Hans Urs von Balthasar Collection Upgrade (27 vols.)

Hans Urs von Balthasar addresses the critical issues facing today’s Catholic layman in a clear and readable manner. Speaking plainly on those ideas and questions which have unsettled many of the Catholic faithful, he brings much needed clarity into the contemporary confusion.

In this book we have one of the indispensable sources for understanding Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Catholic Christocentrism. Here we find elaboration of the striking statement that Jesus Christ is “the Idea made concrete, personal, historical: universale concretum et personale”—which means that Christ is the universally valid in the here and now.

Von Balthasar follows Saint Irenaeus in viewing theology through the drama of history, and presents Jesus Christ as the norm by which all history—secular history as well as salvation history—ought to be interpreted. As God, Jesus is the universal norm for all humanity who stands outside of history; as man he became particular within history. By seeking to become one with him, our own history becomes meaningful, purposeful, and significant. Characteristic of von Balthasar, the book inspires spiritually as much as it informs theologically.

This book is a double-treat: it combines the genius of the towering theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar and his ability to make his subject come alive before the reader, along with the focus of that genius on someone with the spiritual depth and creative stature of Georges Bernanos, considered by many to be the greatest Catholic creative writer of the twentieth century.

Bernanos was a deeply prayerful, practicing sacramental Catholic whose profound love for the Church made everything he created or wrote an “ecclesial existence that has been given form: existence derived not merely from an abstract, individual faith but from the faith of the Church.” With judicious quoting of the primary source and careful juxtaposing of texts and commentary, Balthasar provides a unique forum from which Bernanos can speak to the reader in a way that he can be clearly heard and genuinely understood.

Christian Meditation is at once a book about what meditation is, in light of God’s revelation, and a book that assists believers in meditating. In a treatment that is both fresh and profound, Hans Urs von Balthasar describes the central elements of all Christian meditation, provides a guide for meditation, and then points the way to the union that prayer achieves in the footsteps of Mary, both within the Church and for the world.

In the 12 months before his sudden death, Hans Urs von Balthasar had been writing a series of reflections on the 12 articles of the Apostles’ Creed. These texts, which are among the last things he wrote, take on the character of a legacy, a spiritual testament. For in their extraordinary compactness and depth they amount to a little “summa” of his theology. What he had set out in detail in numerous books over five decades, he summarizes here in contemplative plainness and simplicity.

All the characteristics that make von Balthasar’s work so distinctive and valuable are to be found here: breadth of vision, loveliness of style, and an intuitive-contemporary passion that allows him to “pray intellectually and think ‘cordially’.”

In his extensive introduction to the book, Medard Kehl speaks of von Balthasar’s “unclouded, almost childlike joy in the richness and beauty of the Mystery” of the threefold God, which “is evidenced in his interpretation of the creed.”

The Church’s teaching on hell has been generally neglected by theologians, with the notable exception of Hans Urs von Balthasar. However, what he has said has stirred controversy both in Europe and in the United States. Here he responds in a clear and concise way, grounding his reflections clearly in Scripture. Revelation gives us neither the assurance that all will be saved, nor the certitude that any are condemned. What it does require of us is the “hope that all men be saved” rooted in a love of Christ that reaches even into the depths of hell.

Elucidations provides readers with insightful reflections on widely-disputed topics of Christian belief and life. Written by one of the great theologians and spiritual writers of the twentieth century, Hans Urs von Balthasar, this work feeds both the mind and heart, exploring the substance of Christian life, experience, and faith.

Among the topics that von Balthasar addresses are the mystery of God, the role of the saints and the Marian principle, the nature of Tradition and authority, the pope, the priesthood, the nature of religious life, unity among believers, the subject of why one should remain in the Church, and more. Each of the 25 chapters focuses on a particular topic, and together they bear witness to an underlying comprehensive vision on essential spiritual questions for modern believers.

In these meditations, the acclaimed theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar investigates the great mystery of death and dying. He asks about the contradiction, inherent in all men, of wishing to achieve something “imperishable” and gives an answer culled from the Scriptures and from the Church Fathers.

This book seeks to present the common themes that connect all three of the readings for Sundays and feasts of the Lord in the three-year cycle of readings. Organized by each Sunday and feast day of the liturgical year for years A, B, and C, these reflections are meant to be theological and spiritual suggestions that the one who is preaching can develop further and from which he can select individual perspectives. Rather than seeking immediately concrete applications, Hans Urs von Balthasar attempts to elucidate the content which is immediately present in the passages.

Hans Urs von Balthasar made detailed statements about his work on five occasions, mostly on the birthdays that marked the end of a decade of his life. First as a young author, next as publisher and writer. Then, in the midst of the transformations connected with the Council, he wrote an account for himself and his readers, about what had been done, and what was still required.

Finally, in a kind of pause, as one already looking toward the close of his life, he gave once again an account of what had been achieved and what could no longer be achieved, in a clear shift of emphasis away from his “authorship” in favor of the pastoral work in the communities which he had founded. This present volume is a helpful guide to his multi-faceted work.

This is an account, at once rigorously theological and warmly devotional, of the death and resurrection of Christ, and their significance for the Christian life. Von Balthasar offers sharp insights into some current controversies—for example, the ‘bodiliness’ of the Resurrection—and spiritual inspiration for the year round. This scholarly reflection of the climax of the Christian year is an established classic of contemporary Catholic theology.

Balthasar provides illumination on the burning issues of our day. He brings his scholarship to bear on some of the major topics of our time: women priests, Humanae Vitae, the laity, the “Flight into Community”, and much more.

This book describes the common task which Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr undertook, the founding of a secular institute: the Community of St. John. He also describes their common theological work and explains the theology and role of secular institutes.

Commenting on the pastoral questions taken up by Saint Paul in his letters to the Corinthians, Hans Urs von Balthasar offers a meditative interpretation of Paul’s writings and difficulties with the Christians at Corinth. He discusses the different roles of pastors and believers, and we see how the problems are resolved through Paul’s advice, example and prayerful patience.

This is perhaps the best and most comprehensive book on prayer ever written. From the persons of the Trinity through the Incarnation to the Church and the very structure of the human person, this book is a powerful synthesis of what prayer is and how to pray. The testament of a great theologian on something which is most personal and interior—contemplative prayer.

Hans Urs Von Balthasar presents a serious study on the thought of one of the most important—yet most neglected—Fathers of the Church, Gregory of Nyssa. He was the most profound Greek philosopher of the Christian era, a mystic and an incomparable poet whom St. Maximus designated as the “Universal Doctor” and the Second Council of Nicaea declared him “Father of Fathers.”

Less prolific than Origen, less cultivated than Gregory Nazianzen, less practical than Basil, Gregory of Nyssa nonetheless outstrips them all in the profundity of his thought, for he knew better than anyone how to transpose ideas inwardly from the spiritual heritage of ancient Greece into a Christian mode.

Written in the 1950s, this book defines and anticipates, in a prophetic way, the role of the laity in the Church, and the intimate relationship between the Church and the world. These two themes were recognized by the Second Vatican Council especially in the two constitutions “On the Church” and “The Church in the Modern World.”

Hans Urs Von Balthasar’s “bastions” are barriers erected over the centuries which separated the laity from the clergy and the Church from the world. He pleads for a Church that interprets “the signs of the age,” grasps them and answers them. The new function of the Church is to be the “yeast of the world”—she must understand herself as the “instrument of the mediation of salvation to the world.” Stressing that the hour of the laity is sounding in the Church, von Balthasar makes it clear that the “true program of the Church for today is: the most powerful radiance into the world through the most immediate imitation of Christ.”

Romano Guardini (1885–1968) was one of the greatest Catholic minds of the twentieth century. He helped shape Catholic theology between the two world wars and after, as well as the thinking of many non-Catholics of the period. His influence contributed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council through the papacy of Benedict XVI.

Romano Guardini: Reform from the Source, was written by another great theological mind, Hans Urs von Balthasar. It presents a kind of “roadmap” to Guardini’s thought. As an introduction to Guardini, von Balthasar’s study is intended to challenge readers to take up Guardini’s own writings and to find in him the wisdom that has inspired so many others. Many of Guardini’s influential works are still in print today, works that cover a wide range of important spiritual, theological and moral issues.

Hans Urs von Balthasar speaks from the heart in an illuminating interview with Angelo Scola, now a high ranking Vatican Cardinal, giving his views on some of the most controversial topics of the day: sexuality, liberation, theology, and others. Known for his vast theological works and wide-ranging intellect, von Balthasar continues to show his ability to address critical issues facing today’s Church in a clear, concise and readable manner.

This volume is unique among the works of the great theologian and spiritual writer Hans Urs von Balthasar. This collection of short, personal reflections and aphorisms is the fruit of prayer and study over the course of his life on the central themes of the Christian spiritual life. Von Balthasar’s intimate, precise, yet poetic style, and the intensity of his contemplative vision invites every reader to meditate deeply on the fullness and dynamism of Christian truths in all their splendor.

In addition to his own meditations, von Balthasar also includes quotes and thoughts from some 30 saints and spiritual writers including Augustine, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Teresa of Ávila, Fénelon, Thérèse of Lisieux, and more.

These rich, thought-provoking gems provide wonderful meditations for laity by one of the masters of the spiritual life.