Five Books for Catholics

The books recommended and discussed in this episode are: Theological and Dogmatic Works Enchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan Ambrose of Milan: Deeds and Thought of A Bishop Ambrose The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Read the interview at

The books discussed in this episode are: The Principles of Psychology On The Trinity (De Trinitate), Book 11 Summa theologiae, Secunda Pars (I-II, qq. 1-70) (I-II, qq. 71-114 ) (

The books recommended in this episode are: Intention Ethics, Religion and Politics: Collected Philosophical Papers, Volume III Faith in a Hard Ground: Essays on Religion, Philosophy and Ethics by G.E.M. Anscombe The Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe The Women Are up to Something Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from...

The books and resources recommended in this episode are: Listening to Bach: The Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio Bach Texts and Historically-Informed Translations for the Music of Johann Sebastian Bach Bloomington Bach Cantata Project Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/bach-sacred-music/ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠ ⁠Sign up ⁠to receive updates on the latest interview. ⁠Become a premium subscriber⁠ to listen to the full interview and have access to complete archive on the website. If you have enjoyed this episode, please give the podcast a top rating. You can also support this podcast by making a one-off tip or donations. Just click here.

The books recommended in this episode are: Maximus the Confessor The Cappadocians Seventh-Century Popes and Martyrs: The Political Hagiography of Anastasius Bibliothecarius Maximus the Confessor: Jesus Christ and the Transfiguration of the World Crisis of Empire: Doctrine and Dissent at the End of Late Antiquity Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifyng purchases made using the affliate links in this post. Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/st-maximus-the-confessor/ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠ ⁠Sign up ⁠to receive updates on the latest interview. ⁠Become a premium subscriber⁠ to listen to the full interview and have access to complete archive on the website. If you have enjoyed this episode, please give the podcast a top rating. You can also support this podcast by making a one-off tip or donations. Just click

The books recommended in this episode are: A Modest Proposal Gulliver's Travels The Battle of the Books A Tale of a Tub The Drapier's Letters ...and for some additional recommendations...

The books recommended in this episode are: Gregory of Nazianzus On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius Festal Orations On God and Man: The Theological Poetry of St Gregory of Nazianzus

The books discussed in this episode are: Annum sacrum (print edition) Quas Primas(print edition) Miserentissimus Redemptor Haurietis aquas (print edition) Dives in misericordia (print edition) Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books

In this episode, Dr. Shaun Blanchard discusses the Jansenist controversy, its impact, and some of the best books on the subject: The Provincial Letters Adoration and Annihilation: The Convent Philosophy of Port-Royal The Wanton Jesuit and the Wayward Saint: A Tale of Sex, Religion, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century France The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791 Jansenism: An International Anthology Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. In 1640, a theological treatise entitled Augustinus was published posthumously. Its subtitle was St. Augustine’s Teaching against the Pelagians and the Massalians on The Health, Sickness, and Medicine of Human Nature. Its author was Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), who had been a professor at the University of Leuven and Bishop of Ypres, Flanders. In it, Jansen opposed certain Jesuit theologians, such as Luis de Molina, for their conception of grace and divine predestination. He defended instead what he took to be St. Augustine’s doctrine on these matters. Before long, proponents of this school of Augustinianism were branded Jansenists by their opponents. Moreover, very soon they were widespread in France, thanks largely to one of Jansen’s like-minded friends from his student days, Jean du Vergier de Hauranne (1581-1643), better known as the Abbé de...

The books recommended in this episode are: On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius The Wellspring of Worship Three Treatises on the Divine Images Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today The Trinity: An Introduction to Catholic Doctrine on the Triune God Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. To commemorate Trinity Sunday this year, it made sense to go through the archive, pick out the books about the Trinity that have been recommeded, and repropose them. Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/trinity-sunday/ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠ ⁠Sign up ⁠to receive updates on the latest interview. ⁠Become a premium subscriber⁠ to listen to the full interview and have access to complete archive on the website. If you have enjoyed this episode, please give the podcast a top rating. You can also support this podcast by making a one-off tip or donations. Just click here.

The books recommended in this episode are: I Believe in the Holy Spirit The Sanctifier Summa theologiae (IaIIae, qq. 68-70) Catecheses on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit In the School of the Holy Spirit Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/gifts-of-the-holy-spirit/ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠

The books recommended in this episode are: A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity Jesus and the Last Supper Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus God with Us: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew ...and some extra recommendations...Sin: A History Wages of Cross-Bearing and Debt of Sin

The books recommended in this episode are: Our Lady of Fatima The Secret of the Rosary True Devotion to Mary The Glories of Mary Calls from the Message of Fatima Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/devotion-to-mary/ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠ ⁠Sign up ⁠to receive updates on the latest interview. ⁠Become a premium subscriber⁠ to listen to the full interview and have access to complete archive on the website. If you have enjoyed this episode, please give the podcast a top rating. You can also support this podcast by making a one-off tip or donations. Just click here.

The recommended books for this episode are: The Servile StateAn Essay on the Restoration of PropertyAn Outline of SanityA Humane EconomyThe Economics of the Free Society Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Distributism is an economic theory that advocates for the widespread ownership of the world’s productive assets, rather than their concentration in the hands of a few. It was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, based on Catholic social teaching principles, especially Pope Leo XIII’s teachings in his encyclical Rerum novarum (1891) and Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo anno (1931). The theory asserts that the means of production should be owned by as many people as possible, rather than being controlled by a small number of wealthy individuals or corporations. The idea is to create a more equitable society where wealth is distributed more evenly, and people have greater control over their own lives. In this interview, Alexander W. Salter discusses distributism and and his pick of books on the subject. Alexander W. Salter is the Georgie G. Snyder Associate Professor of Economics in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, the Comparative Economics Research Fellow at TTU's Free Market Institute, and an associate editor of the Journal of Private Enterprise. Additionally, he is a Sound Money Project senior fellow and a Young Voices senior contributor. He is the author of, The Political Economy of Distributism: Property, Liberty, and the Common Good (Catholic University of America Press, 2023), The Spirit of '76: Libertarianism and American Renewal (American Institute for Economic Research, 2023). He is co-author of Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions​ (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and The Medieval Constitution of Liberty: Political Foundations of Liberalism in the West (University of Michigan Press, 2023). Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/distributism/ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠ ⁠Sign up ⁠to receive updates on the latest interview. ⁠Become a premium subscriber⁠ to listen...

The books recommended in this episode are: Corpus Mysticum: The Eucharist and the Church in the Middle Ages Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ: At the Source of the Ecclesiology of Communion Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries Sacrament of Salvation: An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology Ecclesiology consists in articulating what the Word of God tells us about the Church. It has been the central theme of the last two general councils, Vatican I and Vatican II. During the twentieth century, several leading Catholic and Orthodox theologians wondered whether over time the faithful had acquired a conception of the Church that was more juridical than Eucharistic. In accordance with Sacred Scripture and the apostolic tradition, the early Church was keenly aware that the Church is constituted above all in the celebration of the Eucharist. As St. Paul teaches, the Church becomes the body of Christ by offering and receiving his body in the Eucharist. “The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). The twentieth-century retrieval of these teachings became known as eucharistic ecclesiology and is sometimes summed up by saying that “the Eucharist builds the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist.” (John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia 26). However, it has also been criticised for offering a partial view of the Church. Nevertheless, understanding the place of the Eucharist in the Church is indispensable for leading the Christian life in full. In this interview, Dr. Richard G. DeClue, Jr., will explain eucharistic ecclesiology and five recommended books on the subject. Richard G. DeClue, Jr., S.Th.D. is the Professor of Theology at the Word on...

The books recommended in this episode are: On Matters Southern: Essays About Literature and Culture, 1964-2000 Possum, and Other Receipts for the Recovery of "Southern" Being Liberal Arts and Community: The Feeding of the Larger Body Romantic Confusions of the Good: Beauty as Truth, Truth as Beauty With Walker Percy at the Tupperware Party: in Company with Flannery O'Connor, T.S. Eliot, and Others Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Marion Montgomery (1925-2011) was a novelist and poet but is remembered for his literary and cultural criticism. An Anglo-Catholic, he shared the same background and outlook as his Catholic friend, peer, and fellow Georgian, the writer Flannery O’Connor, so much so, that he too described himself as a “hillbilly Thomist.” His cultural criticism draws on Thomism and Southern Agrarianism and stresses the importance of metaphysical realism, localism, and tradition. His literary criticism includes perceptive studies on writers such as Poe, Hawthorne, T.S. Eliot, Flannery O’Connor, and Walker Percy. In this interview, Prof. Michael M. Jordan discusses Montgomery’s work and some of his best books. Michael M. Jordan is Professor Emeritus of English at Hillsdale College and earned his PhD in English under the direction of Marion Montgomery at the University of Georgia. He lectured on the work of various Southern authors: the Southern Agrarians, Donald Davidson, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O’Connor, M. E. Bradford, Richard Weaver, and Walker Percy. He also has written essays and reviews for various journals of scholarship and opinion, including Chronicles, Touchstone, The Southern Partisan, Modern Age, The Intercollegiate Review, The South Carolina Review, The Southern Humanities Review, The Chattahoochee Review, and The University Bookman. In 2005, he selected and edited a collection of Montgomery’s essays: On Matters Southern: Essays About Literature and Culture, 1964-2000. Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/marion-montgomery/⁠ For more interviews like this, visit ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com⁠ ⁠Sign up ⁠to receive updates on the latest interview. ⁠Become a premium subscriber⁠ to listen to the full...

The books recommended in this episode are: The Complete Stories KindleMystery and Manners: Occasional Prose KindleThe Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor KindleA Prayer JournalKindleUnderstanding the Hillbilly Thomist: The Philosophical Foundations of Flannery O'Connor's Narrative ArtKindle Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Mary Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) was a novelist and writer of short stories whose Southern Gothic fiction is informed by a deep Catholic faith. Born and raised in Georgia, after graduating from college, she earned a master’s degree at the University of Iowa’s prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop, after which she embarked upon a career as a writer. In 1941, her father had died from lupus, and in 1952 she was diagnosed with the same disease. Undeterred by her illness, she attended Mass every day, supported local Catholic newspapers with numerous book reviews, and wrote most of her fiction. She is remembered for her short stories, which won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1972. In this interview, Fr. Damian Ference will discuss O’Connor’s work. Fr. Damian Ference is a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland where he serves as Vicar for Evangelization, Secretary for Parish Life and Special Ministries, and as Professor of Philosophy at Borromeo Seminary. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from The Catholic University of America and a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He writes regularly on the intersection of faith and culture for a variety of outlets and is the author of the award-winning book, The Strangeness of Truth (Pauline Books & Media, 2019) and

Lent is just a preparation and spiritual warm-up for Easter. Now that it is Easter, it is time to get down to exercising the Christian life in full. It makes sense, therefore, to keep setting aside some time for reading about the mysteries we celebrate and how we can live them out. Here then are some books and music that might be helpful. For further suggestions, check out last year’s recommendations. Commentary on Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist: Homilies 48-88The Resurrection: A Biblical StudyThe Old Evangelization: How to Spread the Faith Like Jesus DidUnderstanding Early Christian ArtThomas Tallis: The Complete English Anthems

Holy Week should be, insofar as possible, a time of recollection and prayer. To this end, reading one or other of the following books may be useful. It may help us enter more deeply into the mysteries we are celebrating and contemplating. Commentary on Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist: Homilies 48-88 What is Redemption? Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper The Crucifixion in Irish Art

The books reviewed in this episode are: Hearing Bach's Passions Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion: With an Annotated Literal Translation of the Libretto Bach in Berlin. Nation and Culture in Mendelssohn's Revival of the St. Matthew Passion Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion. Genesis, Transmission, and Meaning Rethinking Bach Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), one the greatest Western composers,...