Below is a list of the books from my homily at Holy Family Adventure Weekend. Remember that reading books is a great way to come to know things about God; make sure you make good use of the sacraments and spend time in personal prayer so that you will come to know God Himself, which is infinitely better than knowing about God (important though that is).
Books for the more casual reader
Time for God, Jacques Philippe. If you read just one book on this list, read this one.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.) You know this one.
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Not as well known as the full CCC, though maybe it should be. It is cast in the tradition Q&A form of catechisms, and is less detailed but more accessible than its parent volume.
The Belief of Catholics, Ronald Knox. Knox was one of the most prominent Catholic writers in England in the first part of the 20th Century. This book is an admirable summary of what we believe and why we believe it. You can read the whole thing online here. Ignatius Press offers a print version.
Hail, Holy Queen, Scott Hahn. I confess it's been a while since I read this, but if memory serves, it is a good introduction to the place of Mary in Catholic thought and piety.
Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). I hesitate to write a review of a book by the Pope. Just read the book. (But be warned that the Holy Father does assume a certain level of familiarity with current debates in biblical studies.)
Life of Christ, Fulton J. Sheen. A profound meditation on the Life of Christ.
Theology for Beginners, Frank Sheed. A gentle but not shallow introduction to theology.
The Gospel According to St. John, Navarre Edition. The Navarre editions are good commentaries, for the most part, though I have to admit I now prefer The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament for an entry-level commentary for the books of the New Testament. But the Ignatius one wouldn't fit in my book bags, so it didn't make it into the homily.
Books for serious study (which is not to say that you can't study books on the earlier list, too!)
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Ludwig Ott. A concise one-volume summary of the Church's official teaching on nearly everything along with explanations of the belief, evaluations of the level of certainty associated with the teaching (defined doctrine down to pious opinion), and references to the appropriate sources. Not particular a book you'd sit down and read, but if you need to know what the Church teaches on a given point, you'll probably find it here. It was written in the 1950s, so it's lacking anything that's been defined and refined since then. There are also a few points at which well-informed people disagree with Dr. Ott's assessments. Still, there's no other book quite like it.
The Shape of Catholic Theology, Aidan Nichols, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) An overview of the process of Catholic theology: the role of philosophy, the use of the Bible, the resources of sacred tradition, aids to discernment, and a short history of theology.
Introduction to Moral Theology, Romanus Cessario, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) Just what it says; if you want to know how we know what a moral life in Christ is, this is a good place to start.
The Sacramental Mystery, Paul Haffner. Another seminary text, and one I refer to every now and then. It's got a good overview of the sacraments in general and a discussion of each sacrament.
Aristotle for Everybody, Mortimer Adler. It's hard to understand St. Thomas without understanding Aristotle, and it's hard to understand Catholic doctrine without understanding at least the vocabulary of St. Thomas. Ergo, if one wishes to understand Catholic doctrine, some acquaintance with Aristotle is quite helpful, and this book is one of the more painless way to make that acquaintance.
Summa of the Summa, St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) ed. and annotated by Peter Kreeft. This book concentrates on the purely philosophical portions of St. Thomas's work (that is, it is not concerned with the Trinity, the Incarnation, sacraments, etc., which we know only through revelation [though we can then apply philosophical reasoning to them, which St. Thomas does]), but it is one way to begin making one's acquaintance with St. Thomas. I note that there are those who think Dr. Kreeft gets some things wrong, but we used this book in my Natural Theology course in seminary, and I'm confident it is far more right than wrong.
A Tour of the Summa, Paul J. Glenn. A brief summary of the Summa (well, briefer than the Summa itself, at least).
Of God and His Creatures, St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) tr. and abridged by Joseph Rickaby, S.J. A shortened version of St. Thomas's Summa Contra Gentiles with commentary by Fr. Rickaby. There are places where I am afraid Fr. Rickaby gave in to the intellectual currents of the early 20th Century and edited out material he ought to have left, but there's still plenty here, and St. Thomas gives explanations a little more verbose than those in the Summa.
The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (Dominicans rule!) in two volumes. A pair of weighty tomes on the spiritual life. Great stuff, but he presumes a fair amount of background knowledge, particularly of the writings of St. Thomas.
God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, Joseph Pohle, adapted and edited by Arthur Preuss. Msgr. Pohle and Mr. (? maybe Dr.--nothing I have says for sure) Preuss produced a series of texts that were, I believe, standard seminary fare in the early 20th Century. They are among the first places I turn to when faced with a more technical question in theology. The drawback for a modern reader is that the authors assume that a page full of Latin is no problem, nor are they concerned over the occasional outburst of Greek and Hebrew. They also assume some acquaintance with St. Thomas, though they also explain his teaching in depth (occasionally getting it wrong, IMHO, though not so often as to make me dislike the books). Google Books and the Internet Archive (www.archive.org/texts) have copies of the whole series.
Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology, Roch A. Kereszty, O. Cist. This was a textbook from seminary; I recall the class fairly well, but not much about the book. When I actually have a Christology question, I consult the book on Christology by Pohle/Preuss, and I recommend it instead of this one, but I don't own a hardcopy of P/P on Christology (I read a library copy) and so couldn't bring it.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th ed. (a.k.a. NA27). The current standard edition of the Greek text of the New Testament. I have the large print edition, which is hard enough on the eyes as it is. I can't imagine trying to read the smaller edition.
Pocket Interlinear New Testament, ed. Jay P. Green, Sr. I don't particularly recommend this edition as it uses an inferior version of the Greek text along a revised version of the King James translation (I think this copy came from a garage sale or some such place where at least the price was right), but interlinears are handy to get an idea what the Greek text is that underlies a given passage without actually having to learn Greek.
JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. Hebrew text of the Old Testament in parallel with an English translation. (Tanakh is an acronym from "Torah" [the five books of Moses], "Nevi'im" [prophets], and "Ketuvim" [writings = everything else].)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Church Music in History and Practice
Charles Winfred Douglas (not Winifred—this is a man, not a woman) was one of the most respected scholars of hymnody in the 20th Century. Church Music in History and Practice is a thorough introduction to the history of Church music up until the middle part of the last century. (Thomas Day's somewhat abrasive Why Catholics Can't Sing does much to explain the musical train wreck of the second half of the century.)
Douglas was an Episcopal priest, and the book can be at times a little tendentious toward Catholicism, but not nearly so much as to obscure its value. If you want to know why classical Church music sounds the way it does, both the text and the music, Douglas's book will explain.
Sadly, it's long out of print. Even more sadly, there's a revised edition (ca. 1962, also OOP) whose reviser was far too kind to the growing incursion of bad taste into Church music. Fortunately he seems to have restricted most of his revising to adding chapters at the end.
The good news is that used copies, even of the first edition, are available at fairly reasonable prices.
Douglas was an Episcopal priest, and the book can be at times a little tendentious toward Catholicism, but not nearly so much as to obscure its value. If you want to know why classical Church music sounds the way it does, both the text and the music, Douglas's book will explain.
Sadly, it's long out of print. Even more sadly, there's a revised edition (ca. 1962, also OOP) whose reviser was far too kind to the growing incursion of bad taste into Church music. Fortunately he seems to have restricted most of his revising to adding chapters at the end.
The good news is that used copies, even of the first edition, are available at fairly reasonable prices.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
To Save a Thousand Souls
To Save a Thousand Souls, Fr. Brett Brannen
Truth in advertising (or reviewing): Fr. Brannen was my formation advisor in seminary. I learned an immense amount from him and count myself fortunate in being able to regard him as a friend. So this isn't necessarily the most unbiased of reviews.
That being said, I am still confident I'd give the book a good review even if I'd never met the author. His primary audience is the man who thinks he might have a vocation to the diocesan priesthood, but nearly anyone interested in how Catholic priests become priests, from the moment of the first hint of a call through the day of ordination, will learn much from this book.
I've been ordained nearly three years (it seems a short time and forever simultaneously), and I was going through the period of serious discernment nearly a decade ago. I wish this book had existed then, and I wish I'd had a copy. Some of what I found was simply confirmation that what I'd experienced was typical; some of it addressed the fears I had to work through in other ways; and some of it was simply advice that I eventually figured out on my own eventually, a process that would have been easier had someone been able to point it out to me at the time.
Advice about prayer? It's here.
Information about what to expect? It's here.
Warnings of pitfalls and how to avoid them? They're here, along with advice on how to get back up if you've fallen.
And all of it is straightforward, clear, and without pretense.
Buy a copy for yourself, and give one to someone you know who's discerning.
Truth in advertising (or reviewing): Fr. Brannen was my formation advisor in seminary. I learned an immense amount from him and count myself fortunate in being able to regard him as a friend. So this isn't necessarily the most unbiased of reviews.
That being said, I am still confident I'd give the book a good review even if I'd never met the author. His primary audience is the man who thinks he might have a vocation to the diocesan priesthood, but nearly anyone interested in how Catholic priests become priests, from the moment of the first hint of a call through the day of ordination, will learn much from this book.
I've been ordained nearly three years (it seems a short time and forever simultaneously), and I was going through the period of serious discernment nearly a decade ago. I wish this book had existed then, and I wish I'd had a copy. Some of what I found was simply confirmation that what I'd experienced was typical; some of it addressed the fears I had to work through in other ways; and some of it was simply advice that I eventually figured out on my own eventually, a process that would have been easier had someone been able to point it out to me at the time.
Advice about prayer? It's here.
Information about what to expect? It's here.
Warnings of pitfalls and how to avoid them? They're here, along with advice on how to get back up if you've fallen.
And all of it is straightforward, clear, and without pretense.
Buy a copy for yourself, and give one to someone you know who's discerning.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Special Edition: Sherlock Holmes meets the Catholic Church
(Full disclosure: I know the author of this book and my name is in the credits in the back.)
It has been some time (sadly) since I have drunk much from the original well, but the book doesn't have the uncomfortable feel that I get when I read something written in imitation of someone else's style. Holmes and Watson are demonstrably themselves, but seen through different authorial eyes. That's a good thing, not a bad one, and the result is an entertaining book.
In this memorable year ’95 a curious and incongruous succession of cases had engaged [Holmes's] attention, ranging from his famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca—an inquiry which was carried out by him at the express desire of His Holiness the Pope.... “The Adventure of Black Peter”From this intriguing hint, Ann Lewis has spun out not one but three tales of Sherlock Holmes and his involvement with things Catholic. (Arthur Conan Doyle was Jesuit-trained, BTW.) The result is Murder in The Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
It has been some time (sadly) since I have drunk much from the original well, but the book doesn't have the uncomfortable feel that I get when I read something written in imitation of someone else's style. Holmes and Watson are demonstrably themselves, but seen through different authorial eyes. That's a good thing, not a bad one, and the result is an entertaining book.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette
February 11 is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of Prayer for the Sick.
St. Bernadette of Lourdes and I met at the end of her story. Her body is not in Lourdes; it's in the convent in Nevers, France, where she spent the last thirteen years of her short life (she died at age 35). I saw her incorrupt body there on a pilgrimage in 2001-2002 (over Christmas break). I do not remember any longer if I'd read The Song of Bernadette
ahead of time or not. I tend to think not, since the story of her life seemed new to me as I heard it told at the convent. So my first encounter with her was a quiet one in a quiet place, hundreds of miles away from the place where she became famous.
Something about her caught my imagination in a way that few other saints have. I have tried on and off to understand what it is that draws me to her, and I have never gotten very far. Her life was very different from mine; apart from our common faith, I cannot think of too many things we have in common. But I feel somehow as if I understand her, and in understanding her I understand better Jesus and His Mother, whose chosen messenger was St. Bernadette.
A few years later I did get to Lourdes. I've been in the baths (very cold!) and still have some of the water. I have knelt and prayed the Rosary where St. Bernadette knelt and prayed at the first apparition. I'd still like to get back there someday.
In the meantime, though, I've acquired a fairly extensive collection of material on St. Bernadette and Lourdes--more than I have on any other saint except the Blessed Virgin herself, I'm pretty sure.
It's odd two of the best books about Lourdes are by a Jew (Franz Werfel, The Song of Bernadette) and a Presbyterian (Ruth Cranston, Miracle of Lourdes
), but such are the facts of the matter. Much like St. Francis, St. Bernadette is able to reach across the borders of belief and speak to all sorts of people. (Perhaps there is a clue in there somewhere as to why I love her too. I'll have to think about it.)
Werfel's book is deservedly famous in its own right, and all the more famous for having been turned into an Academy Award winning-movie
. The book is very readable and not overly fictionalized (Bernadette's father was perhaps not quite the hapless alcoholic it shows); the movie very watchable but somewhat more fictionalized, having a totally irrelevant love interest (though purely Platonic) thrown into the mix.
Cranston's book is non-fiction and does a decent job of giving the follow-up history of Lourdes after the apparitions, including some of the most famous cures.
When all is said and done, though, the best book I know of on the apparitions and on St. Bernadette herself is René Laurentin's Bernadette Speaks: A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words
. Laurentin's aim is to cut through the layers of legend and present St. Bernadette as she was and her experiences as she lived through them. Fortunately, despite her lack of early education, St. Bernadette was a sharp observer with a strong memory and a gift for clear expression. I believe that it was reading this book that moved her up into my list of most favorite saints.
St. Bernadette is not a saint simply because Our Lady appeared to her. Others have seen her and have gone on to lead normal or, sadly, very troubled lives. St. Bernadette's life was troubled, too--in fact, Our Lady warned her: "I cannot promise you happiness in this life, but in the next"--but not because she drifted from the way of sanctity. She suffered because she wanted to be faithful to the graces she had received, and the death to self that requires is not easy.
Some say that the sisters at Nevers were harsh on her, and perhaps they were, but then they had seen the sad fate of the children who had seen Our Lady at LaSalette and were determined to keep St. Bernadette from making the same mistakes. She was a willing pupil, even when she found the lessons harsh. She bore physical and spiritual suffering with next to no complaint; she did what was asked of her; she was faithful to her calling. That's why she's a saint.
St. Bernadette of Lourdes and I met at the end of her story. Her body is not in Lourdes; it's in the convent in Nevers, France, where she spent the last thirteen years of her short life (she died at age 35). I saw her incorrupt body there on a pilgrimage in 2001-2002 (over Christmas break). I do not remember any longer if I'd read The Song of Bernadette
ahead of time or not. I tend to think not, since the story of her life seemed new to me as I heard it told at the convent. So my first encounter with her was a quiet one in a quiet place, hundreds of miles away from the place where she became famous.Something about her caught my imagination in a way that few other saints have. I have tried on and off to understand what it is that draws me to her, and I have never gotten very far. Her life was very different from mine; apart from our common faith, I cannot think of too many things we have in common. But I feel somehow as if I understand her, and in understanding her I understand better Jesus and His Mother, whose chosen messenger was St. Bernadette.
A few years later I did get to Lourdes. I've been in the baths (very cold!) and still have some of the water. I have knelt and prayed the Rosary where St. Bernadette knelt and prayed at the first apparition. I'd still like to get back there someday.
In the meantime, though, I've acquired a fairly extensive collection of material on St. Bernadette and Lourdes--more than I have on any other saint except the Blessed Virgin herself, I'm pretty sure.
It's odd two of the best books about Lourdes are by a Jew (Franz Werfel, The Song of Bernadette) and a Presbyterian (Ruth Cranston, Miracle of Lourdes
), but such are the facts of the matter. Much like St. Francis, St. Bernadette is able to reach across the borders of belief and speak to all sorts of people. (Perhaps there is a clue in there somewhere as to why I love her too. I'll have to think about it.)Werfel's book is deservedly famous in its own right, and all the more famous for having been turned into an Academy Award winning-movie
. The book is very readable and not overly fictionalized (Bernadette's father was perhaps not quite the hapless alcoholic it shows); the movie very watchable but somewhat more fictionalized, having a totally irrelevant love interest (though purely Platonic) thrown into the mix. Cranston's book is non-fiction and does a decent job of giving the follow-up history of Lourdes after the apparitions, including some of the most famous cures.
When all is said and done, though, the best book I know of on the apparitions and on St. Bernadette herself is René Laurentin's Bernadette Speaks: A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words
. Laurentin's aim is to cut through the layers of legend and present St. Bernadette as she was and her experiences as she lived through them. Fortunately, despite her lack of early education, St. Bernadette was a sharp observer with a strong memory and a gift for clear expression. I believe that it was reading this book that moved her up into my list of most favorite saints.St. Bernadette is not a saint simply because Our Lady appeared to her. Others have seen her and have gone on to lead normal or, sadly, very troubled lives. St. Bernadette's life was troubled, too--in fact, Our Lady warned her: "I cannot promise you happiness in this life, but in the next"--but not because she drifted from the way of sanctity. She suffered because she wanted to be faithful to the graces she had received, and the death to self that requires is not easy.
Some say that the sisters at Nevers were harsh on her, and perhaps they were, but then they had seen the sad fate of the children who had seen Our Lady at LaSalette and were determined to keep St. Bernadette from making the same mistakes. She was a willing pupil, even when she found the lessons harsh. She bore physical and spiritual suffering with next to no complaint; she did what was asked of her; she was faithful to her calling. That's why she's a saint.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Happy Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas!
Among his many amiable properties, St. Thomas Aquinas is my confirmation patron. He was notoriously of some girth (though I do not see how a man who walked everywhere could be very overweight), so there's one place I can somewhat match him. His handwriting is incredibly bad:
That gives another spot where I can hope to match him. When it comes to wisdom and holiness, he has me beat completely.
His life story is not that interesting, and in fact I've never run across a full biography of St. Thomas. Even in Louis de Wohl's novel, The Quiet Light: A Novel About Thomas Aquinas
, St. Thomas spends most of his time off-stage. He did not have the gift for saying and doing memorable things ex tempore that graced the life of a St. Francis; all we have are anecdotes here and there.
Fortunately for us, the lack of biographical material means that G. K. Chesterton's habitual neglect of the lives of the subjects of his biographies isn't a problem. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
does well as an introduction to what we know of St. Thomas's life and an appreciation of his thought.
For those who wish to dive in and read St. Thomas, perhaps the most popular option is Peter Kreeft's A Summa of the Summa
Dr. Kreeft does his best, but he runs up against my ADD in two ways: he does all the explanation in footnotes which break up the flow of the text, and he edits his selections to remove extraneous or potentially confusing material, which would be fine if it didn't ... leave the text ... littered by ellipses ... that throw me off the track ... of reading.
Purists, of course, insist that the only way to learn St. Thomas is to read him directly, eschewing even footnotes. I am no purist and will happily offer two other choices. For studying St. Thomas's thought in general, my current recommendation is Ed Feser's Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide
. Feser's writing is very readable, his explanations are sensible, and (IIRC) he usually notes when there's a difference of opinion concerning what St. Thomas actually thought on a given topic.
The best explanation of St. Thomas on ethics (aka natural law) comes from the late great Ralph McInerny: Ethica Thomistica: The Moral Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas
. McInerny couldn't write a dull sentence even if he tried, and his explanations are clear.
I noticed when preparing this that I've owned all the above books except for Feser's for at least 10 years (Feser's just came out last year, and I have not yet perfected a time machine).
St. Thomas is often thought of simply in terms of his vast intelligence. But intelligence does not make a saint. Holiness, piety, and humility do.
On the sixth of December, 1273, St. Thomas was celebrating Mass for the Feast of St. Nicholas. The details are not relayed to us, but he had an intense mystical experience after which he ceased writing entirely. Pressed to continue, he could only say that after what he had seen, all his works seemed as so much straw.
In obedience to the command of Pope Gregory X, St. Thomas set off from Paris for the Second Council of Lyons. He fell ill along the way and was forced to go to a Cistercian abbey. He died there about a month later, on March 7, 1274. His last words were spoken to one of the brothers of the abbey, who asked him how we might live always faithful to God's grace:
"Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in his presence, always ready to give him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from him by consenting to sin."
Though his birth year is uncertain, he was probably forty-eight years old at the time of his death.
March 7th is now reserved for the feast of the early martyrs SS. Perpetua and Felicity; January 28 is the date on which his relics were transferred to a church in Toulouse.
That gives another spot where I can hope to match him. When it comes to wisdom and holiness, he has me beat completely.
His life story is not that interesting, and in fact I've never run across a full biography of St. Thomas. Even in Louis de Wohl's novel, The Quiet Light: A Novel About Thomas Aquinas
, St. Thomas spends most of his time off-stage. He did not have the gift for saying and doing memorable things ex tempore that graced the life of a St. Francis; all we have are anecdotes here and there.Fortunately for us, the lack of biographical material means that G. K. Chesterton's habitual neglect of the lives of the subjects of his biographies isn't a problem. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
does well as an introduction to what we know of St. Thomas's life and an appreciation of his thought.For those who wish to dive in and read St. Thomas, perhaps the most popular option is Peter Kreeft's A Summa of the Summa
Dr. Kreeft does his best, but he runs up against my ADD in two ways: he does all the explanation in footnotes which break up the flow of the text, and he edits his selections to remove extraneous or potentially confusing material, which would be fine if it didn't ... leave the text ... littered by ellipses ... that throw me off the track ... of reading.Purists, of course, insist that the only way to learn St. Thomas is to read him directly, eschewing even footnotes. I am no purist and will happily offer two other choices. For studying St. Thomas's thought in general, my current recommendation is Ed Feser's Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide
. Feser's writing is very readable, his explanations are sensible, and (IIRC) he usually notes when there's a difference of opinion concerning what St. Thomas actually thought on a given topic.The best explanation of St. Thomas on ethics (aka natural law) comes from the late great Ralph McInerny: Ethica Thomistica: The Moral Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas
. McInerny couldn't write a dull sentence even if he tried, and his explanations are clear.I noticed when preparing this that I've owned all the above books except for Feser's for at least 10 years (Feser's just came out last year, and I have not yet perfected a time machine).
St. Thomas is often thought of simply in terms of his vast intelligence. But intelligence does not make a saint. Holiness, piety, and humility do.
On the sixth of December, 1273, St. Thomas was celebrating Mass for the Feast of St. Nicholas. The details are not relayed to us, but he had an intense mystical experience after which he ceased writing entirely. Pressed to continue, he could only say that after what he had seen, all his works seemed as so much straw.
In obedience to the command of Pope Gregory X, St. Thomas set off from Paris for the Second Council of Lyons. He fell ill along the way and was forced to go to a Cistercian abbey. He died there about a month later, on March 7, 1274. His last words were spoken to one of the brothers of the abbey, who asked him how we might live always faithful to God's grace:
"Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in his presence, always ready to give him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from him by consenting to sin."
Though his birth year is uncertain, he was probably forty-eight years old at the time of his death.
March 7th is now reserved for the feast of the early martyrs SS. Perpetua and Felicity; January 28 is the date on which his relics were transferred to a church in Toulouse.
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Rite
I see this book is coming out as a movie next week. Here's a review I wrote of the book last year, and a few comments about the movie afterwards.
The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist
By Matt Baglio
The author was, by his own statement in the Author's Note at the end of the book, more of a cultural Catholic than one practicing his faith, a freelance reporter living in Italy. He saw a news item one day that the Regina Apostolorum university in Rome was offering a course for exorcists, and thought it might at least give him an interesting article. He made contact with a priest from the US and followed him throughout his training, which he recounts in fairly dispassionate terms--not clinical or stark, but simply narrating what he observed.
What he observed was enough to convince him that something real was happening. He did his homework, interviewing psychologists from a variety of perspectives from believing to atheist, and reported those conversations as well.
There are a few dramatic scenes in the book, including the opening one, but anyone looking for cheap thrills is in the wrong place. If anything, it seems that the process of exorcism is usually a matter of slow progress rather than dramatic Hollywood-style episodes. Worth noting also is the repeated emphasis that prayer, Mass attendance, and the good use of the sacrament of Confession are often as important as anything the exorcist himself does.
I found the book informative and interesting without being sensational, and on a topic that deserves informative and interesting but non-sensational coverage, but it's just not quite there in 5-star territory, so I'll say 4-1/2 out of 5.
==================
I've seen only the trailers for the movie, based on which I have no plans to see the movie itself. It looks as if the caution and lack of prurient interest in evil have been abandoned in favor of the usual Hollywood-style episodes. Read the book. I won't tell you not to see the movie since I haven't seen it; I'll just say again that I have no plans to see it.
The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist
By Matt Baglio
The author was, by his own statement in the Author's Note at the end of the book, more of a cultural Catholic than one practicing his faith, a freelance reporter living in Italy. He saw a news item one day that the Regina Apostolorum university in Rome was offering a course for exorcists, and thought it might at least give him an interesting article. He made contact with a priest from the US and followed him throughout his training, which he recounts in fairly dispassionate terms--not clinical or stark, but simply narrating what he observed.
What he observed was enough to convince him that something real was happening. He did his homework, interviewing psychologists from a variety of perspectives from believing to atheist, and reported those conversations as well.
There are a few dramatic scenes in the book, including the opening one, but anyone looking for cheap thrills is in the wrong place. If anything, it seems that the process of exorcism is usually a matter of slow progress rather than dramatic Hollywood-style episodes. Worth noting also is the repeated emphasis that prayer, Mass attendance, and the good use of the sacrament of Confession are often as important as anything the exorcist himself does.
I found the book informative and interesting without being sensational, and on a topic that deserves informative and interesting but non-sensational coverage, but it's just not quite there in 5-star territory, so I'll say 4-1/2 out of 5.
==================
I've seen only the trailers for the movie, based on which I have no plans to see the movie itself. It looks as if the caution and lack of prurient interest in evil have been abandoned in favor of the usual Hollywood-style episodes. Read the book. I won't tell you not to see the movie since I haven't seen it; I'll just say again that I have no plans to see it.
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