The Art of Spiritual Direction: a guide to Ignatian practice by Jos Moons SJ, with a foreword by Paul Nicholson SJ (Messenger Publications, €19.99/£18.99) Most of us recognise in areas of our life and leisure that training is important, and that practice is needed to keep in trim. Yet when it comes to matters of the…
Bono was sitting beside Sophia Loren on a plane once when a lightning bolt flashed through the sky. She leapt into his arms in terror. “Don’t worry,” the U2 frontman assured her, “That’s just God taking your photograph.” It’s hard to believe the 86-year-old star is still acting. The term “living legend” is over-used but…
Well, 2021 came in with a bang, what with rapid escalation of Covid-19 infection rates, continuing upheaval in US politics and a rare apology from RTÉ. Vocation story In this context, I enjoyed listening to the more relaxed discussions on The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio 1, Friday). Michael Comyn spoke to Dr Dermot Farrell,…
Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future by Pope Francis with Austen Ivereigh (Simon & Schuster (£10.99) This new book by Pope Francis is a very striking one. It contains, which is unusual in Papal works, pages of autobiography of the three periods of his own personal moments of isolation, moments akin to…
Inspiration for all Seasons: Celtic Wisdom for Today by John Scally (Black & White Publishing, Edinburgh, £14.99) Coming to hand just at the end of one year and the beginning of another, with many changes of all kinds in the offing here in Ireland, and around the world, this book was a delightful surprise. Here,…
The Christmas to New Year season is a rich time for TV and Radio programmes with a religious flavour. Much of the material is made up of repeats so I’m always on the lookout for something different. The mockumentary Death to 2020 (Netflix) was ideal viewing for New Year’s Eve – a scattershot and satirical…
How to be Our Best Self in Times of Crisis by Stuart Breen and Tom Gunning (Veritas, €7.99) As human beings we seemed made to thrive at times in moments of danger. Yet the present pandemic, being what it is, created great and unexpected troubles: physical, mental and spiritual. This little book by two writers…
Deeds Not Words: The Survival of the Fitzmaurices Lords of Kerry 1550 to 1603 by Martin Moore (Gabha Beag publications,€20.00) This splendid study examines the political and military roles of the Fitzmaurices, Lords of Kerry and Barons of Lixnaw, in the Tudor Years of 1550 to 1603. It shows their involvement in local, national and…
Readers may forgive me at this season of peace and goodwill, having already written about my most enjoyed book of last year (The Irish Catholic December 24, 2020), for concluding here my thoughts about 2020 with something I wrote during this Covid-19 year, which – I now discover – seems curiously ad rem: A Poem for 2021 Bunting…
Before moving to Leipzig in 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach held several positions as organist and choirmaster in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar and Cöthen. In Weimar he served under Lutheran Duke Wilhelm Ernst (1662-1728), who had a penchant for religious devotions and aimed to maintain the Church’s ancient musical tradition. This was to Bach’s advantage giving him…
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan