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MAY 26. 1956.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
ELEVEN
BOOK REVIEWS
EDITED BY EILEEN HALL
3087 Old Jonesboro Road, Hapeville, Georgia
Each issue of Ihis Book Page
is confided io the patronage of
Mary. Mediatrix of All Graces,
with the hope that every read
er and every contributor may
be specially favored by her
and her Divine Son.
ST. IGNATIUS AND THE JE
SUITS, by Theodore Maynard,
(Kenedy),- $3.00.
(Reviewed by Rev. John Schro
der, S. J.)
Mr. Maynard has made the most
of a difficult task in “St. Ignatius
and the Jesuits’’^ difficult because
his brief attempt to chronicle the
four . century history of the Jesuits
must necessarily be sketchy; but
a difficult task made the most of,
since his presentation of St. Ig
natius makes the soldier-saint a
warm living personality, rather
than the aloof drill-sergeant that
he is sometimes pictured to be
(and who could never have influ
enced such men as Xavier). In
cluded in the volume are chap
ters tre'ating the Spiritual Exer
cises, the Jesuit Constitution and
Jesuit education. The book neith
er lags nor digresses; in fact, it
invites itself to be read at one
sitting — interesting, instructive
and inspirational.
FIGHTING FATHER DUFFY, by
Virginia Lee Bishop and Jim
Bishop, (Farrar, Straus & Cuda
hy), $1.95.
(Reviewed by Peggy Lloyd,
age 13).
“He loved God. He loved the
Irish. He loved boys. He loved
soldiers.” These words of Jim
Bishop and his daughter Virginia
Lee Bishop sum up the whole
story of “Fighting Father Duffy.”
Francis Patrick Duffy’s growth
from a frail, red-haired boy to a
hearty, major-chaplain of World
War I is told in the pages of this
delightful book.
This delicate Canadian boy, a
native of Coburg and one of 11
children, found it necessary to
discontinue school at the age of.
13 and to work in the wool mill
where his father was employed.
When conditions at home improv
ed, Francis Duffy attended the
high school taught by the Sisters
of Mercy.- Because of his brilliant
record of accomplishment there,
he was awarded a scholarship to
St. Michael’s College in Toronto.
From there he went to New
York to teach in the Jesuit School
of St. Francis Xavier and decided
to study for the priesthood. After
his ordination he continued teach
ing and later established the par
ish Church of Our Savior, which
began in a New York grocery
store. Every little urchin of the
slums came to know and, love this
“big man with the soft heart.”
While serving as chaplain of
the “Fighting Sixty-Ninth” Regi
ment, Father Duffy showed such
bravery and devotion to his boys,
Catholic, Jew and Protestant, that
newspapers called him “the Mi
racle Man,”
This new Vision Book is recom
mended to all young readers who
enjoy a mixture of Irish warmth
and humor in a biography.
TWO PORTRAITS OF ST. THE-
RESE OF LISIEUX, by Etienne
Robo, (Regncry), $3.00.
(Reviewed by Flannery O’Con
nor).
Those cf us who have been re
pulsed b; oular portraits of the
life of St erese of Lisieux and
at the s time attracted by
her iron y and heroism, which
appear V through the most
treacly f ts, will be cheered
to learn from Father Robo’s study
that this reaction is not entirely
perverse. The author shows that
the life of the saint, as it has ap
peared in various books, has been
manipulated in order to make it
more edifying. Indeed, he doubts
it we may be sure that the manu
script to her autobiography has
not likewise been tampered with
for the same pious reason. It is by
now admitted by Carmel that the
saint’s photographs have been
touched up. Carmel justifies this
on the grounds that it is an at
tempt to achieve a “better average
resemblance.” ,
This practice of making the
saint appear edifying according
to the popular convention of what
is edifying is of long standing in
hagiography and is based on a
different conception of truth from
the one we hold now. It is a con
ception that does not scruple to
permit the rearranging of nature
in order to make it fit the ideal
type; as such, it is more closely
related to fiction than to history.
That St. Therese has been fiction
alized by convent sources is now
apparent, but Father Robo, in this
study, has gone far to uncover the
real saint in her very human and
terrible greatness, and in this pro
cess surely to widen devotion to
her.
Many will be loth to part with
the legend and particularly loth
to part with the face which has
so long passed as the face of St.
Therese. This face, however, is
the result of some retouching by
the_saint’s sister, Celine, who was,
in the fashion of nuns, a painter.
Celine turned the round, comical,
fiercely determined face that God
apparently gave St. Therese into
an elongated, sweetly character
less one that she thought did more
justice to sanctity. Father Robo,
comparing it with untouched pho
tographs, wonders charitably if
she did not suffer from astigma
tism.
STORIES OF OUR CENTURY
BY CATHOLIC AUTHORS, edit
ed by John Gilland Brunini ahd
Francis X. Connolly, (Image), 85c.
(Reviewed by Leo S. Retenel-
ler, Jr.)
G. K. Chesterton, Bruce Mar
shall, Graham Greene, Heywood
Broun, Evelyn Waugh are among
the contributors to what the front
cover of this book heralds as a
compilation of 25 of the best short
stories of our time. Twenty other
authors, in addition to those
named, are represented, there be
ing one story by each writer.
Most "of the stories are fiction.
Each story attests to the Catho
licity of its author, that he or she
is a Catholic writer, not merely a
writer who happens to be a Cath
olic. The conclusion may not
thereby be drawn that this, is a
book of religious treatises.
Diversity is offered, from the
satire of Heywood Broua’s “The
Fifty-First Dragon” to the sadism
of General Zaroff, in “The Most
Dangerous Game,” whose hobby
consists of forcing his “guests”
(after a suitable period of wining
and dining them) to hide some
where on his island estate so that
he may, at his pleasure, hunt them
down like jungle prey. Perhaps
diabolical is a good word, to add.
The experience of Graham
Greene as an agnostic meeting a
Catholic on a train years ago in
“The Hint of an Rxplanation”
provides breathless suspense, as
the reader perceives, desecration
of a sacred Host is imminent.
Compassion, perhaps strong pity,
Will follow for the demented bak
er as this true story is brought
to a surprising, yet plausible, con
clusion.
Those who have seen the film
“The Quiet Man” will welcome
the short work by Maurice Walsh
(the same story) reprinted here.
No mention of its being an ex
cerpt or abridged version is made.
The incomparable Chesterton
looks in on Father Brown, detec
tive, who through patient persist
ence and skillful interrogation ar
rives at the true identity of “The
Chief Mourner of Marne” years
after a seaside duel in Scotland.
The late Caryll Houselander
draws a moving portrait of a pru
dent and kindly priest who recon
ciles an embittered father with an
errant daughter and sends the
father’s sister where she really
belongs, as housekeeper to her
younger brother, a priest in ill
health.
Short biographies of the auth
ors are included as an appendix.
At the risk of repetition, I must
again commend the publisher
who, in turning out these durable
but inexpensive editions, is put
ting so many excellent Catholic
works within the reach of all who
have wanted at least the nucleus
of a Catholic library but who, for
financial reasons, have been un
able to amass one.
ST. ANTHONY GUILD
BOOKLETS
THE PRIEST'S VIA CRUCIS,
by Edwin Dorzweiler, O. F. M.
Cap., 15c—a new “stations of the
cross” booklet for priests. The
prayers are inspirational and help
to express what a soul feels when
he makes the stations privately.
THE SEMINARIAN'S VIA
CRUCIS, by Edwin Dorzweiler,
O. F. M. Cap., 15c—a booklet that
any seminarian would like to
have. The prayers help him ex
press his feelings in a more per
sonal way than the ordinary sta
tion book.
GUARDIAN ANGELS, by Flor
ence Wedge, 10c—a good and
helpful pamphlet about our com
panions who are too little known
and appreciated.
THE COMPLETE CATHOLIC,
by Very Rev. John J. Dougherty,
10c—six well written sermons
containing good food for thought.
ST. FRANCIS AND THE
EUCHARIST, by Albert J. Nim-
eth, O. F. M., 10c—forcefully de
scribes St. Francis’ love for Our
Lord in the Holy Eucharist and
how he proved that love in deeds.
THOUGHTS FROM ST. BONA-
VENTURE ABOUT THE MOTH
ER OF GOD, by Rev. William J.
Manning, 10c—inspiration to help
us know Our Lady better and to
guide us in our quest of perfec
tion.—Michael Patron.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A
HUNTED PRIEST, by John Ge
rard, translated by Philip Cara-
man, S. J., with introduction by
Graham Greene, (Image), 85c.
(Reviewed by Louella Caye).
Hanging by his arms, he was
questioned until the pains in his
body seemed to; localize: in his
hands and he felt blood pouring
from the tips of' his fingers. Then
when his endurance was almost
exhausted, the Lord sent the re
lief of unconsciousness. Three
days of this, twice a day, he suf
fered until they saw he would be
rent in pieces rather than speak
as they desired. Then and only
then did they. release him to his
cell where, as soon as he was
able, he wrote messages of help
and inspiration in orange juice on.
wrapping paper to be smuggled
out of the prison.
Truth is surely stranger than
fiction and the account Father
John Gerard wrote of his 18 years
in Elizabethan England makes us
wonder how far we have come
from the days when just to be a
Catholic warranted imprisonment
and torture. To be a Catholic
priest in England in those days
was to be guilty of treason by act
of Parliament.
Father Gerard disguised him
self as a country gentleman and
from his hiding places in the
homes of the wealthy he brought
the faith back to the poor op
pressed. Years of fleeing through
darkness and hiding and being
hunted through the woods did
not deter him from saying Mass,
ministering and converting, al
ways in danger. Finally came im
prisonment, torture and then es
cape to write this story at the
order of his superiors in the
spring of 1609.
THE RITES OF HOLY WEEK.
by Frederick R. McManus, (St.
Anthony Guild) $2.50.
(Reviewed by Margaret G.
Smith).
Actually, this little book is for
the clergy and those directly con
cerned with the new ordo of Holy
Week. However, for those of the
laity who would like a more com
plete knowledge of the ceremon
ies, as well as the answers as to
why our Holy Week services were
changed .there is contained herein
a complete coverage of all phases
of. our present services. This is a
good book to keep for reference
and to study in order to under
stand to the fullest the meaning
of Holy Week.
BOOKS RECEIVED
THE SIGN OF JONAS, by
Thomas Merton, (Image), 95c.
ON THE TRUTH OF THE
CATHOLIC FAITH. Summa Con
tra Gentiles, by St. Thomas Aqui
nas, Book Two: Creation, trans
lated, with an introduction and
notes by James F. Anderson,
(Image), 95c.
THE WORLD'S FIRST LOVE,
by Fulton J. Sheen, (Image), 75c.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, by G.
K. Chesterton, (Image), 75c.
EDMUND CAMPION, by Ev
elyn Waugh, (Image), 75c.
PARENTS, CHILDREN AND
THE FACTS OF LIFE, by Henry
V. Sattler, C.Ss.R., Ph.D., (Image),
65c.
LIGHT ON THE MOUNTAIN,,
by John S. Kennedy, (Image), 65c.
HUMBLE POWERS, by Paul
Horgan, (Image), 65c.
THE YEAR AND OUR CHIL
DREN, by Mary Reed Newland,
(Kenedy), $3.95.
THE POPES ON YOUTH, by
Raymond B. Fullam, S. J., (Am
erica), $5.00.
MEDITATIONS BEFORE
MASS, by Romano Guardini,
translated by Elinor C. Briefs,
(Newman), $3.00.
ODILIA, by Bernard C. Mische-
ke, O.S.C., (Crosier Fathers, Nat
ional Shrine of Saint Odilia, Ona-
mia, Minn.), paper $1.00; cloth.
$2.00.
NOTRE mm BOOK SHOP
()lv! 4 wonderful NEW]
■'vision
BOOKS
Imprimatur on each volume.
Durable full cloth binding.
SizeSVz^x 192 pages.
Full-color jackets, 2-color
endpapers, black-and-white
illustrations.
Each volume only $1.95
The widely-acclaimed series of
stirring biographies
for young Catholics!
“A bright addition to the shelves of any
home library... expertly written, handsome
ly produced... Excellent retellings of stories
that are full of color.”—The Ave Maria
5. BERNADETTE AND THE LADY
By Hertha Pauli
6. ST. ISAAC AND THE INDIANS
By Milton Lomask
7. FIGHTING FATHER DUFFY
By Virginia Lee Bishop
and Jim Bishop
8. ST. PIUS X: The Farm Boy
who became Pope
By Walter Diethelm, O.S.B
... and don't miss any of the
first four titles:
1. ST. JOHN BOSCO
and the CHILDREN’S SAINT,
DOMINIC SAVIO
2. ST. THERESE AND THE ROSES
3. FATHER MARQUETTE AND
THE GREAT RIVERS
4. ST. FRANCIS OF THE
SEVEN SEAS
Never before have there been
such exciting and inspiring
books for children — colorful,
action-filled stories of saints,
martyrs and heroes, especially: i
designed for Catholic youth
from 9 to 15. Besides giving
young people a broader under
standing of their Faith, they will
open up a world of information
about history and geography,;
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