Classic Catholic Books Online

Many of the classic Catholic books, both fictional and non-fictional, can be hard to find. Luckily, technological advances have put them right at our fingertips...literally, your keyboard. And if you have an electronic reading device, most books on these websites can be directly downloaded to your device, depending on the format.

Archive.org, Open Library and Google Books have very large collections. Project Gutenberg and Many Books are smaller but growing. Save for Google Books, each website has a multitude of formats to choose from for download, dependent upon your particular device. Or you can just read online. The cost: only your time.

Just a sample for starters.

Introduction to a Devout Life

Confessions

The Divine Comedy (illustrated)

The Innocence of Father Brown

Bishop Gilmour's Bible History

Akron Latin Mass: New Location

It was announced on Sunday that the Latin Mass located in the Akron area has been assigned to St. Sebastian, 476 Mull Ave, Akron, Ohio. High Mass at 1pm and confessions heard at 12:30pm. 

"Passion of the Church" MP3

Dear Friends of the TLM,

 

This Lent, many of us have not had the opportunity to attend a parish retreat or mission.  However, you can do this in your very home.  I have found a very poignant talk entitled the Passion of the Church.  It was given by a priest of the Fathers of Mercy to a Fraternity of St. Peter parish.  I whole-heartedly encourage you to download and listen to this MP3 before Lent's end. 

 

This priest hits home on what is really happening in our beloved Church these days.  As the Mystical Body of Christ we are undergoing a passion.  Moreover, he points to what we need to do as Friends of the Traditional Latin Mass.  I trust you will find this talk informative, eye-opening, challenging, and full of encouragement and hope.

 

http://www.AudioSancto.org/auweb/20090324-The-Passion-of-the-Church-Part-2.mp3

In Christ,

Matthew Lewis

Guide to Latin Prayers: Lesson 06 - Angelus

From New Advent:

"The Angelus is a short practice of devotion in honour of the Incarnation repeated three times each day, morning, noon, and evening, at the sound of the bell. It consists essentially in the triple repetition of the Hail Mary, to which in later times have been added three introductory versicles and a concluding versicle and prayer. The prayer is that which belongs to the antiphon of Our Lady, 'AlmaRedemptoris,' and its recitation is not of strict obligation in order to gain the indulgence. From the first word of the three versicles, i.e. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ (The angel of the Lord declared untoMary). the devotion derives its name. The indulgence of 100 days for each recitation, with a plenary once a month. was granted by Benedict XIII, 14 September, 1724, but the conditions prescribed have been somewhat modified by Leo XIII, 3 April, 1884. Originally it was necessary that the Angelus should be said kneeling (except on Sundays and on Saturday evenings, when the rubrics prescribe a standing posture), and also that it should be said at the sound of the bell; but more recent legislation allows these conditions to be dispensed with for any sufficient reason, provided the prayer be said approximately at the proper hours, i.e. in the early morning, or about the hour of noon, or towards evening. In this case. however, the whole Angelus as commonly printed has to be recited, but those who do not know the prayers by heart or who are unable to read them, may say five Hail Marys in their place. During paschal time the antiphon of Our Lady, 'Regina cæli lætare,' with versicle andprayer, is to be substituted for the Angelus. The Angelus indulgence is one of those which are notsuspended during the year of Jubilee."

The Angelus, Jean-Francois Millet, 1857-1859

A few notes before we start the lesson. 


The Ave Maria is not included in this lesson. You can find it in Lesson 04. 


A Latin letter h is generally thought of as a note of aspiration, not pronounced as it is in English. Ecclesiastical Latin has two peculiar words in which the h sounds like k. One of those words is in this lesson: mihi. 


Something we have not addressed before is the Latin words which contain the consonant combination gn, as in digni. We will pronounce it the same way we pronounce the common pasta dish, lasagne: lah-zah-nyah. 


The Angelus may not be as familiar today as some other prayers, be they Latin or vernacular. With that in mind, EWTN provides a good translation here. 

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae

(AHN-jay-loos  DOH-mee-nee  noon-tsee-AH-veet  mah-REE-ay)

et concepit de Spiritu Sancto

(eht  kohn-CHAY-peet  day  SPEAR-ee-too  SAHNK-toh)

Ave Maria...

Ecce ancilla Domini

(EHK-chay  ahn-CHEE-lah  DOH-mee-nee)

fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum

(FEE-aht  MEE-kee  say-KOON-doom  VAIR-boom  TOO-oom)

Ave Maria...

Et Verbum caro factum est

(eht  VAIR-boom  KAR-oh  FAHK-toom  ehst)

et habitavit in nobis

(eht  hah-bee-TAH-veet  een  NOH-bees)

Ave Maria...

Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix

(OR-ah  proh  NOH-bees  SAHNK-tah  DAY-ee  JAY-nee-treeks)

ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi

(oot  DEE-nyee  ay-fee-chee-AH-moor  proh-mee-see-OHN-ee-boos  KREES-tee)

Oremus
(oh-RAY-moos)


Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine,
(GRAH-tsee-ahm  TOO-ahm  KWAY-soo-moos  DOH-mee-nay)


mentibus nostris infunde:
(MEHN-tee-boos  NOHS-trees  een-FOON-day)


ut qui, Angelo nuntiante,
(oot  kwee  AHN-jay-loh  noon-tsee-AHN-tay)


Christi Filii tui 
(KREES-tee  FEE-lee-ee  TOO-wee)


Incarnationem cognovimus,
(een-kar-nah-tsee-OHN-ehm  koh-NYOH-vee-moos)


per passionem eius et crucem,
(pair  pahs-see-OHN-ehm  AY-oos  eht  KROO-chehm)


ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.
(ahd  ray-soor-rehk-tsee-OHN-ees  GLOH-ree-ahm  pair-doo-KAH-moor)


Per eumdem Christum
(pair  ay-OOM-dehm  KREES-toom)


Dominum nostrum.
(DOH-mee-noom  NOHS-troom)

This concludes the sixth lesson. Practice often. 

Prayer Before a Crucifix

On each of the Fridays of Lent, a plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who, after Communion, recite the "Prayer Before a Crucifix" before an image of Christ crucified:

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before Thy face I humbly kneel and with burning soul, pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity; true contrition for my sins; and a firm purpose of amendment; while I contemplate with great love and tender pity Thy Five Most Precious Wounds, pondering over them within me while I call to mind the words which David Thy prophet said of Thee, my Jesus: "They have pierced My Hands and My Feet, they have numbered all My Bones." Amen

Guide to Latin Prayers: Lesson 05 - Domine Non Sum Dignus

Lord, I am not worthy.

Matthew 8:

5 And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. 8 And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed...

...13 And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.

Domine non sum dignus

(DOH-mee-nay  nohn  soom  DEE-nyoos)

ut intres sub tectum meum

(oot  EEN-trays  soob  TEHK-toom  MAY-oom)

sed tantum dic verbo

(sehd  TAHN-toom  deek  VAIR-boh)

et sanabitur anima mea

(eht  sah-NAH-bee-toor  AH-nee-mah  MAY-ah)

Oldest Known Image of Mary

Devotion to the Mother of God has no shortage of artistic representation.

Found in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome, dating from the late second century, is the oldest known image depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the picture, she is nursing the Infant Jesus. The third figure in the image may be the prophet Balaam. Here he is pointing to a star which is outside of the frame. The star is a reference from Numbers 24:17

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near. A STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel: and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the children of Seth.

Guide to Latin Prayers: Lesson 04 - Ave Maria

Hail Mary

The most popular of all Marian prayers, the Ave Maria has two distinct parts: scriptural and intercessory. The first part's use in the Church's liturgy dates back as far as the fifth century. The second part we find traces back to about the fifteenth century, but with two different endings. In the writings of St. Bernardine of Sienna and the Carthusians, the prayer ends with  pray for us sinners. In the writings of the Servites, however, we find the prayer ending with pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Pope St. Pius V gave us the ending we use today when he promulgated the reformed Breviary in 1568.

Ave Maria

(AH-vay  Mah-REE-ah)

gratia plena

(GRAH-tsee-ah  PLAY-nah)

Dominus tecum

(DOH-mee-noos  TAY-koom)

benedicta tu in mulieribus

(beh-neh-DEEK-tah  too  een  moo-lee-AIR-ee-boos)

et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus

(eht  beh-neh-DEEK-toos  FROOK-toos  VEHN-trees  TOO-wee  YAY-soos)

Sancta Maria Mater Dei

(SAHNC-tah  mah-REE-ah  MAH-tair  DAY-ee)

ora pro nobis peccatoribus

(OHR-rah  proh  NOH-bees  pehk-ah-TOHR-ee-boos) 

nunc et in hora mortis nostrae

(noonk  eht  een  HOHR-ah  MOHR-tees  NOH-stray)

This concludes the fourth lesson. Practice often.