Fatherless by Brian Gail

Everyone agreed that the 500+ pages of the novel were totally enjoyable and worth reading! The plot of Fatherless leads the reader into a fictional depiction of the great spiritual battles in the U.S. Catholic Church. Undeterred by the breadth of the themes and armed with a long list of study questions, the groups delved into topics ranging from the role the Catholic Church in America has played in the formation of late 20^th century culture, to contraception, marriage and demonic oppression. The story continues in the next novel, Motherless, which many women had already started reading. If you’d like to join in for some provacative reading and discussion, there will be meeting in February to talk about Motherless. The trilogy is available on-line at The Catholic Company.

The Mass in Slow Motion by Monsignor Ronald Knox:

This book is a devotional journey through the Holy Mass, first given as a series of sermons to young girls who had been evacuated from London during WW II. Msgr. Knox while addressing his sermons to these young girls addresses us as well and draws us into the depth of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Left to Tell :Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Illbagiza

Immaculée shares her miraculous story of how she survived during the Rwanda genocide in 1994 when she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor’s house for 91 days! In this captivating and inspiring book, Immaculée shows us how to embrace the power of prayer, forge a profound and lasting relationship with God, and discover the importance of forgiveness and the meaning of truly unconditional love and understanding—through our darkest hours.

The Soul of the Apostolate by Jean-Baptiste Chautard

Favorite book of Pope St. Pius X. Says that prayer is the soul of every apostolic work; without it there is no success. Explores all the proved methods of developing and maintaining the interior life amid the bustle of daily activity. This excellent book will help you to understand the economy of salvation, as well as the many dead-ends that we fallen creatures tend to follow. A critically important introduction to the spiritual life!

He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter J. Ciszek

He Leadeth Me is the deeply moving personal story of one man's spiritual odyssey and the unflagging faith which enabled him to survive the horrendous ordeal that wrenched his body and spirit to near collapse.

Life of Christ 

by Archbishop Fulton Sheen

This book has been hailed as the most eloquent of Fulton Sheen's writings, the fruit of many years of dedication and research. Filled compassion and brilliant scholarship, his recounting of the birth, life, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ is as dramatic and moving as the subject Himself. Here is a passionate portrait of the God-Man, the teacher, the healer, and most of all the Savior whose promise has sustained humanity for two millenia.

Mother Angelica, The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles  by Raymond Arroyo

In 1981, the year after Ted Turner founded CNN, a simple nun using her entrepreneurial instincts and $200 for seed money, launched what would become the world's largest religious media empire in the garage of a Birmingham, Alabama monastery. Today, EWTN offers twenty-four hours of English and Spanish television programming reaching 105 million viewers around the globe. How did a crippled nun achieve so much and reach so many?

The Secret Diary of Elizabeth Leseur: The Woman Whose Goodness Changes Her Husband from Atheist to Priest  by Elisabeth Leseur

This inspiring book gives you a splendid example of how to live as a Christian in a secular environment that can be indifferent or hostile to your Faith. For Elisabeth Leseur had two great loves: God, and her husband Felix. Felix loved Elisabeth as well; yet to their mutual sorrow, he couldn’t share the life of the Spirit that Elisabeth cherished.

Father Elijah by Michael O'Brien

In O'Brien's first release of his fiction series, he presents a thrilling apocalyptic novel about the condition of the Roman Catholic Church at the end of time. It explores the state of the modern world, and the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary religious scene, by taking his central character, Father Elijah Schäfer, a Carmelite priest, on a secret mission for the Vatican which embroils him in a series of crises and subterfuges affecting the ultimate destiny of the Church.

The Shadow of His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM by Fr. Gereon K. Goldmann

In the early 1960s, Fr. Gereron Goldmann, a Franciscan stationed in Tokyo, felt moved by the Spirit to write his autobiography. Who was this Father Gereron, who the Japanese people knew only as a saintly priest? He was a former officer in Hitler’s personal dreaded SS!

Letters to a Young Catholic by George Weigel

In this remarkable tour of the Catholic world, George Weigel helps us understand how Catholicism fosters what Flannery O’Connor called “the habit of being.” Taking the reader by the hand, Weigel embarks on a journey to Catholic landmarks as diverse as Chartres Cathedral and St. Mary’s Church in Greenville, South Carolina; the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and G.K. Chesterton’s favorite pub. Weaving together insights from history, literature, theology, and music, Weigel uses these touchstones to illuminate the beliefs that have shaped Catholicism for two thousand years.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

In this humorous and perceptive exchange between two devils, C. S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good vs. evil, temptation, repentance, and grace. Through this wonderful tale, the reader emerges with a better understanding of what it means to live a faithful life.

Prayers

Spiritual Reading –
Before:
Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
O God, who has taught the heats of the faithful by thelight of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice inhis consolation. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

After:
V. We give you thanks, alight God, for all your benefits, who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
V. May the Lord grant us peace.
R. And life everlasting.
V. Amen.