Free ebook: “Apostolic Succession Explained”

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• Apostolic Succession Explained; A Short Treatise in which Certain Theological Questions of the Day are Calmly Examined and Resolved, by a Priest of the Order of Charity (London, Dublin, Derby: Thomas Richardson and Son, 1850). Available at Google Play Books.

See also these related texts:

Free ebook: History of the Church, Volume 3 (From the Western Schism of Luther), by the Rev. Dr. John Alzog

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• History of the Church, Volume III, by the Rev. Dr. John Alzog [Johannes Baptist Alzog, 1808-1878], translated, with additions, from the 9th German edition, by Rev. Dr. F. J. (Francis Joseph), Pabisch 1825-1879 and Right Rev. Thomas [Sebastian] Byrne (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1912). With Imprimatur. Available in pdf, epub, mobi and other formats, and may be read online, at Internet Archive.
  • (N.B.: This volume deals with the “Third Period. From the Western Schism of Luther down to Our Times (1517-1878)” according to the Table of Contents—which is itself so thorough as to be a historical summary on its own.)

See also these related texts:

Free ebook: Letter to Duke of Norfolk [on the Papacy and Vatican I], by Cardinal Newman

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• A Letter Addressed to His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, on Occasion of Mr. Gladstone’s Recent Expostulation, by Saint John Henry Newman (London: B.M. Pickering, 1875). May be read online, and available in pdf, mobi, epub and other formats, at Internet Archive.
  • The text may also be read online through this page of Newman Reader, as the second section of Volume II of the author’s Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching (London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900) (Copyright © 2007 by The National Institute for Newman Studies).
  • Under the title Dr. John Henry Newman’s Reply to Mr. Gladstone’s Pamphlet (Toronto: A. S. Irving & Co., 1875), it is available at Internet Archive.

See also the texts listed on the post “Online text: “The Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church”, by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” and “Online text: “The Martyrological Dimension of Petrine Primacy”, by Jakub J. Woźniak“, and those in sub-list IV.B on the page Church and Ecclesiology.

Online text: “Luther and Calvin on the Role of Faith in the Sacraments: A Catholic Analysis”, by Dr. Michael Root

See this online text:

• “Luther and Calvin on the Role of Faith in the Sacraments: A Catholic Analysis”, by Professor Michael Root, Ph.D., Nova et Vetera, Vol. 15, No. 4 (January 2017): pp. 1065-1084. Available on this page of Nova et Vetera at the Saint Paul Center for Bibilical Theology, and at ResearchGate.

On the Octave Day of Easter (Low Sunday), and the Feast of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, in the Roman Rite. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project. Surréxit Dóminus vere, Allelúja!

Free ebook: “Reasons for a Return to Catholic Unity”, by Dr. James Kent Stone

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• The Invitation Heeded: Reasons for a Return to Catholic Unity, by James Kent Stone, S.T.D. [1840-1921] (London: Burns, Oates & Co., 1870). May be read online and available in pdf, epub, mobi and other formats at Internet Archive. A different impression (New York: Catholic Publication Society; Boston: Patrick Donahoe; Baltimore: John Murphy & Co., 1870) is also available at Internet Archive and Internet Archive (2^nd copy).

See also the texts on the pages Apologetics and Church and Ecclesiology, as well as the following:

• “Catholic”: An Essential and Exclusive Attribute of the True Church, by Monsignor Thomas John Capel (New York: Wilcox & O’Donnell Co.; D. & J. Sadlier & Co., 1884). Includes, in appendices, the Treatise of St. Cyprian on the Unity of the Church (251 A.D.); the 18th of the Catechetical Instructions of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (347 A.D.); the letter of St. Pacien, Bishop of Barcelona, on the name ‘Catholic’ (373 A.D.); and remarks by the Protestant author Lord Macaulay. May be read online, and available in various formats (pdf, mobi/kindle, epub, etc.) at Internet Archive and Open Library., with a 2nd copy at Internet Archive and Open Library. No Imprimatur, but the author is domestic prelate of Pope Leo XIII, and its content is Catholic.
• The Catholic Church the True Church of the Bible, by Very Rev. C. J. O’Connell (St. Louis, MO, Freiburg (Baden), London: B. Herder, 1913). With Imprimatur. Available in various formats (pdf, epub, mobi/kindle, etc.) at Internet Archive and Open Library; and also available at HathiTrust Digital Library.
• The Catholic Controversy, by Saint Francis de Sales, translated by Rev. Henry Benedict Mackey, O.S.B.  (London: Burns and Oates, 1886). May be read online on this page of Good Catholic Books. The 3^rd revised and augmented edition, with an excellent translator’s preface (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers; London: Burns and Oates, 1909) (Library of St. Francis De Sales, Volume III) is available in various formats at Internet Archive.
• Catholic Doctrine as Defined by the Council of Trent: Expounded in a Series of Conferences Delivered in Geneva, Proposed as a Means of Reuniting All Christians, by Adrien Nampon, translated from the French, with the approbation of the author, by a member of the University of Oxford (Philaelphia: Peter F. Cunningham & Son, 1869). With the approbation of various bishops. Available in various formats at Internet Archive, with a second copy at Internet Archive and Open Library.

Posted for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, on the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales (in the Latin and Syriac sui iuris churches) and of the Blessed Martyrs of Pratulin, in earnest prayer that our separated brethren may be converted from schism and heresy to divine and Catholic truth. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.

Free eBooks by & about the Council of Trent

See the following list of some legally free or online texts and ebooks by or on the Holy and Ecumenical Council of Trent (AD 1545-1563), which reiterated and defined revealed truth on salvation, the sacraments, and prayer, and enacted norms on discipline, education, and governance that substantially guide ecclesial life to this day. Some of these materials were previously listed in the post ‘Free ebook: “Practical Aspects of the Council of Trent”, by Dr. Frederick Joseph Kinsman‘.

Please note that this list is not and cannot be exhaustive, in view of the importance and influence of that Council. Therefore, for relevant texts not listed in this post, please see the pages Grace and Salvation, Liturgy, Sacraments, Select Church Documents, and Theology, and the post ‘Free ebooks: “Dogmatic Theology”, by Joseph Pohle and Arthur Preuss, in 12 volumes‘. For a similar but much longer list of texts by and about the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, kindly see

Online text: “The Law of War in Francisco Suárez”, by Dr. Paulo Borges de Macedo

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• “The Law of War in Francisco Suárez: The Civilizing Project of Spanish Scholasticism”, by Dr. Paulo Emílio Vauthier Borges de Macedo, Revista da Faculdade de Direito da UERJ – RFD, Vol. 2, No 22 (July / December 2012). 25 pages. Available in pdf format in English e Portugues at the Revista da Faculdade de Direito da UERJ.

See also these related texts on the ethics of armed conflict under natural and positive law:

Online ebook: Selections from Three Works by Francisco Suarez

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• Selections from Three Works: A Treatise on Laws and God the Lawgiver; A Defence of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith; A Work on the Three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity, by Francisco Suarez, S.J., translated by Gwladys L. Williams, Ammi Brown, and John Waldron with certain revisions by Henry Davis, S.J., edited and with an Introduction by Thomas Pink (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2015). First published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1944). May be read online, and available in pdf format, at the Online Library of Liberty.

See also these texts and ebooks by or about the author:

Online text: “Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the English Tradition”, by Dr. Paul Michael Haffner

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• “Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the English Tradition and the Title of ‘Our Lady’s Dowry’”, by Rev. Dr. Paul Michael Haffner, Alpha-Omega, Vol. 13, No. 3 (2010): pp. 429-452. Available in pdf format on this page through the Paul Michael Haffner page of Christendom Awake, and at the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana (linked by the post “England’s Re-dedication as “Mary’s Dowry” in Face of the Current Pandemic” at Catholicism Pure & Simple.)

On the Solemnity of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Personal Ordinariates of Our Lady of Walsingham and of the Chair of Saint Peter. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.

Worth-it book: “Grace, Predestination and the Salvific Will of God”, by Fr. William Most

See this worth-it book:

• Grace, Predestination and the Salvific Will of God: New Answers to Old Questions, by Fr. William Most. The printed book (Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 2004) is available for a worth-it price at Barnes & Noble.

Note: For the support of faithful Catholic publishers, we encourage all readers to purchase the said book. (The Project earns no commission from any such purchase.) Nonetheless, for those who are unable to do so for just reasons, or would like electronic texts, please see this link below: