CTS Audio - Catholic Audiobooks

A young man who spent his short life caring for the sick and infirm. A handsome and active young man from an influential family in Turin who dedicated his short life to the care of the poor and the sick and working for social and political reforms. Pier Giorgio Frassati's generosity was legendary. He often gave the clothes he was wearing to poor people he met who were in need. An open anti-fascist, a keen sportsman and mountaineer, an enthusiast of the theatre and literature, and a young man with a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, he stands as a great example of Christianity in action. His life was cut short by polio at the age of 24 and thousands of the Italian industrial city's poor lined the streets at his funeral. He was beatified in 1990 by Pope St John Paul II.

The Inquisition has become a byword for persecution and intolerance and is often given as a reason for distrusting the Catholic Church. Intending to separate fact from fiction, this helpful and informative audiobook explores what led to this most controversial chapter in the Church's history. What really happened during the time of the Inquisition? And what changes of perspective led to Pope John Paul's famous apology in 1997? In this audiobook, discover the historical context of the delicate topic of the history of the Inquisition.

St Josephine Bakhita was a trafficked child: abducted from her home and family by slave raiders, sold and re-sold, and horribly abused. To a succession of cruel owners she was a thing, not a person, and even her name was taken from her. Yet her discovery of Jesus Christ, her true master, gave meaning to her appalling suffering.

St Josephine Bakhita was a trafficked child: abducted from her home and family by slave raiders, sold and re-sold, and horribly abused. To a succession of cruel owners she was a thing, not a person, and even her name was taken from her. Yet her discovery of Jesus Christ, her true master, gave meaning to her appalling suffering.

In 1902 in an Italian village a young girl, Maria Goretti, was murdered during a sexual attack. Her killer, Alessandro Serenelli, himself a teenager, was a close neighbour well-known to her and her family. He had been threatening her for some time.

What does it mean, how can it help, to say that she is a virgin and martyr? This is an often misunderstood and sentimentalised story. When many parents and teenagers strive for a balanced view of sexuality, of personal integrity, of Christian family life, and forgiveness to those who do irreparable harm, Maria's story speaks powerfully and authentically. It echoes Pope St John Paul II's cry to young people – 'Do not be afraid to be saints!'

Both secularism and superstition have popularised some very distorted ideas about exorcism. This audiobook, based on the booklet by an experienced exorcist, looks at its origin in the Gospels and its practice in the Church today. Different kinds of demonic influence are discussed, including their relation to conversion and sin and mental illness. Above all, this audiobook gives the good news that in Christ the Devil is already defeated and that the Church carries this victory to those in need.

After working as a doctor in England and in Mission Hospitals abroad, Father Jeremy Davies was ordained in 1974 and appointed a diocesan exorcist in 1986. He later co-founded the International Association of Exorcists, alongside Fr Gabriele Armorth. He died in 2022 at the age of 87.

Listen to this audiobook for free.

Edith Stein was a German Jewess who descended to the intellectual heights of atheism, was converted to Roman Catholicism and as a Discalced Carmelite nun ascended to Mount Carmel to the crystal peaks of mysticism. Her life on earth ended in the gas chambers of a Nazi concentration camp – which she entered unresisting as an oblation for her race. Spiritually a giant, in body she was small and frail and insignificant: at first meeting she often disappointed those who had known her only by her fame as a major contemporary philosopher. She will also be known as a very great Discalced Carmelite, but most of all, perhaps, she will be known as a Saint for converts.

Listen to this audiobook for free. Read by Monica Nash.

What is the point of suffering? Why would a good God allow it? The Christian response to these questions is one of the underlying messages from Our Lady's apparitions at Lourdes in 1858, not least through the life of Bernadette Soubirous, the seer of Lourdes, who endured so much suffering in her short life.

This audiobook, adapted from the classic text by Mgr Vernon Johnson which itself was updated by Donal Foley, will encourage you to meditate deeply on the cross and the meaning and value of illness and suffering. 

Listen to this audiobook for free. Read by Pierpaolo Finaldi.

In December 1916, deep in the Sahara, an unknown French hermit was shot through the head and dumped in a ditch. He was 58.

An accomplished geographer, linguist and explorer, in youth he had been a disillusioned soldier and aristocratic playboy.

Why at 30 did he abandon family, career, everything, to search for 'the last place', close to the poor and suffering?

This audiobook describes his epic pilgrimage from misery to love and of silent witness to Christ among the Tuareg of the Sahara, including his writings and prayers, and the work being done today by Little Brothers and Sisters of Jesus.

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St Titus Brandsma was a Dutch Carmelite who was killed for his heroic resistance to Nazi pressure on Catholic media outlets to betray their principles. A brilliant writer and philosopher as well as a man of great pastoral compassion to students, the elderly and novices alike – Fr Titus’s successful Catholic journalism put him on a collision course with the occupying forces in Holland.