Catholic Classics

There are some books that never grow old - no matter how tattered their outside, the message is ever new, ever enlightening, ever needed.  Everyone’s list of essential classics will be different as there is no definitive list (…though some have tried to produce one).  Here are some of the titles deemed classics at Holy Spirit Library.

Chesterton, G.K.  The Everlasting Man.

Day, Dorothy.  The Long Loneliness.

Guardini, Romano.  The Lord.

Lewis, C.S.  Mere Christianity.

Merton, Thomas.  The Seven Storey Mountain and New Seeds of Contemplation.

Mother Teresa.  A Simple Path.

Pope John Paul II.  Crossing the Threshold of Hope.  1994

Pope John XXIII.  Journey of a Soul.

Sheed, Frank.  To Know Christ Jesus.

Sheen, Fulton.  Peace of Soul.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori.  The Way of Salvation and of Perfection.

St. Augustine.  Confessions and  The City of God.

St. Benedict.  The Rule of St. Benedict.

St. Francis de Sales.  Introduction to the Devout Life.

St. Ignatius Loyola.  Spiritual Exercises.

St. John of the Cross.  Dark Night of the Soul and  Ascent of Mount Carmel.

St. Louis de Montfort.  True Devotion to Mary.

St. Teresa of Avila.  The Way of Perfection  and  The Interior Castle.

St. Therese of Liseux.  Autobiography – Story of a Soul.

St. Thomas a Kempis.  The Imitation of Christ.

St. Thomas Aquinas.  Summa Theologica.

In addition you may find useful the following reference books.  Should you decide to order any of these, do check to see if they are available in CD-Rom format, which is often less expensive and always less space consuming, though not necessarily as accessible.

A set of all the papal documents. (These are published individually by Pauline Editions at a very reasonable price. Most are also available on the Vatican website)

All major translations of the Bible.

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Butler’s Lives of the Saints.

Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Catholic Almanac.  Our Sunday Visitor Press. Published annually. Touts itself as “ …the most complete one-volume source of facts and information on the Catholic Church.”

The New Catholic Encyclopedia.  (now available on the Internet)

The Jerome Bible Commentary

Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints.   1998

The Catholic Source Book.  3d ed.  By Peter Klein.  Brown-Roa, 2000.

Harper Collins Bible Dictionary.   Harper, 1996.

If you wish to delve further into Catholic classics, the following two books may help you in your quest.

Hardon, John A.  The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan.  Doubleday, 1989.