Category: Catholic Audiobooks

A delightful book by the skillful writer, Fr. Francis J. Finn, known for his stories that engage both young and old alike. His First and Last Appearance is the story of the Lachance children, newly orphaned, lovingly trying to carry out the wishes of their mother on her deathbed. There is: the faithful oldest sister Isobel, who would like to become a nun, but accepts the calling to care for her siblings; happily helpful and dear Marie; Phillip, young, sweet, happy-go-lucky, possessing the voice of an angel; and the youngest, Charlie, who lends to his family the joy and sense of humor little ones bring. The author has combined pathetic incidents with religious consolations, woven in moments of suspense, and gives zest to the whole by diffusing his genial humor throughout.

4 hours and 32 minutes.

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The Imitation of Christ is widely considered one of the greatest manuals of devotion in Christianity, an enduring favorite for centuries, found in almost every Catholic household for generations. The life of Christ is presented as the highest study possible to a mortal, as Jesus’ teachings far excel all the teachings of the saints. The book gives counsel to read the scriptures, statements about the uses of adversity, advice for submission to authority, warnings against temptation and how to resist it, reflections about death and the judgment, meditations upon the oblation of Christ, and admonitions to flee the vanities of the world.

8 Hours and 39 Minutes.

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The Interior Castle or The Mansions was written by Saint Teresa of Ávila in 1577. After being ordered to write her autobiographical The Life of S. Teresa of Jesus, Teresa was hesitant to begin writing again on her views of the perfection found in internal prayer. Her humility and claims that, “I am not meant for writing; I have neither the health nor the wits for it,” almost prevented Teresa from composing The Interior Castle. However, according to a letter written by Fray Diego, one of Teresa’s former confessors, Teresa was finally convinced to write her book after a she received a vision from God. Diego wrote that God revealed to Teresa, “…a most beautiful crystal globe, made in the shape of a castle, and containing seven mansions, in the seventh and innermost of which was the King of Glory, in the greatest splendor, illumining and beautifying them all. The nearer one got to the center, the stronger was the light; outside the palace limits everything was foul, dark and infested with toads, vipers and other venomous creatures.” With that, Interior Castle was born. It contained the basis for what she felt should be the ideal journey of faith, comparing the contemplative soul to a castle with seven successive interior courts, or chambers, analogous to the seven heavens.

7 Hours and 6 Minutes.

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A beautiful telling of the life of the most important Person who ever lived, Our Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus of Nazareth: The Story of His Life Simply Told our dear Mother Mary Loyola, with her rare talent for narrative, brings to life vivid images of Our Lord and His life here on earth. Adding to the story are wonderful details on the geography, time in history, and culture into which Jesus was born. Mother Loyola helps us understand how the prophecies about the Messiah were foreshadowed and fulfilled by Jesus Christ, all supported by the biblical quotations and references chosen by the author. An enjoyable read for middle grade children and adults alike!

8 Hours and 55 Minutes.

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Father Frederick William Faber was a beloved spiritual writer, preacher, and superior of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in London. During the 1850s, Father Faber published several popular spiritual books, which have been treasured by Catholics ever since , including this present work, Kindness.

In this charity-building work, Fr. Faber states that kindness has the “power of making the world happy, or at least of so greatly diminishing the amount of unhappiness in it as to make it quite a different world from what it is at present.” Chapters include: Kindness in General, Kind Thoughts, Kind Words, and Kind Actions.

2 Hours and 40 Minutes.

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The story of The Lepers of Molokai and of the Roman Catholic missionary, Father Damien, who ministered to those who languished in that desolate place, waiting for death to release them from a most intense form of physical and mental suffering. Fr. Damien, born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order. His charity and care for the lepers was what turned the island into more of a home and refuge for the poor lepers, who had previously been abandoned to live out their days in desolation, unloved, and forgotten by the world. St. Damien won recognition for his ministry to people with leprosy (Hansen’s disease), who had been placed under a government-sanctioned medical quarantine on the remote island of Molokai in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He, himself, contracted and died of this dreaded disease after caring for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of the people in the colony for sixteen years.

The author visited Molokai several times, and was quite struck by the holiness and relentless work of Fr. Damien. It was Stoddard, actually, who helped establish Father Damien’s position in public esteem.

1 Hour and 52 Minutes.

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