Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"... as His atoning passion was undergone in the body, so it was undergone in the soul also." Mental Sufferings of Our Lord in His Passion full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/discourses/discourse16.html Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“What is given us by revelation to estimate and measure this world by? The event of this season—the Crucifixion of the Son of God.” A powerful sermon given by Newman for the last Sunday in Lent.  The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume6/sermon7.html Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Would you know the power of repentance? Would you understand this strong weapon of salvation and the might of confession?” With this second installment in St. Cyril’s Lenten series of catechetical lectures, Cyril offers a remarkable testament to the power of repentance. Cyril exhorts his catechumens to sure confidence in God’s mercy, no matter how much one has sinned. God’s mercy, Cyril reminds, extends even to a whole people; a nation; a globe. Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120469/the-works-of-saint-cyril-of-jerusalem-vol-1 Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2410 Donate: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio  Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

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"Rejoice, O Bride Ever-Virgin!" The Akathist Hymn is one of the most well-loved services of devotion in the Eastern Church. Although there’s some debate concerning the particulars of its authorship, many scholars agree with the pious tradition that it was composed by St. Romanos the Melodist, c. 530 in Constantinople.St. Romanos was a deacon and noted hymnographer, whose hymns have been praised both for their beauty as well as for their profound theology. The Akathist Hymn—just one of the many hymns attributed to St. Romanos—was originally composed for liturgical use in the celebration of the great Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, March 25. After the great liberation of Constantinople in 626, it was chosen to be sung as the hymn of thanksgiving for the miraculous victory that had been achieved through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. The faithful prayed all through the night without sitting, hence the Greek meaning of the title, Akathistos—"not seated." May we, too, be found upright in thanksgiving and supplication, invoking Mary’s invincible intercession. Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=899 Example of sung chant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IYzQ2Ava4 Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Sustain the struggle for your soul, especially in these days!” We’re introducing a new figure today: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a fourth-century bishop whose feast is March 18. We’ve only a few extant works from St. Cyril: a letter, a homily, some fragments, and a series of 24 lectures known as the Lenten or Catechetical Lectures. These were pre-baptismal catechetical lectures given by Cyril to catechumens in the Lent of probably 349 A.D. Of these lectures, the most well known are perhaps the final five, also known as the Mystagogical Lectures. In these, Cyril deals with each of the three sacraments the then-neophytes would have received: baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist. This first Catechetical Lecture serves as a good introduction to the others, as well as a welcome return to the basics. “Lay aside things of the present,” Cyril says, “and put your faith in things to come.” Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120469/the-works-of-saint-cyril-of-jerusalem-vol-1 Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2409 Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“For when did the knowledge of God so shine forth? When did chastity and the virtue of virginity so manifest itself, or when was death so despised, as since the Cross of Christ appeared?” We’re quickly approaching the conclusion to this great spiritual classic by St. Athanasius! In this episode, we’ll hear Athanasius recount a litany of wonders God worked through St. Anthony’s prayer: more healings, visions, and casting out of evil spirits, as well as descriptions of St. Anthony’s theological tussles with Arian heretics and Greek philosophers. If you’ve not yet listened to our previous installments in this series, today’s episode stands on its own; but after listening, you may find you’ll want to go back and hear this extraordinary life from the beginning. Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080 Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes. Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Perhaps this is the truest view of such exercises, that in some wonderful, unknown way they open the next world for good and evil upon us..." Newman originally gave this sermon for the first Sunday of Lent, reflecting upon Christ’s fasting and temptation in the desert. Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume6/sermon1.html Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“Do you hate your brother and walk about free from care? Are you unwilling to be reconciled, although God is giving you an opportunity for that purpose? Behold, you are a murderer and yet you live.” These two Lenten sermons (Sermons 205 and 211, respectively) were originally given by Augustine at the beginning of Lent.In the first sermon, Augustine warns against using fasting or abstaining from one kind of pleasure as a pretense to seek out other luxuries, and he warns against nailing others to our own cross, so to speak, by being ill-tempered while fasting. He ends the first sermon emphasizing forgiveness. With the second sermon, Augustine takes up the subject of forgiveness and preaches on it more comprehensively. He tackles the subject from every angle: are we unwilling to forgive our neighbor? Is our neighbor unwilling to forgive us? Are either we or our neighbor unwilling to ask to be forgiven? Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120454/saint-augustine-sermons-on-the-liturgical-seasons Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

“I am a servant of Christ. If you have been sent against me, here I am.” With today’s episode, we pass the halfway mark of this Christian classic. We’ll hear of Anthony’s move even further into the desert, more stories of his struggles against principalities and powers, and more of Anthony's words to the monks who came to him seeking guidance. In part 3, we heard Anthony describe some beginning rules for the discernment of spirits. This time, we’ll hear him provide instruction on another hallmark of Christian spirituality: the examination of conscience at the end of the day.There’s also to be found here a number of instances testifying to the power of prayer, of what can happen when one prays and believes sincerely, and a reminder of Our Lord’s words, “Ask, and it shall be given to you.” Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120446/early-christian-biographies Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3080 Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes. Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.