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EDITED BY LEO J. ZUBER
2332 North Decatur Rd. Decatur. Georgia
A. M. D. G.
For the greater glory of
God and for the spiritual
benefit of authors, publishers.
reriewers and readers.
FOUR GREAT ENCYCLI
CALS OF POPE PIUS XII, Deus
Books, Paulist Press, 224 pp.,
$.95.
Reviewed by Rev. Leonard
F. X. Mayhew.
The teaching office of the
Church is never a dead and
static thing. It needs always to
be involved with the changing
world in which the Church lives.
Certain times, however, seem
to call forth the best of the ac
cumulated w i s d o m of the
Church and apply it to the
deepest and most decisive cur
rent needs. Beyond any doubt,
the reign of Pope Pius XII was
such a time.
The book under considera-
. tion contains four of the most
important writings of Pius XII
which are now and will remain
indispensable for an under
standing of Catholic thought
and life. These are the ency
clicals "The Mystical Body of
Christ", "Biblical Studies",
"The Sacred Liturgy" and
"Foundations of Catholic Doc
trine." These four documents
contain the determining princi
ples underlying the main cur
rents of thought and growth in
the Church at the present time.
In addition, the editors of the
Paulist Press have reprinted
two addresses of great in
terest: "Democracy And
Peace", the Christmas mes
sage of 1944, and "The World
Community and Religious
Tolerance", a discourse to
Italian jurists given in 1953.
Both these addresses treat
themes of particular interest
to American Catholics.
The Paulist Press has done
a great service in making th
wealth of material so readily
available.
TOWARD THE KNOWLEDGE
OF GOD, Claude Tresmontant,
Helicon Press. 1961, 120 pp.,
$3.50.
Reviewed by Flannery
O’Connor.
In this essay Pere Tresmon
tant demonstrates three ways
of showing the possibility of
knowing that God exists. The
problem is first approached
from the standpoint of human
thought attaining to the know
ledge of the Absolute when it
has as its point of departure
a consideration of reality. In
this section the phenomenon of
Israel is not brought in. In the
second section the problem is
approached by discussing Is
rael. Tresmontant shows that
such a local and particular
phenomenon may nevertheless
contain a lesson of universal
import. In this approach any
consideration of Christ
is omitted. In the last section
the person of Jesus is con
sidered for what He may teach
about the Absolute.
Tresmontant is con
vinced that a knowledge of God
is really possible by a correct
use of human reason, beginning
with the fact of creation and
without asking the unbeliever
to make Kierkegaard’s leap
into the absurd. He does not
suggest that this quest for God
could have reached its destina
tion without the guidance of
Judaism and Christianity or if
there had been no manifesta
tion of the Absolute to man, but
this "only proves that the hu
man mind is congenitally af
fected by a weakness or dif
ficulty in conceiving of reality,
life, the spiritual or the new.”
This closely reasoned book
will reward a careful reading.
THE DEED OF GOD, Father
John Lynch, Sheed & Ward, 1961
125 pp., $2.95
Reviewed by Jane Woodham
Once in a while one wishes for
something like a Federal Bu
reau of Superlatives to preserve
intact the integrity of our blue
ribbon words.
For only once in a great while
does a book make one wish one
had never called any other beau
tiful or excellent. Such a book is
this epic poem of the Mass which
begins with Our Lord’s birth on
earth and continues through this
morning's mass.
‘ ...a bleeding calm” could
only describe Our Lord Cruci
fied. And only a poet’s mastery
of language can produce such
imagery. But, as the Sanctus
cannot be quoted to show the
beauty of the Mass, somehowno
passage of this tremendous dra
ma can be satisfactorily isola
ted from the whole. The poet
rediscovers all those secret
moments that come to every
man who live s with God, and he
gives us more an experience
than a book.
A Woman Wrapped In Slience
by Father Lynch is an all-time
Catholic best seller. His latest
book is surely thus deserving.
THE MARIAN ERA, Vol, two,
Edited by Marion Habig, Fran
ciscan Herald Press, 1961, 128
pp., illus., $4.95.
Reviewed by E. Matthews
This Volume two of The Ma
riam Era supurbly accomplish
es its intent--to give in a per-
“All right, you can go to the ball game . . . but
don’t let me catch you sneaking off to visit
your grandmother instead."
From INSIDE BROTHER JUNIPER, by Father Jus
tin McCarthy, Hanover House, 1961, $1.00.
OUR LADY Or THE HILLS
CAMP
h
A Catholic camp for boys and girls ages
7 to 16. 200 acres, 37 buildings in the
Blue Ridge Mountains. Large modern
pool, mountain lake, with all camping
activities guided by trained counselors.
Ideal accommodations for visiting par
ents. Camp provides pick-up service to
or from nearest rail, air, bus terminal.
A camp for youngsters to grow... spirit
ually, healthfully. For literature, write:
Father Charles McLaughlin
OUR LADY OF THE HILLS CAMP
HENDERSONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
A FAMOUS CATHOLIC SAYING
By St. Augustine
-SOCK
-ATIf
manent form “scholarly artic
les of general interest and last
ing value." Among the contri
butors to this edition are Rich
ard Cardinal Cushing writing on
' Mary and the General Coun
cil" and Liam Brophy, "Love
That Makes the Wheels Go
Round". Of particular interest
today is ' ’Islam and the Virgin
Mother" by John M. Abd-El-
Jalil. Louis de Montfort’s
Way to Jesus Through Mary is
explained by Roger M. Charent:
Typical of the illustrations is
the front cover by Virginia Bro
derick picturing the figure of the
Madonna against the outlines of
a canyon of industry. The front-
piece is a photograph of Our La
dy of the Annunciation by Andre
della Robbia in the Franciscian
Church at Siena, Italy.
Indeed the Franciscians are
heralding the Marian Era with
a treasury of man's love for his
Mother and the resulting devo
tions, writings, and works of
art.
"He who explains me shall
have life everlasting". Surely
all Her Catholic children will
want to collect these annual ed
itions of The Marian Era, which
are designed to increase our
knowledge and love for Mary,
our Mother.
THE MONK OF FARNE,
Edited by Dom Hugh Farmer,
O S B., Helicon Press, 1961,
155 pp., $3.95.
Reviewed by E. Matthews.
In his introduction to these
meditations, Dom Farmer gives
evidence of the detailed study
he made of the 14th century
monk, and though particular
biographical knowledge is not
available, it seems reasonable
to conclude that his name was
John Whiterig, a monk of Dur
ham who lived as a solitary on
the Isle of Fame. Dom Farmer
points out the similarity these
writings have with other spirit
ual writers of the period and in
particular the influence of St.
Bernard in several passages.
Whiterig's prayer was richly
nourished by the scriptures and
liturgy, and he was more in
tent in presenting sound doc
trine than personal ex
periences.
The meditations are addres
sed to Christ Crucified, the
Blessed Virgin Mary, the An
gels, Abraham and David, St.
John the Evangelist, and St.
Cuthbert. Not often are we per
mitted to share so intimate
ly in the real and personal love
of a soul for its God, and sure
we could all profit from the
colloquies called forth by 'his
love and absorb something of his
trust. “Cheerfulness adds just
as much to our actions as
action adds to a right intention,
for cheerfulness in the doer is
at once both a sign and an ef
fect of a loving heart, and if
we have not got that, all that
we do goes awry." Whiterig,
indeed, saw the whole develop
ment of the spiritual life in
terms of the progress of
charity.
In editing the manuscripts
for publication, Dom Farmer
has preserved the medieval fla
vor, which adds to the note of
joy. To illustrate, our monk
petitioned his Lord, “How could
I be saved on the day of Judge
ment . . . Merrily and with mild
countenance thou didst call out
in reply: ‘Love, and thou shalt
be saved. ’ ”
The Monk of Fame has left
From “l'hc Catholic Puzzle and
Damien Anthony Wenzel, O.F.M., St.
1952, 1956, 52 pp.. $1.00
Quiz Book,” by
Anthony's Guild,
us a delightful heritage, com
bining depth of a scholar’s mind
with the joy of a soul in love
with God. His is a book to be
savored and enjoyed by the
thoughtful.
BLESSED AND POOR, by
Daniel Pezeril, Pantheon, 1961,
255 pp., $4,00.
Reviewed by Theodora Koob.
The subtitle of this book
states that it is intended as a
presentation of the ‘Spiritual
Odyssey of the Cure’ of Ars.’
The reviewer does not feel that
the book fulfills this mission
as completely, perhaps, as the
author intended for certain gaps
mark the movement from phase
to phase of the saintly cure’s
life. Very likely, this was un
avoidable since many details of
St. Jean’s life are in actuality
missing. And oddly, the fact that
the book does not fulfill its
titular objective doesn’t really
matter too much. Because the
values of this volume, and it
has them, lie elsewhere.
One can appreciate the prob
lems in dealing with so contro
versial a figure at St. Jean
Vianney seems to have been,
especially in his native land.
For example, it is impossible
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to browse among French re
ligious writings without running
across dozens of references to
this saint and as many differ
ent interpretations of the mean
ing of his life. For this reason
alone Father Pezeril is to be
commended for avoiding a reit
eration of the obvious con
fusions and the unlaid ghosts and
getting down to the brass tacks
of the man’s life as a pastor.
This is done quite expertly since
the techniques don’t show.
Somehow, without being in the
least sensational, Father Pez
eril manages to recreate the
times of Jean Vianney in the
light of his contemporaries
memorably and sensitively.
In the sense of organizing the
chronology of the Cure’s life
(for the first time in any bio
graphy according to the flyleaf),
this book is truly in the form
of an odyssesy. One assumes,
however, that the spiritual em
phases are too deeply embedded
in the vivid physical presence
of the saint, possibly because
the author has hesitated too
much to give his personal in
terpretations of the effect of
incidents: crises spiritual and
temporal, failures, the inroads
of deep poverty. The treatment
of the miracles also is not
quite full enough and leaves you
wanting something more.
Nevertheless, the reader is
thoroughly grateful for the rich
ness and color that is there.
In the light of these comments
it should be obvious that this is
a book to be enjoyed by anyone
at all interested in the Cure’
d’Ars because, despite the re
tentiveness of the author, the
story of the man Jean Vianney
comes across, grippingly and
unforgettably, technicolored by
the author’s own intimacy with
the French countryside. The
reviewer could not put the book
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THE BULLETIN, May 12, 1962—PAGE 7
down even at two a.m.
The translation seems quite
good throughout, sensitive and
clear with considerable thought
for the impact of the original
French. The book, on the whole,
is a very thoughtful and in
teresting study of one of the
most fascinating of saintly fig
ures; it is too bad that it doesn’t
say more. One has the feeling
that in his heart this author
has much more to say about
his subject . . . perhaps he
will say it io another book.
Be Apostles
Of Brotherhood
DAVENPORT, Iowa, (NC) —
Father John A. O’Brien said
here all American Catholics
can be ‘ ‘apostle s of brother
hood” by removing mistaken
ideas of the Church which pre
vail among their countrymen.
Father O’Brien, research
professor of theology at the
University of Notre Dame, South
Bend, Ind., spoke at the 26th
annual convention of the Daven
port diocesan council of Catho
lic Women.
MARIETTA
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E. REID GEIGER. Pres.
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