Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 236

Why Study Latin and Greek?

Fr. John Michael McDermott, S.J.,  takes on that question in an essay of the same name for Homiletic & Pastoral Review:

I always suspected a massive plot behind the sudden demise of classical languages in Catholic schools and universities after Vatican II.  Admittedly, those studies were countercultural.  While knowledge makes a bloody entrance, in post-conciliar times, "the living was easy."  We were exhorted to adapt ourselves to the times, and the times were clearly in favor of pot and free sex.  Why should students be forced into painful studies which would never be useful in the real world?  If the Baltimore catechism had yielded to constructing collages, and if experience formed the basis of theology, what did Latin and Greek have to offer?  Their demise fit in with the times.  Nonetheless, it seemed that the theologians willingly pushed the classics over the side of the Tarpeian cliff.  If their students did not have access to the primary texts, they would be in no position to question the new theological view of the universe; doctrine and morality would depend upon theologians' experience.  What can be more absolute than experience?

The intervening years have taught us that experience is, not only multifaceted and susceptible to contradictory interpretations (even among theologians), but also painful and downright confusing.  Spin doctors everywhere try to convince us that we experience and want what they want us to experience and want.  Democracy declines into promises to fulfill needs both natural and induced. Even in the Church, we have come to realize that not everything can be tolerated.  How can we escape the whirlpool of relativism?

Beyond Relativism
The study of Latin and Greek will not solve all the problems of our cultural malaise.  But when people are looking for something beyond relativism and post-modernism, it may be opportune to examine again benefits of a "classical education."

First of all, classical studies train the memory, and memory allows us to transcend the moment's immediacy. 

Read the entire essay at www.HPRweb.com.

Fatima and Conspiracy Theories

English journalist and author Joanna Bogle considers that contentious topic in a post on the Catholic World Report blog:

I was living in Berlin in 1984 and I remember that as 1984 opened we talked about George Orwell's book that had predicted a worldwide grim police state in that year. I was standing outside the small church  in Pruessenallee,  dedicated to St George and used by the British military community,  in March 1984 when I heard about the Pope having carried out the consecration of the world, and wondered what this could mean. The whole Fatima saga was linked in Catholic minds to Russia and Communism. In Berlin in the early 1980s,  the Wall dominated the city, soldiers  were still shooting anyone trying to escape from the Communist East, and there was the whole paraphernalia of  watchtowers (the East German government had recently built great new ones), howling search-dogs, barbed wire, tank-traps and more.

Five years later, the Berlin Wall had come crashing down, Russia as the headquarters of world Communism was history, and everything had changed. And as the second decade of the 21st century opened, the main story from Russia was of millions of people queuing up to venerate a holy relic of Mary, standing for hours in the bitter cold.  

Mary's promise at Fatima that "Russia will be converted" did not put any timing on the event: it will probably take years. But the extraordinary link between the Marian devotion of Blessed John Paul, his survival of the assassination attempt on May 13th - the Fatima feast-day - and the events following that consecration in 1984, are all worth pondering. Don't go for conspiracy theories:  just concentrate on what the Church teaches, as both Blessed John Paul and our present Holy Father have done.

Read her entire post. Also see:

Hysterical Anti-Catholic History | A Review of Cullen Murphy's "God's Jury"

Hysterical Anti-Catholic History | A Review of Cullen Murphy's God's Jury by Fr. Brian Van Hove, S.J.

God's Jury continues a long and not-so-illustrious tradition of misrepresenting history and attacking the Catholic Church.

Anthony Burgess once was reported to have said of himself, "Just because I don't believe in God, doesn't mean I am not a Catholic!" While Cullen Murphy, in his latest book, self-presents as someone we might still call a "cultural Catholic" (on page 9: "as a Catholic growing up with many Jesuit friends"; and on page 24: "I began to explore the Inquisition as one who happens to be both a Catholic and an American"; and on page 78: "as a boy growing up in the 1950s and 1960s…I remember references in Catholic liturgy"), possibly his natural intellectual home is with the religiously hostile New Atheists, who include Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Victor J. Stenger, though Murphy does not himself say this.

In passing, let us recall that the premier Old Atheist, more informed and articulate than all of the new ones put together, was Anthony Flew (1923‒2010). At last he rejected atheism after a lengthy academic career and much fame. Flew never took interest in Roman law or its offspring, the Inquisitions. His obituary called him "a welcome counterblast to recent antireligious best-sellers." Among those best-sellers, must we add Murphy's latest offering, God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World?

Murphy never claims to be an historian. His edited informal conversations with noted historians (Eamon Duffy, Henry Kamen, Edward Peters, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Peter Godman, Francisco Bethencourt) are nonetheless impressive. But what is curious is the omission of other serious and relevant historians, including Knights Templar and Joan of Arc-specialist Régine Pernoud, Helen Rawlings, 'historian-prophet' Christopher Dawson, Paul F. Grendler, and the distinguished Paul Johnson. They do not merit an entry in the general bibliography.

On page 253, Murphy thanks certain historians for their guidance—Francisco Bethencourt, David Kertzer, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Edward Peters, and John Tedeschi. (We prudently wonder how much of the book was composed by Murphy himself and how much was redacted or ghost-written by research associates, European style?)

His subject is treated midway in the perplexing landscape between erudite banter and entertainment, with at least one fine exception. The disagreement between Benzion Netanyahu and Henry Kamen over the social causes of the Spanish Inquisition is fittingly presented in "A Clash of Explanations" (pages 94-102). The conclusion of Henry Kamen is that Spanish society was already "curdled" before the Inquisition emerged. Curdled (page 101)!? Without this section and with numerous asides and spurious remarks (and a needlessly ugly dust jacket), Murphy may just remind us of Dan Brown, whose 2003 The Da Vinci Code uses religious themes and historical references to develop a conspiratorial and fictional plot. Brown is mentioned neither in the bibliography nor in the index nor in the acknowledgements, but The Da Vinci Code is referred to by name on page 29.

Read the entire review on www.CatholicWorldReport.com...

New: "We Have Found Mercy: The Mystery of God's Merciful Love"

Now available from Ignatius Press:

We Have Found Mercy: The Mystery of God's Merciful Love

by Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn

• Also available as an Electronic Format Download

Sister Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun who had mystical encounters with the merciful Christ in the early 20th century, was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II. The Pope also declared the first Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday, and it was during the vigil Mass of this feast that the Holy Father received his last Holy Communion and drew his last breath.

The message of Divine Mercy as communicated through Sister Faustina is both a starting point and a recurring theme for Cardinal Schönborn's discussion of God's merciful love. The Archbishop of Vienna explores the presence of God's great mercy in the Scriptures, Tradition, the life of Christ, and the sacraments and works of the Church, while raising important questions along the way, such as, "What is the relationship between mercy and justice?"

"Mercy is the central nucleus of the Gospel message. In our time humanity needs a strong proclamation and witness of God's mercy . . . Go forth and be witnesses of God's mercy, a source of hope for every person and for the whole world."
- Pope Benedict XVI

Christoph Cardinal Schönborn is the Archbishop of Vienna. The renowned theologian was the primary editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Born in 1945, the Dominican was a student of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. He has written numerous books and articles on faith, including Chance or Purpose?, a study of the theory of evolution and the relationship between faith and science.

"Bringing The Lord": Catholic chaplains offer hope and healing to the imprisoned

Bringing The Lord | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report

Catholic chaplains offer hope and healing to the imprisoned.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Roman's Rebibbia prison on December 18 to remind inmates, "God loves you with an infinite love." Citing Matthew 25, the Pontiff added, "Wherever there is a hungry person, a foreigner, a sick person or a prisoner, there is Christ himself, who is awaiting our visit and our help."

About 2.3 million people are incarcerated in federal and state prisons and county jails in the United States, and nearly five million more are on probation or parole.  The number of those imprisoned has spiked since the late 1970s, and today, the US has a far higher number of prisoners per capita than any nation in the world. The US has about 5 percent of the world's population and about 25 percent of the world's prisoners.

While many inmates do not practice any religion, a significant percentage are baptized Catholics, and the ordeal of life in prison prompts them to seek the counsel of a Catholic chaplain or other Catholic volunteer involved in prison ministry. CWR recently spoke to four Catholics dedicated to prison ministry, who shared their insights on how they bring Christ to those living behind bars.

Read the entire article on www.CatholicWorldReport.com...

Cardinal Timothy Dolan issues strongest statement yet against the HHS mandate

His Eminence Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, President, and His Excellency Most Reverend William E. Lori, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, have released a very strong statement regarding the current status of the HHS mandate, dated February 21, 2012, to the bishops of the United States.

The statement warns of the severe danger posed to religious liberty by "an all-encompassing, extreme form of secularism" and notes that the narrow "exemption" in the mandate was "instituted only by executive whim" and so "can be taken away easily." Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori present the mandate as an assault on foundational principles and ask, "If the government can, for example, tell Catholics that they cannot be in the insurance business today without violating their religious convictions, where does it end?"

Here is the full text of the statement:

Dear Brother Bishops,

Since we last wrote to you concerning the critical efforts we are undertaking together to protect religious freedom in our beloved country, many of you have requested that we write once more to update you on the situation and to again request the assistance of all the faithful in this important work. We are happy to do so now.

First, we wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to you, and to all our sisters and brothers in Christ, for the remarkable witness of our unity in faith and strength of conviction during this past month. We have made our voices heard, and we will not cease from doing so until religious freedom is restored.

As we know, on January 20, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a decision to issue final regulations that would force practically all employers, including many religious institutions, to pay for abortion inducing drugs, sterilizations, and contraception. The regulations would provide no protections for our great institutions—such as Catholic charities, hospitals, and universities—or for the individual faithful in the marketplace. The regulations struck at the heart of our fundamental right to religious liberty, which affects our ability to serve those outside our faith community.

Since January 20, the reaction was immediate and sustained. We came together, joined by people of every creed and political persuasion, to make one thing resoundingly clear: we stand united against any attempt to deny or weaken the right to religious liberty upon which our country was founded.

On Friday, February 10, the Administration issued the final rules. By their very terms, the rules were reaffirmed "without change." The mandate to provide the illicit services remains. The exceedingly narrow exemption for churches remains. Despite the outcry, all the threats to religious liberty posed by the initial rules remain.

Religious freedom is a fundamental right of all. This right does not depend on any government's decision to grant it: it is God-given, and just societies recognize and respect its free exercise. The free exercise of religion extends well beyond the freedom of worship. It also forbids government from forcing people or groups to violate their most deeply held religious convictions, and from interfering in the internal affairs of religious organizations.

Recent actions by the Administration have attempted to reduce this free exercise to a "privilege" arbitrarily granted by the government as a mere exemption from an all-encompassing, extreme form of secularism. The exemption is too narrowly defined, because it does not exempt most non-profit religious employers, the religiously affiliated insurer, the self-insured employer, the for-profit religious employer, or other private businesses owned and operated by people who rightly object to paying for abortion inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception. And because it is instituted only by executive whim, even this unduly narrow exemption can be taken away easily.

In the United States, religious liberty does not depend on the benevolence of who is regulating us. It is our "first freedom" and respect for it must be broad and inclusive—not narrow and exclusive. Catholics and other people of faith and good will are not second class citizens. And it is not for the government to decide which of our ministries is "religious enough" to warrant religious freedom protection.

This is not just about contraception, abortion-causing drugs, and sterilization—although all should recognize the injustices involved in making them part of a universal mandated health care program. It is not about Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals. It is about people of faith. This is first and foremost a matter of religious liberty for all. If the government can, for example, tell Catholics that they cannot be in the insurance business today without violating their religious convictions, where does it end? This violates the constitutional limits on our government, and the basic rights upon which our country was founded.

Much remains to be done. We cannot rest when faced with so grave a threat to the religious liberty for which our parents and grandparents fought. In this moment in history we must work diligently to preserve religious liberty and to remove all threats to the practice of our faith in the public square. This is our heritage as Americans. President Obama should rescind the mandate, or at the very least, provide full and effective measures to protect religious liberty and conscience.

Above all, dear brothers, we rely on the help of the Lord in this important struggle. We all need to act now by contacting our legislators in support of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, which can be done through our action alert on www.usccb.org/conscience.

We invite you to share the contents of this letter with the faithful of your diocese in whatever form, or by whatever means, you consider most suitable. Let us continue to pray for a quick and complete resolution to this and all threats to religious liberty and the exercise of our faith in our great country.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Most Reverend William E. Lori
Bishop of Bridgeport
Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

"When a man leaves on a journey, he must know where he is going. Thus with Lent. ..."

... Above all, Lent is a spiritual journey and its destination is Easter, "the Feast of Feasts." It is the preparation for the "fulfillment of Pascha, the true Revelation." We must begin, therefore, by trying to understand this connection between Lent and Easter, for it reveals something very essential, very crucial about our Christian faith and life.

Is it necessary to explain that Easter is much more than one of the feasts, more than a yearly commemoration of a past event? Anyone who has, be it only once, taken part in that night which is "brighter than the day," who has tasted of that unique joy, knows it. On Easter we celebrate Christ's Resurrection as something that happened and still happens to us. For each one of us received the gift of that new life and the power to accept it and live by it. It is a gift which radically alters our attitude toward everything in this world, including death. It makes it possible for us to joyfully affirm: "Death is no more!" Oh, death is still there, to be sure, and we still face it and someday it will come and take us. But it is our whole faith that by His own death Christ changed the very nature of death, made it a passage — a "passover," a "Pascha" — into the Kingdom of God, transforming the tragedy of tragedies into the ultimate victory.

Such is that faith of the Church, affirmed and made evident by her countless Saints. Is it not our daily experience, however, that this faith is very seldom ours, that all the time we lose and betray the "new life" which we received as a gift, and that in fact we live as if Christ did not rise from the dead, as if that unique event had no meaning whatsoever for us?  We simply forget all this — so busy are we, so immersed in our daily preoccupations — and because we forget, we fail. And through this forgetfulness, failure, and sin, our life becomes "old" again — petty, dark, and ultimately meaningless — a meaningless journey toward a meaningless end.  We may from time to time acknowledge and confess our various "sins," yet we cease to refer our life to that new life which Christ revealed and gave to us. Indeed, we live as if He never came. This is the only real sin, the sin of all sins, the bottomless sadness and tragedy of our nominal Christianity.

That is from the Introduction to Great Lent: Journey to Pascha (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1969, 1996), by the great Eastern Orthodox theologian, Fr. Alexander Schmemann. For anyone who is interested in an Eastern perspective on the Great Fast, this book is certainly on the short list.

On a semi-related note, I see that the "Catholics Aren't the Only Ones Who Have Ash Wednesday/Lent/Good Friday/Etc." articles are starting to appear. Such pieces used to annoy me. Then they amused me. But, more and more, they interest me as I try to take up a more patient and really Catholic attitude toward the bewildering, swirling denominational chaos of Protestantism (which, as many readers know, I left fifteen years ago this Easter). Here is an example, from The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California):

Don't assume every ash-marked forehead you see today belongs to a Catholic.

Ash Wednesday, long associated with Catholicism, is increasingly observed in Protestant churches.

The Rev. Joe DeRoulhac became senior minister of Redlands' First Baptist Church in 1989 but didn't preside over Ash Wednesday services there until 2003. The idea came from an interfaith Ash Wednesday event he participated in a year or two before.

DeRoulhac said there's an increasing desire among Protestants to look anew at ancient Christian practices that previously were identified with Catholics.

Any movement toward recognizing that material things—from ashes to oil to bread and wine—can be used by God to either indicate or even transmit his grace is a good thing, and a step toward comprehending the reality of the sacramental order.

Another point, however: there are some Catholics, such as myself, who won't have an ash-marked forehead today, because Ash Wednesday is not part of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox observation of the Great Fast, which begins on Clean Monday, two days ago (following Cheese-fare Sunday, the last day dairy products can be eaten). For more about the structure of Lent in most Eastern churches, see this overview by Schmemann. Finally, for more about Eastern Catholicism, especially in the United States, order a copy of this helpful, introductory booklet from the USCCB, or read the contents online.

Benedict XVI: "The time leading up to Easter is a time of 'metanoia', a time of change and penance...."

From Vatican Information Service:

Vatican City, 22 February 2012 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning, the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to the subject of Lent (which begins today, Ash Wednesday), the period of forty days leading up to the Easter Triduum, memorial of the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Benedict XVI reminded the 7,500 pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall that, in the early days of the Church, Lent was a time in which catechumens began their journey of faith and conversion prior to receiving Baptism. Later, all the faithful were invited to participate in this period of spiritual renewal. Thus "the participation of the whole community in the various stages of the Lenten journey underlines an important dimension of Christian spirituality: the fact that redemption is available not just for the few, but for everyone, thanks to Christ's death and resurrection".

"The time leading up to Easter is a time of 'metanoia', a time of change and penance, a time which identifies our human lives and our entire history as a process of conversion, which begins to move now in order to meet the Lord at the end of time".

The Church calls this period "Quadragesima", a period of forty days which has precise references in Holy Scripture. Indeed, "forty is the symbolic number with which the Old and New Testaments represent the most important moments of the People of God's experience of faith. It is a figure which expresses a time of expectation, purification, return to the Lord, awareness that God is faithful to His promises; ... a time within which we must make our choice, shoulder our responsibilities without further delay. It is a time for mature decisions".

Noah spent forty days in the Ark during the Flood, then had to wait forty days more before he could return to dry land. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai to collect the Commandments. The Jewish People spent forty years wandering in the desert, then enjoyed forty years of peace under the government of the Judges. The inhabitants of Niniveh made forty days penance to obtain God's forgiveness. The reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, the first kings of Israel, lasted forty years each. In the New Testament, Jesus spent forty days praying in the wilderness before beginning His public life and, following the resurrection, He spent forty days instructing His disciples before ascending to heaven.

The liturgy of Lent, the Pope explained, "has the aim of facilitating our journey of spiritual renewal in the light of this long biblical experience. Above all, it helps us to imitate Jesus Who, in the forty days He spent in the wilderness, taught us to overcome temptation through the Word of God. ... Jesus went into the wilderness in order to be in profound contact with the Father. This was a constant aspect of Christ's earthly life. He always sought out moments of solitude to pray to His Father and abide in intimate and exclusive communion with Him, before retuning among mankind. But in the 'wilderness' ... Jesus was beset by temptation and the seduction of the Evil One, who suggested a messianic path, a path which was far from God's plans because it involved power, success and dominion, not love and the total gift of self on the Cross".

Benedict XVI went on to suggest that the Church herself is a pilgrim in the "wilderness" of the world and history. This wilderness is made up of "the aridity and poverty of words, life and values, of secularism and the culture of materialism which enclose people within a worldly horizon and detach them from any reference to transcendence. In such an atmosphere the sky above us is dark, because veiled with clouds of selfishness, misunderstanding and deceit. Nonetheless, even for the Church today, the wilderness can become a period of grace, because we have the certainty that even from the hardest rock God can cause the living water to gush forth, water which quenches thirst and restores strength".

"During Lent", said the Holy Father in conclusion, "may we discover fresh courage to accept situations of difficulty, affliction and suffering with patience and faith, aware that, from the darkness, the Lord will cause a new day to shine forth. And if we have been faithful to Jesus, following Him on the way of the Cross, the luminous world of God, the world of light, truth and joy, will be ours again".

At the end of the catechesis Benedict XVI greeted pilgrims in various languages. Speaking Polish he highlighted how "fasting and prayer, penance and works of mercy" are the principal means of preparation for Easter.

The Pope also addressed a special greeting to faithful of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, who were present in the Paul VI Hall. The ordinariate was set up a little over a year ago for groups of Anglican clergy and faithful wishing to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church. The general audience ended with the apostolic blessing.

Lent and the reasons for fasting

From the essay, "Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself", by Brother Austin G. Murphy, O.S.B.:

To answer the question "Why must the Christian fast?" we should first note that fasting, in itself, is neither good nor bad, but is morally neutral. But fasting is good insofar as it achieves a good end. Its value lies in it being an effective means for attaining greater virtue. And because it is a means for gaining virtue– and every Christian ought to be striving to grow in virtue–there is good reason to fast.

Some people point out that fasting is not the most important thing and, therefore, they do not need to worry about it. Such reasoning displays a misunderstanding of our situation. But, since the excuse is common enough, some comments to refute it are worthwhile.

Doing Small Things Well

First, while it is true that fasting is not the most important thing in the world, this does not make fasting irrelevant or unimportant. There are, certainly, more urgent things to abstain from than food or drink, such as maliciousness, backbiting, grumbling, etc. But a person is mistaken to conclude that he therefore does not need to fast. He should not believe that he can ignore fasting and instead abstain in more important matters. Rather, fasting and avoiding those other vices go hand in hand. Fasting must accompany efforts to abstain in greater matters. For one thing, fasting teaches a person how to abstain in the first place.

Moreover, it is presumptuous for a person to try to practice the greater virtues without first paying attention to the smaller ones. As Our Lord says, "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much" [1] and so can be trusted with greater things. Therefore, if a person wants to be able to abstain in greater matters he must not neglect to abstain in smaller matters, such as through fasting.

Finally, there is a subtle form of pride present in the person who says that because something is not very important, he does not need to do it. Whoever makes such a claim implies that he does only important things. But the average person is rarely called to do very important things. Accordingly, each person is more likely to be judged on how he did the little, everyday things. Even when, rarely, a person is called to do a great work, how often does he fall short? All the more reason, then, for a person to make sure that he at least does the small things well. Furthermore, if he truly loves the Lord, he will gladly do anything–big or small–for him. So, in the end, saying that fasting is not the most important thing is not a good excuse for avoiding it.

What, then, is the reason for fasting? To answer this let us first clarify what fasting entails. It involves more than the occasional fast, such as on Good Friday. To be effective, fasting requires disciplined eating habits all the time. There are certainly days when a person should make a greater effort at abstaining from food and drink. These are what we usually consider days of fasting and they must be practiced regularly. But, still, there are never days when a person is allowed to abandon all restraint. A person must always practice some restraint over his appetites or those periodic days of fasting arc valueless. Always keeping a check on his desires, a person develops good habits, which foster constancy in his interior life. So, in addition to practicing days of fasting on a regular basis, a person should continuously restrain his desires, such as those that incline him to eat too much, to be too concerned with what he eats, or to eat too often. [2]

We might, then speak of the discipline of fasting in order to avoid the impression that fasting is sporadic. The operative principle behind the discipline of fasting is simple: to limit yourself to only what is necessary for your physical and psychological health–no more, no less. St. Augustine puts it concisely when he teaches: "As far as your health allows, keep your bodily appetites in check by fasting and abstinence from food and drink." [3] So, fasting is meant only to keep a person's unnecessary wants in check. A person is not– nor is he permitted–to deny himself what is necessary for his health. The discipline of fasting instead asks a person to check his desires for what is superfluous and not necessary.

Read the entire essay on Ignatius Insight:

New: "Saints Are Not Sad: Short Biographies of Joyful Saints" by Frank Sheed

Now available from Ignatius Press:

Saints Are Not Sad: Short Biographies of Joyful Saints

by Frank Sheed

• Also available in Electronic Book Format

"The only tragedy is not to be a saint", wrote the French novelist Léon Bloy. And St. Francis de Sales said that "A sad saint would be a sorry saint." But what is a saint? One way to answer is to analyze sanctity, theologically and psychologically. Another way, which is the path Frank Sheed chose in creating this volume, is to show you a saint-or rather, since no two saints are alike-to show you a number of saints. In this book, you are shown forty saints.

The saints Sheed chose for this collection are from various time periods: six before A.D. 500, seventeen from then to the Reformation, and seventeen from the Reformation to the middle of the twentieth century. Many are well known, like St. Anthony, Francis, Augustine, Patrick and Bernadette, while others are lesser known, for example, Columcille and Malachy.

The same can be said for the various authors of these short biographies. Among them are the famous like Hilaire Belloc, Alban Goodier and G.K. Chesterton, as well as priests and laymen whose names may no longer be familiar but whose writing still brings to life men and women whose closeness to God gave them purpose, strength, and yes, joy.

Frank Sheed [Ignatius Insight Author Page] and his wife, Maise Ward, founded the well-known London publishing house Sheed and Ward in 1926. Together they published some of the finest Catholic literature of the first half of the twentieth century. Known for his sharp mind and clarity of expression, Sheed became a famous Catholic apologist, writing several books including Theology and Sanity, A Map of Life, and To Know Christ Jesus.