World Without End, by Thomas Keating OCSO and Joseph Boyle, with Lucette Verboven (Bloomsbury, £10.99)
The author, a Trappist monk of the community at St Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, is already well known as a spiritual writer. His earlier books, Open Mind, Open Heart and The Mystery of Christ are familiar to many. He is the prime mover of the Centering Prayer Movement, and has tried in all his books to encourage a contemplative faith. This book is a spin off from a Dutch television documentary, enhanced by an insightful interview with the monastery’s abbot, Joseph Boyle, which places the writer and his vocation in context. In this book Keating discusses the character and purpose of death in the great scheme of things, but as we move into the new year of the church, he also addresses the themes of awakening and the nature of true happiness. This is a short book, but one filled with thoughts derived from a long life time of purposed prayer.
The Cross of Addiction: Reflections on the Stations of the Cross for an Addicted World, edited by Barry Matthews (Veritas, €7.99)
Though the Stations of the Cross are central to devotions at Easter, they are present in our churches all the year round for reflection on the Via Dolorosa. In this booklet Barry Matthews had collected commentaries on each stage from both well known figures and from those whose lives have been burned by their own addiction or that of others. The contributors come from several Chrstian traditions and their offerings are brief and very much to the point. In addition there is a list of some seven nationwide organisations which will aid those afflicted by addiction in any way with practical and spiritual support. Aside from pastoral care, the theme of understanding suffering, which affects us all, expressed in an accessible way, give this book a special value. The text and illustrations will help readers to realise that suffering has other dimensions than the pain they feel on a daily basis. This is exactly the kind of little manual that many in distress will benefit from.
The Lamb Will Conquer: Reflections on the Knock Apparition, by Nigel Woollen (Veritas €9.99)
The author, London-born Nigel Woollen, is now the curate at Knock Shrine. He had been ordained at the Shrine of St John Vianney and has clearly always been concerned with the associations of such shrines as that at Knock. This book is a mediation on the symbolism of the images which made up the apparition: The Virgin, St Joseph, and St John, now reflected in a set of sculptures on the wall of the church. Though coldly received by the hierarchy of that day, the events at Knock in 1879 have since the 1930s come to have a deep significance for many. Pilgrims to the shrine will be richly informed about the symbolism of the images, especially the true meaning of the Lamb of God, which are of interest, quite aside from their connections with Knock.