Divorce

Divorce by Jane Deegan, CTS Explanations Series

I was pre-disposed to like this book as Tina Beattie had recently savaged it on the Tablet’s blog, as recorded and fisked by Deacon NIck Donnelly here. 

On the basis that anything that causes the blessed Tina to get her knickers in a twist is likely to be good stuff, I expected to enjoy it.

I did.  What I had not expected was how thorough, thoughtful, thought-provoking and well-referenced it would be.  Mrs Deegan draws extensively on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the documents of the 2nd Vatican Council, Humanae Vitae, Evangelium Vitae, and above all Sacred Scripture to explain the Church’s teaching. In 62 pages of text there are 128 footnotes and references.

So she starts by looking at the original meaning of marriage in creation: 'Their bodies make visible and invisible truth: that man and woman are created through love, for love'. Love is the primary meaning of marriage, and into that love God has placed the gift of fertility and procreation.  Then, very unfashionably, she discusses the effect of the Fall and Original Sin: it is only by understanding this that we are able to make sense of our experience: 'Where the love of God and each other had filled their hearts, now the self takes centre stage.'

She then considers Marriage in the new covenant: Marriage as sacramental, ordained by Christ, and the essential truths of fidelity and indissolubility, made possible by His grace.  She highlights how divorce contradicts both the internal meaning and the external sign of marriage.

That leads naturally to a consideration of the obstacles to Grace in the Sacrament of Marriage: a wrong understanding of reality, individualism, hedonism and sin, including a long examination of the dreadful effect of contraception on love and communion. (It was this, in particular, that so exercised Professor Beattie, of course.)

She then examines the impact of divorce on children, and goes on to consider why remarriage is impossible, pointing out that it is out of love for the individuals involved (among other reasons) that the Church has to hold firm to the teaching handed on by Christ Himself.

Finally, she explains a number of issues that are sometimes misunderstood or need further explanation: the true meaning of ‘the Internal Forum,’  abandoned spouses who remain faithful, invalid marriages and the Pauline and Petrine privileges.

At a time when marriage is so besieged, when so many, Catholics included misunderstand it and misrepresent it, when divorce is seen as normal and acceptable, and when the government is threatening to redefine marriage all together, it is important for Catholics to educate themselves thoroughly about marriage.

This booklet provides an excellent starting point for that, particularly if the reader follows up the references assiduously.

Learning and loving the truth about marriage leads us into the heart of the mystery of the Church; rejecting us leads us... well, ask Professor Beattie...

Cardinal Manning

Cardinal Manning and the Birth of Catholic Social Teaching by Russell Sparkes Published in CTS Biographies series

Cardinal Manning was the second Archbishop of Westminster, after the restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850, and held that post for 27 years. Two important parts of his legacy are the dismantling of the fierce anti-Catholicism which had characterised London especially for years, and the development of the Church's Social teaching.

In this very readable biography, Russell Sparkes traces his life, his thought and his influence, from his childhood, his marriage and sudden widowhood, early career as an Anglican clergyman through to his towering reputation as a champion of the poor, his promotion of education, his influence on the Irish Question and his role as a mediator in the Great Dock Strike of 1889.

Sparke starts by establishing Manning's credentials, as it were, by quoting him and his contemporaries and summarising his achievements.  He then turns to the question of why he is largely forgotten today.  He cites two reasons: one is the malice of his early biographer, Purcell; the other is that Manning is seen as characterising the spirit of Vatican l, with his strict dogmatism and emphasis on the authority of the Magisterium, and that has been out of fashion for a while.  But perhaps the wheel is turning.

Be that as it may, Sparkes has a great story to tell.  Manning's life was full of incident and interest, and many other great names (Wiseman and Newman, for example) cross these pages, often in a difficult relationship to Manning.  Likewise, he is at the centre of great events, not least as a champion of Papal Infallibility at the First Vatican Council, and as one of the influences on Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo Xlll's great social encyclical, as well as the previously noted interventions in the Irish Question and the Great Dock Strike.

The only thing to mar this book is the perennial CTS problem with poor (or no) proofreading: for example, a quotation from Lumen Gentium on p.48 is mangled, and on p.61, it is noted 'he denounced the programs against Russian Jews', when I imagine it should say pogroms;  and so on.

However, those are minor points and do not seriously detract from this booklet, which I read with great interest and enjoyment.

Year of Faith Prayer Book

Year of Faith Prayer Book Ed. Barry Pearlman, Published by CTS

This is another in the series of books published by the CTS for the Year of Faith, which begins shortly. (I have already reviewed the Companion to Faith, here.)

After an Introduction, it starts appropriately with the Holy Father's Prayer for the Year of Faith.

Then it has prayers to, and meditations on, The Holy Trinity; first collectively and then focusing on each Person in turn.  These, as with all the prayers and meditations in the book, are drawn from a wide range of sources: mainly the writings of Saints and Popes, the Liturgy of the Church, and the Holy Bible.  A few have been written by the editor for this booklet.

The second section is focused on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and after the Sub Tuum Praesidium and Memorare, has a set of brief meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary for the Year of Faith, taken from the writings of Blessed John Paul ll. This section concludes with the Salve and a prayer by Joseph the Studite, which I had not previously known.

There is then a brief section on The Communion of Saints (prayers to St Joseph, Sts Peter and Paul, your Patron Saint, the Angels, your Guardian Angel) and a much longer section of prayers for the Church and the World.

Personal Petitions includes prayers for various virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity heading the list, of course) and for Final Perseverance (by St Pio of Pietrelcina); and Adoration and Devotion consists of a Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (Thomas a Kempis), the Divine Praises, and a Litany to the Holy Name of Jesus.  Oddly (presumably a typographical error, unless this is a modern change I have been unaware of) the Divine Praises do not include 'Blessed be his Most Precious Blood.'

Finally, there is a Novena in Thanks for Faith, with an antiphon, hymn, Psalm, reading from St Luke's Gospel, meditation from St John of the Cross, Canticle, Litany of Faith, Pater, Ave and Gloria, and a closing prayer (by the editor) and final blessing.

All in all this is a great resource for those wanting to focus their prayer for the year of Faith, or perhaps renew their daily prayer life if it has fallen by the wayside.

But I would urge you to annotate the Divine Praises to include the Most Precious Blood.