LIST OF CATHOLIC RESOURCES

LOCAL CATHOLIC SHOPS AND CENTERS

Pauline Books & Media

1025 King Street, Alexandria, VA

The Newman Store (Catholic University's Bookstore)

3025 Fourth St NE, Washington, DC 20017

The Paschal Lamb

11214 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA

The Catholic Shop

13939 Metrotech Drive, Chantilly, VA

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

400 Michigan Ave, N.E., Washington, D.C.

SOME GOOD PERIODICALS

The Catholic World Report

The National Catholic Register

Vatican Today

Arlington Catholic Herald

Magnificat (contains the Mass readings, reflections and prayers for each day)

First Things (an ecumenical scholarly journal)

Touchstone (an ecumenical Christian magazine in the spirit of C.S. Lewis)


TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS

Eternal Work Television Network – Channel 161 in Fairfax County, Channel 267 in Falls Church and Channel 291 in Arlington County

Radio Station 1160 AM, run by the Guadalupe Radio Network and affiliated with EWTN


SOME HELPFUL INTERNET SITES

arlingtondiocese.org (the website for this diocese)

usccb.org (the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

vatican.va (the Vatican's website; contains virtually all of the official Vatican documents)

ewtn.com (the website of the Eternal Word Television Network)

newadvent.org (lists numerous resources and documents)

zenit.org (an international news service)

masstimes.org (gives locations of churches, Mass and confessions schedules throughout the US and in many places around the world)

SOME GENERAL COMMENTARIES ON THE FAITH

Heretics, Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

The Spirit of Catholicism by Fr. Karl Adam

Mere Christianity, Miracles and other works by C.S. Lewis (Lewis was Anglican, but the book explains Christianity in general very well; his works cover a wide expanse of literature and are generally very accessible and helpful)

The Life of Christ and Life if Worth Living by Archbishop Fulton Sheen

SOME HISTORIES OF THE FAITH

History of Christendom series by Warren Carroll

The Church Throughout the Ages by John Vidmar

How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas Woods

Butler's Lives of the Saints (in a one volume or four volume form)


SOME WORKS FOR LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE FAITH

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism For Adults by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (the universal catechism explained in language and examples for Americans)

Youth Catechism for the Catholic Church (YouCat) (endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI, this international catechism explains the faith in terms appealing to youth and young adults)

The Revised Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism (the Baltimore Catechism was the classic catechism in the United States, first published in 1885; the current edition was published in 1995, just after the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas (requires some background; Fr. Edward Gratsch's Aquinas' Summa is a good introduction)

Faith of Our Fathers by James Cardinal Gibbons

Theology of the Body a series of talks by Pope John Paul II and Theology of the Body Explained by Christopher West (helps explain Catholic moral theology in the context of truth and love as expressed through the body)

Theology and Sanity and Theology for Beginners by Frank Sheed

Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating

Catholic Christianity by Peter Kreeft

The Faith Explained by Leo Trese

Straight Answers Vols. I and II by Fr. William Saunders

Biblical commentaries by Scott Hahn

Works on Chastity and Marriage by Jason Everett


SOME CLASSICS OF SPIRITUALITY

The Rule of St. Benedict

The Confessions by St. Augustine

On the Love of God by St. Bernard of Clarivoux

The Cloud of Unknowing by an unknown author of the fourteenth century

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle by St. Theresa of Avila

Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius of Loyola

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

Abandonment to Divine Providence by Fr. Jean-Pierre de Causadde

The Story of Her Soul by St. Therese of Liseaux

This Tremendous Lover by Fr. Eugene Boylan

Spiritual Theology and Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition by Fr. Jordan Aumann

A Primer on Prayer, Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer and other works by Fr. Thomas Dubay

Heaven in Our Hands, I Will be With You Always and other works by by Fr. Benedict Groeschel

SOME GOOD WORKS OF FICTION AND OTHER LITERATURE

The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass, edited by William Bennet (good stories, essays, and poems about the virtues for all ages.)

The works of G.K. Chesterton, e.g., the Father Brown mystery series (short stories featuring one Father Brown, who brings out aspects of the faith as he solves crime), The Man Who Was Thursday, and The Dumb Ox (a biography of St. Thomas Aquinas.)

The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce and The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis (Although The Chronicles of Narnia are styled as children's literature, the messages are profound at all ages and grow with one's intellect; the other two works are fiction literature told from different standpoints about the growth, or destruction, of the human soul. )

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein (On this point popular opinion is correct: Tolkein is a master of fiction at the level of Homer, Ovid, Dante, and Charles Dickens. And, although these books are not written as allegory or overtly for the sake of teaching, they plainly demonstrate Christian morals, such as the infinite value of each person, a mystical sense of life, the importance of honor, a strong notion of Providence, and the fact that good ends do not justify evil means.)

The historical novels of Louis De Wohl, such as Citadel of God (about St. Benedict), The Quiet Light (about St. Thomas Aquinas) and Lay Siege to Heaven (about St. Catherine of Siena). He wrote novels about the saints in the genre of historical fiction. They describe real saints, such as St. Longinus, St. Helen, St. Benedict, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Ignatius of Loyola, and cover the known events of their lives. But, in order to present a compelling narrative, they include scenes and conversations for which there is no historical record; and, it must be admitted, sometimes they rearrange historical events in order to make the plot work better. Despite the liberties with history that Louis de Wohl takes, he captures the essence of each saint's life and spirituality and gives a vivid presentation of their lives.

A Philadelphia Catholic in King James' Court by Marin de Porres Kennedy (a new form of apologetics fiction)