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...]

The Church on Trial

Augustine: A New Biography . O’Donnell, J.J. (2005). NY: Harper-Collins Publisher, 10 E. 53 rd St., 10022 pp. 336 BP $26.95.

This rendition of Augustine’s life and legacy is by no means hagiographical. As a matter of fact it is, at times, down-right hostile. The first part of the book is based mainly on an exegesis of The Confessions. O’Donnell questions its gen … [Read more...]

Mother, Doctor and Saint

SAINT GIANNA MOLLA: WIFE, MOTHER, DOCTOR. By Pietro Molla and Elio Guerriero. (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, Colo. 80522, 2004), 153 pp. PB $10.95.

Saints come in all sizes, ages, colors and shapes. Here is the life of a newly canonized contemporary woman, Gianna Molla (1923-1962) who risked her life in order to save her unborn child. Diagnosed with uterine tumors, she refused a … [Read more...]

A Thirst for Jesus

I THIRST: SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX AND MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA by Jacques Gauthier. Staten Island, New York: Society of St. Paul, 21878 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10314-6603, Paperback, 103 Pgs, $14.95.

St. Therese of Lisieux and Mother Teresa of Calcutta have been described as “two mirrors who mutually reflect each other, one revealing what at first glance is not obvious to the other.” The author, Jacques Gauthier, stresses those areas of … [Read more...]

A Bishop to Imitate

HE SPARED HIMSELF IN NOTHING. Essays on the Life and Thoughts of St. John Nepomucene Neumann, C.Ss.R. Edited by Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S. (St. Joseph’s University Press, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19131, 2003), 236 pp. HB $35 plus $4 for S&H.

Fr. John N. Neumann, C.Ss.R. was the first U.S. male citizen to be canonized (1977) in the United State (beatification in 1863). St. Joseph’s Jesuit University in Philadelphia undertook to publish these nine essays to honor this devotee of J … [Read more...]

Lowliness of the Forerunner

THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM: On the Orthodox Veneration of the Forerunner. By Sergius Bulgakov; translated by Boris Jakim, (Eerdmans Press, 255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503, 2003) PB $28.

The classic Deisis icon depicts the intercession of the Blessed Mother and John the Baptist. With Christ firmly at the middle, the Deisis represents the consummation of the old covenant and the beginning of the new, the first fulfilled by … [Read more...]

Knowing and loving God

SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX: HER FAMILY: HER GOD, HER MESSAGE. ByFather Bernard Bro, O.P. (Ignatius Press, P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, CO 80522, 2003;1-800-651-1531), 253 pp. PB $15.95.

How does a woman who lived only twenty-four years become a saint? How does a woman without a college education or a university degree become a doctor of the church? How does a simple French girl from a provincial background who lived only … [Read more...]