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)

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