The Virtues of Holiness offers a road-map for navigating our everyday activities: work, family, leisure pursuits. It shows how we can reach the heights of Christian life in and through these activities. For many people this is unfamiliar territory, and the author has written this book just for them. Fr. Lorda offers his readers a daily spiritual plan and describes strategies for gaining the virtues needed for following Christ closely. The next steps are familiarity with the life of Christ and developing a deep interior relationship with Him. Although its path is challenging, The Virtues of Holiness leaves no doubt that the struggle to stay close to Christ lies within the reach of every Christian. The author draws on a wide range of Christian apologists from the Church Fathers to St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as the 16th century Spanish mystics, John of Avila, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila. The result is a book that is accessible to readers of all ages, and especially young believers.

We are called to excellence in all aspects of our lives and activities, and not least in our character. Andreas Köstenberger summons all Christians, and especially aspiring pastors, scholars, and teachers, to a life of virtue lived out in excellence. Köstenberger moves through Christian virtues chapter by chapter, outlining the Bible's teaching and showing how Christ-dependent excellence in each area will have a profound impact on one's ministry and scholarship. Virtues covered include grace, courage, integrity, creativity, eloquence, humility, diligence, and service. This unique book is an important character check for all Christians engaged in teaching and ministry, and especially for those in training. Köstenberger's thoughtful volume will be a valuable touchstone for readers, for one's character is a critical matter in both scholarship and ministry.

The author of the bestselling celebration of discipline explores the great traditions of Christian spirituality and their role in spiritual renewal today. In this landmark work, Foster examines the "streams of living water" –– the six dimensions of faith and practice that define Christian tradition. He lifts up the enduring character of each tradition and shows how a variety of practices, from individual study and retreat to disciplines of service and community, are all essential elements of growth and maturity. Foster examines the unique contributions of each of these traditions and offers as examples the inspiring stories of faithful people whose lives defined each of these "streams."

What it means to be a man or a woman is questioned today like never before. While traditional gender roles have been eroding for decades, now the very categories of male and female are being discarded with reckless abandon. How does one act like a gentleman in such confusing times? The Catholic Gentleman is a solid and practical guide to virtuous manhood. It turns to the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church to answer the important questions men are currently asking. In short, easy- to-read chapters, the author offers pithy insights on a variety of topics, including • How to know you are an authentic man • Why our bodies matter • The value of tradition • The purpose of courtesy • What real holiness is and how to achieve it • How to deal with failure in the spiritual life

The encyclical Veritatis splendor (The Splendor of Truth) represents the first document of the magisterium devoted to the foundations of the Catholic moral life. Though it was intended to confront a genuine crisis of moral disintegration and to offer positive directions for carrying out the work of renewing moral theology, it was fiercely criticized by theologians who regarded it as a simplistic and "repressive" document. Now, several years after the publication of the encyclical, Livio Melina offers an original contribution not only to the study of Veritatis splendor and the controversy surrounding it, but also to the field of moral theology as a whole. In Sharing in Christ's Virtues, Melina proposes a blueprint for organizing moral theology, one that is in harmony with the directions given in Veritatis splendor and one that likewise respects the requirements of both the "theological" and the "scientific" character of the discipline. He describes it as a "Christocentricism of the virtues," which understands the moral life of Christians as a participation in the virtues of Christ by means of the grace of one's ecclesial incorporation in Christ. Melina argues that the renewal of moral theology should result in, first, a search for a more integral and dynamic understanding of human action, and second, a theological "re-dimensioning" of morality to better comprehend the synergy between human action and God's action. The contents of the book are: Part One: Toward a Christocentrism of the Virtues: Lines of Renewal 1. Between Crisis and Renewal: The Cultural and Theological Context of Morality Today 2. An Ethics of the Good Life and of Virtue 3. An Ethics Founded on the Truth About the Good of the Person 4. A Morality of Faith: The Salvific Relevance of Moral Action 5. A Christocentric Ethics of the Virtues Part Two: Ecclesial Sense and Moral Life: Perspectives and Developments 6. Ecclesial Dimensions of Moral Theology 7. The Call to Holiness in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Morality and Spirituality of "Life in Christ" 8. Moral Conscience and Communio: Toward a Response to the Challenge of Ethical Pluralism Livio Melina is professor of moral theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Lateran University in Rome. In addition to numerous articles, he has written and coauthored several books, including La conoscenza morale. Linee di riflessione sul Commento di san Tommaso all'Etica Nicomachea; Morale: tra crisi e rinnovamento; Corso di bioetica. Il Vangelo della vita; Amor conjugal y vocacion a la santidad; Domanda sul bene e domanda su Dio; and Quale dimora per l'agire? Dimensioni ecclesiologiche della morale. "Melina's thought-provoking and powerful presentation of key themes in moral theology will be welcomed by English readers.... One comes away with an understanding and appreciation of the basis of Christian morality for the twenty-first century. The excellent bibliography lists authors from Aristotle to John Paul II, many not well known in the English literature on moral theology. . . . Melina's work is timely. ..."--Catholic Library World

How do ministers, whether lay or ordained, form their spiritual life? What practices do they need to foster in order to become good and to be holy in their service? To answer these questions, Richard Gula invites readers to think along with him about the kind of minister they want to be: If we don't know where we want to go," he writes, "we will easily end up somewhere else." Gula then presents a variety of virtues? Including gratitude, self-care, humor, and courage? and explains how developing these qualities is essential for a minister's moral and spiritual life. By grounding a spirituality for pastoral ministry in the virtues, Gula provides a way for ministers to bridge the gap between who they are and who they hope to become in imitation of Christ Jesus.

"This comprehensive exploration of Thomas Aquinas's theology of habit takes habits in general as a prism for understanding human action and its influences and provides a unique synthesis of Thomistic virtue theory, modern science of habits, and best practices for eliminating bad habits and living good habits"--

Cardinal Vaughn wrote these reflections over a century ago, and they are as pertinent today as when they were first assembled into a book. "There is no Saint however holy and innocent who may not truly consider himself the greatest sinner in the world. It is enough that he knows himself to be man to recognize that he is liable to commit all the evil of which man is capable." This thought alone will inspire us to humility and this book is a great aid to true humility, which is essential to salvation. St. Alphonsus writes: "a single bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a monastery." Pope Pius XII wrote in 1947 at the beatification of Blessed Maria Goretti: "There rises to Our lips the cry of the Saviour: 'Woe to the world because of scandals!' (Matthew 18:7). Woe to those who consciously and deliberately spread corruption-in novels, newspapers, magazines, theaters, films, in a world of immodesty!" We at St. Pius X Press are calling for a crusade of good books. We want to restore 1,000 old Catholic books to the market. We ask for your assistance and prayers. This book is a photographic reprint of the original The original has been inspected and many imperfections in the existing copy have been corrected. At Saint Pius X Press our goal is to remain faithful to the original in both photographic reproductions and in textual reproductions that are reprinted. Photographic reproductions are given a page by page inspection, whereas textual reproductions are proofread to correct any errors in reproduction.

Life in society means more than just living together with others; it also means relating with others, giving oneself to others, and contributing to the good of all. In Beyond Good Intentions, author Juan Lorda shows that Christian morality is more than a list of do’s and don’ts but can in fact be summarized as “the art of living.” It guides Christians to live so that their actions are consistent with their inner convictions. The author shows today’s readers the beauty and reasonableness of Christian living. We are led to see that the essence of Christian morality is not an assemblage of abstract principles, but is a call to a sincere relationship with a real historical person: Jesus of Nazareth, the God–man who shares our life with us. Rev. Juan Luis Lorda has authored 12 books on biblical anthropology, catechetics, and theology. Born in Spain in 1955, he was ordained a priest for the Opus Dei Prelature in 1983 and has taught at the University of Navarre for many years. He is a member of the advisory council on catechetics for the Spanish Bishops Conference, and a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, both religious and secular.

Popular women's Bible study author Stacy Mitch followed the first book of her Courageous series, Courageous Love, with a book on the virtues, Courageous Virtue: A Bible Study on Moral Excellence for Women. Stacy Mitch's Bible study explores how virtue can help women in their daily walks with the Lord and in everyday life. She focuses on the cardinal virtues (fortitude, temperance, justice, and prudence) and the theological virtues (faith, hope, and love). As with her last book, Courageous Virtue is filled with scriptural teaching and the words of the saints, carefully laying a path to the virtues for all readers. Stacy's insightful study questions lead readers to carefully examine their lives in light of the virtues, and the book includes a leader's guide for group Bible studies. About the Series: Intended for individual or group study, our Courageous series examines the teaching of Sacred Scripture on women and the feminine pursuit of holiness for women of all ages and walks of life. Each book includes a leader's guide and study questions to help promote and direct discussion.