Showing results by author "Bret Thoman" in All Categories

Join Thoman as he skillfully weaves the known facts of Clare’s life with imaginative passages that bring the listener into the profoundly spiritual world of the “Light from the Cloister.” Hailing from an aristocratic or “Major” family, Clare continually—in imitation of Our Lord and Francis—sought to make herself lesser or minor. In the process, in another of God’s “divine paradoxes,” she became a giant, not only of her Age, but of all time.

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is perhaps the single most extraordinary saint in the modern history of the Catholic Church. His heart was pierced. He carried the wounds of Christ on his hands, feet, and side for half a century. He communicated with his spiritual sons and daughters through bilocation and mystical perfume. He read the souls of his penitents. He offered his suffering so that others might be healed. He built one of the most significant hospitals in Southern Italy. Most importantly, Padre Pio wanted others to be redeemed. In Bret Thoman’s latest book, he has created a fresh, new ...

Padre Pio was born in a rural, farming village. He entered a Franciscan order centered on harsh penance and radical poverty. He lived more than fifty years in a mountain hermitage. And yet, everyone has heard his name. But few know who Padre Pio truly was. In his latest work, Bret Thoman has pierced the life of Padre Pio in a novel way: through a pilgrimage to all eleven Capuchin friaries and sites where the stigmatic saint lived. With Pietrelcina as his base, Thoman sets out each morning to the "Convents of Padre Pio." He accompanies the reader into these special places with captivating ...

Italy is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in the world. No other country features as many basilicas, cathedrals, miracles, martyrs, saints, incorruptibles, stigmatics, and Marian sanctuaries. From Papal Rome to Franciscan Assisi, from St. Anthony of Padua to Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, from Our Lady of Loreto to the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, it is impossible to visit Italy and not appreciate the richness of the country’s long Christian history. The Complete Pilgrim Guide to Italy is the most comprehensive guide in the English language to date that explores ...

On July 5, 1902, Maria Goretti was brutally stabbed to death by Alessandro Serenelli. The 11-year-old virgin-martyr not only fought to maintain her purity; she forgave her killer and declared that she wanted him to be with her in Heaven. In what is the most in-depth biography on the life of St. Maria Goretti in the English language, author Bret Thoman brings the saga to life like never before. To create the most extensive and comprehensive English-language biography of Maria Goretti, the author drew from the most updated Italian biographies as sources. Moreover, he personally visited the ...

Travel with Bret Thoman on this hilarious and touching romp as he narrates his lifelong journey from his American upbringing to a new life in Italy. Written with passion, humor, and candor, this book masterfully captures the heart, soul, and spirit of Italy and the Italians as he navigates the wonder and craziness of this new Italian life. Initially drawn to Florence to study the language and explore his Italian ancestry, he feels a lure to the less touristy South. In the slower half of Italy, dialects are spoken, America is still revered, and lazy lunches are the high point of the day. In ...

St. Camilla Battista was an Italian Poor Clare nun from the Renaissance era. She wrote that the Lord conversed with her in a familiar way, communicating to her revelations that she made known through her writings. Not only was she an extraordinary woman of culture, she was a mystic and a profound contemplative. In this comprehensive translation of her writings, the hidden saint is revealed to the English speaking world for the first time. St. Camilla Battista da Varano was the daughter of a powerful Renaissance duke, Giulio Cesare da Varano. Born in Camerino in 1458, she was raised in her ...

Lucia Fiorentino (1889-1934) lived a hidden but extraordinary life. She was one of the earliest spiritual daughters of Padre Pio. She was also a mystic, victim soul, and recipient of numerous charisms, such as visions and locutions. In 1906, she had a vision of an immense tree planted near the Capuchin friary in her native village of San Giovanni Rotondo. Then she heard a voice: “This is the symbol of a soul who is now far away but will come here. He will be strong and well-rooted like this tree and will cover the entire world with its umbrage.” When Padre Pio arrived in 1916, she ...

“The time has come for a new Jubilee in Rome, when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ.” With these words, Pope Francis formally proclaimed the great Jubilee of 2025. Drawing on his two-decade career leading and organizing pilgrimages and thirteen years living in Italy, veteran pilgrim guide Bret Thoman has created a guidebook that contains everything a pilgrim needs to know for the great Jubilee. Jubilees date to 1300 A.D., when Pope Boniface VIII called for...

Assisi is celebrated throughout the world as the city of Saints Francis and Clare and the cradle of Franciscan spirituality. As Rome is the political capital and Milan is the economic center, Assisi is considered Italy’s spiritual heart. With St. Francis as the patron saint of Italy, countless Catholics come to Assisi every year in search of spirituality and peace. Yet, Assisi is exclusive neither to Italians nor Catholics, and people of all nationalities and creeds have discovered a unique tranquility in the “seraphic city.” Recently, walking pilgrimages have exploded in popularity. ...

The St. Francis Camino (also known as the Way of St. Francis) is a spiritual walking pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Francis through central Italy between Laverna and Rome. It can be walked either north or south. This edition begins in Laverna in Tuscany (where St. Francis received the stigmata), and concludes in Assisi. Other books in this series by the same author trace the Camino from Assisi to Rome, or from Greccio to Assisi. Divided into stages, the trek is an intimate way to connect spiritually with the humble saint from Assisi by walking on the same land he walked. This second ...

Everyone has heard of St. Francis, as well as his female counterpart, St. Clare. They lived in Assisi in the Middle Ages. They founded religious orders. They embraced poverty and served those at the margins of society. But what were they really like? What compelled them to give away everything they owned to live like the poor? What was it that moved them to lower themselves and seek Christ on the cross? In this book, Franciscan guide and author, Bret Thoman, brings to life the spirituality and milieu of two of Christendom’s most beloved saints. Centered on the saint's own writings, the ...

In recent years, the ancient tradition of walking Caminos has surged in popularity. From the time-honored routes of the Camino de Santiago in Spain and the Via Francigena to Rome, to the Way of St. Francis through the hills of Umbria, modern pilgrims are rediscovering the transformative experience of the walking pilgrimage. However, while maps and lodging guides are easy to find, many pilgrims set out without what they need most: spiritual direction. “Walking the Sacred Caminos: A Christian Guidebook for the Journey” is designed to fill that gap. Written by veteran pilgrimage guide Bret...

Alessandro Serenelli was the perpetrator of one of the most infamous crimes in the annals of Italian history. In 1902, at the age of 20, he stabbed 11-year-old Maria Goretti to death after she resisted his sexual overtures. Shortly into his prison sentence, Maria appeared to him in a dream, and his conversion began. When Alessandro died 68 years later in a Capuchin friary, some believed he was a saint. Others were unsure. Yet, everyone agreed that Alessandro Serenelli had traveled the long and difficult road of Christian redemption. In this book, the life of Alessandro Serenelli is ...

In this riveting biography, author Bret Thoman accomplishes what few biographers have. He pierces the inner life of Francis, revealing his deepest passions, his unquenchable love for poverty, and his unshakable grip on the core of the Gospel. The life of Francis, so often festooned with spectacle and miracle, is in reality the story of a soul yearning for God in every moment and glimpsing his presence in all creation.

The St. Francis Camino (also known as the Way of St. Francis) is a spiritual walking pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Francis through central Italy from Assisi to Rome. This updated, second-edition guidebook was created as a spiritual, or Franciscan, companion book. It focuses less on step-by-step instructions and more on the spiritual aspect of pilgrimage. With a foreword by the Archbishop of Lucca, Mons. Paolo Giulietti, this book includes essays on spirituality, daily Franciscan reflections, writings and prayers by St. Francis as well as the early Franciscan biographers, and ...

The St. Francis Camino (also known as the Way of St. Francis) is a spiritual walking pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Francis through central Italy between Laverna and Rome. It can be walked either north or south. This edition conceives of the walk beginning in Greccio, site of the first Nativity scene, and finishing with the goal of Assisi. Divided into ten stages, the 160-km trek is an intimate way to connect spiritually with the humble saint from Assisi by walking on the same land he walked. This guidebook offers practical tips regarding packing, traveling in Italy, setting up GPX ...

It is said that one cannot fully know someone else without visiting the place where they grew up. This is also true of Padre Pio. Like us, the saints led human lives. They were not formed in a vacuum. Among parents and relatives, educators and catechists, and companions and confreres—their personalities, minds, and spiritualities were formed. In this unique work, a continuation of Following Padre Pio: A Journey of Discovery from Pietrelcina to San Giovanni Rotondo, author and Padre Pio expert Bret Thoman explores all the convents where Padre Pio lived. There are ten sites. In 1903, young ...

On July 5, 1902, Maria Goretti was brutally stabbed to death by Alessandro Serenelli. The 11-year-old virgin-martyr not only fought to maintain her purity, she forgave her killer and declared that she wanted him to be with her in Heaven. In this unique narrative, author Bret Thoman brings the story to life by accompanying the reader on a literary pilgrimage. He personally visits and describes in vivid detail the sites where the young saint lived: Corinaldo, where she was born; Paliano, near Rome, the site of the Goretti family’s first migration; the farmhouse, where she was attacked; and ...