Five Books for Catholics

Episode 126: Catholic Teaching on Judaism - Interview with Gavin D'Costa

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims by Gavin d’Costa
Catholic Doctrines on Jews after the Second Vatican Council by Gavin d’Costa
From Sinai to Rome: Jewish Identity in the Catholic Church by Angela Costley and Gavin d’Costa
Catholic - Jewish Engagements on Israel: Holy Land, Political Territory, or Theological Promise? by Gavin d’Costa, Étienne Vetö CCN, and Thomas Joseph White OP
Contemporary Catholic Approaches to the People, Land, and State of Israel by Gavin d’Costa and Faydra Shapiro
Israel: A Christian Grammar by Paul J. Griffiths
Jewish Church: A Catholic Approach to Messianic Judaism by Fr. Antoine Lévy OP

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Episode 124: Prudence

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature by Fr. Roland E. Murphy OCarm
De officiis (On the Duties of the Clergy) by St. Ambrose
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Summa theologiae II-II, qq. 47-56 by St. Thomas Aquinas
The Virtues by Peter Geach

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Episode 123: Predestination - Interview with Taylor Patrick O'Neill

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Predestination of the Saints and On the Gift of Final Perseverance by St. Augustine
Summa theologiae I, q. 23 by St. Thomas Aquinas
On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of Concordia by Luis de Molina SJ
Predestination by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
Grace, Predestination, and the Permission of Sin: A Thomistic Analysis by Taylor Patrick O’Neill ...and some further recommendations...
The Reality of God and the Problem of Evil by Brian Davies OP
Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us by Wilfrid Stinissen
Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

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Episode 122: Catholic Teaching on the Right to Migrate - Interview with Antônio Lemos

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

On the American Indians by Francisco de Vitoria OP
Deliberation on the Cause of the Poor by Domingo de Soto OP
Exsul Familia by Pius XII
Erga migrantes caritas Christi by Pontifical Council For The Pastoral Care Of Migrants And Itinerant People
Migrants and Refugees: Witnesses to Hope by Pope Francis, edited by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

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Episode 121: St. Anselm of Canterbury - Interview with Montague Brown

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Monologion by St. Anselm
Proslogion by St. Anselm
Cur Deus homo (Why Did God Become Man?) by St. Anselm
De veritate (On Truth) by St. Anselm
De concordia (The Compatibility of God's Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Grace with Human Freedom) by St. Anselm

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Episode 120: The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books and resources discussed in this episode are:

Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration by Benedict XVI
Light on the Mountain: Greek Patristic and Byzantine Homilies on the Transfiguration of the Lord by Brian E. Daley SJ
The Uncreated Light: An Iconographiocal Study of the Transfiguration In the Eastern Church by Solrunn Nes
Light and Glory: The Transfiguration of Christ in Early Franciscan and Dominican Theology by Aaron Canty
Thomas Tallis, Sacred Choral Works: Spem in alium The Sixteen, directed by Harry Christophers

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Episode 119: Early Christianity and Urban Evangelisation - Interview with Mike Aquilina

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages edited by Helen C. Evans
Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome by Rodney Stark
The First Urban Christians by Wayne Meeks
The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert L. Wilken
Who Were the First Christians: Dismantling the Urban Thesis by Thomas A. Robinson

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Episode 118: St. Bonaventure - Interview with Randall Smith

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Journey of the Soul into God (Itinerarium mentis in Deum) by St. Bonaventure
Mystical Opuscula by St. Bonaventure, translated by Jose de Vinck
Simply Bonaventure: An Introduction to His Life, Thought, and Writings by Ilia Delio OSF
Crucified Love: Bonaventure's Mysticism of the Crucified Christ by Ilia Delio OSF
The Philosophy of Saint Bonaventure by Étienne Gilson

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Episode 117: The Short Stories of Enid Dinnis - Interview with Julia Meszaros

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The book discussed in this episode is The Complete Short Stories: Volume 1 by Enid Dinnis.

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Episode 116: The Council of Trent - Interview with Nelson H. Minnich

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

History of the Council of Trent (vol. 1) (vol. 2) (German Edition) by Hubert Jedin
Trent: What Happened at the Council by John W. O’Malley SJ
The Cambridge Companion to the Council of Trent edited by Nelson H. Minnich
Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils: Volume II edited by Norman Tanner SJ…and for readers of Italian or French...
Le Concile de Trente by Alain Tallon
Il Concilio di Trento (1545-1563) by Franco Buzzi
Il Concilio di Trento: una introduzione storica by Adriano Prosperi

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Episode 115: Christian Maturity - Interview with Fr. John Gavin SJ

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

On the Apostolic Preaching by St. Irenaeus of Lyon
The Mystery Hidden for Ages in God by Fr. Paul Quay SJ
Instructing Beginners in Faith by St. Augustine
On Perfection by St. Gregory of Nyssa
The Ascetic Life by St. Maximus the Confessor

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Episode 114: Sacrifice of the Mass - Interview with Fr. Reginald Lynch OP

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Mass: The Presence of the Sacrifice of the Cross by Charles Journet
Cajetan Responds: A Reader in Reformation Controversy by Jared Wicks SJ
Aquinas on Transubstantiation: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist by Reinhard Hütter
Francisco de Vitoria: Political Writings translated and edited by Anthony Padgen
Aquinas's Summa Theologiae and Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Early Modern Period by Reginald Lynch OP
Meeting Christ in the Sacraments by Colman E. O'Neill OP

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Episode 113: Trinity Sunday 2025

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The works discussed in this episode are:

On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil the Great
Vindicating the Filioque: The Church Fathers at the Council of Florence by Fr. Thomas Crean OP
Ascetic Pneumatology from John Cassian to Gregory the Great by Thomas L. Humphries Jr.
On The Trinity (De Trinitate), Book 11 by St. Augustine
The Masses by Anton Bruckner, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, directed by Eugen Jochum

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Episode 112 - The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Part Two - Interview with Alan Schreck

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are

Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion by Mons. Ronald Knox
An Invitation to the Spirit Filled Life: The Promise, the Power, Gifts, the Fruit by Charles Whitehead
A Key to Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church by Vincent Walsh
Riding the Wind: Learning the Ways of the Spirit and Still Riding the Wind: Learning the Ways of the Spirit by Fr. George T. Montague S.M.
In the School of the Holy Spirit by Fr. Jacques Philippe

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Episode 111: St. Basil the Great - Interview with Stephen Hildebrand

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil
Homilies on the Six Days of Creation [Hexameron] by St. Basil
On Christian Ethics by St. Basil
The Long Rules by St. Basil
Letters (vol. 1) (vol. 2) by St. Basil

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Episode 110: Muriel Spark - Interview with Chrisopher J. Scalia

Mon, 26 May 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark'
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
All the Stories of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark: The Biography by Martin Stannard

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Episode 109: Metaphysics - Interview with Michael Gorman

Mon, 19 May 2025 00:01:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics by Michael Gorman
The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics by Norris W. Clarke
Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction by Edward Feser
Aquinas on Being and Essence: A Translation and Interpretation (De ente et essentia) by Joseph Bobik
Metaphysics by Aristotle, translated with introduction and notes by C.D.C. Reeve

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Episode 108: A Tale of Two Leos: Leo XIV and Leo XIII

Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Great Encyclicals: Volume One, The Social Letters by Leo XIII, compiled and with an introduction by Leo L. Clarke
The Great Encyclicals: Volume Two, The Spiritual Letters by Leo XIII, compiled and with an introduction by Leo L. Clarke
The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII edited by Étienne Gilson
Catholic Social Teaching: A Volume of Scholarly Essays edited by Gerard V. Bradley and E. Christian Brugger
On the Dignity of Society: Catholic Social Teaching and Natural Law by F. Russell Hittinger, edited by Scott Roninger

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Episode 107: Alexander Schmemann - Interview with Andrew TJ Kaetheler

Mon, 05 May 2025 06:30:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann, 1973-1983 by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
The Eschatological Person: Alexander Schmemann and Joseph Ratzinger in Dialogue by Andrew T.J. Kaethler

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Episode 106: Pope Francis

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 19:49:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Dilexit Nos: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ by Pope Francis
Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis
Misericordiae vultus and Misericordia et misera by Pope Francis
Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis
The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey by Massimo Borghesi

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Episode 105: Fifth Week of Lent 2025 - Duccio di Buoninsegna's Paintings of the Passion

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The book recommended in this episode is:

Duccio di Buoninsegna by Cecilia Jannella

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Episode 104: Fourth Week of Lent - Lenten Music by Palestrina

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

This week's recommendation is Palestrina 6 performed by the The Sixteen.

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Episode 103: Third Week of Lent 2025 - Alexander Schmemann's Great Lent

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The book discussed in this episode is Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Alexander Schmemann.

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Episode 102: Second Week of Lent 2025 - T.S. Eliot's Ash-Wednesday

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The book discussed in this episode is: Ash-Wednesday by T.S. Eliot.

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Episode 101: First Week of Lent 2025 - St. Bernard's Sermons for Lent

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The book discussed in this episode is: Sermons for Lent and the Easter Season by St. Bernard of Clairvaux

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Episode 100: St. John Cassian - Interview with Thomas Humphries

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

The Institutes by St. John Cassian
The Conferences by St. John Cassian
On the Incarnation of Christ: Against the Heretic Nestorius by St. John Cassian
Cassian the Monk by Columba Stewart
John Cassian by Owen Chadwick

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Episode 99: Learning Latin - Interview with Charles G. Kim

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Biblia Sacra Vulgata
De imitatione Christi (The Imitation of Christ) by Thomas À Kempis
Collationes in orationem dominicam (Sermon-Conferences on the Our Father) by St. Thomas Aquinas
Sermones de tempore (Sermons for the Liturgical Year) by St. Augustine
Epitome Historiae Sacrae by Fr. Charles François Lhommond...and for a Latin textook....
Ecclesiastical Latin: A Primer on the Language of the Church by Charles Kim

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Episode 98: Creation and Evolution - Interview with Matthew Ramage

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Faith, Science, and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge by Christopher T. Baglow
Thomistic Evolution: A Catholic Approach to Understanding Evolution in the Light of Faith by Nicanor Pier Giorgio OP et al.
Creation through Evolution: New Perspectives from Thomistic Philosophy and Theology edited by Nicanor Pier Giorgio OP
Theistic Evolution: A Contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective by Mariusz Tabaczek OP
From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution by Matthew Ramage

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Episode 97: The Order of Love

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Song of Songs, Commentary and Homilies by Origen of Alexandria
On Christian Teaching (De doctrina christiana) by St. Augustine
Questions on Love and Charity: Summa Theologiae, Secunda Secundae, Questions 23–46 by St. Thomas Aquinas, edited by Robert Miner
The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII by Leo XIII and The Church and the Reconstruction of the Modern World: The Social Encyclicals of Pius XI by Pius XI
Catechism of the Catholic Church by John Paul II

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Episode 96: Learning Ancient Greek - Interview with Michael Boler

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach by Michael Boler
A Reader's Greek New Testament: Third Edition by Richard J. Goodrich and Albert L. Lukaszewski
A Patristic Greek Reader by Rodney A. Whitacre
A Student Handbook of Greek and English Grammar by Robert Mondi and Peter L. Corrigan
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition by Walter Bauer and Frederick William Danker

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Episode 95: Theology of Religions - Interview with Fr. Sameer Advani LC

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Lumen gentium and Nostra aetate by Second Vatican Council
Dominus Iesus, Declaration on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Salvation Outside the Church: Tracing the History of the Catholic Response by Francis Sullivan SJ
Christianity and World Religions: Disputed Questions in the Theology of Religions by Gavin D'Costa
Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims by Gavin D'Costa
Ratzinger on Religious Pluralism by Sameer Advani LC

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Episode 94: Pelagianism - Interview with Andrew Chronister

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Answer to the Pelagians I by St. Augustine
The Pelagian Controversy: An Introduction to the Enemies of Grace and the Conspiracy of Lost Souls by Stuart Squires
Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine by Peter Brown
The Heart of Perfection: How the Saints Taught Me to Trade My Dream of Perfect for God's by Colleen Carroll Campbell
Augustine in the Pelagian Controversy: Defending Church Unity by Andrew Chronister

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Episode 93: Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP - Interview with Matthew Minerd

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Knowing the Love of God by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
Providence: God's Loving Care for Men and the Need for Confidence in Almighty God by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
On Divine Revelation: The Teaching of the Catholic Faith (vol. 1) (vol. 2) by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
Philosophizing in Faith: Essays on the Beginning and End of Wisdom by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP

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Episode 92: Chinese Catholicism - Interview with Joshua R. Brown

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven by Matteo Ricci SJ
Yang Tingyun, Confucian and Christian in Late Ming China: His Life and Thought by Nicholas Standaert
Ways of Confucius and of Christ: From Prime Minister of China to Benedictine Monk by Dom Pierre-Célestin Lu
Beyond East and West by John C.H. Wu
Material Objects in Confucian and Aristotelian Metaphysics: The Inevitability of Hylomorphism by James Dominic Rooney OP

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Episode 91: Sacramental Theology - Interview with Fr. Uwe Michael Lang

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Sacramental Mystery by Fr. Paul Haffner
Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy by Lawrence Feingold
General Principles of Sacramental Theology by Roger Nutt
Introduction to Sacramental Theology: Signs of Christ in the Flesh by Fr. José Granados
Rite and Man: Natural Sacredness and Christian Liturgy by Fr. Louis Bouyer

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Episode 90: Fourth Week of Advent, 2024 - T.S. Eliot's Ariel Poems

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 00:01:00 +0000

The recommended book in this episode is Ariel Poems by T.S. Eliot.

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Episode 89: Third Week of Advent (2024) - Saint-Saens's Christmas Oratorio

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:30:00 +0000

This week recommendation is a CD: the Christmas Oratorio of Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921).

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Episode 88: The Second Week of Advent, 2024

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 00:01:00 +0000

The book discussed in this episode is: The Nativity: Themes in Art by Jeremy Wood.

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Episode 87: First Week of Advent 2024 - St Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The book discussed in this episode is:

Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season by St. Bernard of Clairvaux

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Episode 86: Aurel Kolnai - Interview with Graham McAleer

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

On Disgust by Aurel Kolnai
The War Against the West by Aurel Kolnai
Privilege and Liberty and Other Essays in Political Philosophy by Aurel Kolnai
Ethics, Value, and Reality by Aurel Kolnai
The Utopian Mind and Other Papers: A Critical Study in Moral and Political Philosophy by Aurel Kolnai

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Episode 85: The Symphonies of Anton Bruckner

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The recordings recommended in this episode are:

Complete Symphonies Rundfunk-Symponieorchester Saarbrücken, conducted by Stanisław Skrowaczewski
Symphony No. 4 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gunther Wand
Symphony No. 7 Vienne Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karl Böhm
Symphony No. 8 Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Marek Janowski
Symphony No. 9 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini

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Episode 84: The Confessions of St. Augustine - Interview with Jared Ortiz

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 10:45:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Confessions translated with introduction and notes by Thomas Williams
The Conversion of Augustine by Romano Guardini
Augustine: Conversion to Confessions by Robin Lane Fox
A Reader's Companion to Augustine's Confessions edited by Kim Paffenroth and Robert Peter Kennedy
Augustine the Bishop by Frederick van der Meer ...and a bonus recommendation...
The Confessions of X by Suzanne M. Wolfe

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Episode 83: Dignitatis humanae and Religious Liberty - Interview with Michael Dunnigan

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Mirari vos, Quanta Cura (print edition), Immortale Dei, Libertas (print edition) by Gregory XVI, Pius IX, Leo XIII
Religious Liberty and Contraception by Fr. Brian Harrison
We Hold These Truths and More: Further Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition : The Thought of Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J. and Its Relevance Today by Donald J. D’Elia and Stephen M. Krason
Freedom, Truth, and Human Dignity: The Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom by David L. Schindler and Nicholas J. Healy Jr....and for readers of French...
La liberté religieuse et la tradition catholique. Un cas de développement doctrinal homogène dans le magistère authentique (6 vols.) by Fr. Basile Valuet
Gregoire XVI, Pie IX et Vatican II. Études sur la Liberté Religieuse dans la Doctrine Catholique by Bernard Lucien
La liberté religieuse : Déclaration Dignitatis humanae personae edited by Jérôme Hamer OP and Yves Congar OP ...and for readers of Italian...
La fatica della libertà: l'elaborazione della Dichiarazione Dignitatis humanae sulla libertà religiosa del Vaticano II by Silvia Scatena

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Episode 82: Purgatory and Prayer for the Deceased - Interview with Fr. Luke Wilgenbusch

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Purgation and Purgatory by St. Catherine of Genoa
Life Everlasting and the Immensity of the Soul by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
On Purgatory: The Members of the Church Suffering by St. Robert Bellarmine
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Saved in Hope (Spe salvi) by Benedict XVI...see also...
Manual of Indulgences by Apostolic Penitentiary

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Episode 81: The Sacred Music of Anton Bruckner

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The works discussed in this episode are Bruckner's:

Requiem, Psalms 114 and 112 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, directed by Łuckasz Borowicz
The Masses Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, directed by Eugen Jochum
Motets Tenebrae, directed by Nigel Short
Te Deum Chor des Bayrischen Rundunks, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Bernard Haitink
Psalm 150 Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, directed by Helmuth Rilling

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Episode 80: Apologetics and Protestant Objections - Interview with Trent Horn

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Catechism of the Catholic Church by John Paul II
The Case for Catholicism: Answers to Classic and Contemporary Protestant Objections by Trent Horn
The Apostolic Fathers
Teaching with Authority: How to Cut Through Doctrinal Confusion & Understand What the Church Really Says by Jimmy Akin
Pope Peter: Defending the Church's Most Distinctive Doctrine in a Time of Crisis by Joe Heschmeyer

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Episode 79: Gregorian Chant - Interview with Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
The Musical Shape of the Liturgy by William Peter Mahrt
Graduale Romanum
Medieval Music and the Art of Memory by Anna Maria Busse Berger
That All May Sing (vol. 1) (vol. 2) by Justine Ward

In addition, the recordings of Gregorian chant by Dom Joseph Gajard, Mary Berry, and the Benedictine monks of Norcia were recommended.

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Episode 78: The Council of Florence - Interview with Fr. Thomas Crean OP

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Council of Florence by Joseph Gill
Personalities of the Council of Florence by Joseph Gill
The Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy by. A. Edward Siecienski
The Orthodox Eastern Church by Adrian Fortescue
Rome and the Eastern Churches: A Study in Schism by Aidan Nichols OP
Christian Unity. The Council of Ferrara-Florence 1438/39 – 1989 edited by Giuseppe Alberigo
The Councils of the Church: A Short History by Norman Tanner

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Episode 77: Angels

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 06:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Celestial Hierarchy by Pseudo-Dionysius
The Angels and their Mission: According to the Fathers of the Church by Jean Daniélou SJ
Angels and Demons: A Catholic Introduction by Serge-Thomas Bonino OP
World Invisible: The Catholic Doctrine of the Angels by Fr. John Saward
Angels and Demons in Art by Rosa Giorgi

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Episode 76: St. John of Cross - Interview with Edward Howells

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The poem "One dark night" (En una noche oscura) by St. John of the Cross
The Ascent of Mount Carmel (Prologue, Diagram, and Picture) by St. John of the Cross
The Spiritual Canticle by St. John of the Cross
The Living Flame of Love by St. John of the Cross
The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
The Impact of God: Soundings from St. John of the Cross by Iain Matthew
St. John of the Cross: His Life and Poetry by Gerald Brenan

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Episode 75: Fatherhood - Interview with David Delaney

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyła
Taking Sex Differences Seriously by Steven E. Rhoads
The Great Mystery: Formation for Flourishing Marriages by David H. Delaney
Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Brant Pitre
Supernatural Fatherhood Through Priestly Celibacy: Fulfillment in Masculinity, A Thomistic Study by Carter Griffin

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Episode 74: John Duns Scotus - Interview with Thomas M. Ward

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Ordinatio (online translation) by John Duns Scotus, translated by Peter Simpson
Treatise on the First Principle by John Duns Scotus, edited and translated by Thomas M. Ward
John Duns Scotus: Selected Writings on Ethics translated and edited by Thomas Williams
Duns Scotus by Richard Cross
Understanding John Duns Scotus by Mary Beth Ingham CSJ
Ordered by Love: An Introduction to John Duns Scotus by Thomas M. Ward

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Episode 73: Lying - Interview with Christopher Tollefsen

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

On Lying & To Consentius, Against Lying by St. Augustine
Summa theologiae II-II, qq. 57-120 (esp. 108-110) by St. Thomas Aquinas
Catholic Teaching About The Morality Of Falsehood by Rev. Julius A. Dorszynski
Moral Absolutes: Tradition, Revision, and Truth by John Finnis
Truthfulness, Lies, and Moral Philosophers: What Can We Learn From Mill and Kant? (online pdf) by Alasdair MacIntyre

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Episode 72: Vatican I - Interview with Shaun Blanchard

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church by John W. O'Malley SJ
The Conciliarist Tradition: Constitutionalism in the Catholic Church 1300-1870 by Francis Oakley
Triumph in Defeat: Infallibility, Vatican I, and the French Minority Bishops by Margaret O'Gara
The Pope and the Professor: Pius IX, Ignaz von Döllinger, and the Quandary of the Modern Age by Thomas Albert Howard
A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk by St. John Henry Newman

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Episode 71: Servais Pinckaers - Interview with Craig Steven Titus

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Sources of Christian Ethics by Servais Pinckaers OP
The Pinckaers Reader: Renewing Thomistic Moral Theology edited by John Berkman and Craig Steven Titus
Morality: The Catholic View by Servais Pinckaers OP
Passions and Virtue by Servais Pinckaers OP
The Pursuit of Happiness - God's Way: Living the Beatitudes by Servais Pinckaers OP ...and a bonus recommendation for readers of French...
La vie selon l'Esprit : Essai de théologie spirituelle selon saint Paul et saint Thomas d'Aquin by Servais Pinckaers OP

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Episode 70: Geoffrey Chaucer - Interview with Megan E. Murton

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended and discussed in this episode are:

Troilus and Criseyde by St. Gregory Nazianzus
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales by Helen Cooper
Feminizing Chaucer by Jill Mann
Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

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Episode 69: Liturgical History and Theology - Interview with Fr. Uwe Michael Lang

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Theology of the Liturgy: The Sacramental Foundation of Christian Existence (Collected Works, vol. 11) by Joseph Ratzinger
Altar and Church: Principles of Liturgy from Early Christianity by Mons. Stefan Heid
My Body Given for You: History and Theology of the Eucharist by Helmut Hoping
The Roman Mass: From Early Christian Origins to Tridentine Reform by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang
Do this in Remembrance of Me: The Eucharist from the Early Church to the Present Day by Bryan D. Spinks

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Episode 68: St. Ambrose - Interview with Fr. Brian Dunkle SJ

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended and discussed in this episode are:

Theological and Dogmatic Works by St. Ambrose
Enchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan by Brian Dunkle SJ
Ambrose of Milan: Deeds and Thought of A Bishop by Caesare Pasini
Ambrose by Boniface Ramsay OP
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God by Robert Louis Wilken

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Episode 67: Attention, Gateway to the Soul - Interview with Gregory Reichberg

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

The Principles of Psychology by William James
On The Trinity (De Trinitate), Book 11 by St. Augustine
Summa theologiae, Secunda Pars (I-II, qq. 1-70) (I-II, qq. 71-114 ) (II-II, qq. 1-56) (II-II, qq. 57-140) (II-II, qq. 141-189) by St. Thomas Aquinas
Treatise on the Love of God by St. Francis de Sales
The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads by Tim Wu

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Episode 66: G.E.M. Anscombe - Interview with Roger Teichmann

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Intention by G.E.M. Anscombe
Ethics, Religion and Politics: Collected Philosophical Papers, Volume III by G.E.M. Anscombe
Faith in a Hard Ground: Essays on Religion, Philosophy and Ethics by G.E.M. Anscombe edited by Mary Geach and Luke Gormally
The Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe by Roger Teichmann
The Women Are up to Something by Benjamin J.B. Lipscomb

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Episode 65: Bach's Sacred Music - Interview with Daniel R. Melamed

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books and resources recommended in this episode are:

Listening to Bach: The Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio by Daniel R. Melamed
Bach by David Schulenberg
Texts and Historically-Informed Translations for the Music of Johann Sebastian Bach by Michael Marissen and Daniel R. Melamed
Bloomington Bach Cantata Project directed by Daniel R. Melamed

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Episode 64: St. Maximus the Confessor - Interview with Bronwen Neil

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Maximus the Confessor by Andrew Louth
The Cappadocians by Anthony Meredith
Seventh-Century Popes and Martyrs: The Political Hagiography of Anastasius Bibliothecarius by Bronwen Neil
Maximus the Confessor: Jesus Christ and the Transfiguration of the World by Paul Blowers
Crisis of Empire: Doctrine and Dissent at the End of Late Antiquity by Phil Booth

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Episode 63 :Jonathan Swift - Interview with Dutton Kearney

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift
A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift
The Drapier's Letters by Jonathan Swift ...and for some additional recommendations...
Jonathan Swift: Irish Blow-In and Jonathan Swift: Our Dean by Eugene Hammond
Jonathan Swift: His Life and World by Leo Damrosch

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Episode 62: St. Gregory of Nazianzus - Interview with Fr. Andrew Hofer OP

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Gregory of Nazianzus by Brian E. Daley SJ
On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius by St. Gregory Nazianzus
Festal Orations by St. Gregory Nazianzus
On God and Man: The Theological Poetry of St Gregory of Nazianzus by St. Gregory Nazianzus
Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus by Andrew Hofer OP

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St. Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329-c. 390) is a Father and Doctor of the Church. Along with St Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa, he is known as one of the Cappadocian Fathers and Three Holy Hierarchs. Born at Nazianzus (Nenizi, Turkey) into a wealthy family the same year that his father was made bishop of his hometown, Gregory was given a first-class education and in 350 he was sent to perfect his studies in Athens. There he befriended Basil of Caesarea. In 357, he was summoned back home and, in 361, his father ordained him to the priesthood. In preparation for his ordination, he studied with Basil at the latter’s estate in Pontus. There, they may have prepared an anthology of texts, the Philokalia, from the writings of Origen. Preferring a life of prayer and study to the demands of the priestly ministry, he fled Nazianus for a period. Basil became bishop of Caesarea in 370. To shore up his influence following an imperial redrawing of the boundaries of civil and ecclesiastical governance in Cappadocia, he ordained Gregory bishop of Sasima in 372. Threated by supporters of the neighbouring metropolitan, Gregory did not take up the post. Following his father’s death in 374, he withdrew to Seleucia to pursue a life of prayer and study. In 378, he transferred to Constantinople to support the Pro-Nicene Christians and set up the Church of the Anastasia. There he preached in defence of the orthodox view of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Theodosius made him Bishop of Constantinople and for a while he presided the Council of Constantinople (381). However, his opponents forced his resignation and retirement on a technicality. He was still bishop of Sasima and so, by holding another episcopal see, in breach of a decree of the Council of Nicaea. Gregory dedicated his final years to revising his writings. The author that the Byzantines cited most often after the Bible, he is known in the Easter Churches as St Gregory the Theologian on account of his teaching on the Trinity. During the middle ages his remains were transferred to Rome and are venerated in the Basilica of St. Peter.

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Episode 61: Devotion to the Sacred Heart - Interview with Timothy O'Donnell

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 21:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are:

Annum sacrum (print edition) by Leo XIII
Quas Primas (print edition) by Pius XI
Miserentissimus Redemptor by Pius XI
Haurietis aquas (print edition) by Pius XII
Dives in misericordia (print edition) by John Paul II

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Episode 60: Jansenism - Interview with Shaun Blanchard

Fri, 31 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Shaun Blanchard discusses the Jansenist controversy, its impact, and some of the best books on the subject:

The Provincial Letters by Blaise Pascal
Adoration and Annihilation: The Convent Philosophy of Port-Royal by John J. Conley S.J.
The Wanton Jesuit and the Wayward Saint: A Tale of Sex, Religion, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century France by Mita Choudhurye
The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791 by Dale K. Van Kley
Jansenism: An International Anthology by Shaun Blanchard and Richard T. Yoder

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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 Saint-Cyran. Saint-Cyran exerted this influence as a spiritual director and confessor of the Abbey of Port-Royal des Champs and through his association with the Arnauld family. Among the most influential figures associated with Port-Royal and the Jansenist movement were the Arnauld siblings (Marie-Angélique, Agnès, and Antoine) and Blaise Pascal. The movement was opposed vehemently by Jesuits, French monarchs, and was even censured by various popes. Many historians believe that, though long gone, the Jansenist controversy influenced the development of modernity and the Church decisively.

Shaun Blanchard is Lecturer in Theology on the Fremantle campus of the University of Notre Dame Australia. He writes on a variety of topics in early modern and modern Catholicism, publishing in outlets like Commonweal, America, Church Life Journal, and The Tablet. He is the author of The Synod of Pistoia and Vatican II: Jansensism and the Struggle for Catholic Reform (OUP: 2020) and, with Ulrich Lehner, co-edited The Catholic Enlightenment: A Global Anthology (CUA: 2021). With Stephen Bullivant, he co-wrote Vatican II: A Very Short Introduction (OUP: 2023) and with Richard T. Yoder, he has co-edited Jansenism: An International Anthology (CUA Press, forthcoming 2024).

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Episode 59: Trinity Sunday

Fri, 24 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius by St. Gregory Nazianzus
The Wellspring of Worship by Fr. Jean Corbon
Three Treatises on the Divine Images by St. John of Damascus
Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today by Joseph Ratzinger
The Trinity: An Introduction to Catholic Doctrine on the Triune God by Gilles Emery OP

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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.

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Episode 58: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit - Interview with Prof. John Meinert

Fri, 17 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

I Believe in the Holy Spirit by Yves Congar OP
The Sanctifier by Archbishop Luis Martínez
Summa theologiae (IaIIae, qq. 68-70) by St. Thomas Aquinas
Catecheses on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Pope Francis
In the School of the Holy Spirit by Fr. Jacques Philippe

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Episode 57: Biblical Typology - Interview with Dr. Andrew Swafford

Fri, 10 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture by Scott Hahn
The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity by Jason A. Staples
Jesus and the Last Supper by Brant Pitre
Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus by David W. Pao
God with Us: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew by Edward Sri ...and some extra recommendations...
Sin: A History by Gary Anderson
Wages of Cross-Bearing and Debt of Sin by Nathan Eubank
Sacramental Charity, Creditor Christology, and the Economy of Salvation in Luke's Gospel by Anthony Giambrone
Paul and the Gift by John M.G. Barclay

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Typology is the consideration of how the events and prophecies of the biblical books of the Old Testament are brought to fulfilment in Christ. It is a fundamental principle in both the writing and reading of Sacred Scripture. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus explains how many events and prophecies of the Old Testament books refer to him and his works (see Luke 24:44). Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostles develop and hand on this Christological reading of Old Testament in their teaching and writings. The relevant Old Testament events and prophecies they call types or figures (Romans 5:14); their fulfilment in Christ, antitypes (1Peter 3:21). The typological reading of Scripture is not just a fundamental principle of patristic and medieval exegesis, but of sacred art, catechesis, preaching, and, above all, the liturgy.

In this interview, Dr. Andrew Swafford recommends some books for learning how to unpack biblical typology.

Dr. Andrew Swafford is Professor of Theology at Benedictine College. He is a national speaker on a variety of topics and co-author of A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, Gift and Grit: How Heroic Virtue Can Change Your Life and Relationships (with his wife Sarah), and What We Believe: The Beauty of the Catholic Faith (with Marcellino D’Ambrosio) and co-host of Ascension’s video series filmed in Rome under the same title. He is general editor and contributor to Ascension’s Great Adventure Catholic Bible. Among his other publications are Ascension’s Bible studies on Romans and Hebrews, Spiritual Survival in the Modern World, and John Paul II to Aristotle and Back Again.

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Episode 56: Devotion to Mary - Interview with Colin B. Donovan

Fri, 03 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Our Lady of Fatima by William T. Walsh
The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Ligouri
Calls from the Message of Fatima by Sister Lucia of Fatima

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Episode 55: Distributism - Interview with Alexander W. Salter

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The recommended books for this episode are:

The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc
An Essay on the Restoration of Property by Hilaire Belloc
An Outline of Sanity by G.K. Chesterton
A Humane Economy by Wilhelm Röpke
The Economics of the Free Society by Wilhelm Röpke

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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).

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Episode 54: Eucharistic Ecclesiology - Interview with Richard G. DeClue, Jr.

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Corpus Mysticum: The Eucharist and the Church in the Middle Ages by Henri de Lubac SJ
Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today by Joseph Ratzinger
Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ: At the Source of the Ecclesiology of Communion by Jean-Marie Roger Tillard
Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries by John D. Zizioulas
Sacrament of Salvation: An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology by Paul McPartlan

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 Fire Institute. He specializes in systematic theology with a particular interest and expertise in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI and has published articles on his theology in peer reviewed journals such as Communio and Nova et Vetera, he taught a college course on the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, and has written book, The Mind of Benedict XVI: A Theology of Communion (Word on Fire, 2024). He is also interested in the ecclesiology of Henri de Lubac, the debate over nature and grace, and developing a rapprochement between Communio (ressourcement) theology and Thomism.

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Episode 53: Marion Montgomery - Interview with Michael M. Jordan

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

On Matters Southern: Essays About Literature and Culture, 1964-2000 by Marion Montgomery
Possum, and Other Receipts for the Recovery of "Southern" Being by Marion Mongomery
Liberal Arts and Community: The Feeding of the Larger Body by Marion Mongomery
Romantic Confusions of the Good: Beauty as Truth, Truth as Beauty by Marion Mongomery
With Walker Percy at the Tupperware Party: in Company with Flannery O'Connor, T.S. Eliot, and Others by Marion Mongomery

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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.

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Episode 52: Flannery O'Connor - Interview with Fr. Damian Ference

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

The Complete Stories (also available for Kindle) by Flannery O'Connor
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose (also available for Kindle) by Flannery O'Connor, seleceted and edited by Sally and Robert Fitzgerald
The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor (also available for Kindle) by Flannery O'Connor, selected and edited by Sally Fitzgerald
A Prayer Journal (also available for Kindle) by Flannery O'Connor
Understanding the Hillbilly Thomist: The Philosophical Foundations of Flannery O'Connor's Narrative Art (also available for Kindle) by Fr. Damian Ference

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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 Understanding the Hillbilly Thomist: The Philosophical Foundations of Flannery O'Connor's Narrative Art (Word on Fire, 2023). Fr. Ference is the founder and director of Tolle Lege Summer Institute and is a life-time member of the Flannery O’Connor Society.

Read the interview at https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/flannery-oconnor/

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Episode 51: Easter 2024

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 07:00:00 +0000

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 48-88 by St. John Chrysostom
The Resurrection: A Biblical Study by François-Xavier Durrwell CSsR
The Old Evangelization: How to Spread the Faith Like Jesus Did by Eric Sammons
Understanding Early Christian Art by Robin M. Jensen
Thomas Tallis: The Complete English Anthems by The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips

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Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/easter-2024/

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Episode 50: Holy Week 2024

Sat, 23 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

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 by St. John Chrysostom
What is Redemption? by Philippe de la Trinité
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper by Brant Pitre
The Crucifixion in Irish Art by Peter Harbison
Thomas Tallis: The Complete English Anthems by The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips

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For further recommendations, you can also check out last year’s list.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/holy-week-2024/

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Episode 49: Bach's Passions - Interview with Daniel R. Melamed

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books reviewed in this episode are:

Hearing Bach's Passions by Daniel R. Melamed
Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion: With an Annotated Literal Translation of the Libretto by Michael Marissen
Bach in Berlin. Nation and Culture in Mendelssohn's Revival of the St. Matthew Passion by Celia Applegate
Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion. Genesis, Transmission, and Meaning by Alfred Dürr
Rethinking Bach by Bettina Varwig

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), one the greatest Western composers, composed various Passions: sacred oratorios that set the Gospel narrative of Christ’s Passion to music. Two are extant: the St. John Passion (Johannes-Passion, BWV 245) and the St. Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244). The former was first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 1724, and later revised extensively. The latter was first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 1727 and revised between 1743-46. In addition to the Gospel text, the libretto of each contains verses that dramatize or meditate upon episodes of Christ's Passion. These two Passions by Bach are now treasured as two of his greatest compositions and performed frequently throughout the world. Moreover, it was Felix Mendelssohn’s performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829 that brought Bach to his current prominence.

Daniel R. Melamed is professor of music in musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His research interests focus on J.S. Bach, Mozart-era opera, and music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He is president of the American Bach Society and director of the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project. He has authored Listening to Bach: The Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio, Hearing Bach’s Passions, and J. S. Bach and the German Motet, and co-authored (with Michael Marissen) An Introduction to Bach Studies. He is editor of Bach Studies 2 and Bach Perspectives 8: J. S. Bach and the Oratorio.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/bachs-passions/

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Episode 48: Genesis - Interview with Steve Ray

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Genesis or Bereishis (“In the beginning”) is the first book of the Bible. It tells the story of creation and God’s covenants with the first men (1-11) and the patriarchs (12-50). It ends with the death of Joseph, who had brought to Egypt both his brothers and his father, Jacob. Many of the stories related in Genesis are amongst the most memorable ones in the Bible. They also constitute many of the most fundamental episodes in salvation history. St. Jerome’s dictum that knowing Scripture is essential for knowing Christ is particularly applicable to Genesis. Understanding Genesis is indispensable for understanding who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.

In this episode, Steve Ray discusses some of the books that can help us understand Genesis.

The GPS Torah Commentary: Genesis by Nahum M. Sarna
The Commentator's Bible: Genesis by Michael Carasik
The Lexham Research Commentary: Genesis 1-11 by Douglas Mangum, Miles Custis, and Wendy Widder
On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis (alternative edition) by St. Augustine
Genesis: With Introduction, Commentary, and Notes by Curtis Mitch and Scott Hahn
Commentary on the Torah : Translated and Annotated: Bereishis/Genesis by Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman

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Steve Ray is a Catholic speaker, author, and convert to Catholicism who shares his conversion story and his insights on various topics such as apologetics, the Bible, evangelism, family, and more. With his wife, Janet, he regularly guides pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He is the host of the popular film series The Footprints of God and the author of the best-selling books Crossing the Tiber and St. John's Gospel. Among his recent publications is Genesis: A Bible Study Guide and Introduction.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/genesis/

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Episode 47: Reading St. Thomas Aquinas for the First Time

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person and His Work by Jean-Pierre Torrell OP
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master by Jean-Pierre Torrell OP
Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings edited and translated by Ralph McInerny
Commentary on the Gospel of John (vol. 1) (vol. 2) (vol. 3) by St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae: A Guide and Commentary by Brian Davies OP

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On 7 March 1274, Friar Tommaso d’Aquino of the Order of Preachers died at the age of forty-nine at the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova. He was on his way to the Second Council of Lyon. Less that fifty years later, he was canonised (1323). By the Council of Trent his doctrinal authority was so great that his masterwork, the Summa theologiae, was placed on the altar of the cathedral, along with the Bible and the Decretals. Not long after the conclusion of Trent, St. Pius V proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church (1567). Ever since, the popes have continued to recommend the doctor communis as the most comprehensive guide to the Catholic doctrine.

To mark the Church’s commemoration of the 750th anniversary of St. Thomas’s death, this edition of Five Books for Catholics selects five books for those studying his works for the first time.

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/thomas-aquinas-introduction/

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Episode 46: Twentieth-Century Classical Music for Lent

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The recordings recommended in this episode are of:

Quatre Motets pour un temps de pénitence by François Poulenc
Miserere by Henryk Górecki
Triodion by Arvo Pärt
Miserere and Videns Dominus by James MacMillan
Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky

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At Christmas, Five Books for Catholics recommended some classical music for the season. Moreover, it did not recommend a hodgepodge of works from different periods. It stuck instead to twentieth-century classical composers. As a follow-up, here is a selection of five works of classical music for Lent by twentieth-century composers.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/twentieth-century-classical-music-for-lent/⁠

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Episode 45 - Spiritual Discernment: Interview with Fr. Timothy Gallagher OMV

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making by Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher OMV
The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living by Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher OMV
Spiritual Consolation: An Ignatian Guide for Greater Discernment of Spirits by Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher OMV
Discernment of Spirits in Marriage: Ignatian Wisdom for Husbands and Wives by Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher OMV
Teaching Discernment: A Pedagogy for Presenting Ignatian Discernment of Spirits by Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher OMV ...and a bonus recommendation...
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

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One of the charisms that St. Paul lists is “the discernment of spirits” (1Cor 12:10) (diakrisis pneumatikōn, discretio spirituum), whereas St. John warns us, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits” (1Jn 4:1). Indeed, Scripture continually describes how we are under the influence of both good and bad spirits. On the one hand, God influences us through his grace and angels. On the other hand, our own wounded nature and the fallen angels incline us towards sin, often subtly and under the semblance of the good. Discerning where certain motions within our soul come from and whether they point us towards God’s will is not only a difficult but a critical aspect of Christian life. Thankfully, the saints, by praying over Scripture and their own experiences, offer sure guidance on spiritual discernment. In his Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius of Loyola provides one of the clearest summaries of these principles.

In this interview, Fr. Timothy Gallagher OMV will discuss some of the best books on spiritual discernment.

Fr Timothy M. Gallagher is a priest of the Congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. In 1983, he obtained his doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University and began his ministry as a spiritual director and retreat leader. He has taught at St. John's Seminary, Brighton, and Our Lady of Grace Seminary Residence, Boston, both in Massachusetts. Since 2015, he holds the St. Ignatius Chair for Spiritual Formation at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. He has written over twenty books on spiritual themes, published in Catholic periodicals, and is in wide demand as a speaker. His books include When You Struggle in the Spiritual Life: An Ignatian Path to Freedom, A Handbook for Spiritual Directors, An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According to the Spiritual Exercises, Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture and A Layman's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/discernment-of-spirits/

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Episode 44: Five Books for Lent, 2024

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 02:26:00 +0000

Here are this year's list of recommended readings for Lent. You can also check out last year’s list and the Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2024.

On Repentance and Almsgiving by St. John Chrysostom
Encyclical Letter Dives in misericordia (Rich in Mercy) by St. John Paul II
The Lord by Romano Guardini
A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

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Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/lent2024/

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Episode 43: Catholic Social Teaching - Interview with Russell Hittinger

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Arcanum and Casti connubii by Leo XIII and Pius XI
The Social Teachings of Wilhelm Emmanuel Von Ketteler: Bishop of Mainz (1811-1877) edited by Rupert J. Ederer
Catholic Social Teaching: A Volume of Scholarly Essays edited by Gerard V. Bradley and E. Christian Brugger
The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature edited by John Witte Jr. and Frank S. Alexander
Selected articles (1) ( 2) ( 3) (4) by John Courtney Murray SJ
Infidels and Empires in A New World Order: Early Modern Spanish Contributions to International Legal Thought by David M. Lantigua

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“The social doctrine of the Church developed in the nineteenth century when the Gospel encountered modern industrial society with its new structures for the production of consumer goods, its new concept of society, the state and authority, and its new forms of labour and ownership.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church 2421) It “comprises a body of doctrine, which is articulated as the Church interprets events in the course of history, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, in the light of the whole of what has been revealed by Jesus Christ.” (n. 2422) It “proposes principles for reflection; provides criteria for judgment; gives guidelines for action” (n. 2423).

Nevertheless, deciphering and reconciling the ever-growing corpus of papal documents and pronouncements on modern society can be challenging. In this interview, Prof. Russell Hittinger discusses some recommended readings that can help us understand Catholic social teaching.

Dr. Russell Hittinger is currently Executive Director of The Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, where he is also a Research Professor Ordinarius in the School of Philosophy. He is Emeritus Professor of Religion at the University of Tulsa and has taught or been a fellow at numerous other institutes of higher education. Since 2001, he is a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, to which he was elected a full member (ordinarius) in 2004, and appointed to the consilium or governing board from 2006-2018. On Sept. 8, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Professor Hittinger as an ordinarius in the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, in which he finished his ten-year term in 2019. His books and articles have appeared through the University of Notre Dame Press, Oxford University Press, Columbia University Press, Fordham University Press, the Review of Metaphysics, the Journal of Law and Religion, the Review of Politics, and several law journals (both American and European).

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/catholic-social-teaching/

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Episode 42: Mozart - Interview with Simon P. Keefe

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Simon P. Keefe recommends some books that can help us learn about Mozart’s music and penetrate it more deeply as we listen to it.

The Letters of Mozart and his Family (3rd edition) edited by Emily Anderson
Mozart: A Documentary Biography by Otto Erich Deutsch
Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion by Simon P. Keefe
Mozart in Vienna: The Final Decade (Kindle) by Simon P. Keefe
The Mozart Family: Four Lifes in a Social Context by Ruth Halliwell

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) ranks with J.S. Bach and Beethoven as one of the greatest Western composers. His father, Leopold, was a musical pedagogue and a musician at the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. When Leopold began to give clavier-lessons to his seven-year-old daughter, Nannerl, her younger brother listened attentively, started playing it himself at the age of four, and was composing his first pieces at the age of five. Between 1762-1773, Leopold brought the two child prodigies on tours around the main European cities and courts, from Rome to London, hoping to promote his son’s future career. Young Wolfgang worked as a court composer for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, but, desirous of a better salary and opportunities to compose operas, he resigned in 1773. After several years of visiting different cities in search of a suitable position, he settled in Vienna, where he spent the final decade of his life. At Vienna, he composed most of his greatest compositions, and his greatness was recognised by both established composers, such as Haydn, and up-and-coming ones, such as Beethoven. Despite his premature death at the age of thirty-five, he left a huge body of work, with masterpieces in sacred, orchestral, and chamber music, concertos, and opera.

Simon P. Keefe is James Rossiter Hoyle Chair of Music at the University of Sheffield, a life member of the Academy for Mozart Research at the International Mozart Foundation in Salzburg and President Elect of the Royal Musical Association. He is the author of five monographs on Mozart, including Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion (Cambridge University Press, 2012), which won the 2013 Marjorie Weston Emerson award from the Mozart Society of America, and editor of a further seven volumes for Cambridge University Press, including Mozart Studies, Mozart Studies 2 and Mozart in Context.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/mozart/

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Episode 41: Early Christian Art - Interview with Robin M. Jensen

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this interview are:

Understanding Early Christian Art by Robin M. Jensen
The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art by Thomas F. Mathews
The Invisible God: The Earliest Christians on Art by Paul Corby Finney
Likeness and Presence: A History of Art before the Era of Art by Hans Belting, trans. E. Jephcott
The Dawn of Christian Art: In Panel Paintings and Icons by Thomas F. Matthews and Norman E. Muller
Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100-450 by Jaś Elsner

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Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/early-christian-art/

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Episode 40: Imaginative Apologetics, Part Two - Interview with Holly Ordway

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this interview are:

Tales of Faith: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel through Literature by Holly Ordway
Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination by Malcolm Guite
Imaginative Apologetics: Theology, Philosophy, and the Catholic Tradition by Andrew Davison
Spiritual Direction from Dante: vol. 1, Avoiding the Inferno; vol. 2, Ascending Mount Purgatory; vol. 3 Yearning for Paradise by Fr. Paul Pearson

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Apologetics consists in defending the faith by explaining the reasons for belief in Revelation. It is summed up in Saint Peter's exhortation to “always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15). Recently, however, several apologists have been stressing the need to engage not just the mind but also the imagination. This strand of apologetics has been called imaginative apologetics.

In a previous post, Holly Ordway recommended and explained her top five books on imaginative apologetics. Here is the rest of the interview, where she explains some more recommended readings and her own books on imaginative apologetics.

Holly Ordway is the Cardinal Francis George Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute, and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is the author of Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (Word on Fire Academic, 2021). Her other books include Tales of Faith: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel through Literature (Word on Fire Institute, 2021) and Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith (Emmaus Road, 2017), and Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography (Word on Fire Institute, 2023). She is also a Subject Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies and a published poet.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/imaginative-apologetics-part-two/

Episode 39: Origen of Alexandria - Interview with Dr. Thomas Scheck

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Dr. Thomas Scheck discusses Origen of Alexandria (185-253) and recommends the following books:

Contra Celsum by Origen (edited by Henry Chadwick)
Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (vol. 1) (vol. 2) by Origen (translated by Thomas P. Scheck)
Homilies on Joshua by Origen (translated by Barbara J. Bruce)
Homilies on Numbers by Origen (translated by Thomas P. Scheck)
Apology for Origen by St. Pamphilius (translated by Thomas P. Scheck) ....and some bonus recommendations...
Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine by Benedict XVI
The History of the Church by Eusebius of Caesarea, translated by G.A. Williamson, revised and edited by Andrew Louth
Origen: The Life and Though of the First Great Theologian by Henri Crouzel

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The ecclesiastical writer Origen of Alexandria (185-253) exerted an enormous influence on the Church Fathers and the development of Christian doctrine. He is the first and arguably the greatest Christian scholar of Sacred Scripture. He was instructed rigorously in letters and the study of Sacred Scripture by his father, St. Leonidas. After his father’s death, one wealthy benefactor financed the precocious youth’s education. Another, Ambrose, whom Origen had converted from Gnosticism to orthodox Christianity, provided him with a staff to write out and copy the books dictated by the brilliant biblical scholar. Still a teenager, Origen was appointed a catechist by Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, and for many years headed the city’s prestigious catechetical school. During a visit to Palestine, the bishops who had invited him to preach to their congregations, ordained him a presbyter. Enraged, Demetrius condemned Origen in missives to the heads of the local churches and started some of the spurious accusations that would affect his reputation in the following centuries. However, the bishop who had ordained Origen, Theoctistus of Caesarea, welcomed him into his church. There he continued to write and directed a school, where he would teach his students—mostly pagans with an interest in becoming Christians—philosophy and then theology. Under the persecution of Decius, he was arrested. Tortured repeatedly during his two years of imprisonment, he refused to renounce the faith and died shortly after his release. Only a small fraction of his 2000 odd works is extant. Campaigns to condemn Origen as the source of later heresies were launched in the late fourth and the sixth century. As a result, many copies of his writings were destroyed or neglected. Among his main works are the Hexapla, Contra Celsum, De principiis, On Prayer, Exhortation to Martyrdom, along with numerous homilies and biblical commentaries.

In this interview, Dr. Thomas P. Scheck will take us through some of the great Alexandrian theologian’s writings.

Dr. Thomas P. Scheck (PhD, University of Iowa), taught for 16 years at Ave Maria University as Associate Professor of Classics and Theology. He currently teaches Latin at Naples Classical Academy, Naples, Florida. He is a translator of many works of the Church Fathers, including Origen, St. Jerome, St. Chromatius, and of Renaissance scholars such as Erasmus and St. John Fisher.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/origen-of-alexandria/⁠

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Episode 38: Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) - Interview with Tracey Rowland

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Faith and Politics: Selected Writings by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
What is Christianity?: The Last Writings by Benedict XVI
Fundamental Speeches from Five Decades by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
The Nature and Mission of Theology: Approaches to Understanding Its Role in the Light of Present Controversy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

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It is difficult to underestimate Joseph Ratzinger’s influence within the Church over the last sixty years. During the Second Vatican Council he made an important contribution as a theological expert (peritus) to the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum). He emerged from the Council as a leading Catholic theologian and, in 1972, helped found the journal Communio. In 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and a cardinal. Five years later, St. John Paul II appointed him as Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. For over twenty years, Card. Ratzinger assisted the pontiff in issuing important doctrinal documents, drafting encyclicals, and overseeing the preparation of the magnificent Catechism of the Catholic Church. Finally, he was elected Bishop of Rome and exercised the Petrine ministry until his resignation in 2013.

On this first anniversary of Benedict XVI’s death, Prof. Tracey Rowland selects and discusses five of his books that we should read.

Professor Tracey Rowland holds the St John Paul II Chair of Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. In 2001 she was appointed the Dean of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, a position she held until 2017. She is a member of the editorial board of Communio: International Catholic Review and was appointed to the 9th International Theological Commission in 2014. In 2009 she was awarded the Archbishop Michael J Miller Award for the Promotion of Faith and Culture by the University of St. Thomas in Houston and in 2010 she was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. In 2020 she won the Ratzinger Prize for theology. In 2023 she was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences. Her books include Culture and the Thomist Tradition (London: Routledge, 2003), Ratzinger's Faith: The Theology of Benedict XI (Oxford University Press, 2008), Benedict XVI: A Guide for the Perplexed (London: Bloomsbury, 2010),Catholic Theology (London: Bloomsbury, 2017), The Culture of the Incarnation: Essays in Catholic Theology (Steubenville: Emmaus Academic, 2017), Portraits of Spiritual Nobility (New York: Angelico, 2019) Beyond Kant and Nietzsche: The Munich Defence of Christian Humanism (London: Bloomsbury, 2021). She has published over 150 articles and is the English sub-editor of the forthcoming multilingual Ratzinger Lexikon.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/pope-benedict-xvi-joseph-ratzinger/

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Episode 37: Charles Dickens - Interview with Dwight Lindley

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Prof. Dwight Lindley, the Barbara Longway Briggs Chair in English Literature at Hillsdale College, discusses some of the best of Dickens’s novels and of the studies on them. He recommends:

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
Chesterton on Dickens (Ignatius Press Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, vol. 15) by G.K. Chesterton ...and some extra recommendations...
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
The Genius of Dickens by Michael Slater
The Mystery of Charles Dickens by A.N. Wilson

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Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is one the best-loved novelists in the English language and arguably the greatest. Like Shakespeare, he created a host of memorable characters from all stations of life, entertained a wide public, and was equally adept as a writer of both tragedy and comedy. Whereas Shakespeare exploited his gifts as a poet and actor in his plays, Dickens, a novelist, deployed his extensive skills and experience as a journalist. He described vividly the plight of the poor, the injustices wrought by the Industrial Revolution, malfunctioning institutions, and widespread indifference. This led Dostoevsky to call him “the great Christian.”

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/charles-dickens/⁠

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Episode 36: Twentieth-Century Classical Music for Christmas

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The works recommended are:

Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaugh Williams
Lauda per la Natività del Signore by Otterino Resphighi
Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noël by François Poulenc
Retablo de Navidad by Joaquín Rodrigo
Having beheld a strange Nativity (Canticles and Prayers II) by Georgy Sviridov

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Music is an essential part of Christmas. Christ’s birth inspired the angels to praise God with the Gloria (Luke 2:14). Presumably, the angels sung it, like other hymns of praise of praise in the heavenly liturgy (Revelation 5:9). Since, then the celebration of Christ’s birth has continued to inspire song throughout the world. It has also been a major source of inspiration for classical composers. Here are five recommended recordings of twentieth-century classical music for Christmas.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/twentieth-century-classical-music-for-christmas/

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Episode 35: Catechesis - Interview with Dr. Petroc Willey

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Christ the Educator by Clement of Alexandria
Catechism of the Catholic Church by John Paul II
Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism by Card. Joseph Ratzinger
The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis by Pierre de Cointet, Barbara Morgan and Petroc Willey
Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed

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No Catholic, therefore, can afford to be indifferent to catechesis. Every Catholic needs it, and many are called to impart it.

In this interview, Dr. Petroc Willey recommends and discuss five books on catechetics.

Petroc Willey is married to Katherine and has four children and six grandchildren, one in heaven. Originally from England, he has lived in Steubenville, Ohio, since 2015 where he is a Professor of Theology at Franciscan University. Before his move to the United States, Petroc worked in Catholic education, in Oxford and in Birmingham, for more than twenty-five years, in seminary and lay institutions, and in both traditional and distance education. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor for the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization and by Pope Francis as a Consultor to the Dicastery for Evangelization.

He is the author of Reading the Catechism: How to Discover and Appreciate its Riches, and co-author of The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis, The Joy of the Gospel: A Companion Guide to Evangelium Gaudii, A Year with the Catechism: 365 Day Reading Plan, Speaking the Truth in Love: The Catechism and the New Evangelization, and Companion to the Directory for Catechesis.

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Episode 34: Five Books for Advent and Christmas

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Jesus of Nazareth, Volume 3: The Infancy Narratives by Benedict XVI
The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales: For Advent and Christmas by St. Francis de Sales
The True Meaning of Christmas: The Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season by Michael Barber
The Nativity Scene by Eduardo de Filippo
Illuminating Luke: The Infancy Narrative in Italian Renaissance Painting by Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons

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Take advantage of the Christmas Offer

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Episode 33: The Quadrivium - Interview with Peter Ulrickson

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

The Elements (alternative edition, Books I-VI with coloured diagrams) by Euclid
Almagest by Ptolemy
Timaeus by Plato
On order (De ordine) (alternative edition) by St. Augustine
To Save the Phenomena: An Essay on the Idea of Physical Theory from Plato to Galileo by Pierre Duhem

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In their search for the ideal education (paideia), the Ancient Greeks were sometimes split over whether to attribute primacy to mathematical thought or language skills. Pythagoras and Plato defended the primacy of mathematics; the Sophists and Aristotle, in different ways, the importance of language.

Similarly, the Ancient Greeks began to distinguish and systematise fundamental disciplines within each of the two fields.

These disciplines became known as the liberal arts because they equipped the free for their civic duties and the life of the mind.

Medieval scholars, such as John of Salisbury and Hugh of St. Victor, called the language-centred disciplines (grammar, logic, rhetoric) the threefold way (trivium), and the mathematical ones (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy) the fourfold way (quadrivium).

However, the classical liberal arts education was displaced by Renaissance humanism, the rise of modern science, and educational programs of a pragmatist orientation.

Over the last few decades, there has been a movement to retrieve classical liberal arts education. Early proponents of this movement often took inspiration from Dorothy L. Sayers’s advocacy of the trivium in The Lost Tools of Learning. In recent years, however, others have insisted that the quadrivium is equally important for a well-rounded education in the liberal arts.

In this episode, Prof. Peter Ulrickson will discuss five books that can help us learn and appreciate the quadrivium.

Peter Ulrickson, a mathematician, teaches at the Catholic University of America. He is the author of A Brief Quadrivium and Teaching the Quadrivium, books that reveal the enduring significance of the mathematical disciplines of the traditional liberal arts, and make them newly accessible for students and teachers today. Ulrickson also publishes research in various fields of modern mathematics.

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Episode 32: Christ the King

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The Church closes the liturgical year with the Solemnity of Christ the King. Pius XI instituted this feast in his 1925 encyclical Quas Primas. In that document, he unpacked the mystery of Christ’s kingship while acknowledging that only the liturgy, not his encyclical, could impress that mystery upon the minds and hearts of the faithful.

Here is a selection of five books that can help us unpack the mystery of Christ’s kingship and live the solemnity more deeply.

Quas Primas: Encyclical on the Institution of the Feast of Christ the King by Pius XI
The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Encyclicals of Leo XIII edited by Étienne Gilson
The Metamorphoses of the City of God by Étienne Gilson
Pro Rege (vol. 1) (vol. 2) (vol. 3) by Abraham Kuyper
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

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Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/christ-the-king/

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Episode 31: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Interview with Daniel J. Mahoney

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

This episode's recommended books are:

The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, edited by Edward E. Ericson Jr. and Daniel J. Mahoney
The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Criticism (Abridged) (Vintage Edition) (Complete 3 Volume Edition) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Apricot Jam and Other Stories by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Between Two Millstones, Book 1: Sketches of Exile, 1974–1978 and Between Two Millstones, Book 2: Exile in America, 1978-1994 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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The Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) is the author of modern classics such as The Gulag Archipelago, In The First Circle, and Cancer Ward. Born and raised in wake of the Bolshevik Revoution, he served as an artillery officer in the Red Army during World War II. In 1945, he was arrested by Russian counterintelligence while on active duty in East Prussia. He had committed the crime of criticising Stalin in private letters to a childhood friend. He served eight years in various prisons, two in exile, and almost died from an undiagnosed cancer. During those ten years, he came to understand Communism’s inherently dehumanizing nature, found much of the materials around which he would build his future novels, and regained his faith as a Russian Orthodox Christian. In 1962, he was allowed to publish his first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. However, after Khrushchev’s deposition in 1964, the Soviet authorities put a stop to the publication of his other writings and, in February 1974, expelled him after The Gulag Archipelago was published in Russian in Paris on December 28, 1973. Once in the West, he could finally receive the Nobel Prize for Literature he had been awarded four years earlier. Initially, lionised in the West, he soon fell out of favour in some quarters. It became apparent that his opposition to communism and the Soviet Regime did not make him, as many had wrongly supposed, a secular liberal and progressive. While he appreciated the valid aspects of Western political culture, such as the rule of law and local self-government, he criticised the rise of secular humanism. In 1994, he returned to Russia, where he died in 2008.

In this interview, Daniel J. Mahoney will explain the significance of Solzhenitsyn by taking us through his pick of five of the author’s books.

Daniel J. Mahoney is a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, professor emeritus of Assumption University. His recent books include The Statesman as Thinker: Portraits of Greatness, Courage, and Moderation (Encounter Books), and Recovering Politics, Civilization, and the Soul: Essays on Pierre Manent and Roger Scruton (St. Augustine’s Press), and The Idol of Our Age: How the Religion of Humanity Subverts Christianity. Regarding this interview, he has written Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Ascent from Ideology (2001) and The Other Solzhenitsyn: Telling the Truth about a Misunderstood Writer and Thinker (2020). With Edward E. Ericson Jr. he is the editor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/

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Episode 30: Principles of Biblical Interpretation - Interview with Jeffrey L. Morrow, Part Two

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

This episode's recommended books are:

Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (also available for Kindle) edited by Curtis Mitch and Scott Hahn
Kingship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to God's Saving Promises by Scott Hahn
The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire: A Theological Commentary on 1-2 Chronicles (also available for Kindle) by Scott Hahn
Jesus of Nazareth (3 volumes) (also available for Kindle) by Benedict XVI...also recommended....
Holy Bible, English Standard Version Catholic Edition

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Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/principles-of-biblical-interpretation-part-two/ ⁠

Dr. Jeffrey L. Morrow is Professor of Theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University. A Jewish convert to Catholicism, he specializes in the history of modern biblical interpretation. Among his publications are Jesus’ Resurrection: A Jewish Convert Examines the Evidence, A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament (co-authored with Jeff Cavins and others), Murmuring Against Moses: The Contentious History and Contested Future of Pentateuchal Studies (co-authored with John Bergsma), and Modern Biblical Criticism as a Tool of Statecraft (co-authored with Scott Hahn).

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Episode 29: Principles of Biblical Interpretation - Interview with Jeffrey L. Morrow, Part One

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

This episode's recommended books are:

Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum Second Vatican Council
Verbum Domini:Post-Synodal Exhortation on The Word of God in the Life and Ministry of the Church by Benedict XVI
Letter and Spirit: From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy (also availble for Kindle) edited by Scott Hahn
Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History(also availabe for Kindle) by John Bergsma
A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament(also available for Kindle) by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre

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Sacred Scripture is the Word of God but “there are some things in them that are hard to understand” (2Peter 3:16). Consequently, the interpretation of Sacred Scripture has always involved difficulties and debates. These have become more intricate in modernity. The Protestant Reformation disputed the normativity of Tradition and the Church’s magisterium for the interpretation of Scripture. The development of historical research provided an array of new techniques and insights. Unfortunately, these have often been divorced from the rule of faith and wedded to rationalist premises. What then are the proper principles that allow us to hear what God is really saying to us in Sacred Scripture?

On the one hand, the Church teaches us to give priority to the literal or historical sense of Scripture, by taking into account the hagiographer’s intention and modes of writing. “On the other hand, since Scripture must be interpreted in the same Spirit in which it was written, the [the Second Vatican Council’s] Dogmatic Constitution [on Divine Revelation] indicates three fundamental criteria for an appreciation of the divine dimension of the Bible: 1) the text must be interpreted with attention to the unity of the whole of Scripture; nowadays this is called canonical exegesis; 2) account is be taken of the living Tradition of the whole Church; and, finally, 3) respect must be shown for the analogy of faith.” (Benedict XVI, Post-synodal exhortation Verbum Dei).

In this episode, Dr. Jeffrey L. Morrow will explain the Church’s principles of biblical interpretation and take us through some of the best books on them.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/principles-of-biblical-interpretation/

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Episode 28: Five Contemporary American Poets That Every Catholic Should Read - Interview with James Matthew Wilson

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Collected Poems: 1943-2004 by Richard Wilbur
A Journey of the Mind: Collected Poems of Helen Pinkerton, 1945-2016 by Helen Pinkerton
And after All: Poems by Rhina P. Espaillat
Deaths And Transfigurations: Poems by Robert Mariani
The Gods of Winter by Dana Gioia ...and as a supplementary recommendation...
All The Fun’s In How You Say A Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification by Timothy Steele

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If we read literature seriously it is because “we seek an enlargement of our being” (C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism). You have probably experienced such an enlargement of your being in reading the great poets of the past. However, poets do not figure prominently, if at all, in the media or public square. Those that do may not strike you as particularly inspiring. Perhaps you assume, therefore, that recent poetry is not worth reading. Even if you do not make that assumption, maybe you have no idea about which poets are worth reading. In this episode, therefore, James Matthew Wilson recommends five contemporary poets every Catholic with an interest in literature should read.

James Matthew Wilson is Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the Founding Director of the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing, at the University of Saint Thomas, Houston. He also serves as the Poet-in-Residence for the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Liturgy, as Poetry Editor of Modern Age magazine, and series editor of Colosseum Books, of the Franciscan University at Steubenville Press. He is an award-winning scholar of philosophical-theology and literature. As a poet and critic of contemporary poetry, his work appears regularly in such magazines and journals as First Things, The Wall Street Journal, The Hudson Review, Modern Age, The New Criterion, Dappled Things, Measure, The Weekly Standard, Front Porch Republic, The Raintown Review, National Review, and The American Conservative. His books include The Vision of the Soul: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in the Western Tradition (CUA, 2017); The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking (Wiseblood, 2015); The Catholic Imagination in Modern American Poetry (Wiseblood Books, 2014); The Strangeness of the Good (Angelico, 2020), the poetic sequence, The River of the Immaculate Conception (Wiseblood, 2019), and I Believe in One God: Praying the Nicene Creed (CTS, 2022).

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/contemporary-american-poetry/

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Episode 27 - Icons (Part Two) - Interview with Aidan Hart

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Festal Icons History and Meaning by Aidan Hart
The Icon, Image of the Invisible: Elements of Theology, Aesthetics and Tecnique by Egon Sendler
The Meaning of Icons by Leonid Ouspenksy and Vladimir Lossky

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Liturgical icons have been a part of the Church’s tradition from early on and in 787 the Second Council of Nicaea defined dogmatically that the making and veneration of icons, along with the pictorial representation of what the Gospels narrate, is a holy practice. This practice is founded upon the mystery of the Incarnation. Consequently, “all the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them.” Catechism of the Catholic Church 1161.

The Second Council of Nicaea encouraged the making and veneration of icons. As St. Basil taught, “the honour rendered to the image passes on to the original”. Furthermore, contemplating icons of Christ, Mary, the angels, and the saints, moves us to contemplate and honour them.

In part one of this this interview, Aidan Hart discussed his top five books on icons. In this second part, he considers some further recommended readings.

Aidan Hart has been a professional icon painter and carver for forty years, with works in over twenty-five countries of the world, including with the Pope and other Patriarchs. An ordained Reader of the Orthodox Church, he is a frequent speaker at conferences and churches and has been on numerous TV and radio programmes. He teaches a three-year part-time course in icon painting for The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Art. He has published Festal Icons (2022), Beauty Spirit Matter (2014), and Techniques of Icon and Wall Painting (2011), all published by Gracewing.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/icons-part-two/

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Episode 26: St. Thomas More - Interview with Frank Mitjans

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Frank Mitjans explains his pick of some of St. Thomas More’s writings and studies on him.

Thomas More: A Short Biography by James McConica
Thomas More: A Portrait in Courage by Gerard Wegemer
Thomas More (Classic Thinkers) by Joanne Paul
The Life and Illustrious History of Sir Thomas More by Thomas Stapleton
The Sadness of Christ by St. Thomas More

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St. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a leading humanist, English statesman, and ended his earthly pilgrimage as a martyr. The son of a judge, More received an excellent classical education before becoming a lawyer. After a period of vocational discernment, he decided to remain a layman rather than become a Carthusian. He married twice and had four children with his first wife. Elected to Parliament in 1504, he rose through a series of public offices until succeeding Cardinal Wolsey as Lord Chancellor. He was esteemed by leading humanists of the age, such as Erasmus and Juan Luis Vives. He also engaged in theological debates with Martin Luther and took action to quell the nascent spread of Protestantism in England. However, he fell out of favour when he refused to recognise the validity of Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and the king’s claim to be the head of the Church in England. Finally, after various attempts, a trial found him guilty of treason and he was executed, refusing up to the end to renounce his Catholic faith.

He was beatified in 1886 and canonised along with St. John Fisher in 1935. The memorial of the two saints is celebrated on June 22. In 2000, St. John Paul II named Thomas More patron saint of statesmen and politicians.

Frank Mitjans is a Spanish architect who has worked in London since 1976 and has long been interested in St. Thomas More. Since August 2002 he has given many presentations and talks on the topography of More’s London to groups of students and other interested people in Britain, Ireland, and Sweden. He has published various papers on St. Thomas More and more recently Thomas More’s Vocation (Catholic University of America Press).

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Episode 25: Papal Teachings on the Rosary

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Consueverunt Romani Pontifices by St. Pius V
Supremi Apostolatus Officio (Vatican website) by Leo XIII
Latitiae sanctae (Vatican website) by Leo XIII
Marialis cultus (Vatican website) by St Paul VI
Rosarium Virginis Mariae (Vatican website) by St. John Paul II

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The memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7 in the General Roman Calendar. Moreover, for the last 140 years, the Catholic Church has consecrated October to the Holy Queen of the Rosary. During October, therefore, we might want to do some spiritual reading on praying the Rosary. The most authoritative writings on the subject are the papal bulls and letters on the Rosary. These go back to St. Pius V. In them, the popes exhort the faithful to pray the Rosary on account of its manifold efficacy. They teach that it secures Mary’s intercession, unites us to Christ in his mysteries, strengthens Christian life, builds up the Church, and transforms society.

Here is Five Books for Catholics’ selection of the five most representative papal documents on the Rosary.

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/papal-teachings-on-the-rosary/

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Episode 24 - Bioethics, Part Two - Interview with Fr. Michael Baggot

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books discussed in this episode are

Dignitas personae: Instruction on Certain Bioethical Questions by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People by Charles C. Camosy
What it Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics by O. Carter Snead

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Over the last fifty years, it has become customary to frame moral questions surrounding medicine and the treatment of all forms of life under the rubric of "bioethics". The rapid development of modern technology opens new possibilities and, with them, a whole range of moral issues. At the same time, many in today's increasingly secularized society question or reject traditional Christian teachings on the sanctity of human life. Indeed, Catholics find themselves defending the gospel of life in an often hostile environment. Frequently accused of attempting to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of society, they must also show that the Church's moral teaching on bioethical issues is a matter of right reason and not just Revelation.

In part one of this interview, Fr. Michael Baggot recommended five books on bioethics. In this second part, he covers some further recommendations.

Fr. Michael Baggot, PhD is currently Assistant Professor of Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He is also Research Scholar at the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights in Rome, Italy. He was Adjunct Professor of Theology at the Christendom College Rome program from 2018-2022. His writings have appeared in First Things, Studia Bioethica, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. He is editor of and contributor to the book Enhancement Fit for Humanity: Perspectives on Emerging Technologies (Routledge, 2022).

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Episode 23: Sacred Liturgy - Interview with Christoper Carstens

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Christopher Carsten's recommended books on the liturgy are:

The Spirit of the Liturgy by Romano Guardini
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Card. Joseph Ratzinger
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Wellspring of Worshi pby Fr. Jean Corbon
The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origin and Development (2 vols. )by Fr. Joseph Jungmann SJ
The Mystery of Christian Worship by Fr. Odo Casel OSB
Rite and Man: The Sense of the Sacred and Christian Liturgy by Fr. Louis Bouyer

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“The liturgy, "through which the work of our redemption is accomplished," most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 2). The Second Vatican Council also teaches that the liturgy is the source and summit of the Church’s activity. However, Mass attendance is in decline in many parts of the world. Many Catholics must not appreciate what occurs in the Church’s ritual worship and celebration of the sacraments. Even committed Mass-goers may grow weary of humdrum celebrations. It is crucial, therefore, to understand the liturgy and appreciate it. To this end, Christopher Carstens discussesthe five books that he recommends on the nature and significance of the sacred liturgy.

Christopher Carstens is director of the Office for Sacred Worship in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin; a visiting faculty member at the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois; and editor of the Adoremus Bulletin. He is author of A Devotional Journey into the Mass (Sophia), as well as Principles of Sacred Liturgy: Forming a Sacramental Vision (Hillenbrand Books). He and his family live in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.

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Episode 22: C.S. Lewis - Interview with Fr. Michael Ward

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1863) is a celebrated literary critic, novelist, essayist, and Christian apologist: the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, the Ransom Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, and numerous essays of apologetics, such as Mere Christianity. An Anglican from Belfast, he spent most of his life in England, teaching medieval and Renaissance literature at Oxford and later Cambridge. Like many of his generation, he served on the front during the First World War, and the experience reinforced his atheism and pessimism. However, as he relates in Surprised by Joy, between 1929 and 1931, he gradually regained his faith, partly thanks to conversations with J.R.R. Tolkien. From then on, his Christian faith increasingly informs his writings.

In this episopde, Fr. Michael Ward explains his pick of five books by Lewis and will take us through the author’s works.

Fr. Michael Ward is a priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. An associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, he is also Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. His books include Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press, 2008) and After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man (Word on Fire Academic, 2021).

His five recommended books by C.S. Lewis are:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
Miracles, A Preliminary Study (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis

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Episode 21: Gregory the Great - Interview with Dr. Thomas Humphries, Part Two

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Gregory the Great: His Place in History and Thought by F. Holmes Dudden
Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection by Carole Straw
Gregory the Great and His World by R.A. Markus

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St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) was Bishop of Rome from 590-604. The son of St. Silvia and Gordianus, a Roman patrician, he was appointed urban prefect of Rome in 573 and entered monastic life the following year. Upon his father’s death, he converted the family’s Roman villa on the Caelian Hill into the Monastery of St. Andrew, where today there is still a monastery and the Church of St. Gregory on the Caelian Hill. At that same monastery he set the precedent for the Gregorian series of Masses: the practice of having thirty Masses offered for a deceased person. In 579, Pope Pelagius II made him a deacon and sent him as papal ambassador to the imperial court in Constantinople. In 590, a few years after his return to Rome, Gregory was elected Pope. One of his most important actions as Bishop of Rome was to appoint the prior of the Monastery of St. Andrew, Augustine of Canterbury, as the head of a mission to convert the English. Through his writings, he exerted an immense influence of spirituality and ministry in the Latin Church throughout the Middle Ages and was recognised as a Doctor of the Church.

In part one of this interview, Dr. Thomas Humphries explained his pick of the five best books by St. Gregory the Great. In this second part, he looks at the best biographies of the saint and discusses his own work.

Dr. Thomas Humphries, a native of Arkansas, is Professor in the College of Arts and Science at Saint Leo University, Florida. a native of Arkansas and a life-long Roman Catholic. He holds a mandatum from the diocese of St. Petersburg and enjoys giving regular theological reflections outside of the classroom with student faith communities, parishes, and monasteries. He also volunteers with the local fire department as Chaplain and holds the rank of District Chief. He is a licensed Florida EMT and NREMT. He is the author of Ascetic Pneumatology from John Cassian to Gregory the Great (Oxford University Press) and Who is Chosen? (Wipf and Stock).

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Episode 20: Gregory the Great - Interview with Dr. Thomas Humphries, Part One

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The books recommended in this episode are:

Forty Gospel Homilies by Gregory the Great
Moral Reflections on the Book of Job (6 vols.) (vol. 1) (vol. 2) (vol. 3) (vol. 4) (vol. 5) (vol. 6) by Gregory the Great
Homilies on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel by Gregory the Great
On the Song of Songs by Gregory the Great
The Life of St. Benedict by Gregory the Great: Translation and Commentary by Terence G. Kardong OSB

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In this interview, Dr. Thomas Humphries will explain his pick of the five best books by St. Gregory the Great.

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/st-gregory-the-great/

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Episode 19: Catholicism and Liberalism in the 19th Century - Interview with Darrick Taylor

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The French Revolution ushered in the implementation of a new political philosophy, liberalism, that had been developing for several centuries, particularly during the Enlightenment. The Gospel and the Catholic Church were out as the foundation of the social order; reason, sealed off from Revelation and classical realism, was in. Churches and organised religion would be treated as private associations. Government would purportedly maximize and safeguard the individual’s freedom of conscience and choice. In short, liberalism and Catholicism stood in opposition and were on a collision course. On the one hand, liberal governments and movements in Europe and Latin America set about dismantling the remnants of Christendom, not only removing the Church’s privileges but often suppressing its legitimate freedoms and institutions as well. On the other hand, Catholic political thinkers disagreed about how the Church should respond to these radical social transformations, while the Popes tended to favour monarchies over republics. Studying the nineteenth-century conflict between Catholicism and liberalism is important for understanding the historical background of modern Catholic social teaching and some ongoing debates. In this interview, Dr. Darrick Taylor discusses his pick of the five best books on this area of Church history.

Darrick Taylor teaches Humanities at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his PhD in British History from the University of Kansas. He also produces a podcast, Controversies in Church History, which dives into important and sensitive issues in the history of the Catholic Church.

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The Church in the Age of Liberalism edited by Hubert Jedin and John Dolan
Liberalism and Tradition: Aspects of Catholic Thought in Nineteenth Century France by Bernard M. Reardon
Culture Wars: Secular-Catholic Conflict in Nineteenth Century Europe edited by Christopher Clark and Wolfram Keiser
The War Against Catholicism: the Anti-Catholic Imagination in Nineteenth Century Germany by Michael Gross
The Great Crisis in Catholic American History: 1895-1900 by Thomas T. McAvoy...and two extra recommendations...
The Religious History of Modern France by Adrien Dansette
Nineteenth-Century Europe by Michael Rapport

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/19th-century-catholicism-and-liberalism

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Episode 18: Jane Austen, Part Two - Interview with Dwight Lindley

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the finest and best-loved novelists in the English language. Catholics can learn a lot from her finely crafted character studies of Regency era gentry. They are penetrating studies of the subtleties of commonplace virtue and vice. They are also informed by Austen’s Christian faith.

In part one of this interview, Dwight Lindley picked some books to help the Catholic reader get the most out of Jane Austen (1775-1817), one of the finest and best-loved novelists in the English language. Here is the second part.

Dwight Lindley is the Barbara Longway Briggs Chair in English Literature at Hillsdale College. He has published essays and articles on Jane Austen, George Eliot, John Henry Newman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Virginia Woolf, and others. He lives in southern Michigan with his wife Emily and their nine children.

He has recommended the following books on Jane Austen.

Jane Austen's Anglicanism by Laura Mooneyham White
A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections by J. E. Austen-Leigh
Jane Austen and Her Art by Mary Lascelles

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Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/jane-austen-ii/

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Episode 17: Catholic Education - Interview with R. Jared Staudt

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Most people care about education, but those who are not committed Catholics are likely to take a very different view from the Church when it comes to defining the stages and setting of education. In this interview, R. Jared Staudt explain the books that he believes will help us understand the nature and situation of Catholic education.

Dr. R. Jared Staudt specializes in systematic theology, the evangelization of culture, catechesis, Catholic education, Church history, and Thomas Aquinas. He has taught at the Augustine Institute since 2009, teaching part-time since 2014. He has also served as the director of the Catholic Studies Program at the University of Mary, director of religious education in two parishes, co-founder of two high schools, as associate superintendent for Mission and Formation at the Archdiocese of Denver. He is currently Director of Content for Exodus 90, a ninety-day spiritual exercise for men.

Dr. Staudt's books include The Priority of God: The Virtue of Religion in Catholic Theology (Emmaus Academic), Restoring Humanity: Essays on the Evangelization of Culture (Divine Providence, 2020), Renewing Catholic Schools: How to Regain a Catholic Vision in a Secular Age (editor, Catholic Education Press, 2020), The Beer Option: Brewing a Catholic Culture Yesterday & Today (Angelico, 2018), and How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization (TAN Books).

His recommended books on Catholic education are:

A Reason Open to God: On Universities, Education, and Culture by Pope Benedict XVI
The Crisis of Western Education by Christopher Dawson
John Senior and the Restoration of Realism by Francis Bethel OSB
Beauty for Truth's Sake: On the Re-enchantment of Education by Stratford Caldecott
Renewing the Mind: A Reader in the Philosophy of Catholic Education by Michael Gross

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Read the interview at https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/catholic-education/

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Episode 16: Henri de Lubac (Part Two) - Interview with David Grummet

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 07:00:00 +0000

This episode is part two of an interview in which Dr. David Grumett explained his pick of the five best books for those interested in reading de Lubac. In this second part of the interview, he discusses some further recommended readings.

The Discovery of God by Henri de Lubac
The Motherhood of the Church by Henri de Lubac

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Henri de Lubac SJ (1896-1991) was a major influence on the Second Vatican Council and on theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger, with whom he founded the journal Communio. In 1942, he and some fellow Jesuits founded Sources chrétiennes, a series that publishes the original text of patristic and medieval Christian writings alongside a French translation. He thereby stimulated within Catholic theology a return to its sources. Putting this ressourcement into practice in his own works, he argued that the Church should retrieve the patristic understanding of the Eucharist, the Church, creation, grace, and Scripture. In 1983, Pope John Paul II created him a cardinal.

In part one of this interview, Dr. David Grumett explained his pick of the five best books for those interested in reading de Lubac. In this second part of the interview, he discusses some further recommended readings and aspects of de Lubac's theology.

David Grumett is senior lecturer in theology and ethics in the University of Edinburgh. He has recently published Henri de Lubac and the Shaping of Modern Theology: A Reader with Ignatius Press.

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Episode 15: The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement - Interview with Dr. Alan Schreck - Part One

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000

One of the most celebrated passages in St. Paul’s epistles regards the regulation of the various charisms and manifestations of the Spirit that characterise the church of Corinth (1Cor 12). He insists that they exist to build up Christ’s body, the Church, and should be exercised to this end alone. The charisms he lists include faith, the utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, the gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues. In the subsequent centuries, many of these manifestations of the Spirit have become less common, if not rare. However, during the twentieth century they have become a central feature of some Christian communities, first in Protestant Pentecostalism, and since the 1960s, in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement.

Thanks to the Charismatic Renewal, many Catholics have converted and grown in their practice of the faith. Pope Paul VI and his successors have recognised its authenticity, while also taking measures and issuing guidelines to safeguard the Catholic identity of charismatic communities.

In this episode, Dr. Alan Schreck explains the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Dr. Alan Schreck has been a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville since 1978. He specializes in Church history and renewal, St. Francis of Assisi, Catholic doctrine and apologetics, pneumatology, ecclesiology, the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and of Pope St. John Paul II. He has authored numerous books, including several on the Holy Spirit and the Catholic charismatic renewal movement: Your Life in the Holy Spirit (Word Among Us Press); The Gift: Discovering the Holy Spirit in Catholic Tradition (Paraclete Press); A Mighty Current of Grace: The Story of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. 

His recommended books are:

A Mighty Current of Grace: The Story of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal by Alan Schrek
As by a New Pentecost: The Dramatic Beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal by Patti Gallagher Mansfield
Let the Fire Fall by Michael Scanlon T.O.R. and James Manney
Baptism in the Holy Spirit by International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services: Doctrinal Commission
Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator by Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap

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Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/catholic-charismatic-renewal/⁠

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Episode 14: Cervantes - Interview with Michael J. McGrath

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is widely considered to be the finest writer in the Spanish language. Many deem his Don Quixote (pt 1, 1605, pt 2, 1615) the first and greatest modern novel. Forced to leave Madrid after wounding a man in a duel, he moved to Rome to serve under Card. Giulio Aquaviva. He was seriously wounded while commanding a skiff in the Battle of Lepanto and ended up spending five years in captivity when taken hostage by Ottoman corsairs. After regaining his freedom, for years he struggled to make a living. A writer of plays and poetry, he is best remembered for his novels and short stories: La Galatea, Exemplary Stories, The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda, but above all, The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha.

In this interview, Prof. Michael J. McGrath will explain his pick of the best books on Cervantes and his work, and whether there is more spiritual depth than meets the eye to the escapades and musings of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Michael J. McGrath is a Professor of Spanish at Georgia Southern University and a corresponding fellow of the San Quirce Royal Academy of History and Art in Segovia, Spain. His research focuses on early modern Spanish life and literature, with special emphasis on cultural studies, the comedia, Don Quixote, and intellectual history. He is the author of more than seventy publications, including Don Quixote and Catholicism: Rereading Cervantine Spirituality, and the first English translation of Spanish priest Ruy López's chess treatise from 1561 titled The Art of the Game of Chess.

His recommended books are:

The Sanctification of Don Quixote: From Hidalgo to Priest by Eric J. Ziolkowski
"Incarnation in Don Quixote" in An Idea of History: Selected Essays of Américo Castro by Américo Castro
Grotesque Purgatory: A Study of Cervantes's Don Quixote, Part II by Henry Sullivan
Don Quixote and Catholicism: Rereading Cervantine Spirituality by Michael J. McGrath
Cervantes by Jean Canavaggio

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Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/miguel-de-cervantes/

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Episode 13: Bioethics - Interview with Fr. Michael Baggot

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Over the last fifty years, it has become customary to frame moral questions surrounding medicine and the treatment of all forms of life under the rubric of "bioethics". The rapid development of modern technology opens new possibilities and, with them, a whole range of difficult moral issues. At the same time, many in today's increasingly secularized society question or reject traditional Christian teachings on the sanctity of human life. Indeed, Catholics find themselves defending the gospel of life in an often hostile environment. Frequently accused of attempting to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of society, they must also show that the Church's moral teaching on bioethical issues is a matter of right reason and not just Revelation.

In this episode Fr. Michael Baggot LC presents some of the best books for studying and understanding Catholic bioethics.

Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, Second Edition by Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco
Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life by William E. May
Catholic Bioethics for a New Millennium by Bishop Anthony Fisher
Personalist Bioethics: Foundations and Applications by Elio Sgreccia
The Gospe of Life (Evangelium Vitae) by John Paul II

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Episode 12: Fénelon - Interview with Ryan Patrick Hanley

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000

François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651-1715) was a noted bishop and writer. In 1689, the learned, pious, and zealous priest was appointed tutor of the Duke of Burgundy, the second in line to the French throne. In 1696, he was named bishop of Cambrai. However, he was suspected of holding heretical views on prayer and the spiritual life. Though a supporter of Jeanne Guyon, he submitted along with her to the Articles d’Issy, in which the French bishops condemned some of the spiritual doctrines she was alleged to hold. However, he refused to sign Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet’s explanation of those articles. He replied with a work of his own, An Explanation of the Maxims of the Saints. This led to his removal as tutor to the king’s grandson and a papal brief condemning certain propositions of his book. However, the Bishop of Cambrai continued to be one of the major intellectual figures of the period throughout Europe, known for his writings on the spiritual life, political philosophy, and education.

Ryan Patrick Hanley, Professor of Political Science at Boston College, will take us through his pick of the five best books by or on Fénelon. Prior to joining the faculty at Boston College, Prof. Hanley was the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, and held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. A specialist on the political philosophy of the Enlightenment period, he is the author of The Political Philosophy of Fénelon, and a companion translation volume, Fénelon: Moral and Political Writings, both of which are published by Oxford University Press.

Telemachus by François Fénelon, translated Tobias Smollett, revised by Patrick Riley
Maxims of the Saints by François Fénelon
Letters of Love and Counsel by François Fénelon, translated by John McEwen, edited by Thomas Merton
Fénelon: Moral and Political Writings (also available for Kindle) by François Fénelon, translated by Ryan Patrick Hanley
Francois Fénelon: A Biography (also available for Kindle) by Peter Gorday...and for the bonus recommendation...
Le pur amour. De Platon à Lacan by Jacques Le Brun

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Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/francois-fenelon/

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Episode 11: Icons - Interview with Aidan Hart

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Aidan Hart has been a professional icon painter and carver for forty years, with works in over twenty-five countries of the world, including with the Pope and other Patriarchs. An ordained Reader of the Orthodox Church, he is a frequent speaker at conferences and churches and has been on numerous TV and radio programmes. He teaches a three-year part-time course in icon painting for The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Art. He has published Festal Icons (2022), Icons in the Modern World: Beauty Spirit Matter (2014), and Techniques of Icon and Wall Painting (2011), all published by Gracewing.

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Three Treatises on the Divine Images by St. John of Damascus
On the Holy Icons by St. Theodore the Studite
The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty by Paul Evdokimov
Icons in the Western Church: Toward a More Sacramental Encounter (also available as Kindle) by Jeana Visel OSB
Icons in the Modern World: Beauty, Spirit, Matter by Aidan Hart

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Episode 10: The Gospel According to John - Interview with Prof. William M. Wright IV

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000

The Fourth Gospel, attributed to the apostle John, focuses more than the other three on Christ’s divinity and the three divine persons. For this reason, the Greek tradition calls St. John the Theologian. It differs significantly in style and structure from the other Gospels and has always been one of the most closely read and studied books of the Bible.

In this interview, Dr. William M. Wright IV explains his pick of five books that can help us unlock the riches of the Gospel of St. John.

Dr. William Wright is Professor at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquense University. He is a specialist in New Testament studies with special focus on the Johannine writings. He is the author of numerous articles and several books: Rhetoric and Theology: Figural Reading of John 9 (Walter de Gruyter, 2009); The Bible and Catholic Ressourcement: Essays in Scripture and Theology (Emmaus Academic, 2019); and, with Francis Martin, The Gospel of John (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) (Baker Academic, 2015) and Encountering the Living God in Scripture: Theological and Philosophical Principles for Interpretation (Baker Academic, 2019). He has been elected to the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and serves on the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Ecumenical Dialogue. He is also a Lay Dominican.

The Gospel According to John (vol. 1) (vol 2) by Raymond E. Brown SS
The Hour of Jesus: The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus According to John by Ignace de la Potterie SJ
The Theology of the Gospel of John by D. Moody Smith
The New Interpreter's® Bible Commentary Volume VIII: Luke and John by R. Alan Culpepper and Gail R. O'Day
John: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators. edited by Bryan A. Stewart and Michael A. Thomas...and as a supplementary recommendation...
Saint Jean : Maître spirituel by Donatien Mollat SJ

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Episode 9: The Ethics of War - Interview with Gregory Reichberg

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000

In a letter written around 412 AD, St. Augustine notes that, “If Christian teaching condemned all warfare, then the soldiers in the gospel who were seeking guidance about their security would have been told to throw away their weapons and withdraw entirely from the army.” At the same time, he stresses that warfare is legitimate if and only if it is waged for the sake of peace and in a moral way. Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has matured its teaching on the ethics of warfare. Some may wonder, though, whether that teaching is still valid in a world where the military marshals advanced technology to produce arsenals of immensely destructive weaponry. In this episode, Prof. Gregory Reichberg, a specialist in military ethics, explains his pick of the five best books on the ethics of warfare.

A philosopher by training (with a Ph.D. from Emory University), Gregory Reichberg is a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, where he writes on historical and contemporary issues in military ethics. He is the author of Thomas Aquinas on War and Peace (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and co-editor of several volumes, including The Ethics of War: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Blackwell Publishing, 2006), Religion, War, and Ethics: A Sourcebook of Textual Traditions (Cambridge U P, 2014), and Robotics, AI, and Humanity: Science, Ethics, and Policy (Springer, 2021). His articles have appeared in Catholic journals and magazines, including The Thomist, La Revue Thomiste, Nova & Vetera (English Edition), Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, Commonweal, and America Magazine. His current work focuses on artificial intelligence and its implications for military ethics.

Prof. Reichberg's recommended books on the ethics of war are:

Summa Theologiae: Volume 35, Consequences of Charity: 2a2ae. 34-46 by St. Thomas Aquinas
Vitoria: Political Writings edited by Anthony Padgen and Jeremy Lawrence
Freedom in the Modern World by Jacques Maritain
Church of the Word Incarnate, vol. 1 by Charles Journet
Fratelli tutti by Pope Francis

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Episode 8: Catholic Sacred Art - Interview with David Clayton

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000

“Very rightly the fine arts are considered to rank among the noblest activities of man's genius, and this applies especially to religious art and to its highest achievement, which is sacred art. These arts, by their very nature, are oriented toward the infinite beauty of God which they attempt in some way to portray by the work of human hands; they achieve their purpose of redounding to God's praise and glory in proportion as they are directed the more exclusively to the single aim of turning men's minds devoutly toward God.” (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, n. 122).

In this episode, David Clayton—an internationally known artist, teacher, writer, and broadcaster—has picked some of the best books on Catholic sacred art.

An Englishman educated at Oxford, David Clayton, is Provost of www.Pontifex.University, for whom he created the unique Master of Sacred Arts program. He holds the post of Artist-in Residence of Scala Foundation in Princeton, NJ. He has major commissions from churches in the US and the UK, including the Brompton Oratory in London, and has illustrated several children’s books, including God’s Covenant With You by Scott Hahn. His popular blog is thewayofbeauty.org and in addition he writes regularly for the New Liturgical Movement website. His books include: The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education, and Inspiration for Family, School, and College; Painting the Nude: The Theology of the Body and Representation of Man in Christian Art; and The Little Oratory - A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home.

His recommended books on Catholic sacred art are:

The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger
God's Human Face by Christoph Schönborn
Baroque by John Rupert Martin
Festal Icons History and Meaning by Aidan Hart
The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education, and Inspiration for Family, School, and College by David Clayton

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Episode 7: Jacques Maritain - Interview with Matthew Minerd

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) was an influential Catholic neo-scholastic philosopher and many-faceted public intellectual. Raised a Protestant, he became an agnostic, A student of the natural sciences at the Sorbonne, he became disillusioned with scientism and even entered into a suicide pact with his wife, Raïssa, to be carried out if they had not discovered a deeper meaning to life within a year. The lectures of Henri Bergson helped them find some deeper meaning to life and prompted Maritain to study philosophy. In 1906, he and his wife converted to Catholicism. The following year, he discovered St. Thomas, and would dedicate the rest of his life to promoting and applying the Aquinas’s thought. Ambassador of France to the Holy See from 1945 to 1948, he joined the Little Brothers of Jesus in 1970, three years before his death. An influence on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Second Vatican Council, and the Christian Democratic movement, he is one of the most important twentieth-century Catholic thinkers. In this episode, Prof. Matthew Minerd discusses his pick of five of Maritain’s books.

Matthew Minerd is a Ruthenian Catholic, husband, father, and a professor of philosophy and moral theology at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. His academic work has appeared in the journals Nova et Vetera, The American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Saint Anselm Journal, Lex Naturalis, Downside Review, The Review of Metaphysics, and Maritain Studies, as well in volumes published by the American Maritain Association through the Catholic University of America Press. He has served as author, translator, and/or editor for volumes published by The Catholic University of America Press, Emmaus Academic, Cluny Media, and Ascension Press. He has published academic articles and book chapters related to Maritain and is the Secretary of the American Maritain Association. For more information on his work, visit philosophicalcatholic.com

He recommends that new readers of Maritain start with the following five books.

The Angelic Doctor by Jacques Maritain
Prayer and Intelligence by Jacques and Raïssa Maritain
The Primacy of the Spiritual by Jacques Maritain
Art and Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain
The Peasant of the Garonne: An Old Layman Questions Himself about the Present Time by Jacques Maritain

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Episode 6: Henri de Lubac - Interview with David Grumett

Fri, 26 May 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Approaching de Lubac’s vast oeuvre can be daunting. Fortunately, Dr. David Grumett is here to give an overview of de Lubac and explain what you should read first.

David Grumett's recommended books are:

Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man by Henri de Lubac
The Christian Faith: An Essay on the Structure of the Apostles' Creed by Henri de Lubac
Christian Resistance to Anti-Semitism: Memories from 1940-1944 by Henri de Lubac
Scripture in the Traditionby Henri de Lubac
Meet Henri de Lubac: His Life and Work by Rudolf Voderholze

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Episode 5: Imaginative Apologetics - Interview with Holly Ordway

Fri, 19 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Apologetics consists in defending the faith by explaining the reasons for belief in Revelation. It is summed up in Saint Peter's exhortation to “always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15). However, recently, several apologists have been stressing the need to engage not just the minds but also our imagination. This strand of apologetics has been called imaginative apologetics. In this episode, Holly Ordway explains imaginative apologetics and recommends some of the best books on the subject.

Holly Ordway is the Cardinal Francis George Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute, and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is the author of Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (Word on Fire Academic, 2021). Her other books include Tales of Faith: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel through Literature (Word on Fire Institute, 2021) and Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith (Emmaus Road, 2017). She is also a Subject Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies and a published poet.

Her recommended books on imaginative apologetics are:

On Fairy-stories by J.R.R. Tolkien
Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (also available for Kindle) by Michael Ward
An Experiment in Criticism (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
An Unexpected Journal A Quarterly Journal
The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty: Art, Sanctity, and the Truth of Catholicism by Fr. John Saward

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Episode 4: The Sacraments - Interview with Roger W. Nutt

Fri, 12 May 2023 07:00:00 +0000

“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1131). To help unpack this dense paragraph and take us beyond what we learned as children during catechesis, Roger W. Nutt will take us through his pick of the five best books on the sacraments in general.

Roger W. Nutt, S.T.L., S.T.D., is Provost of Ave Maria University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the Sacraments and Christology. He co-directs the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal with Dr. Michael Dauphinais and Dr. Steven Long. His research focuses on Christology and Sacramental Theology, and especially the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the author of three books and many articles on the sacraments: Thomas Aquinas’ ‘De Unione Verbi Incarnati’ (Peeters Publishers, 2015); General Principles of Sacramental Theology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2017); and To Die is Gain: A Theological (re-)Introduction to the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick for Clergy, Laity, Caregivers, and Everyone Else (Emmaus Academic, 2022). His articles and chapters have appeared in publications such as Nova et Vetera, Gregorianum, Louvain Studies, The Thomist, Harvard Theological Review, Angelicum, Antiphon: A Journal of Liturgical Renewal, and the Oxford Handbook of the Reception of Aquinas.

His recommended books on the sacraments are:

The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition by Reginald Lynch O.P.
Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy (also available for Kindle) by Lawrence Feingold
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Card. Joseph Ratzinger
On Baptism, Against the Donatists (also available for Kindle) by St. Augustine
The Mysteries by St. Ambrose

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Episode 3: Jane Austen - Interview with Dwight Lindley

Fri, 05 May 2023 19:00:00 +0000

Arguably, we can learn a lot from Jane Austen's finely crafted character studies of Regency era gentry. They are penetrating studies of the subtleties of commonplace virtue and vice. They are also informed by Austen’s Christian faith.

Dwight Lindley has picked some books to help the Catholic reader get the most out of Jane Austen (1775-1817), one of the finest and best-loved novelists in the English language.

His recommended books are:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage by B.C. Southam
Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin

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Episode 2: The Early Church Fathers - Interview with Mike Aquilina

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000

The Fathers of the Church are the saintly bishops and priests of the first centuries who bear witness to the apostolic tradition and hand it on in their writings and ministry. They identify the canon of Scripture, exemplify the principles of biblical interpretation, shape the early liturgies, compose the creeds, define the rule of faith, and lay the foundations of canon law and the Church’s pastoral activity. Reading them is indispensable for a Catholic education. Perhaps the Fathers of the first two centuries are the best place to start. They are called the Apostolic Fathers because they learnt the faith from the Apostles or their immediate successors. Mike Aquilina has written widely on the Fathers of the Church and will share his pick of the best books on the Apostolic Fathers.

Mike Aquilina is author of more than sixty books, including The Fathers of the Church and The Mass of the Early Christians. He is executive vice-president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He also serves as a contributing editor of Angelus News and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History series published by Ave Maria Press. He hosts the “Way of the Fathers” podcast for Catholic Culture. He has co-hosted eleven television series on EWTN. Aquilina is also a poet and songwriter, whose works have been recorded by Dion, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Amy Grant, Bruce Springsteen, and others.

Mike Aquilina's recommeded books on the early Church Fathers are:

Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words(also available for Kindle) by Rod Bennett
The Early Church (33–313): St. Peter, the Apostles, and Martyrs(also available for Kindle) by James L. Papandrea
The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert L. Wilken
The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark
We Look for a Kingdom: The Everyday Lives of the Early Christians(also available for Kindle) by Carl J. Sommer
Early Christian Writing: The Apostolic Fathers (also availble for Kindle) by Andrew Louth

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Episode 1: Dr. John Bergsma - The Pentateuch

Sat, 22 Apr 2023 13:36:00 +0000

The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah, Hebrew for law or instruction. They are also called the Pentateuch, which is Greek for five scrolls. They are at the heart of Judaism. For Christians they are a major part of the Word of God. They tell the story God’s people from the creation of the world until its arrival under Moses to the promised land. Much of that story is familiar to us, but understanding the Pentateuch can still be challenging for modern readers. In this interview, Dr. John Bergsma will explain his pick of the books that can guide us through the Pentateuch.

Dr. John Bergsma is a Full Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Steubenville, Ohio. He served as a Protestant pastor for four years before entering the Catholic Church in 2001. He specializes in the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among his various books are Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History and A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament (co-authored with Brant Pitre).

His recommended books are

Pentateuch as Narrative by John Sailhamer
The Old Testament of the Old Testament by R.W. Moberly
Murmuring Against Moses by Jeff Morrow and John Bergsma
A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn
The Book of the Torah by Thomas W. Mann

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Five Books for Catholics - Trailer

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 08:10:00 +0000

Welcome to the Five Books for Catholics podcast, where experts explain their pick of five outstanding

books on an aspect of Catholic life, doctrine, or culture.

Visit the website at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com