War at Home and at the Front - A Chaplain - CTS Onefifties Book 21

War at Home and at the Front

CTS Onefifties Book 21

A Chaplain

Mrs Blundell of Crosby

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784695477

eISBN 9781784695194

ASIN B075FRMSD9

CTS Booklet CL21

Over the last several years I have read over 365 books and booklets from the CTS. This book is very different from many of the others. In 2018 during the 150 Anniversary of the CTS they released special editions of  some of their most popular and influential booklets. We are told about the series that:

“CTS Publisher Fergal Martin said, “1868 to 2018 we feel is something to celebrate. We have delved into our archives of thousands of titles and uncovered countless gems that celebrate the huge range and diversity of CTS publishing across a century and a half. The CTS archive represents a unique and valuable resource chronicling the changing concerns of the Catholic population of the British Isles and beyond over the last 150 years. There is something original and special here for everybody. Our hope is that readers can dip into the past – and find the present.””

This volume was actually compiled from two other works. They are:

At the Front: Thoughts and Prayers for the Fighting Forces - A Chaplain, 1940 Mothers in Wartime - Mrs Blundell of Crosby, 1942

The description of this new combined edition is:

“An army chaplain offers practical advice to Catholic soldiers; Catholic mothers are encouraged to set the difficulties of the Home Front in a wider context.

An army chaplain offers plain advice to soldiers, with particular emphasis on the usual temptations of military life: grousing at authority or physical discomfort; fear; sexual misdemeanours. Prayers and short Scripture passages are also included. This is a practical book, with no illusions about the nature of army life.

Mrs Blundell’s booklet began as a talk given in 1942 to the Union of Catholic Mothers. The normal difficulties of motherhood were amplified by the particular circumstances of wartime: rationing, the systematic evacuation of children from cities under threat of German bombing; separation from husbands and fathers. Mothers should practise the peacetime virtues (patience, discernment and encouragement, prayer) but also incorporate them into the great mission of prayer called by Cardinal Hinsley “The Sword of the Spirit”. She stresses the need to be united, in prayer even if not in person, with other Catholic women at home and abroad, and with husbands and fathers in peril of their lives.”

The chapters and sections in this volume are:

At the Front

     Four Points

     Holy Scripture: God and the Sinner

     Confession

     Holy Scripture: The Mass

     The Mass

     Holy Scripture: The Love of God and Tribulation

     Patience in Suffering

     Holy Scripture: Sins of the Flesh

     Purity

     Winter Hardships

     Prayer in Time of Hardship or Difficulty

     Holy Scripture: God's Providence

     God's Providence

     The Sufferings of Jesus

     Before Action

     Holy Scripture: God and Victory

     Prayer for Victory

     For Our Dead Comrades

     "Render to Cæsar the Things That are Cæsar's, 

          and to God the Things that are God's."

     The Courage of Christ and His Saints

Mothers in Wartime

     Foreword

     Chapter I

     Chapter II

     Chapter III

     Chapter IV

     Chapter V

     Chapter VI

Background

CTS Onefifties

The background section stated:

“An army chaplain offers plain advice to soldiers, with particular emphasis on the usual temptations of military life: grousing at authority or physical discomfort; fear; sexual misdemeanours. Prayers and short Scripture passages are also included. This is a practical book, with no illusions about the nature of army life.”

and 

“Mrs Blundell’s booklet began as a talk given in 1942 to the Union of Catholic Mothers. The normal difficulties of motherhood were amplified by the particular circumstances of wartime: rationing, the systematic evacuation of children from cities under threat of German bombing; separation from husbands and fathers. Mothers should practise the peacetime virtues (patience, discernment and encouragement, prayer) but also incorporate them into the great mission of prayer called by Cardinal Hinsley “The Sword of the Spirit”. She stresses the need to be united, in prayer even if not in person, with other Catholic women at home and abroad, and with husbands and fathers in peril of their lives.”

I highlighted several sections in this volume, more in the first work than the second. From ‘At The Front’ they are:

“Try to realize that God is always with you. He is with you wherever you are, and you can always pray to Him. You can always pray to Him, even if you are miles away from a church or a priest. Ask Him confidently for what you need, and He will always hear you and give you what you ask, and much more besides.”

“Should you commit in the future a grievous offence against God, remember that you can be reconciled to Him at any time by a good act of contrition.”

“Be regular in your daily prayers.”

“Lastly, if you want to keep out of mortal sin and to serve God faithfully, you must go to Confession and Holy Communion as often as you can.”

“The Sacraments are the most sure means that we have of strengthening our soul. If a man cannot get to them through no fault of his own, then God will help him in other ways.”

“And let us pray also for others: for our dear ones at home; for all who have lost their lives in the war; for the intentions of our Holy Father the Pope, that God may put an end to the war and give us a just and lasting peace.”

“So Saint Paul warns the Christians to whom he is writing that they must not deceive themselves. If they commit impurity and the other evil acts he has mentioned, they cannot at the same time be followers of Christ; they cannot obtain the kingdom of heaven.”

“And so when you feel cold and miserable, say to yourself: My conscience is good, at any rate. By being here I am doing my duty, I am serving God, I am earning Heaven for myself.”

“And so, if you are pierced right through with the cold and damp, say to yourself: I am suffering now like Jesus Christ did, when He was scourged at the pillar and crowned with thorns. Only His pains were much worse than mine. I will bear mine patiently as He bore His. And by this I shall earn my crown and come to be with Him in heaven.”

“You yourselves have to look after this. No one else can make you do your duty to God, no one else can do it for you. Your chaplains can only remind you of it and urge you to it. Almighty God has left it in the power of each man to choose whether he will serve Him or not.”

“Things that are God's." > Location 279

Few men deliberately refuse to serve God and choose evil instead of good. But it is easy for a man to become careless about his duty in small things and then if he does not try and stop himself he comes to neglect it in great, and finally ceases to care about it at all.”

“The canonized saints of the Church from the time of the Apostles to our own day have all followed the example set us by Our Blessed Lord. They have not been afraid of bodily pain and death. Many of the martyrs endured most terrible tortures rather than deny their faith, and they include all kinds of men, sensitive and delicate men as well as the hardy—even youths and women. The saints have not feared things that most other men, usually considered brave, still fear. They have not been afraid to be poor, to live on coarse food or hardly any food at all, in mean and filthy surroundings. They have chosen these things when they need not have had them. They have not minded being called fools by other men, and generally ill-treated; and when these things were happening to them, instead of being sad as we should have been, they have kept joyful all the time.”

From ‘Mothers in Wartime’:

“In a world which has come to undervalue the importance of family life, children are needing their parents now as never before.”

“The needs of to-day cry for the fulfilment of those aims for our own sake and for the sake of the whole tragic world in which we live, and for which we pray.”

“Now, I am all for adventure, but I believe that God plans the best adventure for each of us; if we pray and if we do some honest thinking we shall know what it is.”

“Children need the Spirit of Fatherhood too. The united essence of fatherhood and motherhood must mingle in their lives. I do not think that enough is thought or said about this, and I can say but little in this very small work.”

“It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this united parenthood.”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for this volume comprised of those two separate pieces. Though written during a time of World War II, in 1940 and 1942 these two pieces have a great deal of advice that could easily be applied to our lives in this day and age. In our battle against the day and age we live in. Even much of the advice for Mother’s could be translated for Fathers to be better men, husbands, and fathers. 

I have only read a few of the CTS Onefifties but have benefited from each of them, and look forward to reading the rest of the collection. This is an excellent read and one I benefited from, it is a volume I can easily recommend it.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For all reviews of books in the CTS Onefifties Series click here.

Medieval Christianity - Christopher Henry Dawson - CTS Onefifties Book 18

Medieval Christianity

CTS Onefifties Book 18

Christopher Henry Dawson

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784695446

eISBN 9781784695163

ASIN B075FRCR3K

CTS Booklet CL18

Over the last several years I have read over 330 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society. In 2018 during the 150 Anniversary of the CTS they released special editions of 25 of their most popular and influential booklets, they were released as a series called Onefifties. And were released between late 2016 and early 2018 I believe. I have been slowly working my way through them. I have picked up all of them in eBook format. This volume was originally published in 1935. We are told about the series that:

“CTS Publisher Fergal Martin said, “1868 to 2018 we feel is something to celebrate. We have delved into our archives of thousands of titles and uncovered countless gems that celebrate the huge range and diversity of CTS publishing across a century and a half. The CTS archive represents a unique and valuable resource chronicling the changing concerns of the Catholic population of the British Isles and beyond over the last 150 years. There is something original and special here for everybody. Our hope is that readers can dip into the past – and find the present.”

The description of this volume is:

“Monks, friars, popes, heresy, the inquisition; what was medieval Christianity really like? Where did it come from, and how did it express itself?

In a broad survey of a thousand years of religious history, Christopher Dawson stresses the non-European roots of medieval Christendom, but also its flourishing in lands beyond the frontiers of classical civilisation. This marriage of Mediterranean and near-Eastern culture with the barbarian peoples of the North was fruitful in myriad ways: classical culture was preserved, the rule of law established (in theory at least) and the expression of Christianity in theology, philosophy, literature and architecture flourished. Social norms benefitted from Christian influence, and the great monasteries became oases of learning and a power in the land. He traces with care the fascinating development of the Roman liturgy. Above all, Dawson explains how for a time the whole creative and social current of Europe was infused with Christianity and its monuments – literary, architectural, legal and social – all form part of the patrimony both of Christendom and of world civilisation.”

The chapters and sections in this volume are:

Medieval Christianity 

1. The Patristic Age and The Church In The West 

2. The Dark Ages and The Conversion Of The Barbarians 

3. Mediæval Christendom and The Revival Of Western Culture 

4. Monasticism 

Bibliography 

Background

This was an absolutely fascinating read. I hold a university degree in Religious Studies, with a focus on Roman Catholic Thought, and I have read much on this time. But this little volume is so engaging, and well written that I could just not put it down. I highlighted several passages while reading this volume. Some of them are:

“In a word, it was the age of the formation of western Christendom; and thus, in spite of its barbarism and material failure, it was the most creative age in European history.”

“The achievement of the later Middle Ages from the eleventh to the fifteenth century really deserves the name of a “Renaissance” better than the more limited movement to which the name has been appropriated. These centuries, especially the twelfth and the thirteenth, witnessed a most remarkable revival of cultural activity in every field, intellectual, political, and economic. It saw the building of the great cathedral and monastic houses, the foundation of the Communes and the Universities, the development of canon law, scholastic philosophy, and vernacular literature.”

“It was the Church rather than the State which took the lead in the revival of western civilization, and every aspect of that revival, even the political and economic ones, tended to assume religious forms.”

“The significant thing about the Crusading movement is that it was an attempt to Christianize mediæval society in its most vital but least Christian aspect, and thus it denotes a real fusion between the native tradition of the warrior peoples of Western Europe and the ideals of the Church and the Christian tradition.”

“Byzantine religion had developed the transcendent side of Christianity. It had emphasized the divine nature of Christ, the Uncreated Word, rather than the Divine Humanity. That is why the greater part of Oriental Christendom, Syria and Egypt, Armenia and Abyssinia, fell away from orthodoxy by a denial of the Human Nature of Christ and adopted the errors of Monophysitism. Mediæval Catholicism, on the other hand, concentrated its attention on the Humanity of Jesus, on the contemplation of His Life and Passion, and on the practice of the Imitation of the Conciliar movement—was a failure because it based its action on a kind of ecclesiastical constitutionalism which was inconsistent with the divine authority of the Holy See.”

“Hence that revolt against mediæval culture, which is the Renaissance, is by no means to be identified with that revolt against mediæval Catholicism which is the Reformation.”

“No institution is more typical of mediæval religion than monasticism, and none had a more profound influence on religious life and thought.”

“By this time, however, the monastery had changed its character. It was no longer, as in Egypt, a community of ascetics who had cut themselves off from all contact with the world. It had become a great social institution, a centre of education and learning, owning vast tracts of country and ruling the lives of a great dependent population. This type of social monasticism was dominant from the eighth to the twelfth centuries, and retained its importance down to the end of the Middle Ages.”

“In contrast to the Cluniac and Cistercian reforms, St Francis went back behind the whole monastic movement to the New Testament, and substituted the apostolic life of preaching and teaching for the ascetic and liturgical ideals of the older monastic orders.”

“If the early Middle Ages were the age of the monks, the later Middle Ages are the age of the Friars, and their action is to be seen not only in their missionary activity, but intellectually in the universities and in the development of scholasticism, and spiritually in their influence on the great mystical movement of the fourteenth century, and the new forms of piety and popular devotion.”

“If monasticism was one of the main formative influences in mediæval religion, the Papacy was the other; and it was the alliance of these two forces from the time of St Gregory the Great onwards which did more than anything else to create mediæval culture. Nevertheless, Rome itself was far from being the centre of mediæval culture. That culture developed rather on the basis of the Frankish monarchy and the Carolingian Empire. It had its centre in the north, in the lands between the Rhine and the Rhone and the Loire, while Rome remained for many centuries in closer touch with the Byzantine East than with the Frankish North.”

“Thus the liturgical development at the beginning of the Middle Ages was centrifugal, and the Roman liturgy, for which we possess by far the fullest and earliest evidence, followed an independent and specifically Roman line of evolution which acquired a definitive form between the fifth and the seventh centuries.”

“Thus the unity of our existing liturgy is part of the legacy of the Middle Ages, and corresponds to the rich diversity in unity of mediæval Christendom. This liturgical development was accompanied by a corresponding growth of devotion to the Sacrament of the Altar.”

“The decree of the Lateran Council put an end to the vagueness and uncertainty that had existed in the period of transition, and during the later Middle Ages the influence of the friars as confessors and directors and moral theologians had an immense influence on the development of more frequent confession, and the importance of the sacrament of penance in the religious life of the people.”

I hope the above quotes give you a feel for this excellent little volume. The writing is excellent. Any high school student could engage with this material. The volume flows and does not get hung up on particulars. But tells the story in clear, crisp broad strokes. The final section in the book is:

“BACKGROUND 

In a broad survey of a thousand years of religious history, Christopher Dawson stresses the non-European roots of mediæval Christendom, but also its flourishing in lands beyond the frontiers of classical civilisation. This marriage of Mediterranean and near-Eastern culture with the barbarian peoples of the North was fruitful in myriad ways: classical culture was preserved, the rule of law established (in theory at least) and the expression of Christianity in theology, philosophy, literature and architecture flourished. Social norms benefitted from Christian influence, and the great monasteries became oases of learning and a power in the land. He traces with care the fascinating development of the Roman liturgy. Above all, Dawson explains how for a time the whole creative and social current of Europe was infused with Christianity, and its monuments – literary, architectural, legal and social – all form part of the patrimony both of Christendom and of world civilisation.”

This is an excellent booklet and I can easily recommend it. It is another fantastic volume from the Catholic Truth Society.

There are many great books in this series and from the CTS, this is one of the best one of them!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For all reviews of books in the CTS Onefifties Series click here.

Islam, Britain and the Gospel - John Coonan, John Wijngaards, and William Burridge - CTS Onefifties

Islam, Britain & the Gospel

CTS Onefifties Book 11

John Coonan

John Wijngaards

William Burridge

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784695378

eISBN 9781784695095

ASIN B075FN1S7F

CTS Booklet CL11

Over the last several years I have read over 300 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society. In 2018 during the 150 Anniversary of the CTS they released special editions of 25 of their most popular and influential booklets, they were released as a series called Onefifties. And were released between late 2016 and early 2018 I believe. I have been slowly working my way through them. I have picked up all of them in eBook format. We are told about the series that:

“CTS Publisher Fergal Martin said, “1868 to 2018 we feel is something to celebrate. We have delved into our archives of thousands of titles and uncovered countless gems that celebrate the huge range and diversity of CTS publishing across a century and a half. The CTS archive represents a unique and valuable resource chronicling the changing concerns of the Catholic population of the British Isles and beyond over the last 150 years. There is something original and special here for everybody. Our hope is that readers can dip into the past – and find the present.”

The description of this volume is:

“In the last half of the twentieth century, mass immigration brought Islam, amongst other things, to Britain for the first time. These are some contemporary religious responses.

Mgr Coonan’s text is really a primer on Muslim belief and practice; it clearly notes the main differences between Christian and Muslim teaching (on the divinity of Jesus Christ and the nature of God, for instance) but does not explain why one might prefer one to the other, nor about different branches and styles of Islam.

William Burridge’s Our Muslim Neighbours adapts some of Coonan’s material. He gives a notably sympathetic account of the social reality of Islam, and portrays (for example) the place of women in Islam in a wholly positive light. He briefly discusses differences within Islam.

Neither of these texts criticises Islam, nor makes any apologetic effort on behalf of Christianity.

Our third text is more constructive. John Wijngaards, a well-known Scripture scholar, addresses head-on the common Muslim allegation that the Gospels have been deliberately altered to conceal the true nature of Jesus. He gives a clear and patient argument for the authenticity of the Gospel text.”

The three original volumes contained in this booklet are:

Islam Comes To Britain - 1979

Our Muslim Neighbours - 1987

Can We Trust The Gospels? -1985

They are interesting selections for the best of the CTS over the preceding 150 years, especially in a post 9/11 World, with the grooming gangs in England over the last few decades. Reading this in 2023 during massive Islamic riots in France that includes burning down many buildings including churches, and defacing of the National Holocaust memorial, make it hard to read without conflicting feelings.. Doing some research I do not believe that Coonan has any other published books, and Burridge only has the original volume, on the other hand I found over 20 volumes attributed to Wijngaards. Looking at his other titles there is nothing that appeals to me and just from the titles a few are circumspect. So again I cannot help but wonder at the inclusion of these in this collection. Was it a mere act of political correctness, at attempt at appeasement, or really just a mistake? I have read hundreds of books from the CTS over the last several years, and this is only the second one that theologically and politically I have questioned. 

The chapters and sections in this volume are:

Islam Comes To Britain 

     Mosques in London – and Rome

     Mohammed

     The Teaching

          The Qur’an

          Tradition (Sunna)

          Muslim Law (Shar’iah)

          The Credo of Islam

          God

          Angels

     Sacred Books

     Prophets

     Resurrection and Last Judgment

     Predestination

     Concerning Christ

     Concerning Our Lady

     The Practising Muslim

     The Profession of Faith

     Ritual Prayers

     Fasting

     Pilgrimage

     Almsgiving

     The Community of Islam

     Christian Mission and Islamic ‘Calling’, Da’wah

     Islam shares with Christianity belief in:

     Islam differs from Christianity:

     Bibliography

Our Muslim Neighbours 

     Submission to God

     The Five Pillars of Islam

     Muhammad

     The Message 

     The Muslim family

     The rights of women

     Christians and Muslims

     Islam shares with Christianity belief in:

     Islam differs from Christianity:

     Divisions in Islam

     Some useful names and addresses

     Books and pamphlets

Can We Trust The Gospels? 

     The origin of a myth

     The text of the Gospels

     The nature of the evidence

     Guardians of Tradition

     A new beginning

The two contrasting lists of similarities and differences are identical in the first two pieces it is:

“Islam shares with Christianity belief in: 

1. One God;

2. The Last Judgment and future life;

3. The Resurrection;

4. The value of prayer, fasting and almsdeeds;

5. The virginity of our Lady;

6. Angels;

7. The existence of evil – the devil.

8. It gives a special place to our Lord as a prophet.

 Islam differs from Christianity: 

1. It does not accept the doctrine of the Trinity.

2. It rejects the Divinity of Christ.

3. It rejects His death on the Cross.

4. It rejects the claims of the Catholic Church.

Both religions are expansionist: the Catholic Church through mission, Islam through Da’wah, or calling.”

The first two pieces seem to be written by authors who have drank the kool-aid and I found them both so blatantly out of touch even for when they were written that it is hard to believe. The final piece does have some great sections on defending the validity of the Gospels. But the vast majority of the volume is just not worth the time.

If I was not committed to reading and reviewing all the books in the CTS OneFifties Series, I would have added this to the ‘did not finish’ pile early on, within the first few pages of the first two pieces. The third piece has some great merit but not enough to outweigh the other two. This is only the second volume I have read from the Catholic Truth Society, of over 360 book and booklets read that I cannot recommend, that I gave 1/5 stars. 

There are many great books in this series and from the CTS, this is not one of them!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For all reviews of books in the CTS Onefifties Series click here.

The Day the Bomb Fell - Johannes Siemes SJ and Bruce Kent - CTS Onefifties

The Day the Bomb Fell

CTS Onefifties Book 5

Johannes Siemes SJ

Bruce Kent

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784695316

eISBN 9781784695033

ASIN B075FRS9KC

CTS Booklet CL05

Over the last several years I have read over 350 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society. In 2018 during the 150 Anniversary of the CTS they released special editions of 25 of their most popular and influential booklets, they were released as a series called Onefifties. And were released between late 2016 and early 2018 I believe. I have been slowly working my way through them. I have picked up all of them in eBook format. We are told about the series that:

“CTS Publisher Fergal Martin said, “1868 to 2018 we feel is something to celebrate. We have delved into our archives of thousands of titles and uncovered countless gems that celebrate the huge range and diversity of CTS publishing across a century and a half. The CTS archive represents a unique and valuable resource chronicling the changing concerns of the Catholic population of the British Isles and beyond over the last 150 years. There is something original and special here for everybody. Our hope is that readers can dip into the past – and find the present.”

The description of this volume is:

“Here is an eyewitness account, by a German Jesuit, of the atom bombing of Hiroshima. Appended is an account of the Christian peace movement by a well-known activist.

The morality of nuclear weapons and deterrence, and the possibility of “just war”, is still hotly debated amongst Christians.

Fr Siemes’s account of the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath is remarkable for its level-headed, factual tone; he does not engage in the easy judgements so common in discussing nuclear weapons. All war is horrible, and so-called “conventional” explosives are quite as capable of killing civilians as their nuclear analogues.

Bruce Kent’s text on the peace movement was first published in 1970, at the height of the Cold War. Today our real concerns about security are less likely to involve the arms race and opposed great power blocs than the actions of international terrorists and rogue states. Many sincere Christians still advocate disarmament and the exclusively peaceful resolution of conflict. That other equally sincere Christians reckon them naïve or mistaken does not diminish the value of their witness; nor, however, does the sincerity of that witness tell us, in itself, anything about the value of their arguments.”

This volume is in fact the compilation of two previous released works, the first ais a first hand account of Hiroshima and the second on the concept of peace. The booklets included are:

The Day the Bomb Fell – Johannes Siemes SJ - 1984

Peace is our Problem – Bruce Kent - 1970

The chapters in the second are:

I. Time Runs Out 

II. Christians: Peace And War In History 

III. The Popes and the 2nd Vatican Council 

IV. Fr Dominique Pire O.P. 

V. Suggestions For Action

I did not highlight much my first time through this volume. Those passages I did highlight tended to be longer, they are:

“Up to 6 August occasional bombs which did no great damage had fallen on Hiroshima. Many cities round about, one after the other, were destroyed but Hiroshima itself remained protected. There were almost daily observation planes over the city, but none of them dropped a bomb. The citizens wondered why they alone had remained undisturbed for so long a time. There were fantastic rumours that the enemy had something special in mind for this city, but no one dreamed that the end would come in such a fashion as on the morning of 6 August.”

“At half-past four in the morning we finally arrived at the Novitiate. Our rescue expedition had taken almost twelve hours. Our two wounded were now, for the first time, properly dressed. I get two hours’ sleep on the floor.”

“We have discussed among ourselves the ethics of the use of the bomb. Some consider it in the same category as poison gas and were against its use on a civilian population. Others were of the view that in total war, as carried out in Japan, there was no difference between soldiers and civilians, and that the bomb itself was an effective force tending to end the bloodshed, warning Japan to surrender and thus avoid total destruction. It seems logical to me that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of a war against civilians. The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences, which far exceed whatever good might result? When will our moralists give us a clear answer to this question?”

“Earl Mountbatten referred to the ‘military menace which would have greatly increased by 2001 A.D. unless brought under control soon.’ Then he made a vital point which is really the object of this pamphlet. ‘Peace’ he said, ‘has become too important to be left to professional statesmen and politicians.’ In other words, the ordinary people – you and me – must stop looking at peace as a specialized job at which only the experts can work. If we want peace and not world destruction, all of us, and especially Christians, have got to do some hard work and some deep thinking.”

“Winston Churchill said long ago of nuclear warfare ‘Mankind is placed in a situation both meaningless and laden with doom.’ But nuclear warfare is not the only kind of warfare. The Jews and the Arabs are so far still fighting with ‘conventional’ weapons. Korea was not fought with nuclear weapons (against the advice of General McArthur). Napalm and C.S. gas may not be conventional weapons, but the Vietnam conflict has killed hundreds of thousands without becoming a nuclear battlefield. Starvation rather than bullets has taken a toll of nearly two million lives in Africa in a non-nuclear war in which, because of arms sales, we were deeply involved.”

“But Christians have or should have special motives in working to remove the curse of war. Every time we go to Mass we say, with the priest, ‘Lamb of God…grant us peace.’ We, who claim to see Christ even in our worst enemies, should be the reconcilers. We should try to earn for ourselves the blessing of the peacemakers promised in the Sermon on the Mount.”

A note on the first piece states:

“The Day the Bomb Fell is the text of the talk given by Father Siemes to the crew of H.M.S. Tyne in March 1946, and taken down in shorthand by a ship’s writer. One of the crew, Robert J. Bloomfield, then a nineteen-year-old stores assistant and now a writer and journalist, kept a copy of Fr Siemes’s talk, and has made it available for publication. 

Fr Siemes died on 6 August 1983, thirty-eight years to the day after the events described here.”

So the date of the first work could in reality be stated as 1946 and thus very fresh to the actual events. It was only published later after the death of Fr Siemes. Both pieces were well worth reading. This would have been a great resource for a course I did many years ago called Peach and Conflict Studies. Either as a primary or secondary source for readings. Both provide different insight and perspective. I am thankful I gave it a read and will likely do so again.

To date I have only read a few of the CTS Onefifties, about a half dozen of the 25 released, but have benefited from each of them, and look forward to reading the remaining volumes. This is a great read and one I benefited from. It would be a good read for almost any Catholic. 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For all reviews of books in the CTS Onefifties Series click here.

Christ Upon the Waters - John Henry Newman - CTS Onefifties

Christ Upon the Waters

CTS Onefifties Book 3

John Henry Newman

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784695293

eISBN 9781784695019

ASIN B075FN1J1N

CTS Booklet CL03

Over the last several years I have read over 300 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society. In 2018 during the 150 Anniversary of the CTS they released special editions of 25 of their most popular and influential booklets, they were released as a series called Onefifties. And were released between late 2016 and early 2018 I believe. I have been slowly working my way through them. I have picked up all of them in eBook format. We are told about the series that:

“CTS Publisher Fergal Martin said, “1868 to 2018 we feel is something to celebrate. We have delved into our archives of thousands of titles and uncovered countless gems that celebrate the huge range and diversity of CTS publishing across a century and a half. The CTS archive represents a unique and valuable resource chronicling the changing concerns of the Catholic population of the British Isles and beyond over the last 150 years. There is something original and special here for everybody. Our hope is that readers can dip into the past – and find the present.”

The description of this volume is:

“It is difficult now to imagine the condition of Catholics in the England of 1850 when, after three hundred years, the Catholic hierarchy was restored. Catholicism was reckoned an alien thing, unworthy of free-born Englishmen, full of superstition and tyranny and the suppression of free enquiry and intellectual dignity: the vehicle of Antichrist. Newman eloquently outlines this situation, and argues that it is no more than a Christian should expect: this was what was promised to the first disciples. Yet we, like Peter, are called to step out of the boat and walk towards Christ: so we should know that our fears, like his, are groundless. Jesus will take our hand and keep us safe; at his word, the storm will cease and the waters fall. 

Today, we may not recognise the situation that Newman saw in 1850; but it does not take much imagination to apply what he said then, to the surely analogous challenges Catholics face now.”

The chapters in this volume are:

Christ Upon The Waters

Part II

Background

CTS Onefifties

We are informed about the first part of this book that:

“Preached on October 27, 1850, in St. Chad’s, Birmingham, at the Installation of the Right Rev. Dr. Ullathorne, First Bishop of the See. Reprinted by permission from Cardinal Newman’s Sermons Preached on Various Occasions (Longmans).”

The background of this volume states:

“It is difficult now to imagine the condition of Catholics in the England of 1850 when, after three hundred years, the Catholic hierarchy was restored. Catholicism was reckoned an alien thing, unworthy of free-born Englishmen, full of superstition and tyranny and the suppression of free enquiry and intellectual dignity: the vehicle of Antichrist. Newman eloquently outlines this situation, and argues that it is no more than a Christian should expect: this was what was promised to the first disciples. Yet we, like Peter, are called to step out of the boat and walk towards Christ: so we should know that our fears, like his, are groundless. Jesus will take our hand and keep us safe; at his word, the storm will cease and the waters fall.

Today, we may not recognise the situation that Newman saw in 1850; but it does not take much imagination to apply what he said then, to the surely analogous challenges Catholics face now.”

This volume was first published in 1857, the first CTS edition was in 1899, The eBook and paperback were reprinted in 2017 as part of the 150th celebration. Over the last several years I have read many volumes by and about Saint John Henry Newman, most from the Catholic Truth Society. I have had an interest in him for a few years now, both prior to and since his canonization in 2019. Reading this piece was like he was speaking to us today. We have not gone through hundreds of years of suppression, but it does feel like it is coming again. This is an excellent little volume, written from a place of deep personal faith and devotion. It is a booklet I can easily return to again and again.

I have only read a few of the CTS Onefifties but have benefited from each of them, and look forward to reading the remaining volumes. With the reading of this volume, I have read 5 of the 25 in the collection. This is an excellent read and one I benefited from. It would be a great read for any Catholic. 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For all reviews of books in the CTS Onefifties Series click here.

For other reviews of books by and about Saint John Henry Newman click here.

Reviews of other books by John Henry Newman:
Stations of the Cross
Meditations on Mary, Our Mother 
Prayers Before The Eucharist
...

CTS books about Newman:
John Henry Newman: Lead Kindly Light - Dr. Raymond Edwards
Newman His Life and Legacy – Fr. Ian Ker
John Henry Newman Apostle to the Doubtful - Meriol Trevor and Leonie Caldecott
Newman Prayer Book - The Birmingham Oratory (ed)
The Mind of Cardinal Newman: From His Own Writings - Charles Stephen Dessain
Daily Christian Living with John Henry Newman

St John Henry Newman: A New Doctor of the Church - Fr Hermann Geissler, FSO 

Saint John Henry Newman: His Life and Works - CTS

Cardinal Newman The Story of A Miracle - Peter Jennings 

Benedict XVI and Blessed John Henry Newman the State Visit - Benedict XVI

…

CTS Books by John Henry Newman:
Meditations on Stations of the Cross
Christ upon the Waters - CTS Onefifties Book 3

The Second Spring

Two Discourses on Our Lady The Present and Future of British Catholicism

…

Reviews of other books about Newman:
Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman -  Mike Aquilina and Juan Velez

Brave Leader, Big Heart - Father Juan Velez

…

Who is St Joseph? - Herbert Cardinal Vaughan - CTS Onefifties

Who is St Joseph? 

CTS Onefifties Book 25

Herbert Cardinal Vaughan

Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784695514

eISBN 9781784695231

ASIN B075FS3QFQ

CTS Booklet CL25

Over the last several years I have read over 300 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society. But this book is very different from the other two. In 2016 during the 150 Anniversary of the CTS they released special editions of 150 of their most popular and influential booklets. I have been slowly working my way through them. We are told about the series that:

“CTS Publisher Fergal Martin said, “1868 to 2018 we feel is something to celebrate. We have delved into our archives of thousands of titles and uncovered countless gems that celebrate the huge range and diversity of CTS publishing across a century and a half. The CTS archive represents a unique and valuable resource chronicling the changing concerns of the Catholic population of the British Isles and beyond over the last 150 years. There is something original and special here for everybody. Our hope is that readers can dip into the past – and find the present.””

The description of this new combined edition is:

“Whenever Cardinal Vaughan met problems or worries, he turned first to St Joseph. Here he tells us why, and how to do the same.

Herbert Vaughan had a profound and long-standing devotion to St Joseph. When he was Bishop of Salford (1872-1892), he compiled this booklet from the prayers and meditations he found most helpful. He placed all his most important projects under St Joseph’s patronage: the missionary congregation he founded, the Mill Hill missionaries, are officially St Joseph’s Missionary Society, whilst their American offshoot (the Society of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart) are universally known as the Josephites. St Joseph’s intercession was instrumental in securing their original headquarters, St Joseph’s College in Mill Hill.

Herbert Vaughan was convinced of the power of St Joseph’s patronage, and the constant testimony of the Church supports him. St Joseph is the especial patron of the dying, and of those looking for somewhere to live; he is also patron of work, and of Christian husbands and fathers. He who was a loving father to Jesus will not ignore those who turn to him now.”

The chapters in this volume are:

Who is Saint Joseph?

Act of Consecration to Saint Joseph

Thoughts and Examples for Every Day in the Month

The Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys

The Seven Sundays of Saint Joseph

The Praises of Saint Joseph

Triduum for the Gaining of Some Special Grace

Saint Joseph’s Memorare

Saint Bernardine’s Prayer to Saint Joseph

The Priest’s Prayer

Invocations of the Holy Family

Petition for Holy Purity

Month of March

Thirty Days’ Prayer

Litany of Saint Joseph

Note

Background

CTS Onefifties

We are informed about this volume that:

“This little book, which was compiled and issued by Cardinal Vaughan when Bishop of Salford as one of his “Religious Books for the People,” is now reprinted by the Catholic Truth Society in response to numerous requests. The Litany of St Joseph and St Bernardine’s Prayer (p. 54), approved by Pius X in 1909, have been added to this edition, which in all other respects conforms to the original.”

The background of this volume states:

“Herbert Vaughan was convinced of the power of St Joseph’s patronage, and the constant testimony of the Church supports him. St Joseph is the especial patron of the dying, and of those looking for somewhere to live; he is also patron of work, and of Christian husbands and fathers. He who was a loving father to Jesus will not ignore those who turn to him now.”

Over the last several years I have read many volumes on Saint Joseph. I had an interest in him prior to the Year of Saint Joseph. And That year I had a greater focus on volumes about him. As a husband and a father I find I can always grow in my knowledge and experience of his intercession. This is an excellent little volume, written from a place of personal faith and devotion. It is a booklet I can easily return to again and again.

I have only read a few of the CTS Onefifties but have benefited from each of them, and look forward to reading many more. This is an excellent read and one I benefited from. It would be a great read for any Catholic. 

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

For all reviews of books in the CTS Onefifties Series click here.

Other reviews and articles about Saint Joseph:

Consecration to St. Joseph - Fr. Donald Calloway
Favorite Prayers to St. Joseph Compiled from Traditional Sources- TAN Books
Prayer to Saint Joseph Prayer of the Day
Joseph of Nazareth - Federico Suarez
Devotion to St. Joseph - F. Declaux
Go to St. Joseph: Do Whatever He Tells You - Brian Kiczek
Saint Joseph: Help for Life's Emergencies - Kathryn J. Hermes
Feast of Saint Joseph 2018 Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary Principal Patron of Canada
Companion to Saint Joseph - J.B. Midgley - CTS Companions Series
Saints of the Roman Canon - Julien Chilcott-Monk - CTS Living the Liturgy Series
Seven Saints for Seven Virtues - Jean M. Heimann

Saint Joseph Prayers and Devotions - Donal Anthony Foley

Model of Faith - Leonard J. Delorenzo

St. Joseph and His World - Mike Aquilina

Do Carpenters Dream of Wooden Sheep? 

Old Men Don’t Walk to Egypt: Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph the Protector - Father Mark Goring - A nine-day preparation for entrustment to St. Joseph 

Nine Days with Saint Joseph - Andrew Offer, O.P. and Jonah Teller O.P.

Who is St Joseph? - Herbert Cardinal Vaughan - CTS Onefifties

Redemptoris Custos - Guardian of Redeemer Anniversary Edition - Pope John Paul II

30 Day Consecration to St Joseph - Father Gerard Skinner - CTS Books

Saint Joseph's Catholic Church Stratford A Photo Essay

Prayer of the Day Litany of St. Joseph

A Prayer of the Day Act of Consecration to St. Joseph

...