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)

Online text: “The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful”, by Pope John Paul II (with related texts)

See this online text:

• Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Christifideles Laici” on the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, by Pope John Paul II, December 30, 1988. May be read online ar the Holy See and at IntraText.

See also these related texts:

• “Guiding Principles of the Lay Apostolate: Address to the Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate”, by Pope Pius XII, October 5, 1957. May be.read online (on this page) at the EWTN Library and at Papal Encyclicals Online.
• “The Place of Eucharistic Adoration in the Apostolate of the Laity in Light of Magisterial Teaching”, by Jessica Leach (2014). Thesis for the degree of Master of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Theology), University of Notre Dame Australia. Available in pdf format at University of Notre Dame Australia.
• “Reflections on John Paul II’s Theology of the Laity: 20th Anniversary of Christifideles Laici (1989)”, by Peter N.V. Hai. Available in pdf format at Australian Catholic University.
• “The Role of the Laity: An Examination of Vatican II and Christifideles Laici”, by Carl E. Olson. May be read online at Ignatius Insight: may be Part I and Part II. According to the text, “A slightly different version of this article appeared in the September/October 2000 issue of The Catholic Faith magazine.”
• The Theology of the Laity, by Fr. John Saward. Part 1 may be read online on this page, and Part 2 may be read on this page, at Christendom Awake. [Other works by Fr. Saward may be found on this page of Christendom Awake.]
• “The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici”, by Bishop Josef Clemens. Available in pdf format at the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

On the Feast of Saint Gerald of Aurillac; and on the occassion of the canonization of John Henry Cardinal Newman. For more legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Libro gratis: “Ofrecimiento del Santísimo Rosario”, por José Ruiz de Sorzano

Ver este e-libro gratis:

• Ofrecimiento del Santísimo Rosario, Segun el Uso de la Sagrada Religion de Nuestro Padre Santo Domingo de Guzman, por Don José Ruiz de Sorzano (Madrid: Imprenta de Aguado, 1823). Disponible en Internet Archive, con una secunda copia en Internet Archive, y Google Books.

Por La Fiesta de la Virgen del Rosario (Nuestra Señora de la Victoria) en rito romano, y el aniversario del Batalla de Lepanto (7 de octubre de  1571). 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).

“Por estos misterios santos de que hemos hecho recuerdo, te pedimos, ¡oh María!, de la Fe santa, el aumento, la exaltación de la Iglesia; del Papa el mejor acierto. Que el gentil conozca a Dios. Que todos los pecadores tengamos arrepentimiento. Que los enfermos tengan la salud. Que en el purgatorio logren las ánimas refrigerio. Y que este santo sacrificio tenga efecto tan completo en toda la cristiandad, que alcancemos por su medio, el ir a alabar a Dios en tu compañía en el cielo. Amén.” (De las Siervas de los Corazones Traspasados de Jesús y María)

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

Livre gratuit: “Saint Bruno et l’Ordre des Chartreux”, par l’Abbe F.-A. Lefebvre

Voir ce livre gratuit:

• Saint Bruno et l’Ordre des Chartreux, par l’Abbe F.-A. [Francois Antoine] Lefebvre (Paris, Libraire catholique internationale de l’Oeuvre de Saint-Paul, 1883). Le Tome Premier est disponible sur Internet Archive et Open Library, Internet Archive (copie 2e), Bibliothèque Saint Libère, et Google Books. Le Tome Second est disponible sur Internet Archive, Google Books, et Bibliothèque Saint Libère.

Pour la fête de saint Bruno dans le rite romain. Pour plus de livres gratuits, vous pouvez accéder à la liste des eBooks gratuits (par titres) et la liste des eBooks gratuits (regroupées par sujet).

(And if the grammar is wrong, please correct me. Merci!)

Online text: “Letter to the Elderly”, by Pope John Paul II

See this online text:

• “Letter to the Elderly”, by Pope John Paul II, 01 October 1999. Available at Holy See and at Rider University. A summary may be found on this page of the Order of St. Camillus.

See also these related texts:

• “Address to the Elderly”, by Pope John Paul II, 30 November 1986. Delivered in Perth on the occasion of his Pastoral Visit in Australia. May be read online at the Holy See.
• Blessings of Age: Pastoral Message on Growing Older Within the Faith Community: A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, Inc., 1999). May be read online at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• The Dignity of Older People and their Mission in the Church and in the World, by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, 1 October 1998. May be read online (on this page) at the EWTN Library. Also available at the Pontifical Council for the Laity and at the Holy See.
• The Final Years: To the Very End: Pope John Paul II (Little Sisters of the Poor, 2011). Available in pdf format (here) through this page of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
• Improving the Lives of Older Adults through Faith Community Partnerships: Healing Body, Mind and Spirit (Washington, D.C.; St. Louis, Missouri: Catholic Health Association of the United States, 2016). Available at the Catholic Health Association of the United States.
• Intervention to the Second World Assembly on Ageing (Madrid, 8-12 April 2002), by H.E. Mons. Javier Lozano Barragán, Monday 8 April 2002. May be read online at the Holy See.
• “A Just Society for the Elderly: The Importance of Justice as Participation”, by Sarah Moses, Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, vol. 21 (2007): pp. 335-362.Available at the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy.
• Letter to the President of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, by Pope John Paul II (Madrid, 8-12 April 2002). May be read online at the Holy See.
• Message for Lent 2005, by Pope John Paul II, September 8, 2004. May be read online at the Holy See. Excerpts are available at Presentation Ministries.
• A Place at the Table: Social Justice in an Ageing Society, by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (2016). Available in pdf format at the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
• Respecting and Honouring Our Elderly Parents (A Catholic Guide to Family Happiness: The Thirteenth in a Series on Family Happiness: Chapter Fifteen, Honouring Our Elderly Parents), edited by ‘Francis X. J. W.’ Australian Catholic Truth Society No. 1807a (1986, revised 1996). May be read online, and available in PDF format, at Catholic Truth Society Pamphlets.
• Season of Hope: Prayers & Reflections on Aging, by the Little Sisters of the Poor (Little Sisters of the Poor, 2014). Available in pdf format through this page of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
• “Spirituality for Widows”, by Ronda Chervin, Ph.D., Homiletic and Pastoral Review (2013). May be read online on this page at Catholic Culture.
• Words of His Holiness Benedict XVI at His Visit to the Community of Sant’Egidio’s Home for the Elderly “Viva Gli Anziani”, 12 November 2012. May be read online at the Holy See.

Posted on the International Day of Older Persons 2019, and on the 20th anniversary of the Letter to the Elderly of Saint John Paul the Great. 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 text: “Retrieving Ember Days”, by Roger Pieper

See this online text:

• “Retrieving Ember Days”, by Roger Pieper, Obsculta, vol. 7, no. 1 (2014): pp. 163-182. Available in pdf format at Obsculta.

Posted on an Ember Friday in the Extraordinary Form of 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 text: “On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy”, by Pope John Paul II

See this online text:

• Apostolic Letter “Dies Domini” on Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy, by Pope John Paul II (Saint John Paul the Great), 31 May 1998. May be read online on this page of Adoremus, and at the Holy See.

On the Feast of Our Lady of La Salette in the Extraordinary Form of 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 Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, by Eliza Allen Starr

See this legally free ebook:

• The Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Eliza Allen Starr (Chicago, 1898).
  • May be read online, and available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats, at Internet Archive and Open Library.
  • Excerpts may be read online at Little Office: “The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin. 2.— The Flight Into Egypt”, “The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin. 3.— The Three Days Loss”, “The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin. 4.— The Meeting between Our Lord and His Mother on the Way to Calvary”, “The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin. 5.—The Crucifixion”, “The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin. 6.—The Deposition”, and “The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin. 7.—The Entombment”.
  • [N.B., The text has no Imprimatur, but the writer was a reputable convert who was honored by Pope Leo XIII.]

On the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary 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).

“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 ebook and audio: “Letter to the Friends of the Cross”, by St. Louis de Montfort (English et Francais)

See this online ebook and audio:

• Letter to the Friends of the Cross, by St. Louis de Montfort.
  • The text may be read online on this page of the Company of Mary [which states that “[t]hese texts are copyright © The Montfort Missionaries 1987… may be used for private study only, and may not be reproduced or published in any way whatever, without permission.”], and on this page of the EWTN Library (reconstructed website); and it is available in pdf format on this page at Montfort Missionaries and on this page (with the first 2 paragraphs by the editor) at the Devout Life Library.
  • The text with preface (Bay Shore, L.I., N.Y. Montfort Publications, 1950), with Imprimatur, may be read online at e-Catholic 2000 [N.B., this copy has images], and on this page of Sensus Fidelium. A copy that includes the Saint’s poem “The Triumph of the Cross”, rendered in English by Clifford J. Laube, Litt.D., may be read online on this page at Catholic Tradition.
  • The audio of the text with preface is available on this page of the Youtube channel Sacred Heart Publications (published on Feb 27, 2018), and on this page of the Youtube channel Classic Catholic Audiobooks (published on Jul 31, 2017).

The text and audio of work in the original French is also available (and if the grammar below is wrong, please correct me):

• Lettre Circulaire aux Amis de la Croix, par Saint Louis de Montfort.
  • Le texte est disponible sur cette page de la Basilique de Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort est sur le website Au Couer de Jesus et Marie: partie 1 et partie 2
  • La microforme de la Lettre Circulaire du Bienheureux Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort aux Amis de la Croix (Ottawa: La Compagnie d’Imprimerie d’Ottawa, 1920], avec Imprimatur, est disponible a Internet Archive et Hathitrust Digital Library.
  • L’audio est disponible sur cette page de Propaganda Fide, et sur cette page de Gloria.tv.

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross 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). From the text (citations omitted):

Dear Brethren, these are the two groups that appear before you each day, the followers of Christ and the followers of the world…

To the right, the little flock that follows Jesus can speak only of tears, penance, prayer and contempt for worldly things… Worldlings, on the contrary, rouse one another to persist in their unscrupulous depravity. “Enjoy life, peace and pleasure,” they shout, “Enjoy life, peace and pleasure. Let us eat, let us drink, let us sing, let us dance, let us play. God is good, He did not make us to damn us; God does not forbid us to enjoy ourselves; we shall not be damned for that; away with scruples; we shall not die.” …

In answer to the gracious invitation which Jesus extends, let us rise above ourselves… Let us look up to the unique Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus crucified. Let us fly from the corrupting concupiscence and enticements of a corrupt world. Let us love Jesus in the right way, standing by Him through the heaviest of crosses. Let us meditate seriously on these remarkable words of our beloved Master… “If any man will come after Me let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me”.

Free ebook & audiobook: “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”, by Saint Louis de Montfort

See this legally free ebook and audiobook:

• A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, by Saint Louis-Marie, Grignion de Montfort, translated by Frederick William Faber (London: Burns and Lambert, 1863).
  • The ebook may be read online, and available in pdf, mobi, epub and other formats, at Internet Archive; and may be read online on this page of e-Catholic 2000. The 2nd edition is available in pdf format on this page of Militiae Immaculatae.
  • The audiobook, read by Michael Portelli and Maria Therese, is available at Internet Archive.

See also this related text:

• The Message of Montfort: A Modern Commentary on the Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, by Patrick Fannon, D.D. (Liverpool: The Montfort Press, 1964). With Imprimatur. Available in 2 parts at Christendom-Awake.org: Part 1, and Part 2.

Posted on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and in belated observance of the anniversary of the founding of the Legion of Mary. 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 Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord: And my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name” (St. Luke i, 46-49)