What are you currently reading?

[Prayerful]

Peter Crawford, Constantius II: Usurpers, Eunuchs and the Anti-Christ. The title is a bit over the top, and the author is rather negative about St Athanasius, but it is a strong account of a a ruthless and very able Emperor (a dealer of death to family rivals and those who failed him, usurpers, rebels, one bishop, civil and military officials who couldn't play politics well enough, and Sassanid generals and Germanic warlords) who suffered a lose of repute due to the hostility of historian and Guard officer Ammianus Marcellinus and Church historians due to his harsh upholding of a semi-Arian position.

thank you for the summary.

Welcome.

Similar enough thing now, covering what the author, John S Harrel calls Nisibis War, the defence of the Roman East Ad 337-363, which has roughly the same end point when Julian the Apostate recklessly and unwisely hazards the Roman East on almost a turn of the card, a full scale invasion of Sassanid Emperor. Not too far in, but Peter Crawford noted that Constantius husbanded Roman resources well enough in the East, but his successful and fairly economic defensive posture in three theatres of war had no glory to it. His austere, chaste, military existence gain the respect of his troops, but outside of that, limited respect from those who wrote history. Julian the bearded philosopher king hoped to be Trajan and Alexander, which didn't work out. I wonder how this author will reckon it. This author is more focussed on logistics, less so on other aspects, but they aren't neglected.

[Matto]

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/saints/cure-d-ars-st-jean-marie-baptiste-vianney.html

I am reading this biography of the Cure of Ars. I got it for my birthday last year and am reading it for the second time now. I highly recommend it. His life is very impressive and this book is readable. He is one of my favorite saints. I love this book and also a book of his sermons that I also own. I think it is very inspiring.

[kayla_veronica]

The 4 Temperments by Rev. Conrad Hock

[red solo cup]

Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the creation of Holmes by Michael Sims. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy this.

[MilesChristi]

The Culture of Critique

[Kaesekopf]

The Culture of Critique

Oy

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[Clare]

Screwtape Proposes a Toast, by C S Lewis

[Michael Wilson]

The Church Under Attack; Five Hundred Years That Split the Church and Scattered The Flock.
Diane Moczar.
Amazon review:https://www.amazon.com/Church-Under-Attack-Diane-Moczar/dp/1933184930

Here's an unabashedly Catholic history that documents scores of sustained and unprecedented assaults on our Catholic Faith these past five centuries and delineates our Church's brave response to each one.

For five hundred years, from Luther to Marx, through Darwin, Hitler, and Rousseau, wave after wave of cynical anti-Catholic men and movements have wrought havoc even worse than that of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan, leaving our once noble Christendom a ruined city, devastated politically and spiritually, morally and intellectually.

They've ripped the heart from our culture's chest: the Catholic Faith that once gave life and strength to her body. They've wounded even the Church herself.

Celebrated Catholic historian Diane Moczar counters here with an unflinching sketch of these five woeful centuries with sound reasons for hope. For, as she demonstrates, even after five hundred years of sustained persecution, our Church has not merely survived, but continues in many places to flourish.

Almost two thousand years ago, Tertullian noted that the "blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," a truth borne out these past five hundred years.

Time after time, as Moczar shows, persecution has not snuffed out the Faith, but has brought forth great saints whose holy deeds and brave examples frustrated their persecutors by communicating to the besieged Church a vigor greater than that of her persecutors.

These pages will renew your confidence that the Church is indeed Christ acting in the world and that no matter how strong or ruthless or vicious her opponents, she will not be vanquished but will endure to the end of time.

I've read 90 pages so far, and it is a very interesting book, as it outlines the great crisis that have affected the Church and Europe over the past 500 years. Does not go into great depth, but gives a suggested reading list at the end of the book for those who wish to dig deeper into any of the subjects of her chapters.

[Gardener]

The Church Under Attack; Five Hundred Years That Split the Church and Scattered The Flock.
Diane Moczar.
Amazon review:https://www.amazon.com/Church-Under-Attack-Diane-Moczar/dp/1933184930

Here's an unabashedly Catholic history that documents scores of sustained and unprecedented assaults on our Catholic Faith these past five centuries and delineates our Church's brave response to each one.

For five hundred years, from Luther to Marx, through Darwin, Hitler, and Rousseau, wave after wave of cynical anti-Catholic men and movements have wrought havoc even worse than that of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan, leaving our once noble Christendom a ruined city, devastated politically and spiritually, morally and intellectually.

They've ripped the heart from our culture's chest: the Catholic Faith that once gave life and strength to her body. They've wounded even the Church herself.

Celebrated Catholic historian Diane Moczar counters here with an unflinching sketch of these five woeful centuries with sound reasons for hope. For, as she demonstrates, even after five hundred years of sustained persecution, our Church has not merely survived, but continues in many places to flourish.

Almost two thousand years ago, Tertullian noted that the "blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," a truth borne out these past five hundred years.

Time after time, as Moczar shows, persecution has not snuffed out the Faith, but has brought forth great saints whose holy deeds and brave examples frustrated their persecutors by communicating to the besieged Church a vigor greater than that of her persecutors.

These pages will renew your confidence that the Church is indeed Christ acting in the world and that no matter how strong or ruthless or vicious her opponents, she will not be vanquished but will endure to the end of time.

I've read 90 pages so far, and it is a very interesting book, as it outlines the great crisis that have affected the Church and Europe over the past 500 years. Does not go into great depth, but gives a suggested reading list at the end of the book for those who wish to dig deeper into any of the subjects of her chapters.

I have her book, "Seven Lies about Catholic History: Infamous Myths about the Church's Past and How to Answer Them".

It's a pretty good book. She does a good job of cutting through modern myths.

[MilesChristi]

Vile Bodies

[Matto]

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/life-of-st-gemma-galgani.html

I am reading the Life of St. Gemma Galgani again. I have a devotion to her and pray to her often. She had many mystical experiences and had the stigmata on Thursday evenings and Fridays for a while. She died in 1903.

[red solo cup]

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. I always suspected I was a bad catholic. Now I'm sure.

[Christe Eleison]

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. I always suspected I was a bad catholic. Now I'm sure.

Could you please give us a brief summary on the book you read?
It would probably be helpful to a lot of us. Thank you. God bless you 

[Michael Wilson]

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. I always suspected I was a bad catholic. Now I'm sure.

That should be a general rule of thumb for all posters on this thread; also, it would be nice if the poster would state their own opinion of the book and the reasons thereof.


Could you please give us a brief summary on the book you read?
It would probably be helpful to a lot of us. Thank you. God bless you 

[red solo cup]

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. I always suspected I was a bad catholic. Now I'm sure.

Could you please give us a brief summary on the book you read?
It would probably be helpful to a lot of us. Thank you. God bless you 

The book  is primarily designed for retreats but I got a lot out of it from the reading. It's set up for a month of spiritual activity divided into four weeks. Each week has different emphasis but all have preparatory prayers and various exercises on such things as overcoming sin, giving up attachments, confession etc. There's a lot of contemplation with a section at the back of biblical passages to consider. One thing it's heavy on is what we would call visualization. Putting yourself there at the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, in the sepulchre  etc.  To see it. Hear it. To make it vivid. All to put you in the mind of Christ.
The book was quite good and I know I'll be rereading it in the future.