Albert Folens was born at Bissegem, West Flanders, Belgium, on 15 October 1916. He was educated by the de La Salle Brothers. In 1928 he joined the order.
Abiding love in a confusing era of conflict
Category: Books
No-one is an island: countering the curse of isolation
Peter Costello
We live in a strange world in which it is possible for a young person to have an extraordinarily intimate relationship with someone of the other side of the world, and still know nothing of the old lady next door, and never speak to her. Screen to screen is the order of the day, person to person more difficult.
Book for children warmly reviewed in our pages wins top award
This title was pointed out before Christmas last year, as I recall, as a delightfully entertaining introduction to some of the great heroes and ordinary characters of the Bible, told in a story telling style with a particular appeal to modern young readers.
Our sisters in Faith: the medieval nuns of Ireland
Brides of Christ: Women and Monasticism in Medieval and Early Modern Ireland, edited by Martin Browne OSB, Tracy Collins, Bronagh McShane and Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB (Four Courts Press, €50.00/ £45.00) Patricia Rumsey As the number of candidates for religious life apparently dwindles, so the wider interest in religious life – and particularly women’s monastic life…
Searching for an ethical compass in modern times
How to be good. What Socrates can teach us about the art of living well, by Massimo Pigliucci (Basic Books, £10.99 /€12.99) The Power of Ideas. Words of Faith and Wisdom, by Jonathan Sacks (Hodder and Stoughton, £20.00 /€20.00) Frank Litton Both these books inform our moral compass, helping to sharpen its direction and deepen…
Europe’s first recorded convert
Lydia: A Story, by Paula Gooder (Hodder and Stoughton, £9.99 /€11.99) Lydia is a person who appears briefly in the account of St Paul’s second missionary journey. She was a seller of purple cloth – in the 1st Century a luxury item – an apparently insignificant person in life. But in a longer perspective she…
The daily perils of Christians in the Faith’s ancient homelands
The Vanishing: The Twilight of Christianity in the Middle East, by Janine di Giovanni (Bloomsbury, £10.99 /€12.99) The author of this most moving book, now a senior Fellow and professor at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, has been described “as one our generation’s finest correspondents”. This book alone illustrates her skill, insight and compassion.…
The unvanquished Christians of Ukraine
The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing war have highlighted for many of us in Western Europe the fact that oppression and persecution have never been far from the people of Ukraine. This is certainly the case with regard to religious persecution. Yet they have remained committed to their Christian Faith and have…
We should all think early about Christmas
Journey to the Light: Daily Readings through Advent and Christmas, by John Mann, foreword by Bishop Brendan Leahy (Messenger Publications, €12.95 /£11.95) Advent and Christmas 2023, from the website of Sacred Space (Messenger Publications, €7.95 / £6.95) Every year it has been customary for everyone to complain about Christmas “coming too soon”, as a…
Dublin: how the narrow lanes became broader streets
This is a fine, solid, beautifully produced book, running to some 250 pages which will delight any one in any way interested in the history of Ireland’s capital as expressed in maps over the centuries.