Bøger udgivet af Sophia Institute Press

Many books on Purgatory reflect upon what you can do to help the Holy Souls suffering there. But this informative and reassuring book offers practical tips on what you can do to avoid the pains of Purgatory yourself. And the good news is, you don't have to endure martyrdom; you just have to grow in virtue.

This prescient book will enlighten you on whether there is more than one Antichrist, the types of leaders and societies that Cardinal Newman believed would be forerunners of the Antichrist, and how long the Antichrist will reign.

How the Angels Got Their Wings is a beautifully illustrated, highly entertaining, biblically correct, and theologically orthodox introduction to angels.

Amid the encircling darkness, this compendium of straight, authoritative answers elucidates the truths of our Faith with a piercing light. It will make you cheer as it reorients you on your journey with Christ.

Kidnapped in Iraq is a riveting story of bravery and courage and one man's extraordinary efforts to aid Christians in need. It is also a chilling guidebook on how to fight for justice and proclaim the hope that comes in the triumph of the Cross.

Here is the book that you need to "live in hope" in uncertain times. This seminal biography of Venerable Luisa de la Peña Navarro (1866-1937), "Mother Luisita," reveals gripping historical events and stories of the atrocious persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s.

Over the centuries, Our Lady has appeared at many different times and in many different places, but few realize that she almost always appears in quite diverse and dazzling styles of dress. In these stunningly beautiful pages, best-selling children's author Anthony DeStefano considers Mary's distinctive raiment in the various apparitions and elucidates the message she bears in each. By means of these wise pages and their delightful images, children come to understand the main lesson of Mary's whole life -- the need to do whatever her son Jesus tells us to do. First, children meet Our Lady in Nazareth, poor and therefore not robed in splendor. Next, they encounter her in Heaven, dwelling in an enormous mansion (as is promised by Jesus to all who live there) with an exquisitely beautiful wardrobe. DeStefano engages young readers in consideration of fifteen exterior garments of Our Lady, thereby leading young souls directly into the interior messages of her Immaculate Heart. Here children will explore the wardrobe and messages of: --The Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth --Our Lady of Mount Carmel --Our Lady of Perpetual Help --Our Lady of Czestochowa --Our Lady of Grace --Our Lady of Lourdes --Our Lady of Fatima --Any many more!

This riveting account of true-life Fatima events of the past hundred years demonstrates that Our Lady's messages are more vital today than ever before. Here, author Joseph Pronechen reports on scores of post-Fatima incidents that reveal the wide-reaching influence the apparitions have had throughout this past century on the lives of ordinary people, popes, saints, and even unbelievers! You'll learn of amazing but little-known Fatima-related occurrences, including the role of the apparitions in . . . The declaration of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary The 1981 attempt to assassinate Pope St. John Paul II and his miraculous survival St. Padre Pio's astounding recovery from a long-term illness The Church's struggle against Communism St. Faustina's Divine Mercy visions And many more incidents related to Fatima! It's time to discover all of Fatima, not simply the isolated incidents of the early twentieth century, but the ongoing heavenly interventions that are impacting modern history and bearing extraordinary spiritual fruit along the way. Armed with this knowledge and perspective, you'll be inspired again by the messages of Fatima and will devote yourself once more, or perhaps for the first time, to Mother Mary, whose love for you and concern for your salvation know no bounds.

We are meant for beauty, and beauty is meant for usWhat we moderns have forgotten, the ancients knew well: true beauty heals the soul, draws us to God, and yields lasting happiness.Rich with the wisdom of Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, and St. John Paul II, these pages unpack perennial truths about beauty and rivet them into your soul, opening the eyes of your understanding to the beauty all around us.Offering an abundance of accessible examples, author John Mark Miravalle demonstrates that beauty is neither in the eye of the beholder, nor for the cultivated, the dreamer, or the "hopeless romantic" alone. On the contrary, the ability to understand, recognize, and delight in beauty readies all souls for heaven"¬‚¬"and makes it easier for us to get there.From these pages, you'll learn:Why beauty is not just a matter of opinionThe virtues we need to perceive beauty and to enjoy itHow to determine whether an artwork is truly beautifulThe respective roles of reason and emotion in appreciating beautyHow the beauty of nature testifies to God's existence . . . while rejection of God obscures nature's beautyWith the help of these pages, you'll receive fresh eyes to marvel again (or for the first time) at the beauty of nature, music, art, architecture, and, most importantly, the beauty of God, the fountainhead and exemplar of all things on earth that are beautiful.

The Saints Chronicles bring vividly to life the stories of courageous Christians from the earliest days of Christianity to modern times. All four volumes of this Graphic Novel Series are packed with engaging texts and dramatic images that captivate and inspire readers of all ages. In this first volume, you'll dive into the life of Christianity's boldest heroes of the Faith, including: St. Patrick, a young boy captured by Irish pirates and made a slave, only to escape and later return to convert all of pagan Ireland to Christianity. St. Jerome Emiliani, the bold soldier who became a Christian while imprisoned in a dark dungeon, escaping to join the priesthood and lead a life in service to the poor and suffering. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the wealthy New York widow who made vows of poverty and chastity, creating the very first Catholic schools in the United States and becoming America's first saint. St. Henry Morse, the Catholic convert who became a priest and bravely spread the Faith in Protestant England, only to be arrested and martyred for being Catholic. St. Joan of Arc, the thirteen-year-old-girl who God called to rally a demoralized army and lead the Catholic French to an overwhelming defeat of the English. The stirring adventures of these brave Christian souls remind us that God has in mind for each of us a unique mission, worthy of all our imagination and all our daring. Appealing to readers of all ages, these four Graphic Novels will enhance literacy and promote content retention while introducing Catholic saints in a form that can be enjoyed again and again.

Read these pages, and you'll embark on the ultimate journey of discovery into what happens to the soul after death.

Former Prefect of the Papal Household Archbishop Georg Ganswein presents a stirring defense of Catholic theology, Church tradition, and the primacy of the Catholic Faith in his much-anticipated American book debut, How the Catholic Church Can Restore Our Culture. As one of the most distinguished figures in the Catholic Church and the only man to have been in daily interaction with two popes simultaneously, Archbishop Ganswein presents an array of profound observations about the state of the Church and its likely future in an increasingly secular society. He offers a vigorous and convincing argument for the indispensability of the Catholic Church as a civilizing force in culture, and how she alone can, and must, serve as a bulwark against the growing cultural totalitarianism seizing the West. Ganswein also interprets what the "expanded papacy" means for the Church and explains how Pope Benedict's resignation has played a critical and necessary role in demythologizing the office of the papacy. Finally, he offers a framework for spiritual renewal, beginning with the personal reform of priests and bishops. To save the Church, the archbishop explains, we need clerics who prioritize and epitomize the proclamation of God's Word in their own lives and work. The "pastoral approach" of today is important, but only if it recaptures its original, evangelical dimension.

From St. Augustine to John Henry Newman, the greatest among the saints and men of God have lived on familiar terms with the angels; and the Church has always accorded them a very large place in her theology. Recent theologians have dwelt on dry questions about the nature of the angels, but the early Fathers of the Church, with the memory of Jesus fresh in their minds (and of the angels of whom He spoke often) were fascinated with the energetic action of the angels among men and the ways in which the angels have carried out that mission from the instant of Creation through the time of Jesus; and how they will continue their work even unto the end of time. From the works of these early Fathers of the Church, the late French Cardinal Jean Dani lou has drawn forth threads of knowledge and wisdom which he has here woven into a lucid and bright tapestry that shows us who the ministering angels really are, and how in every instant and in every way they are working for your salvation and mine. Here you'll find no sentimental cherubs: the Fathers knew that majesty and power cloak actual angels, which is why God gave them the formidable tasks of shepherding not only souls, but entire nations, and the motions of the entire material universe itself. Open these pages to meet the glorious angels as they were known by the Church's greatest saints and theologians: Origen and Eusebius, and Sts. Basil, Ambrose, Methodius, Gregory of Nyssa, Clement of Alexandria, and John Chrysostom (among others). Soon you, too, will find yourself on familiar terms with the angels, and they'll begin to play in your life the larger role that God intends them to play.

Explained by the Vatican's Secretary to the Congregation for Catholic Education, Archbishop J. Michael Miller At a conference at Catholic University in the Fall of 2005, Archbishop J. Michael Miller, the man responsible for Catholic education around the world, distilled for his audience the Church's teachings on Catholic education. So well received were his remarks and so important that Solidarity Association, which sponsored the conference, asked Archbishop Miller to expand his themes into this small book. Here, after a preliminary statistical look at the state of Catholic education in America, Archbishop Miller explains the Church's position on parental and governmental rights and obligations in education. Then he lists and explains the five marks of all good Catholic schools marks which serve as standards by which to judge a school's Catholic identity and as goals for schools that seek to educate their students as the Church wants them to be educated. This book is essential reading for all Catholics concerned about Catholic education.

For nearly a thousand years, monks of the Carthusian Order have withdrawn from the world so they can place themselves in the presence of God. Alone in their cells, they pray, work, and take their meals, freed from worldly distractions and the cacophony of thoughts that course through your mind and mine, when, at the end of the day, we kneel down to pray. A thousand years' silence has enabled the Carthusians to perfect a way of praying suited for the cloister, but it's also right for those of us whose obligations force us to work and pray in the rush and hurry of the world. In these pages, the monk Augustin Guillerand reveals the secret of the Carthusian's remarkable prayer of the presence of God. Obviously, this way of praying excludes quick Our Fathers and hasty Hail Marys, but it also requires that we do more than pause and say our prayers slowly. In fact, the Carthusians know that the prayer of the presence of God isn't primarily a question of speed or even of speech. Like love, it's not so much a deed as an attitude a habit of tranquil listening that allows God to enter our souls by all paths and to establish His presence there. Failure to listen poisons love in marriages, and failure to listen poisons love of God.That's why the prayer of the presence of God is essential not just for monks, but for each one of us, no matter who we are or what our circumstances may be. Yet how can we listen in a way that allows God to enter our souls? How can we even hear Him in the noise of our days and ways? A thousand years of Carthusian experience provide sure answers to these questions. Although this is no step-by-step manual (listening can't be reduced to steps), you'll learn in these pages where you must begin and how to proceed if you're finally to bring to maturity in your own soul the habit of tranquil listening that's essential for all those who would know God and love Him as they ought.

In these pages, Fr. Bede Jarrett helps you penetrate the great mystery of God's presence in our hearts. He explains the ineffable dignity that this presence of the Holy Spirit gives you, no matter how lowly your station or how small you may feel. He shows you how to listen for the soft voice of the Spirit calling you from within, inviting you to know Him, to love Him, and to cooperate with Him in all things great and small. No longer need you struggle alone. Let Fr. Jarrett show you how to grow close to the Holy Spirit the Consoler who Jesus sent to assuage your loneliness and renew your strength and your hope. Among the things you'll learn in The Little Book of the Holy Spirit: -Why you mustn't be troubled when you can't feel the Spirit's presence in your soul -You can increase the presence of God's Spirit in your soul: what you must do -Why God's presence in your soul doesn't overwhelm your personality -How the dignity of each human soul depends on God's presence in it -Your vision of Heaven can start right away: learn how in these page -The gift of God that's greater than creation itself. Fr. Jarrett explains it -How the presence of God enables you to see everything in a new light -It's a fact, not a metaphor: you really participate in the divine nature -Can you hear God as He speaks to you constantly? You can learn how -Where to find the strength to do the right thing, day in and day out -"The fear of God": what it really means and why it's a gift from God -Plus: many other topics to help you know the God who dwells within you

Age Range: 8 and up. Modern believers may be tempted to look at angels as a fanciful element of Scripture, but there are just too many Biblical accounts for them to be allegorical.

In its mother's womb, a tiny baby grows, explores the waters, and talks with the angel who is there. These gentle illustrations and wise words tell the story of that baby and the angel in the waters . . . a story that delights all children, because the journey from conception to birth is their story, too.

Author David Currie grew up convinced that one day all true Christians will suddenly be snatched up to heaven. The unfortunate souls left behind by this "rapture" will endure seven horrible years of tribulation, at the end of which Christ will return to earth for a glorious thousand-year reign. Today, millions of Christians accept this end-times theology, assuming as Currie did -- that the Bible clearly teaches it. Many plan their whole lives around it. But, after studying Scripture for decades, Currie has come to see that if you accept the Bible, you have to reject the rapture. In these remarkable pages which constitute the world's most careful and thorough scriptural study of the rapture Currie demonstrates why. He considers all the relevant verses (and there are hundreds!) and examines them in the light of ancient history, the writings of the earliest Christians, and the claims of rapturist theologians. With painstaking thoroughness, he unlocks the meanings of the key biblical prophecies that culminate in Christ's Messianic Kingdom including those verses in Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation that rapturists turn to most. Marshalling evidence that's as startling as it is compelling, Currie argues that these prophecies of war and tribulation don't point to some still-unrealized apocalyptic future. Rather, most of them were fulfilled long ago: the spiritual, priestly Kingdom prefigured in the Old Testament was inaugurated on Calvary, consummated in 70 A.D. with the destruction of the Temple, and continues to exist today . . . in the Catholic Church! That may surprise you. Yet, shows Currie, it's the only conclusion that fits all the scriptural and historical evidence. Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind makes Scripture, prophecy, and history come alive; and it demonstrates that if you open your Bible, you'll find that God's plan for the future of the world is not filled with darkness and disaster, but with light, mercy, and hope.

This exciting book shows that, far from straying from the Bible, Catholicism is eminently and thoroughly biblical. Indeed, Catholicism is the only Christian religion that is in full conformity with what the Bible clearly teaches. To demonstrate this, Catholic author Dave Armstrong (a former Protestant campus missionary) focuses on those issues about which Catholics and Protestants disagree the most: the role of the Bible as a rule of faith, whether we are justified by faith alone, whether doctrine develops, what the Eucharist really is, veneration of Mary and prayer to the saints, the existence of purgatory, the role of penance in salvation, and the nature and infallibility of the papacy. Working patiently, systematically, and, above all, charitably (and citing Church councils, the Church Fathers, canon law, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church), Armstrong begins his comprehensive examination of each of these disputed issues with an authoritative explanation of what the Catholic Church actually teaches. Then, with skill and tenacity, he subjects each Catholic teaching to microscopic scrutiny, measuring its conformity with the Bible. Armstrong's rigorous, Scripture-packed analysis relies on hundreds of Bible passages (including verses from 229 of the 259 chapters in the New Testament!), shedding light on the meaning of those passages as well as on the meaning and truth of the doctrines in question. The result? With a mastery of Scripture equal to that of the most committed Protestants, Armstrong demonstrates that the Catholic Church is the "Bible Church par excellence," and that many common Protestant doctrines (such as sola Scriptura) are in fact themselves not biblical. Here is a book that challenges Protestants to reconsider their anti-Catholic assumptions; and that will lead Catholics to turn with greater confidence to Scripture, where they will find a powerful biblical defense of their Catholic faith.

Marigold Hunt, author of A Life of Our Lord for Children, here continues the tale of Jesus and His Church by retelling for children the events reported in The Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke's account of the dangerous early days of the Church. Focusing on the deeds and experiences of Sts. Peter, Paul, Luke, and Barnabas, author Hunt shows children that the Catholic Church which today seems so ancient and established was born in turbulent times, when merely professing belief in Christ could get you killed and not by rowdies and brigands, but by public officials carrying out their sworn duty. Time and again, the apostles wind up in jail (some for years), and time and again God frees them by miracles of one sort or another. With Christian hope and great good cheer, they take up again the task with which Christ charged them just before He ascended into Heaven: "Go forth and teach all nations." By foot, on horseback, and on frail craft tossed in stormy seas, they do just that, preaching and teaching their way across much of the known world, winning converts and establishing churches in Palestine, Crete, Cyprus, Malta, Phoenicia, the lands that are now Turkey, and even in Rome itself, the pagan capital of the anti-Christian Empire. Along the way, the apostles heal the sick, cast out devils, and work other miracles. They face down mobs, evade murder plots, and defend themselves in courts in city after city. In the midst of it all, Peter whose authority as the first Pope was accepted by all of the apostles settles disputes that arise among the Christians and between the new Churches. All this and more is told in The First Christians, the thrilling and true saga of the lives and works of the first apostles of Jesus.