The Essential Catholic Book List

Attached in this article is ‘The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan’ book list compiled by the illustrious Father John Hardon. He put an immense amount of work into compiling this list, sifting through thousands of authors and doing much diligence to arrive at the one hundred and four authors who made the final cut.

Once again, this page is devoted to exploring these great works and the treasures hidden therein. Thanks to everyone for the enthusiasm thus far, and happy reading!

“Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me: And I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her” (Wisdom 7:7-8).

The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan

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The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan: Full List

The Age of Persecution

1. St. Ignatius of Antioch

   1. Letters

2. St. Justin Martyr

   1. The First Apology

   2. The Second Apology

3. St. Irenaeus

   1. The Presentation of the Apostolic Preaching

   2. Against the Heretics (‘Adversus Haereses’)

4. Tertullian

   1. Apologetical Works

   2. Disciplinary, Moral and Ascetical Works

5. St. Cyprian

   1. The Lapsed, the Unity of the Catholic Church

   2. On the Lord’s Prayer

6. Lactantius

   1. The Divine Institutes

The Patristic Age

7. Eusebius

   1. Ecclesiastical History

8. St. Athanasius

   1. The Incarnation of the Word

   2. The Life of Saint Anthony

9. Prudentius

   1. Poems

   2. Hymns

10. St. John Chrysostum

    1. On the Priesthood

    2. Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring up their Children

11. St. Augustine

    1. City of God

    2. Confessions

    3. Of True Religion

    4. Enchiridion: On Faith, Hope and Charity

12. St. Jerome

    1. Letters

    2. On Illustrious Men

Medieval Civilisation

13. St. Vincent of Lerins

    1. Commonitorium

14. Boethius

    1. The Consolation of Philosophy

15. St. Benedict

    1. The Rule of St. Benedict

16. The Venerable Bede

    1. A History of the English Church and People

17. St. Anselm

    1. Prayers and Meditations

    2. Why God Became Man and the Virgin Conception

18. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    1. The Steps of Humility

    2. On Loving God

    3. Magnificat: Homilies in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary

19. St. Francis of Assisi

    1. The Writings of St. Francis

    2. The Little Flowers of St. Francis

20. St. Thomas Aquinas

    1. Summa Contra Gentiles

    2. Summa Theologiae

    3. The Catechetical Instructions

21. St. Bonaventure

    1. The Journey of the Mind to God

    2. The Triple Way

    3. The Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary

22. Blessed Jacobus de Voragine

    1. The Golden Legend

23. Dante

    1. The Divine Comedy

24. St. Catherine of Siena

    1. The Dialogue

25. Geoffrey Chaucer

    1. The Canterbury Tales

26. Thomas à Kempis

    1. The Imitation of Christ

27. St. Catherine of Genoa

    1. Treatise on Purgatory

28. St. Thomas More

    1. A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation

    2. Prayerbook

    3. Utopia

The Catholic Reformation

29. St. Ignatius Loyola

    1. Spiritual Exercises

    2. Letters and Instructions

    3. Autobiography

30. St. Teresa of Avila

    1. Autobiography

    2. The Way of Perfection

    3. Interior Castle

31. St. John of the Cross

    1. Ascent of Mount Carmel

    2. Dark Night of the Soul

32. Miguel de Cervantes

    1. Don Quixote

33. St. Robert Bellarmine

    1. The Ascent of the Mind to God

    2. The Art of Dying Well

34. St. Francis de Sales

    1. Introduction to the Devout Life

    2. Treatise on the Love of God

35. Richard Crashaw

    1. Poems

36. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    1. Autobiography

37. St. Louis de Montfort

    1. True Devotion to Mary

38. Alban Butler

    1. Lives of the Saints

39. St. Alphonsus de Liguori

    1. The Holy Eucharist

    2. The Glories of Mary

    3. The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ

    4. The Way of Salvation and Perfection

40. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

    1. The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

41. Frederick William Faber

    1. Growth in Holiness, or the Progress of the Spiritual Life

    2. The Blessed Sacrament, or the Works and Way of God

    3. Poems

    4. Spiritual Conferences

42. St. Peter Julian Eymard

    1. The Real Presence

    2. Holy Communion

    3. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament

    4. The Eucharist and Christian Perfection

43. Alessandro Manzoni

    1. The Betrothed

44. Prosper Gueranger

    1. The Liturgical Year: Advent to the Last Sunday of Pentecost

The Modern Age

45. Orestes Brownson

    1. Essays and Reviews chiefly on Theology, Politics and Socialism

46. Matthias Joseph Scheeben

    1. The Mysteries of Christianity

    2. Mariology

47. William Bernard Ullathorne

    1. The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues

    2. The Little Book of Humility and Patience

48. St. John Henry Newman

    1. Apologia Pro Vita Sua

    2. Sermons and Discourses

    3. The Idea of a University

    4. The Dream of Gerontius

49. Coventry Patmore

    1. Poems

50. St. Thérèse of Lisieux

    1. Story of a Soul

51. Eugene Boylan

    1. This Tremendous Lover

    2. The Mystical Body: the Foundation of the Spiritual Life

52. Francis Thompson

    1. Poems

53. Robert Hugh Benson

    1. Christ in the Church

    2. The Light Invisible

    3. The Necromancers

    4. Come Rack! Come Rope!

54. Henryk Sienkiewicz

    1. Quo Vadis?

    2. With Fire and Sword

    3. The Deluge

55. Augustin Poulain

    1. The Graces of Interior Prayer

56. James Gibbons

    1. The Faith of our Fathers

    2. The Ambassador of Christ

57. Alice Meynell

    1. Poems

    2. Essays

58. Adolphe Alfred Tanquerey

    1. The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology

59. Blessed Joseph Columba Marmion

    1. Christ, the Life of the Soul

    2. Christ in His Mysteries

60. Ottokar Prohaszka

    1. Meditations on the Gospels

61. Ludwig von Pastor

    1. The History of the Popes

62. Jean-Baptiste Chautard

    1. The Soul of the Apostolate

63. G.K. Chesterton

    1. St. Francis of Assisi

    2. The Catholic Church and Conversion

    3. The Everlasting Man

    4. St. Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox

64. Fernand Cabrol

    1. Liturgical Prayer: Its History and Spirit

    2. The Prayer of Early Christians

    3. Mass of the Western Rites

    4. The Mass: Its Doctrine, Its History

65. Ferdinand Prat

    1. Theology of St. Paul

    2. Jesus Christ: His Life, His Teaching, and His Works

66. Marie Joseph Lagrange

    1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ

67. Alban Goodier

    1. The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ

    2. The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ

    3. The Prince of Peace

68. St. Maximilian Kolbe

    1. Personal Letters

    2. Spiritual Writings

    3. Theological Writings

69. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

    1. The Science of the Cross

    2. Essays on Woman

70. Henri Gheon

    1. Secrets of the Saints

    2. Three Plays

    3. Christmas in the Market Place

    4. The Art of the Theatre

71. Edward Leen

    1. Progress Through Mental Prayer

    2. In the Likeness of Christ

    3. The Church before Pilate

    4. The Holy Ghost and His Work in Souls

72. Alexis Carrel

    1. Man the Unknown

    2. The Voyage to Lourdes

73. Sigrid Undset

    1. Kristin Lavransdatter

    2. Saga of Saints

    3. The Longest Years

74. William Thomas Walsh

    1. Isabella of Spain

    2. Characters of the Inquisition

    3. Our Lady of Fatima

75. Owen Francis Dudley

    1. Will Men Be like Gods? Humanitarianism or Human Happiness

    2. The Tremaynes and the Masterful Monk

76. Hilaire Belloc

    1. The Path to Rome

    2. The Servile State

    3. Europe and the Faith

    4. Marie Antoinette

77. Paul Claudel

    1. The Satin Slipper

    2. The Tidings Brought to Mary: A Drama

    3. The Book of Christopher Columbus: A Lyrical Drama

    4. Letters from Paul Claudel, My Godfather

78. Johannes Jørgensen

    1. Saint Brigid of Sweden

    2. Saint Catherine of Siena

    3. Pilgrim Walks in Franciscan Italy

    4. Jorgensen: An Autobiography

79. Pierre Pourrat

    1. Christian Spirituality

80. Ronald Knox

    1. Enthusiasm

    2. A Spiritual Aeneid

    3. The Belief of Catholics

    4. A Commentary of the Gospels

81. Paul de Jaegher

    1. One with Jesus

    2. The Virtue of Trust

82. Francis Trochu

    1. The Curé of Ars: St. Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney

    2. St. Bernadette Soubirous

83. John Peter Arendzen

    1. The Holy Trinity

    2. Reason and Revelation

    3. What Becomes of the Dead?

    4. Purgatory and Heaven

84. Guiseppe Ricciotti

    1. The Life of Jesus Christ

    2. The History of Israel

    3. Paul the Apostle

    4. The Age of Martyrs: Christianity from Diocletian to Constantine

85. Gerald Vann

    1. The Divine Pity

    2. The Seven Swords

86. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

    1. Christian Perfection and Contemplation, according to St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross

    2. The Three Ages of the Interior Life

    3. The Mother of Our Saviour and our Interior Life

87. Henri Daniel-Rops

    1. The Book of Mary

    2. The Church of the Apostles and Martyrs

    3. The Church in the Dark Ages

    4. The Catholic Reformation

88. Karl Adam

    1. The Spirit of Catholicism

    2. The Son of God

    3. Christ Our Brother

    4. The Roots of the Reformation

89. Evelyn Waugh

    1. Brideshead Revisited

    2. A Handful of Dust

    3. Edmund Campion

90. Romano Guardini

    1. The Lord

    2. The Way of the Cross of Our Lord and Our Saviour Jesus Christ

    3. Freedom, Grace and Destiny: Three Chapters in the Interpretation of Existence

    4. The End of the Modern World: A Search for Orientation

91. Katherine Burton

    1. The Great Mantle: Pope St. Pius X

    2. Sorrow Built a Bridge: Mother Alphonsus

    3. Witness of the Light

    4. The Next Thing: Autobiography and Reminiscences

92. Christopher Dawson

    1. Religion and World History

    2. Progress and Religion

    3. The Crisis of Western Education

    4. Religion and the Rise of Western Culture

93. Francois Mauriac

    1. Life of Jesus

    2. Woman of the Pharisees

    3. St. Margaret of Cortona

    4. The Eucharist

94. James Alberione

    1. Personality and Configuration with Christ

    2. Thoughts

    3. Glories and Virtues of Mary

    4. Daily Meditations: The Great Prayers, The Great Truths, The Great Virtues

95. Jacques Maritain

    1. An Introduction to Philosophy

    2. Prayer and Intelligence

    3. The Degrees of Knowledge

    4. Art and Scholasticism

96. Arnold Lunn

    1. Now I See: An Autobiography

    2. The Revolt Against Reason

    3. Switzerland: Its Literary, Historical, and Topographical Landmarks

    4. A Saint in the Slave Trade: Peter Claver, 1581-1654

97. Charles Journet

    1. The Church of the Word Incarnate

    2. The Primacy of Peter

    3. The Meaning of Grace

    4. The Wisdom of Faith: An Introduction to Theology

98. Dietrich von Hildebrand

    1. Transformation in Christ: on the Christian Attitude of Mind

    2. Marriage: the Mystery of Faithful Love

    3. Celibacy and the Crisis of Faith

    4. The Sacred Heart: An Analysis of Human and Divine Affection

99. Etienne Gilson

    1. A History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages

    2. A Gilson Reader: Selected Writings

    3. Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant

    4. Recent Philosophy: Hegel to the Present

100. VenerableFultonSheen

     1. Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton Sheen

     2. Peace of Soul

     3. These Are the Sacraments

     4. Three to Get Married

101. Igino Giordani

     1. The Social Message of Jesus

     2. The Social Message of the Early Church Fathers

     3. Mary of Nazareth

102. Frank Sheed

     1. Theology and Sanity

     2. Communism and Man

     3. The Church and I

     4. Marriage and the Family

103. Hubert van Zellar

     1. We Die Standing Up

     2. Approach to Christian Scripture

     3. The End: A Projection Not a Prophecy

     4. Praying While You Work: Devotions for the Use ofMartha Rather than Mary

104. John C.H. Wu

     1. The Science of Love: A Study in the Teachings of St Thérèse of Lisieux

     2. Beyond East and West: An Autobiography

     3. Fountain of Justice: A Study in the Natural Law

     4. The Interior Carmel: The Threefold Way of Love