Religious Books

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.

An Introduction to Prayer offers a collection of rich yet brief reflections on prayer in the Catholic spiritual tradition from acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian Bishop Robert Barron. This book explores the answers to questions like:

For six years, before becoming a well-regarded retreat master, Fr. Wayne Sattler lived as a diocesan hermit in a one-room cabin on an abandoned farmstead in rural North Dakota, striving to avail himself of the mystery of what God can do in prayer, clinging to the wisdom of the sixteenth-century Carmelite saints John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila as his trusted guides.

Fr. Sattler was asked many times to write a book sharing the fruits of his time in solitude to help others progress in the spiritual life, and after returning to the active diocesan priesthood in 2013, he completed this long-awaited work. Delving deeply into two of the greatest mystical masterpieces ever written, St. John's The Dark Night and St. Teresa's The Interior Castle, Father leads you through the intricate pathways of contemplative prayer, providing clarity on this oft-misunderstood subject.

As you journey with these Doctors of the Church and grow in self-knowledge, you will discover:

St. John of the Cross describes contemplation as "nothing else than a secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God, which, if not hampered, fires the soul in the spirit of love." This book sheds light upon the great mystery of the mystical life for everyone. Join Fr. Sattler as he guides you in developing the capacity for contemplative prayer in our great hope of being led more deeply into union with God.

She teaches how to deal with thousands of thoughts that people think every day and how to focus the mind the way God thinks. And she shares the trials, tragedies, and ultimate victories from her own marriage, family, and ministry that led her to wondrous, life-transforming truth--and reveals her thoughts and feelings every step of the way.

This special updated edition includes an additional introduction and updated content throughout the book.

For more than 250 years, Abandonment to Divine Providence by Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade has offered inspiration and spiritual balm for those plagued with doubt, anxiety, and fear. Motivated by his own life-changing encounter with this spiritual classic and the popular resurgence in practicing Christian mindfulness, bestselling author and retreat leader Rev. Jeffrey Kirby serves up six meditations, rooted in Caussade's work, for today's reader and presents them as a personal retreat. Perfect for anyone looking to renew their trust in God and live freely in the present moment, Be Not Troubled invites you to let go of what you can't control and discover a place of deep serenity in God.

How does the contemporary person who is constantly forced to multitask, is fragmented and torn in different directions, and feels more connection through technology than through face-to-face interaction come to know and experience God's presence?

In Be Not Troubled, Kirby draws on his decades of experience as a popular retreat leader and speaker to offer you the wisdom of Caussade distilled into a six-day personal retreat that equips you to embrace the present moment and shake fear from your mind--all by recognizing the power of God.

This process begins with time-tested tools drawn from the renowned spiritual classic Abandonment to Divine Providence, which presents a series of influential spiritual reflections from Caussade, a beloved eighteenth-century French Jesuit.

In popularizing this classic for today's readers, Be Not Troubled

Practical steps, invitations to practice presence, and reflective prayers guide you through these spiritual habits, which are broken out into six days of brief, accessible meditations that can be completed in the midst of your daily life.

Rather than the future or the past, and rather than in cyberspace or somewhere else, God is found in this moment and in this place. The present moment can be lived and cherished as a sacrament, a visible sign of invisible graces. And it's in this sacrament that we can most know ourselves and encounter the living God.

Winner of a 2020 Catholic Press Association book award (third place, scripture-popular studies).

The women God called to bring his chosen people into the world were ordinary women who struggled with emptiness, oppression, infertility, and loss--yet who found strength and hope in God. In her first book, Sarah Christmyer--codeveloper of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible study program--pairs the stories of key Old Testament women with stories of women she has known to show us how we can hear God, say yes to his call, and share him with the world just as they did.

Breaking open the scriptures to reveal the historical, cultural, and biblical context in which Old Testament women lived, Sarah Christmyer breathes new life into their stories and makes their lives surprisingly relatable. In the process, she shares stories from her own faith journey and the lives of family and friends to show how the same principles that turned ordinary women into heroines of the faith are true for our lives today.

Each chapter of Becoming Women of the Word highlights the spiritual legacy of one or more women in the Old Testament. Their world was vastly different from ours, yet they faced the same questions we do: when we can't feel God's presence, where do we find help? When our world is collapsing, where is God? Why should we trust him? How can we trust him? Christmyer simply and clearly draws from the lives of these women important principles that help us to trust--even as we struggle with doubt. For example:

These unforgettable portraits create a colorful mosaic of faith, encouraging us to mine God's Word for spiritual treasure and to pass on the gift.

In Benedict Backwards, Terrence Kardong builds the case that the Rule of Benedict is best read "backwards," that is, with emphasis on the last chapters, not the first ones. Benedict starts out dependent on the Rule of the Master, but he ends on a much more self-assured note, revealing more about his own thoughts on matters of monastic life. Kardong shows the final chapters of the Rule are primarily about community, and they provide insight into Benedict's vision for his monks.