“The Jews solemnized a day called by them dies ignis, the day of fire with which Nehemias consumed the sacrifice, upon his return with his countrymen from the captivity of Babylon. Even so, and indeed with more reason, should Christmas day be called the day of fire, on which a God came as a little child to cast the fire of love into the hearts of men. ‘I came to cast fire on the earth.’ So spoke Jesus Christ, and truly so it was . . .

It is a custom with many Christians to anticipate the arrival of Christmas . . . by fitting up in their homes a crib to represent the birth of Jesus Christ; but there are few who think of preparing their hearts, so that the infant Jesus may be born in them . . . Among those few, however, we would be reckoned, in order that we too may be made worthy to burn with that happy flame which gives contentment to souls on this earth, and bliss in heaven. Let us consider . . . how the Eternal Word had no other end in becoming man than to inflame us with his divine love. Let us ask light of Jesus Christ and of his most holy mother, and so let us begin.”

- St. Alphonsus Liguori

Last minute gift ideas for Christmas. We recommend and we offer  Priority Mail and FedEx shipping options to get your gifts to you on time!

The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His Central Writings and Speeches	Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton   Author: Dale Ahlquist
The Teachings Of The Church Fathers   Author: Fr. John R. Willis, S.J.	Inside the Bible: An Introduction to Each Book of the Bible   Author:  Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Ignatius Catholic Bible, RSV Second Catholic Edition Bonded Leather	A Key to the Doctine of the Eucharist   Author: Abbot Vonier

Last minute CD gift ideas! Choose Priority Mail or FedEx.

Last minute DVD gift ideas! Choose Priority Mail or FedEx.

Becket, DVD   Starring Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole, and Sir John Gielgud	Saint Rita DVD   Starring Vittoria Belvedere and Martin Crewes
Saint John Bosco: Mission to Love, DVD	A Man for All Seasons, DVD The Academy Award winning drama about the conflict between St. Thomas More and King Henry VIII.  Starring Paul Scofield, Robert Shaw, and Orson Welles.

Beautiful Catholic jewelry is always a wonderful gift idea. Most of our jewelry is in stock and ready to ship out right away.
Choose Priority Mail or FedEx. Please click here to browse our huge selection of Catholic jewelry:

Special Notice – All Advent and Christmas items are now on sale at 15% off!

Aquinas and More Catholic Goods Shipping Deadlines. Please consult this chart to receive your purchases before Christmas Day (applies to in
stock items only):

* USPS Standard Shipping Deadline is December 14

* FedEx Ground Shipping Deadline is December 17

* USPS Priority Mail Deadline is December 19

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* After noon on December 20, please call us toll free (866) 428-2820

Mary’s virginal motherhood in God’s plan

“The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.

Mary’s’ virginity manifests God’s absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. ‘He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed …. He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures.’

Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary’s womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: ‘The first man was from earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ From his conception, Christ’s humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God ‘gives him the Spirit without measure.’ From ‘his fullness’ as the head of redeemed humanity ‘we have all received, grace upon grace.”

- Catechism of the Catholic Church 502-504

Beautiful Christmas Ornaments are in stock now! Order today to have them on your Christmas tree this year. Choose Priority Mail or FedEx to receive them in time. . .

Baby Jesus in the Manger Christmas Ornament	Pope Benedict XVI Christmas Ornament
Pope John Paul II Christmas Ornament Limited Edition!	Flight to Egypt Pewter Ornament

Christmas pins are in stock now! Order yours today and and proudly profess that Christ is at the heart of your Christmas celebration. Choose Priority Mail or FedEx to receive them in time.

Jesus is the Heart of Christmas, Swarovski Pin	Keep Christ in Christmas Swarovski Pin
Celebrate the Gift of Jesus, Swarovski Pin	Jesus is the Reason for the Season, Swarovski Pin

Beautiful, hand-carved olive wood Nativity Sets from the Holy Land are in stock now. These intricately carved small Nativities are made by Christian families in Bethlehem. Choose Priority Mail or FedEx to receive them in time.

Olive Wood Nativity with Bell Tower

Round Base Olive Wood Nativity

To browse our selection of beautiful Catholic art, including paintings and icons, please click here.

To browse our complete 2008 Calendar selection, including perpetual calendars, please click here.

To browse our complete selection of Lionheart Catholic apparel, please click here.

Joy is the True Gift of Christmas

“With the angel’s greeting to Mary – ‘kaire’ in the Greek, which means ‘be joyful’ – the New Testament begins,” he said. “We could say that the first word of the New Testament is ‘be joyful,’ ‘be happy,’ in other words, ‘joy.’ This is the true meaning of Christmas: God is near us, so near that He became a child.”

The Holy Father then highlighted how “we realize that today’s world, where God is absent, is dominated by fear, by uncertainty.” Nonetheless, “the words ‘be joyful because God is with you and with us,’ truly open a new time.”

“Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not the expensive gifts that call for time and money. We can communicate this joy simply: with a smile, a kind gesture, a little help, forgiveness. And the joy we give will certainly come back to us.…Let us pray that this presence of the liberating joy of God shines forth in our lives.”

- Pope Benedict XVI commenting on the scene of the Annunciation, as recounted in the Gospel of St. Luke, during his homily for the fourth Sunday of Advent in 2006.

Aquinas and More is helping you take care of your Christmas shopping early so you can enjoy a spiritually rewarding Advent. Take 15% off just about everything on our site from Wednesday (21) evening – Monday (26) evening.

All orders over $55 will include a free copy of Catholic Men’s Quarterly and receive free standard shipping in the US. (Magazine subscriptions not included).

Here are some highlights:

The Shepherds’ Prayer

A young man with no name, orphaned as a baby, sets off to find out
the truth about the circumstances of his birth, the fate of his
parents, and his heritage. Having been raised in a culture where
bloodlines mean everything, he seems forever condemned to live as an
outsider on the fringes of society.

His only clue is a cryptic message on a lambskin
blanket about a child born in a stable in Bethlehem, near where his
adopted father had rescued him as a baby so long ago.

The townspeople offer no help, but later he seeks
out a band of shepherds who, it’s said, are evildoers who caused a
terrible massacre.

Can these rough herdsmen lead him to the truth he
is seeking? Burying his fear, he sets out to find them. He is
determined to learn the truth. What really happened in that stable
thirty years earlier?

The answers will change his life forever…and maybe yours.

Kissing the Face of God Christmas Card

This adorable card has been a runaway bestseller this season. More are on the way!

We also have plenty of other Advent and Christmas items available.

Since almost all of our jewelry is available for shipping within three business days, now the best time to get that special Christmas present.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Aquinas and More staff.

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“Advent Begins December 2 – The Start of the New Church Year. We Celebrate the Season of the Birth of Our Lord”

“Advent calls us as Christians to ponder again the mystery of our salvation, our hope that there is an answer to the riddle of earthly life with its passing joys, disappointments, sorrows and frustrations, and it apparently dark end in the oblivion of death.

Does life go anywhere? Does it have any meaning? Advent calls every one of us to stop in the struggle of life and to look up, to recall the answer to the questions of life. We are on a journey to our Father’s house. The door has been opened to us by the Son of God, and the way marked out.

Advent invites us to look back over the long centuries, during which the human race struggled on in shadows. Of course, there was always some light. It began with the promise of a Redeemer who would crush the head of the destroying Serpent, the Son of a woman at bitter enmity with evil.

As believers, we have the faith to know that God came to us through no merit of our own, and that He comes to us still by His grace. He calls us by His birth, His life, His terrible death, and His glorious Resurrection. Advent reminds us that He will come again.”

- Fr. Benedict Groeschel, excerpted from his book “Behold, He Comes”

Behold He Comes   Author: Fr. Benedict J Groeschel, C.F.R.	Advent and Christmas: Wisdom From Pope John Paul II   Author: Pope John Paul II
Advent And Christmas With Fulton J. Sheen   Author: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen	Advent Meditations   Author: Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, Ph.D., S.T.D.
Advent, Christmas and Epiphany in the Domestic Church: Activities to Celebrate Catholic Liturgical Seasons   Author: Peter Fournier	Advent: A Family Celebration   Author: Julie Walters

Are you look for Advent wreathes or replacement Advent candles for your wreath?

We’ve got what you need – for your home or for your parish!

The Everlasting Light Advent Wreath

Advent Taper Candle Set; Includes White Christ Taper

To browse our complete selection of Advent wreathes and Advent candles for your home, please click here.

To browse our complete selection of Advent wreathes and Advent candles for your parish, please click here.

“The coming of God’s Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the ‘First Covenant.’ He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor’s (St. John the Baptist) birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.

- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 522, 52

To browse our complete selection of Nativity Sets, please click here.

We are featuring a wonderful selection of Christmas cards this year – our largest ever. You won’t find these cards just anywhere – isn’t that nice for a change?

We’ve worked hard to bring you unique cards, with a faithful Catholic message, to help make your own Christmas message to your friends and family a bit more special this year.

To browse our complete selection of Christmas Cards, please click here.

Please visit our Advent and Christmas specialty store, by clicking right here.

A Prayer of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

“Let your goodness Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, may conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imagine your majesty, power, and wonder nor is it fitting for us to even try. But your mercy reaches us from the heavens, through the clouds, to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest gift, the gift of your eternal love. Caress us with your tiny hands, embrace us with your tiny arms, and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries. Amen.”

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“The Season of Thanksgiving and Blessing is Upon Us. Thanksgiving Day is November 22″

“The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully . . . for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work . . . He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God.”

- St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, 9:6-8, 10-11

To Thank And Bless: Prayers At Meals   Authors: Dietrich Reinhart, O.S.B., Fr. Michael Kwatera, O.S.B., Ph.D.

Blessings Of The Table: Mealtime Prayers Throughout The Year Author: Br. Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette

Cooking With The Saints: An Illustrated Treasury Of Authentic Recipes Old And Modern   Author: Ernst Schuegraf	A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year   Author: Evelyn Birge Vitz
Grace Before Meals Holy Card	The Catholic Home   Author: Meredith Gould
Building Catholic Family Traditions   Authors: Paul Thigpen, Ph.D., Leisa Thigpen	A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families   Author: Monica McConke
Giving Thanks Catholic Dinner Taper Candles,   100% Pure Beeswax (3/8in. X 11in.)	Giving Thanks Catholic Dinner Taper Candles, 100% Pure Beeswax (1/2in. X 11in.)

“Prayer of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his glory. The thanksgiving of the members of the Body (of Christ) participates in that of the Head (Christ Himself).

As in the prayer of petition, every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving. The letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgiving, and the Lord Jesus is always present in it: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”; “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

- from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2637, 2638

October is the month of the Holy Rosary, please click here to view our complete selection of beautiful rosaries.

We offer custom rosaries, for a truly unique gift item, please click here to view our selection.

We also offer a rosary repair service, please click here to find out more.

Prepare yourself for the Holy Season of Advent – just seven weeks away!

The Everlasting Light Advent Wreath	Home 6in. Advent Ring and Candles
Isaiah Advent Wreath	Home Advent Ring and Candles
Magnificat Advent Companion 2007	Waiting In Joyful Hope 2007-2008: Daily Reflections For Christmas and Advent
Advent and Christmas Wisdom From Pope John Paul II; Daily Scripture and Prayers Together with Pope John Paul II’s Own Words   Author: Pope John Paul II	Advent and Christmas Wisdom From G. K. Chesterton

To browse our complete selection of books for Advent and Christmas, please click here.

To browse our complete selection of Christmas cards, please click here.

To browse our complete selection of 2008 Calendars, please click here.

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