Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"Come—I sing of a splendid dream,
a mighty marvel, that came at midnight
when the tongues of men are silent.
A strange tree—most wondrous strange!—
stretched forth branches in a blast of light."
The Dream of the Rood is an ancient Anglo-Saxon poem, composed as early as the 8th century. It takes the form of a dream-vision in which the narrator sees the Cross on which Christ was crucified, and most of the poem consists of a speech given by the personified Cross, telling the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, with the Wood sharing in the glory of the Word.
The virile style and the warrior ethos of Anglo-Saxon verse took on a Christian form in this poem, with Christ being depicted as a heroic warrior and the Cross as his loyal retainer, with self-sacrifice rather than a contest of arms gaining the victory.
James Majewski gives a dramatic reading of The Dream of the Rood, as recently translated by Tessa Carman and J.C. Scharl.
Links
The Dream of the Rood: A New Translation full text: https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/the-dream-of-the-rood-a-new-translation
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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

Lives of the Popes on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lives-of-the-popes/id1885968422
Lives of the Popes on CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/lives-of-popes-podcast/

"... we shall find it difficult to estimate the moral power which a single individual, trained to practice what he teaches, may acquire in his own circle, in the course of years. While the Scriptures are thrown upon the world, as if the common property of any who choose to appropriate them, he is, in fact, the legitimate interpreter of them, and none other; the Inspired Word being but a dead letter (ordinarily considered), except as transmitted from one mind to another."
St. John Henry Newman's Oxford Sermons, delivered during his time as an Anglican preacher at the University of Oxford, were instrumental in shaping the Oxford Movement, which sought to revive High Church traditions within the Church of England and ultimately led to many conversions to Catholicism.
In addition to the profound influence these sermons had on both Anglican and Catholic theology, they also bore a personal significance for Newman's own conversion to Catholicism years later.
These fifteen sermons, though deeply interconnected in theme and insight, are not sequential in nature; rather, each stands on its own as a distinct and self-contained reflection on faith and reason. Newman lays the groundwork for themes developed in later works, such as Grammar of Assent and Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine.
In this fifth sermon, Newman contends that Christian truth spreads and endures in the world primarily through the personal character of holy individuals, rather than through the influence of institutions or intellectual arguments alone.
Links
Personal Influence, the Means of Propagating the Truth full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/oxford/sermon5.html
SUBSCRIBE to Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-culture-audiobooks/id1482214268
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Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"No work takes deep root, or has real stability, or will perpetuate itself, unless the apostle has begotten the interior life in other souls. Naturally, he cannot do this unless he himself is strong in the inner life."
This episode concludes Part Four of the classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935). Among other things, there is featured an illuminating description of the progressive stages of conversion, which Dom Chautard includes as an aid for spiritual directors.
Episode 4: Part Four (sections e - g)
00:00 - Intro
00:39 - e. Because the Interior Life Begets Interior Life, Its Results Upon Souls Are Deep and Lasting
20:09 - f. Importance of the Formation of "Shock Troops" and of Spiritual Direction
46:12 - (Stages of Conversion - Categories for Spiritual Directors)
57:48 - g. The Entire Success of the Apostolate Depends on One Thing: An Interior Life Centered on the Blessed Eucharist
This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format.
Links
The Soul of the Apostolate full text: https://www.cmri.org/0-olmc-mission/catholic-books/soul_of_the_apostolate.pdf
SUBSCRIBE to Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-culture-audiobooks/id1482214268
SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter http://www.catholicculture.org/newsletter
DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.

"Am I really one of those who depend upon their mental prayer, their visits to the Blessed Sacrament, above all upon their Mass or their Communion, to put real moving power into their preaching? If I am not, I may perhaps be a loudly 'tinkling cymbal,' or even give forth the more pompous din of 'sounding brass,' but I am not communicating to others any love, that love which makes the eloquence of the friends of God impossible to resist."
Part Four of the classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), describes the many ways in which the interior life ensures the fruitfulness of active apostolic works.
Episode 4: Part Four (sections a - d)
00:00 - Intro
00:39 - The Interior Life is the Condition on which the Fruitfulness of Active Works Depends
07:36 - a. The Interior Life Draws Down the Blessings of God
15:18 - b. It Makes the Apostle Capable of Sanctifying Others by His Example
23:51 - c. It Makes the Apostle Radiate the Supernatural: the Efficacy of This Radiation
01:13:42 - d. It Makes the Gospel Worker Truly Eloquent
This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format.
Links
The Soul of the Apostolate full text: https://www.cmri.org/0-olmc-mission/catholic-books/soul_of_the_apostolate.pdf
SUBSCRIBE to Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-culture-audiobooks/id1482214268
SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter http://www.catholicculture.org/newsletter
DONATE at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
Theme music: "2 Part Invention", composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.