Showing results by narrator "Kevin O'Brien" in All Categories

In his first Encyclical, Pope Benedict helps to clarify the meaning of love. He examines the nature of various kinds of love—human love and divine love, eros, friendship, and charity. He writes beautifully and inspirationally of how man was made for love by the God who is love, the God who became one of us out of love—Jesus Christ.

In this new revised edition of his groundbreaking work, Professor J. Budziszewski questions the modern assumption that moral truths are unknowable. With clear and logical arguments he rehabilitates the natural law tradition and restores confidence in a moral code based upon human nature. What We Can't Not Know explains the rational foundation of what we all really know to be right and wrong and shows how that foundation has been kicked out from under western society.

Father Thomas Dubay is one of the most popular and respected retreat masters and spiritual directors in the US. As in his other popular writings, Dubay’s style is profound and meditative, yet clear and readable. He gives an overview of the spiritual life and journey for anyone seeking to grow in the love of God and neighbor. An expert on the teachings and writings of the two great mystical doctors of prayer and the spiritual life, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, Dubay gives solid, practical advice for a deepening moral and spiritual conversion, and a radical growth in holiness.

Today, most Catholics would be surprised to learn of the long history of scholarship and devotion regarding St. Joseph. Every Catholic should understand the indispensable role that St. Joseph played in the life of the Blessed Virgin and in the life of the Son of God. The humble carpenter, loving husband, and holy father is always interceding on our behalf. Do most Catholics really understand the life of Jesus’s foster father?

This powerful true account shares the heroic witness of over 2,400 Catholic priests imprisoned at Dachau, where more than a third died for their faith. Through Fr. John Lenz’s firsthand stories, see how these priests endured brutal suffering, ministered in secret, and proved that even in darkness, grace triumphs. Their courage and sacrifice reveal what it means to cling to Christ and find hope amid unimaginable evil.

In wise and consoling letters written to a mother sorrowing over the death of her child, Fr. François René Blot, S.J., here summons the Church’s greatest saints who testify with one voice that death’s wound, though grievous, separates us but for a short while from those who die before us. Acknowledging that profound sorrow at the death of loved ones is appropriate (after all, even Jesus wept for the death of his friend Lazarus), Fr. Blot nonetheless gives us reason to be joyful even in the midst of our sorrow.

True devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus moves us to ponder the unrelenting love of Jesus, fully human and fully divine, as He poured Himself out for the world. In this book, Fr. Thomas Dailey transports you beyond the prayers and liturgies and helps you to contemplate the Sacred Heart, which Pope Benedict XVI said “has irreplaceable importance.” Fr. Dailey shows you how to experience the way of prayer that formed St. Margaret Mary — the visionary to whom the devotion was revealed — in the religious order founded by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. Fr.

Discover how this simple sacramental can transform your faith life by deepening your trust in Mary and drawing you closer to her Son. In this book, you’ll learn how wearing the Brown Scapular roots you in your baptismal promises and helps you live as a true disciple of Christ. With prayers, reflections, and spiritual exercises, you’ll see how this silent sign of devotion invites you into Carmelite spirituality, nurtures grace, and brings you under our Blessed Mother’s loving protection.

Walk closely with the Virgin Mary this Lent and let her apparitions and messages guide your daily steps toward Easter. This book offers you a Marian roadmap through each week’s theme, showing you how to deepen your prayer, trust, and conversion. Find new peace as you learn to listen for God’s voice, pray for healing, embrace the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, and carry your crosses with Mary’s help — ready to rejoice with her in Christ’s Resurrection.

England, 1585: Queen Elizabeth’s spies lurk everywhere, searching out Catholics who refuse to attend the non-Catholic services of the State religion. Officers of the law hunt down and kill Catholic priests, and imprison those who shelter them. In these perilous times, fifteen-year-old Nicholas Thorpe discovers that his widowed mother has become Catholic, and he soon joins the Church she has come to love.

Could your love and reverence for the Mother of God use a boost? Here’s a powerful 30-day devotional to help you invigorate your love for Our Lady by exploring the many ways in which holy men and women have venerated Mary throughout time. From St. Damian of Molokai to Padre Pio, from St. Francis of Assisi to St. Thomas Aquinas, you’ll learn new ways of honoring Mary that you hadn’t considered previously, and you’ll be heartened toward a holiness and love of God that only these illustrious spiritual teachers can inspire.

This seminal text continues to be a cornerstone of Christian theology, offering timeless insights into the nature of God, sin, justice, and salvation. A must-listen for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the theological underpinnings of Christianity.

With gripping detail and firsthand accounts that sound like a novel, renowned author Warren Carroll unveils the events that led up to the divine intervention in which Our Lady of Guadalupe was sent to an Aztec, known now as St. Juan Diego. Here is the untold story of the faith and valor of the Spanish as they encounter an early Aztec culture marked by an immorality and an idolatry of epic proportions, along with the hardships they endured in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

Meet young José and his friend Trino as the war breaks out in their hometown of Sahuayo. Follow José through his own struggles as the violence escalates, up to his joining the Cristero army in 1927 to fight for freedom of religion. Captured by government forces, José refused to deny his faith in exchange for his freedom.

In the face of a world crisis, which is manifestly deeper than one can imagine, many are inclined to ask: “Has Christianity failed?” Fulton Sheen’s Thinking Life Through seeks to answer this critical question.

Amidst the backdrop of World War II, the great Fulton Sheen wrote Preface to Religion, his first book published after the war ended. As the world was recovering from death, destruction, and despair, Sheen’s timely work tackles the most salient questions pertaining to happiness and sanity.

The Catholic Church today finds itself in the midst of a crisis. The flock is scattering, and while some shepherds bravely set off in search of those lost and wandering sheep, others drive them, and many more, further from the fold.

Actor and comedian Kevin O'Brien performs Mark Twain's classic—and delivers four lectures analyzing the brilliance of this great American novel.

The Blessed Sacrament is the great "open secret" of the Catholic Church—the great truth that Jesus Christ is in the Tabernacle and is accessible to all who believe in Him. But this truth is not immediately obvious, and thus it is not really appreciated as it should be. The Blessed Sacrament: God with Us is a call to all Catholics to appreciate and love Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, for in that perpetual miracle is all the wealth of His love, and our "Heaven" on Earth.

In the history of the Church, there are few saints who wrote with such angelic purity and devotion on the subject of angels as Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Much has been written on this Jesuit novice who died at the young age of 23 while caring for plague victims, but little has been available on his actual writings—that is, until now. For the first time in English, Meditations on the Holy Angels, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga’s longest and most significant work is offered to listeners.