NOTICE OF BOOKS

New Zealand Tablet, 10 May 1917, Page 53

NOTICE OF BOOKS

Blessed Are They That Mourn , by Mother Mary Loyola (Burns and Oates, 2s 6d), is a beautiful book .from the pen of this deservedly admired Catholic writer. : : Mother ; Mary Loyola offers, in these pages, a tribute of deepest sympathy to the many wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and betrothed whose souls have been { through the wine-press of sorrow during the war. The little volume is more than that: it is a source of real t comfort to the mourners and a help towards real strength to Bear the burden. ‘ Had we sat with the Twelve at the feet of Christ on the Mount of the Beatitudes and heard Him give those wonderful blessings to His followers ; had we seen the earnestness of His countenance as He said : “Blessed are they that mourn” ; would not His words, followed up by His example and by the glory of His Resurrection, have come back to us in after years to strengthen us for our own conflict and tribulation?’ The joy of the final meeting when there shall be no more parting is depicted in consoling words : “We often hear of the desolation of Rachel, who will not be comforted because her children are not. But God does not leave her uncomforted: ‘Thus saith the Lord: Let thy voice cease from weeping and thy eyes from tears, for there is a reward for work . . . and there is hope for thy last end, and thy children shall return.” To the weeping mothers of this time it shall be said: “Look about thee, and behold the joy that cometh to thee from God. For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away, scattered, they come, gathered together from the east even to the west , . . rejoicing.” See our dear men and boys as the Archangel's trumpet sounds over the battlefields of the great war. . . “O Death,” we shall cry, as we see their coming, “O Death, where is thy victory? O Death, where is thy sting?” “They shall no more hunger nor thirst, nor shall the sun fall upon them nor any heat. For the Lamb shall rule them and shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life, and God shall wash away all tears from their eyes.” Would not one hour of such joy be recompense for the bereavement and loneliness now darkening our lives ? But that hour of joy will never pass, and after millions of years will be as fresh and keen as in the first moment of reunion. This is only the beginning of God’s reward. ‘ All which I took from thee I did but take, Not for thy harms, But just that thou might’st seek it In My arms. All which thy child’s mistake Fancies are lost, I have stored for thee At home; Rise clasp My Hand and come!’ We have received the following English Catholic Truth Society’s publications: — War, Defence, and Loyalty, by Father Bede Jarrett, 0.P.; Retreat Notes; 'First Communion Book For Children; God’s Truth, Rev. Herbert Lucas, S.J. (4d net) ; Authority and Belief, Rev. Joseph Rickaby, S.J. (3d net); Pacifism: A Word With Conscientious Objectors, Rev. Adrian Fortescue; Don’ts for Students in Science and History, G. S. Boulger, F.L.S., F.G.S. ; Sister Mary Assunta; Bishop Hedley, Dom. Justin McCann; The Bey (jar Women of the Blessed Sacrament; The Date of the Anglican Schism, Adrian Fortescue; Catholic Chaplains in the Great War, Hilliard Atteridge; The Declining Birthrate, Herbert Thurston, S.J.; The Petrine Office, - Herbert Hall, M.A. (6d net); and A Little PocketBook for Soldiers (2d). If we had nothing else but this list of .titles alone to judge by we should see what a .magnificent work the society is doing in spreading y through their admirable pamphlets a knowledge of religion and supplying a defence against its enemies. -We would like to see the C.T.S. publications sold at every church in New Zealand.

Four-in-11 and. (Dwyer, Sydney; 3s 9d, post free). When we have said that the author of this book is Father Fitzgerald we have already recommended it. In The Battle of the Boyne,’ ‘Snow Bound on the Royal Canal,’ ‘The Resurrection of Dublin,’ and lChristmas Morning in Tullybeg’— mention only a few of the stories in this volume, we have delightful samples of Father Fitzgerald’s kindly Irish humor, and wholesome reading for young and old. But we wish to point out that besides the stories there is much serious reading in the book. ‘Our Irish Canals’ is an essay worth reading. Those sleepy old Irish waterways along which the laden barges move slowly, from the Irish Sea to the Shannon, and from Dublin to Waterford, have a romance of their own. There is a temptation for us to linger over the memories recalled by this essay. The lovely reaches of the Barrow, winding amid the hills of Hy-Kinsellagh, the scale of the autumnal tints in the .woods that hang over the Suir, the pageantry of sunsets seen in the quiet midlands come back now ,in the glamor of the light of other days. And Father Fitzgerald gives us one of the racy ballads—there are many of theminspired by voyages in the canal boats: ‘ Let us change our way till another day And smoke, and spin a yarn; On the evening tide, we’ll at anchor ride. In the bay of Dolphin’s Barn.’ The papers on Cardinal Moran will be welcome to all admirers of that grand Churchman, and the volume closes with a beautiful appeal on behalf of the Sisters of Charity of Temple Street Hospital. May Father Fitzgerald be long spared to give us books like Four-in-land. Ed.

If you ask me the best means to persevere, I would say: If you have succeeded in getting hold of Almighty God’s hand, don’t let go. Keep hold of Him by constantly renewing ejaculatory prayers to Him, acts of desire, and the seeking to please Him in little things. —Mother Francis Raphael.