Showing results by publisher "Sophia Institute Press" in All Categories

For six years, before becoming a well-regarded retreat master, Fr. Wayne Sattler lived as a diocesan hermit in a one-room cabin on an abandoned farmstead in rural North Dakota, striving to avail himself of the mystery of what God can do in prayer, clinging to the wisdom of the sixteenth-century Carmelite saints John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila as his trusted guides.

Many books on Purgatory reflect upon what you can do to help the Holy Souls suffering there. But this informative and reassuring book offers practical tips on what you can do to avoid the pains of Purgatory yourself. And the good news is, you don’t have to endure martyrdom; you just have to grow in virtue. Father Martin Jugie clarifies the truth about the Church’s teaching on Purgatory and explains why it isn’t enough simply to strive to avoid Hell. You must expiate for your sins now—and Fr. Jugie spells out how.

Decades before Vatican II called for the sanctification of the laity, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity prophetically claimed that holiness is not exclusively the domain of priests and nuns but is truly for everyone. God created the human soul to be a special channel of His grace on earth and to serve as a unique image of His love. Few saints have spoken to hearts as acutely as St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, who has helped even the busiest, weariest, and most distracted of us create an inner chamber within our souls where we can rest in God’s peace and love.

Though they escape the notice of many, stunning miracles of healing take place each and every day at Our Lady’s Grotto in Lourdes, France. Inexplicable, biblical-like healings of body, mind, and spirit leave visitors with the gifts of peace and renewed faith. Marlene Watkins recounts twenty astounding true stories of miracles at Lourdes, including her own watershed healing, which inspired her to establish Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers and become its first volunteer.

Some Christians decry the deism of our Founding Fathers, claiming that outright anti-Christian principles lie at the heart of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, crippling from birth our beloved republic. Here philosopher Timothy Gordon forcefully disagrees, arguing that while anti-Catholic bias kept them from admitting their reliance on Aristotle, Aquinas, and the early Jesuits, our Protestant and Enlightenment Founding Fathers secretly held Catholic views about politics and nature.

What is the point of faith, and, in particular, of the Catholic faith? Written in a welcoming style, this straightforward book provides a clear, compelling answer to that question. As such, it s meant for non-Catholics who are curious about the Catholic faith, for cradle Catholics who may never have really understood the faith, and for longtime Catholics who've begun to question the faith and may even be thinking of leaving it.

With St. Teresa of Avila’s masterpiece The Interior Castle as his guide, best-selling author Dan Burke takes you on an illuminating journey through the seven levels of spiritual progress, explaining what God is accomplishing within your soul at each stage, as well as the finely tailored demonic strategies applied to throw you off your path. You’ll learn how the devil is as active in your prayer life as you are, and how the saints were able to counter Satan as he adapted his schemes to correspond with where they were on their spiritual journeys.

In this audiobook, Jesse Romero and Paul Zucarelli present hard evidence and challenge you to disprove the facts. They present proof as to why Jesus Christ established the Church and what we are supposed to do while we await the inevitable — the death of our bodies.

Meet a modern-day Joan of Arc. Whether in scrubs, camouflage, or a religious habit, Sr. Dede Byrne, in her threefold calling as a professed religious sister, renowned surgeon, and U.S. Army colonel, inspire us to both virtue and action.

Unlock the secret of your personality and learn how to be a better spouse, parent, friend, & Christian! All of us are born with distinct personality traits. Some of us live for crowds and parties; others seek solitude and time for quiet reflection. Some of us are naturally pushy, while others are content just to get along. We don't pick and choose these traits; they're just part of the way we're made.

In Flee from Heresy, Bishop Athanasius Schneider — raised among persecuted Catholics in the Soviet Union — offers a systematic treatment of more than 130 doctrinal errors, from ancient times down to our own day, along with English translations of the Church’s major anti-heresy documents of the past two centuries.

As many self-help gurus will tell you, we are the summation of our daily habits. What has so far been missing is a comprehensive guide to which habits are most valuable to us and how they work together as a system, for the best impact on our lives. This invaluable book by Dr. Andrew Abela shows how attaining virtue requires not a herculean effort but, rather, steady daily practice, which is accessible to all. He explains how the genius of a thirteenth-century philosopher-monk codified the super habits into a veritable human operating system, one that’s more relevant today than ever.

This audiobook tells the surprisingly exciting tale of Justin of Neapolis, known today as St. Justin Martyr and his encounters with the vigorous early heresies that threatened to paralyze the young Church just as she was struggling to her feet. Scripture Wars is an inspiring, true-life testimony to our Father's providence, a tale that has the power to strengthen the faith of Catholics even today, 18 centuries later.

"No!" cries author Kevin Wells in this compelling audiobook that showcase how heroic priests can faithfully tread the narrow path of holy self-sacrifice first blazed by the apostles themselves. From scores of insightful interviews with modern priests, exorcists, seminary formators, and even disillusioned laity, Wells here draws forth a blueprint for priestly holiness that can once again fill our church with priests abounding with sincere, supernatural faith, on fire with God's love, and moved by the irresistible impulse to save souls, no matter the cost to themselves.

First published fifty years ago, How to Raise Good Catholic Children is a rare treat for today's parents: a wise and listenable book on child care that derives its wisdom from the Catholic home rather than from psychologists. Author Mary Reed Newland here draws on her own experiences as the mother of seven to show how the classic Christian principles of sanctity can be translated into terms easily applied to children — even to the very young. Because it's rooted in experience, not in theory, nothing that Mrs. Newland suggests is impossible or extraordinary.

In the fourth century, a young man named Augustine turned his back on the church, plunging into a frenzied life of lust and dissipation. His renunciation left Monica, his pious Catholic mother, weeping and praying for his salvation...for more than a decade! Like so many Catholics today - even, perhaps, like you - Monica wrestled daily with the pain of having a loved one fall away from the faith. Like us, she often feared that her prayers and tears were of little worth, empty, futile.

St. John Henry Newman, regarded as the most important English theologian of the nineteenth century, poignantly reflects on the thoughts that tormented Jesus as a result of His friends’ betrayals and the anguish of His Heart in willingly suffering all for love of us. These penetrating meditations will enable you to enter more deeply into our Savior’s Passion through multiple vantage points.

Although frequent Confession is meritorious, one can easily become complacent and fall into a routine that diminishes sorrow for sins. This classic compendium provides preparations and thanksgivings to guide you step-by-step through the Confession process to help you develop a firm resolution, make reparation for sins, and become more disposed to receive God’s grace. Whether you are a recent convert or someone who confesses regularly, this book is for you. Fr. Hubert McEvoy, S.J., breaks open the true purpose of the sacrament and offers p

God and the world explained — by Bishop Sheen, the T.V. personality who captivated the nation and won countless converts. In the 1950s, Fulton J. Sheen was one of the most popular television personalities in America, captivating millions of prime-time viewers weekly with enlightening talks on the essentials of Christianity and the moral life. Relying on the same wise, lucid explanations that won the hearts of so many viewers, Archbishop Sheen here demonstrates that Christianity makes good sense — even to persons with no religious background.

She was thirteen when St. Michael first appeared to her in a vision. Within five years she was rallying a demoralized army, leading the French to a definitive defeat of the English. Captured and imprisoned in England, at nineteen years old she was burned at the stake after a rigged ecclesiastical inquisition falsely charged her with heresy.