The Catholic Literary Revival in England, Houselander, and Kaye-Smith, et al.

The Catholic University of America Press is publishing the "Catholic Women Writers" series, edited by Bonnie Lander Johnson and Julia Meszaros. From the CUA Press blog:

The novels of Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene often focus on the solitary figure of a priest or layman in spiritual combat with the world around him. By contrast, the lost novels of Catholic women are usually situated in families and parishes and in the institutional communities in which the writers themselves first encountered the faith: schools and convents. Almost wholly unrecognized by scholarship on the Catholic novel are the frequent depictions of female religious life. The women writers of the Catholic Literary Revival were in their own time well-known and well-read, with no shortage of best-selling authors among their ranks. Most predated and greatly influenced Waugh and Greene. They wrote from a more diverse range of social and political positions than Waugh and Greene, and were often more radical in their use of ninetheenth- and twenthieth-century literary innovations. Their works are set in locations male writers never considered, and they often posed very different questions about how a person can find their way in a fallen world. . . .

After introducing the first two volumes in the series and discussing the achievements of their authors (Caryll Houselander and Sheila Kaye-Smith), "The Lost Women of the Catholic Literary Revival" post continues:

This all leads back to the big question: if Houselander’s work was daring and experimental as the literary scholars craved, and Kaye-Smith’s works resonated with the masses, how did they and other women writers of the Catholic Literary Revival fall out of circulation in both critical and commercial circles, in indeed they were ever there to begin with? We can point to changes in the commercial publishing world after World War II, changes within the Church itself, and redefinitions of the literary canon in University departments in the last decades of the twentieth century. Yet it remains puzzling that a body of writing so creative, so attuned to its historical moment, and so unique in its perspective on the human condition, should have fallen out of print for so long.

Please read the rest there.

Cluny Media, however, have published Caryll Houselander novel, The Dry Wood, the same one the series begins with, and the Maisie Ward biography of her already, still in preparation in the CUA Press series. And I know that I'm just an independent author with one book to her name, but I included Sheila Kaye-Smith in my book Supremacy and Survival in the litany of 20th century converts. Virago Press published some of her novels in the 1980's, although they're no longer in their catalog, and Country Books published a biography, The Shining Cord. So maybe these authors--certainly Caryll Houselander's spiritual writings have been in print for quite some time--aren't as forgotten as the post claims! Nevertheless, it's important to have a major press sponsoring a uniform edition of these works.

And when a friend asked about my birthday/Christmas wish list, I told her about Kaye-Smith's The End of the House of Alard! I wonder if the "House of Alard" is about the same family as Kate Alard's, the heroine of Superstition Corner?

Studying Margaret More Roper

Last week I received the Center for Thomas More Studies email newsletter in which some important upcoming dates in the life and times of St. Thomas More were listed:

13 April 1534. More is interrogated at Lambeth Palace.
17 April 1534. More is imprisoned in the Tower of London.
18 April 1523. More delivers his petition for free speech in Parliament.
30 April, 1557. Rastell's English Works of Sir Thomas More, Knight is published

16 May 1532. More resigns as Lord Chancellor

Even more exciting, the newsletter announced the publication of a major study of Margaret More Roper, my favorite non-martyr heroine of the English Reformation era:

"In September of 2022, Elizabeth McCutcheon and William Gentrup will publish the book, A Companion to Margaret More Roper Studies."

This volume is an important contribution to the field of Margaret More Roper studies, early modern women's writing, as well as Erasmian piety, Renaissance humanism, and historical and cultural studies more generally.

Margaret More Roper is the learned daughter of St. Thomas More, the Catholic martyr; their lives are closely linked to each other and to early sixteenth-century changes in politics and religion and the social upheaval and crises of conscience that they brought. Specifically, Roper's major works - her translation of Erasmus's commentary on the Lord's Prayer and the long dialogue letter between More and Roper on conscience - highlight two major preoccupations of the period: Erasmian humanism and More's last years, which led to his death and martyrdom.

Roper was one of the most learned women of her time and a prototype of the woman writer in England, and this edited volume is a tribute to her life, writings, and place among early women authors. It combines comprehensive and convenient joining of biographical, textual, historical, and critical components within a single volume for the modern reader. There is no comparable study in print, and it fills a significant gap in studies of early modern women writers.

It's from Catholic University of America Press, so it's expensive: I'm going to start my Margaret More Roper savings account now!

Book Review: The Fathers and "The Our Father"

I purchased a copy of this book from Eighth Day Books and a few copies are still available. According to the publisher, Catholic University of America Press:

The Lord’s Prayer contains mysteries generally overlooked by most Christians. For the Fathers of the Church, such mysteries or "difficulties"—many of which continue to puzzle modern scholars—marked divinely inspired points for prayer and reflection. Saints Cyprian of Carthage, Augustine of Hippo, Peter Chrysologus, Maximus the Confessor and others grappled with the hidden meanings behind these questions and the fruits of their efforts can inspire contemporary readers.

In this volume John Gavin, SJ explores eight mysteries of the Lord’s prayer in light of the early Church’s wisdom: How can human beings call God "Father"? Where is God the Father? How can God grow in holiness? Was there ever a time when God did not rule? Are there limitations to God’s will? Why should we seek bread? Can we make a deal with God? Does God tempt us? Without ignoring the insights of contemporary exegesis, this volume demonstrates that the responses of the Fathers to these questions have continuing relevance. Not only did they understand the issues surrounding linguistic, textual, and theological difficulties, but they also grasped the nuances of Christ’s words as illuminated by the scriptures as a whole. They provide an interpretation that challenges the mind and transforms the heart.

Mysteries of the Lord's Prayer offers the general reader, as well as scholars, a chance to rediscover a prayer that unites Christians throughout the world. It also includes appendices to aid those who wish to explore the Fathers’ writings on their own for a deeper encounter with the wisdom of the early Church.

Table of Contents (including subheads in each chapter):

Foreword by George Weigel

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Entering the Mysteries

    The Earliest Commentary on the Lord's Prayer (the ROTAS-SATOR Square in Pompeii)

    Which Version is the Real Lord's Prayer? (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4; the Didache)

    Why Reflect on the Lord's Prayer?

    How to Proceed?

Chapter 2. First Aporia: How can Human Beings Call God "Father"?

    Confronting a Bold Claim

        Divine Unknowability

        Human Sinfulness

    Responding to the Problems

        Divine Adoption

        Growing in the Divine Likeness

    Conclusion: Becoming Children of God

Chapter 3. Second Aporia: Where is God the Father?

    "Heavens" or "Heaven"?

        "Heaven and Earth": The Created Cosmos

        Uniting "the Heavens" with "Earth and Heaven"

        The Pilgrimage toward Heaven

    Conclusion: A Pilgrimage to Heaven

Chapter 4. Third Aporia: How Can God Grow in Holiness?

    Is Anything Sacred?

    The Holiness of God's Name in the Scriptures

        What's in a Name?

        Honoring "the Name" in Matthew and Luke

    The Fathers Hallow the Divine Name

        The Sacred Name

        The Meaning of Holiness

        Hallowing the Name

    Conclusion: Hallowing the Name Today

        Restoring the Sacred

        The Name as Love and Mission

Chapter 5. Fourth Aporia: Was There Ever a Time When God Did Not Rule?

    The Coming of the Kingdom

        God's Reign in the Old Testament

        God's Universal Rule

        God's Rule Over Israel

    N.T. Wright: The Kingdom as a New Narrative

    Gerhard Lohlink: Accepting God's Rule

    Benedict XVI: Christ and the Kingdom

    The Fathers and the Kingdom

        Defining the Kingdom

        Locating the Kingdom

        Expecting the Kingdom

    Conclusion: Calling for the Kingdom of God

Chapter 6. Fifth Aporia: Are There Limitations to God's Will?

    Preliminary Considerations

        The Position of the Petition in the Lord's Prayer

        The Obedience of Jesus

    The Fathers Seek God's Will

        Equality with the Angels

        Reforming the Will

        Jesus's Cup

    Conclusion: Your Will Be Done

Chapter 7. Sixth Aporia: Why Should We Seek Bread?

    Some Problems in the Text

        The Two Versions of the Petition

        The Meaning of "Bread" in the Scriptures

        The Meaning of Epiousios

    The Bread of the Fathers

        Material Interpretations

        Spiritual Interpretations

        The Fathers and Epiousios

    Conclusion: The Fathers and the Bread of Life

Chapter 8. Seventh Aporia: Can We Make a Deal with God?

    A Puzzling Petition

        The Two Versions of the Petition

        Winning God's Forgiveness?

        The Meaning of Debts

    Forgiveness and the Fathers

        Creation in Debt

        How Can We Ask God to Imitate Us?

    Conclusion: Forgive Us Our Sins and Debts

Chapter 9. Eighth Aporia: Does God Tempt Us?

    Trial or Temptation?

        "Peirasmos" as Trial

        "Peirasmos" as Temptation

    The Evil One in the End Times

    The Fathers on Trials and Temptations

        The Nature of Temptations and Trials

        God Allows Temptations and Trials for a Time

    Conclusion: Times of Temptation, Trial, and Hope

Conclusion 

    1. Divine Adoption

    2. Pilgrimage

    3. The Greater Glory of God

    4. Citizen of the Kingdom

    5. Conformity to the Divine Will

    6. The Bread of Life

    7. Forgiveness

    8. Sharing in the Sufferings of Christ

    9. Hope

Appendix: Brief Portraits of the Fathers

(Augustine of Hippo, Chromatius of Aquileia, Cyprian of Carthage, Cyril of Jerusalem, Evagrius Ponticus, Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome of Stridon, John Cassian, John Chrysostom, The Master, Maximus the Confessor, Origen of Alexandria, Peter Chrysologus, Tertullian, Theodore of Mopsuestha)

Bibliography

Scripture Index

General Index

    

Each aporia is a difficulty with the phrase or petition under consideration in the chapter; Father Gavin explores the issue, sites some important translation issues, variations in the versions of The Lord's Prayer, certain passages from the Old and New Testaments, and then delves into how the Fathers of the Church, listed above, dealt with the issue, and prayed the prayer.

This commonly used prayer can only be understood in and through the Church, with the Apostolic Preaching of all the Scriptural and Traditional handing on the Truths of God's Divine Revelation. Otherwise, we either mouth the words unthinkingly, without recollection or reflection, or we get caught up in our own interpretations. We need to pray The Our Father in the context of Christian doctrine, morals, and worship.

Although this kind of book might not be considered spiritual reading, I found the passages from the Fathers and the Conclusion of each chapter inspirational for my Holy Hour prayer time in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Recommended.

2020 Book Wish List: First Choice

As I was preparing for my presentations last weekend at the Spiritual Life Center, especially the one about the great parade of Newman speakers who visited the Newman Center at WSU and Newman University in the past (Professor John Crosby, Father Ian Ker, Mary Katherine Tillman, then-Father Avery Dulles, et al), I thought about who should be invited to Wichita if we could meet those standards.

I searched online for "Newman and the New Evangelization" and found this book, which is on my wish list in 2020--and the author is someone I'd like to see in Wichita at the Spiritual Life Center or Newman University. From the Catholic University of America Press:

Reinhard Hütter's main thesis in this third volume of the Sacra Doctrina series is that John Henry Newman, in his own context of the nineteenth century, a century far from being a foreign one to our own, faced the same challenges as we do today; the problems then and now differ in degree, not in kind. Hence, Newman's engagement with these problems offers us a prescient and indeed prophetic diagnosis of what these problems or errors, if not corrected, will lead to—consequences which have more or less come to pass—and, furthermore, an alternative way which is at once thoroughly Catholic and holds contemporary relevance.

The introduction offers a survey of Newman's life and works and each of the subsequent four chapters addresses one significant aspect of Christianity that is not only contested or rejected by secular unbelief, but also has a counterfeit for which not only Christians, but even Catholics have fallen. The counterfeit of conscience is the "conscience" of the sovereign subject (Ch. 1); the counterfeit of faith is the "faith" of one who does not submit to the living authority through which God communicates but rather adheres to the principle of private judgment in matters of revealed religion(Ch.2); the counterfeit of doctrinal development is twofold: (i) paying lip service to development while only selectively accepting its consequences on the grounds of a specious antiquarianism and (ii) invoking development theory to justify all sorts of contemporary changes according to the present Zeitgeist (Ch. 3). Finally, the counterfeit of the university are all those "universities" whose end is not to educate and thereby to perfect the intellect, but rather to feed more efficiently the empire of desire that is informed by the techno-consumerism of today (Ch. 4). The book concludes with an epilogue on Hütter's journey to Catholicism.

The book is to be published on February 15, 2020: I've pre-ordered it at Eighth Day Books!

This might be a preview of Chapter 4 on the "counterfeit of the university" and this interview is fascinating!