Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the most important poets of the English language, though his body of work is rather slim.  What he wrote, why he wrote and the way he wrote have had a great influence on everyone who has come after him.  Speaking broadly, his subject was our relationship with God and God’s relationship with His creation and us.  If we were looking for one sentence to describe our purpose at t-CBC we might steal a line from one of Hopkin’s poems and say, “We want to show you that the world is charged with the grandeur of God.”   And you know as well as we do that way too much of what is in print, on film, on cds and on dvds, does not do that.  And, not to put too fine a point on things, to fail to tell what is the real Truth of things is to lie.  The story of this world, our story, is a comedy, a Divine Comedy.  It has a glorious beginning, and a happy ending.  Call this the Second Act, if you wish, before the problems and the plot are resolved. There is no reason, though, to doubt the reliably unveiled ending, and that ending is what the vast body of Christian, of Catholic, art, literature, music and teaching through history proclaims.  That ending is the truth, and truth is the best thing to have.  This Truth is what you will find within the products featured at t-CBC.

An Icon is an image, an image of the truth.  We have several books about icons, their meaning and symbolism.  They all point to the truth that this world itself, and we in it are in some way “icons” images of God, showing His love for us.  Catholic and authentically Christian books and other media -- poetry, novels, art, drama, music -- all ‘describe’ the beauty of God and His creation.  In a real sense, the world and all that is in it is one huge liturgy, and we are all its ministers, called into being a long and joyful song of praise to our Creator.

This is one of the foundations of our culture, born of Christian faith in Palestine then nurtured in European ways of life before spreading throughout the world.  The best in Christian and Catholic non-fiction, historical and vocational novels, literary classics, modern writing and stories, fairy tales, liturgical and contemporary music, art books, films, prayer books of all kinds and inspirational activities for children and families in our online bookstore are all assembled and offered in support of this great and good truth.  T-CBC.com wishes to share as widely as possible that sense of sacramental beauty in God’s world that Christian and Catholic art, liturgy and poetry are uniquely able to carry deep into our hearts.