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St. Norbert is perhaps one of the greatest, yet today unknown, saints of the middle ages. Above all he was a great reformer. Born of nobility, and living in luxury with royal favor, St. Norbert suddenly had a conversion, and embarked to be a new St. Paul, throwing away his rich garments, and preaching to the faithful as a beggar.Led further, and provided with papal approval, Norbert makes a foundation in the valley of Prémontré, whence his order gets its name. The preaching of St. Norbert and his order restored faith in the Eucharist, badly shaken by heretics, and for this he was long remembered in northern European cities badly affected by heresy such as Antwerp. His life dominated the 12th century where, as a friend of St. Bernard, he worked to reform Church life and to defend the independence of the Papacy.The great project of St. Norbert was to combine the active and the contemplative life, by establishing canons who lived by the maxims of monastic life, to both work in the world and retire for prayer. In this he anticipates Sts. Francis and Dominic by a century.Premonstratensian abbeys dotted the landscape of Europe until the revolutions of the 16th-18th centuries.Fr. Kirkfleet, relying on the best histories and the most accurate primary sources, provides the most complete biography of this great saint in English.

Mediatrix Press is pleased to put back into print: The Life of Pope Leo XIII written by the learned American Fr. Bernard O'Reilly, while that Pope was alive, and based on a memoir furnished to him by the Holy See. Thus, this work is nearly autobiographical, being based on the Pope's life as he wished it to be written.Fr. O'Reilly, making copious use of the Pope's Italian memoir, presents to us Gioacchomo Pecci, the future Leo XIII, in the midst of the dramatic and revolutionary changes affecting the Church in both Italy and all Europe in the 19th century. In all events, Pecci as priest, Bishop, Cardinal and later Pope, fought courageously for the Universal Church with prudence, humility and care, and above all defending his priests and the sacrament of Marriage against the innovations of the revolutionaries holding the seat of government throughout Europe.If you are amiss over the radical changes coming over society today, and want to see where they came from, this is the book for you. More than just learning about Leo XIII, you learn about his time, the troubled days after the French Revolution where, being exported to Italy, it reeked havoc through the regime of "liberty" and freemasonry, assaulting Catholic education, introducing civil marriage, undermining faith and morals from every angle. In this book you see the future Leo XIII as Archbishop Pecci, fight the revolution head on in unwavering support for Pope Pius IX. You will see how wrong the liberal view is that holds Mazzini and Garibaldi as heroes, and, moreover, how tyrannical the new Italian regime became in its persecution of the Church. This book is a tour de force, filled with many writings from Pope Leo XIII from his time as an Archbishop and Cardinal that have not been seen by English language audiences since this book was first published.Written in 1887, the book covers in great detail the life of the holy Pope from his youth and family life and concludes with another 16 years left to Pope Leo's papacy, yet it covers in remarkable detail the lesser known life of the "Light from the Heavens".The Mediatrix Press edition has been completely reprinted and re-typeset it form the original, adding our famous font effects from the renaissance.

Elizabeth Canori Mora was born in 1774, in Rome. Raised in a devout but poor household, she was given an excellent education by religious sisters. Her life changed dramatically when she was married to Christopher Mora, a local lawyer and son of a famous doctor. The marriage began happy but turned sour as her husband changed from becoming possessive of her to the point of preventing her communication with her relatives, to abandoning her and taking up a mistress.Yet Elizabeth turned to God and prayed for his conversion, taking solace in her two surviving daughters and raising them in the faith.The story of Elizabeth Canori Mora is one both familiar, and unique. The story of a wronged wife, celebrated on her wedding day but whom we ought rather to mourn for if we could foresee the great sufferings she will undergo in wedlock; and unique in that her heroic virtue, fidelity and love excels that of so many that end up in this all too familiar state. For her fidelity and love of Christ, Elizabeth received many revelations from God, and merited that her husband would turn from his wicked ways and become again devout-to the point that after her death he became a Franciscan cleric. In this work, you will discover what you rarely see in so many lives of monks, abbots and missionaries, a married saint, a wife who should be the patron of wronged and long-suffering wives. The reprinted work of Mary Elizabeth Herbert has been revised for modern English and has pictures added for the benefit of the reader, with new typesetting in an easy to read font.

Fr. Simeon Lourdel: Planting the Faith in the Furthest Africa, tells the story of a tall and imposing missionary with a heart of gold. Lourdel, a French missionary priest, became the Apostle of Uganda. In his short life, Fr. Lourdel had transformed the landscape of the entire country.The charity, the tact and prudence of the missionary were taxed to the utmost. When after years of patient toil, he had the consolation of reaping the first fruits of his conquests for Christ, behold-a cruel and sudden persecution visited the newly established Christian Community, and in an instant, he had the untold sorrow of seeing his mission swept by fire and drenched in blood.Midst this awful upheaval, the faith and the charity of the apostle waxed the stronger; at the peril of his life, the good shepherd remained close to his flock, encouraging them by day and by night, preparing them for the crown of martyrdom that was soon to be theirs. He hoped too that he would be allowed to share the sufferings of his children and to die with them in testimony for the Faith. But though repeatedly threatened with death and suffering, imprisonment twice-his cross-and could a heavier one be imagined?-was to witness the oppressing, and the slaying of his beloved neophytes. Mother F.A. Forbes tells the story of Uganda's first Apostle in a beautiful yet simple to read account that will inspire as well as uplift.

St. John Vianney, the Cure d'Ars, though he was not thought competent to preach or hear confessions, became one of the greatest preachers and confessors of his age.The 19th century was one of optimism for French Catholicism, but, following the horrors of the French Revolution, there was also a feeling of lukewarmness and an approach to the moral life that felt sin could not be all that bad.St. John Vianney, on the other hand, would not suffer to see souls be damned for lukewarmness. His preaching permeates with the love of God first and foremost, and clear prescriptions for leading his flock to heaven. Reprinted exactly from the 1901 Wagner edition and unabridged, the Sermons of the Cure d'Ars are arranged for every Sunday of the year according to the 1962 Calendar, as well as the principal feasts of the year.

The Pious Union of St. Joseph was founded many years ago for the purpose of effectually helping the Dying to obtain through the intercession of St. Joseph, the Patron of the Dying, the grace of a Happy Death.This Pious Union already existed some years when Pope St. Pius X, by an Apostolic Letter, dated February 12, 1914, raised a similar Association, erected in the newly built church of St. Joseph in Rome, to the dignity of an Arch-Confraternity with the faculty of aggregating similar Societies, so that they may also enjoy all the Indulgences and Privileges granted to the Arch- Confraternity. In this Apostolic Letter Pope Pius X speaks of the purpose of the Society in Honor of St. Joseph for the Dying in these beautiful words: "Desirous to show more manifestly how much we consider the purpose of this Society worthy of every praise, We wish that Our name be inscribed first of all among the members of the same and at the same time We exhort all the beloved Brethren of the Priesthood not to neglect daily to remember in the Divine Sacrifice those who are hard pressed by the struggle of death, and, furthermore, We advise all the faithful, especially the religious men and women, that they accustom themselves to pour forth special prayers to God and to St. Joseph for the Dying; for, if it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead who, though delivered to the cleansing flames, have reached the port of Salvation, it seems to be no less commendable solicitude to implore help from heaven for those miserable ones that are placed in the last conflict upon which depends their eternity."The Pious Union of St. Joseph is a manual for living out these ideals fully and faithfully with prayer and devotion, covering all parts of a Christian's day.

The wars and upheavals of the 17th and 18th centuries had created a situation where by the 19th century, political control was exercised over the Church not only in England and Germany but even in Catholic countries such as Austria, France, and Spain. The new ideas of Febronianism, Jacobism, and the French Revolutionary ideologies spread throughout Europe had done their utmost to bring discredit on the old asceticism and its principal representatives in the mendicant orders, such as the Dominicans. Cardinal Newman thought that the Dominican Order was a "great idea, now extinct." Fortunately, not long afterward, the great Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire sought to revive the ancient spirit of St. Dominic in France. Nor was he alone; for when Fr. Jandel (whom Lacordaire inspired to become a Dominican) received his commission from Pope Pius IX to restore the old discipline and abolish the customary relaxation of the day, then new life began to reverberate through the order, and the primitive fervor of its holy founder was brought back to life."The Dominican Revival in the Nineteenth Century" vividly recounts the career of Fr. Alexander Vincent Jandel, from his days as a secular priest to a Dominican and then the 23rd Master General of the Order. Then it continues on the subsequent activity of the good Father, the cooperation he met with from his brethren and the splendid success that crowned his efforts and which had brought the order of St. Dominic once more to the forefront as a defender of the interests of Jesus Christ, and His Church.This edition has been beautifully re-typeset while preserving the original text with exactitude. A great resource for the Church in general, and the Dominicans in particular during the troubled days of the 19th century.

St. Thomas More, by E.E. Reynolds, is a complete life of the saint based on primary source accounts, state papers and contemporary registers. Reynolds leaves no written source uncovered in drawing together for us the man who became one of the most famous men not only in England, but even in Europe, who gave his life for the rights of the Church over the tyranny of the state.Reynolds traces More's life and environs, as well as More's writings and poetry, to bring out the man and the hour in which he lived. There are lengthy studies of Richard III, Utopia, and The Dialogues which More wrote against heretics. Lastly, he concludes with a penetrating legal analysis of the reasons which brought More to the Tower and to beheading.Throughout there are many crucial and important direct quotes from letters, speeches and of course, the words of More related by early authorities in court and at his trial. Thereby we see the warm relationship between More and great scholars like Colet and Erasmus, as well as his close relationship with his daughter Margaret (Meg) and his great strides to provide her an education which she took up brilliantly. This makes More come to life as a real person, with wit and joy and above all passion, not the plaster saint of a second nocturne variety. There is a reason why More is one of the few and best known laymen to be canonized and remembered through the ages."Thomas More is more important at this moment than at any moment since his death, even perhaps the great moment of his dying; but he is not quite as important as he will be in about a hundred years' time. He may come to be counted the greatest Englishman, or at least the greatest historical character in English history."

Dominican Life, by the French Dominican Joret, is a masterful treatise for Dominican Tertiaries or anyone who with an affinity for St. Dominic and his sons to seek union with the Divine Will through Jesus Christ our Lord.The Children of this family of St. Dominic, forming themselves on the traditions and examples of seven centuries, are bound together within God's Church by ties that transcend differences of race and language and are more enduring than the bonds of earthly kinship.This book is intended as a guide and manual to teach the spirit of St. Dominic so that the reader might learn more about the Dominican Order and absorb its spirit. Although it was written for lay Dominicans, it will prove instructive and useful to all members of the Dominican Order as well as any laity interested in finding the character and spiritual charism of St. Dominic.This new edition has been completely re-typeset in full agreement with the original.

The Holy Mass, by Fr. Lucas, is a historical treatise on the Roman Rite which is meant for the average reader that does not have a lot of study on the subject. It was first published in 1914 in two volumes and is now republished containing both volumes in one book. Father Lucas says in his preface: "The attempt to write yet another book about the Mass while for English speaking Catholics Dr Fortescue's work on the Roman Liturgy holds the field may be deemed perchance both presumptuous and inopportune."Father Lucas' first volume is more popular than the second which deals (chapters x -xiii) in a rather erudite fashion with the difficult question of the development of the Roman Canon. Father Lucas while admitting that the scholar need not be deterred from investigating the structure of the Roman Canon out of a mistaken feeling of reverence, still thinks that he can vindicate for the Roman Canon a more or less perfect organic unity. He does not agree with those writers Baumstark Buchwald and Drews who imagine that they see in it a kind of patchwork of which the chief portions are thought to have somehow got out of their right place. Fr. Lucas uses textual analysis of the Latin in comparison with ancient texts to demonstrate that the Canon was composed as one text, in union with many venerable authors.This book will give you a greater understanding of the parts of the Holy Mass which in turn will lead to a deepening of devotion.

Originally published in 1892, with the Imprimatur of John Cardinal McCloskey of New York, this beautiful little volume contains copious high-quality wood cut illustrations of the major highlights of the Old and New Testament, as well as short, concise, little stories of the Bible, aimed at inspiring an early devotion to the Sacred Scriptures, and fostering an interest in further reading as a child grows more mature. When read to a child by a parent or grandparent, each little story provides a base from which to elaborate further, based on the child's age, on the story at hand. Richly illustrated and in large, easy-to-read type, this is a perfect book to sit down with the children for five or ten minutes and read from it to them, showing the pictures and meditating together on the simplicity yet wonder of how God has shown Himself to His people throughout the Bible.The stories found in Bible Stories for Children focus on the Scriptural events surrounding salvation history. Beginning with Creation and the Fall, continuing through the Deluge, Patriarchs, Exodus and the Ten Commandments, Samuel and David, Prophecies of the Messiah and a short summary of the end of the Old Testament World. Part II begins with the chief events of the New Testament, from the Annunciation to Our Lady and Christ's birth, through His public ministry and ultimately his Passion. The book concludes with the Ascension of Christ.This wonderful volume focuses only on the events of Scripture and does not engage in commentary or modern opinion that would be unsuitable for small children.

The Mariology of Cardinal Newman is a study of Blessed John Henry Newman's journey from a cautious intellectual acceptance of limited Marian doctrines while an Anglican to his full acceptance and development of Marian doctrine as a Catholic. Newman was a master of the English language and possessed a fine intellectual mind, but at the same time, because of his deep humility, he could enter into true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rev. Friedel draws from all of Newman's work to provide a truly masterful treatise establishing not only Newman's views to doctrine, but Newman as a devout client of our Blessed Lady. He divides the first part of the book into two periods: Newman's life as an Anglican and his developing attitude toward Mary; then his views when he became a Catholic and how this developed in his devotional life. Then, in the second part, the author examines the specific doctrine's of Mary which Newman treated on.

St. Charles of Sezze was a Franciscan mystic and stigmatist of the 17th century. Although he was quite unlettered, still, through the ever increasing influence of the Holy Spirit he wrote books that number in size, and content make him one of the greatest mystical writers of the Church, ranking with St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. The canonization of St. Charles after his having remained unknown for several centuries should serve to indicate that his life and writings carry a message for modem man. His complete obedience rebukes the present-day lust for self-determination; his humility, its pride and boastfulness; his poverty, its precipitate rush after material pleasures. St. Charles teaches us the way to oppose the devil and all the fallen angels in their incessant warfare against our souls. Very few will ever be asked to suffer bodily harm from the devil, but all must suffer, and overcome, his temptations to pride, lust and ambition.

St. Francis of Assisi is one of the greatest and most recognizeable saints in the history of the Church. His life was a mirror of the life of Christ. In a decadent age, filled with corruption, Francis became not merely an impetus for reform, but a living image of Christ in his virtue and in his flesh through the stigmata. Candide Chalippe?s work is not merely biography, it is a spiritual classic written by an author filled with piety and love for Christ and His Church. This new publication edits Chalippe?s work and presents it for modern readers in new chapter divisions, with artwork from the Basilica of St. Francis and Renaissance masters. This excellent biography takes us through Francis? entire life, as well as the progress and history of his order in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, compiling sources from all of the earliest authors.

The Mariology of Cardinal Newman is a study of Blessed John Henry Newman's journey from a cautious intellectual acceptance of limited Marian doctrines while an Anglican to his full acceptance and development of Marian doctrine as a Catholic. Newman was a master of the English language and possessed a fine intellectual mind, but at the same time, because of his deep humility, he could enter into true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.The Rev. Friedel draws from all of Newman's work to provide a truly masterful treatise establishing not only Newman's views to doctrine, but Newman as a devout client of our Blessed Lady. He divides the first part of the book into two periods: Newman's life as an Anglican and his developing attitude toward Mary; then his views when he became a Catholic and how this developed in his devotional life. Then, in the second part, the author examines the specific doctrine's of Mary which Newman treated on.

The Holy Mass, by Fr. Lucas, is a historical treatise on the Roman Rite which is meant for the average reader that does not have a lot of study on the subject. It was first published in 1914 in two volumes and is now republished containing both volumes in one book. Father Lucas' first volume is more popular than the second which deals in a rather erudite fashion with the difficult question of the development of the Roman Canon. Father Lucas while admitting that the scholar need not be deterred from investigating the structure of the Roman Canon out of a mistaken feeling of reverence, still thinks that he can vindicate for the Roman Canon a more or less perfect organic unity. He does not agree with those writers who imagine that there is in it a kind of patchwork. Fr. Lucas uses textual analysis of the Latin in comparison with ancient texts to demonstrate that the Canon was composed as one text, in union with many venerable authors.

Written by Fr. Bernard O'Reilly while that Pope was alive, and based on a memoir furnished to him by the Holy See. Thus, this work is nearly autobiographical, being based on the Pope's life as he wished it to be written. Fr. O'Reilly, making copious use of the Pope's Italian memoir, presents to us Gioacchino Pecci, the future Leo XIII, in the midst of the dramatic and revolutionary changes affecting the Church in both Italy and all Europe in the 19th century. In all events, Pecci as priest, Bishop, Cardinal and later Pope, fought courageously for the Universal Church with prudence, humility and care, and above all defending his priests and the sacrament of Marriage against the innovations of the revolutionaries holding the seat of government throughout Europe. In this book you see the future Leo XIII fight the revolution head on in and how wrong the liberal view is that holds Mazzini and Garibaldi as heroes, and, moreover, how tyrannical the new Italian regime became in its persecution of the Church.

St. Charles of Sezze was a Franciscan mystic and stigmatist of the 17th century. Although he was quite unlettered, still, through the ever increasing influence of the Holy Spirit he wrote books that number in size, and content make him one of the greatest mystical writers of the Church, ranking with St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. The canonization of St. Charles after his having remained unknown for several centuries should serve to indicate that his life and writings carry a message for modem man. His complete obedience rebukes the present-day lust for self-determination; his humility, its pride and boastfulness; his poverty, its precipitate rush after material pleasures. St. Charles teaches us the way to oppose the devil and all the fallen angels in their incessant warfare against our souls. Very few will ever be asked to suffer bodily harm from the devil, but all must suffer, and overcome, his temptations to pride, lust and ambition.