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.

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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.

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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).

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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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Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the finest and best-loved novelists in the English language. Catholics can learn a lot from her finely crafted character studies of Regency era gentry. They are penetrating studies of the subtleties of commonplace virtue and vice. They are also informed by Austen’s Christian faith.

In part one of this interview, Dwight Lindley picked some books to help the Catholic reader get the most out of  Jane Austen (1775-1817), one of the finest and best-loved novelists in the English language. Here is the second part.

Dwight Lindley is the Barbara Longway Briggs Chair in English Literature at Hillsdale College. He has published essays and articles on Jane Austen, George Eliot, John Henry Newman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Virginia Woolf, and others. He lives in southern Michigan with his wife Emily and their nine children.

He has recommended the following books on Jane Austen.

1. Jane Austen's Anglicanism by Laura Mooneyham White
2. A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections by J. E. Austen-Leigh
3. Jane Austen and Her Art by Mary Lascelles

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Most people care about education, but those who are not committed Catholics are likely to take a very different view from the Church when it comes to defining the stages and setting of education. In this interview, R. Jared Staudt explain the books that he believes will help us understand the nature and situation of Catholic education.

Dr. R. Jared Staudt specializes in systematic theology, the evangelization of culture, catechesis, Catholic education, Church history, and Thomas Aquinas. He has taught at the Augustine Institute since 2009, teaching part-time since 2014. He has also served as the director of the Catholic Studies Program at the University of Mary, director of religious education in two parishes, co-founder of two high schools, as associate superintendent for Mission and Formation at the Archdiocese of Denver. He is currently Director of Content for Exodus 90, a ninety-day spiritual exercise for men.

Dr. Staudt's books include The Priority of God: The Virtue of Religion in Catholic Theology (Emmaus Academic), Restoring Humanity: Essays on the Evangelization of Culture (Divine Providence, 2020), Renewing Catholic Schools: How to Regain a Catholic Vision in a Secular Age (editor, Catholic Education Press, 2020), The Beer Option: Brewing a Catholic Culture Yesterday & Today (Angelico, 2018), and How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization (TAN Books).

His recommended books on Catholic education are:

1. A Reason Open to God: On Universities, Education, and Culture by Pope Benedict XVI
2. The Crisis of Western Education by Christopher Dawson
3. John Senior and the Restoration of Realism by Francis Bethel OSB
4. Beauty for Truth's Sake: On the Re-enchantment of Education by Stratford Caldecott
5. Renewing the Mind: A Reader in the Philosophy of Catholic Education by Michael Gross

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This episode is part two of an interview in which Dr. David Grumett explained his pick of the five best books for those interested in reading de Lubac. In this second part of the interview, he discusses some further recommended readings.

1. The Discovery of God by Henri de Lubac
2. The Motherhood of the Church by Henri de Lubac

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Henri de Lubac SJ (1896-1991) was a major influence on the Second Vatican Council and on theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger, with whom he founded the journal Communio. In 1942, he and some fellow Jesuits founded Sources chrétiennes, a series that publishes the original text of patristic and medieval Christian writings alongside a French translation. He thereby stimulated within Catholic theology a return to its sources. Putting this ressourcement into practice in his own works, he argued that the Church should retrieve the patristic understanding of the Eucharist, the Church, creation, grace, and Scripture. In 1983, Pope John Paul II created him a cardinal.

In part one of this interview, Dr. David Grumett explained his pick of the five best books for those interested in reading de Lubac. In this second part of the interview, he discusses some further recommended readings and aspects of de Lubac's theology.

David Grumett is senior lecturer in theology and ethics in the University of Edinburgh. He has recently published Henri de Lubac and the Shaping of Modern Theology: A Reader with Ignatius Press.

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. The Mass: The Presence of the Sacrifice of the Cross by Charles Journet
2. Cajetan Responds: A Reader in Reformation Controversy by Jared Wicks SJ
3. Aquinas on Transubstantiation: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist by Reinhard Hütter
4. Francisco de Vitoria: Political Writings translated and edited by Anthony Padgen
5. Aquinas's Summa Theologiae and Eucharistic Sacrifice

One of the most celebrated passages in St. Paul’s epistles regards the regulation of the various charisms and manifestations of the Spirit that characterise the church of Corinth (1Cor 12). He insists that they exist to build up Christ’s body, the Church, and should be exercised to this end alone. The charisms he lists include faith, the utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, the gift of healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues. In the subsequent centuries, many of these manifestations of the Spirit have become less common, if not rare. However, during the twentieth century they have become a central feature of some Christian communities, first in Protestant Pentecostalism, and since the 1960s, in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement.

Thanks to the Charismatic Renewal, many Catholics have converted and grown in their practice of the faith. Pope Paul VI and his successors have recognised its authenticity, while also taking measures and issuing guidelines to safeguard the Catholic identity of charismatic communities.

In this episode, Dr. Alan Schreck explains the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Dr. Alan Schreck has been a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville since 1978. He specializes in Church history and renewal, St. Francis of Assisi, Catholic doctrine and apologetics, pneumatology, ecclesiology, the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and of Pope St. John Paul II. He has authored numerous books, including several on the Holy Spirit and the Catholic charismatic renewal movement: Your Life in the Holy Spirit (Word Among Us Press); The Gift: Discovering the Holy Spirit in Catholic Tradition (Paraclete Press); A Mighty Current of Grace: The Story of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. 

His recommended books are:

1. A Mighty Current of Grace: The Story of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal by Alan Schrek
2. As by a New Pentecost: The Dramatic Beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal by Patti Gallagher Mansfield
3. Let the Fire Fall by Michael Scanlon T.O.R. and James Manney
4. Baptism in the Holy Spirit by International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services: Doctrinal Commission
5. Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator by Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap

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For

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is widely considered to be the finest writer in the Spanish language. Many deem his Don Quixote (pt 1, 1605, pt 2, 1615) the first and greatest modern novel. Forced to leave Madrid after wounding a man in a duel, he moved to Rome to serve under Card. Giulio Aquaviva. He was seriously wounded while commanding a skiff in the Battle of Lepanto and ended up spending five years in captivity when taken hostage by Ottoman corsairs. After regaining his freedom, for years he struggled to make a living. A writer of plays and poetry, he is best remembered for his novels and short stories: La Galatea, Exemplary Stories, The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda, but above all, The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha.

In this interview, Prof. Michael J. McGrath will explain his pick of the best books on Cervantes and his work, and whether there is more spiritual depth than meets the eye to the escapades and musings of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Michael J. McGrath is a Professor of Spanish at Georgia Southern University and a corresponding fellow of the San Quirce Royal Academy of History and Art in Segovia, Spain. His research focuses on early modern Spanish life and literature, with special emphasis on cultural studies, the comedia, Don Quixote, and intellectual history. He is the author of more than seventy publications, including Don Quixote and Catholicism: Rereading Cervantine Spirituality, and the first English translation of Spanish priest Ruy López's chess treatise from 1561 titled The Art of the Game of Chess.

His recommended books are:

1. The Sanctification of Don Quixote: From Hidalgo to Priest by Eric J. Ziolkowski
2. "Incarnation in Don Quixote" in An Idea of History: Selected Essays of Américo Castro  by Américo Castro
3. Grotesque Purgatory: A Study of Cervantes's Don Quixote, Part II by Henry Sullivan
4. Don Quixote and Catholicism: Rereading Cervantine Spirituality by Michael J. McGrath
5. Cervantes by Jean Canavaggio

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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 difficult 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 this episode Fr. Michael Baggot LC presents some of the best books for studying and understanding Catholic bioethics.

1. Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, Second Edition by Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco
2. Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life by William E. May
3. Catholic Bioethics for a New Millennium by Bishop Anthony Fisher
4. Personalist Bioethics: Foundations and Applications by Elio Sgreccia
5. The Gospe of Life (Evangelium Vitae) by John Paul II

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).

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François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651-1715) was a noted bishop and writer. In 1689, the learned, pious, and zealous priest was appointed tutor of the Duke of Burgundy, the second in line to the French throne. In 1696, he was named bishop of Cambrai. However, he was suspected of holding heretical views on prayer and the spiritual life. Though a supporter of Jeanne Guyon, he submitted along with her to the Articles d’Issy, in which the French bishops condemned some of the spiritual doctrines she was alleged to hold. However, he refused to sign Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet’s explanation of those articles. He replied with a work of his own, An Explanation of the Maxims of the Saints. This led to his removal as tutor to the king’s grandson and a papal brief condemning certain propositions of his book. However, the Bishop of Cambrai continued to be one of the major intellectual figures of the period throughout Europe, known for his writings on the spiritual life, political philosophy, and education.

Ryan Patrick Hanley, Professor of Political Science at Boston College, will take us through his pick of the five best books by or on Fénelon. Prior to joining the faculty at Boston College, Prof. Hanley was the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, and held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. A specialist on the political philosophy of the Enlightenment period, he is the author of The Political Philosophy of Fénelon, and a companion translation volume, Fénelon: Moral and Political Writings, both of which are published by Oxford University Press.

1. Telemachus by François Fénelon, translated Tobias Smollett, revised by Patrick Riley
2. Maxims of the Saints by François Fénelon
3. Letters of Love and Counsel by François Fénelon, translated by John McEwen, edited by Thomas Merton
4. Fénelon: Moral and Political Writings (also available for Kindle) by François Fénelon, translated by Ryan Patrick Hanley
5. Francois Fénelon: A Biography (also available for Kindle) by Peter Gorday...and for the bonus recommendation...
6. Le pur amour. De Platon à Lacan by Jacques Le Brun

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Liturgical icons have been a part of the Church’s tradition from early on and in 787 the Second Council of Nicaea defined dogmatically that the making and veneration of icons, along with the pictorial representation of what the Gospels narrate, is a holy practice. This practice is founded upon the mystery of the Incarnation. Consequently, “all the signs in the liturgical celebrations are related to Christ: as are sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints as well. They truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them.” Catechism of the Catholic Church 1161.

The Second Council of Nicaea encouraged the making and veneration of icons. As St. Basil taught, “the honour rendered to the image passes on to the original”. Furthermore, contemplating icons of Christ, Mary, the angels, and the saints, moves us to contemplate and honour them. In this interview, Aidan Hart will explain his recommended books on icons.

Aidan Hart has been a professional icon painter and carver for forty years, with works in over twenty-five countries of the world, including with the Pope and other Patriarchs. An ordained Reader of the Orthodox Church, he is a frequent speaker at conferences and churches and has been on numerous TV and radio programmes. He teaches a three-year part-time course in icon painting for The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Art. He has published Festal Icons (2022), Icons in the Modern World: Beauty Spirit Matter (2014), and Techniques of Icon and Wall Painting (2011), all published by Gracewing.

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1. Three Treatises on the Divine Images by St. John of Damascus
2. On the Holy Icons by St. Theodore the Studite
3. The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty by Paul Evdokimov
4. Icons in the Western Church: Toward a More Sacramental Encounter (also available as Kindle) by Jeana Visel OSB
5. Icons in the Modern World: Beauty, Spirit, Matter by Aidan Hart

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The Fourth Gospel, attributed to the apostle John, focuses more than the other three on Christ’s divinity and the three divine persons. For this reason, the Greek tradition calls St. John the Theologian. It differs significantly in style and structure from the other Gospels and has always been one of the most closely read and studied books of the Bible.

In this interview, Dr. William M. Wright IV explains his pick of five books that can help us unlock the riches of the Gospel of St. John.

Dr. William Wright is Professor at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquense University. He is a specialist in New Testament studies with special focus on the Johannine writings. He is the author of numerous articles and several books: Rhetoric and Theology: Figural Reading of John 9 (Walter de Gruyter, 2009); The Bible and Catholic Ressourcement: Essays in Scripture and Theology (Emmaus Academic, 2019); and, with Francis Martin, The Gospel of John (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) (Baker Academic, 2015) and Encountering the Living God in Scripture: Theological and Philosophical Principles for Interpretation (Baker Academic, 2019). He has been elected to the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and serves on the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Ecumenical Dialogue. He is also a Lay Dominican.

1. The Gospel According to John (vol. 1) (vol 2) by Raymond E. Brown SS

In a letter written around 412 AD, St. Augustine notes that, “If Christian teaching condemned all warfare, then the soldiers in the gospel who were seeking guidance about their security would have been told to throw away their weapons and withdraw entirely from the army.” At the same time, he stresses that warfare is legitimate if and only if it is waged for the sake of peace and in a moral way. Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has matured its teaching on the ethics of warfare. Some may wonder, though, whether that teaching is still valid in a world where the military marshals advanced technology to produce arsenals of immensely destructive weaponry. In this episode, Prof. Gregory Reichberg, a specialist in military ethics, explains his pick of the five best books on the ethics of warfare.

A philosopher by training (with a Ph.D. from Emory University), Gregory Reichberg is a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, where he writes on historical and contemporary issues in military ethics. He is the author of Thomas Aquinas on War and Peace (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and co-editor of several volumes, including The Ethics of War: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Blackwell Publishing, 2006), Religion, War, and Ethics: A Sourcebook of Textual Traditions (Cambridge U P, 2014), and Robotics, AI, and Humanity: Science, Ethics, and Policy (Springer, 2021). His articles have appeared in Catholic journals and magazines, including The Thomist, La Revue Thomiste, Nova & Vetera (English Edition), Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, Commonweal, and America Magazine. His current work focuses on artificial intelligence and its implications for military ethics.

Prof. Reichberg's recommended books on the ethics of war are:

1. Summa Theologiae: Volume 35, Consequences of Charity: 2a2ae. 34-46 by St. Thomas Aquinas
2. Vitoria: Political Writings edited by Anthony Padgen and Jeremy Lawrence
3. Freedom in the Modern World by Jacques Maritain
4. Church of the Word Incarnate, vol. 1 by Charles Journet
5. Fratelli tutti by Pope Francis

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“Very rightly the fine arts are considered to rank among the noblest activities of man's genius, and this applies especially to religious art and to its highest achievement, which is sacred art. These arts, by their very nature, are oriented toward the infinite beauty of God which they attempt in some way to portray by the work of human hands; they achieve their purpose of redounding to God's praise and glory in proportion as they are directed the more exclusively to the single aim of turning men's minds devoutly toward God.” (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, n. 122).

In this episode, David Clayton—an internationally known artist, teacher, writer, and broadcaster—has picked some of the best books on Catholic sacred art.

An Englishman educated at Oxford, David Clayton, is Provost of www.Pontifex.University, for whom he created the unique Master of Sacred Arts program. He holds the post of Artist-in Residence of Scala Foundation in Princeton, NJ. He has major commissions from churches in the US and the UK, including the Brompton Oratory in London, and has illustrated several children’s books, including God’s Covenant With You by Scott Hahn. His popular blog is thewayofbeauty.org and in addition he writes regularly for the New Liturgical Movement website. His books include: The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education, and Inspiration for Family, School, and College; Painting the Nude: The Theology of the Body and Representation of Man in Christian Art; and The Little Oratory - A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home.

His recommended books on Catholic sacred art are:

1. The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger
2. God's Human Face by Christoph Schönborn
3. Baroque by John Rupert Martin
4. Festal Icons History and Meaning by Aidan Hart
5. The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education, and Inspiration for Family, School, and College by David Clayton

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Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) was an influential Catholic neo-scholastic philosopher and many-faceted public intellectual. Raised a Protestant, he became an agnostic, A student of the natural sciences at the Sorbonne, he became disillusioned with scientism and even entered into a suicide pact with his wife, Raïssa, to be carried out if they had not discovered a deeper meaning to life within a year. The lectures of Henri Bergson helped them find some deeper meaning to life and prompted Maritain to study philosophy. In 1906, he and his wife converted to Catholicism. The following year, he discovered St. Thomas, and would dedicate the rest of his life to promoting and applying the Aquinas’s thought. Ambassador of France to the Holy See from 1945 to 1948, he joined the Little Brothers of Jesus in 1970, three years before his death. An influence on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Second Vatican Council, and the Christian Democratic movement, he is one of the most important twentieth-century Catholic thinkers. In this episode, Prof. Matthew Minerd discusses his pick of five of Maritain’s books.

Matthew Minerd is a Ruthenian Catholic, husband, father, and a professor of philosophy and moral theology at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. His academic work has appeared in the journals Nova et Vetera, The American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Saint Anselm Journal, Lex Naturalis, Downside Review, The Review of Metaphysics, and Maritain Studies, as well in volumes published by the American Maritain Association through the Catholic University of America Press. He has served as author, translator, and/or editor for volumes published by The Catholic University of America Press, Emmaus Academic, Cluny Media, and Ascension Press. He has published academic articles and book chapters related to Maritain and is the Secretary of the American Maritain Association. For more information on his work, visit philosophicalcatholic.com

He recommends that new readers of Maritain start with the following five books.

1. The Angelic Doctor by Jacques Maritain
2. Prayer and Intelligence by Jacques and Raïssa Maritain
3. The Primacy of the Spiritual by Jacques Maritain
4. Art and Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain
5. The Peasant of the Garonne: An Old Layman Questions Himself about the Present Time by Jacques...

Henri de Lubac SJ (1896-1991) was a major influence on the Second Vatican Council and on theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger, with whom he founded the journal Communio. In 1942, he and some fellow Jesuits founded Sources chrétiennes, a series that publishes the original text of patristic and medieval Christian writings alongside a French translation. He thereby stimulated within Catholic theology a return to its sources. Putting this ressourcement into practice in his own works, he argued that the Church should retrieve the patristic understanding of the Eucharist, the Church, creation, grace, and Scripture. In 1983, Pope John Paul II created him a cardinal.

Approaching de Lubac’s vast oeuvre can be daunting. Fortunately, Dr. David Grumett is here to give an overview of de Lubac and explain what you should read first.

David Grumett is senior lecturer in theology and ethics in the University of Edinburgh. He has recently published Henri de Lubac and the Shaping of Modern Theology: A Reader with Ignatius Press.

David Grumett's recommended books are:

1. Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man by Henri de Lubac
2. The Christian Faith: An Essay on the Structure of the Apostles' Creed by Henri de Lubac
3. Christian Resistance to Anti-Semitism: Memories from 1940-1944 by Henri de Lubac
4. Scripture in the Traditionby Henri de Lubac
5. Meet Henri de Lubac: His Life and Work by Rudolf Voderholze

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The works discussed in this episode are:

1. On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil the Great
2. Vindicating the Filioque: The Church Fathers at the Council of Florence by Fr. Thomas Crean OP
3. Ascetic Pneumatology from John Cassian to Gregory the Great by Thomas L. Humphries Jr.
4. On The Trinity (De Trinitate), Book 11 by St. Augustine
5. The Masses by Anton Bruckner, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, directed by Eugen Jochum

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Apologetics consists in defending the faith by explaining the reasons for belief in Revelation. It is summed up in Saint Peter's exhortation to “always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15). However, recently, several apologists have been stressing the need to engage not just the minds but also our imagination. This strand of apologetics has been called imaginative apologetics. In this episode, Holly Ordway explains imaginative apologetics and recommends some of the best books on the subject.

Holly Ordway is the Cardinal Francis George Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute, and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is the author of Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (Word on Fire Academic, 2021). Her other books include Tales of Faith: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel through Literature (Word on Fire Institute, 2021) and Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith (Emmaus Road, 2017). She is also a Subject Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies and a published poet.

Her recommended books on imaginative apologetics are:

1. On Fairy-stories by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (also available for Kindle) by Michael Ward
3. An Experiment in Criticism (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
4. An Unexpected Journal A Quarterly Journal
5. The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty: Art, Sanctity, and the Truth of Catholicism by Fr. John Saward

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“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1131). To help unpack this dense paragraph and take us beyond what we learned as children during catechesis, Roger W. Nutt will take us through his pick of the five best books on the sacraments in general.

Roger W. Nutt, S.T.L., S.T.D., is Provost of Ave Maria University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the Sacraments and Christology. He co-directs the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal with Dr. Michael Dauphinais and Dr. Steven Long. His research focuses on Christology and Sacramental Theology, and especially the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the author of three books and many articles on the sacraments: Thomas Aquinas’ ‘De Unione Verbi Incarnati’ (Peeters Publishers, 2015); General Principles of Sacramental Theology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2017); and To Die is Gain: A Theological (re-)Introduction to the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick for Clergy, Laity, Caregivers, and Everyone Else (Emmaus Academic, 2022). His articles and chapters have appeared in publications such as Nova et Vetera, Gregorianum, Louvain Studies, The Thomist, Harvard Theological Review, Angelicum, Antiphon: A Journal of Liturgical Renewal, and the Oxford Handbook of the Reception of Aquinas.

His recommended books on the sacraments are:

1. The Cleansing of the Heart: The Sacraments as Instrumental Causes in the Thomistic Tradition by Reginald Lynch O.P.
2. Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy (also available for Kindle) by Lawrence Feingold
3. The Spirit of the Liturgy by Card. Joseph Ratzinger
4. On Baptism, Against the Donatists (also available for Kindle) by St. Augustine
5. The Mysteries by St. Ambrose

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Arguably, we can learn a lot from Jane Austen's finely crafted character studies of Regency era gentry. They are penetrating studies of the subtleties of commonplace virtue and vice. They are also informed by Austen’s Christian faith.

Dwight Lindley has picked some books to help the Catholic reader get the most out of Jane Austen (1775-1817), one of the finest and best-loved novelists in the English language.

Dwight Lindley is the Barbara Longway Briggs Chair in English Literature at Hillsdale College. He has published essays and articles on Jane Austen, George Eliot, John Henry Newman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Virginia Woolf, and others. He lives in southern Michigan with his wife Emily and their nine children.

His recommended books are:

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Emma by Jane Austen
3. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
4. Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage by B.C. Southam
5. Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin

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The Fathers of the Church are the saintly bishops and priests of the first centuries who bear witness to the apostolic tradition and hand it on in their writings and ministry. They identify the canon of Scripture, exemplify the principles of biblical interpretation, shape the early liturgies, compose the creeds, define the rule of faith, and lay the foundations of canon law and the Church’s pastoral activity. Reading them is indispensable for a Catholic education. Perhaps the Fathers of the first two centuries are the best place to start. They are called the Apostolic Fathers because they learnt the faith from the Apostles or their immediate successors. Mike Aquilina has written widely on the Fathers of the Church and will share his pick of the best books on the Apostolic Fathers.

Mike Aquilina is author of more than sixty books, including The Fathers of the Church and The Mass of the Early Christians. He is executive vice-president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He also serves as a contributing editor of Angelus News and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History series published by Ave Maria Press. He hosts the “Way of the Fathers” podcast for Catholic Culture. He has co-hosted eleven television series on EWTN. Aquilina is also a poet and songwriter, whose works have been recorded by Dion, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Amy Grant, Bruce Springsteen, and others.

Mike Aquilina's recommeded books on the early Church Fathers are:

1. Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words(also available for Kindle) by Rod Bennett
2. The Early Church (33–313): St. Peter, the Apostles, and Martyrs(also available for Kindle) by James L. Papandrea
3. The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert L. Wilken
4. The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark
5. We Look for a Kingdom: The Everyday Lives of the Early Christians(also available for Kindle) by Carl J. Sommer
6. Early Christian Writing: The Apostolic Fathers (also availble for Kindle) by Andrew Louth

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The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah, Hebrew for law or instruction. They are also called the Pentateuch, which is Greek for five scrolls. They are at the heart of Judaism. For Christians they are a major part of the Word of God. They tell the story God’s people from the creation of the world until its arrival under Moses to the promised land. Much of that story is familiar to us, but understanding the Pentateuch can still be challenging for modern readers. In this interview, Dr. John Bergsma will explain his pick of the books that can guide us through the Pentateuch.

Dr. John Bergsma is a Full Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Steubenville, Ohio. He served as a Protestant pastor for four years before entering the Catholic Church in 2001. He specializes in the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among his various books are Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History and A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament (co-authored with Brant Pitre).

His recommended books are

1. Pentateuch as Narrative by John Sailhamer
2. The Old Testament of the Old Testament by R.W. Moberly
3. Murmuring Against Moses by Jeff Morrow and John Bergsma
4. A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn
5. The Book of the Torah by Thomas W. Mann

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Welcome to the Five Books for Catholics podcast, where experts explain their pick of five outstanding

books on an aspect of Catholic life, doctrine, or culture.

Visit the website at www.fivebooksforcatholics.com

The books discussed in this episode are

1. Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion by Mons. Ronald Knox
2. An Invitation to the Spirit Filled Life: The Promise, the Power, Gifts, the Fruit by Charles Whitehead
3. A Key to Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church by Vincent Walsh
4. Riding the Wind: Learning the Ways of the Spirit and Still Riding the Wind: Learning the Ways of the Spirit by Fr. George T. Montague S.M.
5. In the School of the Holy Spirit by Fr. Jacques Philippe

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil
2. Homilies on the Six Days of Creation [Hexameron] by St. Basil
3. On Christian Ethics by St. Basil
4. The Long Rules by St. Basil
5. Letters (

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
2. The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark'
3. Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
4. All the Stories of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark
5. Muriel Spark: The Biography by Martin Stannard

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphysics by Michael Gorman
2. The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics by Norris W. Clarke
3. Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction by Edward Feser
4. Aquinas on Being and Essence: A Translation and Interpretation (De ente et essentia) by Joseph Bobik
5. Metaphysics by Aristotle, translated with introduction and notes by C.D.C. Reeve

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. The Great Encyclicals: Volume One, The Social Letters by Leo XIII, compiled and with an introduction by Leo L. Clarke
2. The Great Encyclicals: Volume Two, The Spiritual Letters by Leo XIII, compiled and with an introduction by Leo L. Clarke
3. The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII edited by Étienne Gilson
4. Catholic Social Teaching: A Volume of Scholarly Essays edited by Gerard V. Bradley and E. Christian Brugger
5. On the Dignity of Society: Catholic Social Teaching and Natural Law by F. Russell Hittinger, edited by Scott Roninger

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
2. O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
3. Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
4. The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann, 1973-1983 by Fr. Alexander Schmemann

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. Dilexit Nos: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ by Pope Francis
2. Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis
3. Misericordiae vultus and Misericordia et misera by Pope Francis
4. Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. The Predestination of the Saints and On the Gift of Final Perseverance by St. Augustine
2. Summa theologiae I, q. 23 by St. Thomas Aquinas
3. On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of Concordia by Luis de Molina SJ
4. Predestination by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP
5. Grace, Predestination, and the Permission of Sin: A Thomistic Analysis by Taylor Patrick O’Neill ...and some further recommendations...

The book recommended in this episode is:

Duccio di Buoninsegna by Cecilia Jannella

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This week's recommendation is  Palestrina 6 performed by the The Sixteen.

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The book discussed in this episode is Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Alexander Schmemann.

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The book discussed in this episode is:  Ash-Wednesday by T.S. Eliot.

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The book discussed in this episode is: Sermons for Lent and the Easter Season by St. Bernard of Clairvaux

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The books recommended in this episode are:

1. The Institutes by St. John Cassian
2. The Conferences by St. John Cassian
3. On the Incarnation of Christ: Against the Heretic Nestorius by St. John Cassian
4. Cassian the Monk by Columba Stewart
5. John Cassian by Owen Chadwick

Five Books for...

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. Biblia Sacra Vulgata
2. De imitatione Christi (The Imitation of Christ) by Thomas À Kempis
3. Collationes in orationem dominicam (Sermon-Conferences on the Our Father) by St. Thomas Aquinas
4. Sermones de tempore (Sermons for the Liturgical Year) by St. Augustine
5. Epitome Historiae Sacrae by Fr. Charles François Lhommond...and for a Latin textook....
6. Ecclesiastical Latin: A Primer on the Language of the Church by Charles Kim

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. Faith, Science, and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge by Christopher T. Baglow
2. Thomistic Evolution: A Catholic Approach to Understanding Evolution in the Light of Faith by Nicanor Pier Giorgio OP et al.
3. Creation through Evolution: New Perspectives from Thomistic Philosophy and Theology edited by Nicanor Pier Giorgio OP
4. Theistic Evolution: A Contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective by Mariusz Tabaczek OP
5. From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution by Matthew Ramage

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The books discussed in this episode are:

1. The Song of Songs, Commentary and Homilies by Origen of Alexandria
2. On Christian Teaching (De doctrina christiana) by St. Augustine
3. Questions on Love and Charity: Summa Theologiae, Secunda Secundae, Questions 23–46 by St. Thomas Aquinas, edited by Robert Miner
4. The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII by Leo XIII and The Church and the Reconstruction of the Modern World: The Social...

The books recommended in this episode are:

1. Introduction to Classical and New Testament Greek: A Unified Approach by Michael Boler
2. A Reader's Greek New Testament: Third Edition by Richard J. Goodrich and Albert L. Lukaszewski
3. A Patristic Greek Reader by Rodney A. Whitacre
4. A Student Handbook of Greek and English Grammar by Robert Mondi and Peter L. Corrigan
5. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament...

The books discussed in this episode are:

1. On the American Indians by Francisco de Vitoria OP
2. Deliberation on the Cause of the Poor by Domingo de Soto OP
3. Exsul Familia by Pius XII
4. Erga migrantes caritas Christi by Pontifical Council For The Pastoral Care Of Migrants And Itinerant People
5. Migrants and Refugees: Witnesses to Hope by Pope Francis, edited by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

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