Religious Books

Includes illustrations from the original 1843 edition by "The Man Who Invented Christmas" -- Charles Dickens!

This paperback edition of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol recaptures the charm of the first edition. At a stocking stuffer price of just $9.95, it includes illustrations from the 1843 edition.

A lovely gift book for anyone who doesn't yet own the timeless classic. Who can resist the story of the bad-tempered Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation into a kinder and more loving version of himself? The visiting ghosts of past, present, and future? The deeply good Bob Cratchit and his son Tiny Tim? Create or revive a tradition and gather to read this classic tale each and every year.

The original engravings by John Leech make this a gift that all will treasure!

"Paraclete Press has created a stocking stuffer sure to convey the holiday spirit--an affordable paperback edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol featuring the illustrations that adorned the first edition 173 years ago." --Ray Kelly, The Republican (November 2016)

St. Paul exhorts us to "pray without ceasing" "€" a beautiful goal that sounds daunting, even impossible. But wait! These pages break open an authoritative, time-tested method that countless laymen still use today to pray with constancy and thereby soar to the heights of holiness.

In Abide in the Heart of Christ, Rev. Joe Laramie, S.J., offers accessible wisdom from the foundations of Jesuit spirituality--St. Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises--in a ten-day personal retreat that will help you encounter Christ, grow your relationship with him, and shape your heart.

Laramie is your guide through this accessible retreat into the heart of Jesus. Based on a structure and approach he developed as a retreat leader at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Laramie introduces you to classic themes of the Christian life, including sin, forgiveness, and creation.

This book also helps you learn how to use key scripture passages to reflect on your own experiences. Each reflection includes teachings from the Spiritual Exercises and offers examples from Laramie's own life. Reflection questions and activities guide you in further contemplation to help you see what's in your heart, encounter Christ in your daily life, and live more fully in his love each day.

B & W photographs throughout

On December 18, 2017, Pope Francis declared that Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., lived a life of heroic virtue and gave him the title "venerable," marking another step closer to sainthood for the "Rosary Priest." This new edition of Peyton's biography tells the story of his life and dedication to the Blessed Mother as he discerned his vocation, overcame the obstacles of advanced tuberculosis and lack of education, and became a priest who eventually preached to more than 28 million people worldwide, worked with Hollywood stars, and founded Family Rosary and Family Theater Productions.

This new edition of Peyton's autobiography--originally published in 1967 and reissued in a revised edition in 1997--includes black-and-white photos and a new foreword by Holy Cross Family Ministries president Fr. Willy Raymond, C.S.C., reflecting on Peyton's legacy as a saint for family prayer and his cause for canonization.

Meet one of the newest candidates for sainthood: a priest who was formed by his own family's Rosary devotion--and his formation as a Holy Cross priest--to promote peace and unity across the globe through family prayer.

Peyton--probably best known for the inspirational phrases "the family that prays together stays together" and "a world at prayer is a world at peace"--encouraged family prayer and devotion to the Rosary throughout his ministry. In his autobiography, the Rosary Priest reflects on his journey from a farm boy in Western Ireland to one of the most effective missionaries of the modern age.

In All for Her Peyton describes his travels to America, hoping to become a millionaire and instead finding work as a janitor in the Scranton cathedral, where he realized the call to the priesthood. In 1929, Peyton entered the seminary, but after years of study and training he was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Conventional treatments at the time were not working. He prayed to the Virgin Mary and his health quickly began to improve. In gratitude he committed his vocation to promote devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Rosary. On the day of his ordination as a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross, Peyton said, "I gave my heart and soul in love to Mary. I promised her all the merit of my priesthood until death. The merit and glory of every action I would ever perform would be hers and hers alone."

Peyton immediately began advocating for the practice of family Rosary devotion. He embraced the new media as a means to reach people across the globe, and developed radio and television programs that spread a message of prayer and family unity. He founded Family Theater Productions in 1947. Performers in his productions included such stars of Hollywood's golden age as Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck, and Lucille Ball.

Peyton also preached to millions in person, organizing two hundred-sixty Rosary Crusades across the globe. These large rallies included worship, prayer, and benediction. Peyton continued to be active until the 1990s and died in 1992. In 1997, the cause for his canonization was opened.

All for Her is part of Ave Maria Press's Holy Cross series. These books explore and celebrate the history and spiritual vision of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a religious order of priests, brothers, and sisters founded in France in 1837 by Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., who was beatified in 2007. Included in the series are works of biography, spirituality, and devotion.