confessions franciscans universalism spirituality

books:

Confessions, The (Works of Saint Augustine, a Translation for the 21st Century: Part 1- Books)

16 reviews
St. Augustine

New City Press, 2002

the best translation I've found
This Christian classic has touched me deeply. I read it the first time right after college, but recently picked it up again (thirty years later). I didn't remember a thing from the first reading.... I've been a Christian for many years, but find that this book is so fresh, with insights that are truly amazing. For this new read, I bought two different translations so that I could read both and ...

Just Like Mary

3 reviews
Rosemarie Gortler, Donna Piscitelli

Our Sunday Visitor, 2003

Just Right for Ages 2 to 6
The modern imprimaturs aren't always a guarantee of sound Catholic doctrine, but Just Like Mary deserves the imprimatur it earned. Can Catholic doctrine be simplified for ages 2 to 6 and yet retain its depth? Gortler and Piscitelli prove that it can. This book will be a pleasant surprise for Catholics who aren't afraid of doctrine. I was so pleased that I included the book as a necessary ...

The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross

22 reviews
Saint John of the Cross

I C S Publications, Institute of Carmelite St, 1991

A brilliant but dark way to reach God
Like many saints, when you approach St John you feel like you are approaching a figure who is more than human. St John seems to have reached heights and depths of the human psyche and spirit the ordinary mortal cannot hope to match. Certainly St John's path contains many paradoxes and contradictions; I am sure if he had been born in the same period in Japan he would have been a great Zen ...

Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, Third Edition

27 reviews
Therese de Lisieux

I C S Publications, 1996

Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, Third Edition
It is a well written, inspirational text. I really liked the historical aspects as well as the religious excerpts. Great book for anyone experiencing an ongoing illness. It helps to put the disease in perspective. :)

Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox

43 reviews
G.K. Chesterton

Image, 1974

Classic and Beautiful
As something of an "arm-chair" theologian, I've read many of the great Protestant thinkers so this slim volume was a first. My best friend gave this as a Christmas gift last year---I believe with some reservation (he's Catholic, and I'm not), but told me I'd enjoy and he was right! Many here have observed the beauty and power of Chesterson's little work on the Great Aquinas, and I ...

Moses Great Lives Series: Volume 4

11 reviews
Charles R. Swindoll

Thomas Nelson, 1999

A Pencil in the Hand of God: Moses
Mother Theresa of Calcutta used that phrase to describe her work. Moses was a reflection of that statement. You cannot outwit God. Herod tried to kill all the toddlers but Moses was saved by a warning in a dream. The Court of Egypt banished him into the desert but he returned to set the Israelites free. Pharoah's magicians tried to avert the 10 plagues but God's will won. Moses was a pencil ...

All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets & Witnesses for Our Time

39 reviews
Robert Ellsberg

Crossroad Classic, 1997

You: Get this Book. It's Great.
*Everyone* should read Robert Ellsberg's "All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time." That's right, I mean *everyone*. Everyone on the planet. All six billion of you. Normally I would never say that in a book review. Some audiences prefer thrillers, some like mysteries, some, romances. No matter who you are, though, no matter where you live, what language ...

The Rule of Saint Benedict

12 reviews
St. Benedict

Vintage, 1998

Listening for the spirit...
The Rule of St. Benedict is a fairly short book, usually printed in fewer than 100 pages, with its 73 chapters of a few paragraphs in length at most. Here the entirety of the Rule is contained in 70 pages. It is a good example of the statement, 'good things come in small packages'. This particular volume comes from the Vintage Spiritual Classics series, and there is no doubt that the Rule of ...

365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of Their Lives

11 reviews
Woodeene Koenig-Bricker

HarperOne, 1995

Beautiful and Inspirational
I bought this book in 1997 when my faith wasn't as strong as it is now. A couple of my friends did as well. I love the brief stories of men and women that were not always spectacular people that lived holy lives as I thought Saints had to be. They were everyday, normal people that found their calling. There is a Saint and a story for each day. At the bottom of each page is a question to relate to ...

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

14 reviews
Kent Nerburn

HarperOne, 1999

read it... live it... change your life
Kent Nerburn explores every line of St. Francis' famous prayer in terms that are accessible, poetic, modern and timeless. I bought ten more copies to give as gifts. A truly wonderful read that I reach for again and again.

Fifth Business (Penguin Classics)

59 reviews
Robertson Davies

Penguin Classics, 2001

What took me so long?
This author was trustworthy from page one. The character he created, as small as he is, has a big voice and a story worthy of telling. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book, and so mad at myself for taking so long to read it. While the story is dated, specific to a time and a place, the themes are biblical. This is one of those books where I felt compelled to read passages aloud to whoever ...

Saint Paul: The Foundation of Universalism (Cultural Memory in the Present)

3 reviews
Alain Badiou

Stanford University Press, 2003

Enter Badiou
This fantastic little book is one of Badiou's best. The US was first introduced to Badiou with his book "Ethics"--and I believe it would benefit any reader to go to that book first before reading "Saint Paul." But for those who are aware of Badiou's overall project, this book will provide fascinating reading. Here, Badiou goes into why he thinks Universality is an important and indispencible ...

Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila (Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila ) Vol.2

5 reviews
Kieran Kavanaugh, Otilio Rodriguez

ICS Publications, 1980

Spiritual testimonies: First woman doctor of the Church
Teresa de Ahumada born in Spain on March 28, 1515, died October 4, 1582 at the age of 67. A woman of warmth, generosity and spiritual awareness. As a young child Teresa was made aware of God's presence and throughout her lifetime made it her mission to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to as many as she encountered. She journeyed throughout Spain and laid many Foundations to do ...

The Interior Castle

20 reviews
Teresa of Ávila

Riverhead Trade, 2004

Subtle Yet Stilted
This book is useful for people interested in centering prayer or Christian meditation in the western contemplative tradition or yet simply interested in the history of spirituality. St. Theresa was close friends with St. John of the Cross, both famous mystics. This work conveys warmth, sincerity, and compassion in spite of a style that is at times unnatural and in spite of her problems with ...

Saints in Art (Guide to Imagery Series)

5 reviews
Rosa Giorgi

Getty Publications, 2003

everything i wanted
this book is awesome! it has info on over 100 saints commonly found in art. stuff like name, time and place of earthly life,what they did, patronage,special devotions, connections to other saints, when they became saints and their feast days are easily found on the sidebar. there is a little biography and then a collection of maybe three paintings and an explanation of who is in the painting and ...

Athanasius : The Life of Antony and the Letter To Marcellinus

5 reviews
Robert C. Gregg

Paulist Press, 1979

Inspiring
Although the preface is a bit lacking, the two works by St. Athanasius translated here are worth not only reading, but contemplating and wrestling with as well. The first work, The Life of Antony, is a work about the father of Christian asceticism, St. Antony of Egypt. It contains both narrative and doctrinal content; the doctrinal content is presented in the forms of discourses by Antony, ...

To Live As Francis Lived: A Guide for Secular Franciscans (The Path of Franciscan Spirituality)

3 reviews
Leonard Foley, Jovian Weigel, ...

Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2000

A Lot of Knowledge in a Small Book
As a non-Catholic, I find Francis of Assisi fascinating as a man who gave up the life he knew, with all its privileges, to live with as little as possible so as to serve the people as Christ did. So I was happy to find this easy-to-read book. The book is divided into different sections consisting of ÒreflectionsÓ, which are what normal people call ÒchaptersÓ. The first section is called the ...

The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, Second Edition

6 reviews
Robert A. Orsi

Yale University Press, 2002

The Madonna: A Vivid and Complex Examination of the Festival
In this lucid and eloquently written book, Orsi places the Madonna of 115th Street into the full context of the Italian Harlem community. I found the most interesting part of this extrememly insightful book to be Orsi's examination of the Italian-American domus, and how the complexities of the domus are played out in the festival itself. The book is a brilliant examination of the role of women ...

Lives of the Saints

5 reviews
Alban Butler

Tan Books & Publishers, 1995

Review from the Publisher
Father Butler's famous Lives of the Saints ranks only after the Bible, the Missal and The Imitation of Christ as the all-time most popular and authoritative Catholic book. This handy one-volume edition is taken from the many volumes of the highly revered Father Alban Butler (1710-1763), an English Catholic priest and scholar, who devoted almost 30 years of meticulous research to the lives of the ...

Life of St. Columba (Penguin Classics)

5 reviews
Adomnan of Iona

Penguin Classics, 1995

Quit looking for a "more unbiased" explanation of this Saint
What truly amazes me, are the number of Christians who read this stuff, and come away saying, "Well, it wasn't really like this. He (the author) made some things up..." This is absurd. At least have the courage of your convictions. If you're looking for hard core, empirical research on the life of Columba, then you don't belong in the Hagiography section. However, if you are a devotee of ...

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