Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"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.

"Here then we have a sign of Antichrist's appearance—I do not say of his instant coming, or his certain coming… still, so far as it goes, it is a preparation, a warning, a call to sober thought..." This episode is the fourth in Newman’s series of lectures on The Patristical Idea of Antichrist. In this final lecture, Newman focuses his attention on the persecution that is prophesied to attend the coming of Antichrist— a persecution which, the prophecies indicate, will be more terrible than any to have come before, and will only be cut short by Jesus’s Second Coming. As with any meditation upon the apocalypse, the end of this meditation is our own conversion: to chasten our attachment to this world, to be awake so as not to be deceived or seduced away from following Christ, to accept persecution for His sake, and to prepare for the day when we will stand before Him. Links The Persecution of Antichrist Full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/arguments/antichrist/lecture4.html Pt. 3, The City of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-3-city-antichrist/ Pt. 2, The Religion of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-2-religion-antichrist/ Pt. 1, The Times of Antichrist on Catholic Culture Audiobooks: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-henry-newman-patristical-idea-antichrist-pt-1-times-antichrist/ 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.

“As history testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal happiness of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound… where the very fountainhead from which the State draws its life, namely, wedlock and the family, is obstructed by the vices of its citizens.” Pope Pius XI’s Casti Connubii contains truths about marriage forgotten even by many faithful Catholics. With this third installment, we finally conclude our reading of one of the greatest encyclicals ever written. In the first episode, we heard Pius describe the nature of marriage, and of the wonderful law and will of God respecting it. In the second episode, we listened to Pius’ strong rebuke of the errors and impending dangers to marriage, already evident in 1930, when this encyclical was promulgated. In this third and final episode, Pope Pius will propose the suitable remedies with which to counteract the many attacks on marriage and the family. Links: Casti Connubii 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. 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 family is more sacred than the State... men are begotten not for the earth and for time, but for Heaven and eternity.” Last week we began a three-part reading of Casti Connubii, Pope Pius XI’s encyclical on Christian marriage promulgated in 1930. In the first part, Pope Pius discussed the nature and the dignity of marriage, and described as well marriage’s many benefits to family and society. In this second part, he addresses the errors and vices opposed to marriage. Whatever the error, Pius observes that the fundamental principle animating it is the false notion that marriage is invented by man and is therefore subject to his will. Pius addresses in detail the errors opposed to each of the three main blessings of marriage, which he outlined in the beginning of the encyclical as offspring, conjugal faith, and the sacrament. In the end, Pius affirms that marriage’s religious character arises not from any idea imposed by religion, but rather from its very nature. Marriage is sacred in its divine origin and its divine purpose, and has been raised by Christ to the level of a great sacrament of the Church. Links: Casti Connubii 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. 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 relevancy. In it, Pope Pius delivers a sweeping defense against the many threats to marriage that, sadly, are still prevalent today. Priests and catechists involved in marriage preparation, take note! This reading of the encyclical in its entirety will be released in three episodes: the first part concerns the nature and the dignity of Christian marriage, as well as its many benefits to family and to society; the second part deals with the many errors and vices opposed to marriage; and finally, the third part covers the principal remedies to the problems afflicting marriage in the present day. In this first episode, Pope Pius echoes and expounds upon St. Augustine's list of the three chief blessings of marriage: offspring, conjugal faith, and the sacrament. Links: Casti Connubii 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. 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.

“He has given to those who desire Him not only to see Him, but even to touch, and eat Him, and fix their teeth in His flesh, and to embrace Him, and satisfy all their love. Let us then return from that table like lions breathing fire, having become terrible to the devil.” St. John Chrysostom was born sometime in the years 344 - 354 AD. He developed great fame as a preacher, to which his earned moniker of Chrysostom, or “golden mouthed”, attests. Chrysostom's reputation eventually led to his reluctantly becoming the Bishop of Constantinople, the Christian capital of the time. There he set about a reform of the clergy and laity. Within a few years, Chrysostom’s political and ecclesiastical enemies were arranging for his exile. In 407 AD and en route to the destination of his second exile, Chrysostom died. St. John Chrysostom's body of work represents the largest collection of extant writings from among the Greek Fathers of the Church, with most of his works surviving in their entirety. Among these are included some treatises and many letters—but his collection of writing is largely comprised of sermons. There are a total of 88 exegetical homilies by Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John. In this homily, Chrysostom breaks down John 6:41-52—a significant portion of what is known as Jesus’ “Bread of Life Discourse”. The result is not only an excellent verse-by-verse exegesis, but also a rousing sermon on the Eucharist, the Mystery of Faith. Links Homily 46 on the Gospel According to St. John Full Text: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2046 Way of the Fathers, Ep. 41—Chrysostom (Part 1) | Golden Mouth & Golden Mysteries: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/42chrysostom-part-1-golden-mouth-golden-mysteries/  Way of the Fathers, Ep. 42—Chrysostom (Part 2) | Triumph, Tragedy & Glory: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/42chrysostom-part-2-triumph-tragedy-glory/  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.