It is a good spiritual practice to continually read and study the Catholic Faith. As busy women we likely don’t feel like we have the time to add daily spiritual reading to our lives. However, by continually reading and studying our faith and the great saints of our Church we can not only grow in holiness, but also become better teachers of the faith to our children. And what is more important than that?
After all, we are all called to be saints. But, do we really know what it means to be a saint? As St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Nothing is in the intellect that did not first come to us through the senses.” In other words, we aren’t going to just miraculously know and understand our faith. We aren’t going to magically have some amazing saintly models to follow. We need to read and study to acquire these aids to our faith.
The practice of spiritual reading can be simple and add quite a bit of joy to your life. Here are a few quick tips to get started on the practice of spiritual reading.
- Pick a good book. There are lots of boring Catholic books…but there are also LOTS of amazing, gripping, well written Catholic books. Pick a good one on a topic you enjoy. (see spreadsheet below for my suggestions).
- While reading a spiritual book, try to find 15 minutes where you can be in the quiet and free from any distractions.
- Consider replacing some of your phone time with spiritual reading time.
- Don’t confuse spiritual reading with surfing Catholic Websites. The best spiritual reading involves reading entire books, not just short articles.
Below is a list of wonderful books for Catholic Women to read. The books are broken up in to 3 categories: Books on the Catholic Faith, Books on Catholic Saints, and Books on Living a Moral Life. All of the books below are either books I have read and enjoyed, or books recommended to me by this wonderful Catholic community of women.
*contains affiliate links.
All the best sister, and happy reading!
Your sister in Christ,
Nancy