Father Edmund O'Reilly may safely be judged the foremost Irish theologian of the nineteenth century. In his celebrated letter to the Duke of Norfolk, Cardinal Newman appeals to him as "one of... More > the first theologians of the day". Of the present work Dr W. G. Ward of the Dublin Review writes that it "cannot but be of signal benefit to the Catholic reader in these anxious and perilous times". Clear, exact and perfectly orthodox, Father O'Reilly explains the whole of Catholic doctrine about the relations of Church and State, particularly those points that are most contested by the Church's enemies or least understood by uninstructed Catholics. The explanation of the Church's traditional attitude to religious liberty, the theological explanation of the Great Western Schism, the precise extent of the infallibility of the Pope and of the Church are of particular interest in the twenty-first century.< Less
This is the guide to the Church's official qualifications which designate the exact status of any theological statement between the two opposite extremes of "dogma" (taught by the Church to... More > be revealed truth) and "heresy" (condemned by the Church as opposed to revealed truth). Also contains solid refutation of recent Modernistic and Kantian errors. Compiled for the internal use of the Vatican's Holy Office in 1951. Yes, this work is written in Latin !< Less
Cardinal Manning's 1861 study of the papacy as the obstacle to Antichrist has never been more topical. The learned convert seems to have foreseen many details of the present crisis: religious... More > liberty, ecumenism, national apostasy, apparent defeat of the Church. Manning argues that the apostasy of the nations of christendom and the eclipse of the papacy will usher in the reign of Antichrist.< Less
Is the Christian calendar we all use historically accurate? Was 1 A.D. really the first “year of the Lord”? Does the Christian era start from the true date of Our Lord’s birth?
Was... More > Christ in fact crucified under Pontius Pilate in 33 A.D. as Christian tradition tells us? Is there any way of knowing for sure?
Most scholars answer, No. They claim that our calendar is wrong and that Christ was born at the latest in 4 B.C. They rely on the first century Jewish historian’s date for the death of Herod to reject the traditional date assigned by Dionysius the Little which the civilised world has followed ever since. But General Hugues de Nanteuil has re-examined the evidence and demonstrates overwhelmingly that it was Josephus who got his dates wrong, not the Church.
While vindicating the Christian calendar he also provides a mass of fascinating testimony to the historical truth of the Christian faith.< Less
King Henry VIII is famous for having sundered England from the papacy in 1534. But in 1521 he was still fully Catholic and personally wrote this punchy theological treatise against the... More > "pestilential heresy" of Martin Luther. Before the death of his elder brother, Henry had been destined for the Church. He displays true learning and skilful debating in his defence of the seven sacraments and the Holy See. He poignantly champions the divine origin of the papacy and proves at length the indissolubity of the sacrament of matrimony which he was in later years to violate so often. It was this work which won for Henry the title of "Defender of the Faith", awarded by Pope Leo X, which still appears on British coins. This edition is a photographic reprint of high and easily readable quality.< Less
Bishop Vaughan's 1924 classic on venial sin. The author had five sisters who were nuns and five brothers who were priests, including one archbishop and one cardinal. His message is that we are all... More > too careless about venial sin, which is the greatest of all evils with only one exception (mortal sin). Any reader of this book will receive a strong impulse to correct those "little" defects which are the ruin of our efforts after holiness, constantly incline us to fall into worse sins, and are invariably an offence against the infinite majesty of God.< Less
Father Faber's four immortal stories for children. When the saints write stories for children, Hans Anderson and the brothers Grimm are no longer in the running. These stories will appeal to every... More > Christian child, not just because they are filled with wonderful and mysterious events, but because the fairyland on which they open a window is not a world of fiction but the world of invisible reality that surrounds us : the world of Christ and His angels where the mystery of redemption is invisibly at work.< Less
Most people can easily see why abortion is wrong. But the issue of abortion on medical grounds is more complex for many when doctors say that, if the baby is not destroyed, both mother and child will... More > inevitably die. It is argued that between two evils, the lesser should be chosen.
Father Bouscaren’s classic work is devoted to the only case in which this conflict is at all likely: the case of ectopic pregnancy. With the skill of a gifted moralist who is also a persuasive debater, the author shows that, although the death of one person is evidently a lesser evil than the death of two, nonetheless the death of one person intended and produced directly by a violation of the moral law is not a lesser evil than the death of two from natural causes without any sin on the part of anyone.
But he also opposes the simplistic view that would require every ectopic pregnancy to be left to its fatal conclusion. He explains which procedures are morally acceptable and medically useful.< Less
This is a highly readable life of Saint John Bosco, the nineteenth century saint raised up to reclaim children from unbelief, vice and delinquency. Pope Pius XI canonised this “giant of... More > holiness,” saying that he knew no life of a saint wherein the direct and miraculous action of God was more continuously manifest. The reader will fall in love with the saint as all who knew him did during his lifetime. His miracles will silence the voice of scepticism and his goodness will soften the hardest of hearts. Young readers will feel his help in resisting the temptations that surround them. Parents and educators will learn his secrets. Every reader will be inspired to greater love of God and more strenuous efforts in His service.< Less
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