Great Links
For the Church Worldwide — Church News, Documents, Events.
The Vatican Website www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
For the Church at Home — The American Church, Social-Political-Moral Issues
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops Website www.usccb.org/index.shtml
For the Church in print — What exactly do we believe and teach?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church — www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/ccc.html
For the legacy of both the holy and the brilliant....
Fathers and Doctors, the Theologians, the Saints
The Catholic Encyclopedia (most articles)
Addresses for the top Catholic Websites — in English, Spanish, French...
www.newadvent.org
Personal Spirituality
For daily prayer and inspiration
From Jesuit Media Initiatives
www.pray-as-you-go.org
On screen meditations, music & video, day-by-day
www.sacredspace.ie
Prayer and Prayer methods
www.churchresources.info/pray
Daily Scripture Readings
www.usccb.org/nab
Catholic Prayers and Devotions
www.americancatholic.org
Contemplative Prayer (The Trapists)
www.contemplativeprayer.net
Daily prayer for Ordinary Lives
www.prayingeachday.org
Daily Devotions (The Word Among Us Magazine)
wau.org/meditations/current
The Liturgy of the Hours
www.salvationhistory.com/library/prayer/hours.cfm
www.usccb.org/liturgy/current/2009cal.pdf [pdf]
Newman Reference Library
BMC — Room 101, Aelwyd on Cambrian Row
HC — Outside Whitehall 208
SC — Outside Bond 200
| Church History | Theology | DVDs |
| Scripture | The Saints | |
| Liturgy | Spirituality |
Church History
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
Thomas E. Woods
Regnery Publishing, Inc. 2005
OSV Encyclopedia of Catholic History
Matthew Bunson
Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2004
Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church
H.W. Crocker
Three Rivers Press, 2003
The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam
Jonathan Riley-Smith
Columbia University Press, 2008
[A concise tracing of the events of the 11th c. and up to the 18th... for the perspective on Catholic-Islamic interaction today]
Theology
A Concise Dictionary of Theology
Gerald O. Collins and Edward F. Farrugia
Paulist Press, 2000
Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy and the Splendor of the Truth
Richard John Neuhaus
Basic Books, 2006
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Edition)
The Holy See
John Paul II
Doubleday, 2004
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
USCCB, 2005
Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary [BCM]
James Bretzke, SJ
Liturgical Press, 2003
[Translations and brief explanations of a multitude of Latin phreases. Even browsing it give you a little taste of theology]
Good News About Sex and Marriage — Answers to Your Honest Questions about Catholic Teaching
Christopher West
Charis, 2000
[This is the guy who has done the monumental work of bringing John Paul II's Theology of the Body into mainstream discussion and practice.]
John Henry Newman: A View of Catholic Faith for the New Millennium
John R. Connolly
Rowman & Littlefield, 2005
Newman 101: An Introduction to the Life and Philosophy of John Cardinal Newman
Roderick Strange,
Christian Classics, 2008
Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn't
Stephen Prothero
Harper, 2000
The Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church
Sarah Butler, MSBT
Hillenbrand Books, 2007
[A theologian who sought to advance the understanding of women's ordinations and found herself coming to the very position she wanted to challenge.]
Theology of the Body Explained. Commentary of John Paul II: Man and Woman He Created Them
Christopher West
Pauline Books, 2007
Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions
Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI)
Ignatius Press, 2004
Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations
Costello Publishing, 1996
What Catholics Really Believe — Setting the Record Straight
52 Answers to Common Misconceptions About the Catholic Faith
Karl Keating
Ignantius Press, 1995
Scripture
The Dictionary of the Bible
John L. McKenzie
Touchstone, 1995
[One of America's prominent Biblical Scholars]
An Introduction to the New Testament [Anchor Bible Reference Library]
Raymond E. Brown
Doubleday, 1997
[America's premier and most prolific Biblical Scholar]
101 Questions and Answers on the Bible
Raymond E Brown
Paulist Press, 1990
The Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas
Jean-Pierre Isbouts
National Geographic, 2007
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary
Rayomd E. Brown (ed)
Prentice Hall, 1989
[If it's in the Bible, it's in this commentary]
The Jerusalem Bible
Alexander Jones (ed)
Doubleday, 2000
[The most literary of Catholic English translations]
Liturgy
The Celebration of the Eucharist
The Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation
Enrico Mazza
Liturgical Press, 1999
The Church at Prayer: The Liturgy and Time
A.C. Martimort
Liturgical Press, 1986
The Church at Prayer: The Sacraments
A.C. Martimort
Liturgical Press, 1987
The Saints
The Encyclopedia of Saints
Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Checkmark Books (Facts on File), 2001
Mary in the New Testament
A Collaborative Assessment by Protestant and Roman Catholic Scholars
Raymond E. Brown (ed)
Fortress Press, 1978
Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church-
Documents on the Blessed Virgin Mary
Pauline Books and Media, 2000
Spirituality
Dorothy Day — Writings from Commonweal [BMC]
Patrick Jordan (ed)
Liturgical Press, 2000
[38 essays from 1929 thru 1973 on topics of spirituality and social responsibility published in Commonweal Magazine]
Hildegard of Bingen: The Scivias [BMC]
Classics of Western Spirituality Series
Transl. Sr. Columba Hart, Jane Bishop
Paulist Press, 1990
[Writings of the 12th c. German nun, mystic, prophet and political moralist]
Hildegard of Bingen: Selected Writings [BMC]
Mark Atherton
Penguin, 2001
Holy the Firm
Annie Dillard
Harper Collins, 1977
[Meditations by a Pulitzer Prize winning author on life, time, reality and the presence of God. She wrote the book while living alone on Puget Sound where she says 'I came to study hard things — rock mountains and salt sea — and to temper my spirit on their edges. "Teach me thy ways, O Lord" is, like all prayers, a rash one, and one I cannot but recommend.']
Jesus of Nazareth
Pope Benedict XVI
Random House/Doubleday, 2007
[The first of a proposed two volume work; vol. 1 dealing with biblical and theological topics presented in the ministry of Jesus up to the Transfiguration.]
Movies That Matter: Reading Film through the Lens of Faith [HC]
Richard Leonard, SJ
Loyola Press, 2006
On Conscience
Benedict XVI
Ignatius Press, 2007
[Two essays on the concept and role of Conscience in the making of moral choices]
Perfect Intimacy [BMC]
Lili Almog
Powerhouse Books, 2006
[A striking phot pictorial of contemplative life in a Carmelite convent. A moving essay as commentary.]
St. Benedict's Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday Benedictine Living [BMC]
Jane Tomaine
Morehouse, 2005
[Dr. Tomaine is an Episcopal priest, but well versed in the Rule of St. Benedict. This is a good introduction to the importance of St. Benedict's legacy for all Christians, not just monks. If you are looking for some concrete ideas of Lent, this book has wonderful exercises in it. For example: how to read Scripture meditatively, in the tradition of Lectio Divina.]
Spiritual Direction and Meditation [BMC]
Thomas Merton
Liturgical Press, 1980
[Reflections on some of the practical disciplines of prayer by one of the most widely read of the 20th century's spiritual authors.]
The Divine Milieu
Pierre Tielhard DeChardin
Harper & Row, 1960
[Chardin's influential spiritual guidebook — the vision of a priest-anthropologist revealing the Kingdom of Christ growing in us and about us toward its perfection. Science and Faith embrace]
DVD Library
Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?
[Critical examination of the data — panel of experts in biblical theology and historical reconstruction.]
Entertaining Angels — The Dorothy Day Story
[Bio of one of the most remarkable Catholic women of the 20th c. — defining and living the gospel of service to the poor and evangelical pacifism][Dramatized biography of the saints of Assisi whose lives have captivated the world with the message of simplicity and trust in God]
Francis and Clare of Assisi
[The founders of the Francisan spiritual dynamic that renewed the Church in the 12th & 13th century]
Lost Gospels or False Gospels: The truth about the 'Other Gospels' and Early Christianity.
[The work of a team of noted Biblical scholars at bringing the real nature of the Gnostic writings to light... and their use by such as Dan Brown in concocting narratives counter to the Church's Scriptural and 2nd century Faith.]
The Apostolic Fathers — Handing On the Faith.
[The critical generation — disciples of The Twelve first put the Tradition from Jesus into teachable formulae and creeds].
The Question of God
[Dramatized debate between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. PBS Home Video]
