Suggested Books for a Catholic Library
Books for Basic Instruction
- Perfect Contrition: The Golden Key to Paradise (Fr. J. de Driesch)
- Baltimore Catechism No. 3 or 4
- My Catholic Faith
Books for Daily Reading
- Douay-Rheims Bible (Haydock Commetary)
- or Douay-Rheims Bible (Confraternity Edition)
- The Imitation of Christ. (Thomas a Kempis)
Books for Advancement in the Spiritual Life
- The Spiritual Combat (Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli)
- Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis of Sales)
- Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule for Holy Life (Brother Lawrence)
- The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Explained by Fr. M. Meschler (HAVEN’T READ)
- Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection (St. Alphonsus)
- True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Louis de Montfort)
- Story of a Soul (autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux)
- Letters to Persons in the World (St. Francis de Sales) (NO LO HE LEIDO)
- The Way of Perfection (St. Teresa of Avila)
- The Interior Castle (St. Teresa of Avila)
- The Maxims and Sayings of St. Philip Neri (NO LO HE LEIDO)
- The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers – pdf: volume I, volume II, volume III, volume IV
Books for Meditation and Mental Prayer
- The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
- Preparation for Death (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
- A Golden Treatise of Mental Prayer (St. Peter of Alcantara)
- On the Passion of Jesus Christ (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
- Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Alphonsus)
- The Glories of Mary (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
- The Divine Eucharist (St. Peter Julian Eymard)
- The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Fr. A. Goodier)
- Divine Intimacy (Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene)
Books with specific and important doctrine
- Uniformity with God’s Will. (St. Alphonsus)
- Abandonment to Divine Providence (Jean-Pierre de Caussade)
- The Quiet of the Soul (Fr. J. de Bovilla) + Cure for Scruples (Dom Schram)
- Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence (St. Claude de la Colombiere)
- The soul of the Apostolate (Dom J.B. Chaiutard)
Lives of the Saints
- The Way of Divine Love, or, The Message of the Sacred Heart to the World (Sr. Josefa Menendez)
- Story of a Soul (St. Therese of the child Jesus)
- Life of Pius X (Mons. E. Schmitz)
- Saint Philomena the Wonder-Worker (Fr. Paul O’Sullivan)
- The Cure d’Ars (Fr. Francis Trochu)
- Biography of St. Gemma Galgani (Fr. Amadeo)
- Padre Pio, the Stigmatist (Fr. C. M. Carty)
- The Life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (Fr. A. Carroll)
- The Confessions of St. Augustine (St. Augustine of Hippo)
- St. Margaret of Cortona: The Magdalen of the Seraphic Order (Fr. L. de Cherance)
- The Lives of St. Francis of Assisi (Br. Thomas of Celano)
- Saint Francis of Assisi (Fr. Leopold de Cherance)
- The Life of Dominic Savio (S. John Bosco)
- Modern Saints (2 volumes from TAN Books)
- Life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Mons. E. Bougaud)
- Life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Count de Montelembert)
- The Life of Saint Clare (Br. Thomas of Celano)
- The Lives of St. Jane Frances de Chantal and St. Rose of Viterbo (F. M. de Chaugy)
- The Martyrs of the Coliseum (Fr. A. J. O’Reilly)
- Our Lady of Fatima (W. T. Walsh)
- The Whole Truth about Fatima (Fr. Michel de la Sainte Trinite) (only the first two or three volumes are commendable)
Books for Religious
- The Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues (Fr. Alphonsus Rodriguez)
- The Ladder of Divine Ascent (St. John Climacus)
- Directorium Asceticum: Guide to the Spiritual Life (Fr. G. B. Scaramelli)
- The Life of Anthony (St. Athanasius)
- The Conferences of John Cassian (John Cassian; on lives and thoughts of 2nd-3rd century Fathers of the Desert)
- The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
- The Paradise of the Holy Fathers (Palladius, St. Jerome, Desert Fathers)
- The Interior Castle (St. Teresa of Avila)
- The Twelve Degrees of Pride and Humility (St. Bernard of Clairvaux)
- The Way of Perfection (St. Teresa of Avila)
- The Spiritual Conferences (St. Francis de Sales)
- Letters to Persons in Religion (St. Francis de Sales)
The Spiritual Life
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