Not- For the Faint of Heart - Which Tomes are on Your Catholics Classics Bucket List?

[TrueLight]

I’m hoping this thread can be a running list of spiritual and theological classics for the bookworms.

I’m still slowly reading through the Summa Theologica by Aquinas. Slowly.

Someone also recommended to me De Romano Pontifice (On the Roman Pontiff), by St. Robert Bellarmine. I believe that one was just translated into English from Latin and is available on Mediatrix Press.

Then there’s Augustine’s, “City of God”, which can be purchased just about everywhere. I got through Confessions quickly, but City of God is a whole other matter!

What is on your Catholic heavy reading bucket list?

 

[Errham]

Butler’s Live of the Saints (Four volumes covering the entire year). I’m currently working my way through it, by reading the accounts of each day’s saint.
The Great Synaxaristes (12 volumes covering each month, plus 2 volumes covering the moveable feasts of the Triodion and Pentecostarion periods). This is essentially the Butler’s for Orthodox Saints, but much more extensive - some entries are over 100 pages long. And at $700 , it ain’t happening any time soon.
The collections of Nicene, Post-Nicene and Anti-Nicene fathers (at around $1000 dollars, this also isn’t happening anytime soon.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
The Orthodox Encyclopedia

 

[Joannm]

City of God is also on mine. I started it several times but never got far.

The Divine Comedy by Dante.

I also want to finish reading all of John of the Cross. I have read a few of his writings but want to get through all of them.

 

[TrueLight]

Butler’s Live of the Saints (Four volumes covering the entire year). I’m currently working my way through it, by reading the accounts of each day’s saint.
The Great Synaxaristes (12 volumes covering each month, plus 2 volumes covering the moveable feasts of the Triodion and Pentecostarion periods). This is essentially the Butler’s for Orthodox Saints, but much more extensive - some entries are over 100 pages long. And at $700 , it ain’t happening any time soon.
The collections of Nicene, Post-Nicene and Anti-Nicene fathers (at around $1000 dollars, this also isn’t happening anytime soon.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
The Orthodox Encyclopedia

Wow. Is it online?

 

[TrueLight]

City of God is also on mine. I started it several times but never got far.

The Divine Comedy by Dante.

I also want to finish reading all of John of the Cross. I have read a few of his writings but want to get through all of them.

I haven’t read Dante since Junior High School. As a Catholic I will definitely have a different perspective.

St John of the Cross is tough!

 

[Entwhistler]

The Divine Comedy is an amazing piece of literature!
I’ll tell you one thing though. It gets harder to read the more you ascend. The Inferno is easier to read than Purgatorio while Purgatoria is easier to read than Paradiso. I suppose that is very appropriate. The closer you get to God, the harder he is to comprehend.

 

[TimothyH]

The Philokalia.

-Tim-

 

[Errham]

Wow. Is it online?

Butler’s isn’t, but it costs around $90. So while it’s not exactly a drop in the bucket, it could make a very nice birthday present. 3,000 pages, so make sure you’ve got some reading time on your hands.

I have not found an online Synaxarion, at least not a complete one yet. However, the Synaxarion from SVS press is six volumes and costs $360, around half the price. Still way up there though. If you’re interested in the lives of the Eastern Saints, the book that I’d recommend is the Prologue of Ohrid. It comes in two volumes and costs $120 at the Jordanville bookstore.

As for the collections of the Fathers, those are some 30-40 volumes altogether, so I highly doubt it. However, the majority of the classical Patristic works can be found online for free at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

I’m not sure if the Catholic Encyclopedia on New Advent is the same as the one in print, but it appears to be just as high-quality. As for the Orthodox encyclopedia, we’ll have to stick with Orthodoxwiki for now

 

[Marie5890]

Was just reading a thread on “The Cloud of Unknowing” (anonymous mystic Monk from 14th century I believe)

It’s on my list

 

[Errham]

Was just reading a thread on “The Cloud of Unknowing” (anonymous mystic Monk from 14th century I believe)

It’s on my list

If you’re looking for more works on the subject of Catholic mysticism:

Dark Night of the Soul (St. John of the Cross)
The Ascent of Mt. Carmel (St John of the Cross)
The Interior Castles (St. Teresa of Avila)
The Way of Perfection (St. Teresa of Avila)