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...]