TAN Books has a good history of printing solid Catholic texts, with a number of classic reprints that would otherwise be lost to obscurity.
Through a friend there, we recently learned of another little online store, SBP Inc., that happens to be running a special sale on certain TAN titles right now – no word on how long the sale goes.
We noticed that by happy chance, a few of SBP’s discounted titles are featured on our Top Forty Reading List, so permit us some recommendations with links to their site:
- Liberalism Is A Sin. The English version of an 1886 book by Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany, explaining the Church’s growing condemnations of what would (some twenty years later) eventually be classified as the heresy of modernism. When this work was first published, a Catholic bishop of modernist persuasion besought the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation of the Index to ban Fr. Sarda’s little book; the Congregation instead praised and commended it as an orthodox and pastoral exposition for the times (their letter is included in the book). Reading it now, 130 years later, makes the work appear prescient in places.
- A Catechism of Modernism. A short, condensed, and eminently readable Q&A approach to Pope St. Pius X’s condemnations of modernism as presented in Pascendi and Lamentabili. A fantastic introductory dose against the modernist theological fog afflicting much of contemporary Catholicism. To borrow an image from The Matrix, when read with due attention, this little work can serve as quite the “red pill.” A good conversation-starter and stocking-stuffer.
- The Catechism Explained. One of the best pre-Vatican II catechisms out there, based on the Catechism of the Council of Trent and aimed at “An Exhaustive Exposition of the Catholic Religion, with Special Reference to the Present State of Society and the Spirit of the Age.” What more do you need to know? Thorough and clear, in a topical format instead of Q&A, Fr. Spirago’s tome is often hard to find in print. TAN ended their hardcover edition in the 1990’s, but it’s still one of the best – cheap facsimiles don’t quite measure up (and we’ve tried a few).
Each is a truly nourishing read, excellent for deepening one’s knowledge of the Catholic Faith and gaining more perspective on the current crisis in the Church. Also, although we always prefer hardcopies, it’s worth mentioning where the above titles can be accessed online in the public domain:
Happy reading!
Whispers of Restoration Blog 