Father Hugo's Writings
THE WRITINGS OF FATHER HUGO
Father Hugo was a prolific writer, writing over 20 books and pamphlets. His achievement was all the more impressive because his writing had to be done during the limited spare time he had as an active priest in a parish.
During the last several years, these books were not made available on this website, which was under different administrators. In 2017, Rosemary Hugo Fielding, Fr. Hugo’s niece, obtained the copyrights to Fr. Hugo’s books. Since then, we, David and Rosemary Fielding, began the long process of producing new manuscripts, new formats and new indexes from Father Hugo's texts. We were able to offer the first book in 2019 through our small publishing company, Castle of Grace. Three additional books soon followed. We plan to go through this process with all of Fr. Hugo’s publications. Although the formats will be modernized from Father Hugo's originals, and at least one book needs to be copyedited and proofread, the texts will otherwise remain as Father Hugo wrote them.
In the summer of 2021, we took over this dedicated Father John Hugo website. A few months later we became the holders of the older editions of the books and pamphlets, which are still available from the previous printings, done about 20 years ago. We are now able to offer these versions for sale, except for a few that are completely out of print. Scroll down for details about the new versions and the older ones, and how to order them.
The four books newly published through Castle of Grace are :
1. Applied Christianity, 1944;
2. You Are Gods! 1946;
3. A Sign of Contradiction, 1947;
4. Nature and the Supernatural, mid-1940s.
Follow this link to "New Editions of Father Hugo’s Books" to learn more and to buy these books.
EARLIER VERSIONS
Here is a list of Father Hugo's works. Scroll down to below the list to see cover images, details and ordering information for the ones which are available.
IMPORTANT NOTE: At the present time, the books shown below are only available by sending a check and a filled out copy of the ORDER FORM.
Books (according to date of publication)
In the Vineyard (52 pages, printed 1942) (Note: we do not have this particular volume available for sale.)
Weapons of the Spirit (83 pages, printed 1943).
The Rosary and the Grain of Wheat. (59 pages, printed in 1945) (Note: Father Hugo promoted this work, because it reflected his thought so closely, but it was not written by him.)
The Deliverance of Onesimus. ( This booklet is the same as “Part One” of Your Ways Are Not My Ways, Volume One. 62 pages, printed 1985)
The Gospel of Peace. (134 pages, printed 1945)
This Is the Will of God. (80 pages, printed 1950s)
Love Strong as Death: A Study in Christian Ethics. (97 pages, printed 1969.)
Your Ways Are Not My Ways, The Radical Christianity of the Gospels Volume One. (320 pages, printed 1986)
Your Ways Are Not My Ways, The Radical Christianity of the Gospels, Volume Two. (286 pages, printed 1983)
Pamphlets (according to date of publication)
Brother Nathaniel's Brainstorm (39 pages, printed 1944) (Note: Father Hugo promoted this work, because it reflected his thought so closely, but it was not written by him.)
Why Must I Suffer? (8 pages, printed 1968)
Dorothy Day: Apostle of the Industrial Age. (16 pages, printed 1980)
A Christian Manifesto on War. (2 pages, printed 1981)
Dorothy Day: Driven by Love (A Homily) (11 pages, printed 1981)
Encounter With Silence: Father Hugo’s Mini Conference on Prayer. (27 pages, printed 1985)
Pruning: Reflections under Trial. (4 pages, printed 1980s)
Writing in 1945, Father Hugo shows that Gospel teaching is relevant to the problem of war, i.e., that Christians and Christian nations should apply to political conflicts the supernatural morality that comes from revelation. Father Hugo first establishes St. Thomas Aquinas’s ethical principles of a just war as the basis from which to then consider and fully develop the saint’s theological truths “that fix the conditions for attaining true peace.” (134 pages, printed 1945)
This Is the Will of God. The will of God for all Christians is Christian perfection. Father Hugo teaches why this is so. (80 pages, printed 1950s)
Love Strong as Death: A Study in Christian Ethics.Father Hugo explains the retreat’s teaching on “sowing” and “pruning,” concepts that were a major part of Father Lacouture’s insightful spiritual direction based on Our Lord’s parables. (97 pages, printed 1969.)
Your Ways Are Not My Ways, The Radical Christianity of the Gospels Volume One. Father Hugo writes a complete history of the retreat, beginning with his education at seminary in the 1930’s (and the general mode of educating priests at this time), the life-changing nature of the retreat he made under Father Onesimus Lacouture in 1939, the reasons the retreat was so spiritually efficacious, the reasons opposition arose against it, and the arguments refuting that opposition. This book is an updated version of A Sign of Contradiction, but both books are worth having. (320 pages, printed 1986)
Your Ways Are Not My Ways, The Radical Christianity of the Gospels, Volume Two. Father Hugo puts in writing the complete teaching of the retreat conferences. This book is an updated version of Applied Christianity. After some 40 years, the doctrine remains the same. (286 pages, printed 1983)
The Deliverance of Onesimus. Father Hugo writes about his spiritual teacher and founder of the retreat, Fr. Onesimus Lacouture. This booklet is the same as “Part One” of Your Ways Are Not My Ways, Volume One. (62 pages, printed 1985)
Weapons of the Spirit Fr. Hugo explains the Catholic teaching on war. He wrote this for the Catholic Worker. (See below also The Gospel of Peace)(83 pages, printed 1943).
Why Must I Suffer? Father Hugo answers the hypothetical question of an ill person: If God is good, why does He make us suffer? Why must I suffer? Why must I endure such pain? “If Christians wish to possess true peace and an indestructible joy,” Fr. Hugo writes, “we must learn to face, quietly and calmly, and to accept with equanimity such dread realities as sickness, pain, and death” by learning the great truth of the Gospel. (32 pages in a pocket-sized booklet, printed 1952)
Encounter With Silence: Father Hugo’s Mini Conference on Prayer. This is a compilation of the conferences on prayer that Father Hugo would give in 15-minute segments throughout the week of the retreat. (27 pages, printed 1985)
Dorothy Day: Apostle of the Industrial Age. Father Hugo writes in his introduction to this book: “On her last visit to Pittsburgh, Dorothy Day asked me, as we left the Mass that closed the retreat, if I would give the homily at her funeral.” This is the homily he might have given, but since Father Hugo ended up not attending Dorothy Day’s funeral, he revised it into what he calls “an appreciation.” This was first published in The Pittsburgh Catholic. (16 pages, printed 1980) (It was always a mystery why his invitation to attend the funeral was cancelled even as he was getting ready to catch the flight. Though Fr. Hugo wrote several times about Dorothy’s request, he never wrote the reason why he could not carry it out. Then, in 2020, Dorothy’s biographers John Loughery and Blythe Randolf revealed what had happened: Dorothy’s daughter Tamar Hennessy had reportedly told those at the Catholic Worker house that “if he says the Mass, I won’t attend.” Tamar had developed an antipathy for Fr. Hugo’s retreat and therefore for Fr. Hugo, a situation that Dorothy’s granddaughter Kate Hennessy also makes clear in her book. Tamar eventually left the Church.)
Dorothy Day: Driven by Love (A Homily) Fr. Hugo gave this homily at the Dorothy Day Memorial Mass at Marquette University in 1981. (11 pages, printed 1981)
A Christian Manifesto on War. A manifesto (a public declaration of principles or intentions) urging Christians to fight non-violently against war and nuclear weapons proliferation, using Mahatma Gandhi’s practical principles of non-violent resistance. This is a plea to work for the common good of all peoples by working zealously for political peace. (2 pages, printed 1981)
Pruning: Reflections under Trial. Father Hugo teaches the “secret” of what it means to live by faith. God uses “mishaps, losses, sickness, suffering, persecutions” fruitfully. Christians can fully trust that when God uses his “pruning knife,” He does so in order that His children can multiply the fruits of holiness and grow in love. (4 pages, printed 1980s)
Brother Nathaniel's Brainstorm Written anonymously by a Franciscan Friar and edited by Father Hugo. This was reprinted by Father Hugo with not only the permission of the author, but also in response to his request. This fictional story explains the Christian doctrine of detachment and its relationship to Thomistic moral theology. Using the specific example of a cigarette habit, the story explains how “attachments” can severely hinder a Christian’s spiritual life. (39 pages, printed 1944)
The Rosary and the Grain of Wheat. Written by Father Denis Mooney, O.F.M. Fr. Mooney gave the retreat in the 1940s. This is series of meditations on the mysteries of the rosary and their relationship to the parable of the “Grain of Wheat.” (59 pages, printed in 1945)