book reviews

Catholics under the Soviet Empire

THE FORGOTTEN: CATHOLICS OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE FROM LENIN THROUGH STALIN. By Rev. Christopher Lawrence Zugger (Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York 13244-5160, 2001), 556 pages. Softcover, $39.95.

Those interested in the complexity of relations among Russian Orthodox, Latin Catholics, and Greek Catholics or in the enormous suffering of Catholics under the Soviet empire will find Rev. Christopher Zugger’s book, The Forgotten: Catholics of the Soviet Empire from Lenin through Stalin, completely compelling.

Fr. Zugger, a Byzantine Catholic pastor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has spent years attempting to uncover and preserve the history of East European Catholic martyrs. According to Father, “One person would lead me to another, and there is a long link of connections that had to be directed by the hand of God [or] I could never have found so many stories.”

Those stories are woven through a long, stained history of ethnic rivalries, stormy religious misunderstandings, and dark political contests. In such an unrepentant atmosphere, the tragedies of twentieth century Europe were almost inevitable. The Mother of God warned as much at Fatima, but appeared even earlier (1914) in western Ukraine, where twenty-two Greek Catholic peasants were told that Russia would cause “suffering for the next eighty years to believers and [bring] all humanity to the edge of destruction—unless Russia would turn to Christ” (p. 2l).

When Communism swept Russia, church property—including capital and assets, schools and seminaries—was nationalized and all religious influence was banned from the schools. Religious clergy were denied their civil rights, including even ration cards for food. Priests who defended the Church’s sacred vessels during their confiscation were executed. Zugger relates dozens of heroic and heartrending stories about Soviet Catholics who strove to keep faith in this era. He mentions, for instance, Fr. Clement Weissenburger, who went to console eighty-seven men of a village seized by Red soldiers: “When he turned to absolve the men of their sins before they were executed, he uttered the words ‘Ego vos absolvo’ and raised his hands, only to have both sliced off by two Red swordsmen. After a third Red soldier plunged his bayonet into the young priest’s chest and he fell to the ground, the Bolsheviks’ ‘clattering machine guns mowed down the eighty-seven men’” (pp. l23-l24).

Another section describes the Russian civil war in Siberia, where Catholics were “butchered en masse, “executed as ‘Polish spies’” and “thrown into locomotive furnaces.” One priest was executed along with 270 of his parishioners, all thrown—the living among the dead—into a manure pit. The Great Famine killed a fifth of the Russian population, who were starved to death in what was largely a politically-orchestrated food shortage. At the brutal prison camp, Solovetski, the Russian Catholic Exarch Leonid Feodorov concelebrated liturgies with other exiled priests, using a little glass for a chalice and a tin spoon from a sardine can to distribute Communion. Sr. Julia Danzas, who was forced to give tours in a museum created from impounded religious objects, daringly used the opportunity to teach the faith. Sermons were censored. Catholic cemeteries were rented out as farmland. Religious teaching and singing were increasingly restricted and eventually banned altogether. Believers were required to sign “contracts” before using nationalized Church buildings for religious services. Churches were closed—in one instance “over the kneeling bodies of the very workers for whom the Revolution and civil war had been fought” (p. 176). In 1923, the entire clergy of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) was deported to prison or martyrdom. Communism was part of a “bigger, cosmic battle—one that even Communists called ‘a battle for men’s souls.’ And those souls were meant to be snatched by atheism and Marxism; nothing else mattered” (Interview of Rev. Christopher Zugger by Stephanie Block, 7-23-01).

Yet in the midst of this horror, there are also amazing examples of religious tenacity. In those enormous prison camps, erected to contain the thousands of people who opposed—or who were perceived to oppose—Soviet authority, one bishop was asked, after months of beatings and intolerable conditions, “Are you happy?” He replied, “Yes, because I am free and you are not” (p. 236). The Faith was frequently kept alive by incarcerated priests or lay faithful who found ingenious ways to serve clandestine Masses, to hear and make confessions, and to teach the faith.

Zugger provides both the raw data and the individual stories that personalize it. Next to chronicled accounts of mass graves, destroyed churches and martyred priests, region by region, during the 70 years of Soviet tyranny, the persecuted speak poignantly of their grievances. Fr. Zugger writes: “My goal has been to record the legacy of Soviet Catholics so their past, their uncertain future, and what they now teach us will not be forgotten—and because their stories have moved me to the depth of my soul.”

Stephanie Block of Los Lunas, N.M.

Jewish connections

SECOND EXODUS. By Martin K. Barrack (Magnificat Institute Press, P.O. Box 60591, Houston, TX 77205, 1999), 388 pp. PB $14.95.

Periodically one is touched deeply by reading a truly exceptional book. Martin Barrack’s Second Exodus is just such a book. The book is at once autobiographical and a masterfully written synthesis of our Catholic Faith. As such it reads more like a story than a catechism, though it most accurately presents the Catholic Faith and its historical and theological roots in Judaism.

A Jewish convert to the Catholic Faith, Mr. Barrack reminds readers that “Jesus came into the world as a Jew, went to shabat services, wore the traditional kippah and tallit and selected all Jewish apostles.” So it is from his Jewish roots that the author shares his newfound faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the Foreword, by the late Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J., Barrack is described as “an ardent convert from Judaism” who “like the early disciples of the Master who first met Jesus and hurried to tell their friends” is eager to share his newfound faith with all those willing to listen.

In a second Foreword, written by the late Rev. William G. Most, Ph.D., readers are reminded that when a Jew responds to the call of Christ he does not cease to be a Jew. Most describes the book as “written . . . , in the hope that it may help other Jews to become completed, as he (Martin Barrack) now is.” In the Preface, Barrack describes the intent of the book as “addressed to all who seek Christ.” However, it is “. . . particularly focused on Jews because the Jew in search of Christ walks a longer path to the Cross.”

Teaching the Faith involves our beliefs, how those beliefs illuminate our lives, and what connection we make with that Faith. This book addresses each question in a clear and concise manner. As such it presents the Catholic Faith in all its truth as well as its links to Judaism. In fact Barrack identifies the Catholic Church as the Synagogue transformed by the Messiah.

In succeeding chapters Barrack addresses the following elements of the Catholic Faith as well as their “Jewish connections”: The Dawn of Belief, Why We Are Catholics, Meet God, Meet the Family, Across the Ages, The Seven Sacraments, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Mirrors of Christ, Life and death, Spiritual War, and The Journey Home. The histories of God’s Chosen People and Catholicism are long, complex, and INTERCONNECTED! To truly understand each we must study and understand both. Like Old and New Testament they are inextricably linked.

Mark Drogin, associated with Remnant of Israel, New Hope, Kentucky describes Barrack’s book in the following manner: “Those who have labored in the field of Catholic-Jewish relations are most grateful to Marty Barrack for this book: Second Exodus is essential for anyone interested in Judaism or in the origins of the Catholic Church. This is not a book dealing with experiences of Jews who have found their Messiah in the Catholic Church. In Second Exodus we see the Synagogue as it is transformed by the Messiah.” This reviewer concurs.

As “. . . a gift to Jesus. . .” by the author, Second Exodus is an “intelligent [and] faith-filled . . . apologetic” worthy of the time devoted to digesting its deep and rich message. For anyone interested in the Jewish Faith and the historical roots of Catholicism this book is well worth reading. Enjoy!

Michael G. Allen of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia

Spirituality for priests

A PROPHET FOR THE PRIESTHOOD: A SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY OF FATHER GERALD M.C. FITZGERALD. By John Hardon, S.J. (Inter Mirifica, Inc., Box 241 Kensington, Md. 20895, 1997), 174 pp. PB $8.95.

Fr. John Hardon approaches this spiritual biography of Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald (1894-1969) by asking the question what the priesthood calls forth from the individual. This text is an attempt to bring forth the specific teachings of Fr. Fitzgerald as they relate to priestly ministry. The author sees a conflict between worldly prosperity and the way of Christ in the vocation crisis we experience today. Pride does get in the way of this journey. There is call for a deeper dedication of the virtue of humility and coupled with that, a greater dependence on prayer. Without humility there is no possibility of growing in intimacy with Christ. Fr. Hardon specifically refers to the prayer of immolation or the prayer of sacrifice which the priest is called to practice. In quoting Fr. Fitzgerald, Fr. Hardon states, “One of the deepest errors that we are witnessing in the Church of God at this time is the attempt to rush into the lives of others before we have lost ourselves in the life of Christ.” It is essential that a priest have an appreciation of his true worth before God.

Fr. Fitzgerald is the founder of two religious institutes, the Servants of the Paraclete and the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. Fr. Hardon sees the “underlying principle” of Fr. Gerald’s work as “priestly rehabilitation.” It takes priests to restore holiness among priests. It is a faith in the Eucharist which brings forth most priestly vocations, according to Fr. Fitzgerald. Within one’s priestly vocation, the author states that “I must as a priest, not only be a sacerdos but I must be a hostia . . . we have to be hosted with Christ.” He further associates the miracle of the Incarnation with the miracle of Transubstantiation. Within his eyes, Hoc est enim corpus meum are the “five Latin words that unite heaven and earth.” He further compares the alliance created with God first become man with the alliance He seeks to create through the sacrifice of the Mass. Fr. Gerald points out that the Church needs priests with the burning zeal of the Apostle Paul. “What could stop the conquest of the Holy Spirit if every priest was Pauline in his spirit?”

Fr. Gerald believed that priests should have a special devotion to Mary. Drawing on the words of St. Augustine, “Caro Jesu, Caro Mariae. The flesh of Jesus is the flesh of Mary.” A priest who has the power of consecrating the Body and Blood of Christ should be most devoted to the Mother who brought into the world and therefore made the Eucharist a present Reality. The author recommends that each priest spend an hour before the Eucharist each day “given with Mary to Jesus.” Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is the source of purity for the priestly life.

Fr. Gerald further urges the faithful to pray for priests as members of the Mystical Body of Christ but likewise that they might be faithful to their vocation. Another aspect of Fr. Gerald’s priestly ministry which was taken on by the religious institutes he founded was the care of priests who are having difficulty in a faithfulness to their priestly ministry.

The text includes an outline sketch of the significant events in the life of Fr. Fitzgerald yet the major focus of the study is a making known of what is called for in a priestly way of life as a means of making known the work of Fr. Fitzgerald. The text is a timely one for anyone interested in the spirituality of the priestly way of life. It can be seen as an inspirational text for someone contemplating religious life. Yet, Fr. Hardon’s work provides advice for anyone interested in a growth in the spiritual life.

Sr. Madeleine Grace, C.V.I. of Houston, Tex.

Catholic novel about abortion

HOLY INNOCENTS. By Bill Kassel (Company Publications, P.O. Box 471, Ann Arbor, MI 48105-1471, 2001), 203 pp. PB $16.95.

Over the years HPR has provided a service to its readers by publishing informative reviews of works pertinent to the mission of the Church: books on theology, apologetics, Church history, and so forth. Every so often a novel is included. The present work comes to us from the pen of Bill Kassel. Mr. Kassel’s writing career is largely that of a journalist. His articles have appeared in secular publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Newsweek. He has also contributed to the National Catholic Register. Holy Innocents is his first novel in a series that is scheduled for publication in the coming months. The author’s raw material for the series is that of a simple small town setting and a recurring cast of characters. (There are 17 such dramatis personae listed in the front of the book.) Company Publications describes the work as a “hybridization of commercial and religious fiction.” While reading like a popular mystery, it investigates two currently debated subjects: abortion and educational choice.

The story begins, rather inauspiciously, with the protagonist, Alan Kemp (a guitar-picking, liturgical musician) visiting the men’s room in the old Holy Innocents School building. He opens the door, and a “putrid smell hit(s) him hard in the face.” The source of the odor is the trash receptacle. Calling the janitor, the two investigate the contents of the receptacle’s liner and discover a gruesome sight. “It’s a baby,” the janitor said. “It’s a baby, and its head is all squashed. Oh my God, look at it.” Kemp responds: “Get Fr. Karl. . . . Leave everything alone. We’ve got to call the police.” When the authorities arrive, the attending physician concludes that the baby had been aborted. It was a boy who was close to delivery. The method used was partial-birth abortion. Several of the main characters react to the grisly discovery. What could be the motive for such a horrible thing? The anti-Catholic bigotry in the quiet, rural town complicates matters. Was someone sending a nasty message to the Catholic Church about its anti-abortion “policy”?

The unlikely sleuth called to investigate the case is Alan Kemp. Mr. Kemp’s background includes a stint with the Air Force Inspector General’s Office, but strictly in a support capacity. He had never considered himself a real investigator. It seems that he was recommended for the task by a close friend who worked in the bishop’s office. What did the bishop want to know? “(W)e’re not concerned with prosecutions. . . . Evidence is not the issue. We want to know if anti-Catholic sentiment is growing in this part of the diocese, or if we should expect future difficulties over abortion. And we want to protect Fr. Karl.” Fr. Karl, the pastor, had recently returned to the diocese after a year away at a retreat center out west. Though an educator by avocation, he had been sent to his previous parish to close down the school. An uproar ensued, resulting in a nervous breakdown.

His new assignment was supposed to be an easy transition back to the life of a parish priest. How would he fare? The bishop was concerned.

A suspicion around town was that Fr. Karl, educator turned parish priest, was sent by the bishop to reopen Holy Innocents School. The reopening would be facilitated by the use of tax funded tuition vouchers for the students. In order to test the hypothesis, Alan probes the priest on this point. Fr. Karl states that providing tax money for children in private schools is a dreadful idea. He explains: “The great lie of our time . . . is that the Church wants to dictate morality to everyone. That’s the primary complaint about our stance against abortion. But the truth is it’s the government that wants to run the Church. That’s why we must keep away from these vouchers. . . . It is certainly true that government money means some measure of government control. I recall that Mother Teresa would not take any money from the Indian government. She was a wise woman.

Alan continues with his investigation. His quest leads him to the town savant who did see someone bring a package into the school late one night. Who was it? And why? Throughout the course of the unfolding adventure, various characters enter into the discussion concerning our society’s widespread practice of dispatching infants in the womb. There is a particularly good discussion between Alan and his friend in the chancery, Deacon Collinson, as to why “pro-choice” people are obsessed with abortion. The deacon intones: “From a certain point of view, abortion is . . . the sine qua non of women’s equality. . . . Those who hold to a certain notion of equality see abortion as a great leveler. Restrict abortion, and women will never be completely equal to men.” As the Pope has pointed out, the crisis in the modern world is largely that of a crisis of truth. What is a man? What is a woman? Ignorance of the truth (or worse, ignorance that there is such a thing as truth) leads to profound personal and societal disorientation (i.e., chaos). Abortion and the rationalizations which attempt to support it are actually effects of rampant and large scale falsehood.

I recommend the book. It successfully combines a good mystery story with thought provoking dialogue on important contemporary issues. It is well written, enjoyable and edifying. If the book is ever re-printed, it should be noted that chapter eleven has been mislabeled “Chapter 10.”

Rev. Sean J. Donnelly of Akron, Ohio

Virile and vigorous piety

SPIRITUAL SECRETS OF A TRAPPIST MONK. By M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. (Sophia Institute Press, Box 5284, Manchester, N.H. 03108, 1957/2000 reprint), 395 pp. PB $19.95.

Father Raymond (1903-1990) attempts to show what our relationship in and through Christ can be. Everyone is sent by God with a particular mission. He summarizes all of history in two words—kenosis and pleroma. The first tells of what Christ has done for us, the second, what Christians are called to do for Christ. The work of redemption continues on very much through the efforts of faith filled Christians.

We cannot live without Christ—a branch cannot live apart from the vine. We have been called to the “rarest intimacy” with Christ. The author describes this oneness with God as “breathtaking—and frightening.” It is a truth that “scares you into adoring gratitude to God and a real reverence for yourself and all your fellowmen.” The individuality of the person remains, yet this does not prevent the closest intimacy with God.

The author speaks of being filled with the Holy Spirit as “God intoxicated.” The Holy Spirit is entirely present in each member of the Mystical Body of Christ. In referring to the Acts of the Apostles, Fr. Raymond asks then why there are not more Pauls and Stephens. He solves this dilemma by referring to Teresa of Avila who perceives the soul as having a “capacity for God and nothing else.” Our own capacities may vary and may certainly be seen as different from Paul or Stephen. Likewise, these capacities may increase.

Various topics are addressed which are essential to growth in the spiritual life. The author refers to faith as that which gives life focus and is the source of integration. The faith of which he speaks is grounded in a true theology and the integration in a sound psychology. Father Raymond writes of the freedoms we might enjoy in this life and in the next. Freedom seen in its fullness is loving no one before God, no one as much as God no one apart from God. This is life lived at its highest level.

Fr. Raymond treats the familiar problem of pain. In light of the Passion of Christ, we are called to use this experience for the salvation of all and for the glory of God. He recalls the face of God as seen in the features of a Child born in direst poverty—in a cave. Because we know the Child’s face is the face of God, the pain accompanying poverty may be seen as something that makes the individual like unto God. Pain, received with the face of Christ before one, is not only a blessed but a deifying experience. All suffering must be offered to God if it is to purify, contribute to Christ’s pleroma.

In treating of the Eucharist, Fr. Raymond stresses the personal offering of self to God the Father. The water mixed with wine at the Offertory represents “the water of the world.” Our gift of self is not totally unspotted as is Christ yet the very fact that we are offered with Christ to God the Father brings about the “urgent” task that we become “holier and holier.”

Fr. Raymond describes an attitude of piety as “virile and vigorous.” Piety demands stout hearts and strong wills. It speaks of a faultless love received and of a return of love to God. It is found in its perfection only in Christ and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Yet it is a gift of the Spirit breathed into each person at Baptism as we become members of Christ’s Body, the Church. Fr. Raymond speaks of this piety as childlike in that it leads to a greater awareness of the Fatherhood of God, and with that, a trust in him and a generosity toward him. You will live your life in his light and your world will “have no other sun.” The example of Mary is a pathway in growing in this childlikeness.

Ultimately, Fr. Raymond leads the reader to “become who you are.” He calls us to be ourselves—in Christ, yet to be patient with ourselves in that transforming process.

The text develops the great themes of the spiritual life in an easily readable style. The author is quite at home with scripture and the spiritual masters. It is a worthy text for anyone who is interested in advancement in the spiritual life. While the original work was written almost fifty years ago, its message is timeless.

Sr. Madeleine Grace, C.V.I. of Houston, Tex.

A spirituality for everyone

I BELIEVE IN LOVE. By Jean C. J. d’Elbee (Sophia Institute Press, Box 5284, Manchester, N.H. 03108, 1969/2001 reprint), 80 pp. PB $15.95.

This book, which is a beautiful book esthetically, is a reprint of the 1974 English translation of a French work first published in 1969. It is a series of ten retreat conferences based on the spirituality of St. Theresa of Lisieux. The titles of the conferences indicate aspects of this spirituality: love; humility; confidence; abandonment; great desires, peace; fraternal charity; the apostolate; the Cross; the Eucharist; Jesus, Mary, and the saints.

St. Theresa died at the age of 24, was canonized soon after her death, and has recently been declared a Doctor of the Church, though we have from her only a small book, The Story of a Soul, and some letters. And large crowds at present flock to venerate her relics as they are touring the world. What accounts for her popularity?

The faithful love her because her spirituality, which she called her Little Way, is seen not just by theologians and religious, but to a great extent also by the laity, as a spirituality for everyone. It is seen as a life of ordinary human beings, but a life of love, of friendship with God, and of trust in God.

St. Theresa is quoted liberally in this book, but the author, whom all will recognize as having captured Theresa’s spirit, has skillfully explained this spirit and interwoven it with his own well-informed commentary. Consider, for example, what he writes about the Cross:

“I know without asking you that you have suffered, and you will suffer again. I am sure I will be giving you great comfort in speaking to you about the price of the Cross.

“Never look at the Cross without Jesus. If I must bear the Cross all alone, I renounce it in advance. I do not want to touch the onerous burden with the end of my finger. I am too weak, too cowardly, too sensitive. It is too hard to suffer. I deserve a hundred times to suffer without You, Jesus, but it is with you that I want to suffer. With you, I accept all the crosses, all of them—you will bear them with me. You can hide yourself; you can make it look as though you are not there, as if I am bearing it all alone; I accept that on one condition: that you hide yourself in my heart.

“How can we be Christians, the subject of a King crowned with thorns, baptized in his Blood, absolved so often by his Blood, receiving Communion every day at Mass, at his Sacrifice, and yet run away from the Cross? That would be to forget that the Cross is a marvelous invention of divine mercy which gives us the occasion to prove to Jesus that we love him. What is a love that does not prove itself? I told you that love is a choice. What merit is there in choosing Jesus if we only have to follow him on a path of roses? How would we know whether it was he or the roses on the pathway which we were following? He wants to be loved for himself, not for his gifts. He does not want the experience of the rich who lose their friends when they lose their money and can no longer give presents.”

An earlier reviewer has rightly said: “Whoever reads this book attentively and prayerfully will grow in the love of God and even desire to be a saint.”

Leonard A. Kennedy, C.S.B. of Toronto, Canada