A Blessed Christmas

A very happy and holy Christmas to one and all from Carmel Books.

May the Christ Child bless especially the suffering innocents being slaughtered by Modern Herods.

Pray the Rosary

Very attractive and handy pocket-sized booklet, first published in 1953, with clear and concise illustration on how to pray the Holy Rosary. Contains all of the rosary prayers, with full-colour pictures and small text to aid meditation on each of the 15 decades. Also lists the desired fruits of each Mystery.

A perfect help for children and converts to learn to pray, and to love praying, the Holy Rosary. Ideal for Rosary Novenas, Family Rosary, Private Recitation and the First Five Saturdays.

"I hope that this beautiful little book will be your guide to a richer and more intimate understanding of the Holy Rosary. Keep it handy in your home and in your pocket or purse, because it is an inspiration to loving meditation on the Mysteries of Our Lord Jesus as you address Our Blessed Lady in petition and thanksgiving. May Jesus and Mary bless all who use it with tender and personal devotion".   -   Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.

Paperback. 48pp. 3" x 5". Full Colour.

2016 Ordo

The Ordo Recitandi is the flagship production of The Saint Lawrence Press. The Ordo contains the necessary directions for those who wish to sing the Office and Mass of any day in the Liturgical Year according to the classical Roman Rite.

The Ordo details those changes which arise due to the interaction of the Temporal and Sanctoral cycles. In addition the Ordo contains detailed information concerning the celebration of the various classes of Votive Masses,e.g. Masses of External Solemnities, rubrics for the Forty Hours.

The Ordo follows the format of the Roman Ordo that was produced for the Universal Calendar in the late 1930's following the fifth editio post typicam of the Roman Missal that was promulgated by SRC in 1939.

The Ordo is written entirely in Latin.

State Secrets

Vicomte Léon de Poncins (1897-1975) was one of the foremost experts on Judaism and Secret Societies. His prolific writing on the subject spanned half a century. His work was never speculative, but faultlessly and academically documented throughout.

In this new edition of the book, which has been out of print in English since it was first published in 1975, he presents shocking evidence of the Zionist grip on the governments of both America and Britain throughout the twentieth century, and especially in planning and unleashing two devastating World Wars. These facts have been thoroughly suppressed in mainstream books of History, though that is unsurprising in an age where Truth is to be found in the shadows.

In the preface Dr. E. Michael Jones writes: 

"If the world had heeded Poncins in 1975, it would have been spared the disastrous series of wars for Israel in the Middle East that have been the mainstay of American foreign policy".

This study is as relevant today as ever. Not just for the historically interested, but for all those who seek to understand the real agenda behind the Perpetual Wars for Perpetual Peace and Democracy.

Important Notice

Dear Customers and Friends of Carmel Books,

As many of you will know, when our founder Robin Pannell died in January 2008 he bequeathed Carmel Books to the British District of the Society of Saint Pius X.

For the past five years a stable home has been provided for Carmel Books to pursue its apostolate in an SSPX-owned property in Highclere, Hampshire, for which we offer our grateful thanks to Fr. Paul Morgan.

A review of the SSPX District's operational finances has been undertaken by its new Superior Fr. Robert Brucciani, and he explains on page 6 of the new District newsletter, Ite Missa Est, that:

"From 30th November, Carmel Books will undergo a change of ownership. For the last 5 years it has been owned by the Society of Saint Pius X and has been managed by Mr. Michael Fishwick. Following the implementation of austerity measures (see below), from 30th November, Carmel Books will be owned and run exclusively by Mr. Michael Fishwick. A new address will be advertised forthwith and business will continue as usual... and may the faithful continue to purchase good Catholic literature from Carmel Books".

As manager of the apostolate I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Fr. Brucciani for providing for the continuation of Carmel Books as an independent Catholic bookseller. In the short-term, in a practical sense, it means that Carmel Books must search for and find a suitable new base of operation and that we will have to continue with a small range of stock until a suitable property is established once again.

To this end we are pleased to announce that we will be working very closely with a Catholic charity, The Saint George Educational Trust - www.sget.info - who recently published New Mass or Traditional Mass: A question of faith and issued a pre-Vatican II reprint of A Simple Prayer Book. There are many more very necessary and useful titles to come from SGET in the coming months and years, which will be available from Carmel Books.

From St. Andrew's Day 2015, until further notice, Carmel Books can be contacted at 215 Andover House, George Yard, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 1PB.

Our email address remains the same - enquiries.carmelbooks@gmail.com - as does our website - www.carmel-books.org - and we encourage you all to refer to the Carmel Books blog every so often to learn of further developments and updates.

In Domino,
Michael Fishwick
Manager

Just War? Or Malevolence and Madness?

The armistice signed ninety-seven years ago, which was hailed as putting an end to 'The War That Will End War,' was really only a temporary halt to the genocidal objectives of the New Unhappy Lords of the Modern Age. Every war and conflict that followed throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st can trace its cause to the social upheavals, fragmentation of Old Empires and the consolidation of a growing New World Empire that resulted from the 'Great War'.

Two seminal books were published nine years ago that laid out Catholic Just War principles, and questioned from every conceivable angle the morality of pursuing War in Iraq. Those principles of Catholic Just War doctrine remain just as profound, just as vital and just as applicable today whether it be in regard to the ongoing butchering of Syria and Iraq, or the insane provocations continually pursued against Iran and Russia, whether it be by direct military intervention, or by the training and funding of Takfiri or Banderite terror forces.

Refuting the myth that America's socially conservative thinkers, journalists, and commentators tended to support the war in Iraq, Neo-Conned: A Condemnation of War in Iraq incorporates the opinions of some of the leading figures in America's conservative movement on why the decision to go to war and the continuing occupation of Iraq was and is the wrong course of action. Twenty-five articles by influential thinkers such as former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, syndicated columnists Sam Francis, Joseph Sobran, Eric Margolis, and Charley Reese, leading economist Jude Wanniski, social critics Tom Fleming and Paul Gottfried, and religious figures Bishop John Michael Botean and the late Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani make the case against the Iraqi conflict using conservative arguments on geopolitics, Christian morality, and common sense. Four detailed appendices on the war teachings of the Catholic Church are also provided. 

In Neo-Conned Again: Hypocrisy, Lawlessness and the Rape of Iraq the moral, political, and legal problems surrounding the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq are addressed with uncommon frankness by an eclectic mix of some of the world's most influential academics, lawyers, journalists, politicians, and military, intelligence, and media experts. Contributions include academics such as Noam Chomsky, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Claes Ryn; journalists Milton Viorst, Robert Fisk, Kirkpatrick Sale, and Justin Raimondo; former CIA professional Ray McGovern; former Defense Intelligence Agency professional W. Patrick Lang; and Fr. Jean-Marie Benjamin, personal friend of the former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Traiq Aziz. Discussing the Iraq war and related issues such as the legal foundation of the war on terror, the detention practices at Guantanamo Bay, and the roots of the American Neo-Conservative ideology, the essays illustrate the hypocrisy and illegality of America's stance on terrorism and its policies of aggression in the Middle East.

The Irish military chaplain Father William Doyle S.J. (1873-1917) combined humour, holiness and courage in an outstanding degree.

His death during the third battle of Ypres left intact for posterity the detailed spiritual diaries in which he had recorded for private use his methodical and gruelling path of self-conquest and the growth of his passionate love of Christ. Providence furnished him as biographer the most learned Irishman of his generation: his friend Professor Alfred O'Rahilly.

The resulting biography is a compulsively readable and revealing exploration of sanctity under the microscope, by an author whose calm judgement never falters. Father Doyle had devoted his life to the preaching of parish missions and had received the extraordinary grace of never once failing to obtain the conversion of the straying sheep, even hardened sinners, he sought out.

But the grace he most yearned for was martyrdom, and he finally won his palm on the bloodiest battlefield of history.

Father William Doyle, S. J.

Also available from Carmel Books

Merry in God: A Life of Father William Doyle, S.J.

Christ the King - They Have Uncrowned Him

From the back cover of the third edition of They have Uncrowned Him

"It is of immense importance that English-speaking readers should read, mark, learn and inwardly digest this book of Archbishop Lefebvre, They Have Uncrowned Him.

The Archbishop here denounces in depth the great plague of modern times, which has virtually destroyed Christian civilisation and is now wrecking the Catholic Church. That plague is Liberalism, or man's freeing himself with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his strength and with all his mind, from God.

Where did Liberalism come from? How is it so strong? How has it penetrated even into the Catholic Church? Alas, there is in English very little literature available on the subject. This is because England is steeped in Liberalism and has spread her liberal influences throughout the world, especially the English-speaking world, ever since that terrible 16th century, when King Henry VIII began to split the Church of England from the Church in England, and the mass of Englishmen followed in his footsteps, putting earthly king in front of Heavenly King, patriotism (so-called) in front of religion, country in front of God.

The problem extends far wider now than just poor England. The Church of Rome is being split from the true Church in Rome, as Our Lady of La Salette said it would. Despite her warning, Liberalism and Catholicism is confused in millions of Catholic minds.

In this book, Archbishop Lefebvre puts the crown firmly back on the head of our Heavenly King, Jesus Christ. Thank God, English-speaking readers have made this third edition necessary. All is not lost. May they make fourth, fifth and sixth editions necessary.
        -       Bishop Richard Williamson

The Secret Still Hidden

An appeal from the latest Fatima Crusader:

"Universal Call to Prayer. Join us October 13

On October 13, 2015 - the 98th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, Our Lady's sixth apparition at Fatima - join us in praying a Rosary for the bishops attending the Synod, for the conversion of sinners and the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

We plan to pray this Rosary kneeling in Saint Peter's square at the same hour as Our Lady's Fatima apparition took place, which is 12 noon Portugal time, 1:00 pm Rome, Italy time. We believe our prayers united with those of supporters around the world on this day honouring Our Lady and Her Fatima Message will be more powerful, more efficacious.

Please pray a Rosary any time that day for the above-mentioned intentions while uniting your prayers with ours and those of all our apostolate volunteers and other supporters".

On June 26, 2000 the Vatican published the enigmatic vision of "the Bishop dressed in white" and claimed it was the entirety of the Third Secret of Fatima. Since then, a growing number of Catholics have become convinced that something is missing.

What is missing are the words of the Virgin Mary which would explain how the Pope in the vision comes to be executed by soldiers outside a ruined city filled with corpses. In this book, lawyer and Catholic commentator Christopher A. Ferrara conducts a meticulous examination of a mass of evidence - including many recent admissions, inadvertent disclosures, inconsistencies and sudden about-faces on the part of the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone - to arrive at the inescapable conclusion that a text of the Virgin's words in the Third Secret has yet to be revealed.

This book is the first full-length examination of the grounds for rejecting Cardinal Bertone's version of the facts in the Third Secret controversy. The Cardinal's own statements, including his book and radio and television broadcasts in 2007, are shown to demonstrate beyond any doubt that a text of the Secret has been suppressed, evidently under an unjustifiable mental reservation that the text is not 'authentic'.

"Lepanto" by G K Chesterton (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

The Devotion of the Holy Rosary and the Five Scapulars

The Holy Rosary is a gift from the Blessed Virgin Mary, as are her powerful scapulars. This is the theme Fr. Michael Muller stresses throughout these two-hundred and seventy-five pages of grateful acclamation to a devotion upon which the salvation of great multitudes of sinners rests.

The heartfelt recitation of the rosary and meditation on the mysteries thereof is the best 'thank you' we can give to Mary for her unfathomable mercies.

The scholarly author expounds upon every aspect of this devotion now over eight-hundred years old. He relates it wonderfully to the New Testament as well as to the Old. Every single page of the pious work is replete with holy quotations or exciting analogies, inspiring anecdotes or miracles.

And, too, there are enough actual accounts of graces spurned, or false and superstitious devotion to make us fearful.

This is a book that the faithful will love so much that they will feel compelled to share their gift with wayward friends and relatives.

Mary In Her Scapular Promise

Read about the Redemptorist Sisters of St. Joseph who make and supply our scapulars, here. Please help enable them to produce and send many more scapulars to the Catholic missions.

The Scapular Promise of Our Lady is: "Whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire". Pope Pius IX said, "this extraordinary gift of the Scapular brings its great usefulness not only to the Carmelite Family of Mary but also to all the rest of the faithful who wish, affiliated to that Family, to follow Mary with a very special devotion".

The book contains 15 chapters, including, The Origin of the Promise, Meaning of the Promise, Historicity of the Promise, How the Promise is Kept, Scapular Prayer and Communication of Benefits, and much more.

This is the most complete book on the subject we have seen. It gives many examples of the powerful protection one gets from the Scapular and that protection is in great need today.

A priest in the African mission fields who distributes scapulars sent by the Sisters of St. Joseph writes:

"The scapulars will be much appreciated in Lesotho. I just gave out all the ones that I still had from Sister. One of her scapulars was part of the most beautiful sick call I have ever made as a priest.

After Mass on Monday I was asked to visit a sick boy in the village of Adelina. He is eighteen years old and has been sick for the last three years. He cannot even stretch out his arms fully. He went to a public hospital and instead of an operation, he received a wheelchair.

The faithful wished to come with me and so an older lady, a few young men and many children formed a crowd with me that walked through a number of scattered small stone houses which I had never seen before. It reminded me of the crowds that escorted Our Lord.

I gave a blessing for the sick boy and then one of the faithful handed me one of the scapulars that I had handed out on the day before, asking me to give it to the boy. I had to instruct the boy about the meaning and history of the scapular and he wished to receive it. But since I did not bring the correct prayer, I asked a sixteen year old boy, who is Anglican but now wants to be received into the Church and to learn how to serve Mass, to run to get it from my nephew at the Adelina chapel.

Meanwhile the faithful prayed three decades of the rosary for the sick boy, which moved him to small tears which he repeatedly brushed off his eyes while in bed. The prayer book arrived and then I enrolled him in the brown scapular. Then the faithful began to sing a hymn to Our Lady in Sesotho as we left the very small room. The boy's mother thanked me as I left.

So, Sister's scapulars are going to some good souls, this one who never was seen at the chapel, though his father came for the first time on Sunday".

Our Lady of La Salette

First Saturday

An artist's impression of the proposed monument to honour Saint Vladimir the Great that is due to be erected in Moscow.

"Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion (the First Saturdays), along with the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven".
      -      Sister Lucia, 19th March 1939.

Picture Book of Saints

The Picture Book of Saints contains very brief lives of more than one hundred popular saints written for young children by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik. 

Each is made more memorable by a two-fold portrayal in word and colour picture.

The book comes with a very handy padded 'child-proof' (no such thing!) cover.

First published in 1962.

Vatican Encounter

Vatican Encounter consists of a little-known interview between Archbishop Lefebvre and a Dutch Catholic journalist in 1976.

It covers everything from the Archbishop’s family background in Northern France to the veneration of the Senegalese people for their bishop and his anti-Liberal interdict on the Island of Fadiouth. It includes the courageous attacks made by the Archbishop at the Council, as well as his letter of 1966, one year after the Council. It also features the story of Ecône, the dreary days of the apostolic visitors, and the accusations and sanctions against the seminary.

Yet, beyond the wonderful details of the book are underlined the vital principles which animated the founder of the Society of St. Pius X - the same principles which all its members are supposed to hold as definitive and non-negotiable. This work reveals a striking characteristic of the man, a mind and heart deeply at peace in the thick of pressure:

“I am not worried. God is almighty; what appears insurmountable to us is only a little thing in his eyes. If my work is God’s work, God will preserve it and make it serve the Church for the salvation of souls."

Panic in the Pews!

Laugh yourself silly as you learn how not to behave in church!

Do your parents cringe whilst you pound your feet on the pew?

Do you pester them all through Mass with questions and demands?

Do the people in the pews around you stare?

Then this book is for you!

And for your parents!!!

Never was there a more fun way to learn the do's and don'ts of church behaviour than this hilarious collection of antics that demonstrate how not to act.

Talented homeschool teen Erin Bartholomew brings out the best of these crazy kids with her illustrations, from Backwards Buford to Potty Prue, whilst author Lisa Bergman insists her six children never, never, behave like these little hooligans... well, hardly ever!

Mary Magdalen in the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich

The visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich are the world's greatest source of detail in the life of St. Mary Magdalen - great sinner, great penitent, and the second most prominent woman in the Gospels.

These pages are in full accord with the Bible, but give an immense amount of extra information about her life and family.

This book provides a welcome antidote to the absurd Da Vinci Code style fantasies that are periodically promoted by Mass Media Presstitudes.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Church, on Creation and the Fall

St. Lawrence of Brindisi was a remarkable person. He was a man of immense intellectual, moral and spiritual stature who also lived a life of swashbuckling adventure.

He was born on July 22, 1559 in the Italian Adriatic port city Brindisi. His parents gave him the name Julius Caesar when he was baptized. On February 18, 1575, Julius Caesar became Brother Lawrence in the Order of Capuchins at the order's novitiate house in Verona. After his profession he pursued studies in philosophy and theology at the University of Padua.

Lawrence had a outstanding memory. He mastered the principal European languages and most of the Semitic tongues. It was said that he knew the entire original text of the Bible. He was ordained a priest on December 18, 1582.

Father Lawrence was a fiery preacher with a forceful personality who held his listeners in rapt attention. He would adapt his preaching to the spiritual needs of the congregation. He had a good voice, an imposing appearance, personal magnetism, and a photographic memory. He is considered one of the greatest preachers in the history of Christianity. He painstakingly prepared his sermons and would spend three to five hours in prayer before delivering his more formal sermons. So deep was his feeling when he delivered his sermons that he often cried while preaching. His sermons were also fearless. He did not hesitate to denounce the vices of the strong and powerful, even when they were present.

In addition to evangelical missions to the Protestants and diplomatic missions, Pope Clement VIII gave Fr. Lawrence the task of instructing the Jews. Because of his knowledge of Hebrew and his powerful reasoning, he brought a great number of them to recognize the truths of the Catholic Faith. His saintliness and kindness further prepared the way for their conversion. Some of the Jews called Father Lawrence "the living Bible". He was familiar not only with the Old Testament Hebrew text and its Aramaic versions (Targums) but also with commentaries on them by medieval Jewish scholars.

In 1601 Lawrence was named chaplain of the Imperial army. He instilled confidence in the soldiers and lead the Emperor's army to victory against the Turks, who outnumbered the Emperor's soldiers by about three to one. He rode in front of the soldiers on horseback carrying a crucifix in his hand. He led them into the thick of battle, holding the crucifix aloft, and came through unscathed.

Lawrence successfully combined his very active physical and intellectual life with an intense inner life. His practice of religious virtue equaled that of the great saints. He rose to high levels of contemplation, rarely celebrating Mass without falling into ecstasy. His Masses often lasted six to ten hours, the longest taking sixteen hours. One witness observed him levitate three feet above the floor for a hour and a half while celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He had deep and tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mariale, a collection of 84 of his sermons on Mary, comprises a complete and profound Mariology

Known as the Apostolic Doctor, St. Lawrence was a prolific writer. His known writings comprise eight volumes of sermons, two treatises on oratory, commentaries on Genesis and Ezekiel, and three volumes of religious polemics. 

This book is St. Lawrence's Commentary on Genesis 1-3, taken from his Explanatio in Genesium, translated for the first time ever into English.

A History of the Catholic Church

The temptation of the Church historian is to begin at the beginning and then go steadily on, the second century following the first and the third the second etc. It is a temptation that Msgr. Philip Hughes has resisted in his renowned history. He has seen a better principle.

The Church was born into the world, and the first phase of her history is in that world, the world that was already there. But gradually she remade that world and the second, quite different, phase of her history was in the world she had made. He divides the first two volumes accordingly. But this meant that he could not take one fixed date as the dividing line for the whole of the territory in which she worked, for the Eastern world remained very much as she found it up until the time of Justinian I, whereas the Western world had begun to respond to her re-creative activity by the time of Constantine.

The first volume, then treats of the Church in the West up to the conversion of Constantine (312) but in the East up to Justinian I - or rather a century and a half beyond to allow for the consummation of the disunion that followed Chalcedon. The second volume carries the history through to the time of St. Thomas Aquinas, whilst the third volume takes the story from Aquinas to Martin Luther.

Volume One: The Church and the World in which the Church was Founded
Volume Two: The Church and the World the Church Created
Volume Three: The Church and the Revolt against it of the Church-created World

St. Bonaventure's Commentaries on the Four Books of Sentences

St. Bonaventure's Commentaries on the Four Books of Sentences of Peter Lombard are ideal textbooks for undergraduate and graduate courses in Theology, Religious Studies, Mediaeval Studies, Philosophy & Religion, and Christian Philosophy.

St. Bonaventure was declared co-primary Doctor of the Church by Pope Sixtus V in 1588.

Book 1 - On the One & Triune God., is published along with the complete text of Lombard's First Book of Sentences.

This is a replica translation, in English, of the Critical Latin Edition by the Quaracchi Fathers, 1882, with all the accompanying original Prolegomena, Tabulae, Scholia, and Footnotes, furnished with translations of all the various readings cited in the original and enriched with frequent citation of Scholastic terms in the Latin tongue.

It includes an Introduction and Preface to the English translation, two colour illustrations and a Table of Scholastic Terms.

Hardback, laminated full-colour dust-jacket. 996 pages.

The Lion of Campos: In Memorium

Today, 25th April,  marks the 24th anniversary of the death of 'The Lion of Campos', Bishop Antonio Castro de Mayer.

In Memorium

Catholic, Apostolic & Roman

New Mass or Traditional Mass: A question of Faith

Leather Missal Covers

Carmel Books is pleased to be able to offer missal covers made by a small family run apostolate, the Catholic Leather Guild.

These envelope-style leather covers wrap around your missal, holding it together in a stylish traditional manner.

The stylish covers come in two standard sizes. One for the Angelus Press and similar-sized hand missals, and another one to fit the size of the Baronius Press hand missal.

They can be manufactured in various colours, which is very handy for distinguishing your own missal from those belonging to other members of your family.

Stylish and tough-wearing genuine leather covers retail at £25.00 plus p&p. The colours available in leather are black, burgundy, brown, forest green, olive green, blue and red.

Leatherette (fake leather) style covers are a great alternative for children’s missals. They can keep the missal safe and can be wiped clean if needed. These covers retail at £15.00 and are available in black, brown and burgundy.

If you have a missal needing a different size cover, you can send the measurements, preferably in centimetres, to Carmel Books and the Catholic Leather Guild will supply a quote for it.

Coloured ribbon markers for use in missals or other liturgical books are also available at the price of £5.00 plus p&p. They contain five coloured ribbons attached to a leather backing that slips into the spine of the missal.

*   Please order these items by email or phone as they are not listed on the website due to some sort of technical glitch.  *

The Feast of Saint George

23rd April, 2015

Patron of England, Russia, Syria, Palestine, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Malta, Gozo, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Georgia, and many provinces of Christendom.

Prayer in Honour of Saint George

O GOD, Who didst grant to St. George strength and constancy in the various torments which he sustained for our Holy Faith; we beseech Thee to preserve, through his intercession, our faith from wavering and doubt, so that we may serve Thee with a sincere heart faithfully unto death.

Through Christ Our Lord
Amen.


Invocation of St. George

O FAITHFUL servant of God and invincible martyr, St. George, favoured by God with the gift of faith, and inflamed with an ardent love of Christ, thou didst fight valiantly against the dragon of pride, falsehood and deceit. Neither pain nor torture, sword nor death, could part thee from the love of Christ. I fervently implore thee for the sake of this love to help me by thy intercession to overcome the temptations that surround me, and to bear bravely the trials that oppress me, so that I may patiently carry the cross which is placed upon me; and let neither distress nor difficulties separate me from the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Valiant champion of the Faith, assist me in the combat against evil, that I may win the crown promised to them that persevere unto the end.

Amen.

The Story of Saint George

Saint George: Knight of Lydda

Journey to the Baobab Tree

A true story of courage, endurance and love. 'Hauntingly beautiful and compelling'.

Journey to the Baobab Tree is the true story of two children's epic journey from Eastern Poland to Siberia, their escape to Persia and finally to Africa during World War Two.

Alinka's family lived in a small river town in Eastern Poland where her father was chief of police. Witek's father was a forest keeper in the remote forest regions bordering Russia.

When the war began in September 1939, the Soviets, allied for the first two years of the war with the Nazis, invaded Eastern Poland and brutally deported over one and a half million Polish people in cattle trucks to the far ends of the Soviet Union. Alinka and Witek, both ten years old at the time, were among those taken. A million died in the deportations.

Against all odds, Witek and Alinka, in different parts of the Soviet Union, survived and escaped. They meet for the first time in Africa under a Baobab Tree.

Their gripping stories of those war years are narrated here in two parts, telling of resourcefulness, faith and humour even in the darkest times. They are truly unforgettable.

The Importance of the Holy Face Devotion in the 21st Century

Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus is as ancient as devotion to the Crucified Lord. 

This pious custom began with the offering of a holy Jewish woman's veil to wipe the spittle, dirt and blood from the countenance of Our Lord during His agonizing journey to Calvary.

Her name was Veronica.

The reward for her courageous act of mercy was the miraculous impression of His Face on her veil.


Pope Pius XII officially instituted the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus for celebration on Shrove Tuesday.

In this 28 page pocket-size booklet, Kathleen Heckenkamp explains The Importance of the Holy Face Devotion in the 21st Century.

Lenten Meditations

Traditional Lenten meditations at the links below:

Preparation for Lent

Ash Wednesday Meditation
Thursday After Ash Wednesday
Friday After Ash Wednesday
Saturday After Ash Wednesday
First Sunday After Lent
Monday: First Week of Lent
Tuesday: First Week of Lent
Wednesday: First week of Lent
Thursday: First Week of Lent
Friday: First Week of Lent
Saturday: First Week of Lent
Sunday: Second Week of Lent
Monday: Second Week of Lent
Tuesday: Second Week of Lent
Wednesday: Second Week of Lent
Thursday: Second Week of Lent
Friday: Second Week of Lent
Saturday: Second week of Lent
Sunday: Third Week of Lent
Monday: Third Week of Lent
Tuesday: Third Week of Lent
Wednesday: Third Week of Lent
Thursday: Third Week of Lent
Friday: Third Week of Lent
Saturday: Third Week of Lent
Sunday: Fourth Week of Lent
Monday: Fourth Week of Lent
Tuesday: Fourth Week of Lent
Wednesday: Fourth Week of Lent
Thursday: Fourth Week of Lent
Friday: Fourth Week of Lent
Saturday: Fourth Week of Lent
Sunday: Fifth Week of Lent
Monday: Fifth week of Lent
Tuesday: Fifth Week of Lent
Wednesday: Fifth Week of Lent
Thursday: Fifth Week of Lent
Friday: Fifth Week of Lent
Saturday: Fifth Week of Lent
Palm Sunday
Monday: Sixth week of Lent
Tuesday: Sixth Week of Lent
Wednesday: Sixth Week of Lent
Thursday: Sixth Week of Lent
Good Friday
Holy Saturday

First Saturday Reminder