Catholic Books for Christmas

Here are five great gifts for Christmas:

1. The Kiss of Jesus: How Mother Teresa and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle

In this candid, astonishing autobiographical account, this soft-spoken, delicate, and devout Catholic media celebrity reveals the shocking struggles she has tackled in life. She became engaged to a drug addict who held her against her will, threatening harm to her family. She faced miscarriages, abuse, serious illness, divorce, financial difficulties, custody battles, and single motherhood – all with great inner strength and tremendous courage. Through God’s providence, she met Mother Teresa, the spiritual guide who shepherded her through some of these trials and helped her heal.

2. True Radiance Finding Grace in the Second Half of Life by Lisa Mladinich

True Radiance is a beautiful book written for women  in the second half of their lives, which is intended to: guide them to gratitude, help them appreciate their inner beauty, and renew their spirit by developing a deep faith in God.  The chapters focus on: authentic feminine beauty, the sacramentality of our changing bodies, understanding and caring for our aging brain (which includes practical advice on Alzheimer’s prevention), ways of blessing others through the witness of our spiritual lives, making lasting friendships, nurturing our vocations, avoiding vices and replacing them with virtues, finding peace in our chaotic culture, and moving forward to the next phase of our lives in radiance.

3. Trusting God with St. Therese by Connie Rossini

This is a remarkable story of suffering and grace. The main theme is learning to trust God in the midst of suffering and through God’s grace, using our suffering for good purposes, following the example of St. Therese of Lisieux. Why does God allow suffering? What is the purpose of suffering? How can we trust God in the midst of our suffering? Using the Scriptures, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, excerpts from the life of St. Therese, and her own personal experiences, Rossini answers these questions and analyzes the meaning of suffering as it relates to trusting God, giving her readers sound, practical advice on how to deal with the trials and tribulations they face in their own lives.

4. Mornings with St. Therese by Patricia Treece -- I love this book! If you have an interest in St. Therese of Lisieux, this book will draw her close to your heart. Filled with amazing quotes and testimonies from those who knew her intimately, it presents a beautiful panorama of her life and spirituality.

5. Seven Saints for Seven Virtues by Jean M. Heimann

"In Seven Saints for Seven Virtues (Servant Books, 2014), Jean Heimann has given readers a close-up of seven saints who are, all too often, distant in their “perfection” to those of us struggling in the pews. As a bonus, each saint is paired with a virtue and an “everyday hero” (a real-life non-saint who’s not inaccessibly holy)."

"What Jean Heimann has masterfully done in this book is something that you’ll value more with each rereading…because yes, this is a book you will reference and revisit and reread. Not only is it a lesson in the virtues, but it’s a close-up of seven saints and an examination of the virtues in light of those saints’ lives. Heimann walks with the reader, sharing her struggles and encouraging us to turn to the saints in specific ways and to take specific actions to begin practicing the virtues."

- Sarah Reinhard in the National Catholic Register