The Life of our Life

Father Coleridge's magnum opus on the life of Christ—here's what we've published so far.

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Father Coleridge was responsible for 26 volumes on the life of Christ and related matters, and much of our work at The Father Coleridge Reader is based on making this work more widely known.

At the moment, our main way of progressing through his work is basing ourselves on the liturgical year.

Here’s what we’ve republished so far, in the order of the volumes.

The Preparation of the Incarnation

Absolute degradation—the state of the world before Christ

Absolute degradation – the state of the world before Christ

Three elements of false religions: apparent 'good,' human bad, satanic ugly

Three elements of false religion: 'good,' human bad, satanic ugly

God used Greece, Rome and Israel to prepare for Christ's advent

Why Isaias prophesied that 'a Virgin shall be with Child'

Were St Joseph and Our Lady married before the Annunciation?

What do we really know about the Angel Gabriel?

The Nine Months

Christ Unborn—THE pro-life Advent devotion

Christ Unborn—48 Meditations on Our Lord in the Womb

Was Our Lady present at the birth of St John the Baptist?

St Zachary and the Nativity of St John the Baptist

The Thirty Years

Why Christ was circumcised—and who performed the rite

Why Christ was given the Holy Name 'Jesus'

How does Candlemas point to the Passover and to the Cross?

Why was Jesus so joyful at the Presentation in the Temple?

When did our Lady become the Mother of Sorrows?

'King, and God, and Sacrifice': How Epiphany reveals Christ’s mission

How did the Magi spent their time at Bethlehem?

Why did Jesus live in obedience to Our Lady and St Joseph?

The Ministry of St John the Baptist

St John the Baptist's preparation in the desert

What St John the Baptist's ministry tells us about recent devotions in the Church

Why was Christ baptised by St John the Baptist?

What does Christ’s victory in the desert mean for us?

The most overlooked part of Christ's forty days in the desert

Did St John the Baptist succeed in preparing for Christ's advent?

Why did Christ turn water into wine at the wedding of Cana?

Wedding at Cana: Who was the bridegroom?

The Sanhedrin's inquiry into St John the Baptist

The Baptist's Final Witness—Why he sent his disciples

'Art thou he that art to come?' The Baptist's Final Witness

St John the Baptist did NOT doubt—Christ's words prove it

The Baptist: the greatest prophet, but less than the least in the Kingdom?

Was St John the Baptist really the Prophet Elias/Elijah?

'Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe' – Healing the Nobleman's Son

How St John the Baptist’s sufferings teach us about Christ’s Kingdom

The Preaching of the Beatitudes

The Sermon on the Mount—the New Law at the New Sinai

The Beatitudes—why Christ says the persecuted and poor are 'blessed'

The Sermon on the Mount, Part II

Why do we have to fast?

How fasting helps the soul—and the modern world

The Training of the Apostles, Part I

Answering Christ's call: St Matthew, and vocations

How to convert your friends – The feast at St Matthew's house

The Training of the Apostles, Part II

What did 'The Chosen' get right with 'Gaius' the Centurion?

Why exactly did the Centurion tell Jesus not to come 'under his roof'?

Was the Roman Centurion a warning for 'Abraham's children'?

How did the Centurion’s words come to be said at every Mass?

The Training of the Apostles, Part III

How does the Parable of the Sower unlock all Christ's other parables?

How do the birds reveal a brutal war for the soul in the Parable of the Sower?

What if your faith is shallow, and you won’t know until it’s too late?

What makes for good soil in Christ’s Parable of the Sower?

Devil's Seed—Heretics and the parable of the cockle

Why does God tolerate evil and heresy?

The Church and the parable of the leaven

The Church and the parable of the mustard seed

Parables, Exodus and Chastisement

Jairus' Daughter & the Bleeding Woman

Storm on the Lake—Why does Christ chastise his fearful apostles?

The Training of the Apostles, Part IV

Why did Christ and his Apostles withdraw before feeding the five thousand?

Why did Christ wait until evening to feed the multitude?

What does the multiplication of loaves teach about the Church and the Apostles?

Was Christ thinking of the Holy Eucharist when he multiplied the loaves?

The Preaching of the Cross, Part I

Why did Christ reveal his transfigured glory before the Passion?

Why were Moses and Elias at the Transfiguration?

Why did Christ command secrecy about the Transfiguration until after Easter?

Who is the greatest in the Kingdom? Humility and scandal

‘Their Angels see the face of my Father in Heaven’

'The Measure of Forgiveness'—The Unmerciful Servant

How did the Sanhedrin know Christ would affirm his divinity under oath?

Why did Christ call himself 'The Light of the World'?

What prevented the Pharisees from hearing Christ’s words properly?

Why did Christ say ‘the truth will set you free’?

Why does Christ say ‘You are of your father the devil’?

How is Satan ‘a murderer’ and ‘the father of lies’?

What did Christ mean by, ‘Before Abraham was made, I AM’?

Why does Christ call the Chief Priests 'thieves and robbers'?

Why Christ is 'the door' through which every good shepherd must come

'I am the Good Shepherd'—What that means for Christians

Why the Good Shepherd told the wolves they had no power over him

Effect of 'The Good Shepherd' on the different classes of the Jews

The Preaching of the Cross, Part II

How did Christ turn back the charge of casting out devils by Beelzebub?

The moment Christ announces his invasion of Satan’s kingdom

Did Christ rebuke the woman who praised his Mother?

Why does Christ refuse to prove himself on demand?

Why does rejecting the truth lead to deeper darkness?

Christ’s warning: The Banquet will go on—with or without you

How the call to the Church passed from Israel to the Gentiles

The Preaching of the Cross, Part III

Is it unfair that 'the first will be last' in the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard?

Does your rank in the Church determine holiness and reward?

Why are good works worthless without charity?

Acting like this is why Catholics fall away

What does Blind Bartimæus show us about calling upon Christ with faith?

Do the Gospels contradict each other about Blind Bartimæus?

Why did Christ invite himself to the house of the hated Zacchæus?

Passiontide, Part I

Our Lord casts reserve aside and enters Jerusalem as Christ the King

How the raising of Lazarus ignited Palm Sunday

What was it about Palm Sunday that most surprised the Pharisees?

Why did Christ say the stones would cry out?

Why Christ wept over Jerusalem in Holy Week

How mere children shamed the Chief Priests in Holy Week

Holy Week's turning point was earlier than we think

Satan as 'the prince of this world'—cast out by Christ

Being 'lifted up' on the Cross was Christ's glory and desire

'How camest thou in hither?' The Wedding of the King’s Son

Should we pay taxes?

Jerusalem's Doom—Christ's prophecy of chastisement

Jerusalem's Doom—Signs of its approach

Jerusalem's Doom—Persecution of Christians

Jerusalem's Doom—Prophecy of Chastisement Fulfilled

Doomsday—Faith and Our Lord's promises to Catholics

Doomsday—Christ tells us to hope for it

Doomsday—Pretending it won't happen

Doomsday—Does Christ know the day?

Doomsday—'Watch, and be ready for your Lord to come'

Passiontide, Part III

Why does 'the world' hate Christ and his Church?

Why is persecution a mark of the true disciple of Christ?

Why did Christ say his people 'hated both me and my Father'?

Why did Christ's people hate him 'without cause'?

Why does Christ say the Holy Ghost 'shall bear testimony of Me'?

Why did Christ leave things unsaid before the Ascension?

How does the Holy Ghost lead the Church into all truth?

Does the gift of prophecy still exist in the Church?

How the Holy Ghost makes us grow into the ‘fulness of Christ’

What did Christ leave unsaid on the night he was betrayed?

Why the Church reads the Last Supper discourses in Eastertide

Why Christ compared Christian joy to giving birth

What is the difference between prayer before and after the Cross?

How does the power of the Apostles’ prayer continue in the Church?

How Christ’s plain words before the Cross reveal his love for the Apostles

Why Christ says ‘Have confidence, I have overcome the world’

The Passage of Our Lord to the Father

Did Judas receive Holy Communion? And was he ordained a priest?

Fr Coleridge's Harmony of the Passion: Four Evangelists, ONE Narrative

'Art thou a king, then?' Pilate & Christ the King

Why did blood and water flow from the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

The Church and the piercing of Christ's Sacred Heart

How Christ Harrowed Hell

What happened when Christ rose from the dead

How Christ restored faith on the road to Emmaus

What the risen Christ did when he met all the Apostles together

Easter's lasting gift: The power to forgive sin

Why the Church honours St Thomas despite his doubt

Why did Christ ask Peter three times, 'Lovest thou Me?'

What does 'Feed My sheep' really mean for Peter’s role in the Church?

What Trinity Sunday tells us about the Church’s indefectible authority

What St Luke reveals about the Church’s mission and the Holy Ghost

Why does Saint John seem to end his Gospel twice?

Who was at the Ascension of Christ?

What the Ascension teaches about prophecy and false religious expectations

Why is Christ’s Ascension still hidden in mystery?

Why Our Lady remained after Christ’s Ascension

Mother of the Church—Mary in the First Apostolic Age

Pentecost Prep: What made the Church's first novena so powerful?

Pentecost Prep: Peter’s first act as pope, election of Mathias

How Pentecost confirmed Mary’s mission as Mother of the Church

How St Peter’s Pentecost sermon revealed the Church’s mission

Mary and Converts: How Our Lady shaped the first Christians after Pentecost

Our Lady and St Stephen, the first martyr

How was St Paul's conversion unique?

What did St Paul do straight after his conversion?

The Prisoners of the King

Our Lady, the Rosary and the Holy Souls – the breviary of the laity

What might Jairus’s Daughter tell us about the pains of Purgatory?

What Christ's cleansing of the temple tells us about Purgatory

The price of delay in relieving the souls in Purgatory

The Return of the King

What are the warnings that the final storm approaches?

How will we know the Church at the end of the world? Fr H.J. Coleridge SJ, 1894

The Mother of the King

The Delight of God: His eternal design for the Blessed Virgin Mary unveiled in prophecy

The Immaculate Conception and Our Lady's vocation

The life of Our Lady in St Anne's womb - The silence of Scripture

What Our Lady experienced at her Nativity

Mary’s Childhood: From Nazareth to the Presentation in the Temple

The first 'Hail Mary' and Our Lady's reaction

The first proclamation that 'Christ is King'

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