Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"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/

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.

"Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily... If you do all in God's name, all you do will be well done."

Part 3

(00:38) Chapter 23—The Practice of Bodily Mortification

(11:15) Chapter 24—Society and Solitude

(16:40) Chapter 25—Modesty in Dress

(20:36) Chapter 26—Conversation: First, How to Speak of God

(23:08) Chapter 27—Unseemly Words and the Respect Due to Others

(27:34) Chapter 28—Hasty Judgments

(37:44) Chapter 29—Slander

(48:46) Chapter 30—Further Counsels as to Conversation

(52:43) Chapter 31—Amusements and Recreations: What Are Allowable

(55:15) Chapter 32—Forbidden Amusements

(57:12) Chapter 33—Balls and Other Lawful but Dangerous Amusements

(01:02:21) Chapter 34—When to Use Such Amusements Rightly

(01:04:10) Chapter 35—We Must Be Faithful in Things Great and Small

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

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.

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/

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.

"If then the intellect is so excellent a portion of us, and its cultivation so excellent, it is not only beautiful, perfect, admirable, and noble in itself, but in a true and high sense it must be useful to the possessor and to all around him; not useful in any low, mechanical, mercantile sense, but as diffusing good, or as a blessing, or a gift, or power, or a treasure, first to the owner, then through him to the world."

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 seventh discourse, Newman answers the utilitarian critics of liberal education. He points out that the cultivation of the intellect is not only a sufficient end in itself, but that it is also to be valued even when considered on utilitarian grounds. He cites extensive excerpts from the writings of two key figures in the reform of Oxford teaching, Edward Copleston and John Davison.

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/

Edward Copleston: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Copleston

John Davison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Davison_(priest)

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.

"In the world those who aim at a devout life require to be united one with another by a holy friendship, which excites, stimulates, and encourages them in well-doing."

Part 3

(00:39) Chapter 11 - Obedience

(06:04) Chapter 12 - Purity

(09:26) Chapter 13 - How to Maintain Purity

(13:09) Chapter 14 - Poverty of Spirit amid Riches 

(18:49) Chapter 15 - How to Exercise Real Poverty although Actually Rich

(26:29) Chapter 16—How to Possess a Rich Spirit amid Real Poverty

(30:11) Chapter 17—Friendship: Evil and Frivolous Friendship

(33:52) Chapter 18—Frivolous Attachments

(39:09) Chapter 19—Real Friendship

(45:01) Chapter 20—The Difference between True and False Friendship

(49:18) Chapter 21—Remedies against Evil Friendships

(56:08) Chapter 22—Further Advice concerning Intimacies

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

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.

“While exchanges and conflicts of opinion may constitute normal expressions of public life in a representative democracy, moral teaching certainly cannot depend simply upon respect for a process: indeed, it is in no way established by following the rules and deliberative procedures typical of a democracy... Opposition to the teaching of the Church's Pastors cannot be seen as a legitimate expression either of Christian freedom or of the diversity of the Spirit's gifts.”

Veritatis Splendor, or “The Splendor of Truth”, was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II on August 6, 1993. The encyclical addresses fundamental questions of the Church's moral teaching, especially in relation to the various ways in which that teaching had been (and continues to be) challenged by modern strains of dissident theology.

In this third and final chapter, titled "Lest the Cross of Christ Be Emptied of Its Power", John Paul II emphasizes the profound connection between freedom, moral law, and human flourishing—both for the individual and for society. He further underscores the inseparable link between freedom and truth and stresses the primary role of grace in supporting human freedom and enabling individuals to overcome sin. He ends the encyclical with an appeal to Mary, Mother of Mercy.

Links:

Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3459&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=2320723

Sign up for our newsletter at http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio 

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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 acts are intrinsically evil, a good intention or particular circumstances can diminish their evil, but they cannot remove it. They remain irremediably evil acts; per se and in themselves they are not capable of being ordered to God and to the good of the person... Consequently, circumstances or intentions can never transform an act intrinsically evil by virtue of its object into an act subjectively good or defensible as a choice.”

Veritatis Splendor, or “The Splendor of Truth”, was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II on August 6, 1993. The encyclical addresses fundamental questions of the Church's moral teaching, especially in relation to the various ways in which that teaching had been (and continues to be) challenged by modern strains of dissident theology.

In this second chapter, titled "Do Not Be Conformed to this World", John Paul II addresses the relationships between freedom and law, conscience and truth, and fundamental choice and specific kinds of behavior. He concludes the chapter with a careful consideration of the moral act.

Links:

Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3459&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=2320723

Sign up for our newsletter at http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio 

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.

“No damage must be done to the harmony between faith and life: the unity of the Church is damaged not only by Christians who reject or distort the truths of faith but also by those who disregard the moral obligations to which they are called by the Gospel.”

Veritatis Splendor, or “The Splendor of Truth”, was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope St. John Paul II on August 6, 1993. The encyclical addresses fundamental questions of the Church's moral teaching, especially in relation to the various ways in which that teaching had been (and continues to be) challenged by modern strains of dissident theology.

Links:

Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3459&repos=1&subrepos=0&searchid=2320723

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.

"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

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.

"I say, a University, taken in its bare idea, and before we view it as an instrument of the Church, has this object and this mission; it contemplates neither moral impression nor mechanical production; it professes to exercise the mind neither in art nor in duty; its function is intellectual culture... It educates the intellect to reason well in all matters, to reach out towards truth, and to grasp 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 sixth discourse, Newman argues that the end of a liberal education is not to impart mere knowledge, but to cultivate the intellect. He laments the lack of a word in English to express this idea of intellectual excellence as distinct from the accumulation of learning, and he goes on to illustrate what should be understood as true illumination or enlargement of mind and its implications for university studies.

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/

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.

The 16th and 17th centuries produced a number of men whose courageous faith was accompanied by prodigious learning and literary talent. Among these was St. Thomas More, who wrote poems while languishing in the Tower of London, 1534-1535. Read here are "Lewis the Lost Lover" and "Davey the Dicer", titled after the popular tunes of the day to which he wrote the poems. According to his biographer and son-in-law William Roper, More wrote both poems just after Thomas Cromwell departed from his cell, having failed to persuade him to take the Supremacy Oath. The episode concludes with a meditation written in the margins of More’s prayer book while he was imprisoned.

Links

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/

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.

"Anyone who will calmly consider what he has done without God, cannot fail to realize that what he does with God is no merit of his own; and so we may rejoice in that which is good in us, and take pleasure in the fact, but we shall give all the glory to God alone, who alone is its author."

Part 3

Chapter 1 - How to Select That Which We Should Chiefly Practice (00:00:38)

Chapter 2 - The Same Subject Continued (00:09:33)

Chapter 3 - Patience (00:16:32)

Chapter 4 - Greater Humility (00:25:45)

Chapter 5 - Interior Humility (00:31:39)

Chapter 6—Humility Makes Us Rejoice in Our Own Abjection (00:41:05)

Chapter 7—How to Combine Due Care for a Good Reputation with Humility (00:47:49)

Chapter 8—Gentleness Towards Others and Remedies Against Anger (00:55:18)

Chapter 9—Gentleness Towards Ourselves (01:03:43)

Chapter 10—We Must Attend to the Business of Life Carefully, but Without Eagerness or Over-Anxiety (01:08:13)

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

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.

In this livestream, James Majewski and Thomas Mirus we discussed errors artists can fall into in pushing back against a moralistic approach to art found within the Church. Rather than reacting away from rigidity to excessive openness, the mature Catholic artist has to get over himself and be a servant.

Also discussed: The relation between order and surprise in beauty, morality and culture.

Note: the video begins abruptly in the middle of our introductory fundraising campaign pitch - because of some glitched-out audio, we cut the first 6 minutes or so.

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:

http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate

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Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of content, including news, articles, podcasts, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

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:

http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DZRZRJ5723MLA

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)

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.

“When the Master himself has explicitly said of the bread, ‘This is my body,’ will anyone still dare to doubt? When He is Himself our warranty, saying, “This is my blood,” who will ever waver and say it is not His Blood?”

These the two final catechetical lectures given by Cyril to catechumens around 349 A.D are termed the Mystagogical Lectures. In them, Cyril instructs the newly baptized on the mysteries into which they had just been initiated: baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist. He reserves his lectures on the Eucharist for last, to "crown the work" of his pupils' spiritual edification.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120470/the-works-of-saint-cyril-of-jerusalem-vol-2

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2431

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 not enough to be Christians in name. It behooves us to be such in fact. [...] So let us become His disciples. Let us learn to live the life that Christianity calls for. No one with any other name than this can belong to God."

St. Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch. The only extant writings by St. Ignatius are the seven letters he wrote as a prisoner on his way to Rome to face martyrdom. In this letter, Ignatius encourages the Magnesian Christians to maintain their unity and avoid false teachings, exhorting them to obedience to their bishop and warning against those who deny the reality of Christ's human nature or who would Judaize the faith.

With this episode, Catholic Culture Audiobooks has now released the complete letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the chief figures among the Apostolic Fathers.

Links

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

Letter to the Magnesians alternate translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1629

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/

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.

"For the one who was born as Son, and led to slaughter as a lamb, and sacrificed as a sheep, and buried as a man, rose up from the dead as God."

A vernacular version of the earliest surviving Easter vigil homily by a second-century bishop about whom little is known.

Full text: https://www.kerux.com/doc/0401A1.asp

Alternate translation: https://sachurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/On-Pascha-Melito-of-Sardis.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.

"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

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.

"I don't know which is the cause of the greatest grief for me: whether those who were slain, or those who were captured, or those whom the devil so deeply ensnared."

St. Patrick's Letter to Coroticus is one of two extant works from the fifth century bishop who would come to be known as the “Apostle of Ireland.”

Written several years into St. Patrick's missionary work in Ireland, this letter offers a stern rebuke to a British warlord named Coroticus and his soldiers, the latter of whom had killed and enslaved several of Patrick's recent Irish converts. Reading at times like a Pauline epistle, the letter reveals Patrick's deep love for his Irish flock, his courage in confronting the evils of his day, and his profound zeal for the Gospel.

St. Patrick, pray for us!

Links

Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus Full Text: https://www.confessio.ie/etexts/epistola_english#

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

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.

"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

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.

"The artist puts before him beauty of feature and form; the poet, beauty of mind; the preacher, the beauty of grace: then intellect too, I repeat, has its beauty, and it has those who aim at 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.

What is the point of a liberal education? What is the use of philosophy? What good is knowledge in general? These questions and others like them are the consideration of Newman's fifth discourse on university studies, in which he answers that the study of philosophy and acquisition of knowledge is a sufficient end and good in itself.

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/

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.

"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.

"The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur—this is the programme with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time."

Pope Benedict XVI delivered this address to scientists at the University of Regensburg on September 12, 2006, where he was a professor and vice rector from 1969 to 1971.

The Pope praised the university's traditional openness to approaching God through the use of reason. He went on to contrast this approach with the Muslim teaching that God transcends man so completely that "His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality." According to this perspective, man can never seek to understand God, Who is free to act in whatever way He chooses, for good or for evil, and is never bound to reveal the truth to man.

Pope Benedict explained how in this context, the Western synthesis between faith and reason is all the more important: "The truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos...and has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf...Consequently, Christian worship is...worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason." This convergence of faith and reason "created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe."

Links:

Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7155

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.

"Now, in the practice of this spiritual retreat and of these brief prayers the great work of devotion lies: it can supply all other deficiencies, but there is hardly any means of making up where this is lacking."

In this installment, St. Francis De Sales delves further into his discussion of prayer, focusing his chapters on such subjects as Morning & Evening Prayer, how to receive Holy Communion, and on praying the other public offices of the Church. De Sales stresses the importance of daily placing oneself in the presence of God, which he describes as "one of the surest means of spiritual progress."

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.

“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

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

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.

Originally delivered at the Pro Civitate Dei summer school in La Londe-les-Maures, France on June 12, 2022, The Politics of Hell is an in-depth examination of St. Thomas Aquinas' doctrine concerning the social order among angels and demons—and a commentary on the human governmental arrangements to which each most closely corresponds.

Links:

The Politics of Hell full text at The Josias: https://thejosias.com/2022/06/16/the-politics-of-hell/

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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.

"A Song for St. Cecilia's Day" full text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44185/a-song-for-st-cecilias-day-1687

"Alexander's Feast; or, the Power of Music" full text: https://poets.org/poem/alexanders-feast-or-power-music

Happy feast of St. Cecilia!

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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 relevance. In it, Pope Pius delivers a sweeping defense against the many threats to marriage that are still prevalent today. Priests and catechists involved in marriage preparation, take note!

Pope Pius first discusses the nature and the dignity of Christian marriage, as well as its many benefits to family and to society. He then addresses the many errors and vices opposed to marriage before finally describing the principal remedies to the problems afflicting marriage in the present day.

Pope Pius XI’s encyclical on marriage contains many truths forgotten even among faithful Catholics. Originally released on this podcast in three parts, Casti Connubii is now available to be listened to in a single continuous episode.

Links:

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

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

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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.

Richard Crashaw was a 17th-century English poet and Anglican priest who later in life converted to Catholicism. He taught at Cambridge and served as curate of the Church of St. Mary the Less, where he became known for his High Church Anglicanism. Puritan detractors cited him for his "Mariolatry", or excessive devotion to the Virgin Mary, and also found fault with his adornment of the church with Christian art and his use of Catholic vestments.

Under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, Crashaw was expelled from his parish and forced to flee the country. It was during this exile that Crashaw converted to Catholicism, eventually ending up in Rome under the employment of a Catholic cardinal. This same cardinal would appoint him to be canon of the Shrine of the Holy House of Loreto, where Crashaw died a few short months later.

Crashaw is known for his religious poetry with distinct mystical themes. He was inspired by the works of St. Teresa of Avila, despite the fact that she was largely unknown in England because her works had not yet been translated there. Crashaw wrote three poems about St. Teresa, of which "A Hymn to the Name and Honour of Saint Teresa" is the first. In it, Crashaw traces a development from the child Teresa's desire for physical martyrdom to the adult Teresa's mystical conquest of the inner self.

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

Links

"A Hymn to the Name and Honour of the Admirable Saint Teresa" full text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44057/a-hymn-to-the-name-and-honour-of-the-admirable-saint-teresa

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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.

" Religious doctrine is knowledge, in as full a sense as Newton's doctrine is knowledge. University Teaching without Theology is simply unphilosophical."

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 second discourse, Newman argues that religious doctrine is genuine knowledge, and that a university which does not provide for theological instruction is omitting a most necessary science.

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.

"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/

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.

"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.

"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.

"There is no disposition so good but it may be made bad by reason of vicious habits, and neither is there any natural disposition so perverse but that it may be conquered and overcome by God's grace primarily, and then by our earnest endeavor."

St. Francis de Sales ends this first part of the Introduction with instructions on making a general confession along with a firm resolution at amendment. He concludes with an exhortation that the devout soul be resolved to purge away all tendency to venial sins, all inclination to useless distractions, and all imperfections whatsoever. In Part 2, he will lay out the means for doing so.

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.

How to keep–is there ány any, is there none such, nowhere

known some, bow or brooch or braid or brace, láce, latch

or catch or key to keep

Back beauty, keep it, beauty, beauty, beauty, . . . from vanishing

away?

Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and Jesuit priest born on July 28, 1844 (tomorrow would have been his 178th birthday!). A convert from Anglicanism, Hopkins was received into the Church in 1866 by none other than St. John Henry Newman.  Because of his commitment to his religious and priestly vocation, Hopkins resolved never to publish his poems during his life. After his death, however, friends and acquaintances published his surviving work, and Hopkins was quickly recognized as one of the most innovative poets of his century.

"The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo"—originally intended as part of a larger, never finished poem about the martyrdom of St. Winifred—was completed in 1882, seven years before Hopkins' untimely death of typhoid fever in 1889, at the age of 44. Hopkins considered it to be the most musical of his poems, and among the most dramatic.

The mythic Philosopher's Stone was believed to be capable of turning lead into gold. In "The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo", a similar transmutation occurs—the kind of transformation which God's grace alone is capable of accomplishing. Indeed, though he struggled with depression throughout his life, Hopkins' last words at his death were, "I am so happy, I am so happy. I loved my life."

Links

"The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo" full text: https://hopkinspoetry.com/poem/the-leaden-echo-and-the-golden-echo/

Notable readings of the poem by Sir Alec Guinness and by Richard Burton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyPnd5zyzI0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhQwFf6Qb9U

Short film and reading of the poem by Margaret Tait: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L080KSBxemg

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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

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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 advise you not to be too deeply disturbed by these scandals, because their coming was foretold so that, when they came, we might remember that they had been foretold and might not be greatly troubled by them."

”Augustine’s correspondence, the mark and expression of the influential personality and apostolic zeal of the author, is rich in historical, philosophical, theological, exegetical, spiritual, literary, and autobiographical content” (Agostino Trapè). In this letter (Letter 208), Augustine exhorts a Christian woman not to be scandalized by the faults of Christians and their pastors, and to remain within the unity of the Church despite the sins of its members.

The extant correspondence of St. Augustine includes more than 270 letters. Those numbered 124-231 span the period from 411 AD to Augustine’s death in 430 AD.

Links

Letter to the Lady Felicia (Letter 208) full text: https://verbum.com/product/120439/saint-augustine-letters-vol-v

Alternate translation freely available at Catholic Culture: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3133## 

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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 may be, my child, that you do not know how to practice mental prayer, for unfortunately it is a thing much neglected nowadays. I will therefore give you a short and easy method for using it..."

We continue our reading series of St. Frances de Sales' spiritual masterpiece by jumping ahead a few chapters to Part 2, in which the Doctor of the Church breaks down each part of his method for meditation. The fuller explanation on mental prayer given within these chapters will help us when we proceed with the ten distinct meditations provided in Part 1, which will be the subject of the next 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.

"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.

"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

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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 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.

"If you hate your own corruption in sincerity and truth, if you are really pierced to the heart that you do not do what you know you should do, if you would love God if you could, then the Gospel speaks to you words of peace and hope. It is a very different thing indolently to say, 'I would I were a different man,' and to close with God's offer to make you different, when it is put before you. Here is the test between earnestness and insincerity."

This sermon is taken from a collection of sermons given by Newman between 1825 and 1843, before his conversion to Catholicism. In it, he reflects on Christ's counsel to his Apostles, "If you know these things, happy are you if you do them." (John 13:17)

Links

Knowledge of God's Will without Obedience full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume1/sermon3.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.

“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 Novarum set forth a definitive word on these “new things” and laid the groundwork for further development of the Church’s social teaching throughout the 20th century. Today, Rerum Novarum is considered a foundational text of Catholic social doctrine.

Covering everything from property rights to trade unions, from questions of wages to those of the relationship of man to the State, Rerum Novarum is a sweeping document 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, stating plainly that human society can be healed in no other way than in a return to Christian life and Christian institutions.

Links

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

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.

"In the second coming when He will come for rendering repayment, He will not come in humility and poverty, but in such majesty and power that the whole world will tremble."

St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was born in Valencia, Spain, and died in Vannes, Britany. He was a great scholar and theologian, and even served as an advisor to Benedict XIII, the Avignon anti-pope. St. Vincent was also a great preacher, traveling throughout Europe as a parish mission preacher. The favorite topic of his sermons was the final judgment, and he is often called the "Angel of the Judgment."

This sermon demonstrates St. Vincent’s ability, in typically Dominican style, to render a close analysis of scripture into an accessible sermon capable of drawing out both the literal and moral significance of the sacred text.

Happy feast of St. Vincent Ferrer!

Links

Sermon on the Last Judgment full text: https://www.svfsermons.org/A398_On%20the%20Last%20Judgment,%20Sheep%20and%20Goats.htm

More St. Vincent Ferrer sermons trans. by Fr. Albert G. Judy, OP: http://www.svfsermons.org

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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.

"For, truly, she is raised above the condition of sinful beings, though by nature a sinner; she is brought near to God, yet is but a creature, and seems to lack her fitting place in our limited understandings, neither too high nor too low. We cannot combine, in our thought of her, all we should ascribe with all we should withhold."

The Reverence Due to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a sermon first given by Newman for the Feast of the Annunciation, before his conversion to Catholicism. In it he considers in what respects the Virgin Mary is "Blessed".

Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord!

Links

The Reverence Due to the Virgin Mary full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume2/sermon12.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.

"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.

“So long as we are sheep, we conquer: though ten thousand wolves prowl around, we overcome and prevail. But if we become wolves, we are worsted, for the help of our Shepherd departs from us: for He feeds not wolves, but sheep.”

A towering figure among the Early Church Fathers, St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407 AD) is one of the greatest preachers the Church has ever produced. Most of Chrysostom’s extant writings, in fact, are sermons.

This is the thirty-third of the nearly one hundred exegetical homilies by Chrysostom on the Gospel of Matthew, in which Chrysostom emphasizes Christ’s command that his followers be as “sheep in the midst of wolves... wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

Links

Homily 33 on the Gospel According to St. Matthew Full Text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2009

Learn more about St. Chrysostom on 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/ 

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.

"If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent If the unheard, unspoken Word is unspoken, unheard; Still is the unspoken word, the Word unheard, The Word without a word, the Word within The world and for the world; And the light shone in darkness and Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled About the center of the silent Word."

Written in 1930, Ash Wednesday is a six-part "conversion poem" written by Eliot after his own conversion to Anglicanism. With references ranging from Dante to Shakespeare to the Bible, Ash Wednesday is a moving poem of theological and philosophical depth that speaks to both the struggles and the consolations of spiritual growth.

Links

Ash Wednesday full text: https://www.best-poems.net/t_s_eliot/ash_wednesday.html

T.S. Eliot's own reading of the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUlzDTGd44 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.

"Holy Church is both one in all its members and complete in each of them."

Have you ever wondered why the congregation responds to the priest's greeting, "The Lord be with you," with the response, "And with your spirit," rather than "and also with you"? Have you ever wondered why the Confiteor has us say, "and you, my brothers and sisters," even when we are alone?

Doctor of the Church St. Peter Damian (1007-1073) addresses this and other questions in a letter written 1000 years ago—an important work on prayer and ecclesiology, and powerful affirmation that the Church is present in her individual faithful.

Links

Translation courtesy of Holy Family Hermitage in Bloomingdale, Ohio, as found in their volume Camaldolese Spirituality: https://www.faithandfamily.pub/camaldolese-spirituality/

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.

“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

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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.

“Hypocrites seduce souls in order to have followers and honors."

The Angelic Doctor's very own sermon on how to detect false prophets. Beware!

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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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/

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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.

“When He began to cry / she got up and gave Him milk; / she embraced Him as she sang to Him, / swaying her knees until He became still.”

Born in the year 306, Ephrem lived in Nisibis (in modern-day Turkey), at what was then the border between the Roman and Persian empires. Ephrem was a deacon and a prolific writer. To this day, he remains among the most notable hymnographers in Eastern Christianity. He has been called "the lyre of the Holy Spirit", and in 1920 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV.

St. Ephrem is best remembered for his hymns on Christmas and Epiphany, including this Marian hymn on the Nativity.

Links

Ep. 28—Ephrem, Symbolist—Way of the Fathers with Mike Aquilina: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/27ephrem-symbolist/

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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.

“True, we should esteem the things that make for the glory of God, but we should show the greatest esteem for those that concern the will of God.”

St. Alphonsus, a Doctor of the Church, was an Italian bishop who lived from 1696-1787. He is the patron saint of confessors and 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 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.

Uniformity with God's Will is a truly timeless spiritual classic.

Links

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

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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.

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.

"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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“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

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“The family is more sacred than the State... men are begotten not for the earth and for time, but for Heaven and eternity.”

Last week we began a three-part reading of Casti Connubii, Pope Pius XI’s encyclical on Christian marriage promulgated in 1930.

In the first part, Pope Pius discussed the nature and the dignity of marriage, and described as well marriage’s many benefits to family and society. In this second part, he addresses the errors and vices opposed to marriage.

Whatever the error, Pius observes that the fundamental principle animating it is the false notion that marriage is invented by man and is therefore subject to his will.

Pius addresses in detail the errors opposed to each of the three main blessings of marriage, which he outlined in the beginning of the encyclical as offspring, conjugal faith, and the sacrament.

In the end, Pius affirms that marriage’s religious character arises not from any idea imposed by religion, but rather from its very nature. Marriage is sacred in its divine origin and its divine purpose, and has been raised by Christ to the level of a great sacrament of the Church.

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.

“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.

“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.

"What a wonderful rule of God's providence is herein displayed which occurs daily!—the Church sanctities, yet suffers with, the world—sharing its sufferings, yet lightening them."

In this third of four lectures on The Patristical Idea of Antichrist, Newman closely examines the role which the Roman Empire—and, perhaps, even the city of Rome itself—will play in the coming of Antichrist.

As with the first two lectures on the Times and Religion of Antichrist, what’s refreshing about Newman’s analysis in this lecture is the seriousness with which he takes the Old and New Testament prophecies about the Antichrist. Through a careful consideration of which aspects of prophecy have been fulfilled and which unfulfilled, Newman demonstrates how these prophecies do more than simply arouse our curiosity in a future event, but in fact edify us in the present.

This one episode can be listened to on its own. However, if you do wish to go back and listen to the previous episodes, remember that only the most recent 15 audiobook episodes are publicly available at any given time. To unlock full access to our complete audiobook archive, simply login to your Catholic Culture account, or register for free at catholicculture.org/getaudio

Links

The City of Antichrist Full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/arguments/antichrist/lecture3.html

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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“Whoever, then, appears in his own opinion to have comprehended the Sacred Scriptures, or even some part of them, yet does not build up with that knowledge the two-fold love of God and his neighbor, has not yet known as he ought to know.”

De Doctrina Christiana, or "On Christian Instruction", is listed among Augustine’s contributions to the Great Books of the Western World, alongside the Confessions and City of God. It is considered to be the most important early Latin treatise on scriptural interpretation and a foundational work for the field of Biblical hermeneutics. It ranks among the most important works of classical rhetoric, along with works by Cicero and Quintillian. Its fourth and final book was one of the very first works to be printed, only about one decade after the Gutenberg Bible.

De Doctrina Christiana is composed of four books. According to St. Augustine, the first three books “help to an understanding of the Scriptures, while the fourth instructs us how to present the facts which we have comprehended.”

00:39 Part 1 (Book 1 with Prologue)

1:15:19 Part 2 (Book 2, Ch.1-18)

2:02:56 Part 3 (Book 2, Ch.19-42) 

2:56:03 Part 4 (Book 3, Ch.1-23)

3:41:37 Part 5 (Book 3, Ch.24-37)

4:21:01 Part 6 (Book 4, Ch.1-16)

5:19:34 Part 7 (Book 4. Ch.17-31)

Links

Christian Instruction: https://verbum.com/product/120407/saint-augustine-christian-instruction-admonition-and-grace-the-christian-combat-faith-hope-and-charity

De Doctrina Christiana Full Text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3275

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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.

“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.

“The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God; it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: So it must be restored.”

Edmund Campion was born on January 25, 1540, into an England awash with religious turmoil. Though he had been expected to become an apologist for the Church of England, Campion instead fled to France where he was reconciled with the Church and accepted into the Society of Jesus.

After he was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1578, Campion was chosen by his superiors to lead a mission back to England. Shortly after his clandestine arrival in London in 1580, Campion quickly set about composing the statement that would later become known as "Campion's Brag". According to some scholars, it is the earliest defense of the faith to appear in the English language during the Reformation.

Campion was eventually captured in 1581 and brought to the Tower of London, where he was imprisoned and tortured for four months. After a farce trial of bribed witnesses and false evidence, Campion was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. On December 1, 1581, Campion was hanged, drawn, and quartered.

Links

Campion's Brag Full text: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/campions-brag-5297

Catholic Culture Podcast Ep. 69—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.

“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/

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.

“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/

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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.

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/

“What is up to us is to plead without ceasing for discernment and love, for justice and patience—and for unshakable love for the Church. Because only the lover discerns. And what people who do not love her, maybe secretly hate her, tell us about her need not frighten us.”

Born in 1901, Ida Friederike Görres was an historically significant figure in the early twentieth-century German Catholic Renewal movement. The eulogy at her funeral in 1971 was given by none other than a certain Fr. Joseph Ratzinger. Today, over fifty years after her death, there is renewed interest in her works.

A student of political science, history, church history, theology, and philosophy, Görres worked for the diocese of Dresden-Meissen as “Diocesan Secretary for Young Women’s Ministry”. After her marriage, Görres devoted herself increasingly to her work as a writer and theologian in service to the Church.

She published many lengthy works, as well as lectures and shorter writings on current issues in the Church. She lived through the Second Vatican Council, and though she welcomed the Council with joy, she tracked later developments within the Church with concern—as evidenced by this lecture given in 1970, only one year before her death.

Narrated by Karina Majewski.

Links

Learn more about Ida Friederike Görres: https://www.idagoerres.org/

Trusting the Church Full Text: https://www.idagoerres.org/trusting

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.

“In your bread is hidden the Spirit which cannot be eaten. / In your wine dwells the fire that cannot be drunk. / Spirit in your bread, fire in your wine: / It is a distinct wonder that our lips have received!”

Born in the year 306, Ephrem lived in Nisibis (in modern-day Turkey), at what was then the border between the Roman and Persian empires. 

Ephrem was a deacon and a prolific writer. To this day, he remains among the most notable hymnographers in Eastern Christianity. He has been called, in fact, the lyre of the Holy Spirit, and in 1920 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV.

This short hymn is one of Ephrem’s Eucharistic hymns, also containing some resonance with Pentecost.

Links

St. Ephrem, Hymns on Faith: https://verbum.com/product/169347/the-hymns-on-faith

Ep. 28—Ephrem, Symbolist—Way of the Fathers with Mike Aquilina: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/27ephrem-symbolist/

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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.

“Like the new mother, burdened with milk for the child, so the poet with the word within him, addressed to others.”

Paul Claudel was born in 1868 in rural northeastern France. He absorbed the poetry of Walt Whitman and Arthur Rimbaud while in his teens, and experienced a religious epiphany at Notre Dame cathedral during Christmas 1886. Claudel was productive in many literary genres. Besides the Odes, his masterpieces include the dramas The Break of Noon, The Tidings Brought to Mary, and The Satin Slipper. The poet served throughout the world in the French diplomatic corps, and died in 1955.

Claudel's Five Great Odes constitutes one of the great twentieth-century achievements in lyric poetry. The third Ode, "Magnificat", recalls his conversion, which occurred at Christmas vespers, where the Magnificat was sung, in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

Links

Buy Five Great Odes, from Angelico Press: https://www.angelicopress.org/five-great-odes-claudel

Ep. 92—Claudel’s Cosmic Vision—Jonathan Geltner | Catholic Culture Podcast: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/92-tom-bombadilleau-claudels-cosmic-vision-jonathan-geltner/

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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, we should esteem the things that make for the glory of God, but we should show the greatest esteem for those that concern the will of God.”

This week, we conclude our series of readings from St. Alphonsus’s Uniformity with God’s Will.

In these final chapters, St. Alphonsus turns his attention to times of spiritual desolation, when submission to the will of God can sometimes be the most difficult.

Alphonsus includes in his considerations: the sudden loss of others, particularly those by whom we are spiritually edified; dryness and difficulty in prayer; unrelenting temptation; as well as the circumstances of our own death.

“We should consider everything happening to us in the present," Alphonsus writes, "and everything that will happen to us in the future, as coming from the hands of God.”

To hearken back to the very first chapter of this work, uniformity with God’s will means something more than simply obeying God in this or that circumstance — it means, as St. Alphonsus puts it, “that we make one will of God’s will and ours… that God’s will alone, is our will.”

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.

“...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.

“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.

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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.

“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.

"... 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.

“How, and when, did Mary take part—and the initial part—in the world's restoration? It was when the Angel Gabriel came to her to announce to her the great dignity which was to be her portion.”

This is a selection from a larger work by Newman, published posthumously as Meditations and Devotions. In the first part of the book, Newman meditates on the Litany of Loreto. His meditations are divided into four categories: On the Immaculate Conception, On the Annunciation, On Our Lady’s Dolors, and On the Assumption.

Here are Newman’s meditations on the titles of Mary most closely associated with the Annunciation: Queen of Angels, Mirror of Justice, Seat of Wisdom, Gate of Heaven, Mother of the Creator, Mother of Christ, and Mother of our Savior.

Links

On the Annunciation Full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/meditations/meditations2.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.

“Joseph merited the greatest honors because he was never touched by honor. The Church has nothing more illustrious, because it has nothing more hidden.”

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a seventeenth-century French theologian and bishop. During his life, he was highly regarded for that for which today he is still most remembered: his preaching. His style and accomplishment as an orator has seen him numbered among the likes of Augustine and Chrysostom—two of the Church’s greatest preachers—and the most celebrated of his written works, Discourse on Universal History, has been favorably compared to Augustine’s own City of God. St. Junipero Serra and Pope Pius XII are included among those who cherished Bossuet’s writings, the latter of whom kept a copy of Bossuet by his bedside table. 

For all his fame as an orator and French stylist, however, Bossuet was also a man of great love for the study of Sacred Scripture, and for devotion to retirement and the interior life. It was only at the urging of St. Vincent de Paul (under whose spiritual direction Bossuet had prepared for the priesthood) that he moved to Paris and devoted himself entirely to preaching in the first place.

Though he would eventually go on to become the court preacher of Louis XIV, Bossuet continued to esteem hiddenness. In today’s reading, Bossuet observes: “The Christian life should be a hidden life, and the true Christian should ardently desire to remain hidden under God’s wing.”

Indeed, it is Joseph’s hiddenness that Bossuet recognizes is most essential to his greatness. Bossuet’s reflections here have fresh significance today, in our modern prestige economy played out on the Internet and in social media.

May Bossuet—among the best of preachers—convict us with his words; and may St. Joseph—the best of Teachers—teach us to be hidden.

St. Joseph, pray for us!

Links

St. Joseph: A Man after God's Own Heart full text: https://catholicexchange.com/saint-joseph-man-gods-heart

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

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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.

"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.

“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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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 paradoxical truth is that tames are more effective agents of the gay agenda than gays themselves... The tame commitment to the noncommittal is the engine that powers gay progress in the Church.”

Fr. Paul Mankowski, a Jesuit of the Midwest province and former contributor to CatholicCulture.org, passed away suddenly in September 2020 at the age of 66. At the time, we released an audiobook recording of “What Went Wrong?”, a 2003 address to the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy in which Fr. Mankowski presents an excellent analysis of how the Catholic clerical sexual abuse crisis occurred.

Fr. Mankowkski’s words remain as relevant as ever. That was as much the case with his address on “What Went Wrong”, as it is with this description of the phenomenon of “the tame priest”, written in 1996.

If you have looked with increasing bewilderment and frustration at the action—or, better put, inaction—of members of the Church’s clergy, especially among her bishops, then “Tames in Clerical Life” just may shed new light on the problem.

Links

"Tames in Clerical Life" full text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/userfiles/files/Tames.pdf

"What Went Wrong?" on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/fr-paul-mankowski-what-went-wrong/

Phil Lawler Tribute to Fr. Mankowski: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/farewell-uncle-di-father-paul-mankowski-rip/ 

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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.

“Is the enemy of Christ, and His Church, to arise out of a certain special falling away from GOD? And is there no reason to fear that some such Apostasy is gradually preparing, gathering, hastening on in this very day?”

This is the first in a series of four lectures written before Newman’s conversion to Catholicism and which initially appeared among Newman’s “Tracts for the Times”—an effort by Newman and others to firm up a definite basis of doctrine and discipline for the Church of England.

Decades later, and after his conversion to Catholicism, Newman would choose to have The Patristical Idea of Antichrist re-published in a collection called “Discussions and Arguments”, from which this reading comes.

Part 1, The Times of Antichrist, is an exhortation to take seriously prophecy concerning the Antichrist, and to recognize these prophecies as referring to a specific time and concerning a specific individual.

Apostasy, Newman says, is that which unfailingly prepares the way for the spirit of Antichrist—a spirit already active in the world, ever struggling to bring about its ultimate fulfillment, and a spirit that each of us either resists or hastens the coming of its day.

Links

The Times of Antichrist Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/arguments/antichrist/lecture1.html

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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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 have discussed in these four books not the kind of man I am, because I have many failings, but the kind of man he should be who strives to labor in sound teaching, that is, in Christian teaching...”

We’ve finally reached the end of our seven-part reading series of St. Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana, or On Christian Instruction. Whether you’re fully caught up on all of the previous episodes, or if you’ve not listened to any of them, you’ll still stand to benefit from today’s episode.

That’s because Augustine concerns himself in these final chapters with concrete rhetorical advice, and practical strategies for speaking and instruction. 

He does so primarily by outlining three basic styles of speech: the subdued style, the moderate style, and the grand style. To illustrate each of these three styles, Augustine provides extended quotes from the letters of St. Paul, as well as from two other orators whom he greatly respects: St. Cyprian and St. Ambrose.

Augustine rounds out Book 4 with an emphasis on the effect that a speaker’s life will have upon his speech, and on how important a role moral character plays in the way a speech is ultimately received by others.

Finally, Augustine returns to a point he has made throughout De Doctrina Christiana: the power of prayer — prayer before speaking, and prayer after speaking, asking for the grace of God “in whose hand are both we and our words.”

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 

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.

"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.

“Thus, in praying for himself and for those whom he is about to address, [the orator] should be a suppliant before he is a speaker… Who can make us say what we should, and say it in the way we should, except Him in whose ‘hand are both we and our words’?”

With this fourth and final book of Augustine’s work On Christian Instruction, we finally arrive at the chapters dedicated to, well, instruction. Whereas in Books 1-3 Augustine exhaustively describes the process of ascertaining the meaning of the Scriptures, here he turns his attention to the manner in which that meaning should be conveyed and taught. 

And Augustine would know a thing or two about this: before his conversion, Augustine was an accomplished orator, schooled in the best Roman traditions of rhetoric. It's exciting to see Augustine’s expertise and passion for the subject.

Augustine directs Book 4 to those who will be responsible for preaching and teaching the faith—the clergy, in particular. Augustine reasons that if those whose purposes are evil will make good use of rhetorical rules to disseminate their message effectively, how tragic it is if those preaching the Gospel do not also exercise the same care. 

Still, the Christian orator succeeds, Augustine says, “more through the piety of his prayers than through the power of his oratory.”

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 

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.

“Consider what it is you mean by praying, and you will see that, at that very time that you are asking for the coming of His kingdom, you are anticipating that coming, and accomplishing the thing you fear.”

I don’t know about you, but every Advent I find myself faced with the same dilemma: how to pray for Christ’s coming, even as I am increasingly aware of my own need for conversion—and more time to set about converting. There’s a nagging fear in the back of my mind that, if Christ comes too soon, I won’t be ready. So when I pray along with the Church, “Come, Lord Jesus,” my heart, nevertheless, seems sometimes to whisper, “Just not quite yet.”

Of course, that’s not the Church’s prayer, which indeed is an urgent one. And somehow this Advent, with everything going on in the world, seems more urgent than ever. It feels like the very stones are crying out “Come, Lord Jesus”—and not because things are all in their proper order... in my own heart perhaps least of all.

So how to resolve this seeming paradox, to pray for Our Lord’s coming even as His Coming necessarily involves the end of our time for conversion?

It’s precisely that question which Newman addresses in this sermon. His reflections here have informed the way I’ve approached Advent so far, and I hope they will for you too.

From all of us at CatholicCulture.org, we wish you a prayerful, penitential, and hopeful Advent. 

Links

Shrinking from Christ’s Coming Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume5/sermon4.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.

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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.

“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 

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.

We had planned today to release the fifth installment in our seven-part series of St. Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana — but in light of renewed lockdown measures being implemented across the United States and elsewhere, we’ve decided instead to re-release another work of Augustine’s previously featured on the show: his letter to Honoratus, on the necessity of keeping the sacraments available.

As a Church, let’s not do what we did before in the first shutdown. Let’s not go silently into that good night. Let’s let government officials—and, even more importantly, church leaders—know that the administration of the sacraments is an essential service.

If you missed this episode the first time around, give it a listen. Or listen again, considering all that’s transpired in the five months since we first released this reading. For access to this and all of our previous episodes, register for free at catholicculture.org/getaudio

Notes

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=3143

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.

"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.

“This is the faith by which the Catholic Church lives and progresses, namely, that humanity is believed to exist in Jesus Christ not without real divinity, and divinity, not without real humanity.”

The papacy of Pope Leo I  saw the convening of the Catholic Church’s fourth ecumenical council: the Council of Chalcedon. 

The Tome of Leo was a central document debated during the Church's fourth ecumenical council, the Council of Chalcedon, at which the hypostatic union of Christ’s twofold nature—human and divine—was definitively set forth. This council took place during the papacy of Pope Leo I, described by Pope Benedict XVI as “undoubtedly one of the most important in Church history.”

Written in the form of a letter, the Tome is addressed to Flavian, the Patriarch of Constantinople. Flavian had recently excommunicated a certain presbyter by the name of Eutyches, who had taught what would come to be known as the heresy of Monophysitism: the denial of Christ’s twofold nature and the insistence that in Christ there is only one nature, wholly divine.

Leo invokes the text of the Nicene Creed and references Scripture throughout. He illustrates that humanity and divinity both truly exist in the Person of Christ, the Incarnate Word, and that other mysteries of the faith—notably, Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary and our Redemption—depend upon this mystery.

The Tome was eventually accepted as doctrinal. To this day it remains a foundational text of Christology, and it is perhaps the theological contribution for which St. Leo the Great is most remembered.

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=2133

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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/

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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.

“Reflect for a long time upon what is being read, until the interpretation is drawn over to the sway of charity.”

We’re picking up where we last left off in St. Augustine’s great treatise On Christian Doctrine, beginning Book 3 and finally diving into Augustine’s primary concern with this work: the correct interpretation of Holy Scripture. 

In the initial chapters, Augustine closely considers the textual minutia of everything from punctuation to conjugation and declension, to pronunciation and inflection. (Lectors, take note!)

Of particular concern for Augustine, however, is the correct discernment between literal and figurative expressions. It’s with respect to the latter that some of Augustine’s most salient insights shine through. His multi-faceted consideration of signs and symbols finds application in a wide range of concerns, including the sacraments, inculturation of the faith, and even morality.

Augustine is particularly helpful in his discussion, toward the end of the reading, of the Old Testament and of certain anomalous—or even vicious—behavior of Old Testament figures.

Any correct reading of Scripture will ultimately conduce to a love of God for his own sake, and of neighbor for God’s sake.

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

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

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.

“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.

“I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold, and what they do not, who know their creed so well, that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it.”

This lecture was given against the backdrop of a resurgent anti-Catholicism throughout England, marked by anti-Catholic hysteria and government overstep. Although Newman is responding to an institutional prejudice born specifically of establishment Protestantism, his words for the most part can be applied equally as well to prejudice born of secularized liberalism.

Newman puts so-called “public opinion” into its place. Newman exhorts Catholics to be straightforward, generous, and forbearing in spite of provocation. “Interpret the actions of all,” he says, “in the best sense that you possibly can.” Links

Duties of Catholics Towards the Protestant View Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/england/lecture9.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.

“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.

“While I was lying in darkness and in the obscure night, and while, ignorant of my real life, I was tossing about on the sea of a restless world wavering and doubtful in my wandering steps… I thought it indeed difficult and hard to believe... that divine mercy was promised for my salvation.”

Born at the beginning of the 3rd century to a wealthy, pagan family in Carthage, Cyprian initially rose to prominence as an orator. After a youth spent in dissipation, Cyprian converted and was baptized at around 35 years old. His bishop became so impressed with him that after only one year, Cyprian was made first a deacon, and then a priest. When that same bishop died only one year later, Cyprian was chosen to succeed him! As bishop, Cyprian would shepherd the church in Carthage through many storms—including persecution, a pandemic, and schism.

The Letter to Donatus came before all of that. It is the earliest of Cyprian's treatises, written very shortly after his conversion. In it, Cyprian writes to his friend, Donatus, who is also a recent Christian initiate. Cyprian describes elements of his own conversion, including details about the misery to which his sins had reduced him.

Cyprian writes with eloquence and power, and he concludes his letter with a rousing exhortation to Christian life. The Letter to Donatus remains as compelling today as it was in 246 A.D.

Notes

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/46612/st-cyprian-treatises 

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1733 

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 18 - The Short, Happy Life of Cyprian of Carthage: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-18-short-happy-life-cyprian-carthage/# 

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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.

"Deviant sexual assault has accomplished what liturgical abuse never could: it has generated secular media pressure and secular legal constraints so overwhelming that the apparat was forced to make its files public." Fr. Paul Mankowski was a Jesuit of the Midwest province and a former contributor to CatholicCulture.org. For years, he spearheaded CatholicCulture.org’s old "Off the Record" column, writing under the pseudonym of Diogenes. A brilliant priest who worked tirelessly for Catholic renewal, Fr. Mankowski was unfortunately stymied by his superiors.

"What Went Wrong?", a 2003 address to the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, first appeared in written form on CatholicCulture.org; in it, Fr. Mankowski traces an excellent analysis of how the Catholic clerical sexual abuse crisis came about.

Notes

Full text at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=5915 

Phil Lawler Tribute to Fr. Mankowski: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/farewell-uncle-di-father-paul-mankowski-rip/ 

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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.

Catholic Culture Audiobooks presents a 6-part series of St. Athanasius’ famous biography of St. Anthony. Listen to the entirety of Athanasius’ Life of St. Anthony without interruption.

You may already be familiar, from its countless iterations across art and literature, with “The Temptation of St. Anthony”... but The Life of St. Anthony—of which the temptations are only part—is 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 The Life of St. Anthony in its entirety. If you enjoy this reading and would like hear more, register with us at http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio!

Notes

Way of the Fathers episode on St. Anthony: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/anthony-desert-solitary-celebrity/

Catholic Culture Podcast episode on the Temptation of St. Anthony in art history https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/90-temptation-st-anthony-elizabeth-lev/

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

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.

“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. 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.

“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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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.

“All the aspirations which the prayer of other religions expresses are fulfilled in the reality of Christianity beyond all measure.”

This ecclesial document was written in 1989 by the then-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI.

Ratzinger was responding to a surge of popular interest in forms of Eastern spirituality—including such methods as Zen, yoga, and so-called transcendental meditation—which had led to an uncritical adoption by some Christians of methods of prayer incompatible with Christian worship.

The fascination with Eastern methods continues today, and Christians must still carefully distinguish that which is authentically Christian from that which is not.

Ratzinger’s is a masterful and accessible treatment on certain fundamentals of Christian prayer. Though he addresses the letter to bishops, one need not be a theologian to be spiritually edified — or have one's prayer enriched — by what he writes.

Links

Aspects of Christian Meditation Full text: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.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 accordance with the view of the apostle Paul, let us give attention to the text - that we can, as he himself says, receive ‘the mind of Christ’ and know ‘the things that are given us by God.’”

After St. Paul, Origen of Alexandria may well have been the most titanic intellectual figure of the first three centuries of Christianity.In the breadth of his writings and in the depth of his influence, Origen is equaled by few among the Church Fathers. He brought the Catechetical School of Alexandria to its height after succeeding Clement as its head. He was the first to make Scriptural exegesis into a science. His works were copied by Sts. Jerome and Ambrose among many others, and he influenced great medieval mystics like St. Bernard and Meister Eckhart. He dared to go where no Christian thinker had gone before — and though he fell into some theological errors, he nevertheless submitted all his thought to the judgment of the Universal Church and attained something very close to a martyr’s death.

Origen’s homilies are simple, conversational and spiritually edifying. One is struck by his conviction that every word, every grammatical construction of Scripture has a purpose, and by his care not to let any meaning God intended go to waste. His interpretations give the lie to contemporary mischaracterizations of how early Christians understood the bible, especially with regard to the creation texts.

Notes

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/46619/origen-homilies-on-genesis-and-exodus

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 19—Origen: The Most Controversial Christian Ever? https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/life-origen-most-controversial-christian-ever/

Way of the Fathers, Ep. 20—Origen, Part 2: Hero, Heretic—or Hybrid? https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/origen-part-2-hero-heretic-or-hybrid/

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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.

July 24, 2020 is being observed by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America as a day of mourning for Hagia Sophia, in response to the decision by Turkey’s President to convert the historic cathedral in Istanbul from a museum to a mosque. 

In a message to the Greek Orthodox faithful, Archbishop Elpidiphoros wrote, “knowing that on Friday, July 24th, there will be an ‘inauguration’ of this program of cultural and spiritual misappropriation and a violation of all standards of religious harmony and mutual respect, we call upon all the beloved faithful of our Holy Archdiocese to observe this day as a day of mourning and of manifest grief. We urge you to invite your fellow Orthodox Christians and indeed all Christians and people of goodwill to share in the following observances.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops shared this invitation, indicating that the Hagia Sophia — after serving for over eighty years as a museum — had become a place of encounter and dialogue between people of all faiths and cultures. 

The Greek Orthodox have asked that every church toll its bells, every flag be raised to half-mast, and that the Akathist Hymn is chanted in the evening — to which the USCCB has added that for Catholics unfamiliar with the Akathist Hymn, the recitation of the rosary is recommended. Both prayers entreat the Mother of God for her intercession.

It is for this reason that we are re-releasing our reading of the Akathist Hymn, which appeared on this podcast back in March for the feast of the Annunciation. As access beyond the most recent 15 episodes of this podcast is restricted to our registered users, this particular episode is a perfect example of the kind of content only available to those who register for free at catholiculture.org/getaudio.

We want everyone, however, to have access to this resource on this day. So for those who have yet to register, please consider doing so. And for those who have already registered and listened to this episode, we hope this re-release will serve as a prompting to join together with us as we unite alongside our fellow Christians in this day of mourning, praying the words of this powerful and ancient prayer to the Mother of God. Notes

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

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

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.

“Whoever, then, appears in his own opinion to have comprehended the Sacred Scriptures, or even some part of them, yet does not build up with that knowledge the two-fold love of God and his neighbor, has not yet known as he ought to know.”

“Everything which is not exhausted by being given away is not yet owned as it ought to be.”

This episode marks the beginning of an exciting new work on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: De Doctrina Christiana, or On Christian Doctrine, by St. Augustine of Hippo.

Though De Doctrina is a shorter work than Confessions or The City of God, it’s ranked right alongside them in significance — the three books together comprising St. Augustine’s contribution to the “Great Books of the Western World” list.

In this episode, we hear Book One in its entirety. Augustine provides, by way of introduction to the study of interpretation, an influential synthesis of Christian teaching based on the idea that only God should be enjoyed, as the source of true happiness, whereas all other things are meant to be used toward our true end. 

Over the course of the next few months, we’ll be releasing the other three books in two parts each — for a total of seven episodes, each about an hour or so in length. It’s the longest work we’ve tackled yet on this podcast, but we hope you’ll join us on the journey as we make our way through this great work of our Christian inheritance and Catholic culture.

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.

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.

"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.

“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

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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.

“Because of something uncertain, there should not be a definite abandonment of duty — for, in that event, there is certain ruin for the people, not only in things pertaining to this life, but also in those of that other life which must be cared for with incomparably greater attention and anxiety.” In his Letter to Honoratus, Augustine writes in response to a question put to him by a fellow bishop: is it permissible for bishops and their clergy to flee oncoming persecution?

Augustine exhorts bishops to place their trust in God, emphasizing the power of God to protect, and the primacy of prayer. He underlines that concern for eternal life takes precedence over the preservation of temporal life, and he insists that bishops and their clergy are beholden to serve the laity in their charge. If the laity remain, the clergy are obliged to do similarly.

After all, Augustine points out, it is during the times of most danger that the sacraments are most needed — and in most demand. Links

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3143

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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 man who thinks that he is quiet and peaceful has within him a passion that he does not see."

St. Dorotheus was a 6th century Palestinian abbot who founded a monastery near Gaza. Excerpts of his instruction on self-accusation are found in the Office of Readings. Excerpts from Doct. 13, De accusatione sui ipsius, 1-3: PG 88, 1699

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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.

“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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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.

"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

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.

“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.

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“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.

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.

"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.

“None rejoice in Easter-tide less than those who have not grieved in Lent.”

In this sermon originally preached on Easter Day, Newman likens Christian joy at Easter to that of sick people in convalescence. He speaks also of the unassuming yet undeniable power of the Church’s precepts and ordinances.

Keeping Fast and Festival full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume4/sermon23.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.

"... 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.

“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.

“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.

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"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.

"Sustain the struggle for your soul, especially in these days!”

We’re introducing a new figure today: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a fourth-century bishop whose feast is March 18.

We’ve only a few extant works from St. Cyril: a letter, a homily, some fragments, and a series of 24 lectures known as the Lenten or Catechetical Lectures.

These were pre-baptismal catechetical lectures given by Cyril to catechumens in the Lent of probably 349 A.D. Of these lectures, the most well known are perhaps the final five, also known as the Mystagogical Lectures. In these, Cyril deals with each of the three sacraments the then-neophytes would have received: baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist.

This first Catechetical Lecture serves as a good introduction to the others, as well as a welcome return to the basics. “Lay aside things of the present,” Cyril says, “and put your faith in things to come.”

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=2409

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.

“For when did the knowledge of God so shine forth? When did chastity and the virtue of virginity so manifest itself, or when was death so despised, as since the Cross of Christ appeared?”

We’re quickly approaching the conclusion to this great spiritual classic by St. Athanasius! In this episode, we’ll hear Athanasius recount a litany of wonders God worked through St. Anthony’s prayer: more healings, visions, and casting out of evil spirits, as well as descriptions of St. Anthony’s theological tussles with Arian heretics and Greek philosophers.

If you’ve not yet listened to our previous installments in this series, today’s episode stands on its own; but after listening, you may find you’ll want to go back and hear this extraordinary life from the beginning.

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.

"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.

“Do you hate your brother and walk about free from care? Are you unwilling to be reconciled, although God is giving you an opportunity for that purpose? Behold, you are a murderer and yet you live.”

These two Lenten sermons (Sermons 205 and 211, respectively) were originally given by Augustine at the beginning of Lent.In the first sermon, Augustine warns against using fasting or abstaining from one kind of pleasure as a pretense to seek out other luxuries, and he warns against nailing others to our own cross, so to speak, by being ill-tempered while fasting. He ends the first sermon emphasizing forgiveness.

With the second sermon, Augustine takes up the subject of forgiveness and preaches on it more comprehensively. He tackles the subject from every angle: are we unwilling to forgive our neighbor? Is our neighbor unwilling to forgive us? Are either we or our neighbor unwilling to ask to be forgiven?

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120454/saint-augustine-sermons-on-the-liturgical-seasons

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.

St. Robert Southwell was an English Jesuit martyr who served as a clandestine missionary in post-Reformation England. There he ministered in secret for six years before he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. After three years of imprisonment and torture, he was convicted of high treason and executed by being hanged, drawn, and quartered.

During his time in England, Southwell witnessed the executions of many other Catholics, including those of people he knew personally. It’s in this light, and in light of his own eventual martyrdom, that his poetry carries with it a special gravity.  At once horrified and inspired by the martyrdoms he witnessed, Southwell wrote this paradox into his poetry, as reflected in these three poems.

"The Burning Babe", "A Child My Choice", and "I Die Alive" by St. Robert Southwell, as found in Lyra Martyrum: The Poetry of the English Martyrs https://www.clunymedia.com/product/lyra-martyrum/

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 will prove to you, here and now, that we do not believe in groundless myths nor in teachings not based on reason, but in doctrines that are inspired by the Divine Spirit, abundant with power, and teeming with grace.”

St. Justin Martyr, born sometime between the years 100 and 110 AD, is considered by many to be the most important of the Greek apologists. His Dialogue with Trypho is the oldest extant Christian apology against Judaism -- though Justin is perhaps better known for his Apologies directed toward Roman Emperors and Senators.

Many of the details we know about his life are drawn from these beginning chapters to Dialogue with Trypho, wherein Justin Martyr recounts the circumstances of his conversion. 

Justin describes how, as a young man, he flitted from one school of philosophy to another, finally landing among the Platonists... until one day, a strange encounter with a mysterious old man revealed to him Platonism’s insufficiency.

Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/46607/the-first-apology-the-second-apology-dialogue-with-trypho-exhortation-to-the-greeks-discourse-to-the-greeks-the-monarchy-of-the-rule-of-god

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1612

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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.

“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.

“Dearest brethren, how great the delight, how great the pleasure, how great the sweetness that is in the heavenly words of wisdom!”

Known as the “Angelic Doctor”, St. Thomas Aquinas is arguably the most influential theologian and philosopher that the Church has ever seen. His sermons exhibit everything one would expect from Aquinas: references throughout to Aristotle, careful enumeration and categorization, and nearly every point substantiated with a direct scriptural quotation. In this sermon, Aquinas demonstrates just how much can be unpacked from five simple words: "Heaven and earth will pass."

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

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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.

“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.

“... 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.

“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.

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.

"This faith, if only you desire it, you can have."

This letter, written by an anonymous author and addressed to a pagan named Diognetus, is not only a sublime example of Christian apologetics but also one of the most beautiful and exquisite works within all of early Christian literature.

The translator describes its author as "an unnamed master of Greek style, a fervent Christian filled with Pauline convictions, a humanist who has achieved a remarkable harmony of supernatural faith and charity, with a highly cultivated intelligence, literary taste, conscience, and social sense. The calm and clarity of his thought reveal a master of logic, the deep convictions of a serious thinker, the eloquence of a trained rhetorician, the breadth of mind and warmth of heart, the poise of an educated gentleman.”

Mike Aquilina on the Letter to Diognetus: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-8-letter-to-diognetus-intro-to-apologists/

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=1620

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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.

"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

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 was fitting, for His honor and glory, that she, who was the instrument of His bodily presence, should first be a miracle of His grace.”

The work from which this reading is taken was published in 1849. The Immaculate Conception was defined solemnly as dogma in 1854. Here Newman evidences the excitement, anticipation, and awe at Mary's Immaculate Conception that was already universally held among the faithful. 

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/discourses/discourse17.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.

"The season is chill and dark, and the breath of the morning is damp, and worshipers are few, but all this befits those who are by profession penitents and mourners, watchers and pilgrims."

A sermon given by Newman while he was still an Anglican priest. Newman identifies Advent as an opportunity to reflect on and prepare for the particular judgment to occur at the end of each person's life.

Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume5/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.

"Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." 

The letters of St. Ignatius give witness to many of the early Church’s beliefs and practices. In this letter to the Church in Smyrna, Ignatius attests to Jesus’ true humanity and true divinity, His real presence in the Eucharist, and the universal hierarchy of bishop, priest, and deacon. The letter is also notable for containing the first recorded use of the term Catholic 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=1633

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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.

"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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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, if some shall disobey the words which have been spoken by Him through us, let them know that they will involve themselves in no small transgression and danger."

This letter is the only extant work by St. Clement of Rome, a 1st-century successor of St. Peter said to have been consecrated by Peter himself. 

According to Johannes Quasten, Clement’s Letter to the Corinthians is “the earliest piece of literature outside the New Testament for which the name, position, and date of the author are historically attested.” It illuminates the origins of several Christian doctrines, including those of apostolic succession, Petrine primacy, and the papal office.

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=1608

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.

"The uproar in the stadium was such that nobody could be heard at all."

An authentic, firsthand account of St. Polycarp’s martyrdom on February 22, 156.

Among other things, the account attests to the veneration of saintly relics by early Christians. The letter puts forth a clear defense of the veneration of saints as distinct from the worship rendered solely to God.

The account is as moving now as it was when the Christians at Smyrna first wrote it.

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=1627

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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

The Letter to the Romans is perhaps the most well-known of St. Ignatius' letters, and the most striking. In it, St. Ignatius implores the Church at Rome not to intervene in his impending execution.

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.

“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.

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.

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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.