Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur—this is the programme with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time." Pope Benedict XVI delivered this address to scientists at the University of Regensburg on September 12, 2006, where he was a professor and vice rector from 1969 to 1971. The Pope praised the university's traditional openness to approaching God through the use of reason. He went on to contrast this approach with the Muslim teaching that God transcends man so completely that "His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality." According to this perspective, man can never seek to understand God, Who is free to act in whatever way He chooses, for good or for evil, and is never bound to reveal the truth to man. Pope Benedict explained how in this context, the Western synthesis between faith and reason is all the more important: "The truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos...and has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf...Consequently, Christian worship is...worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason." This convergence of faith and reason "created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe." Links: Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7155 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.

"Now, in the practice of this spiritual retreat and of these brief prayers the great work of devotion lies: it can supply all other deficiencies, but there is hardly any means of making up where this is lacking." In this installment, St. Francis De Sales delves further into his discussion of prayer, focusing his chapters on such subjects as Morning & Evening Prayer, how to receive Holy Communion, and on praying the other public offices of the Church. De Sales stresses the importance of daily placing oneself in the presence of God, which he describes as "one of the surest means of spiritual progress." This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format. Be sure to subscribe so as not to miss an installment! Links Introduction to the Devout Life full text: https://watch.formed.org/introduction-to-the-devout-life-by-st-francis-de-sales 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.

“We are now entering on a fresh stage of our life's journey; we know well how it will end, and we see where we shall stop in the evening, though we do not see the road.” Ring in the New Year with this New Year’s Day sermon by St. John Henry Newman, first released on this podcast in January 2020. Full text: http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume7/sermon1.html DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio  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.

Originally delivered at the Pro Civitate Dei summer school in La Londe-les-Maures, France on June 12, 2022, The Politics of Hell is an in-depth examination of St. Thomas Aquinas' doctrine concerning the social order among angels and demons—and a commentary on the human governmental arrangements to which each most closely corresponds. Links: The Politics of Hell full text at The Josias: https://thejosias.com/2022/06/16/the-politics-of-hell/ 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.

But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder high'r;          When to her organ, vocal breath was giv'n, An angel heard, and straight appear'd                 Mistaking earth for Heav'n. "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day" full text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44185/a-song-for-st-cecilias-day-1687 "Alexander's Feast; or, the Power of Music" full text: https://poets.org/poem/alexanders-feast-or-power-music Happy feast of St. Cecilia! More links: SUBSCRIBE to Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-culture-audiobooks/id1482214268 SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter http://www.catholicculture.org/newsletter 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.

“Matrimony was not instituted or restored by man but by God; not by man were the laws made to strengthen and confirm and elevate it but by God, the Author of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed...” Casti Connubii, or “of chaste wedlock”, was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius XI on December 21, 1930, in response to the approval by the Anglican Communion’s seventh Lambeth Conference of birth control for married couples. Over 90 years later, this encyclical has lost none of its relevance. In it, Pope Pius delivers a sweeping defense against the many threats to marriage that are still prevalent today. Priests and catechists involved in marriage preparation, take note! Pope Pius first discusses the nature and the dignity of Christian marriage, as well as its many benefits to family and to society. He then addresses the many errors and vices opposed to marriage before finally describing the principal remedies to the problems afflicting marriage in the present day. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical on marriage contains many truths forgotten even among faithful Catholics. Originally released on this podcast in three parts, Casti Connubii is now available to be listened to in a single continuous episode. Links: DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio  Full text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3370 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.

"If you drop any science out of the circle of knowledge, you cannot keep its place vacant for it; that science is forgotten; the other sciences close up, or, in other words, they exceed their proper bounds, and intrude where they have no right... no science whatever, however comprehensive it may be, but will fall largely into error, if it be constituted the sole exponent of all things in heaven and earth, and that, for the simple reason that it is encroaching on territory not its own, and undertaking problems which it has no instruments to solve." In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University. In this third discourse, Newman examines the unavoidable consequence that Theology, if abandoned, will soon have its place usurped by one or more of the other sciences, with dire consequences both to Theology and the other sciences themselves. Part 1 of this work, "University Teaching", will be released in episodic format over the coming weeks. Be sure to subscribe so as not to miss an installment! Links The Newman Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture reading project on The Idea of a University: https://www.newmansthoughts.com/  Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/ Go to http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio to register for FREE access to the full archive of audiobooks beyond the most recent 15 episodes. 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.

"Blest powers forbid thy tender life Should bleed upon a barbarous knife; Or some base hand have power to rase Thy breast’s chaste cabinet, and uncase A soul kept there so sweet; oh no, Wise Heav’n will never have it so; Thou art Love’s victim, and must die A death more mystical and high; Into Love’s arms thou shalt let fall A still-surviving funeral." Richard Crashaw was a 17th-century English poet and Anglican priest who later in life converted to Catholicism. He taught at Cambridge and served as curate of the Church of St. Mary the Less, where he became known for his High Church Anglicanism. Puritan detractors cited him for his "Mariolatry", or excessive devotion to the Virgin Mary, and also found fault with his adornment of the church with Christian art and his use of Catholic vestments. Under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, Crashaw was expelled from his parish and forced to flee the country. It was during this exile that Crashaw converted to Catholicism, eventually ending up in Rome under the employment of a Catholic cardinal. This same cardinal would appoint him to be canon of the Shrine of the Holy House of Loreto, where Crashaw died a few short months later. Crashaw is known for his religious poetry with distinct mystical themes. He was inspired by the works of St. Teresa of Avila, despite the fact that she was largely unknown in England because her works had not yet been translated there. Crashaw wrote three poems about St. Teresa, of which "A Hymn to the Name and Honour of Saint Teresa" is the first. In it, Crashaw traces a development from the child Teresa's desire for physical martyrdom to the adult Teresa's mystical conquest of the inner self. St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us! Links "A Hymn to the Name and Honour of the Admirable Saint Teresa" full text: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44057/a-hymn-to-the-name-and-honour-of-the-admirable-saint-teresa Sign up for our newsletter at http://catholicculture.org/getaudio 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.

"In a word, Religious Truth is not only a portion, but a condition of general knowledge. To blot it out is nothing short, if I may so speak, of unravelling the web of University Teaching." In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University. In this fourth discourse, Newman examines the central importance of Theology—the Science of God—within the broader curriculum of liberal education, and its impact and influence upon every other science taught within a university. Links Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/ 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.

" Religious doctrine is knowledge, in as full a sense as Newton's doctrine is knowledge. University Teaching without Theology is simply unphilosophical." In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University. In this second discourse, Newman argues that religious doctrine is genuine knowledge, and that a university which does not provide for theological instruction is omitting a most necessary science. Links Translations from the Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/ 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.