Monday, December 15, 2014

Some Excellent (and beautifully made) Catholic Bibles and Prayer Books


A new edition of the Roman Breviary 1961 in English and Latin. An invaluable set of books for all those attached to the traditional Roman Breviary, in the form approved by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum. We hope and pray that this edition which has taken many years of work to complete, will help to bring about an increased use of the traditional liturgy in the praying of the Divine Office of the Church.
Flexible cover, 3-Volume Set, 4.5"x 7", 6064 pages, $359.95

Msgr. Knox's translation of the Latin Vulgate into elegant, timeless English is one of the greatest treasures of the 20th century Church. His translation is spiritual and literary, graceful and lyrical, making it one of the most beautiful vernacular versions of the Holy Bible.
Flexible cover, 6"x 8.25", 1472 pages, $54.95

Those familiar with the Douay-Rheims Bible will know that it is one of the most beautiful and accurate Bible translations available today Having both Bibles side by side allows us to see exactly where the vernacular translation came from. Even those with limited Latin skills will be able to follow along, using the Douay-Rheims translation as an aid.
Flexible cover, 8.5"x 11.5", 1488 pages, $89.95

One of the best and most loved resources for meditative prayer. This book is designed to assist the faithful in the quest for intimate union with God through the practice of meditating on holy truths. These Carmelite meditations are easy to fit into even the busiest schedule, giving you food for thought and inspiration every day of the liturgical year.
Flexible cover, 6"x 8.25", 1216 pages, $59.95

Imagine a round-table discussion of the Gospels among the supreme theologians of the Church. The Catena Aurea is very close! St. Thomas Aquinas compiled this opus from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels written by the early Church Fathers. For each of the four Gospel writers, the Catena Aurea starts by indicating the verses to be analyzed, then taking each verse phrase-by-phrase, provides the early Fathers' insights into the passage.
Leather Hardback, 4-Volume Set, 6"x 8.25", 2832 pages, $149.95



For all of these and more, you can go to our friends at Baronius Press and still get them in time for Christmas!  As I have mentioned before, Baronius makes the nicest books in the Catholic publishing world.  Their many books and Bibles will indeed last a lifetime.

9 comments:

  1. Their pocket DR is wonderful, I love bringing it to Mass as it is just about the size of a small missal. I find the readings on the Laudate app and bookmark them in my Bible. Also I recommend Baronius' "The True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin" and "The Imitation of Christ" for Christmas gifts. And I know you will second me on their "Little Office" Tim ;). Got to love the older translations for some of these famous books, they tend to be rendered more literally than the smoothed over modern ones. Also, the decorative leather wrapped hardbacks are really nice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would avoid their Catena Aurea. All of these Baronius Press books have some typos (including the Breviary), but its Catena Aurea has an exceptionally large number.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have also noticed occasional misprinted letters in the early editions of Baronius books. I believe this is due to the method in which an original book has been scanned and "digitally reset." Therefore, sometimes when the typeface of the original is weak, the program mistakes one letter for another, such as an "l" that becomes an "i." So the error is obvious, but also annoying!

    It is unfortunate that these misprints made their way into the early printings, but my recent copies are excellent. One Douay Bible I have for example, is the fourth impression, 2008. I have read about half of the Bible in this edition, and only remember one misprinted letter. I can't recall exactly where, but maybe somewhere in 1 Paralipomenon. When I got the 5th impression from 2010, I found even that was corrected.

    I can't vouch for the Catena Aurea, as I don't have that title, but the ones I mentioned above are excellent in quality, though and through. I did order this year and directly from Baronius to ensure I was getting the newest edition.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll echo what both Theophrastus and Jonny have said. Many of the earlier editions had problems, most notably the Little Office which is now in its fourth printing. However, the more recent printings have corrected most of the problems, and having spent some time in the Knox bible I can say that there hasn't been anything that I have seen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The first ever Baronius DR I bought had a large chunk of the first gospel missing. I was not impressed. A copy I acquired maybe a year later did not have the same problem (or indeed others that I would have discovered), but the experience left a very bad taste in my mouth. Which I am sorry to say, as I'd love to be supportive of a company that publishes Baronius' line of titles, as so few do, but I must recommend caution.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I concur their pocket DR is a beaut, a wonder -- if you don't mind small print. And it is small, at least to my middle-aged eyes. I had to sell it and get the next size up. I wish they had the exact same book size (but not font size!) in a New Testament/Psalms edition.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Baronius Press is 'this close' to being the elite Catholic book publisher.

    The issue I have had with their DR and their Knox is uneven print. Some pages darker, some lighter. And none of the pages are 'very' dark, especially the DR compact - VERY Light print throughout. I would like to see them darken their print a shade or two.

    I would also like to see them publish the Knox and DR in flexible leather! I really don't care for their hard-board-under-leather covers. It looks nice but doesn't feel so great. For the DR compact, it's great as it keeps that little guy sturdy. But the full-size DR should be bound in a flexible leather. The Knox hard cover binding is just a pure shame all around. A complete missed opportunity there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I purchased a standard-sized D-R from Baronius in my early Catholic days—wanted to have an edition with the older language of the KJV and NKJV I knew. Plus, Challoner's little notes are hilariously entertaining. I was disheartened to find that my copy had a tear through about 20 pages in the Gospels. Baronius accepted my return and refunded me, but that experience was always a bit off-putting. I still would like a copy of the D-R, but I'm hesitant to purchase from Baronius again.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Erica, between me an my family members, we have one of each style and color of the standard size Baronius Douay Bible. They are all without defect. The flexible cover edition is a bit slimmer with rounded page edges. The leather cover has a little give and is stiched around the edges. Of the hardcover editions, the white cover is slightly thicker. They are all good, just depends on what you want. As I mentioned above, I recommend ordering directly from Baronius.

    ReplyDelete