Five Books for Catholics – Details, episodes & analysis

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims by Gavin d’Costa
2. Catholic Doctrines on Jews after the Second Vatican Council by Gavin d’Costa
3. From Sinai to Rome: Jewish Identity in the Catholic Church by Angela Costley and Gavin d’Costa
4. Catholic - Jewish Engagements on Israel: Holy Land, Political Territory, or Theological Promise? by Gavin d’Costa, Étienne Vetö CCN, and Thomas Joseph White OP

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature by Fr. Roland E. Murphy OCarm
2. De officiis (On the Duties of the Clergy) by St. Ambrose 
3. Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
4.  Summa theologiae II-II, qq. 47-56 by St. Thomas Aquinas

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. On the Apostolic Preaching by St. Irenaeus of Lyon
2. The Mystery Hidden for Ages in God by Fr. Paul Quay SJ
3. Instructing Beginners in Faith by St. Augustine
4. On Perfection by St. Gregory of Nyssa
5. The Ascetic Life by St. Maximus the Confessor

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The books recommended in this episode are:

1. Consueverunt Romani Pontifices by St. Pius V
2. Supremi Apostolatus Officio (Vatican website) by Leo XIII
3. Latitiae sanctae (Vatican website) by Leo XIII
4. Marialis cultus (Vatican website) by St Paul VI
5. Rosarium Virginis Mariae (Vatican website) by St. John Paul II

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The memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7 in the General Roman Calendar. Moreover, for the last 140 years, the Catholic Church has consecrated October to the Holy Queen of the Rosary. During October, therefore, we might want to do some spiritual reading on praying the Rosary. The most authoritative writings on the subject are the papal bulls and letters on the Rosary. These go back to St. Pius V. In them, the popes exhort the faithful to pray the Rosary on account of its manifold efficacy. They teach that it secures Mary’s intercession, unites us to Christ in his mysteries, strengthens Christian life, builds up the Church, and transforms society.  

Here is Five Books for Catholics’ selection of the five most representative papal documents on the Rosary.

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/papal-teachings-on-the-rosary/

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The books discussed in this episode are

1. Dignitas personae: Instruction on Certain Bioethical Questions by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
2. Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People by Charles C. Camosy
3. What it Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics by O. Carter Snead

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Over the last fifty years, it has become customary to frame moral questions surrounding medicine and the treatment of all forms of life under the rubric of "bioethics". The rapid development of modern technology opens new possibilities and, with them, a whole range of moral issues. At the same time,  many in today's increasingly secularized society question or reject traditional Christian teachings on the sanctity of human life. Indeed, Catholics find themselves defending the gospel of life in an often hostile environment. Frequently accused of attempting to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of society, they must also show that the Church's moral teaching on bioethical issues is a matter of right reason and not just Revelation.

In part one of this interview, Fr. Michael Baggot recommended five books on bioethics. In this second part, he covers some further recommendations.

Fr. Michael Baggot, PhD is currently Assistant Professor of Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He is also Research Scholar at the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights in Rome, Italy. He was Adjunct Professor of Theology at the Christendom College Rome program from 2018-2022. His writings have appeared in First Things, Studia Bioethica, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. He is editor of and contributor to the book Enhancement Fit for Humanity: Perspectives on Emerging Technologies (Routledge, 2022).

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/bioethics-ii/

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Christopher Carsten's recommended books on the liturgy are:

1. The Spirit of the Liturgy by Romano Guardini
2. The Spirit of the Liturgy by Card. Joseph Ratzinger
3. Catechism of the Catholic Church
4. The Wellspring of Worshi pby Fr. Jean Corbon
5. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origin and Development (2 vols. )by Fr. Joseph Jungmann SJ
6. The Mystery of Christian Worship by Fr. Odo Casel OSB
7. Rite and Man: The Sense of the Sacred and Christian Liturgy by Fr. Louis Bouyer

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“The liturgy, "through which the work of our redemption is accomplished," most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 2). The Second Vatican Council also teaches that the liturgy is the source and summit of the Church’s activity. However, Mass attendance is in decline in many parts of the world. Many Catholics must not appreciate what occurs in the Church’s ritual worship and celebration of the sacraments. Even committed Mass-goers may grow weary of humdrum celebrations. It is crucial, therefore, to understand the liturgy and appreciate it. To this end, Christopher Carstens discussesthe five books that he recommends on the nature and significance of the sacred liturgy.

Christopher Carstens is director of the Office for Sacred Worship in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin; a visiting faculty member at the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois; and editor of the Adoremus Bulletin. He is author of A Devotional Journey into the Mass (Sophia), as well as Principles of Sacred Liturgy: Forming a Sacramental Vision (Hillenbrand Books). He and his family live in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/sacred-liturgy/

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Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1863) is a celebrated literary critic, novelist, essayist, and Christian apologist: the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, the Ransom Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, and numerous essays of apologetics, such as Mere Christianity. An Anglican from Belfast, he spent most of his life in England, teaching medieval and Renaissance literature at Oxford and later Cambridge. Like many of his generation, he served on the front during the First World War, and the experience reinforced his atheism and pessimism. However, as he relates in Surprised by Joy, between 1929 and 1931, he gradually regained his faith, partly thanks to conversations with J.R.R. Tolkien. From then on, his Christian faith increasingly informs his writings.

In this episopde, Fr. Michael Ward explains his pick of five books by Lewis and will take us through the author’s works.

Fr. Michael Ward is a priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. An associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, he is also Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. His books include Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press, 2008) and After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man (Word on Fire Academic, 2021).

His five recommended books by C.S. Lewis are:

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
2. The Screwtape Letters (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
3. Till We Have Faces (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
4. The Abolition of Man (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
5. Miracles, A Preliminary Study (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis

Read the interview at ⁠www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/c-s-lewis/

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The books recommended in this episode are:

1. Gregory the Great: His Place in History and Thought by F. Holmes Dudden
2. Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection by Carole Straw
3. Gregory the Great and His World by R.A. Markus

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St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) was Bishop of Rome from 590-604. The son of St. Silvia and Gordianus, a Roman patrician, he was appointed urban prefect of Rome in 573 and entered monastic life the following year. Upon his father’s death, he converted the family’s Roman villa on the Caelian Hill into the Monastery of St. Andrew, where today there is still a monastery and the Church of St. Gregory on the Caelian Hill. At that same monastery he set the precedent for the Gregorian series of Masses: the practice of having thirty Masses offered for a deceased person. In 579, Pope Pelagius II made him a deacon and sent him as papal ambassador to the imperial court in Constantinople. In 590, a few years after his return to Rome, Gregory was elected Pope. One of his most important actions as Bishop of Rome was to appoint the prior of the Monastery of St. Andrew, Augustine of Canterbury, as the head of a mission to convert the English. Through his writings, he exerted an immense influence of spirituality and ministry in the Latin Church throughout the Middle Ages and was recognised as a Doctor of the Church.

In part one of this interview, Dr. Thomas Humphries explained his pick of the five best books by St. Gregory the Great. In this second part, he looks at the best biographies of the saint and discusses his own work.

Dr. Thomas Humphries, a native of Arkansas, is Professor in the College of Arts and Science at Saint Leo University, Florida. a native of Arkansas and a life-long Roman Catholic. He holds a mandatum from the diocese of St. Petersburg and enjoys giving regular theological reflections outside of the classroom with student faith communities, parishes, and monasteries. He also volunteers with the local fire department as Chaplain and holds the rank of District Chief. He is a licensed Florida EMT and NREMT. He is the author of Ascetic Pneumatology from John Cassian to Gregory the Great (Oxford University Press) and Who is Chosen? (Wipf and Stock).

Read the interview at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/st-gregory-the-great-ii/

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The books recommended in this episode are:

1. Forty Gospel Homilies by Gregory the Great
2. Moral Reflections on the Book of Job (6 vols.) (vol. 1) (vol. 2) (vol. 3) (vol. 4) (vol. 5) (vol. 6) by Gregory the Great
3. Homilies on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel by Gregory the Great
4. On the Song of Songs by Gregory the Great
5. The Life of St. Benedict by Gregory the Great: Translation and Commentary by Terence G. Kardong OSB

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St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) was Bishop of Rome from 590-604. The son of St. Silvia and Gordianus, a Roman patrician, he was appointed urban prefect of Rome in 573 and entered monastic life the following year. Upon his father’s death, he converted the family’s Roman villa on the Caelian Hill into the Monastery of St. Andrew, where today there is still a monastery and the Church of St. Gregory on the Caelian Hill. At that same monastery he set the precedent for the Gregorian series of Masses: the practice of having thirty Masses offered for a deceased person. In 579, Pope Pelagius II made him a deacon and sent him as papal ambassador to the imperial court in Constantinople. In 590, a few years after his return to Rome, Gregory was elected Pope. One of his most important actions as Bishop of Rome was to appoint the prior of the Monastery of St. Andrew, Augustine of Canterbury, as the head of a mission to convert the English. Through his writings, he exerted an immense influence of spirituality and ministry in the Latin Church throughout the Middle Ages and was recognised as a Doctor of the Church.

In this interview, Dr. Thomas Humphries will explain his pick of the five best books by St. Gregory the Great.

Dr. Thomas Humphries, a native of Arkansas, is Professor in the College of Arts and Science at Saint Leo University, Florida. a native of Arkansas and a life-long Roman Catholic. He holds a mandatum from the diocese of St. Petersburg and enjoys giving regular theological reflections outside of the classroom with student faith communities, parishes, and monasteries. He also volunteers with the local fire department as Chaplain and holds the rank of District Chief. He is a licensed Florida EMT and NREMT. He is the author of Ascetic Pneumatology from John Cassian to Gregory the Great (Oxford University Press) and Who is Chosen? (Wipf and Stock).

Read the interview at

The French Revolution ushered in the implementation of a new political philosophy, liberalism, that had been developing for several centuries, particularly during the Enlightenment. The Gospel and the Catholic Church were out as the foundation of the social order; reason, sealed off from Revelation and classical realism, was in. Churches and organised religion would be treated as private associations. Government would purportedly maximize and safeguard the individual’s freedom of conscience and choice. In short, liberalism and Catholicism stood in opposition and were on a collision course. On the one hand, liberal governments and movements in Europe and Latin America set about dismantling the remnants of Christendom, not only removing the Church’s privileges but often suppressing its legitimate freedoms and institutions as well. On the other hand, Catholic political thinkers disagreed about how the Church should respond to these radical social transformations, while the Popes tended to favour monarchies over republics. Studying the nineteenth-century conflict between Catholicism and liberalism is important for understanding the historical background of modern Catholic social teaching and some ongoing debates. In this interview, Dr. Darrick Taylor discusses his pick of the five best books on this area of Church history.

Darrick Taylor teaches Humanities at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. He  earned his PhD in British History from the University of Kansas. He also produces a podcast, Controversies in Church History, which dives into important and sensitive issues in the history of the Catholic Church.

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1. The Church in the Age of Liberalism edited by Hubert Jedin and John Dolan
2. Liberalism and Tradition: Aspects of Catholic Thought in Nineteenth Century France by Bernard M. Reardon
3. Culture Wars: Secular-Catholic Conflict in Nineteenth Century Europe edited by Christopher Clark and Wolfram Keiser
4. The War Against Catholicism: the Anti-Catholic Imagination in Nineteenth Century Germany by Michael Gross
5. The Great Crisis in Catholic American History: 1895-1900 by Thomas T. McAvoy...and two extra recommendations...
6. The Religious History of Modern France by Adrien Dansette
7. Nineteenth-Century Europe by Michael Rapport

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/19th-century-catholicism-and-liberalism

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