"A person who rails at God in adversity, suffers without merit; moreover by his lack of resignation he adds to his punishment in the next life and experiences greater disquietude of mind in this life."

St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise. "

Thomas á Kempis

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"A single act of uniformity with the divine will suffices to make a saint."

St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"Father, may they be one as You and I are one".

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of this site?

  • I remember well the first time I encountered the works of St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila. I was shocked. How is it that I had never heard of these works before? How is it that we don't see more of the writings of the saints? Why don't "average" Christians know about these works?

    So the purpose of this site is primarily to make these impeccable sources of saints, doctors of the Church and respected theologians available to Catholics (and all men of goodwill) looking for help on life's journey.

    May the fire that moved these writers to put pen to paper inflame the reader as he receives instruction. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it will happen.

2. Who is responsible for the site?

  • As a reader, I believe you have some right to know who I am.

    Briefly, I am a Catholic layman with a wonderful family that includes four children who are now young adults. I see them grow, observe their concerns and difficulties and try to help. But everyone's struggle is their own. It is partly in response to their needs that I commenced this site.

    Because I have no official status or particular expertise in theology etc, the format of the site is to let the experts speak for themselves. I am a compiler and (to some extent) editor, nothing more; doing a little here and there to make their message clear to people in a hurry.

    I have no particular axe to grind that I am aware of, just a need for help on my journey. For that I rely principally on the help and guidance of our holy mother the Church who continues Christ's work through the ages.

3. Why do you use the "Penny Catechism" to outline the Faith?

  • There are couple of reasons we chose the Penny Catechism:
    • It is succinct.

      Yes, maybe we have progressed our understanding in some areas, the emphasis on sin as black and white is outmoded or whatever. But if you have ever got a little confused about life etc and happened to look up the Catechism and read "God made me to know Him, love Him and serve Him and to be happy with him forever in Heaven" you will see the power of brevity, finely worded. It cuts through the fog.

      Also, like a football coach, it is great to go back to the basics. Not a lot of knowledge is needed on our journey, but the basics are - and they are provided by the Penny Catechism.
       
    • It is particularly suited to the internet.

      People don't read bulk text online, we skim, we click, we jump. That's life. Want to know something in a hurry? The commandments? A definition of Grace? Check out the Catechism before you have to prepare the evening meal, deliver the young basketballer, whatever.
       
    • It was outside copyright restrictions.

4. Where did you get the books?

  • Essentially, from the internet. It struck me as odd that, while one could download lots of works online, it was actually difficult to use them.

    I'm not a huge fan of very large pages that take a long time to download or text that screams at me, so it seemed an obvious thing to do to collect them in one place and reformat the works so they can be read online on a slow internet link.

    Now anyone in the world can read a chapter or so of a work by a doctor of the church at any time of day or night without having to download the whole work first.

    And hopefully, it is in a consistent, pleasant, user-friendly format.