Tag: Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson

A 1907 novel by prolific Catholic author Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson, Lord of the World, centers on: the reign of the Anti-Christ, who will tempt Christians to apostasy before Christ’s Second Coming; the final battle in the supernatural war for souls; and the End of the World. Deeply profound and seen by many a modern day theologian (including the last two popes) as prophetic for our times, the book is heralded as a must read. Before creating his fictional account, Msgr. Benson carefully explored the various passages on the end times included in Scripture and the teachings of the Church Fathers as background for this tale of the Antichrist, lending a level of authenticity to the story rarely seen in endtime fictional works. The storyline of the book is eerily familiar to our times today, giving one pause for thought. However,  we must always remember that in the end the true Lord of the World will triumph!

10 Hours and 17 Minutes

You must be logged in to listen to this audiobook. Log in here or purchase a membership.

In The Friendship of Christ the great Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson shows us how to achieve a deeper relationship with God the Son. We all have an innate need for friendship; in this timeless work, this need is raised to the supernatural, illustrating the greatest friendship one could ever possess and how to nurture it. The book shows how Christ works in the soul of those who seek Him, in His public life, and in the historical examples given in the Gospels. “There is one supreme friendship to which all human friendship points,” writes Benson, “one ideal Friend in whom we find, perfect and complete, that for which we look in the faces of our human lovers.” In the Part I, the author shows how one enters into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the purgative and illuminative ways. In Part II, he discusses several modes in which Christ offers us His friendship here and now, such as in the Eucharist, in the Church, in the priest, in the saint, in the sinner, in the average person, and in the sufferer. In Part III, Benson recalls how Jesus Christ proved the depth of His friendship with us by willingly accepting death on the cross for our sake, and how He raises His friends to everlasting life with Him.

5 Hours and 29 Minutes.

You must be logged in to listen to this audiobook. Log in here or purchase a membership.

Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) was a prolific author of fiction, apologetics, and devotional works, best remembered for the apocalyptic novel Lord of the World. He was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife Mary. In 1903 he became a prominent convert to the Roman Catholic Church from Anglicanism, and in 1904 he was ordained a Catholic priest, over time rising to the title of monsignor and appointed a supernumerary private chamberlain to Pope Pius X. Confessions of a Convert is the Monsignor’s personal story of his journey to the Catholic faith, containing comparisons between Catholicism and the Anglican religion, and ranks among his best works. It’s no exaggeration to call it a minor classic. The book concludes with a stretch of melodic prose recording the author’s jubilant response to the incarnational Catholicism he encountered in the Holy City. “A sojourn in Rome means an expansion of view that is beyond words,” he writes.

3 Hours and 49 Minutes.

You must be logged in to listen to this audiobook. Log in here or purchase a membership.

Come Rack Come Rope is a tale of the struggles and sufferings of Catholic Recusants (Catholics who refuse to convert to the Church of England) under Queen Elizabeth I of England. In this story of deep tragedy and terror Msgr. Benson portrays the conflict between natural, tender human passion and divine love, and its heroic resolution worked out in the hearts of the two principal characters, Robin Audrey and Marjorie Manners. The two young people, only seventeen, and secretly engaged, struggle with many emotions and trials as did any faithful Catholic in that age of English History, but when they both come to the belief that God would have them give up their earthly love for each other for a deeper calling to His service, their mettle is tested, and their love is transformed into a deeper, more spiritual love as they undertake the work God calls them each to. Robin goes abroad to become a priest and returns as a covert outlaw to minister the sacraments to the recusant Catholics in his homeland. Margaret becomes the hostess of a safe-house and covert chapel from which priests may come and go in safety. Adventures abound and emotions run high in this classic tale of Catholic life in Elizabethan England.

A note to Parents: Some portions of Come Rack Come Rope are very intense and difficult to read, but integral to the story.  As the author notes in a preface, however, it is in fact an accurate description of Catholic experience at the time. Please exercise caution with the age appropriateness of this book.

14 Hours and 10 Minutes

You must be logged in to listen to this audiobook. Log in here or purchase a membership.