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Books Briefly Reviewed
by John O’Connell
The Christian Inscription At Pompeii
by Paul Berry
The Edwin Mellen Press
60 pp.
Most people are familiar with the cataclysmic event of the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius and the subsequent burial of the Roman city of Pompeii under layers of ash
and pumice on August 24, 79 A.D. Paul Berry’s thorough and scholarly monograph
focuses on the archeological scholarship dedicated to the Christian inscription discovered
at Pompeii. Discovered in 1862, the inscription on the atrium wall of a house clearly
reveals the word CHRISTIANOS. Berry remarks that
... it marks the first physical appearance of the word,
“Christian”, in Western history. The writing may be dated, then, to a time
before A.D. 79, and the eruption of Mt. Vesusvius.
The Christian Inscription At Pompeii is largely devoted to the archeological history of
this Christian inscription at Pompeii. It is a fascinating topic that many readers will
find surprisingly interesting, if they would take the effort to read the book.
In many ways, the concluding chapter is the most intriguing, for in it Berry speculates on the significance and place of the Latin language in the life of the Church in the first century A.D. Berry postulates that Latin must have been the liturgical language of Roman Christians. Not only was Latin the official language of Rome, but Romans openly expressed hostility to the Greek language. Greek was the language of slaves. The use of Greek in the Sacred Liturgy would have been prejudicial to Romans joining the Church. Berry points out that the Sanctus is known to have been chanted during the Sacred Liturgy in the first century.
Berry also makes a good case that Christ spoke in Latin to the
centurion and to Pontius Pilate. The Roman conquerors as common practice demanded that the
subject peoples respond to them in Latin. Surely, Our Lord could have spoken to the Romans
in their native language, so it is reasonable to presume that He did.
The Christian Inscription At Pompeii convincingly shows that the Latin
language and culture played a significant, providential role in the life of the Apostolic
Church. The author has done a superb job in providing a work to edify and enlighten the
reader.
The Rosary: “The Little Summa”
Second Edition, Completely Revised
by Robert Feeney
Aquinas Press
207 Newhall Place, S.W.
Leesburg, VA 22075
142 pp.; $9.95 + $1.50 S&H
For centuries the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been
the great “shield and buckler” of Christians in the spiritual battle. Popes and
saints have lavishly heaped praise upon this powerful sacramental. Pope John XXIII called
the Rosary, “the psalter of the poor.”
Robert Feeney has done commendable work in compiling a basic introduction to the Rosary. He brings out the Dominican aspect of the Rosary, defending the tradition that Our Lady gave the Rosary to St. Dominic to aid him in his battle against the Albigensian heresy that was flourishing in 13th century France.
Feeney explains the significance of the Rosary to the spiritual life in a chapter entitled “Mary’s School.” For example, the Rosary teaches us to meditate on the mysteries of faith.
The book also includes a meditation on each mystery of the Rosary drawn from Sacred Scripture and the Second Vatican Council, and the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and our present Holy Father John Paul II.
The Rosary: “The Little Summa” is a good primer for Catholic youth or for those unfamiliar with the Rosary.
Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love
by St. Augustine
Regnery Publishing, Inc.
pp. 173
St. Augustine is certainly one of the towering figures of the Church
and of Western Civilization (if one can still speak of Western Civilization). Renowned for
his learning, erudition, genius, and holiness, this great Father of the Church wrote a
handbook on the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Augustine writes in
the Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love that, “God is to be worshiped with faith,
hope, and love...”
Augustine was no scholastic. This work on the theological virtues is organic and discursive, not a tightly ordered treatise. Interestingly, most of the work concerns the virtue of faith, with scant attention given to hope and a small amount to love. Yet St. Augustine repeatedly insists in his section on faith that “faith works by love.”
The book is rich in Augustian insight and teaching. Consider Augustine’s thoughts on God permitting evil:
Nor can we doubt that God does well even in the permission of what is evil. For He permits it only in the justice of His judgement. And surely all that is just is good. Although, therefore, evil, in so far as it is evil, is not a good; yet the fact that evil as well as good exists, is a good. For if it were not a good that evil should exist, its existence would not be permitted by the omnipotent God...
Christians can benefit greatly from reading the Fathers of the Church, whose writings are not as well known as they should be among the faithful. St. Augustine’s Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love is a good place to begin.
Mary Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate
Theological Foundations II
Papal, Pneumatological, Ecumenical
Dr. Mark I. Miravalle, S.T.D., Editor
Queenship Publishing Co.
329 pp.; $19.95.
800/647-9882
Readers may recall that last summer a brawl erupted in the media over the possibility of the Holy Father solemnly defining as dogma the Blessed Virgin Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate. A body of theologians deemed it inappropriate for the Holy Father to do so. And even the popular press picked up on the controversy. Newsweek featured Mary on its cover and ran a feature story that reported in a serious vein the utter nonsense that some Catholics were attempting to promote Mary to a status equal with the Divine Persons in the Trinity.
This book is an antidote to the wild speculation that accompanied the discussion of a dogma of Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate. It is a thorough, detailed, and scholarly examination of the role of Our Lady as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate. An impressive array of scholars contributed articles to this volume, including Rev. Betrand de Margerie, S.J., Dr. Joseph Seifert, and Rev. Stephano Maria Manelli, F.F.I. These doctrines are examined from almost every angle: scriptural, theological, philosophical, ecumenical, and ecclesial. After perusing this work, the reader, I believe, will come away persuaded of the soundness of the doctrines of Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.
Indeed, the main problem preventing the proclamation of this dogma appears to be one of public relations and maybe also catechetics. In other words, because so few both outside and even regrettably inside the Church understand the Church’s teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary —it obstructs the cause of these dogmas.When a greater number understand what the Church teaches about the Blessed Mother and her role in the economy of salvation, and how the dogma of Mary as Coredemptix, Mediatrix, and Advocate harmonizes with this teaching, then, please God, the Supreme Pontiff may declare this dogma.