Unlocking the Mysteries of the Song of Songs Through the Heart of Jesus Christ

If you’ve ever read the Song of Songs (also called the Canticle of Canticles) in the Old Testament, you probably had more than a few questions about it! What is this very sensuous book about a lover and a beloved doing in the canon of Scripture? 

Newly Published Study of Vatican II Implementation Breaks New Ground in Historical Research, Answers Crucial Questions

People today often ask questions like: “What in the world happened at the time of Vatican II, that the Church seemed in such an unholy hurry to change? Why were the changes so drastic and so sudden? What were the causes, the motives, the expectations, the assumptions about reform and its expected fruits? Who were the main actors? Was it planned out or random? Who benefited (cui bono)? How responsible were the bishops for it, versus the middle managers, versus the laity?” and so forth. It can be very hard to disentangle so many threads. 

The True, Wild, Inspiring, and Tragic Story of Monastic Britain

Britain is full of monastic ghosts. Street names carry them: Monks Lane, Priory Road, Abbey Close. The landscape, too, still bears the imprint of communities that shaped it for a thousand years. The ruins of Fountains, Rievaulx, Tintern, and dozens of lesser houses stand in fields and valleys across England, Wales, and Scotland, drawing visitors who admire their picturesque qualities while knowing almost nothing of the civilization that produced them.

St Thomas Aquinas on Salvation and the Epistle to the Hebrews

In honor of the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas (his dies natalis, March 7, as observed in the traditional calendar), Os Justi Press has released two major Thomistic publications.

The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae — A Publication to Assist in Pre-55 Services

Those who are blessed with access to Holy Week in the Tridentine Rite, that is, the rite celebrated for a thousand years and more prior to Pius XII's changes in the mid-1950s, may find helpful a resource published by Os Justi Press: The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae, which contains the liturgy (in Latin with English translation) for Palm Sunday, the Triduum Masses, and the Office of Tenebrae, including complete Gregorian chants. Summary rubrics are indicated. No page turning is required. The book features many medieval illustrations as well.

This second edition features a new cover and, for the first time, full-color printing throughout, which dramatically enhances the beauty of the illuminations found within. Additionally, some typographical errors discovered in the first printing have been corrected.

Prayers in Honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas, gathered in one book for the first time

We’ve hit some huge Thomistic anniversaries in recent years:

• in 2023, the 700th of Aquinas’s canonization;

• in 2024, the 750th of his death;

• and in 2025, the 800th of his birth.

The Broad Ocean of the Latin Rite: What True Liturgical Diversity Looks Like

Recent years have seen a surge in curiosity about the classic Rome rite, its forms, symbols, and history. Everywhere neophytes can be heard asking cautiously about “the Latin Mass,” while those who are more versed in the traditional Catholic world may be found disputing the merits and shortcomings of the ’62 missal and the Office of St. Pius X, or extolling the glories of the pre-’55 Holy Week.

Launching "Theological Classics": Newman on the Virgin Mary, St Vincent on Novelty and Heresy, Guardini on Sacred Signs

At a time of turmoil, nothing could be better or more important than rooting ourselves deeply in the Catholic tradition. One of my favorite quotations is by St. Prosper of Aquitaine (390-455), writing in his own age of chaos: “Even if the wounds of this shattered world enmesh you, and the sea in turmoil bears you along in but one surviving ship, it would still befit you to maintain your enthusiasm for studies unimpaired. Why should lasting values tremble if transient things fall?”

Announcing a Complete Guide to the Theology and Use of the Chapel Veil

Os Justi Press's latest release is a revised and expanded new edition of Anna Elissa's Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ, this time in full color. (It first came out 9 years ago in Indonesia and quickly become a favorite of many readers until it sold out; it was time for a superior presentation, with better distribution channels.)

Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ is the most thorough, insightful, and serene guide to veiling ever written—one that will equip you with answers to your own questions as well as the never-lacking questions of friends, relatives, and strangers.

Resting her account on Scripture and Tradition as interpreted by the Church Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas, and papal, liturgical, and canon law texts, Anna Elissa—a wife, mother, psychiatrist, and lay Dominican—offers arguments of fittingness on behalf of veiling, responds to common objections against it, offers practical advice for choosing, wearing, and even designing mantillas, and shows how the veil contributes to a Eucharistic way of life that treats femininity as a gift, a treasure, and a mystery.

To illustrate and verify her points, Elissa presents a substantial collection of testimonials from women of all ages about their experience adopting and wearing the veil—and from men, too, including clergy, about why they value the practice and its return.

Appropriately for a work about the language of signs and beauty, Mantilla is graced with exquisite artworks in color.

In his foreword, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi describes the book as a "beautiful surprise." Whether you are a long-time veiler, a skeptic of veiling, or simply curious to learn more, this is the book for you!

Paperback, 5" x 8", 152 pp. $16.95

(Hardcover and ebook also available.)

From Os Justi Press or any Amazon outlet.

Book review: Enchanted by Eternity: Recapturing the Wonder of the Catholic Worldview

Enchanted by Eternity: Recapturing the Wonder of the Catholic Worldview by Fr. William Slattery is a stunningly insightful read.

The author, whose name you might recognize from his earlier and also very fine book Heroism and Genius: How Catholic Priests Helped Build—and Can Help Rebuild—Western Civilization, is an unusual combination: a fiery Irishman, a cold-blooded PhD in epistemology who specialized in alethic logic, a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a historian – and a priest who is passionately in love with the Traditional Latin Mass. Listen to these words in the Acknowledgments section of his book:

“Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed” — New Book by Peter Kwasniewski

hardcover on the left, paperback on the right

I'm delighted to announce to Rorate readers that my new book from Angelico Press, Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed, has just been released!

Announcing "The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hymnal" - 900 pages of Gregorian Chant and Classic Hymns

Os Justi Press is proud to announce the publication of The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hymnal.

Produced by Music Manuscript Service of Denver with the help of a team of expert consultants, the OLMCH provides, at long last, the ultimate Catholic hymnal for a fully traditional Catholic sacred music program, in parishes, schools, or religious houses. Designed primarily with TLM communities in mind, here are some highlights:

Announcing “Something for Nothing? An Explanation and Defence of the Scholastic Position on Usury”

Usury is a topic with a long and complex history. While it is typically understood today as the practice of charging excessive interest, this is a far cry from the meaning given to it by ancient and medieval authors, who considered the charging of any interest on a mutuum (a loan of such things as are estimated by weight, number, or measure) to be usury.

Finding a thorough, coherent, and believable explanation for so monumental a difference in outlook has been nearly impossible—until David Hunt’s new work, Something for Nothing? An Explanation and Defence of the Scholastic Position on Usury (number 14 in the Os Justi Studies in Catholic Tradition series). Hunt explains and defends the traditional view that usury is a charge for something that does not exist and is therefore a form of theft. Indeed, usury begets a form of chattel slavery, since charging interest on a mutuum is an attempt to profit by treating the borrower as the lender’s property.

The Liturgical Rosary - once again available from Arouca Press

The 2nd edition of The Liturgical Rosary: Meditations for Each Hour, Day & Season of the Liturgical Year is now available. We know many of our readers enjoyed the first edition of this modern classic that joins the beauty of the traditional liturgy and the Holy Rosary. Many have told us it has made daily recitation of the Rosary easier for those who have a hard time keeping the practice individually or in a family setting.

The new edition has some new features such as soft imitation-leather cover, "bible-like" paper, and gilded pages. It is only available at: https://aroucapress.com/the-liturgical-rosary