Showing results by narrator "Kevin O'Brien" in All Categories

Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes, France in 1844. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette eighteen times at the Grotto in Massabielle. When Bernadette was twenty-two years old, she entered the Sisters of Charity Religious Order in Nevers, France. To this day, Lourdes remains one of the greatest healing centers in the world.

Father de Caussade offers the one sure solution to any spiritual difficulty: abandon yourself entirely to God by embracing the duties of your station in life. With wisdom and gentleness he teaches how to practice complete submission to the will of God in every situation, whether we are beginners or seasoned travelers on the way of perfection. True abandonment, he explains, is a trusting, peaceful, and childlike surrender to the guidance of grace.

In the face of a world crisis, which is manifestly deeper than one can imagine, many are inclined to ask: “Has Christianity failed?” Fulton Sheen’s Thinking Life Through seeks to answer this critical question.

What is a retrograde? In the words of Shakespeare, a retrograde is one of God’s spies. The retrograde has the unique capacity for understanding the stark chasm between the degenerate, socialist-infiltrated world of decay on one side and the well-meaning, good-hearted, but clueless Christian world on the other. Our aim is to reverse the deliberate, deuced machinations of “radicals” like Saul Alinsky. Rules for Retrogrades is the audiobook men of good will need to win the culture war!

St. Malachy of Armagh lived in an age of turmoil, yet his life radiated holiness, reform, and unwavering devotion. Composed by his cherished friend, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, this compelling biography chronicles Malachy's extraordinary journey from his humble beginnings in Ireland to his apostolic labors, miracles, and untimely death at Clairvaux.

The sacrament of Matrimony is under diabolical attack. While it is easy to blame the outside world for the demise of marriage, we must look at what has been happening inside the Church. The number of marriages have dwindled over the past five decades and annulments have skyrocketed. Many in Church leadership have been indifferent to these alarming trends and to marriage itself. Matrimony is rarely referenced during homilies, pre-Cana programs are often disastrous, and seminaries spend little time studying the sacrament of Matrimony.

The mystery of death strikes at the core of the human soul. We instinctively recoil at the pain of losing loved ones, and as we grapple, we are quick to seek remedies to console ourselves. There is no one better suited to assuage our grief than the translator of the Bible, St. Jerome (ca. 347–420). This book presents for the first time in English a fresh translation of seven of his most moving letters that sought to soothe his friends who suffered the loss of spouses, children, relatives, and loved ones.

Monasticism distills the essence of Catholic spirituality for all time and for all Christians. The Foundations of Western Monasticism concentrates on three of the finest Christian texts available and will provide both first-time and advanced listeners with an essential review of Christian monasticism and the foundational principles of Catholic prayer life, spiritual combat, contemplation, and communal living.

Blessed Ramon Llull’s ultimate act of final perseverance was not one single decision made by grace, but the culmination of a life spent adhering to the will of God. The Memoirs of Blessed Ramon Llull is a thrilling narrative, reading almost like an action novel. In this autobiographical work, he humbly details his triumphs as well as his own weaknesses and disappointments. Due to rivalries between Catholic leaders, Bl. Ramon’s missionary zeal faced indifference from within the Church as well as resistance from without.

Music plays such an important part in everyone’s life, but how much do we know about the history of music? How did music shape our civilization, and how was music itself shaped by the Catholic Church? Susan Treacy, an experienced professor of music, is an excellent guide to the history of music. Every Catholic should own at least one book on music.

Rich in humor and culture, as well as passion and love for the cause of God and of man, Milestones is the early autobiography of Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger. It tells the fascinating and inspiring story of his early family life, the years under Nazi oppression in Germany, and his part in World War II—including how as a teenager, he was forced to join the Hitler Youth and German army, from which he risked his life to flee.

This TAN Books edition of Stories About Purgatory and What They Reveal, by An Ursiline of Sligo, features the complete original text, along with a supplemental section entitled What Will Hell Be Like?. We’ve also included unique hand-selected classic artwork for the listener’s enjoyment, exclusive to this edition of Stories About Purgatory and What They Reveal. This audiobook was written to impress upon its listeners many truths about Purgatory - first, that it exists; second, that the souls detained there suffer long and excruciating pains.

Selected and accompanied by commentary from best-selling author and literature professor Joseph Pearce, this exciting collection of verse contains classic poems that every child should know to begin a poetic ascent towards God.

As a kid, I was forced to go to Church every Sunday. In my senior year of high school, I gave up faith and religion altogether and embraced being agnostic. I sought the American dream by cofounding a software company and pursued money, fitness, and success, but none of that ever satisfied or gave me peace. Why Be Catholic? is not exactly my journey, but it is the journey of the Church. This book will help you make sense of the logical and historical realities that reveal how and why the Catholic Church is who She says She is.

In the school of Mary, says St. John Paul II, we are "led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love". Mary - refuge of sinners, help of the sick, cause of our joy - is the model for all believers. The Manual for Marian Devotion will deepen your relationship with Mary and, in doing so, draw you closer to her son. Use it to nourish your love of Mary with the scriptures and stories of the saints, and turn to its prayers throughout the day.

After nearly losing his life to an assassin, Stephen LaPointe resigned from his pastorate as a Congregational minister. He made this radical decision as the result of a crisis of truth. This decision had many immediate ramifications for his vocation, his career, and most significantly for his marriage and family. Now, a year later, no one knows where he is. He has disappeared. Out of love, as well as remorse, several people - an old friend, his estranged wife, and a potential enemy - set out separately to find him.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth-century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of millions of her contemporaries. Uncle Tom's Cabin paints pictures of three plantations, each worse than the other, where even the best plantation leaves a slave at the mercy of fate or debt. Her questions remain penetrating even today: "Can man ever be trusted with wholly irresponsible power?"

Meet young José and his friend Trino as the war breaks out in their hometown of Sahuayo. Follow José through his own struggles as the violence escalates, up to his joining the Cristero army in 1927 to fight for freedom of religion. Captured by government forces, José refused to deny his faith in exchange for his freedom.

The promise of eternal life has been a clarion call to the saints for centuries, rousing them to action and heroic virtue. They knew that, compared with eternity, this life is but a shadow. We must seek the same destination as the saints in the midst of a world filled with amusements and vanities that constantly threaten our journey to Heaven.

The Catholic Church today finds itself in the midst of a crisis. The flock is scattering, and while some shepherds bravely set off in search of those lost and wandering sheep, others drive them, and many more, further from the fold.