Here are just a few of my favorite, online Lenten resources which may be of interest to you:
Some of you may already know of Audio Sancto. It is basically a repository for some of the very best homilies on the Internet. There are categories off to the right, side margin, and there you will also find the Lenten Missions category.
Please pray a Hail Mary for the priests with every download.
That name I used for that link above says it all. How cool is that? Some of those books are out of print, so count yourself very fortunate. My recommendations: Dignities and Duties of the Priesthood, and The Glories of Mary (this book you really should own as a reference as well). I've not yet read it, but I would also recommend The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. I would recommend Preparation for Death and Victories of the Martyrs, but they are not yet available online. Victories of the Martyrs is awesome, especially the martyrs of Japan, which was one of St. Alphonsus favorite examples of martyrdom and may soon be yours as well.
I most highly recommend the very short treatise, Conformity (Uniformity) to God's Will. It is a short treatise that is a MUST READ and pass on to all your Catholic family and friends. Better yet, buy the little pocket versions for like $5, published by Tan Publishers. It's very handy. Even St. Alphonsus had this, his own work, read to him at his death bed.
This is actually "Catholic Books Online" --- miscellaneous collections free to the public. Not all of them are Lenten themed. I recommend, the The Four Last Things, a medieval classic by Fr. Martin Von Cochem, O.S.F.C., and Four Last Things by Abbe A. Michel, from 1929. This one is a more theologically indepth view, but never-the-less, is quite useful. For instance, towards the beginning of the treatise it describes the psychology of one who is condemned.
Also recommended:
- St. Thomas Aquinas's Meditations for Lent.
- St. Robert Bellarmine's The Seven Last Words from the Cross.
- Alphonsus Rodriguez's On the Examination of Conscience (this is a good one).
- St. John Climacus' On the Remembrance of Death, a short, excerpt from his work,"The Ladder of Divine Ascent".
These are not all Lenten in theme, but they are useful in growing in knowledge of the faith: Pro Ecclesia
There you will find everyone from Michael Davies to the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. These are free downloads for your edification.
Music-wise, I highly recommend Tomas Luis Victoria's Requiem as sung by the Choir of the Westminster Cathedral, but you'll have to get that from the library or the store.
Also, there is a great book, The Sadness of Christ, written by St. Thomas Moore just while he was awaiting his execution. It is surprisingly modern in the way that it reads, as if he is talking straight to you, it has that personal of a tone to the work.
COMING UP ON THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL...
Also for your Lenten pleasure, I will be publishing a more thorough 'analysis' of the Triduum liturgies of Lent. These are, for those of you who do not know, comprised of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. I've posted about these before, if memory serves, but it was not a very thorough description. There are so many intricate details that relate to the traditions, rubrics, music, history and theology of Catholicism that it is important to go through as many of them as possible. This analysis will again be based on the "old" liturgical rite, still in use today but not known yet again as the "norm" but rather the "Extraordinary Form", sometimes (now incorrectly) known as "the Tridentine Rite". My goal is to give you enough knowledge of these so that you will attend these yourself and see first-hand why it is the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth.
STAY TUNED!!!
COMING UP ON THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL...
Also for your Lenten pleasure, I will be publishing a more thorough 'analysis' of the Triduum liturgies of Lent. These are, for those of you who do not know, comprised of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. I've posted about these before, if memory serves, but it was not a very thorough description. There are so many intricate details that relate to the traditions, rubrics, music, history and theology of Catholicism that it is important to go through as many of them as possible. This analysis will again be based on the "old" liturgical rite, still in use today but not known yet again as the "norm" but rather the "Extraordinary Form", sometimes (now incorrectly) known as "the Tridentine Rite". My goal is to give you enough knowledge of these so that you will attend these yourself and see first-hand why it is the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth.
STAY TUNED!!!
I just wanted to add the reason I included "Dignities of the Priesthood" as a Lenten material. It's especially a great (must) read for priests and those discerning the priesthood, however, it is also awesome for the laity and religious sisters and brothers for many reasons. Some of them include our disposition towards the Sacraments, and the priests through whom Christ works to bring us them, but also because this book gives really awesome explanations of the aesthetic life and its effects on the soul and virtue of the one practicing them. It's kind of like St. Francis de Sales, "Philothea", or better (now) known as "The Devout Life" but in the tone of St. Alphonsus, who doesn't touch on as many points but those that he does hit he explodes as if shooting arrows of God's love to the heart.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I wanted to mention is that "The Sadness of Christ" can be found on Amazon. Sorry I forgot to link!
Oh, and why did I recommend, "The Passion of Jesus Christ" by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, while not yet having read it? In case it wasn't self-explanatory: the reason is because it is on the Passion of Jesus Christ, and it's by St. Alphonsus Liguouri. :)
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