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PAGE 6==THE BULLETIN, January 20, 1962
EDITED BY LEO J. ZUBER
2332 North Decatur RdL
(BOOKS
Decatur, Georgia
A. M. D. G.
For the greater glory of God
and for the spiritual benefit of
authors, publishers, reviewers
and readers.
* * *
POPE JOHN XXIII, by
Zsolt Aradi, Msgr. James I.
Tucek, and James C. O’Neiil,
Dell, 1961, 384 pp., 75c.
Reviewed by
Jane Bush Long
This biography portrays vi
vidly and clearly the life of
one of the most fascinating
and important men in the
world today. It is written by
three authors who have com
bined their knowledge of the
Spiritual Father with personal
contacts of his associates, his
kinsmen and his friends, and
have accurately and warmly
described the man of the hour
who was so little known to
the English speaking peoples
before his election as Pop e
John XXIII. •
From the beginning of this
book until its end, the reader
senses how truly the Pope is
Christ’s Vicar on earth and
what a prominent role he will
inevitably play in efforts for
Christian unity.
From his earliest years in
Sotto II Monte, as the son of
a poor peasant family, to his
education at the seminary in
Bergamo and his ordination to
the sacred priesthood in .Rome,
one realizes Roncalli’s quali
ties of personal scholarship,
his broad interest in and
knowledge of history, his love
and understanding of men.
Each assignment that he re
ceived seemed truly Provi
dential. When, as a young
priest, he was made secretary
to Bishop Radini-Tedeschi in
Bergamo, he moved immedi
ately into the mainstream of
national and . international
life. As an official of the Sac
red Congregation for the Pro
pagation of the Faith, he gain
ed a great knowledge of mis
sionary work both among
Eastern Orthodox and non-
Catholic churches. As Profes
sor of Patristics at the Ro
man Seminary, he kept con
stantly in his mind the first
twelve centuries of Christiani
ty and especially the first six
centuries of the Church when
unity of the East and West
was unbroken. As Apostolic
Delegate to Bulgaria, Turkey
and Greece, Bishop Roncalli
spent twenty years in the By
zantine world. Here he had
the opportunity to do much to
sooth the feelings of the Or
thodox Church with the Cath
olics of the Latin and Byzan
tine rites. As nuncio to Paris,
he proved himself an able and
a beloved diplomat and was
the first permanent observer
of the Holy See at Unesco.
Upon his elevation to the
Cardinalate he was made Pat
riarch of Venice. Here it seem
ed as if Divine Providence
were giving His servant final
training before his most
honored and difficult as
signment as Spiritual Lead
er of millions. The City
of Venice (which had been
a republic for 1000 years)
had been the vital connecting
link between East and West.
Its palaces and churches re
flected the solid grandeur of
its unforgettable past. Cardi
nal Roncalli seemed made for
this city for he had known
intimately East and West.
Here too, he could finally be
what he had always wanted to
be, a pastor and a priest, and
it was here that he must have
expected to spend his final
days.
However this was only for
a brief seven years for, on the
death of Pius XII, he left Ven
ice to attend the conclave. He
did not return.
On October 29, 1958, Angelo
Roncalli was elected to the
papacy. He was 76 years old.
At his coronation on No
vember 4th he took his text
for his speech from the Gospel
of St. John.
“And other sheep I have
that are not of this fold. Them
also I must bring and they
shall hear tny voice and there
shall be one fold and one shep
herd.”
The reader sees how sin
cerely he has tried to carry
out these words. Within the
first three months of his pon
tificate, he called for an Ecu
menical Council to be held
toward the end of 1962. This
set in motion a chain of events
that would easily carry the
church to heights never before
attained in its 2,000 years of
existence.
In addition to this startling
announcement, he called for
a diocesan synod for the city
of Rome and an updating of
Canon Law. He raised the Col
lege of Cardinals almost im
mediately to 75 and later to
86. Irl addition to speaking
Italian, French, Greek, Bul
garian, Turkish and Russian,
he began to study German,
English and Spanish. He dis
pelled any rumors that he
would be an “interim pope.”
He also continued his role as
pastor and began making vis
its to Rome’s churches, hos
pitals, orphanages, seminaries
and prisons.
This reviewer strongly urg
es all Christians to read this
book. Never before has a Pope
been more eminently qualified
to discuss Christian unity. Of
particular interset is the spe
cial chapter about the Ecu
menical Council which out
lines both the hopes and dif
ficulties that lie ahead. It be
hooves each one to' familiar
ize himself with this vital
meeting. Whatever the chal
lenge, the Holy Father has al
ready shown himself worthy
of it.
THREE BOOKS by Thomas
Merton.
Reviewed by
Theodora Koob
THE BEHAVIOR OF TI
TANS, by Thomas Merton,
New Directions, 1961, 106 pp.,
$3.50.
Using several different short
forms for presentation of what
finally amounts to a candid
statement of the state of af
fairs of mankind and allowing
the reader to draw his own
conclusions, Thomas Merton
achieves an extraordinary free
prose allegory. For those who
appreciate the introspective
Merton, this will be different
and challenging. For the stu
dious, it will be provocative
enough to demand a few hours
of retrospection.
The mythical Titans, Atlas
and Prometheus, are first
studied meditatively and Mer
ton rejects the Prometheus of
Hesiod and visualizes that of
Aeschylus as Christ on the
Cross; Atlas stands for the
powers of the universe moving
under the Hands of God. Next
comes a study of the extant
sayings of Herakleitos followed
by an interpretative poetic
translation of them by the au
thor.
This book is not for everyone
but it is intriguing reading
for some. It is a pity more will
not understand to read it; may
many, at least, be challenged
to try!
THE WISDOM OF THE
DESERT, translated by Thom
as Merton, New Directions,
1960, ix—81 pp., $3.50.
This book has been compil
ed with some regard for the
impact produced by the pro
moters of Zen. It consists of
selected sayings of the Egyp
tian desert ascetics of the 4th
Century. Thomas Merton has
brought his inimitable style to
these aphorisms and also in
vested them with a particular
ly fresh, vivid immediacy. He
also, with pointed ascerbity in
an illuminating introduction,
related tq pqrj. owq/y/orld to
day 'the prdblemfe ; and. jpe-l
searches of these monaytierpeo-
ple whp,. retreated from a de
cadent society. Merton, under
standing the ways by which a
man becomes a monk, has
pointed up the principles upon
which the hermitic life is bas
ed.
As for the sayings them
selves, the reader will find
them lively, apt, and thought
raising. This small volume
ought to find considerable use
among the clergy looking for
illustrative, anecdotal and di
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“Now THERE! That’s the kind of high note I want!”
From SEM BEAMS, SEMINARY LIFE IN CARTOONS,
by Ed Sullivan, St. Paul Publications, 1961, 61 pp., 50c.
dactic material in the pro
verbial nutshell.
THE SECULAR JOURNAL
OF THOMAS MERTON. Dell,
1960, 233 pp., 50c.
This is a paper-covered re
print of the Madonna House
book published earlier. It cov
ers a period between October,
1939 and November, 1941 when
Merton was qet a youth. Much
of the material is rich with
the fusion of mind and soul
probing toward the spirituality
of the later monk. It is a short
book now made readily availa
ble. Would that more people
can profit by its insight and
self-searching.
The reader must bring a
number of things to Merton in
order to reap the fuller bene
fits from his caustic, out-spok
en comments about the life
around him and his participa
tion in it. Knowledge of peo
ple, places, times, and events
must be brought to bear upon
the free-flowing ideas. The au
thor did not originally expect
to publish any of this materi
al and that which has been
published was not selected by
him. Thus the commentary is
a keen, courageous, cutting
one that makes everybody sit
up and take notice. Running
thought is caught up and hung
in visual suspension by the
print a moment, and reaction
comes. This is good mental ex
ercise. For those who like Mer
ton the Journal is a “must”.
For those who do not know
his later works, may the re
viewer just suspend a few lines
for contemplation: “God’s jus
tice (which everybody ob
scurely knows about in his
bones, no matter what he tries
to say he thinks). .. ” and “No
body ever realized the great
sanctity of the Immaculate
Mother of God because she
was so far above what could
be known as heroism that she
merely seemed a completely
ordinary, poor woman.”
Besides revealing much of
the inner working of the con
templative mind in accumula
tion in its development, the
Journal, despite its acrid opin-
ionation of our tiroes, holds an
over-all aura of hope and a
warm, deeper sense of rising
attainment in spiritual ideals.
In a way, the reader wends
his own way toward the Abbey
of Gethsemani. This is a book
with which the average Cath
olic should, at least, be on
terms of acquaintance, what
ever he gets out of it.
SO GREAT A LOVER, by
Liam Brophy, Franciscan Her
ald Press, 1960, 104 pp., $2.50.
Reviewed by
E. Matthews
So Great a Lover is Ray
mond Lull, and only a great
A MOTHER CHIMPANZEE, gives her baby stretching
ex§i$is£s before teaching him To'- walk. Thi# Myan example
of how' the higher primates care for their young. Charles
Harper did the illustration for THE GIANT GOLDEN BOOK
OF BIOLOGY which was written by Gerald Ames and Rose
Wyler and is being published this month by Golden Press.
CHARLES HARPER'S illustration in Golden Press’ THE
GIANT BOOK OF BIOLOGY pictures only a few of the
more than a million different kinds of plants and animals
alive in the world today. THE GIANT GOLDEN BOOK OF
BIOLOGY was written by Gerald Ames and Rose Wyler and
is being published this month by Golden Press.
GIANT GOLDEN BOOK OF
BIOLOGY, by Rose Wyler and
Gerald Ames; illustrated by
Charles Harper, Golden Press,
1961, 99 pp., illus., $3.95.
Reviewed by
Leo J. Zuber
Here is a well-written, beau
tifully illustrated volume on
biology, a very popular sub
ject among school age child
ren, which makes a person
forget that there are text
books on the subject. Big
children, i. e., parents, as well
as grade and high school child
ren, and candidates, will de
rive a world of learning and
knowledge from, and will
thoroughly enjoy, this succu
lent volume.
Its subject matter field cov
ers life on earth, animal and
vegetable, and the inanimate
world on which the animate
depends. The methods and
techniques involved in des
cribing and illustrating so wide
a range of materials make
one envy today’s younger set.
The writing and illustrations
are works of art and of sound
professional competence; auth
ors and illustrator relished
their tasks. The reverse pro
cess of leading, studying and
deriving is equally pleasurable
and rewarding.
love could have carried a man
from the excesses of physical
love to the excesses of spirit
ual love that characterized the
life of this fantastic saint of
the fourteenth century. Once
shown the emptiness of his
life in the world, once convinc
ed of his sins, once repentpd
of the hurts inflicted on his
family, once converted to the
love of God, Raymond never
wearied in his burning desire
to love God with all his be
ing. Such a love filled him
with another equally possess
ing desire — to bring other
souls to the same love of God.
His chief ambition in this re
gard was the conversion of the
Saracens, and for this purpose
he studied the language of the
Saracen and his way of think
ing and feeling. He beseeched
God with this intention, wrote
books, established schools, be
came a missionary, and offer
ed himself as a sacrifice which
God accepted in bestowing on
him the martyr’s crown. His
canonization put the stamp of
success on his work, but this
success is from the viewpoint
of eternity. During his earthly
life, he was met with one fail
ure after the other. Raymond
Lull has been the subject of
much controversy partially be
cause of the extravagance of
his admirers and the bitter
ness of his critics. Dr. Liam
Brophy has succeeded in cap
turing in this thin volume the
essence of his life and will
draw readers to make a deep
er study of this Doctor Illumi-
natus of the Franciscan Order.
THE WILL ROGERS BOOK,
Paula McSpadden Love,
Bobbs-Merrill, 1961, 218 pp.,
illus., $3.95.
Reviewed by
Jane Woodham
Dear ole’ Will, as we all
know, courted and won much
of his country with a burlap
and guffaw way of telling his
truths. And when we can
laugh a lot or a little at and/or
with, it’s also sheer relief from
much of the somber reading
that faces us these days: even
when we know that Rogers
too is pretty dead-pan at
heart.
Will Rogers is always our
darling because he just didn’t
mind hanging his face out in
the wind. We love him for not
being afraid of his faults as
much as we love him for his
blustery preachiness and his
own sheer love of living. He
does poke us in the ribs with
little mercy, but we know
from first to last, he loves us;
and so we “kinder” all love
him.
This book is chock full of
Will’s sayings, (“almost all”),
of photographs and common-
sense word pictures of the fab
ulous cowboy-sage himself.
Anyone who’s a Will Rogers
devotee needs this book. For
anyone who hasn’t met him
lately, he’s still refreshing and
very lovable and wise. He
knew himself and he knew his
country as few men did.
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