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OCTOBER 26, 1957, 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 this Book Page is confined to the patronage of Mary, Mediatrix of Ail Graces, with the hope that every read er and every contributor may be specially favored by her and her Divine Son. MERE MARIE OF THE URSU- LlNES, by Agnes Repplier, (Sheed & Ward, $3.50). (Reviewed by Elizabeth Hester) Originally published in 1931 and now re-issued by Sheed & Ward, Mere Marie of the Ursu- lines is the happy result of the fine writer dealing-ivith the per fect subject. Probably even Ja pan has produced f e w artists with a style more economical, composed, and diamond-lucid than Philadelphia’s Agnes Rep- plier’s, and few subjects other than Mere Marie have by their very nature deserved such a style as Miss Repplier’s to do them justice. Thus this book is alive not with just its subject’s great dignity, but with the author’s as well. This combination is par ticularly gratifying because ap parent harmony between the saintly and their biographers is much rarer than we might hope. This deficit, it may be supposed, need have nothing to do with the merits of writers as writers, but, more often, may be attributable to the understandable difficulty the writer’s moral intellect has in grasping a sense of the plane on which; a saintly subject has lived.- In the case of Mere Marie of the Ursulines if Miss Repplier has not brought to Mere Marie quite the famous nun’s own vir tue, she has at least brought the eminently becoming reticence of not assuming too much too glibly. Without once deriving un documented conclusions for Mere Marie’s thoughts and feelings, Miss Repplier nevertheless con veys a splendid idea of the great Canadian Ursuline’s stature. To a large extent she has done this not by intimate probing of Mere Marie herself, but, rather, by discussing the kind of world Mere Marie lived in, and by describing the results of the nun’s having been there; the success of this method would indicate, possibly, some idea of how it is almost always necessary for the unsaint- ly to speak effectively of God and His saints. McAvoy, C.S.C., (Regnery, $G.0C). (Reviewed by Elizabeth Hester) In the latter part of the 19th century, close on the end of the Civil War, the fire under the melting pot of diverse elements in United States citizenry was crackling with great spirit. Part of the crackle included a tug-of- war between American Catholic bishops and colonies over the best measures for establishing the Catholic position _ in the adoles- c e n t nation. For example, to what degree should Catholic la borers affiliate themselves with secret societies that were labor unions as much as pseudo-reli gious groups? Or, should it be permissable, or even preferable, for Catholic children to attend public rather than parochial schools? As the problems multi plied with the rapid growth of the young country, the split with in the Catholic hierarchy and between certain Catholic publi cations widened continuously. Bishop John Ireland, the domi nating figure in the liberal side of the battle, carried his. magnetic personality to Europe and there enlisted a widespread support for an active liberal Catholic politi cal, stance which c a m e to be known as “Americanism.” Sub sequently an American priest’s biography (Fr, Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulists), trans lated into French and touted by some as the spirit of American ism, was the occasion of a series of bitter and even perversely slanted attacks on Americanism by some elements of the Euro pean press. It was never estab lished that Hecker’s book con tained the heresies claimed for it, but nevertheless a furor was aroused that was settled only in 1899 when the Holy Father put out a letter condemning the here sies reputed to have been held by some Americanists. This, in brief, is the story Fr. McAvoy tells. A meticulously researched book, "The Great Crisis" may well be a historian’s joy. On the other hand, Fr. McAvoy writes with such unrelieved. seriousness that the weight of his work may occasionally become a little stup- ifying to the unscholarly seeking only amusement or a painless notion of American Catholic his tory. him from distractions outside his personal circle. Notwithstanding, he had a distinguished career as editor, playwright, historian, and lecturer before he became an Anglican minister, an outstand ing preacher and theologian. His progress through the mazes of journalism, theatre, literature, and Anglo-Catholicism, to the reality of the Christian faith will be of interest to those particular ly concerned with English reli gious life and values. Since com ing into the Church .he has writ ten some scholarly and valuable contributions; “The Great Prayer” is a notable example. It is more than interesting to note his thoughts on his convers ion. His own words are best: “No one, I think, has been able to describe a conversion in terms that are objectively appropriate As in the language of the myst ics, analogies which give only the shadow of the substance have to be used.” But one thing he is quite certain—that the gift of faith comes from God’s mercy alone and, like Chesterton, he feels that all the old controvers ies and arguments “are less than dust to me because my name is Lazarus and I live.” THE GREAT CRISIS IN AMERICAN CATHOLIC HIS TORY 1895-1900, by Thomas T. CORRECTION: The name of the priest who promoted the lit urgical movement in America, and whose, biography by Paul B. Marx. O.S.B., was reviewed in the October 12 issue of The Bul letin, w a s Virgil Michel, not “Michael” as our review erron eously stated. THE WALLED GARDEN, by Hugh Ross Williamson, (MacMil lan, $4.00). (Reviewed by Cecilia L. Hines) “The Walled Garden,” in spite of its highly intellectual tone, manages to be a telling and warm account of what might be. called “a delayed conversion.” Mr. Williamson is the son and grandson of Protestant ministers and lived, in his youth, in a “walled garden” which protected FRANK B. LOWNDES & SON FUNERAL DIRECTORS Formerly Awtry & Lowndes Company 310 Fourteenth Street, N. W. . , TRinity 5- 741 MOTHER OF FAIR LOVE, by Augustina Schroeder, translated from the Spanish by Veronica Kirtland, (Bruce, $3.50). May se lection of the Catholic Library Foundation. (Reviewed by Margaret Atwood) How did it feel to the little Jewish maiden, Mary, to be chos en to be the Mother of God? In this dramatic, fictionized version of Mary’s life, a Uraguayan au thor has attempted to depict the tremendous thing, that happened; to the young girl who became the woman closest to Christ, Mother of His human and His Mystical Body. Mary’s inner life is painted against a vivid background of Judaic life, from the time of her betrothal to the days after- the finding of her Child in the tem ple, when He “came to Nazareth and was subject to them.” Al though it all happened nearly 2000 years ago. Mrs. Schroeder makes the life of the Holy Fam ily seem so real that it might be occurring near us today. The reader shares Mary’s ecstacies of joy as well as her sorrows in her daily life with the Son of God. Added to this insight into the mystery of the Incarnation, the reader receives the bonus of a new understanding of the Jew ish Faith and how it served as the foundation for the work done by Mary’s Son. Psalms from the Old Testament are woven through the story of the New, as Mary meditates and prays. : “Whoever loves always seeks to please the lover and guess his in clinations and secret desires,” Mrs. Schroeder writes. “M ary lived as closely as any human person could to the heart of the Creator. Her intuition was re fined by sanctity. She wished to give herself entirely, which is a characteristic measure of love. . .” Mrs. Schroeder’s devotion to Our Lady is ingrained from child hood. She is one of eight child ren, all of whom were named for Mary, by parents who were married on the Feast of the Im maculate Conception. The trans lator, Veronica Kirtland, is a iChilian-born writer who now lives in Port Washington, New York. the yardstick by which is meas ured all conduct, thought and ethics. The logic of the presen tation defies argument. The en tire work is beautifully written, at times reminding us of some of the writings of St. Francis de Sales. Each section contains much of a thought provoking nature and good meaty substance. We particularly appreciated the sec ond section which might be term ed an analysis of St. Augustine and his “Confessions” as applied to mankind in general. The fourth section too, “Jesus Christ and His Church,” offers much sub stance and sound logic. In fact, it is difficult to select or recom mend any one section as out standing or offering more than another. The entire subject mat ter is well worth absorbing from cover to cover to strengthen the Christian, to confuse the agnostic and to open the door of intellect to the atheist. NUNS SO LOVABLE: A book of Cartoons, by Joe Lane, (Mich ael Book Company), $1.00. This is another of those laugh able, lovable books of cartoons concerning the Little Nuns, by Joe Lane, as always he tickles the funny bone with the oh-so-human and oh-so-incongruous situations depicted. This is a good cure for the blues! what Mounier would call “the moral gentry.” In this novel he is occupied with the difficulty of the acceptance, even the recog nition, of Grace by those whose lives have been deadened with the kind of morality and pioug habit which has no basis in gen uine charity. “Lines of Life” was first published in the early twen ties under the title “Destins” and has since been twice translated into English. It tells of a middle- aged woman whose life is mo mentarily disrupted by her pe culiar attraction for a degenerate boy, an attraction which breaks up for a. short space of time the patterns of religious complacen cy in which she has been im mured. By the end of the novel, however, she has almost forgot ten her peculiar experience and is again “one of those dead car ried down the stream of life.” These are three extremely val uable books. 24-Hr. Service - Passengers Insured Blue Top & Veterans Cab Company TWO PHONES: 47-3148 — 47-3191 Brookhaven Chamblee Doravilla THIS MYSTERIOUS HUMAN NATURE, by James M. Gillis, C.S.A., (Scribner’s, $3.50). (Reviewed by Margaret G. Smith) This book is a complication of thirty-six conferences by the late Father Gillis. These are separate- ecl into five parts, covering hu man nature in general in relation to self, God, Church and finally Christianity. “The Touchstone”, LETTERS TO MEN AND WO MEN, by Fenelon, (Newman Press, $4.00). THE CHARACTER OF MAN, by Emmanuel Mounier, (Harper, $6.00). LINES OF LIFE, by Francois Mauriae, (Farrar, Straus and Cu dahy, $3.50). (Reviewed by Flannery O’Connor) Although one of these books is a collection of letters written in the 17th century, one a scien tific work, and one a novel, they are all three remarkably alike in spirit and all three have as an underlying concern the en trance of love into the world through the medium of the hu man character despite its natural distortions. Fenelon’s letters are directed to lay men and women who wish to achieve holiness in the world and who must combat, in addi tion to their internal distortions of character, the distortions of 17th century French court socie ty. The letters show a marked respect for the individual tem perament and a delicacy of ap proach that gives them a lasting value, both as literature and as spiritual direction. It is interest ing to note that Emmanuel Moun ier, in his scientific study of man’s character, has occasion at least once to quote from Fene lon’s letters. Mounier’s person- alist approach is closely akin to Fenelon’s courtesy. Mounier’s study, reduced here from its 800 original pages to 314, is a compendium of the contributions of modern psycho logy to the study of the person, from the purely physical aspects of man to his spiritual possibili ties within the limits of charac ter. The first chapter, titled, “To ward the Mystery of the Person,” is perhaps an adequate descrip tion of the direction of the entire book and confirms the author’s contention that his science, though, honest; “is a fighting science.” He is fighting for the mystery of the person as against any kind of determination, though always within the limits of the given. There is little doubt that this book is, as claimed on the jacket, the major work of “one of the really great men of our time.” The only pity about this edition is that it has been so drastically abridged. The distortions that Francois Mauriae has frequently concern ed himself with in his fictions are the distortions in the lives of THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH, by William O’Shea, (Newman, $7.00). (Reviewed by Leo J. Zuber) Father O’Shea, a faculty mem ber of Saint Mary’s Seminary. Baltimore, must have fascinating classes; even in print, he has dealt in a most engaging manner with the subject of the liturgy. De signed and planned basically as a seminary tool, this volume can not with full justice be labelled a textbook. It is far more than that. Liturgy may be easily and simply defined, as Pius XII has done, as the “public worship is offered to the Father by our Re deemer as Head of the Church; it is also the worship offered by the society of faithful to its Head, and through Him to the eternal Father.” But, simple definitions aside, it develops that there are so many volumes on parts of the -liturgy that the need became ap parent for a single volume cov ering the subject in survey fash ion. This the O’Shea volume ap pears to do. The first seven chapters are an introduction and orientation to the liturgy as a subject of study and of research, as a sacred science; four chapters cover phy sical aspects as the church struc ture and its contents, vestments and other visible, tangible ob jects. One chapter is on the litur gical year. The Mass in detail sacraments, divine office, the greater sacramentals and extra- liturgical devotions are covereo. in the seven concluding chap ters. Two appendices, a topical bibliography, and an index, con scientiously done, complete the volume of text. Ten reproduc tions in black and white of al tars, church interiors, pulpits, and other liturgical matter, each one of classic character, illustrate the volume. For anyone with a living in terest in the Church and its mis sion, and this includes laymen as well as religious, the O’Shea vol ume has much to offer in stim ulation and in advancement of that interest. There is a place for it in every Catholic home. It is as serviceable and as utilitarian as a- dictionary or an encyclope dia; there is a difference, it is highly readable. Surely the New man Press merits commendation for the excellence of its products of the publisher’s art. CONE STREET GARAGE 98 CONE, N. WATLANTA Parking Spaces Always Available At Roy Livingston Co. 18 LOCATIONS