/lit/ - Literature

Father Elijah books
Canticle for Leibowitz
Graham Greene books

>>19244978
>to Catholicism
>Christian
>St. Palamas
Pick one, anon.

>>19244991
Or rather pick two of the bottom one or the top one.
Most catholicism books are fiction btw, because they describe a fictional version of Christianity.

>>19244978
I'm not particularly religious, but Brothers Karamazov is one of the best books I've read in recent memory and deals a lot with spirituality.

>>19244978
I found this very enjoyable

>>19245045
Post based quotes from it.

It was said of Abba Moses that he was ordained and
the ephod was placed upon him. The archbishop said to him,
'See, Abba Moses, now you are entirely white.' The old man
said to him, 'It is true of the outside, lord and father, but
what about Him who sees the inside?' Wishing to test him the
archbishop said to the priests, 'When Abba Moses comes into
the sanctuary, drive him out, and go with him to hear what
he says.' So the old man came in and they covered him with
abuse, and drove him out, saying, 'Outside, black man!'
Going out, he said to himself, 'They have acted rightly
concerning you, for your skin is as black as ashes. You are
not a man so why should you be allowed to meet men?’

>>19245070
>It was said of a certain Abba Apollo of Scetis, that he had been a shepherd and was very uncouth. He had seen a pregnant woman in the field one day and being urged by the devil, he had said, Ί should like to see how the child lies in her womb.' So he ripped her up and saw the foetus. Immediately his heart was troubled and, filled with compunction, he went to Scetis and told the Fathers what he had done. Now he heard them chanting, 'The years of our age are three score years and ten, and even by reason strength fourscore; yet their span is but toil and trouble.' (Ps. 90.10) He said to them, Ί am forty years old and I have not made one prayer; and now, if I live another year, I shall not cease to pray God that he may pardon my sins.' In fact, he did not work with his hands but passed all his time in prayer, saying, Ί, who as man have sinned, do you, as God, forgive.' So his prayer became his activity by night and day. A brother who lived with him heard him saying, Ί have sinned against you, Lord; forgive me, that I may enjoy a little peace.' And he was sure that God had forgiven him all his sins, including the murder of the woman; but for the child's murder, he was in doubt. Then an old man said to him, 'God has forgiven you even the death of the child, but he leaves you in grief because that is good for your
soul.'

>>19244978
I'm really enjoying this right now. He was an Anglican minister in the 1700s.

Read the Jesus of Nazareth books by Pope Benedict for nonfiction.

As far as fiction goes, do you want overt Catholicism or subtle Catholicism? If you want overt Catholicism, try Brideshead Revisited. For something more subtle, try either Tolkien or Wolfe, who were never overt in their Catholicism but its ideas and spirit creep into their fantasy and sci-fi.

>>19246144
>Jesus of Nazareth
Sounds like the "historical Jesus" or "human Jesus" stuff peddled today.

>>19245045
I liked the one where the two monks who live together decide to have an argument and they fail at it.

>>19244978

Non-fiction:

Summa Contra Gentiles by Aquinas

Against The Heresies by Iraneus

Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man by Chesterton

Mere Christianity, Abolition of Man and Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis

A Secular Age by Charles Taylor

Vibrant Paradoxes by Bishop Robert Barron

Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard
Fiction:
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson

The Brother's Karamazov by Dostoyevsky

The Father Brown stories by GK Chesterton

Chronicles of Narnia and Space Trilogy by CS Lewis

The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (Hard read though)

A Canticle for Leibowtiz by Walter Miller

The Devils by Dostoyevsky

The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion by Tolkien

>>19246144
Why would one want to read what some pope dude has to say about Jesus when we have four gospels by people who actually knew him?

>>19244978
The Meaning of Sacred Scripture by Louis Bouyer

It's out of print, but there are used copies available, and it's worth spending $20 or $30 on. It's the best single introduction to the Bible from a Christian and Catholic perspective that I've found, showing how the various important themes of the Old Testament developed and grew and ultimately flowered in the New Testament.