The Catholic Encyclopedia

New Zealand Tablet, 21 July 1910, Page 1153

The Catholic Encyclopedia

The publishers of this valuable and very instructive work are to be congratulated on the despatch with which number succeeds number. Volume VII. has just come to hand, and we understand that the 'eighth will shortly be out of the printer's hands, so that the work is more than half through already. This has been accomplished in less than three years, so that within three years Ave may expect to see the completion of this truly monumental undertaking, in which we find the writings of specialists upon subjects with which they are thoroughly conversant. The present volume opens with an account of the life and times of Gregory XII., by the Rev. Michael Ott, 0.5.8., and concludes with an' article on 'lnfallibility,' by Rev. P. J. Toner. The alphabetical grouping has brought within this volume many subjects of special interest, among these being the articles on the Popes who bore the name of Gregory from the twelfth to the sixteenth, Henry VIII., Henry of Navarre. St. Ignatius Loyola, Gutenberg (the inventor of printing). Among the special theological articles are those on ' Heaven,' the ' Immaculate Conception,' ' Infallibility,' ' Indulgences,' 'Heresy,' etc. An article of special importance in these days of social unrest is that on the ' Guilds' of the middle ages. We are told that the craft guilds cared for the interests, both spiritual and temporal, of their members, providing old age and sick pensions, pensions for widows, and burial funds. The seventh volume maintains : the high standard of literary excellence to be found in previous numbers, and its contributors come from places as far apart as England, Holland, Spain, Cuba, United States, France, Tasmania, India, Japan, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Turkey, Scotland, Ireland, and South Africa. It contains twenty-five full-page illustrations, four colored plates, and two maps. There is in its 800 pages of letterpress a wealth of information which places it as an authoritative work of reference on a position unapproached by any previous undertaking. We have received from Messrs. James Duffy and Co., Ltd., Dublin, a neat little prayer book, My Manual,' by the Rev. P. M. Lynch, of Charleville, Cork, with the imprimatur of his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. It is bound in cloth, contains over 550 pages, and is sold at Is, Dost free Is 3d. In section I. are contained all the essentials of a first-class prayer book, with the addition of several new features, amongst which are a number of indulgenced prayers and ejaculations, every indulgence having been carefully verified. Section 11. consists for the most part of moral counsels for all classes and for both sexes —the young, the married, the unmarried, parents, students, employers, and employees, all receive earnest and pointed counsels and practical hints how to live wisely and well. A most useful feature of the work is the large number of popular hymns for schools, confraternities, and general use, which it contains. Irish-speaking Catholics at Home and abroad will be pleased to find that My Manual contains prayers in the Gaelic language. The Very Rev. Canon Sheehan, of Doneraile, the well-known author, in the course of a commendatory letter, says: ' The little manual reflects much credit on the compiler, who has had to snatch time for such laudable work from the pressure of parochial duties; and on the publishers, who have produced in type, paper, and binding a volume which is an eloquent proof of Irish workmanship and enterprise.'