Oh, how tweet it is!
I noticed a book, "The Lions of Munster" by Fr. Daniel Utrecht, a Tan publisher book. The priest (?) is from Toronto Ontario. Question do we know anything about Fr. Utrecht. Will this book be ok to read? I just hate getting books that appear to be ok and turn out to be on the side of Vatican II.
I have one of those books, The Stolen Church by Fr. Virtue. he took diary parts of a Russian priest in prison during the 40s?. Published about 1978 and Fr. Virtue was not so full of Virtue. Three years later he was up for molesting a boy or so.
But the book was 2/3 's his words and 1/3 the diary and he ended the book in support of Vat. II.
I find Fulton Sheen is like that. He never put "Fr." in his name, when he was "Fr."
He would tell you all you wanted to know about communism and by chapter 6 he would give the "solution", pick the right candidate! Not the Precious Blood of sacraments, no, pick a man!? I was so disgusted I felt like throwing the book out.
He writes well as a psychiatrist would but the solutions. Come to find out he may have been a communist "sleeper". Wouldn't surprise me!
I've never heard of Fr. Virtue or Fr. Daniel Utrecht. Sorry. There are so many great authors you shouldn't waste your time on questionable ones.
If it's a TAN book it might be okay, but KEEP IN MIND, that
TAN has been taken over by Protestants so who knows what to expect anymore!!!![/i]
If you have any TAN books published before 2004, you can find a title list in the back pages, so use that to check whether any prospective books were dated before the Prots took over the farm.
Another one to be cautious with is Malachi Martin. He was quite progressive and tried to appeal to modern sensibilities, but in so doing a lot of what he wrote was frankly salacious and scandalous. I was unable to finish
Hostage to the Devil, and I never tried to read
Windswept House. I managed to read
Jesuits and one other of his books, though. When the author gets into too much lurid detail about impurity and demonic themes it serves to me more toward distraction and inclination toward sin, so I have to steer clear.
My impression of Bishop Sheen is mixed. He had a very popular TV show before Vat.II, but he went
whole hog in favor of the revolution -- at least for a while. There are severe criticisms of how he governed his flock. One woman related the story of how she had seen him alone on a passenger train near the end of his life, and she spoke to him, when he confessed to her that he regretted not having stood up for the Traditional Church and the Mass of Ages, but that it was too late. Apparently when he started to make waves in Newchurch, he was quickly marginalized, and died a broken man. I read a recent report that says two different locales are arguing over possession of his remains, and neither one of them is the place where he said he wanted to be buried in his will.
If you have not read
The Glories of Mary, perhaps it's time! Another great book by Liguori is
Preparation for Death, which is right on time for Lent this year! Reading that book put a whole new focus on life for me. A recurring theme in it is that of final perseverance. He explains that the grace for final perseverance is something that no one can merit in this life, but that we can get pretty close to achieving its merit by supplication, but it takes a lifetime of constancy once you make the decision to pursue this goal.
This ties in with something I read in the Raccolta, where it has indulgences after each prayer. After the Angele dei prayer (Angel of God, my guardian dear...), it says that by praying this prayer DAILY for the rest of you life you can merit (provided you meet the standard prerequisites) a plenary indulgence at the moment of death. But there are fine points to be aware of, such as the necessity
to relinquish all attachment to sin before you can be eligible for any plenary indulgence.