The visit of Pope Francis to Mongolia elicited some curious reactions, which show that many people are far from appreciating the role of Mongolia, not only in medieval history, but also nowadays and the place in today’s world the country’s government is attempting to build. It was pointed out that there were only about 1,450…
With God You are Never Alone: The Great Papal Addresses, by Benedict XVI (Bloomsbury, £14,95 / €17.50) In this book, which is bound to secure a wide readership, the 10 most important speeches of the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, are collected by Fr Federico Lombardi, of the Ratzinger-Benedict Foundation in Rome. These speeches reveal the…
Sacred Space: The Prayerbook (Messenger Publications, €14.95/£12.95) A sure sign that the year is beginning to draw to an end is the early appearance of Sacred Space: The Prayerbook, the manual derived from the astonishing, globally popular online prayer site. This book has been appearing for many years and is always a sure-fire option for many as…
The Slavic Myths by Noah Charney and Svetlana Slapšak (Thames and Hudson, £20.00/ €23.50) The strange world of Slavic myths is usually beyond the imaginative reach of those of us brought up in Western Europe. However, many years ago now, when I was at college in the USA, I had a regular place I sat…
I am Infinitely Loved: A Month of Meditations by Brian Grogan SJ (Messenger Publications, €7.99/ £6.95) This is a new edition of a booklet first published back 2017. It was popular then, and in its new form will reach an even larger audience of those who are now regular readers of Brian Grogan’s many books.…
A History of the World in 500 Maps, Christian Grataloup and others (Thames & Hudson, £35.00/ €40.50) This is an interesting and unusual book. It was originally published in French a couple of years ago. Christian Grataloup is the overall editor; the introduction is by Patrick Boucheron; other associates were French academics; and the attractive cartography…
Sacraments in a Synodal Church, by Noel O’Sullivan (Veritas, €19.99) This is a book intended to be very much of the moment. With many years of work in both primary and secondary education, Dr Noel O’Sullivan lectures in systematic theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. So, he knows how things are meant to work and also…
This week we conclude our ‘Summer Series’ with a final group, this time of five apostles, with very varied if obscure lives. James the Less The profusion of persons named James surrounding Jesus in the years of his public life led in time to a sense of confusion, which the writings of the Fathers…
This is a question many people must ask themselves from time to time. To answer it we have to have clearly in mind who the full complement of Apostles called by Jesus were. Matthew (10:1-7) provides a list of the original apostles. “And the names of the 12 apostles are these: The first, Simon who…
A little while ago, prowling in one of the few remaining second-hand book shops in Dublin, I picked up by chance a little pamphlet which I had long known about, but had never seen. Called simply Irish Folklore and Tradition in a plain grey wrapper, it was issued in March 1938 by the Department of Education, in…