Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent If the unheard, unspoken Word is unspoken, unheard; Still is the unspoken word, the Word unheard, The Word without a word, the Word within The world and for the world; And the light shone in darkness and Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled About the center of the silent Word." Written in 1930, Ash Wednesday is a six-part "conversion poem" written by Eliot after his own conversion to Anglicanism. With references ranging from Dante to Shakespeare to the Bible, Ash Wednesday is a moving poem of theological and philosophical depth that speaks to both the struggles and the consolations of spiritual growth. Links Ash Wednesday full text: https://www.best-poems.net/t_s_eliot/ash_wednesday.html T.S. Eliot's own reading of the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUlzDTGd44 Donate at http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio to support this podcast! 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.

"Holy Church is both one in all its members and complete in each of them." Have you ever wondered why the congregation responds to the priest's greeting, "The Lord be with you," with the response, "And with your spirit," rather than "and also with you"? Have you ever wondered why the Confiteor has us say, "and you, my brothers and sisters," even when we are alone? Doctor of the Church St. Peter Damian (1007-1073) addresses this and other questions in a letter written 1000 years ago—an important work on prayer and ecclesiology, and powerful affirmation that the Church is present in her individual faithful. Links Translation courtesy of Holy Family Hermitage in Bloomingdale, Ohio, as found in their volume Camaldolese Spirituality: https://www.faithandfamily.pub/camaldolese-spirituality/ 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.

"Holiness and prayer are simple. God's Mother taught me so." St. Bernadette's own autobiographical account of the apparitions at Lourdes, narrated by Karina Majewski. Full Text: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/short-life-of-bernadette-5238 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.

"Hypocrites seduce souls in order to have followers and honors." The Angelic Doctor's very own sermon on how to detect false prophets. Beware! Links Article on Aquinas' preaching style: "What Lessons Do Thomas Aquinas' Sermons Hold For Modern Preachers?" https://www.hprweb.com/2017/06/what-lessons-do-thomas-aquinass-sermons-hold-for-modern-preachers/ Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-academic-sermons-aquinas-hoogland/ 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.

"When you are obedient to the bishop as you would be to Jesus Christ, you are living, not in a human way, but according to Jesus Christ…" St. Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch and one of the chief figures among the Apostolic Fathers. The only extant writings by St. Ignatius are the seven letters he wrote as a prisoner on his way to Rome to face martyrdom. The two short letters featured in today's episode both address the question of obedience to the bishop. Links Translation courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://verbum.com/product/120401/the-apostolic-fathers Letter to the Trallians alternate translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1630 Letter to the Philadelphians alternate translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1632 Way of the Fathers, Ep. 4—Ignatius of Antioch: To Know "Jesus Christ Our God" https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/ 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.

"The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion." J.R.R. Tolkien—the English writer, poet, philologist and academic best known for being the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings—was Catholic. After the untimely deaths of his father and mother, Tolkien was raised under the guardianship of a priest. Later in life, Tolkien's friendship with C.S. Lewis would be instrumental in Lewis' conversion from atheism to Christianity. The collection of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien was originally published in 1981 by his son, Christopher, and biographer, Humphrey Carpenter. It contains 354 letters written between 1914 and 1973, the year of J.R.R. Tolkien's death. This episode features part of a letter written by Tolkien to his second son, Michael, in 1963, when Tolkien was 71 years old. It is a remarkable letter of fatherly encouragement, touching upon the challenge of scandal in the Church. 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.

"When He began to cry / she got up and gave Him milk; / she embraced Him as she sang to Him, / swaying her knees until He became still." Born in the year 306, Ephrem lived in Nisibis (in modern-day Turkey), at what was then the border between the Roman and Persian empires. Ephrem was a deacon and a prolific writer. To this day, he remains among the most notable hymnographers in Eastern Christianity. He has been called "the lyre of the Holy Spirit", and in 1920 he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV. St. Ephrem is best remembered for his hymns on Christmas and Epiphany, including this Marian hymn on the Nativity. Links Ep. 28—Ephrem, Symbolist—Way of the Fathers with Mike Aquilina: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/27ephrem-symbolist/ 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.

"My Brethren, it is plain that, when we confess God as Omnipotent only, we have gained but a half-knowledge of Him: His is an Omnipotence which can at the same time swathe Itself in infirmity and can become the captive of Its own creatures... We must know Him by His names, Emmanuel and Jesus, to know Him perfectly." First preached on the Sunday after Epiphany in 1857, Omnipotence in Bonds remains one of St. John Henry Newman's most celebrated sermons. In it, Newman meditates on the subject of the Incarnation, and how by His Incarnation God makes Himself subject to His creatures — even before the Nativity, and even after the Crucifixion. Links Omnipotence in Bonds full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/occasions/sermon6.html 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.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, an Italian bishop and Doctor of the Church, dives into the essence of aligning our wills with God's. He emphasizes that true spiritual perfection comes from obedience to divine commands and that suffering is part of God's intentional plan. Through biblical examples and personal stories, he illustrates how embracing hardships can deepen one's faith and bring inner peace. The discussion encourages listeners to find fulfillment in accepting life's challenges as pathways to spiritual growth.

A sermon by the seventeenth-century French theologian and bishop, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. Bossuet reflects upon the hidden life of St. Joseph and looks ahead to Christ's Second Coming when Joseph's hidden greatness will finally be known. Meditations for Advent, Sophia Institute Press: https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/meditations-for-advent 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.