Spirituality

In 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized the great 20th century visionary of Divine Mercy, Sister Faustina Kowalska, and proclaimed the Sunday after Easter to be celebrated annually as Divine Mercy Sunday. In 2006, Pope Benedict stressed that Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion, but an integral dimension of Christian faith and prayer. Now Pope Francis has proclaimed an extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will begin on December 8, 2015. These three Popes have made it very clear that Divine Mercy is a major part of the Christian faith, and now this powerful new book reveals why.

Best-selling author Vinny Flynn continues his popular 7 Secrets series with a book that brings him back to his roots. Vinny was one of the original editors of the official English edition of the actual Diary of St. Faustina, and he has written and edited a vast number of the Divine Mercy materials that are used today.

Through his secrets of Divine Mercy, Vinny shows how Divine Mercy is not just another worthy private devotion; it is the key devotion, the umbrella devotion over everything else. Every other devotion in the Church, every ritual, every activity, every teaching is under that umbrella of Divine Mercy. It's all there to help us understand and enter into Divine Mercy. He shows us how everything in our lives can become more meaningful, more powerful, more life-changing once we really embrace the gift of Divine Mercy -- the overflow of love from the Holy Trinity.

In this compelling and timely book, Flynn draws from Scripture, the teachings of the Church, and the Diary of St. Faustina to not only reveal the heart of Divine Mercy, but to offer you an invitation and a road map so that this mercy can transform your life.

If you're not yet convinced of the impact Divine Mercy can have on your life, if you've never heard of this message and devotion, or if you're curious to learn more about it, this book is perfect for you. It shows us all how to respond to the call of Pope Francis to live lives shaped by mercy, and benefit greatly from the Year of Mercy.

From Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the renowned exorcist in Rome, comes this powerful, eye-opening book on the deadly antics of Satan and his fallen angels, as well as spiritual remedies for each.

These pages provide a basic orientation in dark phenomena, succinctly explaining Catholic doctrine on the fallen angels and the innumerable manifestations. Among the many questions Fr. Amorth answers in this book are:

Melanie Rigney uses stories of the saints, our sisters in faith, to help readers grow in their spiritual lives. Some of these saints are familiar--Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Bernadette of Lourdes, Elizabeth Ann Seton--while others are not so well known--Maria Karlowska, Claudine Thevenet, Josephine Bakhita, Elizabeth of Portugal. They come from different places and different times, creating an intimate portrait of the universal Church. Yet the lives of each of these women illustrate the qualities of the Beatitudes--what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls "the heart of Jesus's preaching" (1716)--in a down-to-earth and human way. Through the lives of these exemplary women saints and the qualities they espouse--meekness, mourning, poverty of spirit, justice, mercy, purity of heart, peace, righteousness--women will find ways to live more fully the Gospel values of Christian life.

Testifying to the life-changing and joy-giving power of the sacraments, Catholic author Nancy Jo Sullivan shares how moments in her life and that of her late daughter Sarah--who had Down syndrome--unexpectedly triggered a renewed faith and deeper relationship with God and others.

With startling and courageous clarity, Nancy Jo Sullivan recalls the journey that led her to renew and reclaim the faith of her childhood that had gone dormant until she experienced it through the eyes of Sarah, her child with Down syndrome. Her artfully told story challenges us to see the sacraments anew, deepening our own faith and reminding us of the beauty in each sacrament.

Small events in Sarah's life--in which her daughter's vision and voice helped those around her to realize the preciousness of their life and faith--trigger Sullivan's reflections on moments in her own life and on the sacraments. Childhood memories of almost drowning surface at Sarah's baptism, as Sullivan feels the same powerlessness at the thought of raising her disabled daughter that she felt when she thrashed desperately in the water. Through the words of the priest as he pours the baptismal waters on Sarah, Sullivan realized how Baptism draws us from the overwhelming waters in our life to the light of life with God. Our journey with Sullivan continues through the sacraments until the end of Sarah's life, when memories of Sullivan's father's fatal heart attack collide with her internal debate of whether it is time for Sarah to receive the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Sullivan realizes that this sacrament, so often associated with death, is really meant to give us life and hope.

Couriers of Grace includes an appendix with meditations and reflection questions for personal or group study.

In the stories of famous people like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Dutch Shultz, Patricia Neal, Oscar Wilde, and more -- we come to learn that a deathbed conversion is not a loophole, or an unfair advantage. It is the mercy of God at work.

Once we have encountered the Lord Jesus, how do we keep growing in Christ? How do we let the Lord mold us and make us into missionary disciples capable of spreading the gospel? Instead of just trying to get into heaven, how do we live the life of heaven now so that we can become saints?

In this book, Michigan pastor Fr. John Riccardo helps us dive into the Scriptures so that we can apply them to our daily lives. In his inspiring and incisive way, Fr. Riccardo addresses the obstacles we all face in becoming mature disciples. How do we learn to forgive? How do we combat fear and understand suffering? How do we worship the Lord, love others as Christ loves us, and fully surrender our lives to God? If you've enjoyed Fr. Riccardo's gifts of teaching and preaching through his broadcasts and podcasts, this book is for you!

God intends nothing less than sainthood for you!

The early Church held that all believers could achieve holiness. Over time, this conviction was largely forgotten. Sainthood seemed to be an honor only intended for a select few among the priests and religious.

Eric Sammons tells how twentieth century Spanish priest and canonized saint Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, recovered the message of the universal call to holiness. Declared the saint of ordinary life by Pope John Paul II, St. Josemaria developed a spirituality directed toward the sanctity of every man and woman. His legacy is the belief that each of us can, by God's grace, achieve holiness through the course of our ordinary life and work.

The heart of Sammons' practical guide to the spiritual life is a detailed examination of the steps in St. Josemaria's thoughtful plan for building a saintly life in spite of your hectic work and home life in a world filled with distractions and temptations.

The Imitation of Christ, a deeply spiritual book by Thomas à Kempis, is the one book second only to the Bible in popularity among Catholics. Throughout this book, readers will find themselves experiencing the peace and wisdom that have comforted believers from all corners of the world. The pages of this consoling guide show readers how better to live the life of a Christian by closely following Christ's example. The Imitation of Christ will help to enable those seeking guidance in the midst of today's challenges to find encouragement to imitate Christ in many of life's situations.

The text is enhanced by illustrations throughout, including classic full-color images of the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary and the 14 Stations of the Cross.

In an exceptional combination of one of the most ancient forms of Scripture study with the history, theology, and scriptural perspective of prayer in Scripture, Stephen Binz leads us on an incredible journey of enlightenment and appreciation.

Lectio divina, the ancient practice of Scripture immersion, is at the heart of this process. Combined with the tradition and scholarship of the Church, it explores complex topics with sequential steps of study, meditation, and internalization. Specifically, every chapter leads you forward through a sequence of:

---Listening -Reading Scripture with expectancy, trusting that God will speak His Word to us through it
---Understanding-Seeking to comprehend the meaning of the text, encountering God there and being changed by that encounter
--Reflecting-Linking the truth of the Scriptures to the experience of faith in the world in which we live
--Praying-A dialogue with God: we listen to God, then we respond in prayer
---Acting-After prayerfully listening to God through a passage of Scripture, we should be inspired to make a difference in the way we live

The Lectio Divina Bible Study series is suitable for parish, small group, or individual use.

Recalling his own Holy Land pilgrimage experience, Monsignor Peter Vaghi explores three significant events in the life of the early Church that can be traced back to the Upper Room in Jerusalem (sometimes called the "Cenacle") in order to guide us to a deeper appreciation and understanding of living the Christian life in prayer, worship and service.
Each of the book's three parts is dedicated to one of these key moments in the history of our faith: the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, the post-resurrection appearances of Christ to his followers, and the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles at Pentecost.

The walk with the Lord is a continued encounter with Him in the power of Holy Spirit. In Meeting God in the Upper Room, Monsignor Vaghi captures the various integral ways in which we continue in our day to meet the Risen Lord--in the sacraments; in our prayer lives; in our profession of Easter faith; in our works of charity and service; in our devotion to Mary, Mother of the Church and our Mother; in the experience of the gifts of the Holy Spirit; in the call to evangelize and our efforts to evangelize in our own day--in our homes, workplaces, places of leisure, in our travel. All of these make up the rich and continued spiritual legacy of that Upper Room and what happened there.

In writing about the Upper Room, Monsignor Vaghi tells of not just its historical significance, but its profound spiritual significance. It was there that Christ and his disciples retreated from the world in order to teach and learn, respectively, how they could carry on the faith. And as we set aside time to enter the "Upper Room" of our own life, we discover that Jesus is waiting to meet us there as well.

The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.

We all experience moments of Divine Grace from time to time, and the more we are focused on the Divine Creator, the more we will notice them. These true personal stories will amaze, inspire and comfort you with the certainty that there is a loving, personal God at work in our lives. The stories tell of healings, divine interventions and answered prayers. They show that God is alive and active in our world today, that we can access His power, and that we can therefore live with hope and confidence. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Everyday Catholicism books will encourage, uplift and recharge the faith of Catholics, and all readers, no matter where you are in your faith journey.