Wednesday, May 13, 2009

What I'm Reading



We are going away for the weekend, and I thought I would bring along a book that was given to me by my very absent blogging buddy, Dr Bombay. I love Catholic fiction - there isn't much of it, it seems, and this book looks good. Written in 1907 by Robert Hugh Benson, a Catholic priest and monsignor who was once an Anglican priest, here is the description Baronius Press gives the book:

Described by Fulton Sheen as one of the three greatest depictions of the advent of the demonic in world literature, Lord of the World is science fiction with a difference. The West has succumbed to a sort of international socialism. The forces of secular materialism, relativism and state control are everywhere triumphant. Protestantism is no more, and Catholicism – which had made some major advances in the first half of the twentieth century – has been devastated by the development of new psychologies and the exodus of intellectuals in the wake of an Ecumenical Council. Euthanasia has become an instrument of the state, Esperanto the universal second language. Nevertheless, although organised religion has largely collapsed in the face of institutional secularism, a vague, humanistic religiosity – militantly hostile to the exclusive and supernatural claims of the Church – is present everywhere. Finally, the East, which has amalgamated into a single, pantheistic bloc, continues to pose a military threat. Enter Julian Felsenberg – diplomat, scholar, guru, Antichrist...

11 comments:

Therese said...

sounds great. I love reading fiction too but I haven't ever read Catholic fiction.

Shirley said...

Hey, wait, isn't that a pretty accurate description of today's world????
I'm also reading a Catholic fiction book, that you lent me: Father Elijah.

owenswain said...

From the same publisher - what I am waiting to read, to pray - is the new Breviary. I can't afford it, whatever it is going to cost but I am going to do like Stompin' Tom Connors and spend the money I don't got to get this volume. I've used the LOTH off and on since converting but just can't take the lame NAB based translation and the often lame language overall.

paramedicgirl said...

Owen, is the new breviary out yet? I know it was delayed, but I lost track of its progress.

Shirley, that book I lent you also came from the library of Dr. B. He certainly has good taste in books! Preparation for Death, and The Incredible Catholic Mass, are another two of the books he sent me. Sure wish he would come back and post an article or two...

And yes, when I read that description from Baronius Press, I thought it sounded very prophetic indeed.

owenswain said...

No, it is not out yet. I keep checking back and hoping . . .

I honestly cannot afford it but on the other hand I cannot afford to not get it.

And thinking of Fr. Elijah, all the books in that series by Michael D. O'Brien are wonderful as is his latest (not connected to the six book series) called The Island of the World.

In a recent newsletter O'Brien notes how difficult he finds writing to be overall yet during the eight months that he was writing Fr. Elijah he spent time each day before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration and no novel was as easy to write as that one. I believe it's become his best known and most widely read.

paramedicgirl said...

Owen, have you thought about praying a novena to a particular saint so that you can get that breviary? I have heard of enexpected cash showing up in the mail in various forms when people do that.

Hmmm...maybe a visit to the Blessed Sacrament would produce the same result?

owenswain said...

Well, I should be before the Blessed Sacrament more than I am, period.

Prayer to saints - I've prayed to St. Joseph, the novena, a number of times, for employment and quite honestly I don't seem to have the good fortune others have had in this regard. Not saying it's not all valid and real, just that I can't say I personally have seen much help. Maybe I need my eyes opened. Maybe something's amiss but I just don't want to go down those old worn out protestant paths of when prayers aren't answered there must be something wrong with me etc. So, I just keep on keeping on keeping on... :)

paramedicgirl said...

It's hard to understand why God doesn't always answer our prayers. Maybe His will for us is something different than what we have been praying for. Or maybe He wants us to undergo a tribulation to sanctify us. That is a real test; one I know I have failed numerous times.

My confessor told me recently that all the little annoyances and tribulations I experience in my life are gifts from God. He said as soon as I recognize that, I will be able to accept them, and once I accept them, I will be able to suffer them meritoriously. He said they are my crosses, and I should bear them patiently and meritoriously. Sigh. It is so hard to do.

He also said when one lands in Purgatory, we will look back at all the crosses God sent us and regret wasting their merit, as the sufferings of Purgatory are so much greater than anything we can suffer in this life.

The man is a saint.

Anita Moore said...

Sounds slightly...oh...I dunno...PROPHETIC.

Dim Bulb said...

I haven't read LORD OF THE WORLD yet, for anyone interested it is available for reading online:
http://www.archive.org/details/lordoftheworld00bensrich

I enjoyed FATHER ELIJAH. I would also recommend Cardinal Newman's famous novel of the third century Callista. The characters seem in many ways very 21st century. The 19th century diction is a little strange.
http://www.archive.org/details/callistaasketch00newmgoog

paramedicgirl said...

I haven't hreard of Callista yet. I will have to check it out.