A Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan

by Fr John McCloskey

Father John C. McCloskey is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei and a research Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute. Father John's articles and reviews have been published in major Catholic and secular periodicals, including Catholic World Report, Crisis Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, National Catholic Register, Washington Times, the New York Times, and ACEPRENSA. Fr. John puts together a list of one hundred essential Catholic books for your library.

Catholicism Explained/Theology
Catechism of the Catholic Church 
The Spirit of Catholicism by Karl Adams 
Spirit and Forms of Protestantism by Louis Bouyer 
Christianity for Modern Pagans by Peter Kreeft 
The Lord by Romano Guardini 
Essay on Development of Christian Doctrine by Cardinal Newman 
Parochial and Plain Sermons by Cardinal Newman 
End of the Modern World by Romano Guardini 
Rome Sweet Home by Scott & Kimberly Hahn 
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott 
The Four Cardinal Virtues by Josef Pieper

History and Culture

The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc 
How The Reformation Happened by Hilaire Belloc 
Survivals and New Arrivals by Hilaire Belloc 
Christendom I: Founding of Christendom by Warren Carroll 
Christendom II: The Building of Christendom by Warren Carroll 
Christendom III: The Glory of Christendom by Warren Carroll 
Christendom IV: The Cleaving of Christendom by Warren Carroll 
Triumph : The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church by H. W. Crocker III 
Enthusiasm by Ronald Arbuthnott Knox 
Love of Learning and the Desire for God by Jean Leclercq 
Christianity and European Culture by Christopher Dawson 
Our Lady of Fatima by William T. Walsh

Holy Men and Women

Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge 
Apologia Pro Vita Sua by John Henry Newman 
Journal of a Soul by Pope John XXIII 
The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day 
St. Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox by G. K. Chesterton 
St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton 
Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton 
Mary of Nazareth by Federico Suarez 
Cure of Ars by F. Trochu 
Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage by Gerard B. Wegemer 
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel

Literary Classics

Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson 
The Diary of a Country Priest by George Bernanos 
Hopkins: Poetry and Prose by George Manley Hopkins 
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes 
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri 
Christianity and Culture by T. S. Eliot 
The Idea of a University by John Newman 
Silence by Shusaku Endo 
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz 
Lost in the Cosmos : The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy 
Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy 
Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Bridal Wreath by Sigrid Undset 
Kristin Lavransdatter II : The Wife by Sigrid Undset 
Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross by Sigrid Undset 
Flannery O'Connor: Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor 
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien 
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Spiritual Classics

Confessions of St. Augustine by St. Augustine 
Little Talks with God (modernized version of "The Dialogues") by St. Catherine 
City of God by St. Augustine 
The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis 
Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross 
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis 
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis 
The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton 
Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton 
The Greatest Story Ever Told by Fulton Oursler 
Meditations from a Simple Path by Mother Teresa 
Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila 
The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila 
Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux 
My Way of Life/Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas

Spiritual Reading

The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection by Alphonso Liguori 
Uniformity with God's Will by Alphonso Liguori 
Spiritual Theology by Jordan Aumann 
Frequent Confession by Benedict Baur 
In Silence with God by Benedict Baur 
Difficulties in Mental Prayer by Eugene Boylan 
The Tremendous Lover by Eugene Boylan 
Covenanted Happiness by Cormac Burke 
The Soul of the Apostolate by Jean-Baptiste Chautard 
Friends of God by Jose Maria Escriva 
Christ is Passing By by Jose Maria Escriva 
The Way, Furrow, The Forge by Jose Maria Escriva 
Way of the Cross by Jose Maria Escriva 
All for Jesus by Frederick W. Faber 
Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre De Caussade 
Introduction to Devout Life by Francis deSales 
Treatise on the Love of God by Francis deSales 
Three Ages of Interior Life Volume I by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange 
Three Ages of Interior Life Volume II by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange 
Sinner's Guide by Venerable Louis of Grenada 
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis 
True Devotion to the Holy Spirit by Luis M. Martinez 
True Devotions by Louis-Marie Grignion De Montfort 
The Hidden Power of Kindness by Lawrence G. Lovasik 
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni 
The Sadness of Christ by Thomas More 
Conversation with Christ by Peter T. Rohrbach 
Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli 
Theology and Sanity by Francis J. Sheed 
Theology for Beginners by Francis J. Sheed 
To Know Christ Jesus by Francis J. Sheed 
Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen 
Three to Get Married by Fulton J. Sheen 
The Spiritual Life by Adolphe Tanqueray 
Abba Father by Bonaventure Perquin 
Transformation in Christ by Dietrich von Hildebrand

Miscellaneous

Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II 
Companion Guide to Rome by Georgina Masson 
The King's Good Servant but God's First by James Monti 
50 Questions on the Natural Law by Charles E. Rice 
The Intellectual Life by A. G. Sertillanges 
Essays on Woman by Edith Stein