Free ebook: Sermons on Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, by Cardinal Wiseman

See this legally free ebook:

• Sermons on Our Lord Jesus Christ: and on His Blessed Mother, 2^nd edition, by [Nicholas Patrick] Cardinal Wiseman (Dublin, London: James Duffy, 1866). With Imprimatur from Henry Edward Manning. May be read online, and available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats, at Internet Archive, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive. The 1^st edition (Dublin, London: James Duffy, 1864) is also available at Internet Archive.

On the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Roman Rite), which is New Year’s Day 2020. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother: Behold, this child is set for the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.” (St. Luke ii, 34-35)

Online audio & ebook: “Apostolic Exhortation to Husbands and Wives, Mothers and Fathers”, by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted

See this online ebook and hear this online audio:

• Complete My Joy: An Apostolic Exhortation to Husbands and Wives, Mothers and Fathers of the Diocese of Phoenix, by Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, 30 December 2018.
  • The ebook is available in pdf format through the page Complete My Joy (linked by Catholic Sun and Zenit) of the Diocese of Phoenix; in pdf format through this page of the National Catholic Register; and, as part of the Building the Domestic Church Series of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council – Catholic Information Service (New Haven, CT: Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, 2001), it may viewed online and is available in pdf format at the Catholic Information Service of the Knights of Columbus.
  • The audio recording of the text is available at SoundCloud and The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Podcast.

For the Feast of the Holy Family, 2019 in the Roman Rite. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Free ebook: “Answer to Difficulties in the Books of the New Testament”, by Rev. John Thein

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• The Bible and Rationalism; or, Answer to Difficulties in the Books of the New Testament, by Rev. John Thein (St. Louis, Mo.: B. Herder, 1901). Part 3 of 4. With Imprimatur. Available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats at Internet Archive , with a second copy at Internet Archive and Open Library. [N.B. This Open Library index page incorrectly contains the image of Part IV.]’

On the Pope St. Damasus I in the Roman Rite. For related ebooks and texts concerning the holy and inspired Scriptures, see the Project’s page Bibles and Commentaries. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

 

Online ebook & audio: “Crimes of the Communist Regimes”, by Jiří Liška et al.

See this online ebook and audio record:

• Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010, by Jiří Liška et al., edited by David Svoboda and Cóílín O’Connor, translated by Cóílín O’Connor, Ian Willoughby, Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská, and Markéta Hofmannová (Prague: Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, 2011).
  • The ebook is available in pdf format (here) through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes; and the individual chapters are available in pdf format at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (requires registration).
  • The audio recordings of the proceedings (in the original languages) are available in mp3 through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, which also contains the text of the Declaration on Crimes of Communism issued by the participants at the Conference.

See also these related texts:

• Albanian Catholic Bulletin (Buletini Katholik Shqiptar), Vol. 6 (Santa Clara, California: Albanian Catholic Information Center, 1985). In 108 pages. Available at the Gleeson Library Digital Collections. [N.B., This issue commemorates the 40^th anniversary of the Communist persecution of Catholic Albanians.]
• Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, No. 10: Struggle for Survival (Maspeth, Long Island, New York: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests’ League). With a letter to the Lithuanian people from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty dated “75 02 22” or 22 February 1975, which only appears on the pdf copy. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format on this page at Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. [N.B., The title of the Chronicle in Lithuanian appears to be Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika. In English it contains the subtitle: Translation of Authentic First-Hand Reports from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania.]
• “Communist Interrogation and Indoctrination of ‘Enemies of the State’: Analysis of Methods Used by the Communist State Police (A Special Report)”, by Lawrence E. Hinkle Jr., M.D. and Harold G. Wolff, M.D. Reprinted from the AMA [American Medical Association ] Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, vol. 76, no. 2 (1956), pp.: 115-174. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Central Intelligence Agency Library (“Approved For Release 2000/09/06”) [N.B., This is evidently not a Catholic Christian source, but it contains information on methods used against Catholics like Cardinal Mindszenty, and notes that Catholics were particularly targeted by Communist regimes.]
• Crimes against Humanity under Communist Regimes: Research Review, by Klas-Göran Karlsson and Michael Schoenhals (Stockholm: Forum for Living History, 2008). Available in pdf format at the Forum for Living History (Forum för levande historia).
• Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes: Crimes and Other Gross and Large Scale Human Rights Violations Committed during the Reign of Totalitarian Regimes in Europe: Cross-National Survey of Crimes Committed and of Their Remembrance, Recognition, Redress, and Reconciliation: Reports and Proceedings of the 8 April European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, Organised by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January–June 2008) and the European Commission, edited by Peter Jambrek (Ljubljana: Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 2008). The “draft before final editing” is available in pdf format at the Republic of Slovenia Ministry of Justice, at Academia.edu, and at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
• “The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary: National Report”, compiled by János M. Rainer. Available in pdf format (through this page) at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. Part of the larger work Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010.
• Encyclical Letter “Iniquis Afflictisque” on the Persecution of the Church in Mexico, by Pope Pius XI (18 November 1926). Available at the Holy See.
• “Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall”, by Paul Hollander (Development Policy Analysis No. 11, November 2, 2009) (Washingto, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009). Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Cato Institute.

For the observance of the National Day for the Victims of Communism in the United States of America. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), particularly our index page Anti-Catholicism and Persecution.

“[M]illions… were killed in anonymity by Communism’s brutal hand. They include innocent Ukrainians starved to death in Stalin’s Great Famine; or Russians killed in Stalin’s purges; Lithuanians and Latvians and Estonians loaded onto cattle cars and deported to Arctic death camps of Soviet Communism. They include Chinese killed in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution; Cambodians slain in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields; East Germans shot attempting to scale the Berlin Wall in order to make it to freedom; Poles massacred in the Katyn Forest; and Ethiopians slaughtered in the “Red Terror”; Miskito Indians murdered by Nicaragua’s Sandinista dictatorship; and Cuban balseros who drowned escaping tyranny. We’ll never know the names of all who perished, but… we have an obligation to those who died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory…

“[W]e recall the great lessons of the Cold War: that freedom is precious and cannot be taken for granted; that evil is real and must be confronted; and that given the chance, men commanded by harsh and hateful ideologies will commit unspeakable crimes and take the lives of millions.”

(President George W. Bush, Dedication of Victims of Communism Memorial)

Free ebook: “Prayers for the Faithful Departed”, by a Father of the Society of Jesus

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• Prayers for the Faithful Departed, in Honour of the Three-and-Thirty Years of Our Lord’s Life, by a Father of the Society of Jesus, reprinted from the first edition, 1641, edited by Edward G.K. Browne (London, 1860). May be read online, and available in mobi, epub, pdf, and other formats, at Internet Archive.

On the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed in the Roman Rite. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Free ebook: “The Book of Saints”, by the Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine’s Abbey

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• The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonized by the Catholic Church, Extracted from the Roman & Other Martyrologies, compiled by the Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Ramsgate (London: A. & C. Black, Ltd., 1921). With Imprimatur. May be read online, and available in mobi, epub, pdf, and other formats, at Internet Archive and Open Library, and available at Hathitrust Digital Library.

On the Feast of All Saints in the Roman Rite. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Online audiobook & ebook: “The Christian Constitution of States”, by Pope Leo XIII

See this online audiobook and ebook:

• Encyclical “Immortale Dei” on the Christian Constitution of States, by Pope Leo  XIII (1 November 1885).
  • The ebook may be read online, and available in mobi format and epub format, at Papal Encyclicals Online; and it is available in .doc format through this page of Documenta Catholic Omnia. It may also be read online on this page of Catholic Culture; on this page of the EWTN Library; at Wikisource; and at the Holy See.
  • The LibriVox audiobook, read by Maria Therese, is available at Internet Archive linked through LibriVox.
  • A different audio recording is provided in this video (45:23) on the Youtube channel of Danilo Zugic.
• A different English translation is provided in:
  • Encyclical of Our Holy Father by Divine Providence Leo XIII on the Christian Constitution of States: Latin Text and Authorised Translation (London, 1886). Available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats at Internet Archive.

The encyclical is also included in these collections:

• The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII: Translations from Approved Sources, with Preface by Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J. (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1903). With Imprimatur.
  • The ebook may be read online, and is available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats at Internet Archive, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive and Open Library. It may also be read online at Wikisource; and it is available in pdf format at Today’s Catholic World.
  • The audiobook, read by Maria Therese, may be listened to online and downloaded in mp3 and other formats at LibriVox and at Internet Archive. [N.B., The recording states that it is in the public domain.]
  • The LibriVox audio is also reproduced for Youtube in 2 parts at Classic Catholic Audiobooks: Part 1 of 2 (11:16:51) and Part 2 of 2 (7:70:43), said Part 2 being also available at Padre Manuel Antonio Garcia Salcedo; and in 2 parts at Full Audiobooks: Part 1/2 (9:10:55) and Part 2/2 (9:56:40); and in 13 parts at Priceless Audiobooks: Part 1/13, Part 2/13, Part 3/13, Part 4/13, Part 5/13, Part 6/13, Part 7/13, Part 8/13, Part 9/13, Part 10/13, Part 11/13, Part 12/13, and Part 13/13.  A portion of the recording (4:26:34) is available at Padre Manuel Antonio Garcia Salcedo and Free Audio Books, and likewise, a part (10:42:14) is available at GreatAudioBooks In Public Domain.
• The Pope and the People; select letters and addresses on social questions, by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, edited by the Rev.  William H Eyre (London and Leamington: Art and Book Company; New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1895). With Imprimatur. Available at Internet Archive and Open Library.

On the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite; on the anniversary of the Vision of the Emperor Constantine; and on the secular observance of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Free ebook: Commentary on St. Luke, collected out of the Fathers by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by St. John Henry Newman

See this legally free ebook:

• Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers by S. Thomas Aquinas: St. Luke, new edition, translated by John Henry Newman (Oxford, London: John Henry Parker, 1874). Available in 2 volumes:
  • Volume I may be read online, and is available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive.
  • Volume II may be read online, and is available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive.
• The first edition (Oxford: John Henry Parker; London: J. Rivington, 1843) is also available in 2 parts:
  • Part I may be read online, and is available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive.
  • Part II may be read online, and is available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive.
• Both parts of the first edition are available in a single pdf file at Saints’ Books, with part II beginning of page 393 of the pdf file; and its entire text may be read online, together with the catenae aureae on the other gospels, through this page at e-Catholic 2000, beginning with the preface by J.H.N.
• An edition of the work may be read online on this page at the collection St. Thomas Aquinas’ Works in English maintained at the Dominican House of Studies, Priory of the Immaculate Conception; and through this page (together with other commentaries on the gospel according to St. John), beginning with chapter I, at the Aquinas Study Bible.
• An expanded version of the work, with additional Prooemium and bracketed portions translated by Joseph Kenny, O.P., is available on this page (Latin-English parallel texts) at the collection of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Works in English maintained at the Dominican House of Studies, Priory of the Immaculate Conception. It is reproduced through this page, together with the catenae aureae on the other gospels, beginning with prologue, at Biblia Clerus.
  • [N.B., The translator is identified to be Blessed John Henry Newman in many sources, including on this page of the collection of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Works in English maintained at the Dominican House of Studies, Priory of the Immaculate Conception.]

In belated observance of the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“Many have been at pains to set forth the history of what time has brought to fulfilment among us, following the tradition of those first eye-witnesses who gave themselves up to the service of the word. And I too, most noble Theophilus, have resolved to put the story in writing for thee as it befell, having first traced it carefully from its beginnings, that thou mayst understand the instruction thou hast already received, in all its certainty.” (St. Luke i, 1-4)

Texto en linea: “Conciencia y Verdad”, por Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

r este texto en linea:

• “Conciencia y Verdad”, por Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Humanitas, 01 Mayo 2005. Discurso presentado en el X Seminario de Obispos, febrero de 1991, en Dallas, Texas. Disponible en esta pagina de Vivir la Fe Catolica; y en  Humanitas, Amigos es decir Testigos, Analisis Digital, y Almudi.org.

The text is also available in English:

• “Conscience and Truth”, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Keynote address presented at the 10^th Workshop for Bishops, February 1991, in Dallas, Texas.
  • The complete text may be read online on this page of the Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC), on this page of the EWTN Library, on this page of the Catholic Information Network (CIN), and, under the heading “If You Want Truth, Respect the Conscience of Every Person: Conscience and Truth”, in the Google Books preview of Faith and Politics: Selected Writings, by Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, with a Foreword by Pope Francis (San Francisco Ignatius Press, 2018), which is available for sale on this page of Ignatius Press.
  • A substantial selection, “Conscience and Truth”, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Communio 37 (Fall 2010): pp. 529-538, is available in pdf format (on this page) at Communio: International Catholic Review, reprinted with permission from On Conscience, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007), which is available for sale on this page of Ignatius Press, and on this page of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

Por la Fiesta de Virgen del Pilar y la víspera de la canonización del cardenal John Henry Newman. Para más libros, por favor ingrese a la lista de los libros electrónicos gratis (Ordenados por título) y la lista de los libros gratis (Agrupados por tema).

Desde el texto:

“[P]odemos ahora comprender correctamente el brindis de Newman antes por la conciencia y sólo después por el Papa. El Papa no puede imponer a los fieles católicos ningún mandamiento solo porque él lo quiere o porque lo considera útil… El significado auténtico de la autoridad doctrinal del Papa consiste en el hecho de que él es el garante de la memoria. El Papa no impone desde fuera sino que desarrolla la memoria cristiana y la defiende.

“Por ello, el brindis por la conciencia ha de preceder al Papa, porque sin conciencia no tiene ningún papado. Todo el poder que él tiene es poder de la conciencia: servicio al doble recuerdo, sobre el que se basa la fe y que tiene que ser continuamente purificada, ampliada y defendida contra las formas de destrucción de la memoria, que está amenazada tanto por una subjetividad que ha olvidado el propio fundamento, como por las dificultades de un conformismo social y cultural.”

[And if the grammar is wrong, pray correct me. Gracias!]

Online text: “John Paul II on Capital Punishment”, by Kevin E. Miller

See this online text:

• “Mercy, Justice, and Politics: John Paul II on Capital Punishment”, by Kevin E. Miller (2011). Dissertation submitted to Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 2011. Available in pdf format at Raynor Memorial Libraries, Marquette University.

See also these related texts:

• “Catholicism & Capital Punishment”, by Avery Cardinal Dulles, First Things 112 (April 2001): pp. 30-35. May be read online (on this page) at First Things.
• “Pope John Paul II, Vatican II, and Capital Punishment”, by Howard Bromberg, Ave Maria Law Review, vol. 6, no. 1 (2007): pp. 109-54. Available in pdf format on this page at the University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository, and on this page at the International Center on Law, Life, Faith and Family.

Posted for the World Day against the Death Penalty. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways…  For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them. And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments and justice, he shall live in them.” (Ezechiel xxx, 11)

“For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil… Do that which is good: and thou shalt have praise from the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God: and avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.” (Romans xiii, 3-4)

“Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion… There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty…” (Memorandum of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, made public in July 2004)