery

The Catholic Culture Podcast Ep. 38—Garrigou-Lagrange, The Sacred Monster of Thomism—w/ Matthew K. Minerd: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-38-sacred-monster-matthew-k-minerd/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“The unseen God alone was their Comforter, and this invests the scene of their suffering with supernatural majesty, and awes us when we think of them.”

This episode features a sermon first given by St. John Henry Newman on the Feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, in which he reflects on martyrdom and the early church martyrs.

Links

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume2/sermon4.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“I am a servant of Christ. If you have been sent against me, here I am.”

With today’s episode, we pass the halfway mark of this Christian classic. We’ll hear of Anthony’s move even further into the desert, more stories of his struggles against principalities and powers, and more of Anthony's words to the monks who came to him seeking guidance.

In part 3, we heard Anthony describe some beginning rules for the discernment of spirits. This time, we’ll hear him provide instruction on another hallmark of Christian spirituality: the examination of conscience at the end of the day.

There’s also to be found here a number of instances testifying to the power of prayer, of what can happen when one prays and believes sincerely, and a reminder of Our Lord’s words, “Ask, and it shall be given to you.”

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“One that lives by other's breath, / Dieth also by his death.”

This poem by the English Jesuit martyr St. Robert Southwell is a meditation upon Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross. As an eventual martyr himself, Southwell’s reflections on death in the poem are prescient.

The poem is prefaced by a brief letter on the nature and purpose of poetry, written separately by Southwell to his cousin, who seems also to have been a poet. The letter played a large role in the significant influence Southwell had upon later writers of the English Renaissance, with even William Shakespeare seeming to have included a response to this letter in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In fact, some scholars have argued that the "cousin" to whom Southwell writes in this letter is none other than Shakespeare himself.

Learn more about St. Robert Southwell, his poetry, and the poetry of other English Martyrs, in episode 69 of the Catholic Culture Podcast.

Links

St. Robert Southwell—Love & Suffering: 3 Poems | Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/love-suffering-3-poems-by-st-robert-southwell/

Ep. 69—Poetry of the English Martyrs—Benedict Whalen | Catholic Culture Podcast: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-69-poetry-english-martyrs-benedict-whalen/

"Mary Magdalene's Complaint at Christ's Death" full text: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalen%27s_Complaint_at_Christ%27s_Death

Lyra Martyrum: The Poetry of the English Martyrs https://www.clunymedia.com/product/lyra-martyrum/

Follow this link to join the Online Great Books VIP waiting list and get 25% off your first 3 months: https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“When you are obedient to the bishop as you would be to Jesus Christ, you are living, not in a human way, but according to Jesus Christ…”

St. Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch and one of the chief figures among the Apostolic Fathers. The only extant writings by St. Ignatius are the seven letters he wrote as a prisoner on his way to Rome to face martyrdom. The two short letters featured in today's episode both address the question of obedience to the bishop.

Links

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120401/the-apostolic-fathers

Letter to the Trallians alternate translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1630

Letter to the Philadelphians alternate translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1632

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 4—Ignatius of Antioch: To Know “Jesus Christ Our God” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Put the Lord in your hearts, then, you who are empty and fickle in the faith. You will then know that nothing is easier, sweeter, or more gentle than these mandates. Be converted, you who walk in the commandments of the Devil, commandments that are hard, bitter, cruel, and foul. And do not fear the Devil either, because he has no power against you. I, the Angel of Repentance, who have overcome the Devil, am on your side.”

The Shepherd of Hermas is an apocryphal text written in Rome in the 2nd century. It belongs to the category of "apocalyptic" literature, as it relates a series of revelations given to its titular character, Hermas, who may or may not also have been the work's author.

The Shepherd of Hermas was widely read and respected in the early Church, with some Church Fathers (such as Irenaeus and Origen) even considering it part of canonical scripture. 

The text is divided into three main sections: Visions, Mandates, and Parables. Taken together, they serve as an exhortation to repentance.

Part 2: Mandates

00:00 Intro

00:39 First Mandate

01:27 Second Mandate

03:38 Third Mandate

06:01 Fourth Mandate

14:26 Fifth Mandate

20:12 Sixth Mandate

24:51 Seventh Mandate

26:50 Eighth Mandate

31:39 Ninth Mandate

34:56 Tenth Mandate

40:06 Eleventh Mandate

47:13 Twelfth Mandate

This work to be released in its entirety in episodic format.

Links

The Shepherd of Hermas full text: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-grimm/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Hence, it is clear that the main tenet of socialism — community of goods — must be utterly rejected, since it only injures those whom it would seem meant to benefit, is directly contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonweal.”

Rerum Novarum—literally meaning “Of New Things,” but more accurately translated, “Of Revolutionary Change,”—was Pope Leo XIII's response to the political upheaval of the 19th century. Issued on May 15, 1891, Rerum Novaum set forth a definitive word on these “new things”, and laid the groundwork for much of the development of the Church’s social thought through the 20th century. Today, Rerum Novarum is considered a foundational text of Catholic social teaching.

Covering everything from property rights to trade unions, to questions of wages and the relationship of man to the State; it’s a sweeping document that is at once comprehensive and accessible. There’s no need to be a political philosopher or economist here. Leo XIII develops his arguments in a methodical and straightforward way, and states plainly that human society can be healed in no other way than in a return to Christian life and Christian institutions.

In this first half, Pope Leo XIII lays out the problems, rejects socialism’s call for the abolition of private property, and identifies those rights and duties of the person and family that are prior to and independent of the State. He outlines the respective rights and duties of the worker and of the employer, affirming their mutual need for one another and calling them not only to cooperation, but to love.

Today, when so many of the same social ills have reared their ugly head, Rerum Novarum is required reading for anyone looking to address the political and economic questions of today.

Full Text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4904

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“What is given us by revelation to estimate and measure this world by? The event of this season—the Crucifixion of the Son of God.”

A powerful sermon given by Newman for the last Sunday in Lent. 

The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume6/sermon7.html

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Catholic Culture Audiobooks, a brand new podcast and production of CatholicCulture.org, bringing you professionally-produced audio recordings of great Catholic literature from throughout the centuries! Starting with the Church Fathers and St. John Henry Newman. Read by James T. Majewski.

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for free access to the full archive beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

A sermon by the seventeenth-century French theologian and bishop, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. Bossuet reflects upon the hidden life of St. Joseph and looks ahead to Christ's Second Coming when Joseph’s hidden greatness will finally be known.

Meditations for Advent, Sophia Institute Press: https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/meditations-for-advent

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“... if any of these customs is common to the whole Church throughout the world, it is the most unheard of madness to doubt that such custom is to be followed.”

Also known as "Letter 54", Augustine’s Letter to Januarius was written in response to a question posed by Januarius in a previous letter: at what time of day should the Holy Sacrifice on Holy Thursday be celebrated?

The letter contains a clear affirmation of the twofold authority of Scripture and Tradition, careful articulation of the distinction between that which is essential to the faith and that which is not, and a hint at some of the early Church’s procedural disputes... a humbling reminder that disagreements regarding accidental aspects to liturgy are as old as the Church itself!

Links

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120434/saint-augustine-letters-vol-1

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3202

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“It is possible, with the help of God, easily to distinguish the presence of the good and the bad: a vision of the holy ones is not agitated.”

We’re continuing where we left off at the end of our last episode, with Anthony addressing the monks who have come to the desert to imitate his way of life and seek his guidance. We’ll hear Anthony complete the discourse he began in our previous episode, and go deeper into the methods of spiritual combat.

Of particular interest, Anthony provides some provisional rules for the discernment of spirits. Those familiar with St. Ignatius of Loyola's rules for discernment as outlined in his Spiritual Exercises will no doubt recognize many similarities here.

Also worth noting is Anthony’s reliance upon the the Word of God and on the Sign of the Cross in his confrontations with the devil. Committing to memory some of the same Scripture passages Anthony employs may help us in our own times of struggle, and Anthony’s insistence on the power of the Sign of the Cross serves as a reminder that the Sign of the Cross is itself a prayer (and sacramental, too!).

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"So the man whom Satan has smitten ought not to be ashamed to confess his sin, and depart from it, and entreat for himself the medicine of penitence. For gangrene comes to the wound of him who is ashamed to show it, and harm comes to his whole body; and he who is not ashamed has his wound healed, and again returns to go down into the conflict."

St. Aphrahat is known in the tradition as “the Persian Sage.” Born in the late third century in the Persian Empire, he flourished amid persecution and is the earliest prominent witness to Syriac Christianity. He wrote in a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, and maintained close contact with Judaism, demonstrating a profound knowledge of Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish customs. He is best known for his collection of twenty-three writings called the "Demonstrations."

Demonstration VII concerns penitents. Composed in 336-337 A.D., it is the earliest work to treat of the early Church's approach to the sacrament of penance and pastoral care with such precision.

Links

Demonstration VII, On Penitents full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/aphrahat_dem7.htm

Learn more about St. Aphrahat on Way of the Fathers: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/27-aphrahat-parsee-sage-primary-in-time/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Therefore, dear son, the first thing I advise is that you fix your whole heart upon God, and love Him with all your strength, for without this no one can be saved or be of any worth.”

St. Louis IX became the King of France at the age of twelve. A kind husband, a father of eleven children, and at the same time a strict ascetic, Louis’ conduct as king was that of a real saint. St. Louis' letter of advice to his eldest son, the later Philip III, reflects not only his saintly piety, but also his high ideal of kingship, and illustrates how a saint might act on the throne of France.

Links

Letter of St. Louis IX to His Son Full Text: http://www.christendomrestoration.org/uploads/9/0/2/6/9026344/letter-of-st-louis-ix-to-his-son.pdf

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

In this sermon, Newman warns of the danger arising from inordinate love for "the elegant arts and studies," or what he refers to as accomplishments. It is one thing, for example, to be well-read in the classics merely to take delight in the lofty sentiments therein expressed—but it is another thing to “apply all we read to ourselves… from the mere sincerity and honesty of our desire to please God."

The Danger of Accomplishments full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume2/sermon30.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Thus when we would know who God is, we answer: Jesus."

This episode features sermon notes jotted down by St. John Henry Newman in 1851.

Before his conversion, Newman had always read his sermons from a prepared manuscript, according to Anglican custom at the time. As a Catholic priest, he instead preached his homilies in a manner to which Catholics were more accustomed, with a more extemporaneous feel.

Interestingly, his sermon notes were for the most part written down after the sermon, not before - an indication that Newman continued to develop his thoughts even as he preached.

Links

On the Name of Jesus (sermon notes) Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/sermonnotes/file2.html#sermon11

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“He has given to those who desire Him not only to see Him, but even to touch, and eat Him, and fix their teeth in His flesh, and to embrace Him, and satisfy all their love. Let us then return from that table like lions breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil.”

St. John Chrysostom was born sometime in the years 344 - 354 AD. He developed great fame as a preacher, to which his earned moniker of Chrysostom, or “golden mouthed”, attests.

Chrysostom's reputation eventually led to his reluctantly becoming the Bishop of Constantinople, the Christian capital of the time. There he set about a reform of the clergy and laity. Within a few years, Chrysostom’s political and ecclesiastical enemies were arranging for his exile. In 407 AD and en route to the destination of his second exile, Chrysostom died.

St. John Chrysostom's body of work represents the largest collection of extant writings from among the Greek Fathers of the Church, with most of his works surviving in their entirety. Among these are included some treatises and many letters—but his collection of writing is largely comprised of sermons.

There are a total of 88 exegetical homilies by Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John. In this homily, Chrysostom breaks down John 6:41-52—a significant portion of what is known as Jesus’ “Bread of Life Discourse”. The result is not only an excellent verse-by-verse exegesis, but also a rousing sermon on the Eucharist, the Mystery of Faith.

Links

Homily 46 on the Gospel According to St. John Full Text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2046

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 41—Chrysostom (Part 1) | Golden Mouth & Golden Mysteries: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/42chrysostom-part-1-golden-mouth-golden-mysteries/ 

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 42—Chrysostom (Part 2) | Triumph, Tragedy & Glory: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/42chrysostom-part-2-triumph-tragedy-glory/ 

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"... as His atoning passion was undergone in the body, so it was undergone in the soul also."

Mental Sufferings of Our Lord in His Passion full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/discourses/discourse16.html

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Here then we have a sign of Antichrist's appearance—I do not say of his instant coming, or his certain coming… still, so far as it goes, it is a preparation, a warning, a call to sober thought..."

This episode is the fourth in Newman’s series of lectures on The Patristical Idea of Antichrist. In this final lecture, Newman focuses his attention on the persecution that is prophesied to attend the coming of Antichrist— a persecution which, the prophecies indicate, will be more terrible than any to have come before, and will only be cut short by Jesus’s Second Coming.

As with any meditation upon the apocalypse, the end of this meditation is our own conversion: to chasten our attachment to this world, to be awake so as not to be deceived or seduced away from following Christ, to accept persecution for His sake, and to prepare for the day when we will stand before Him.

Links

The Persecution of Antichrist Full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/arguments/antichrist/lecture4.html

Pt. 3, The City of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-3-city-antichrist/

Pt. 2, The Religion of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-2-religion-antichrist/

Pt. 1, The Times of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-1-times-antichrist/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"In heaven, love will absorb fear; but in this world, fear and love must go together."

Vivat Christus Rex!

Links

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume1/sermon23.html

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Lyra Martyrum: The Poetry of the English Martyrs, 1503-1681 https://www.clunymedia.com/product/lyra-martyrum/

Catholic Culture Podcast Ep. 69—Poetry of the English Martyrs, w/ Benedict Whalen: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-69-poetry-english-martyrs-benedict-whalen/

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“This present feast is one of the greater of the whole year... Because there are three grades of sanctity which we celebrate in this feast.”

Links:

Full text: https://www.svfsermons.org/C117_Purification%20of%20the%20BVM.htm

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A Holy Saturday poem by Sr. Mary Ada, OSJ. 

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“The axe of the Gospel must now be laid at the roots of the barren tree and the tree must be delivered to the flames with its unfruitful leaves, so that he who has never learned to speak might learn at length to hold his tongue.”

Despite little training in eloquence or theology, Helvidius had gained some notoriety as an opponent of monasticism and of virginity as a way of life. This led Helvidius also to deny the perpetual virginity of Mary. Helvidius’ book on the subject became a major source of scandal in Rome. And this St. Jerome could not abide.

In his response, Jerome maintains three propositions against Helvidius: that Joseph was considered the husband of Mary as he was considered the father of Jesus, more by repute than by biological fact; that the “brethren” of the Lord referenced in the Gospels were Jesus’ cousins, not his brothers; and that virginity is indeed a higher state in life than the married state.

Links

Dogmatic and Polemical Works, by St. Jerome: https://verbum.com/product/120412/dogmatic-and-polemical-works

Against Helvidius full text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2314

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"You can judge and believe in all truth that it was a gift of God.
This is my confession before I die."

St. Patrick was a fifth century bishop who came to be known as the “Apostle of Ireland.”

A confession is thought of today primarily as an acknowledgment of guilt. It can also refer to the praise of God’s greatness or a profession of faith.

In this Confession, St. Patrick recounts and gives thanks for the many blessings of God which Patrick had experienced throughout his life, despite his failings and limitations.

St. Patrick, pray for us!

Links

St. Patrick's Confession Full Text: https://dialogueireland.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/confessio-letter-single-page-17th-mar-03.pdf

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 51—St. Patrick | Paternal & Patristic: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/51st-patrick-paternal-and-patristic/ 

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The Lord’s memorial is the central mystery of our Christian life. It has taken the form of a meal at which He offers Himself as the food. We were taught this in the Communion instruction of our childhood; we hear it repeated again and again in sermons and retreats; we read it in religious books. Yet are we really aware of the stupendousness of the thought?"

Romano Guardini (1885-1968) was a German priest and academic, regarded to be one of the most important Catholic intellectual figures of the 20th century. He authored numerous books and was a major influence on such Catholic thinkers as Josef Pieper, Luigi Giussani and Joseph Ratzinger, among others. He declined a cardinalship offered by Pope Paul VI in 1965, and his cause for canonization was opened in December 2017 by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

Guardini was particularly influential in the area of liturgy. The work from which this reflection comes, Meditations Before Mass, originated as a series of discourses offered in preparation for the celebration of Mass. "Their purpose," Guardini writes, "was simply to reveal what the Mass demands of us and how those demands may be properly met."

Links

Christ's Offering of Self full text: https://guardini.wordpress.com/meditations-before-mass/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"People are shown to be not particularly spiritual at other times if they do not prove themselves to be more spiritual in these days."

St. Leo the Great's pontificate was described by Pope Benedict XVI as “undoubtedly one of the most important in Church history”. His 96 extant sermons, given during the period 440-461, reveal his great desire for the unity of the Church and his strong belief in the primacy of the papacy.

These three Lenten sermons were given in the years 441, 442, and 443 respectively. In them, Leo exhorts the faithful to use Lent as a time to fight against the temptations of the flesh and overcome the self, that they might participate fully in the Easter feast.

Links

St. Leo the Great Sermons: https://verbum.com/product/120449/st-leo-the-great-sermons

Alternate Translations at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2215 and https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2217

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"And just as the all-holy body of God's Son, which was taken from her, rose from the dead on the third day, it followed that she should be snatched from the tomb, that the mother should be united to her Son; and as He had come down to her, so she should be raised up to Him."

John of Damascus, also known as St. John Damascene, was an influential monk and theologian of the 8th century. He is considered the last of the Greek Fathers and is primarily known for his definitive defense of icons against the iconoclast heresy. His influential body of work includes sermons, hymns, and an encyclopedia that summarizes the philosophical and theological developments of the Patristic era. His significant contributions to the Church's understanding of her doctrine and liturgy have earned him the title "Doctor of the Church."

In this sermon—one of three on the Dormition of Mary—St. John reflects upon Mary's participation in the mysteries of salvation, describes the gathering of the apostles and angels to honor her departure from this world, and exhorts all to celebrate the great feast of her Assumption.

Links

Sermon II: On the Assumption full text: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/johndamascus-komesis.asp

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“Love  gives life to the soul, for just as the body lives through the soul, so the soul lives through God, and God dwells in us through love.”

A Pentecost sermon by St. Thomas Aquinas.

Links

Article on Aquinas' preaching style: "What Lessons Do Thomas Aquinas' Sermons Hold For Modern Preachers?" https://www.hprweb.com/2017/06/what-lessons-do-thomas-aquinass-sermons-hold-for-modern-preachers/

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-academic-sermons-aquinas-hoogland/

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"And let us not merely seem to pay attention and to believe now, while being admonished by the presbyters, but also, when we have gone home, let us remember the commandments of the Lord..."

The Second Letter of St. Clement is neither a letter nor by St. Clement. It is, instead, a homily—and the oldest example of Christian preaching aside from Scripture itself. Its appearance alongside St. Clement’s Letter to the Corinthians in many early manuscripts earns it its title.

Highlights include affirmation of Christ’s divinity, emphasis placed upon the resurrection of the body, and some moving words on penance. Among the numerous Scriptural references, there are a few instances of quotation from unknown sources (likely one or more apocryphal gospels).

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1990

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"But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source."

Issued in 1968, Humanae Vitae is the final encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI. In it, he rejects the conclusions of the 1966 majority report of the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control, and instead reaffirms the Church's longstanding opposition to artificial contraception while promoting natural family planning as a moral alternative. The document remains a significant source text for Church teaching on responsible parenthood, marital love, and the sanctity of life.

Links

Humanae Vitae full text: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html

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“Surely the world is impregnated with the elements of preternatural evil, which ever and anon, in unhealthy seasons, give lowering and muttering tokens of the wrath to come!”

This is the second in a series of four lectures by Newman on The Patristical Idea of Antichrist, the first lecture of which we released back in January. Whereas the first lecture considered "The Times of Antichrist", this second lecture addresses the question of whether the Antichrist will profess any particular religion at all.

On the one hand, Antichrist will not only reject Christ — he will oppose all religion, all worship, and all that is called God. On the other hand, the Antichrist will be mistaken for the Christ. He will impersonate the Messiah, and therefore will have some connection to Jewish custom, ritual, and the Temple. Further, he will usher in a novel form of false worship, and will do so even as he restores the old Roman Empire.

Newman recalls some remarkable features of the French Revolution to illustrate that "there are ways of fulfilling sacred announcements that seem at first sight contradictory.”

As with the first lecture, this present installment is an exhortation to take seriously the prophecies concerning the Antichrist, and to a renewed confidence in God’s providence through history.

Links

The Religion of Antichrist Full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/arguments/antichrist/lecture2.html

The Times of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-1-times-antichrist/

Way of the Fathers w/ Mike Aquilina, Ep. 32—Julian, the Apostate Who Aped the Church: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/32julian-apostate-who-aped-church/

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“Day and night follow each other not more surely, than punishment comes upon sin… just as a stone falls to the earth, or as fire burns, or as poison kills, as if by the necessary bond of cause and effect.”

Penitence is the focus of this sermon, given by Newman some years before his conversion to Catholicism. In it he addresses a topic too often neglected: the consequence of sin—of a single sin, at that. Even for Catholics, it can at times be all too easy simply to go to confession, receive absolution, and to forget that certain consequences remain—that reparations remain to be made—and that the work of penitence is ongoing.

Even when we do attend to the consequences of our sin—above all, to the harm that our sin inflicts upon Jesus—these consequences can feel far removed, considered only in the abstract. In, this too, Newman's sermon is beneficial. By looking at the moral consequence of sin, Newman considers sin’s consequence in an imminent and concrete light, able to stir us from complacency.

Links

Moral Consequences of Single Sins Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume4/sermon3.html

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“Her glories are not only for the sake of her Son — they are for our sakes also.”

Whereas in The Glories of Mary for the Sake of Her Son, Newman focuses primarily upon the then soon-to-be-defined dogma of the Immaculate Conception, here he draws special attention to Mary’s Assumption, and to the fitness — or, as he says, becomingness — of both dogmas.

Newman further points out that Mary’s glories are not only for the sake of her Son, but for the sake of us, the rest of her children, as well.

Notes

On the Fitness of the Glories of Mary Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/discourses/discourse18.html

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"The helpers of our faith are fear and patience; our allies are long-suffering and self-control."

The so-called Letter of Barnabas is neither a letter nor by St. Barnabas. Written by an anonymous author sometime between the years 70 and 150 AD, it is a work of allegorical scriptural interpretation chiefly notable for its early date. Having been composed well before collection of the New Testament into a canon, the Letter of Barnabas attempts to illustrate the Old Testament's fulfillment in Christ and to warn the early Christians against accepting it in a strictly literal sense. Relying on his own imagination and best lights, the author succeeds to a greater and lesser extent throughout, sometimes reading an unhistorical meaning into the sacred texts. The letter ends with an exposition of the "Two Ways" similar to that found in the Didache.

Links

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120401/the-apostolic-fathers

Alternate translation: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3840

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"They are the class of feelings we should have—yes, have in an intense degree—if we literally had the sight of Almighty God; therefore they are the class of feelings which we shall have, if we realize His presence."

This sermon appears among a collection of sermons originally written and preached by St. John Henry Newman before his conversion to Catholicism. In it, Newman emphasizes that true reverence arises from a deep, abiding awareness of God's presence.

Links

Reverence, a Belief in God's Presence full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume5/sermon2.html

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“Students of these revered writings should be advised not only to learn the kinds of expressions in the Holy Scriptures… but also to pray that they may understand them.”

With these final chapters of Book 3, Augustine wraps up his treatment of figurative expressions. He illustrates just how tricky scriptural interpretation can be, citing instances wherein the same literary figure is employed in different—or even contrary—ways. He quotes many scriptural examples throughout these chapters, always careful to highlight the clearer instances in order to illuminate the more obscure ones.

Augustine shows how the scriptural authors utilized the whole range of literary devices—including metaphor, irony, parable, and allegory—even if the authors themselves did not define those devices as such.

And finally, Augustine relates a set of seven rules for scriptural interpretation—rules that were previously enumerated by a certain Donatist heretic named Tyconius, but that are here refined and repurposed within the broader context of Augustine’s work.

Augustine is careful to stress, however, that these rules alone cannot be relied upon as though a key to unlock the meaning of Holy Scripture. Indeed, as he concludes Book 3, Augustine emphasizes prayer—which he describes as “chiefly and especially necessary” when it comes to understanding the Scriptures.

Links

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120407/saint-augustine-christian-instruction-admonition-and-grace-the-christian-combat-faith-hope-and-charity

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3275

Previous De Doctrina Christiana episodes: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/audiobook_authors_titles.cfm 

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"God is the Lord, of angels, and of men—and of elves."

In this 1939 essay, J.R.R. Tolkien expounds upon his personal theory of fantasy. Considered by many to be his most influential scholarly work, the essay is remarkable both as an analysis of a literary form by one of its most important pioneers and as a key to understanding Tolkien's own legendarium.

This reading is unabridged, with the exception of Tolkien’s footnotes and endnotes.

Links

On Fairy-Stories full text: https://archive.org/details/on-fairy-stories_202110

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"Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner."

The second half of Leo XIII's classic encyclical offers a defense of the right of association, exhortation to preferential option for the poor, emphasis on the importance of Sabbath rest, as well as an explication of the principles of a just wage.

Full Text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4904

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

We thought Catholic Culture Audiobooks listeners might be interested in this discussion with Mike Aquilina, host of Way of the Fathers, also on the Catholic Culture Podcast Network.

For those who missed the YouTube livestream Q&A with Mike Aquilina on May 8th, 2023, here is the audio. It was a lively conversation where Mike fielded viewer questions about important cities of the early Church, early evidence for papal primacy, the role of charity in the early Church, Origen, the providential role of easy travel for the spread of the Gospel in the first centuries, and more.

We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can donate on our website or PayPal (tax-deductible). Donation links below:

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We’ll be doing more YouTube livestreams where viewers will be able to interact, ask questions and prompt discussion via the live chat box. Upcoming livestreams:

5/15, 8pm ET—Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast)

5/22, 8pm ET—Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers)

"The views to which I have referred have grown into my whole system of thought, and are, as it were, part of myself. Many changes has my mind gone through: here it has known no variation or vacillation of opinion..."

In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University.

We continue our reading series with Newman's first discourse, in which he introduces some foundational considerations before beginning in earnest his detailed explication of the philosophy of education.

Links

Translations from the Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university

The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Constantine's submission of his power to the Church has been a pattern for all Christian monarchs since, and the commencement of her state establishment to this day; and, on the other hand, the fortunes of the Roman empire are in prophecy apparently connected with her in a very intimate manner, which we are not yet able fully to comprehend. If any event might be said to call for a miracle, it was this."

In this chapter from Newman's Essays on Miracles, written in his Anglican period, Newman evaluates the historical and evidential support for the miraculous event which led to Constantine's conversion to Christianity around A.D. 311-312. 

Links

Appearance of the Cross in the Sky to Constantine full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/miracles/essay2/chapter5-4.html

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“It is better to say nothing and be a Christian, than to speak and not to be one.”

St. Ignatius’ letters express a clear view of the Church as hierarchical and monarchical, and his Letter to the Ephesians is no exception. In it, Ignatius emphasizes respect and obedience to the bishop and the priests and deacons in union with him. 

For Ignatius, the formula is simple: Jesus is the mind of the Father, and the appointed bishops are of one mind with Christ. If the prayer of two or three gathered in Christ’s name is so efficacious, how much greater is that prayer in union with the bishop and the whole Church?

Ignatius also issues stern warnings to those who would compromise the Church’s unity and pollute her teaching. In particular, those who would corrupt the family. Ignatius warns that those who bear the name of Christian while behaving in a way unworthy of God cannot be listened to. Again, for Ignatius the formula is simple: faith can no more do the things of infidelity, than infidelity can do the things of faith.

Are we to abandon such people? Of course not, Ignatius says. “Do not cease to pray, for there is hope of their conversion and of their finding God. Give them the chance to be instructed, at least by the way you behave.” Yet another simple formula.

Links

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1628

Other readings of Ignatius’ Letters: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/audiobook_authors_titles.cfm

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 4—Ignatius of Antioch: To Know “Jesus Christ Our God” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Everyone devoted to the study of the Holy Scriptures... will find nothing else except that God must be loved for His own sake, and our neighbor for the sake of God.”

We’re resuming our multi-part reading series of St. Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana, or 'On Christian Doctrine'. This is our second installment in the series, having released the Prologue & Book 1 in an episode last month.

Augustine dives deeper into the subject of scriptural interpretation in these chapters, including a seven-step process  from Fear of the Lord (step 1) to Wisdom (step 7). Think of it as Augustine’s seven habits of highly effective scriptural readers.

Augustine's approach to Scripture, however, is not so much an academic approach as a spiritual one. For Augustine, all scriptural knowledge will boil down to the great dual commandment of love of God and love of neighbor.

Notes

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120407/saint-augustine-christian-instruction-admonition-and-grace-the-christian-combat-faith-hope-and-charity

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3275

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Do not be fearful when you hear of perfection, nor be surprised at the word, for it is not far from us… the Lord has already told us: the kingdom of God is within you.”

We last left St. Anthony as he began his life in the desert, taking up residence in an abandoned fort - an appropriate setting, given the spiritual combat Anthony had gone out into the desert to wage.

At the beginning of this second installment, Athanasius fast-forwards us 20 years. Others inspired by Anthony have since also come to the desert to imitate his way of life. Anthony addresses the crowd of monks gathered to hear from him, and this discourse given by Anthony - a long sermon on the ascetical life -  could be considered the very first monastic rule.

Whereas last episode we heard tale of Anthony’s struggles, in today’s episode we’ll hear from Anthony himself, strengthened by his struggles.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"I would have accepted a sad life, but not one that was absurd."

Raïssa Maritain is best known as the wife of Jacques Maritain, one of the foremost Catholic philosophers of the 20th century whose work was instrumental in the modern revival of the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Raïssa was a poet, painter, and philosopher in her own right. We Have Been Friends Together is Raïssa's autobiography and a memoir of her marriage to Jacques.

The excerpt featured in today's episode is Raïssa's moving account of the fateful afternoon when she and Jacques, both in their 20's and still students at the Sorbonne, make a suicide pact together. Disillusioned by the nihilism that dominated their philosophical studies, Jacques and Raïssa—still at this point agnostic and atheist—resolve either to discover the meaning of life or else to end it. It was this resolution that set them on a path that would ultimately lead to Christ and to His Church.

Links

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already… but the Church of faith."

In 1969, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger gave a radio address in which he made some predictions for the Church heading into the new millennium. The notion often attributed to him that the church would become “smaller and purer” is derived from this speech.

Interestingly, the phrase “smaller and purer”—often misconstrued to suggest that Ratzinger wanted to drive people away from the Church—does not actually occur anywhere in the address. Instead, Ratzinger states that the Church of tomorrow will be “a more spiritualized and simplified Church.” Far from driving people away, this Church, sifted through the crucible of trials, will be discovered by those outside of it as something wholly new and attractive.

To cast into the future this way, Ratzinger looks to the time of Enlightenment—the historical moment which Ratzinger sees as most analogous to the times in which the Church finds herself today. “It is precisely in times of vehement historical upheaval,” Ratzinger writes, “that men need to reflect upon history.” 

Links

Joseph Ratzinger - Aspects of Christian Meditation audiobook: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/joseph-ratzinger-aspects-christian-meditation/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Be sure that wherever our lot is cast we may and must aim at the perfect life."

Written over 400 years ago, Introduction to the Devout Life is still one of the most popular books for those pursuing holiness. St. Francis de Sales explains how to turn that desire for sanctity into resolutions that yield grace-filled results.

Themes include:

• Pursuing a devout life whole-heartedly
• Incorporating prayer and sacraments into a busy
  schedule
• Growing in virtue
• Battling wisely against temptation
• Making spiritual progress through daily, monthly, and yearly exercises

Whether you are just beginning your spiritual journey or are more advanced in the spiritual life, you’ll be able to apply this timeless wisdom immediately. Let St. Francis de Sales illumine the path to holiness and strengthen your desire to walk that road with the Lord.

St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622) was the Bishop of Geneva and a renowned spiritual director. Preaching during the Counter-Reformation, he is estimated to have converted 70,000 Calvinists in his lifetime. He was a fervent proponent of the universal call to holiness and spent much of his time guiding lay people on the road to sanctity. Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1877, St. Francis is still helping to form saints through his many writings, of which Introduction to the Devout Life is the most famous.

—description from the publisher

Links

Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"It cannot be said, then, because we have not to bear the burden and the heat of the day, that therefore we have returned to paradise. It is not that our work is lighter, but our strength is greater."

This sermon from Newman's Anglican period was originally preached on Septuagesima Sunday. In it, Newman addresses the misconception that grace exempts Christians from work, and he exhorts Christians to embrace their calling to work diligently for the glory of God.

Links

The Work of the Christian full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/subjects/sermon1.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“We are now entering on a fresh stage of our life's journey; we know well how it will end, and we see where we shall stop in the evening, though we do not see the road.”

Ring in the New Year with this New Year’s Day sermon by St. John Henry Newman.

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume7/sermon1.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Would you know the power of repentance? Would you understand this strong weapon of salvation and the might of confession?”

With this second installment in St. Cyril’s Lenten series of catechetical lectures, Cyril offers a remarkable testament to the power of repentance.

Cyril exhorts his catechumens to sure confidence in God’s mercy, no matter how much one has sinned. God’s mercy, Cyril reminds, extends even to a whole people; a nation; a globe.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120469/the-works-of-saint-cyril-of-jerusalem-vol-1

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2410

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"We crowd these all up into one day; we mingle together in the brief remembrance of an hour all the choicest deeds, the holiest lives, the noblest labors, the most precious sufferings, which the sun ever saw."

Happy Solemnity of All Saints!

Today's reading is of a sermon from St. John Henry Newman’s Anglican period, given while he was vicar at St. Mary’s of Oxford on the occasion of the Feast of All Saints.

Newman was renowned for these sermons, and congregants would flock to University Church of St. Mary’s to hear him preach. His sermons from this period remain among the greatest Christian discourses of all time.

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume2/sermon32.html

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“As history testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal happiness of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound… where the very fountainhead from which the State draws its life, namely, wedlock and the family, is obstructed by the vices of its citizens.”

Pope Pius XI’s Casti Connubii contains truths about marriage forgotten even by many faithful Catholics. With this third installment, we finally conclude our reading of one of the greatest encyclicals ever written.

In the first episode, we heard Pius describe the nature of marriage, and of the wonderful law and will of God respecting it. In the second episode, we listened to Pius’ strong rebuke of the errors and impending dangers to marriage, already evident in 1930, when this encyclical was promulgated. In this third and final episode, Pope Pius will propose the suitable remedies with which to counteract the many attacks on marriage and the family.

Links:

Casti Connubii Full Text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3370

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“We beg, O Augustus, we do not battle. We are not afraid, but we are begging. It befits Christians to hope for the tranquility of peace and not to check the steadfastness of faith and truth when faced with danger of death.”

Ambrose of Milan is considered among the four great Doctors of the Church, alongside Gregory the Great, Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome. Ambrose is particularly remembered for having set the model for the Church’s relationship to the state. He is famous for having said, “The emperor is within the Church, not above the Church.”

In this letter to his sister, St. Ambrose relates events at Milan connected the Empress Justina's demand of a basilica for use by the Arians, and how the people rose up in opposition. It includes sketches of two addresses given by Ambrose: the first, comparing the Christian people's trials to those of Job; and the second, adapting the story of Jonah to the present circumstances and relating the joy of the people at recovering their church.

Throughout the letter, Ambrose makes clear the limits of the emperor's authority: "You have been given authority over public edifices, not over sacred ones."

Links

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 33—Ambrose of Milan, How the Church Regards the State: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/33ambrose-milan-how-church-regards-state/

Letters, by St. Ambrose: https://verbum.com/product/120426/saint-ambrose-letters

Letter to His Sister full text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2073

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"True Religion is slow in growth, and, when once planted, is difficult of dislodgement; but its intellectual counterfeit has no root in itself: it springs up suddenly, it suddenly withers. It appeals to what is in nature, and it falls under the dominion of the old Adam. Then, like dethroned princes, it keeps up a state and majesty, when it has lost the real power. Deformity is its abhorrence; accordingly, since it cannot dissuade men from vice, therefore in order to escape the sight of its deformity, it embellishes it."

In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University.

In this eighth discourse, Newman examines the bearing of intellectual culture—whether for good or for ill—upon the exercise of religion. Notable in this chapter is Newman's survey of the moral and ethical character of the "gentleman."

Links

Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university

The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Perhaps this is the truest view of such exercises, that in some wonderful, unknown way they open the next world for good and evil upon us..."

Newman originally gave this sermon for the first Sunday of Lent, reflecting upon Christ’s fasting and temptation in the desert.

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume6/sermon1.html

Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another."

One of the prayers most commonly associated with St. John Henry Newman comes directly from this excerpt of St. Newman’s Meditations and Devotions, entitled Hope in God, Creator. It was written less than two years after his conversion to Catholicism.

Links

Full text: www.newmanreader.org/works/meditations/meditations9.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Copy the ways of God in speaking to each as an individual person... Not every wound is healed by the same salve."

This episode features a letter written from one to saint to another: St. Ignatius’ letter to St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. Alongside Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome, Polycarp is regarded as one of the chief figures among the Apostolic Fathers.

Unlike other letters written by St. Ignatius and addressed to an entire Church community, this letter represents a personal correspondence from one early bishop to another. Polycarp so valued this letter, in fact, that he later had it copied in its entirety and sent to the Philippians.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1634

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Now, in order to attain this fear and this contrition, you must use the following meditations carefully; for if you practice them steadfastly, they (by God's grace) will root out both sin and its affections from your heart. It is to that end that I have prepared them: use them one after another, in the order in which they come, only taking one each day, and using that as early as possible, for the morning is the best time for all spiritual exercises—and then you will ponder and meditate on it through the day. If you have not as yet been taught how to meditate, you will find instructions to that purpose in the Second Part."

This episode contains the ten meditations included by St. Francis de Sales in the First Part of his Introduction to the Devout Life. The below timestamps are provided to facilitate listening to the meditations one at a time:

First Meditation, On Creation — 00:40

Second Meditation, On the End for Which We Were Created — 07:10

Third Meditation, On the Gifts of God — 13:10

Forth Meditation, On Sin — 19:04

Fifth Meditation, On Death — 25:23

Sixth Meditation, On Judgment — 32:44

Seventh Meditation, On Hell — 38:43

Eighth Meditation, On Paradise — 42:46

Ninth Meditation, On the Choice Open to You Between Heaven and Hell — 47:49

Tenth Meditation, On How the Soul Chooses the Devout Life — 53:10

Links

Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Rejoice, O Bride Ever-Virgin!"

The Akathist Hymn is one of the most well-loved services of devotion in the Eastern Church. Although there’s some debate concerning the particulars of its authorship, many scholars agree with the pious tradition that it was composed by St. Romanos the Melodist, c. 530 in Constantinople.

St. Romanos was a deacon and noted hymnographer, whose hymns have been praised both for their beauty as well as for their profound theology. The Akathist Hymn—just one of the many hymns attributed to St. Romanos—was originally composed for liturgical use in the celebration of the great Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, March 25.

After the great liberation of Constantinople in 626, it was chosen to be sung as the hymn of thanksgiving for the miraculous victory that had been achieved through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. The faithful prayed all through the night without sitting, hence the Greek meaning of the title, Akathistos—"not seated."

May we, too, be found upright in thanksgiving and supplication, invoking Mary’s invincible intercession.

Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=899

Example of sung chant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IYzQ2Ava4

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"... it is incumbent upon us, for the present, to trace, as it were, the silhouette of virtue in the pagan authors. For those who carefully gather the useful from each book are wont, like mighty rivers, to gain accessions on every hand."

Drawing from his deep understanding of both classical Greek literature and Sacred Scripture, St. Basil the Great—a towering figure of the early Church—advocates for the proper integration of the literary treasures of ancient Greece within the broader formation of young Christian men. Basil challenges those whom he addresses to discern the morally enriching elements of Greek literature while guarding against its pitfalls, particularly its indulgence in more decadent and morally ambiguous themes.

Links

Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/basil_litterature01.htm

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

These three poems, composed within a few days of one another by St. John Henry Newman in 1833, all reflect on the efficacy of prayer. In this special episode originally published in January 2020, Catholic Culture Audiobooks host James T. Majewski recites and provides brief commentary on each of the poems.

Links

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/index.html

The Daily Poem podcast: https://shows.acast.com/the-daily-poem

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Sickness is the acid test of spirituality, because it discloses whether our virtue is real or sham.”

If with the first three chapters, St. Alphonsus makes the case for obedience to God—the excellence of this virtue, and that man’s ultimate happiness derives from it—in these chapters, St. Alphonsus gets practical, turning his attention to those instances where obedience to God can sometimes be especially difficult.

In particular, he focuses on our susceptibility to sickness, and stresses the importance of obedience to God’s will in times of infirmity.

That renders these chapters especially relevant to our own day, when it should be apparent that most of our suffering over the past year has come from our attempt to avoid suffering, and certainly not to accept it in the spirit of trust and docility which St. Alphonsus here describes.

Indeed, in some places, Alphonsus’ words seem almost prophetic:

“It often happens,” St. Alphonsus writes, “that some, on the occasion of a slight illness, or even a slight indisposition, want the whole world to stand still…”

Sound familiar?

Links

Uniformity with God's Will Full text: http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/uniformity_with_Gods_will/un3.php

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Whoever does not refer everything to the praise and love of the one God... may seem to be erudite, but he can by no means be considered wise.”

Where we last left off, Augustine had just finished vindicating some "pagan" forms of knowledge—such as music— as useful in the study of Sacred Scripture. He’ll go into further detail concerning what should be avoided and what embraced from among the so-called pagan disciplines. 

Rejection of superstition is a major theme contained in these chapters, and Augustine provides some helpful criteria for the Christian in discerning what is superstitious from what is not.

While all superstitious human conventions must be rejected as worthless and sinful, human conventions not arranged with demons, but arranged among men themselves, can sometimes be useful—even essential. It’s here that Augustine discusses principles of logic and rhetoric—a subject he’ll return to later in Book IV. 

Though much of what he discusses in these chapters may strike some as academic, Augustine is far from advocating an esoteric approach to the Scriptures. "Knowledge puffs up," Augustine quotes St. Paul, "but charity edifies." What Augustine accomplishes, rather, is a robust defense of the fundamentally catholic character of the truth. In so far as anything is true, it is Christ’s. Thus all knowledge must, in the end, be put to the service and love of God.

Notes

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120407/saint-augustine-christian-instruction-admonition-and-grace-the-christian-combat-faith-hope-and-charity

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3275

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Donate at http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio to support this podcast!

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"If anyone strives to be delivered from his troubles out of love of God, he will strive patiently, gently, humbly and calmly, looking for deliverance rather to God's goodness and providence than to his own industry or efforts; but if self-love is the prevailing object, he will grow hot and eager in seeking relief, as though all depended more upon himself than upon God."

Part 4

(00:45) Chapter 1—We Must Not Trifle with the Words of Worldly Wisdom

(06:16) Chapter 2—The Need of Good Courage

(08:56) Chapter 3—Temptations and the Difference Between Experiencing Them and Consenting to Them

(14:06) Chapter 4—Two Striking Illustrations of the Same

(17:43) Chapter 5—Encouragement for the Tempted Soul

(20:13) Chapter 6—When Temptation and Pleasure are Sin

(24:10) Chapter 7—Remedies for Great Occasions

(27:02) Chapter 8—How to Resist Minor Temptations

(29:13) Chapter 9—How to Remedy Minor Temptations

(31:49) Chapter 10—How to Strengthen the Heart Against Temptation

(34:31) Chapter 11—Anxiety of Mind

(40:18) Chapter 12—Sadness and Sorrow

(45:31) Chapter 13—Spiritual and Sensible Consolations and How to Receive Them

(01:00:14) Chapter 14—Dryness and Spiritual Barrenness

(01:10:40) Chapter 15—An Illustration

This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format.

Links

Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"But the fight for our planet, physical and spiritual, a fight of cosmic proportions, is not a vague matter of the future; it has already started."

Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn gave this prophetic commencement address at Harvard University on June 8, 1978. Solzhenitsyn’s observations remain strikingly relevant—perhaps even more so than when they were first delivered.

Notes

Full text: https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/a-world-split-apart

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Possibly such a woman could not have been slain unless she herself had willed it, because she was feared by the impure spirit.”

This is the first-hand account of the events leading up to and including the martyrdom of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, documented by Perpetua herself while in prison. Alongside her testimony is another text written by one of her companions, Saturus, as well as an eyewitness account of the executions themselves.

Originally written in Latin, the document is considered to have been at least edited by Tertullian, though whether he composed the narrator portions himself or not remains unknown.

Additional narration provided by Karina Majewski.

Links

Full text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1678&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2097575#

Way of the Fathers Ep. 15—Perpetua: A Rare Female Voice from Antiquity https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/perpetua-rare-female-voice-from-antiquity/

Catholic Culture Audiobooks: The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/martyrdom-st-polycarp/ 

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

Merry Christmas!

This episode features sermon notes jotted down by St. John Henry Newman in 1851.

Before his conversion, Newman had always read his sermons from a prepared manuscript, according to Anglican custom at the time. As a Catholic priest, he instead preached his homilies in a manner to which Catholics were more accustomed, with a more extemporaneous feel.

Interestingly, his sermon notes were for the most part written down after the sermon, not before - an indication that Newman continued to develop his thoughts even as he preached.

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/sermonnotes/file3.html#sermon15

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"You thought perhaps when learned Campion dies,
His pen must cease, his sugared tongue be still;
But you forgot how loud his death it cries
How far beyond the sound of tongue and quill."

In 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole attended the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. As Campion was hung, drawn and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be spattered with his holy blood. Though Campion’s fame in England was already great, Walpole would amplify it further with a splendid, lengthy poem, which became enormously popular among English Catholics—so popular that the man who printed the book had his ears cut off as punishment.

In his poem Walpole wrote:
We cannot fear a mortal torment, we,
This martyr’s blood hath moistened all our hearts,
Whose parted quarters when we chance to see
We learn to play the constant Christian’s parts.

This was more than wordplay: Two years after Campion’s death, Walpole became a priest, and was himself hung for the faith in 1595.

Links

Lyra Martyrum: The Poetry of the English Martyrs: https://www.clunymedia.com/product/lyra-martyrum/

Catholic Culture Podcast #69—The Poetry of the English Martyrs—Benedict Whalen https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-69-poetry-english-martyrs-benedict-whalen/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"If you drop any science out of the circle of knowledge, you cannot keep its place vacant for it; that science is forgotten; the other sciences close up, or, in other words, they exceed their proper bounds, and intrude where they have no right... no science whatever, however comprehensive it may be, but will fall largely into error, if it be constituted the sole exponent of all things in heaven and earth, and that, for the simple reason that it is encroaching on territory not its own, and undertaking problems which it has no instruments to solve."

In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University.

In this third discourse, Newman examines the unavoidable consequence that Theology, if abandoned, will soon have its place usurped by one or more of the other sciences, with dire consequences both to Theology and the other sciences themselves.

Part 1 of this work, "University Teaching", will be released in episodic format over the coming weeks. Be sure to subscribe so as not to miss an installment!

Links

The Newman Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture reading project on The Idea of a University: https://www.newmansthoughts.com/ 

Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university

The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion."

J.R.R. Tolkien—the English writer, poet, philologist and academic best known for being the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings—was Catholic. After the untimely deaths of his father and mother, Tolkien was raised under the guardianship of a priest. Later in life, Tolkien’s friendship with C.S. Lewis would be instrumental in Lewis’ conversion from atheism to Christianity.

The collection of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien was originally published in 1981 by his son, Christopher, and biographer, Humphrey Carpenter. It contains 354 letters written between 1914 and 1973, the year of J.R.R. Tolkien's death. This episode features part of a letter written by Tolkien to his second son, Michael, in 1963, when Tolkien was 71 years old.

It is a remarkable letter of fatherly encouragement, touching upon the challenge of scandal in the Church.

Links

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“It requires nothing great, nothing heroic, nothing saint-like... it requires nothing more than faith, a single purpose, an honest heart, and a distinct utterance.“

This sermon was first preached at the opening of the Birmingham Oratory in 1849. It is found in one of Newman’s earliest publications after his conversion, a volume entitled Discourses to Mixed Congregations.

"The Salvation of the Hearer the Motive of the Preacher" full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/discourses/discourse1.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Do not lose heart, children, for as the Lord has been angry, so will He heal again and the Church shall quickly recover her own good order and shall shine as she has shone.”

We’ve finally arrived at the conclusion of our six-part series of the great Catholic classic, Life of St. Anthony.

If you’ll recall, we began this work all the way back in January, with Part 1 released on the feast of St. Anthony. How appropriate, then, that our finale be released today: on the feast of the work's author, St. Athanasius of Alexandria.

In our first episode, we heard the Lord promise to Anthony, “Because you remained firm and have not yielded, I will always be your helper—and I will make your name known everywhere.” In the completion of Athanasius’ biography of this great saint, we see yet again that God is always faithful to His promises.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“So I wrote the commands and parables as he bade me. If you hear them and keep them, and walk in them, and fulfill them in a pure heart, you will receive from the Lord what He promised you. But if you hear them and do not repent, or even add to your sins, you will receive the contrary from the Lord.”

The Shepherd of Hermas is an apocryphal text written in Rome in the 2nd century. It belongs to the category of "apocalyptic" literature, as it relates a series of revelations given to its titular character, Hermas, who may or may not also have been the work's author.

The Shepherd of Hermas was widely read and respected in the early Church, with some Church Fathers (such as Irenaeus and Origen) even considering it part of canonical scripture. 

The text is divided into three main sections: Visions, Mandates, and Parables. Taken together, they serve as an exhortation to repentance.

Part 1: Visions

00:00 Intro

00:42 First Vision

09:23 Second Vision

15:57 Third Vision

43:30 Fourth Vision

50:44 Fifth Vision

This work was released in its entirety in episodic format.

Links

The Shepherd of Hermas full text: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-grimm/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Mistrust Him, Meg, I will not, even if I feel myself faint."

In this episode, we present the entirety of Dialogue on Conscience, by St. Thomas More and his daughter Margaret.

Dialogue on Conscience is presented in the form of two letters; the first is written by More’s stepdaughter, Alice Alington, to his eldest daughter, Margaret Roper; the second is a letter written by Margaret in response to Alice — itself the record of a dialogue between Margaret and St. Thomas that provides us with an invaluable look into More's wit, personality, and faith.

Links

Interview with More scholar Louis Karlin https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/robert-bolts-man-for-all-seasons-christian-saint-or-hero-selfhood/

Discussion of film A Man for All Seasons https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/man-for-all-seasons-1966/

Text courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-More-Source-Book/dp/0813213762

Another version of the text: https://www.thomasmorestudies.org/docs/Dialogue%20on%20Conscience%20Modernized.pdf

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world—this is the invitation I would like to extend with the present Encyclical.”

Links:

Full text: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Matrimony was not instituted or restored by man but by God; not by man were the laws made to strengthen and confirm and elevate it but by God, the Author of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed...”

Casti Connubii, or "of chaste wedlock", was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius XI on December 21, 1930, in response to the approval by the Anglican Communion's seventh Lambeth Conference of birth control for married couples.

Over 90 years later, this encyclical has lost none of its relevancy. In it, Pope Pius delivers a sweeping defense against the many threats to marriage that, sadly, are still prevalent today. Priests and catechists involved in marriage preparation, take note!

This reading of the encyclical in its entirety will be released in three episodes: the first part concerns the nature and the dignity of Christian marriage, as well as its many benefits to family and to society; the second part deals with the many errors and vices opposed to marriage; and finally, the third part covers the principal remedies to the problems afflicting marriage in the present day.

In this first episode, Pope Pius echoes and expounds upon St. Augustine's list of the three chief blessings of marriage: offspring, conjugal faith, and the sacrament.

Links:

Casti Connubii Full Text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3370

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/verse15.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Consider the love with which our dear Lord Jesus Christ bore so much in this world, especially in the Garden of Olives and on Mount Calvary; that love bore you in mind, and through all those pains and toils he obtained your good resolutions for you, as also all that is necessary to maintain, foster, strengthen and consummate those resolutions.

"How precious must the resolutions be that are the fruits of our Lord’s Passion! And how dear to my heart, since they were dear to that of Jesus! Savior of my soul, You died to win them for me; grant me grace sooner to die than forget them.

"Be sure, my child, that the heart of our most dear Lord beheld you from the tree of the Cross and loved you, and by that love he won for you all good things that you were ever to have, and amongst them your good resolutions.”

Part 5

(00:46) Chapter 1—It Is Well Yearly to Renew Good Resolutions by Means of the Following Exercises

(03:29) Chapter 2—Meditation on the Benefit Conferred on Us by God in Calling Us to His Service

(08:26) Chapter 3—Examination of the Soul as to Its Progress in the Devout Life

(11:44) Chapter 4—Examination of the Soul's Condition as Regards God

(16:23) Chapter 5—Examination of Your Condition as Regards Yourself

(18:47) Chapter 6—Examination of the Soul's Condition as Regards Our Neighbor

(20:15) Chapter 7—Examination as to the Affectations of the Soul

(22:42) Chapter 8—The Affections to Be Excited After Such Examination

(24:07) Chapter 9—Reflections Suitable to the Renewal of Good Resolutions

(24:54) Chapter 10—First Consideration, On the Worth of Souls

(27:45) Chapter 11—Second Consideration, On the Excellence of Virtue

(29:33) Chapter 12—The Example of the Saints

(31:19) Chapter 13—The Love That Jesus Christ Bears to Us

(34:36) Chapter 14—The Eternal Love of God for Us

(36:08) Chapter 15—General Affections That Should Result from These Considerations and Conclusion of the Exercise

(38:48) Chapter 16—The Impressions That Should Remain After This Exercise

(40:24) Chapter 17—An Answer to Two Objections That May Be Made to This Book

(43:16) Chapter 18—Three Important and Final Counsels

This work was released in its entirety in episodic format.

Links

Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Therefore, my child, communicate frequently, as often as you can, subject to the advice of your spiritual Father... and by reason of adoring and feeding upon beauty, goodness, and purity itself in this most divine Sacrament you too will become lovely, holy, pure."

St. Francis de Sales continues his instruction in the devout life with these eminently practical chapters on how the saints are united to us, how to hear and read God's Word, how to receive inspirations, how to go to confession, and how to receive Communion. On this last subject, St. Francis observes: “one rarely does that well which one seldom does.”

This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format. Be sure to subscribe so as not to miss an installment!

Links

Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Is my gloom, after all, / Shade of his hand, outstretched caressingly?"

Francis Thompson was an English Catholic poet who died at the age of 47, stricken with poor health that followed him from hard experiences he had had as a young man living on the streets of London. "The Hound of Heaven" was written when Thompson was living at Our Lady of England Priory and recovering from opium addiction.

In the poem, one hears echos of Psalm 139 (which Thompson no doubt would have prayed often at the priory): "Where can I go from your spirit, or where can I flee from your face? … even darkness is not dark for you and the night is as clear as the day."

Links

"The Hound of Heaven" full text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10546

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The philosopher might speculate, but the theologian must submit to learn."

St. John Henry Newman's Oxford Sermons, delivered during his time as an Anglican preacher at the University of Oxford, were instrumental in shaping the Oxford Movement, which sought to revive High Church traditions within the Church of England.

In this collection of fifteen sermons, Newman especially explores the relationship between faith and reason, and lays the groundwork for themes he would later develop in works like his Grammar of Assent and Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. In addition to the profound influence these sermons had on both Anglican and Catholic theology, they also bore a personal significance for Newman’s own conversion to Catholicism years later.

In this first sermon, Newman argues that it was Christianity which first promoted a properly philosophical disposition, by encouraging a mindset and instilling the virtues essential for a truly scientific approach to the pursuit of truth.

Links

The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospel full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/oxford/sermon1.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"In a word, Religious Truth is not only a portion, but a condition of general knowledge. To blot it out is nothing short, if I may so speak, of unravelling the web of University Teaching."

In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University.

In this fourth discourse, Newman examines the central importance of Theology—the Science of God—within the broader curriculum of liberal education, and its impact and influence upon every other science taught within a university.

Links

Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university

The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Since, then, no one is allowed to be remiss in the service due to God, and since the chief duty of all men is to cling to religion in both its reaching and practice—not such religion as they may have a preference for, but the religion which God enjoins, and which certain and most clear marks show to be the only one true religion —it is a public crime to act as though there were no God."

In this encyclical, issued on November 1, 1885, Pope Leo XIII urges Catholics to give particular attention to national politics and to make use of popular institutions for the advancement of truth and goodness. He warns that, were Catholics to abdicate the field of politics, it would “allow those whose principles offer but small guarantee for the welfare of the State to more readily seize the reins of government.”

Leo condemns the politically expedient side-lining of Catholic teaching, warning that it is unlawful for Catholics "to follow one line of conduct in private life and another in public, respecting privately the authority of the Church but publicly rejecting it.” He especially cautions those who hold positions of authority, writing: “they must remember that the Almighty will one day bring them to account, the more strictly in proportion to the sacredness of their office and preeminence of their dignity.”

Indeed, the right exercise of authority—and in particular, the right relationship between the authority of the Church and that of the State— is at the heart of Leo’s concern in Immortale Dei, and the encyclical can be seen as a correction to the defective view of authority that arises from a false notion of liberty. In fact, less than three years after issuing Immortale Dei, Pope Leo XIII issued another encyclical letter entitled Libertas, on the Nature of Human Liberty.

Links

Full text of Immortale Dei: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4916

The Catholic Culture Podcast Ep. 90—Leo XIII on the State’s Duties Toward the Church—Thomas Pink: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/90-leo-xiii-on-states-duties-toward-church-thomas-pink/

Audiobook of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/pope-leo-xiii-rerum-novarum-pt-1/

Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Do not hesitate to believe what you have heard from those who have brought you accounts of him; believe, rather, that they have told but little... for it is probable that, when each one has told what he knows, the account will not do Anthony justice.”

Happy Feast of St. Anthony, Abbot!

You may know him from the countless recurrences, across art and literature, of “The Temptation of St. Anthony.”

Well, The Life of St. Anthony - of which the temptations are only part - is, perhaps, one of the most influential works in the history of Christian literature. 

Setting aside the unique authority and influence of the biographer (the great Church father, St. Athanasius of Alexandria), the work itself describes the life of a singularly holy man. In fact, it is the earliest biographical account of a saint who had become such without having had to suffer martyrdom.

Though St. Anthony was not the first Christian hermit, he was the most popular: this account of his life did much to spread his ascetic and monastic ideals throughout the East and West. Anthony has been called not only the father of Christian monasticism, but even the founder of the religious life.

Needless to say, we are very excited to be bringing you, over the course of several episodes, The Life of St. Anthony in its entirety. If you’ve not done so, now is the time to register with us at http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to ensure that you don’t miss a minute of this exhilarating Christian classic.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Conformity signifies that we join our wills to the will of God. Uniformity means more -- it means that we make one will of God's will and ours, so that we will only what God wills; that God's will alone, is our will.”

A few weeks ago, the Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of the proclamation, by Pope Pius IX, of St. Alphonsus Liguori as a Doctor of the Church.

St. Alphonsus was an Italian bishop who lived from 1696-1787. He is the patron saint of confessors, and is perhaps one of the most widely read Catholic authors in the world (translations of his works exist in over seventy different languages). St. Alphonsus was a prolific writer who wrote over one hundred works on spirituality and theology.

This text, Uniformity with God’s Will, was written in 1755, and represents a topic that was dear to St. Alphonsus’ heart. It is said that, in a similar way to how St. Ignatius stressed “all for the greater glory of God,” St. Alphonsus gave central importance to “the greater good pleasure of God.” After writing this work, St. Alphonsus frequently read it himself, and even had it read to him when his eyesight began to fail.

The extraordinary circumstances within which we find ourselves today require a careful consideration of where our obedience is owed. This classic work by a Doctor of the Church can help.

Links

Uniformity with God's Will Full text: http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/uniformity_with_Gods_will/un3.php

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Artists are constantly in search of the hidden meaning of things, and their torment is to succeed in expressing the world of the ineffable. How then can we fail to see what a great source of inspiration is offered by that kind of homeland of the soul that is religion?"

Today, in honor of the feast of St. John Paul II, we take a brief departure from Newman and the Fathers to bring you his Letter to Artists.

Karol Wojtyla, as he was known prior to his election to the papacy, was an artist himself. A poet, a playwright, and an actor who co-founded and performed with one of the most important Polish theater troupes of the last century, Wojtyla left behind an artistic legacy often overlooked for his many contributions elsewhere.

With Letter to Artists, however, it seems clear that St. John Paul remained an artist at heart his whole life.

Slightly abridged.

Full text: https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_23041999_artists.html

Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes.

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

In this bonus episode originally from the Catholic Culture Podcast, CatholicCulture.org’s director of podcasts, Thomas V. Mirus, interviews voice actor James T. Majewski (Catholic Culture Audiobooks) and author Mike Aquilina (Way of the Fathers) about how they make their shows and the effect reading and studying the Church Fathers has had on them personally.

If you are a lector at Mass, you will find James’s comments on how he approaches reading the writings of the Saints inspiring and helpful.

Contents

[2:15] James’s training in philosophy and acting as preparation for narrating the Fathers

[7:00] How Mike meandered into a career writing about the Fathers

[9:27] The original idea for audiobooks and podcasts at The Catholic Culture

[15:33] How Mike distills scholarship into an accessible and edifying presentation of early Church history

[21:20] The accessibility and affordability of creating a good-sounding podcast

[24:16] James’s process for preparing nuanced readings of the Fathers at a rapid pace

[33:03] Mike’s and James’s recourse to the intercession of the holy authors they study

[37:38] St. John Henry Newman and the early Fathers as masters of media

[42:40] The mastery of the Fathers’ work and its relevance today

[45:55] The spiritual effects of narrating the writings of saints

Links

Support CatholicCulture.org’s podcasting efforts https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Catholic Culture Podcast https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/catholic-culture-podcast/

Way of the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/way-fathers/

James T. Majewski https://www.jamestmajewski.com/

Mike Aquilina https://fathersofthechurch.com/

"Do not abandon the commandments of the Lord, but keep what you have received, without adding or subtracting."

The Didache is one of the most important sources from the age of the Apostolic Fathers; so instrumental, in fact, that some of the early Fathers considered it to be a part of the New Testament.

Effectively the oldest extant written catechism, it provides both moral and liturgical instruction, including the oldest recorded Eucharistic prayers.

In a time characterized by ambiguity and evasiveness, the simplicity with which the Didache puts forward its teaching is itself an instruction.

Links

Mike Aquilina on the Didache: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-6-whats-in-name-anonymous-texts-from-early-church/

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1631

Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

In this episode from the archive, a selection of three of Newman’s poems is read, all of which were composed within a few days of one another and all reflecting on the efficacy of prayer.

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Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/index.html

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“These mandates are advantageous for those who intend to repent. For, if they do not walk in them, their repentance is worthless. You who repent must cast off the wickedness of this world which wears you down; if you put on every excellence of justice, you can observe these mandates and keep from committing any additional sins.”

The Shepherd of Hermas is an apocryphal text written in Rome in the 2nd century. It belongs to the category of "apocalyptic" literature, as it relates a series of revelations given to its titular character, Hermas, who may or may not also have been the work's author.

The Shepherd of Hermas was widely read and respected in the early Church, with some Church Fathers (such as Irenaeus and Origen) even considering it part of canonical scripture. 

The text is divided into three main sections: Visions, Mandates, and Parables. Taken together, they serve as an exhortation to repentance.

Part 3: Parables

00:00 Intro

00:39 First Parable

04:18 Second Parable

08:45 Third Parable

09:48 Fourth Parable

12:08 Fifth Parable

27:08 Sixth Parable

38:25 Seventh Parable

42:05 Eighth Parable

This work to be released in its entirety in episodic format.

Links

The Shepherd of Hermas full text: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-grimm/

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Be solicitous only to pour out tears abundantly, and leave to God the care of drying them up."

On the Sanctity and Duties of the Monastic State by the Abbé Armand-Jean de Rancé was originally published in Paris in 1683.
Although Abbé de Rancé, the founder of the Trappists, originally wrote for his monks, many laity of 17th c. France enthusiastically adopted much of his spirituality, and to wonderful effect. With asceticism re-appearing now as a corrective to our self-indulgence and softness, his incisive book is a badly needed, bracing corrective for the Christians of our time. -- from the description of Back to Asceticism: the Trappist Option, trans. Lee Gilbert.

Links

Back to Asceticism: The Trappist Option -- https://www.amazon.com/Back-Asceticism-Translation-Introduction-MONASTIQUE/dp/057855366X

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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled."

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973, restoring the authority of individual states to regulate abortion.

The landmark ruling came on a 6-3 vote, with Justice Samuel Alito writing for the majority. Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett joined in the opinion, with Chief Justice Roberts adding a concurring opinion. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan filed a vigorous dissent.

The Court’s decision did not outlaw abortion, but instead allows for individual states to make their own laws regarding the practice.

Note: The Court’s decision is ultimately rooted in historical positive law (a form of legal positivism) and not in the natural law, since it asserts it is somehow appropriate for the States to decide whether abortion is to be permitted. In this sense, the decision may well be Constitutional, but it is not moral. It is in no way a Catholic statement. Although we recognize that the decision is not consistent with the Catholic Faith or the natural law, it is a very important decision in that it eliminates the idea that abortion is a Constitutional right and opens up more possibilities for the success of the pro-life movement in eliminating the scourge of abortion in the United States. Therefore, as a matter of significant historical, Constitutional and moral interest, we have decided to make the text of the decision available as a Catholic Culture Audiobook.

The majority opinion is read here in its entirety. The opinion features a great number of quotations and case citations. For the sake of aural comprehension, not every quotation has been identified as such nor every citation named. Footnotes and appendices have not been read.

Links

Full text: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"The view taken of a University in these Discourses is the following: That it is a place of teaching universal knowledge."

In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University.

In The Idea of a University, St. John Henry Newman champions a “discipline of mind” that enables its possessor to distinguish essence from accident, means from end, and good from evil. These habits are now all too rare. The reader of The Idea of a University will delight in the melody of Newman’s prose, the sharpness of his insights, and the force of his arguments, but will also rejoice to find something incomparably more valuable, a vast vista of an orderly life of learning with a glimpse of the mind’s last end—God.

—description from the Cluny Media edition [https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university]

Links

The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“...at the moment of Joseph's own ‘annunciation’ he said nothing; instead he simply ‘did as the angel of the Lord commanded him’. And this first ‘doing’ became the beginning of ‘Joseph's way’. The Gospels do not record any word ever spoken by Joseph along that way. But the silence of Joseph has its own special eloquence..."

On August 15th, 1889, Pope Leo XIII promulgated the encyclical letter Quamquam Pluries on devotion to St. Joseph. 100 years later, on August 15th, 1989—and only two years after the release of his great Marian encyclical, Redemptoris Mater, "Mother of the Redeemer"—Pope St. John Paul II gave his apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos, "Guardian of the Redeemer", on the person and mission of St. Joseph in the life of Christ and of the Church.

“It is my heartfelt wish,” St. John Paul writes, “that these reflections on the person of St. Joseph will renew in us the prayerful devotion which my Predecessor called for a century ago. Our prayers and the very person of Joseph have renewed significance for the Church in our day.”

St. Joseph the Worker, Guardian of the Redeemer — pray for us!

Links

Redemptoris Custos Full text: http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_15081989_redemptoris-custos.html

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Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.