The Great Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII: Volume Two—The Spiritual Letters

By Pope Leo XIII | Compiled and Introduced by Leo L. Clarke The reign of Pope Leo XIII is the fourth-longest of any papacy in the two-thousand-year history of the Catholic Church. Over the course of a full quarter-century, Leo XIII courageously engaged with the modern world, asserting the Church’s authority and wisdom in the face of unprecedented challenges and confusion. He was also a prolific author, issuing a total of eighty-six encyclical letters on matters both spiritual and social. Compiled and engagingly introduced by Leo L. Clarke, The Great Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII comprises—across two volumes—thirty-one of those letters, to present the vibrant and courageous insights of this great shepherd to an age with a pronounced need of hearing and heeding his message. Volume Two: The Spiritual Letters contains seventeen of Leo XIII’s encyclicals dedi­cated to strengthening the Church in faith and in practice, including the out­standing Aeterni patris (on the restoration of Christian