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The Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan
In this complete lifetime reading plan, noted Catholic author and educator Father John A. Hardon has compiled an invaluable guide to books discussing what the Catholic Church is, what it believes, and what its great teachers have thought, felt and imagined. Father Hardon journeys through the centuries to find the authors he believes can be read for spiritual profit. In his appraisals of over a hundred writers, he considers pertinent biographical information, recommends favorites, and provides moving quotations from the books under discussion. This exceptional book is not just an anthology, but a planned program of self-education through systematic readings of the leading Catholic writers, from the Church Fathers to modern times. The selection will acquaint the reader with the ideas and ideals that have sustained the Catholic Church for over two thousand years.
299 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 1989
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About the author
John A. Hardon
74 books22 followersServant of God John Anthony Hardon received a bachelor of arts degree from John Carroll University in 1936. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in the same year, and received a Masters degree from Loyola in 1941, during his formation.
He was ordained on June 18, 1947 and then sent for doctoral studies To the pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He received his doctorate in sacred theology in 1951.
He professed final vows as a Jesuit on February 2, 1953. He was already serving as a professor, teaching from 1951 to 1990. Father Hardon continued to teach after that time, including distance education courses in print and by teleconference.
His Catholic Catechism was written at the request of Pope Paul VI, and he consulted on the Catechism of the Catholic Church which was promulgated by Pope John Paul II. He was selected to write the catechetical training program for Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, and that work became the foundation of the Marian Catechists apostolate.
He received the Papal Medal in 1951, a Catholic press Association award in 1973, the Cardinal Wright award from the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars in 1984, and the Maximilian Kolbe Award in Mariology in 1990.
His cause for beatification and canonization is currently open.
He was ordained on June 18, 1947 and then sent for doctoral studies To the pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He received his doctorate in sacred theology in 1951.
He professed final vows as a Jesuit on February 2, 1953. He was already serving as a professor, teaching from 1951 to 1990. Father Hardon continued to teach after that time, including distance education courses in print and by teleconference.
His Catholic Catechism was written at the request of Pope Paul VI, and he consulted on the Catechism of the Catholic Church which was promulgated by Pope John Paul II. He was selected to write the catechetical training program for Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, and that work became the foundation of the Marian Catechists apostolate.
He received the Papal Medal in 1951, a Catholic press Association award in 1973, the Cardinal Wright award from the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars in 1984, and the Maximilian Kolbe Award in Mariology in 1990.
His cause for beatification and canonization is currently open.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 12, 2019
Having finished thirteen books of (mostly) leftist academic psychobabble on disability studies, it was a joy to read Hardon’s compilation of Catholic thinkers who look at human life positively.
Seriously, why do most academics think life is so terrible and difficult? Answer: they don’t have the perspective of the 104 authors whose works Hardon summarized in a volume that can be read in two days.
Granted, the volume’s list of 104 authors is Eurocentric, but that’s all right since European culture has dominated the world for two millennia. It would be extremely valuable for someone to update Hardon’s 1998 work by adding, for example, Chinese Catholic authors who suffer so deeply under Communism.
While I have to read the crap churned out by academics in my field of study (English), I thank Hardon for compiling the best work from 2,000 years of Catholic authors—saints and lay people, theologians and novelists. I can spend the remaining fifty years of my life (please God!) delving into quality literature.
Seriously, why do most academics think life is so terrible and difficult? Answer: they don’t have the perspective of the 104 authors whose works Hardon summarized in a volume that can be read in two days.
Granted, the volume’s list of 104 authors is Eurocentric, but that’s all right since European culture has dominated the world for two millennia. It would be extremely valuable for someone to update Hardon’s 1998 work by adding, for example, Chinese Catholic authors who suffer so deeply under Communism.
While I have to read the crap churned out by academics in my field of study (English), I thank Hardon for compiling the best work from 2,000 years of Catholic authors—saints and lay people, theologians and novelists. I can spend the remaining fifty years of my life (please God!) delving into quality literature.
February 24, 2011
This is a fantastic book. I have to admit that I am not following his reading plan, but Fr. Hardon's plan has been extremely influential in helping me create my own. I have this by my desk because I am always looking through it. Fr. Hardon offers recommendations of books written by 104 different Catholic authors as well as a brief history and a wonderful bibliography of each author. The book would be worth getting just for the bibliography. I highly recommend this book and it would be marvelous to meet someone that has actually followed the good father's plan.
May 28, 2012
Review to come.
April 27, 2021
A book of book recommendations, Father Hardon guides the reader through two thousand years of Catholic literary history, with short bios on hundreds of the greatest authors of the faith, selecting their best works for new readers as well as a ‘complete works’ section at the end.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews