New Book Releases Spring 2020
By Matthew Bellisario O.P.
Some of these I have purchased and some I have not so do not take this necessarily as an endorsement, more of a news flash of what is new that looks interesting. I can vouch for one of the books below and that is 'Fiat.' I hope to do a book review on it sometime in the near future. I am still reading it and so far it is fantastic. Below each book I put the description of it so you can check it out without leaving the website. I also put a link to either the publisher's website or the link where you can buy it on the publishing name after the title of the book. If you happen to purchase any of these I would love your feedback on it in the comments section. Happy reading!
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1. The Traditional Mass: History, Form, and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite- Michael Fiedrowicz (Angelico Press)
In view of ever deepening interest in the traditional form of the Roman rite of Mass--which, according to Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum, demands "due honor for its venerable and ancient usage"--a comprehensive but concise introduction to its history, form, and theology is more than ever desirable. In contrast to conventional explanations of the Mass that offer practical or allegorical explanations of particular moments in the rite, the present work attends to the organic process by which the Roman rite was built up from its foundations into a magnificent structure, marked by the accumulated riches of each age through which it passed, and characterized by order, beauty, and piety in its texts, gestures, rubrics, chants, and calendar--ranging from the major elements to the most minute details. Treated as well are the reality of the sacred and how it is encountered, the irreducible role of ritual action, the eastward direction of prayer, the formation and value of a specialized sacred language, and liturgical participation correctly understood. The author brilliantly expounds the dogmatic fidelity, anthropological realism, pastoral advantages, and inexhaustible theological depth of the traditional Latin Mass, in and through which the harmony of the Catholic lex orandi and lex credendi achieves its most perfect expression and its most powerful impact.
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2. Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy- Fr Thomas Crean O.P. (EDITIONES SCHOLASTICAE)
Integralism is the application to the temporal, political order of the full implications of the revelation of man's supernatural end in Christ and of the divinely established means by which it is to be attained. These implications are identified by means of the philosophia perennis exemplified in the fundamental principles of St Thomas Aquinas. Since the first principle in moral philosophy is the last end, and man's last end cannot be known except by revelation, it is only by accepting the role of handmaid of theology that political philosophy can be adequately constituted. Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy is a handbook for those who seek to understand the consequences of this integration of faith and reason for political, economic and individual civic life. It will also serve as a scholastic introduction to political philosophy for those new to the subject. Each chapter finishes with a list of the principal theses proposed.
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3. Fiat: Biblical Mariology and Marian Consecration- Joseph Journée (Independently Published)
This work originated with the desire to imitate the Blessed Mother in her loving devotion to her Son, the Word of God (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). From this, sprung a theological method and, subsequently, a biblical understanding of Our Lady and her integral role in the economy of salvation. Fiat: Biblical Mariology and Marian Consecration is not a systematic treatise on Mariology. It is, rather, a Marian approach toward Sacred Scripture. By adopting this distinctive, theological method, many facets of Mariology come into relief, most vividly in the Marian texts themselves. Certain insights appear particularly significant, inasmuch as they offer scriptural evidence for two Marian dogmas: the Immaculate Conception (see Lk 1:29) and the Perpetual Virginity of Mary (see Mt 1:20, 24).The Marian commentaries include: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Annunciation to St. Joseph, the Presentation in the Temple, the Finding in the Temple, the Wedding Feast at Cana, and the Crucifixion. Additional commentaries are: Genesis, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline Epistles. Of particular, apologetic interest is the exposition on John 6, the Bread of Life Discourse.The second part of the book establishes a theology of Marian Consecration. One central, Mariological tenet is the idea that the Word assumed, at His Incarnation, not only a human nature, but also a human act: namely, the Fiat of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Consequently, not only is Our Lord’s Sacred Humanity communicable to us in the Most Blessed Sacrament, but Our Lady’s Fiat (her Yes to God) has also become communicable, for us, in the process of justification. Last, a praxis of Marian consecration is charted, based upon the six wings of the blessed seraphim and the virtues praised by our seraphic father, Saint Francis of Assisi.The accompanying website for this book, biblicalmariology.com offers the entire content of this book for free, as it is written: freely you have received, freely give (Mt 10:8).
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4. The Mystery of Incomprehensible Love- Dom Mark Kirby, OSB (Anglico Press)
Catherine de Bar (1614–1698)—in religion, Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament—stands out among the luminous spiritual masters of seventeenth-century France as one of the great teachers of the interior life, a woman of the stature of St Gertrude the Great or St Teresa of Avila. This volume offers, for the first time in English, a substantial introduction to her life and teaching. Living in a period marked by superstition, sacrilege, and war, Mother Mectilde responded with a call to faithful reparation, self-abandoning adoration, frequent Communion, and total adherence to the Eucharistic Lord. Even while she suffered exile, illness, poverty, dangers, and uncertainties on all sides, she offered counsel and comfort to men and women in every state of life, teaching them how to surrender to Divine Providence and how to become ever more united with Christ.
Her writings, steeped in Sacred Scripture and in the liturgical tradition of Benedictine monasticism, reveal a woman of profound human insights and of supernatural wisdom, a sure guide to holiness with a timeless and universal message that seems providential for precisely this moment in history.
5. The Woman Clothed With the Sun: Our Hope- Bob Feeney (New Hope)
SECOND EDITION. By Robert Feeney, lay Dominican. The first and, so far, the only book introducing the English-speaking world to these little-known, Church-approved apparitions and large shrine of Mary of the Rosary in San Nicolás, Argentina. Many today—especially the young—find themselves feeling hopeless, empty and disoriented. In these apparitions beginning in 1983, the Mother of God emphasizes four key points that can foster hope in the world. In this book, Robert Feeney reveals and offers key messages about each of the four topics, demonstrating the hope that we can find in Mary if we follow her requests. 161 pp. Softcover.
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6. The Better Part: Four Volume Set- Fr. John Bartunek (Sophia Press)
Every saint and renowned spiritual director through the ages has said the same thing: if we desire to become saints, we must spend time daily in meditation. With this book, Fr. John Bartunek has created an extensive, Christ-centered resource to serve as your daily meditation companion. The Better Part offers a practical explanation of Christian meditation (along with a cheat-sheet!) as well as material to draw from during your meditations, including a Bible study on the Gospels, a survey of saints’ writings, and a handy guide to prayer.
As you learn to read, meditate upon, absorb, and apply the Gospels to your life, you’ll also find ways to personalize your times of prayer, allowing you to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead along the path of holiness. Open these pages to discover the methods of meditation that best suit you, develop your friendship with Christ, and experience the true Christian joy of a deep, fruitful life of prayer.
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7. A Sign of Contradiction; As the Master, So the Disciple- Fr. John Hugo (Loreto)
Fr. Onesimus Lacouture was a Jesuit who had the great gift of being a masterful director of souls. Being a Jesuit formed in the old mold of true Ignatian spirituality and deeply affected by the so-called “French School” of Cardinal Berulle, St. John Eudes, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort, his retreats, given to over 6000 American and Canadian priests, produced extraordinary results. His most well known disciple and good friend, Fr. Hugo, has produced for posterity, the Notes from those Ignatian retreats as given by Fr. Lacouture and subsequently by himself and many other priests.
A Sign of Contradiction is Fr. Hugo’s apologia for the work of Fr. Lacouture and the “spiritual movement” that grew spontaneously from the ardent, enlightened, and effective preaching of the retreats. He describes the movement, its opponents and its supporters as well as the revelatory doctrines so convincingly presented by Fr. Lacouture. This book is spiritually motivating, historically informative, and powerfully illuminating in regard to the condition of the Church and the faithful in North America during the mid-twentieth century.
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8. Walled in Light: The Life of St. Colette (Mediatrix Press)
Every great religious order runs into difficulties, and God provides a saint to redress them. Where would the Benedictines be without St. Romauld or St. Peter Damian, the Franciscans without St. Bonaventure, or the Dominicans without Blessed Jordan? Likewise, where would the Poor Clares be without St. Colette? Colette of Corbie was born in one of the most turbulent times in the Church, the 14th century. She moved within the world of the Western Schism, having interacted with many of the great figures of her day, men as diverse as the anti-Pope Pedro de Luna, Pope Martin V, and St. John Capistrano. She was also active during the close of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England and was a contemporary of St. Joan of Arc. But her most enduring legacy is her reform of the Second Order of St. Francis, the Poor Clares.
Mother Mary Francis tells the amazing story of this great saint, whose life was filled with miracles, who defeated the devil with humility, prayer and trust in God. She writes Colette’s life with flowing prose that connects her to the great and dramatic events of her time, while at every turn bringing out the work of God in her soul. Saint Colette is a saint to know better, who along with others in laboring in the troubled vineyard of the 15th century, did so much to heal and reform the Church.
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9. The Catholic Catechism on Freemasonry- David L. Grey (Saint Dominic's Media)
A Theological and Historical Treatment on the Catholic Church’s Prohibition Against Freemasonry and its Appendant Masonic Bodies contextualizes the history and provides a theological analysis and commentary on the nine Papal documents, two Canon Laws, and two documents issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which relate specifically to the Catholic Church’s dogmatic prohibition against Freemasonry.
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10. The Light That Binds: A Study in Thomas Aquinas's Metaphysics of Natural Law- Stephen L. Brock (Pickwick Publications)
If there is any one author in the history of moral thought who has come to be associated with the idea of natural law, it is Saint Thomas Aquinas. Many things have been written about Aquinas’s natural law teaching, and from many different perspectives. The aim of this book is to help see it from his own perspective. That is why the focus is metaphysical. Aquinas’s whole moral doctrine is laden with metaphysics, and his natural law teaching especially so, because it is all about first principles. The book centers on how Aquinas thinks the first principles of practical reason, which for him are what make up natural law, function as laws. It is a controversial question, and the book engages a variety of readers of Aquinas, including Francisco Suárez, Jacques Maritain, prominent analytical philosophers, Straussians, and the initiators of the New Natural Law theory. Among the issues addressed are the relation between natural law and natural inclination, how far natural law depends on knowledge of human nature, what its obligatory force consists in, and, above all, how it is related to what for Aquinas is the first principle of all being, the divine will.
"A penetrating and lucid study of Aquinas’s metaphysics of natural law. From the outset, it is evident that the reader is under the direction of a master. Highly recommended as a first point of reference on the subject.” Russell Hittinger, Emeritus Professor of Religion, University of Tulsa
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