History is a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes or a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events. In this category you will find our history books - general surveys of history and books related to specific periods of history in the Church such as the Patristic Era or the Middle Ages.

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity." Cicero

Learn more about the early Church Fathers, also called the Apostolic Fathers, and see how their writing, teaching and preaching formed the Christian faith we profess to this day. They lived in a time of confusion, turmoil and persecution, not unlike our own, and they can teach us valuable lessons to live more faithfully and understand Christ and His Church in our own age. No one today can show …

Here, in one convenient volume, is a treasure-house of solid readings on the Bible from such spiritual and intellectual giants as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, Julius Africanus, Origen, Dionysius of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, Augustine, Jerome and Socrates Scholasticus. If you’re interested in Patristics and/or Bible studies, whether you’re …

Every Catholic at some time in his life has undoubtedly felt a desire to know the history of the Catholic Church.  But where to begin the study of nearly 2000 years?  Probably no book was better conceived or better executed to fulfill this need than Church History by Fr. John Laux.  Written expressly both for students and adults; anyone who becomes familiar with this book will …

John Henry Cardinal Newman This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other …

Peter Lynch An engaging overview of the two thousand year history of the Christian community, especially the Roman Catholic community, in its efforts to engage in pastoral care. This accessible, informative history approaches the important issue of pastoral care with a broad perspective on its many aspects: practical care for human suffering, the struggle against injustice, evangelizing the …

Louis de Wohl Another of the popular historical novels by the distinguished de Wohl, telling the dramatic story of St. Benedict, the father of Western monasticism, who played such a major role in the Christianization and civilization of post-Roman Europe in the sixth century. De Wohl weaves an intricate tapestry of love, violence and piety to recount with historical accuracy the story of St. …

The fourth of a projected six volumes of Dr. Warren H. Carroll's fully documented history of Christendom is primarily concerned with the split in Christendom created by the Protestant revolt of Martin Luther and his followers, and consequently is entitled The Cleaving of Christendom. It covers in detail the years between the emergence of Luther as a major figure and the beginning of the …

A Cloud of Witnesses An Introductory History of the Development of Christian Doctrine By David N. Bell This book is a fine introduction to the fascinating study of patristics, the study of the Church Fathers, and reveals how Christians over five hundred years forged the deposit of faith. ". . . a triumph of clarity and concision." - The Canadian Catholic Review ". . . …

From The Da Vinci Code and Roswell to the pyramid on the back of every dollar bill, we all are fascinated by secrets, codes and coincidences.  Fr. George Rutler - EWTN speaker, Crisis magazine columnist, and reigning Catholic wit-offers his fun reflections, full of surprise, on the coincidental links that connect the most far-flung parts of our worlds.  Topics cover the gamut of …

Communion Under Both Kinds Michael Davies In November of 1978, in defiance of Pope John Paul II, the Bishops of the U.S.A. authorized the distribution of Holy communion under both kinds to the laity at Sunday Mass. This rebellion resulted in a partial surrender by the vatican in 1984—giving permission for limited and regulated usage of Communion under both kinds. These developments, everything …

New and Revised Version for 2009!

Popular Catholic author Mike Aquilina’s encyclopedic knowledge of the Church Fathers intersects seamlessly with Pope Benedict XVI’s insightful reflections about them in this faith-building companion guide. It shows that the Fathers are much more than wise men from ages past who sacrificed their lives for what they believed: they are teachers and philosophers, orators and pastors, …

Floyd G. Cullop Reading level: Young Adult. Guides the student through a careful reading and near memorization of the Constitution, using a variety of study skills.

Hans Urs von Balthasar Maximus the Confessor, saint and martyr, is the theologian of synthesis: of Rome and Byzantium, of antiquity and the Middle Ages, reexcavating the great treasures of Christian tradition, which at that time had been buried by imperial and ecclesial censure. Von Balthasar was an authority on the Church Fathers-Irenaeus, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, and above all, …

Extensively revised and nearly doubled in length, and also newly enriched with dozens of historical illustrations, this second edition of Cranmer's Godly Order is in effect a new book.  Wth greater documentation and detail than ever, Davies traces the steps by which the ancient Catholic Mass became the Lord's Supper in the Church of England - and shows how those changes were directly …

In The Crisis of Civilization the great Catholic historian, Hilaire Belloc shows that ever since the disaster of the Protestant Reformation our civilization has been falling into an ever deepening crisis, the solution to which, he says, "does not permit of indefinite delay." In panoramic fashion, he reviews the main outline of the history of the West, showing shat Catholicism built the Western …

Susan Peek A new historical novel about the unusual life of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the leper crusader king. who-despite ascending to the throne at only 13, his early death at 24 and his debilitating diseaseperformed great and heroic deeds in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Teenagers and avid readers of all ages will be amazed at this story and be inspired by a faith that …

There is no shortage of stories about the crusades, or of biographies of those who played the leading roles in this, the greatest epic of the Middle Ages. But there has been no book in which we could find, recreated, the way of life, the world view, the everyday social organization of those who tempted adventure. They were kings and paupers, barons, clerks, women, and merchants. Some were …

The Crusades were essentially a conflict between Christendom and Islam.  To be specific, they were a conflict between Christian civilization and Islam as adopted by "the Turk," those savage, destructive Mongol tribes from Asia.  After the terrible Christian defeat at Manzikert in Turkey (1071 A. D.), not only the ancient Christian civilization in the Holy Land, but Europe …

New Perspectives: The Crusades Thomas J. Craughwell New Perspectives: The Crusades gives an honest, factual explanation of what the Church did wrong -- and right -- laying bare the series of events while providing cultural context of the world and the Church at that time.

Now available in a quality paperback edition!

The cult of the saints is a phenomenon that expanded rapidly in the fourth century, and John Chrysostom’s homilies are important witnesses to its growth. Until now, the majority of John’s homilies on the saints and martyrs have been ignored. However, in this volume,Wendy Mayer investigates the liturgical, topographical, and pastoral aspects that marked the martyr cult at Antioch …

"So you've decided to give in to the Devil" said the priest. John started back in dismay. "Oh no, Father!" "But you just told me you were giving up your studies for the priesthood," responded Father Bailey. What was poor John Vianney to do? Having begun his schooling much older than the other boys, he had found it impossible to keep up with them, and a couple of …

Jose Maria Gironella Considered by many critics to be the greatest novel about the Spanish Civil War, this classic work by Spaniard José Maria Gironella is an unbiased account of the complicated events, movements and personalities that led up to the war. Beginning in 1931, Cypresses covers the next five years of political unrest, culminating in the explosion of the brutal war that wreaked such …

At the height of the tumultuous developments taking place in Central and Eastern Europe in the ninth century, two Byzantine missionaries and brothers from Thessalonica, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, came to the fore. Their work of acculturation among the Slavs had far-reaching and lasting changes upon European life. This book looks back over the life and work of these two …

In a clear and easy-to-read style, author Amy Welborn honestly and objectively lays out the facts about ancient Christian teaching and history, and points out the many surprising errors about religion, history, and art contained in The Da Vinci Code This is a great resource for parishes and book clubs. Please call for bulk pricing.

The Da Vinci Code , Dan Brown’s best selling novel, purports to be more than fiction: it claims to be based on fact and scholarly research. Brown wants his readers to believe that he is revealing the long-concealed truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity, a truth that he says has been suppressed by the malevolent and conspiratorial forces of the Catholic Church. The novel …

Through a large cast of historical and fictional characters, A Danger to the State relates one of the outstanding though little known dramas of modern history. In 1773, surrendering at last to a 20 year long campaign of intrigue and calumny, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the famous Society of Jesus, founded 200 years earlier by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Just sixteen years before the French …

The New York Times best-seller The Da Vinci Code is all over the media. It's on the minds and in the conversations of many of your parishioners. Now there are two new resources to answer all their questions and help you understand the difference between fact and fiction. De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code, a book by Amy Welborn, addresses the …

"Did anyone ever tell you folks that Mr. Brown’s novel is fiction? What do you fear so much that you would go to such lengths to allegedly protect the laity from this novel/movie? Why so much fear?" That's the first question I received when I published this book. Fortunately, I knew this question was coming. The response is on the back cover of the book:   'If you …

Never in history have 1,322 words held out such extraordinary determination to be free as those found in the "Declaration of Independence. In 1787, "We the people" were the three words that not only engendered a new and cohesive nation; they went on to change the face of the world as well. In 1791, the first ten Amendments to the "Constitution of the United States of America, known to us as the …

Eugenio Pacelli, Pius XII, was one of the few unalloyed heroes of World War II. At great personal risk, he saved some 800,000 Jews from extermination by the Nazis. Jewish refugees were given asylum in the Vatican, swelling the number of Swiss Guards. No Allied leader can match his glorious record. Golda Meir lauded Pius XII after the war, and the chief rabbi of Rome became a Roman Catholic, …

About this book - In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and ambitious civil servant, made a nine-month journey throughout America. The result was Democracy in America , a monumental study of the life and institutions of the evolving nation. Tocqueville looked to the flourishing democratic system in America as a possible model for post-revolutionary France, believing that the …

A wonderful selection of the writings and biographies of the first monks and nuns of the Church. By the fourth century A.D., devout Christians - men and women alike - had begun to retreat from cities and villages to the deserts of North Africa and Asia Minor, where they sought liberation from their corrupt society and the confining shell of the social self. The Desert Fathers is the perfect …

Dialogue Concerning Heresies St. Thomas More Considered by C.S. Lewis as perhaps the best dialogue written in English, this friendly, spirited, and often merry exchange takes place at St. Thomas More’s peaceful and cultured home in Chelsea. Dialogue Concerning Heresies is a conversation between the experienced humanist and statesman More and an intelligent college student who has been …

An exhaustive and important reference work for every Catholic library! This first volume of the planned  Encyclopedia of Theology and Church from Heder & Herder publishing is the best one-volume reference work on the popes and the papacy. Part one covers every pope and anti-pope; part two discusses the institution of the Vatican and the papacy.    

Part of the acclaimed Ancient Christian Writers Series from Paulist Press. Volume 6.

Available Summer 2009 How did Catholics and Protestants come to be divided? What impact has their division had on Western culture? Historian Christopher Dawson answers these and other important questions in his classic study, The Dividing of Christendom . Based on Dawson’s Harvard lectures, this book provides a highly readable, masterful overview of the factors that led to one of the …

This book is a new release and will be published in May 2008.

Richard D. Heffner This expanded and revised seventh edition of the single volume containing the complete texts of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and many other significant documents and speeches in American history features a new chapter covering major events of the 21st century, including documents related to the events of September 11, 2001.

In scope and in vision Dawson's conception of history ranks with the work of men like Spengler, Northrop, and Toynbee. This classic Dawson work is a conspectus of his thought on universal history in all its depth and range. Containing thirty-one essays selected from his writings it gives a clear and fascinating picture of his achievement in helping to widen our perspective of world history and …

By Athanasius, Jerome, Sulpicius Severus, and Gregory the Great These pioneering Lives are central sources for the major Christian monastic figures from St Antony, who died in 356, to St Benedict (c. 480-547). They also shed light on the beliefs and values of their celebrated authors. Athanasius' Life of Antony reveals the man who many believe was the first to set out into the Egyptian desert …

  Early Christian Writings Translated by MAXWELL STANIFORTH Revised translation, introductions and notes by ANDREW LOUTH The writings in this volume cast a glimmer of light upon the emerging traditions and organization of the infant Church, during an otherwise little-known period of its development. A selection of letters and small-scale theological treatises from a group known as the …

This scholarly work examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centuries AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world. Table of Contents - 1. From Jerusalem to Rome The Jewish background; the earliest Church; the Gentile Church; encounter with the Roman Empire 2. Faith and Order The bonds of unity; gnosticism; the Ministry and the Bible; forms …

Livy  With stylistic brilliance and historical imagination, the first five books of Livy's monumental history of Rome record events from the foundation of Rome through the history of the seven kings, the establishment of the Republic and its internal struggles, up to Rome's recovery after the fierce Gallic invasion of the fourth century BC. Livy vividly depicts the great characters, …

Adrian Fortescue, a British apologist for the Catholic faith in the early part of the 20th century, wrote this classic of clear exposition on the faith of the early Church in the papacy based upon the writings of the Church fathers until 451. No ultramontanist, Fortescue can be a keen critic of personal failings of various Popes, but he shows through his brilliant assessment of the writings of …

Gabriel Bunge, O.S.B. The Fathers of the Church, deeply-rooted in the Scriptures, have left us a rich treasure as inheritance, not only of texts, but also of manners, forms and gestures of prayer. Today, western Christianity in a special way, needs to rediscover the intimate union which must exist—in prayer just as in any aspect of Christian life—between theory and practice, …

The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus is an intriguing though neglected work of the late 6th century AD. A staunch though broadminded Chalcedonian, Evagrius styles himself as continuator of the great Church historians Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. While never straying from his purpose, Evagrius records a great deal of information from both religious and temporal …

"With God’s help, I, Bede … have assembled these facts about the history of the Church in Britain … from the traditions of our forebears, and from my own personal knowledge’ Written in AD 731, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People is the first account of Anglo-Saxon England ever written, and remains our single most valuable source for this …

There have been twenty-one universal gatherings—ecumenical councils—of the Catholic Church. The first opened in 325, the last closed in 1965, and the names of many ring out in the history of the church: Nicea, Chalcedon, Trent, Vatican II. Though centuries separate the councils, each occurred when the church faced serious crises, sometimes with doctrinal matters, sometimes with …

In this volume is a translation of a collection of hymns of Christ, composed by Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373), the most famous and prolific of the Fathers of the Syriac-speaking Church. 

With this full-color resource, the Epic Timeline Bookmark, Church history is systematically divided into 12 color-coded time periods to aid in remembering and organizing the history of the Church. About Epic : The epic story of the Catholic Church spans thousands of years. With an unlikely beginning in a remote outpost of the Roman empire, the Catholic Church now claims over a billion living …

The Epic program is built upon this chart, which arranges the key people, places, and events of Church History in chronological order. This study aid shows how all of the major events in the life of Christianity fit together to tell the story of the Church. This 6-fold chart expands out to approximately 38 inches. Each period of Church history is assigned a unique color to help …

Journey through the amazing history of the Catholic Church! This exciting 20-part (20 hour) DVD series takes you through the major people, places and events that make up the history of the Catholic Church. You will see the glory of the Church founded by Christ and understand where you fit into this Epic story.

 Journey through the history of Catholicism! This exciting 20-part (20 hour) CD series takes you through the major people, places and events that make up the history of the Catholic Church. You will see the glory of the Church founded by Christ and understand where you fit into this Epic story.

      This Starter Pack contains everything a facilitator needs to run an Epic study including: Epic 20-Part Study (10 DVDs) Epic Workbook (220 pages) Epic Timeline Chart Epic Timeline Bookmark The Workbook (220 pages) guides participants through their study of Church History with thought-provoking questions and responses, detailed maps, charts, historical studies, biographies, …

      This Study Set is intended for use with the Epic video DVDs and audio CDs. It includes everything a participant needs to complete the 20-part study. This Set includes: Epic Workbook (220 pages) Epic Timeline Chart Epic Timeline Bookmark The Workbook (220 pages) guides participants through their study of Church History with thought-provoking questions and responses, …

St. Clement's epistle, written c. 96, is called the first epistle, and is a model of a pastoral letter. The epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Smyrna at the beginning of the second century, are addressed to six Christian communities.