Traditional Catholic Book List

[bkovacs]

Apart from the Missal and Bible, what other Catholic books do traditional Catholics like to read. What is your Book List?

 

[WhollyRoamin]

The **Index of Leading Catholic Indicators **turned me into a traditional Catholic. They should send a copy to every bishop in America.

 

[MrDickerson]

The **Index of Leading Catholic Indicators **turned me into a traditional Catholic. They should send a copy to every bishop in America.

Umm, let’s see…
Early Church Fathers; catechisms like Baltimore Catechism, My Catholic Faith, Roman Catechism, This Is the Faith; stuff written by St. Thomas Aquinas; stuff written by Fulton Sheen; I’m currently re-reading The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis De Montfort–nothing will increase your devotion to the rosary more than reading this book! I’d also like to read St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. Trads also like to read pretty much anything that is published by TAN.

 

[bkovacs]

What is a good version (traditional translation) of St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa to get.

 

[Warrior89]

amazon.com/Summa-Theologica-Thomas-Aquinas-Volumes/dp/0870610635/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3FO9HC57P3U01&colid=3ANHU4GXQKEEW

The link above will take you to the standard edition used by scholars, as translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province.

 

[MrDickerson]

What is a good version (traditional translation) of St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa to get.

If you’re wanting to delve into Aquinas, I would actually recommend getting Aquinas’s Shorter Summa–St. Thomas’s own concise version of his Summa–and The Aquinas Catechism. Both of these are published by Sophia Institute Press. There is also a little booklet called My Way of Life, a simplified form of the Summa for everyday people, published by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood. Confraternity of the Precious Blood also prints other spiritual books in the same pocket-sized format, i.e. My Imitation of Christ (Thomas a Kempis), My Daily Bread, My Meditation of the Gospel, My Daily Psalm Book, etc.

If you are looking for readings specifically about the modern crisis in the Church and traditionalism, I recommend The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber; Iota Unum–A Study of Changes in the Catholic Church; Open Letter to Confused Catholics; One Hundred Years of Modernism; and I Accuse the Council!. Anything written by the late Michael Davies (R.I.P.) is also very good. All of these books are available from the Angelus Press website.

 

[Extempore]

A couple of these have been already mentioned, but I’ll repeat them anyhow so as to emphasize that they are very good!

This is the Faith
Open Letter to Confused Catholics
Christ the King, Lord of History
Is Tradition Excommunicated?
Life of Christ
True Devotion to Mary

I also read fiction books for fun, but these would be more in the “traditional” category.

 

[Shin]

Here’s a little list: saintsquotes.net/RecommendedReading.html

If it is by a saint read it. Read enough of them and it’s hard not to become more and more traditional until you realize you can’t separate ‘traditional’ from ‘Catholic’.

And who would want to?

Deo gratias!

 

[WhollyRoamin]

This is the Faith

Seconded. Maybe one of the finest catechisms ever written.

 

[tobinatorstark]

Understanding the Catholic Faith by Rev. John A. O’Brien. It also contains a copy of Baltimore Catechism 3. It was released by Ave Maria Press. Copyright 1941, 1949, 1954 by Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Nihil obstat by Francis J Connell, C.S.S.R and Imprimatur by Edwin V. O’Hara, Archbishop of Kansas City August 4, 1954

 

[Warrior89]

“Theology for Beginners” & “Theology and Sanity” - by F. J. Sheed

 

[hamburglar]

The **Index of Leading Catholic Indicators **turned me into a traditional Catholic. They should send a copy to every bishop in America.

Although this might not be exactly the type of “book” the OP is looking for, it is nonetheless very powerful and I recommend it.

I haven’t read the whole thing, but some of the statistics are terrifying.

 

[SourGrape]

Books by the Saints are always good food for the soul! I also LOVE books by G.K. Chesterton, (history books by his friend Belloc), the writings of Fulton J. Sheen, and Pope Bendedict XVI. You can read the Encyclicals of the Popes at the Vatican website: www.vatican.va

I’m currently reading Confessions of St. Augustine and our current Pope’s latest encyclical on hope. Happy reading!

 

[MartyMcFly]

Anything by Fr Michael Mueller, CSSR

Actually his books are online for FREE

archive.org/search.php?query=M%C3%BCller%2C%20Michael%201825-1899

 

[EricBrooks]

Pascendi, by St Pius X (papalencyclicals.net/Pius10/p10pasce.htm) as well as the Catechism of Modernism, which is basically just the encyclical in question and answer form. This is an essential document for criticizing reforms in how we view revelation, the subjectivization and sentimentalization of faith, and much else. There are any number of related encyclicals by Pope’s of this period, but this is the central document.

The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent (history.hanover.edu/early/trent.html)

The Douay-Rheims translation of the Holy Bible. This is translated from the vulgate. It was the only translation in English used by the Church for a few hundred years. It’s far more reverent than most modern translations, and also uses more specific theological language. I would also argue that it is, at least on some points, more accurate than translations created through modern source criticism.

Dante’s Comedy.

One of the big problems with modern spirituality, and this goes beyond Catholicism into protestantism, the New Age, or any other religion that follows the errors of the modernists, is the psychologization of spirituality. Traditional Catholics talk a lot about the importance of the Mass, and retain strong stances on key doctrines, but it’s also very important to be spiritually formed on true ideas. If I had to choose one book for this category, I would point to The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St John of the Cross. This book is both beautiful and systematic. This book is excellent because, in addition to setting you on the right path, it also devotes significant amount of time to false spiritualities and how they are actually damaging.

 

[allbychristine]

If you’re wanting to delve into Aquinas, I would actually recommend getting Aquinas’s Shorter Summa–St. Thomas’s own concise version of his Summa–and The Aquinas Catechism. Both of these are published by Sophia Institute Press. There is also a little booklet called My Way of Life, a simplified form of the Summa for everyday people, published by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood. Confraternity of the Precious Blood also prints other spiritual books in the same pocket-sized format, i.e. My Imitation of Christ (Thomas a Kempis), My Daily Bread, My Meditation of the Gospel, My Daily Psalm Book, etc.

If you are looking for readings specifically about the modern crisis in the Church and traditionalism, I recommend The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber; Iota Unum–A Study of Changes in the Catholic Church; Open Letter to Confused Catholics; One Hundred Years of Modernism; and I Accuse the Council!. Anything written by the late Michael Davies (R.I.P.) is also very good. All of these books are available from the Angelus Press website.

Hi, I am trying to find the book “My Daily Psalm Book” you mentioned above - do you know where i can get it or who publishes it? Thanks!

 

[Diana_Catherine]

Apart from the Missal and Bible, what other Catholic books do traditional Catholics like to read. What is your Book List?

I’m glad you asked this question. I was wondering the same thing.

For myself I love reading about the saints and the Blessed Mother. Right now reading True Devotion to Mary and I am almost finished so I was wondering what to start with next.