Archives for April 2009

The Seven Deadly Sins

VICTORY OVER VICE. By Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (Sophia Institute Press, Box 5284, Manchester, N.H. 03108, 2004), 128 pp. PB $9.95.

In this volume Archbishop Sheen attacks each of the seven deadly sins in pointing out that these sins led Christ’s enemies to nail Him to a cross. He refers to examples in the Savior’s life to develop each of the corresponding virtues. Tre … [Read more...]

A Genuine “Return to Thomas”

BY KNOWLEDGE AND BY LOVE. By Michael S. Sherwin, O.P. (The Catholic University of America Press, P.O. Box 50370, Baltimore, Md. 21211, 2005), xxiii + 270 pp. HB $54.95.

There are two problems that have beset Thomistic philosophy and theology in the decades following the close of the Second Vatican Council, and it is difficult to decide which is the graver of the two. The first, and more general, is the … [Read more...]

Ultimate Issues in Politics

BECKET & HENRY: The Becket Lectures. By James J. Spigelman; foreword by George Cardinal Pell (St. Thomas More Society, GPO 282, Sydney, NSW 1043, Australia, 2004), 308 pp. US$35.00 + P&H.

(NOTEb Corresponding with the above address is apparently the only way to get this book, if it actually is still in print! Otherwise, check your local library - rjg) The account of Thomas à Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral four da … [Read more...]

Handmaid and Queen

QUEEN MOTHER: A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF MARY’S QUEENSHIP. By Edward Sri (Emmaus Road Publishing, 827 North Fourth St., Steubenville, Ohio 43952, 2005), xvi + 216 pp. PB $14.95.

The purpose of Edward Sri’s study is to prove the queenship of Mary as explicitly revealed in the scriptures. Therefore, the bulk of his research centers around key texts from the Old and New Testaments. In surveying the Old Testament, t … [Read more...]

Know your faith

FAITH FACTS II: ANSWERS TO CATHOLIC QUESTIONS. Co-edited by Leon J. Suprenant, Jr. & Philip C. L. Gray (Emmaus Road Publishing, 827 North Fourth Street, Steubenville, OH 43952, 2004), 188 pp. PB $14.95.

This informative book is thoroughly well done, an improvement even on Volume I of Faith Facts, which was reviewed very favorably in HPR about five years ago. But first some facts about CUF: In 1969 H. Lyman Stebbins, the founder of … [Read more...]

Irish Church in decline

THE END OF IRISH CATHOLICISM? By Vincent Twomey (Veritas Publications, 7 Lr. Abbey St., Dublin, Ireland, 2003), 220 pp. PB $18.95 [Available in the U.S. from Ignatius Press]

During the past few years we have seen much speculation about the rapidlydeclining state of the Church in Ireland after a series of clerical scandals and a drop in religious practice. Many are wondering if Ireland is still Catholic and … [Read more...]

The Pope Points to Jesus

On the Way to Jesus Christ. By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522. 2005), 169 pp. PB $19.95.

The articles gathered together in this book were written or given as lectures by Cardinal Ratzinger a few years before he became Pope Benedict XVI. So this is a collection of articles rather than a book on the topic of the Person of Jesus … [Read more...]

A Good Place to Start

PILGRIM FELLOWSHIP OF FAITH. The Church As Communion. By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI); edited by Stephan Otto Horn and Vinzenz Pfnur; translated by Henry Taylor (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 2005), 379 pp. PB $17.95.

Pope Benedict XVI, the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, is a professor, scholar and author of many books and articles. This volume, for example, includes a bibliography of 79 pages of his many different publications. When he accepted the … [Read more...]

Ratzinger on the Church

SALT OF THE EARTH. The Church at the End of the Millennium; An Interview with Peter Seewald. By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Fort Collins, Colo. 80522, 1997), 283 pp. PB $12.95.

This book is something like a sequel to The Ratzinger Report, which appeared in 1985. That volume caused quite a stir because of the bluntness of the Cardinal and because Catholics were not accustomed to hear such forthright and strong … [Read more...]

Reform Moved Too Quickly

THE ORGANIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITURGY, by Alcuin Reid, OSB, London, England: Saint Michael’s Abbey Press, 2004, 333 pages, $38.95 (US).

This book traces the history of the Roman Liturgy, with emphasis on the Mass, from the beginning of Catholicism to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The history is divided into three phases: from the beginning up to 1900; 1900–1948; 1 … [Read more...]

Transcendence in music

SURPRISED BY BEAUTY: A Listener’s Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music. By Robert R. Reilly (Morley Books, 1814 ½ “N” Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, 2002), 351 pp. PB $19.95

Robert Reilly is a man of many talents. From Chicago, he is a graduate of Georgetown University in the same class as former President Clinton though perhaps not of the same easy bent of mind. He initially was an actor. He still carries … [Read more...]

Beautiful and Ugly Churches

IN TIERS OF GLORY. The Organic Development of Church Architecture through the Ages. By Michael S. Rose (Mesa Folio Editions, Aquinas Publishing Ltd., P.O. Box 11260 Cincinnati Ohio 45211 2004), 136pp. 200 color illustrations. PB $29.95.

In a previous book, Ugly as Sin, Michael S. Rose analyzed recent trends in church architecture and pointed out that there are three constants in great and traditional Catholic churches—permanence, elevation and iconography. There he offers a … [Read more...]

A Theology of Friendship

Aelred of Rievaulx: Pursuing Perfect Happiness. By John R. Sommerfeldt (Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Blvd., Mahwah, N.J. 07430), 184 pp. PB 23.95.

Aelred of Rievaulx was an English Cistercian monk who served first as the Abbot of Revensby in Lincolnshire from 1143 to 1147 and then as the Abbot of Rievalux in North Yorkshire from 1147 till his death in 1167. The author of many … [Read more...]

The social damage caused by radical feminists

WOMEN WHO MAKE THE WORLD WORSE: AND HOW THEIR RADICAL FEMINIST ASSAULT IS RUINING OUR SCHOOLS, FAMILIES, MILITARY, AND SPORTS. By Kate O’Beirne. NY: Sentinel Trade. (Reprint-2006), pp. 256. PB. $14.95.

In Women Who Make the World Worse and How Their Radical Feminist Assault is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports, Kate O’Beirne exposes the damage that radical feminists have imposed on the most valued institutions in America … [Read more...]

How American Catholicism Was

THE EDGE OF SADNESS. By Edwin O’Connor (Loyola Press [Loyola Classics Series], 3441 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60657, 1962/2005 reprint), 640 pp. PB $13.95.

Once upon a time, before the priest scandals, Catholicism in Boston was rampant with good ol’ Irish “Cat’lics” who looked at religion as an extension of their everyday lives. Families were proud of the priests in their ranks, all went to Mas … [Read more...]