Archbishop Sheen’s Book of Sacraments: an Anthology
His cause for canonization is progressing, and his videos and books are widely viewed and in persistent demand. But of all his writings, Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s most influential and practical guides, by far, were These Are the Sacraments and Three to Get Married.
These two books are once again available in this rich single volume, along with comprehensive commentaries by the late, revered Father John Hardon—themselves a powerful tutorial in how to read the great archbishop. “We cannot begin to guard our faith unless we understand what we believe,” notes Fr. Hardon.
Controversy was brewing and confusion sewn among Catholics by the time Sheen wrote these classics. He shies away from nothing, even while teaching traditional doctrine in appealing and unique prose. With Bishop Sheen and Father Hardon as your guides, you’ll learn:
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Why no sacrament is “more significant” than any other, though their natures differ markedly
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How Protestantism, even at its most alluring, undermines sound doctrine
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Why the sacraments have both “power and efficacy”
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How Baptism confers “the infusion of virtues”
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How the sacramental rites in the early Church differed from now
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How Christ Himself instituted each sacrament
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The power and meaning of the tabernacle
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The Old Testament roots of the Eucharist
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How to “examine” your conscience
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How the Last Rites expel sickness from the soul
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The twelve dimensions of the sacrament of Holy Orders
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The most critical spiritual strategies for married couples
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The difference between Christian and non-Christian marriages
About the Author
Fulton John Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895. In high school, he won a three-year university scholarship, but he turned it down to pursue a vocation to the priesthood. He attended St. Viator College Seminary in Illinois and St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota. In 1919, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois. He earned a licentiate in sacred theology and a bachelor of canon law at the Catholic University of America and a doctorate at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
In 1952, Sheen began appearing on ABC in his own series, Life Is Worth Living. Despite being given a time slot that forced him to compete with Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra, the dynamic Sheen enjoyed enormous success and in 1954 reach tens of millions of viewers, non-Catholics as well as Catholics.
When asked by Pope Pius XII how many converts he had made, Sheen responded, “Your Holiness, I have never counted them. I am always afraid if I did count them, I might think I made them, instead of the Lord.”
His two great loves were for the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist. He made a daily holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament, from which he drew strength and inspiration to preach the gospel and in the presence of which he prepared his homilies. “I beg [Christ] every day to keep me strong physically and alert mentally in order to preach His gospel and proclaim His Cross and Resurrection,” he said. “I am so happy doing this that I sometimes feel that when I come to the good Lord in Heaven, I will take a few days’ rest and then ask Him to allow me to come back again to this earth to do some more work.”
