Lord, Teach Us to Pray - Fr. Jeffrey Kirby

Lord, Teach us to Pray: A Guide to the Spiritual Life and Christian Discipleship, by Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, STL

This terrific, easy-to-read volume offers a primer on the Catholic faith and the basics of prayer in the Catholic tradition.

The genius of Lord, Teach Us to Pray is that after providing a remedial crash-course on Christianity, it helps readers create a meaningful Rule of Life, following principles established by the great saints. This two-phased approach—basic catechesis, followed by concrete action—has proved to be a remarkably effective way to help Catholics of all ages draw closer to Jesus.

To Save a Thousand Souls

To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood is the definitive guide for men considering the priesthood. Using powerful and entertaining stories, the book explains in down-to-earth language how to carefully discover God’s call.

To Save a Thousand Souls has been bulk-ordered by over 100 U.S. dioceses, and has become the standard “catechism for discernment” throughout the country.  It has been translated into Spanish, French, and Romanian, and re-printed in Mexico, Europe, and Asia.

Readers are enthusiastic in their praise for To Save a Thousand Souls, saying it is easy to read and answers almost all their questions about discerning their vocation. Many young men who have read the book have gone on to enter seminary.

The Confessions of St. Augustine

They that seek shall find him, and those who find shall praise him. The first autobiography ever written, Augustine's Confessions ranks among the most profound books in history. But it's more than that; this testament shows how God gives rest to the weary and hope to the hopeless. “This book is the masterpiece from which all other Christian memoirs flow. 

The Interior Castle - St. Teresa of Avila

The acclaimed modern translation of St. Teresa of Avila's classic book on spiritual awareness and guidance

Celebrated for almost five centuries as a master of spiritual literature, 16th-century saint Teresa of Avila is one of the most beloved religious figures in history. Overcome one day by a mystical vision of a crystal castle with seven chambers, each representing a different stage in spiritual development, Teresa immediately wrote The Interior Castle. Probably her most important and widely studied work, it guides the spiritual seeker through each stage of development until the soul's final union with the divine.

A Priest in the Family

A Priest in the Family: A Guide for Parents Whose Sons Are Considering Priesthood, by Fr. Brett Brannen

“My son, a priest!? Won’t he be lonely? What about celibacy? Isn’t he too young? I just want him to be happy!”

These and dozens of other questions and concerns are common among parents of would-be priests. With his gift for storytelling and down-to-earth wisdom, Fr. Brett Brannen addresses a wide range of issues in A Priest in the Family: A Guide for Parents Whose Sons are Considering Priesthood.

Like his previous book, To Save a Thousand Souls, Fr. Brannen’s new book for parents is filled with humor, anecdotes, and dramatic stories from his own life as a priest. In twelve short, easy-to-read chapters, he explains priesthood, seminary, celibacy, and how a man discerns his vocation—all while keeping in mind parents’ legitimate concerns.

Priests for the Third Millennium

Cardinal Timothy Dolan (formerly of Milwaukee, now of New York City) sets forth what it takes to be a Catholic priest in the Third Millennium. Whether he is stressing the necessity of regular Confession and the need to celebrate daily Mass and pray the Liturgy of the Hours or discussing priestly celibacy in frank, realistic terms, he emphasizes true priest identity by presenting a life worth living, a life worth sharing, a life worth offering up to the Father through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Pastoral, practical, and thoroughly Catholic, Priests for the Third Millennium will renew the joy of being Catholic in the heart of seminarians, priests, and the people they serve.

The Priest is Not His Own - Archbishop Fulton Sheen

The beloved Archbishop Sheen, whose cause for canonization is open in Rome, presents a profound and deeply spiritual look at the meaning of the priesthood and relationship of the priest with Christ as an "alter Christus".

Sheen delves deeply into what he considers the main character of the priesthood, and one not often discussed, that of being, like Christ, a "holy victim". To be like Christ, Sheen emphasizes that the priest must imitate Christ in His example of sacrifice, offering himself as a victim to make His Incarnation continually present in the world.