Rorate has mentioned Arouca Press of Waterloo, Ontario, several times before. They brought back into print Cardinal Schuster’s work The Sacramentary, published Fr. Armand de Malleray’s short stories and X-Ray of the Priest, the collection Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies, Cardinal Bacci’s memoirs and meditations, a new edition of Billot’s critique of liberalism, an historical play about Pope Pius VI, a commentary on the Epistles of the traditional Mass, the collection of essays on the question of Are Canonizations Infallible?, and so forth.
However, so many additional marvelous titles have been published by them in recent months that it seemed fitting to do a general post of ten, with brief descriptions.
We can see evidence, in the existence of this publisher and others like it, that traditional Catholics represent a growing and avid readership. We still buy books, we still care about our ongoing education, we know (or desire to know) where we stand and why. This is just another sign that traditionalists are here and here to stay. Most of the intellectual vitality and creativity in the Catholic Church is now with the traditional writers and artists together with the most conservative of the conservatives; the work of “moderates” and the progressives is, with few exceptions, a museum of regurgigated superficiality. It is also a sign of vitality to be reprinting excellent old books that were forgotten owing to the change in intellectual fashion during and after Vatican II. Lovers of tradition do not forget their own past and wish to learn, with humility, from earlier generations.
Benedictine and Monastic Spirituality
Ildephonse Schuster, O.S.B. Saint Benedict and His Times
A modern reprint of the original 1951 edition. 432 pages, with B&W photographs.
ISBN: 978-1-989905-46-3 | paperback | $24. 95 USD
ISBN: 978-1-989905-47-0 | hardcover | $30.95 USD
Despite the importance of St. Benedict of Nursia in the history of the Church and of the world, we know precious little about his life. He left no written documents except his great Rule, which has wisely guided God-seeking souls for a millennium and a half. In the absence of an Augustinian Confessions, Benedict’s Rule supplies a self-effacing but unmistakable biography, for the Patriarch could not have lived otherwise than as he taught. Drawing on an immense fund of knowledge at his disposal—historical, juridical, liturgical, archaeological, and literary—Ildefonso Schuster has fitted St. Benedict into the times in which he lived, using the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great as his point of departure. No other biography has ever come close to matching Schuster’s in breadth of vision or richness of scholarship.
Anselm Stolz, O.S.B. Christian Asceticism
Translated by Giles Gonacher, OSB; Introduction by Donato Ogliari, OSB; Foreword by Roberto Ferrari, OSB. 192 pages. (Please note that the cover depicted here, in my preview version, has been replaced by a cover with the correct spelling Stolz.)
ISBN: 978-1-989905-70-8 | $18.95 USD | paperback
ISBN: 978-1-989905-71-5 | $25.95 USD | hardcover
Anselm Stolz was a Benedictine monk of the German abbey of Gerleve, called to Rome to teach theology at Sant’Anselmo, where he lived until his early death from typhus in 1942, contracted while assisting patients. Stolz taught that mysticism, in the sense of having a deep personal relationship with Jesus, was for everyone, not just the preserve of a spiritual élite. This book, as Abbot Ogliari says, is “intended to provide inspiration for living with inner freedom and joy the following of Christ and his Gospel.” Stolz offers advice on the means to come closer to Christ and to remove obstacles to Christ coming closer to us. He draws his teaching from the Scriptures and the writings of the saints, the Fathers and Doctors, who have followed the same paths and are reliable guides for us.
Denis the Carthusian. Commentary on the Psalms. Vol. 2. Dominus Illuminatio Mea: Psalms 26–50
Trans. Andrew Greenwell. 544 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-989905-44-9 | $25.95 USD | paperback
ISBN: 978-1-989905-45-6 | $31.95 USD | hardcover
Dominus Illuminatio Mea is the second of six planned volumes translating Denis the Carthusian’s (1402–1471) extensive Commentary on the Psalms. This second volume contains the commentary on Psalms 26 through 50. Of more than historical or scholarly interest, this translation is aimed at a larger Catholic audience; it is accompanied by footnotes that explain or amplify biblical, dogmatic, Thomistic, scholastic, catechetical, or historical matters. Reading Denis will expose the reader to that which Pope Benedict XVI called for in the post-synodal Exhortation Verbum Domini, namely, that the faithful rediscover the unity of Scripture and its different senses—literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical.
Catholic Social Teaching and the Catholic Family
Thomas Storck with Alexandros Barbas, Seeing the World with Catholic Eyes: A Conversation with Thomas Storck
162 pages
ISBN 978-1-989905-62-3 | paperback | $16.95 USD
ISBN 978-1-989905-63-0 | hardcover | $23.95 USD
Thomas Storck has written a substantial body of work on Catholic Social Teaching and related subjects, but here in this delightful and provocative book—a series of responses to questions posed by publisher Alexandros Barbas—Storck steps back to talk about his life and intellectual journey as a convert, a Thomist, a distributist, a critic of the modern West, and a lover of tradition, and how our faith as Catholics animates and is meant to animate the whole of life and reality. Storck views the Church and her robust social teachings as central to helping Catholics create an environment where justice and charity can work together in a manner that disposes men to achieve their ultimate goal of heaven.
Salazar and His Work: Essays on Political Philosophy by de Corte, Gaxotte, and Thibon
These essays were originally published in French in 1956. Translated by Brian Welter. Foreword by Dr. Marcos Pinho de Escobar. 84 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-989905-66-1 | Paperback | $8.95 USD
As Dr. de Escobar writes in the Foreword: “Three attributes should be essential to anyone in public office: intelligence, integrity and dedication. If it is not an easy task to identify one of these qualities in a politician, much more difficult it would be to find two, and highly improbable to have all three simultaneously. For the good fortune of Portugal and the Portuguese, António de Oliveira Salazar was endowed—and liberally endowed—with this ‘golden triad’ which defines the authentic governor of the Polis…. In Salazar these three essential features were firmly anchored in a profound love of God and of Portugal. And this is precisely what explains the core of his political thought, in which the Nation is the supreme value in the temporal order and the State is God’s Ministry on earth to procure the common good—the legitimate material well-being, the development of a virtuous life, the salvation of the soul, concepts which are obviously unintelligible to today’s materialistic, hedonistic and globalist frame of mind. In this book two philosophers and one historian take turns to explore particular aspects of Salazar's personality, political thought and work.”
Leila M. Lawler, God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical “Casti Connubii” (On Chaste Marriage)
224 pages
ISBN: 978-1-989905-60-9 | $14.95 USD | paperback
ISBN: 978-1-989905-61-6 | $21.95 USD | hardcover
In 1930, Pius XI published a letter to the world to answer a fundamental question—“What is Marriage?” As even Christians began to accept divorce and remarriage, contraception, and abortion, the Pope eloquently and beautifully defended the ancient understanding of marriage as grounded in Scripture, Tradition, and natural law. This guided reading of the great encyclical Casti Connubii, the best ever written on marriage, will help you, your friends, and your parish understand what the Church teaches and has always taught about this fundamental institution, God’s first covenant with man. In a readable, engaging style, Leila Marie Lawler explains the work, giving the background and tools you need for applying the Church’s wisdom to your life in today’s world. Previously available only on Kindle, this second revised edition features the unabridged text of the encyclical, a timeline of events to enhance study, ample margins for notes, and a new chapter on Amoris Laetitia in the light of Casti Connubii. This book is perfect for reading groups and individual inquiry.
Theology and Liturgy
Fr. Serafino Lanzetta, The Symphony of Truth
150 pages
ISBN: 978-1-989905-50-0 | paperback | $16.95 USD
ISBN: 978-1-989905-51-7 | hardcover | $22.95 USD (on sale at the moment for $13.45)
In our times, debates over the Second Vatican Council, the “hermeneutic of continuity,” and the pontificate of Francis have revealed massive cracks in the once-smooth façade of the Catholic Church; indeed they have indicated severe damage in the beams, pillars, and foundation. Yet the tools for addressing this crisis of theological architecture are singularly absent from media discourse and rarely found in academia. In this collection of essays probing the intersection of ecclesiology, morality, and the sacraments, Fr. Lanzetta demonstrates that he not only possesses the tools but uses them skillfully and charitably to illuminate the saving truth of the Gospel. Refreshingly, he does not shy away from a strong critique of current deviations as he defends the perennial teaching of the Church.
Ecclesiastes: The Book of Archbishop Robert Dwyer (A Selection of His Writings)
436 pages. Edited by Albert J. Steiss.
ISBN 978-1-989905-58-6 | paperback | $24.95 USD
ISBN 978-1-989905-59-3 | hardcover | $31.95 USD
Archbishop Robert Dwyer (1908–1976), born in Salt Lake City, Utah, was the second bishop of Reno, Nevada (1952–1966) and the fifth Archbishop of Portland, Oregon (1966–1974). He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. He wrote some very incisive, prescient, realistic, and withal humorous analyses of Church life leading up to and especially after the Council. Much of what he said about the great risks and problems connected with major liturgical reform have proved true. This book joins other valuable works from that volatile period in giving us a closer perspective on the conciliar event.
Sister M. Laurentia Digges, CSJ, Transfigured World: Design, Theme & Symbol in Worship
A reprint of the original 1957 book. 258 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-989905-42-5 | paperback | $19.95 USD
ISBN: 978-1-989905-43-2 | hardcover | $25.95 USD
A fine example of the Liturgical Movement at its best. “The Church wants us to stop and look and be enriched by the glories she presents for our contemplation,” writes Sister Laurentia. “The liturgy is God’s art. For his material he uses our familiar earth, air, fire, and water. In this manner our world undergoes a revelation, an epiphany—it becomes a transfigured world.” Liturgical art is the result of this epiphany and furthers its accomplishment.
A One-of-a-Kind Church Guide
John Paul Sonnen, KHS. Sant'Onofrio: Journeying to a Citadel of Faith
166 pages; size: 6.14 x 9.21 (with color illustrations)
ISBN: 978-1-989905-68-5 | $19.95 USD | paperback
ISBN: 978-1-989905-69-2 | $29.95 USD | hardcover
The Renaissance of fifteenth-century Italy was a time of realization, continuity, and rebirth that looked for inspiration to the models of ancient Greece and Rome. These models influenced the architecture and painting of the little Church of Sant’Onofrio in Rome near the Janiculum Hill, a gem of a church with incredibly rich cultural and ecclesiastical associations. Off the beaten path, Sant’Onofrio offers a microcosm of all that is at once most period-evocative and most timeless in the Eternal City. With lovely color illustrations and a variety of vignettes about the saints and poets, painters and architects who have been connected with this place, the book is a feast for Catholic eyes and imaginations.
