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Soul of the Apostolate | Ep. 1 - Active Works & the Interior Life

Release Date: 07/03/2025

Christian Raab, OSB - In Search of the Masculine Genius

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"When attention to the theological meaning of femininity is not accompanied by reflection on masculinity, men are left without a sense of the existential and sacramental significance of their own sex." A reading of a fascinating essay originally published in the journal Logos, about the work of Walter Ong, SJ. In the wake of an emphasis on the “feminine genius” as delineated by Pope St. John Paul II and others, this article attempts to develop a profile of the masculine genius. It supplements the teaching of Pope Francis on this subject in order to balance the more complete articulation of...

Soul of the Apostolate | Ep. 3 - Without Interior Life, Active Life Full of Danger

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"These falls can be MOST CERTAINLY avoided when one knows how to use the precious balancing pole of the interior life. It is only the abandonment of this INFALLIBLE instrument that brings dizziness and the fatal false step into space." Part Three of this classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), warns of the spiritual perils of an active life divorced from a deep interior life, while offering the assurance of grace and progress in virtue for those who root their work in prayer and union with God. Episode 3: Part Three 00:00 - Intro 00:52 - 1....

St. John Henry Newman - The Oxford Sermons | 3. Evangelical Sanctity the Completion of Natural Virtue

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"The true light of the world offends more men than it attracts; and its divine origin is shown, not in its marked effects on the mass of mankind, but in its surprising power of elevating the moral character where it is received in spirit and in truth." St. John Henry Newman's Oxford Sermons, delivered during his time as an Anglican preacher at the University of Oxford, were instrumental in shaping the Oxford Movement, which sought to revive High Church traditions within the Church of England and ultimately led to many conversions to Catholicism. In addition to the profound influence these...

Soul of the Apostolate | Ep. 2 - Union of Active & Interior Life

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"The life of action ought to flow from the contemplative life, to interpret and extend it, outside oneself, though at the same time being detached from it as little as possible." Part Two of this classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), further explores the inseparable interdependence of the active and the interior lives—each depends upon, presupposes, and completes the other. Episode 2: Part Two 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - 1. The priority of the interior over the active life in the eyes of God 10:30 - 2. Good works should be nothing but an overflow from...

Soul of the Apostolate | Ep. 1 - Active Works & the Interior Life

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"If God calls me to apply my activity not only to my own sanctification, but also to good works, I must establish this firm conviction, before everything else, in my mind: Jesus has got to be, and wishes to be, the life of these works. My efforts, by themselves, are nothing, absolutely nothing." Part One of this classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), examines the relationship between exterior works and the interior life of the apostle, demonstrating how the fruitfulness of the former depends entirely upon the vitality of the latter. Episode 1: Part...

St. John Henry Newman - The Indwelling Spirit

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"The Comforter who has come instead of Christ, must have vouchsafed to come in the same sense in which Christ came; I mean, that He has come, not merely in the way of gifts, or of influences, or of operations, as He came to the Prophets, for then Christ's going away would be a loss, and not a gain, and the Spirit's presence would be a mere pledge, not an earnest; but He comes to us as Christ came, by a real and personal visitation." A powerful Pentecost sermon from St. John Henry Newman's Anglican period. Links The Indwelling Spirit full text: SUBSCRIBE to Catholic Culture...

Rule of St. Benedict | Ep. 3 - Work, Governance, and Conclusion

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"Prefer nothing whatever to Christ. And may He bring us all together to life everlasting!" The Rule of St. Benedict is a foundational spiritual guide composed by St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, around 530 AD. In this third episode, covering Chapters 39–73, Benedict details daily routines like meals and work, outlines hospitality and simplicity in possessions, and establishes the monastery’s governance. These final chapters conclude Benedict's Rule, presenting a vision of disciplined living, generous welcome, and unity centered on Christ. Episode 3: Ch. 39 - 73...

Rule of St. Benedict | Ep. 2 - Prayer and Community Life

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"We believe that the divine presence is everywhere... But we should believe this especially without any doubt when we are assisting at the Work of God." The Rule of St. Benedict is a foundational spiritual guide composed by St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, around 530 AD. In the chapters comprising this second episode, Benedict details the structure of the Divine Office, establishes the rhythms and roles of community life, and provides guidelines for the disciplinary measures to be taken against erring brothers. Episode 2: Ch. 8 - 38 00:00 Intro 00:38 Structuring...

Rule of St. Benedict | Ep. 1 - Foundations of Monastic Life

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But if a certain strictness results… do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation, whose entrance cannot but be narrow." In this first of five episodes, we begin The Rule of St. Benedict, a foundational spiritual guide composed around 530 AD by St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism. In the Prologue, St. Benedict sets forth the Rule’s purpose, followed by Chapters 1–7, in which he outlines the kinds of monks, the...

St. Dionysius the Areopagite - On Minding One's Own Business

Catholic Culture Audiobooks

"It is not for Demophilus to set these things straight. For if the Word of God commands us to pursue just things justly... this must be pursued by all justly, not beyond their own fitness." This letter—historically attributed to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a 1st-century convert of Saint Paul from Acts, but now considered the work of an anonymous 5th-century author known as 'Pseudo-Dionysius'—delivers a stern yet compassionate rebuke to a monk named Demophilus. Dionysius challenges the monk's rash condemnation of a priest for absolving a repentant sinner, and urges mercy, humility and...

More Episodes

Part One of this classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), examines the relationship between exterior works and the interior life of the apostle, demonstrating how the fruitfulness of the former depends entirely upon the vitality of the latter.

Episode 1: Part One

00:00 - Intro

00:38 - Prologue

05:50 - 1. God wants good works, and therefore zealous action

13:00 - 2. God wills that the life-principle of our works be Christ

20:59 - 3. What is the interior life?

42:58 - 4. Ignorance and neglect of this interior life

49:55 - 5. Is the interior life lazy?

01:04:06 - 6. Is the interior life selfish?

01:16:54 - 7. No conflict between the interior life and the salvation of souls

This work will be released in its entirety in episodic format.

The Soul of the Apostolate full text: https://www.cmri.org/0-olmc-mission/catholic-books/soul_of_the_apostolate.pdf