VENI CREATOR A Translation. O Spirit, our Creator, come and bless Thou Comforter, in form of spotless Dove,— Thou who in gifts of grace art seven-fold, Lighten our senses with Thy sacred fire: Our dull hearts with Thy kindling love inspire: Pour forth Thy strength, that we may meekly bear The ills, to which all mortal flesh is heir. Chase the dread Foe of mankind far away; Thus, while our slow steps follow Thee, their guide, Through Thee let us the Almighty Father know,- In Thee, of both the Spirit, let us trust. Praise be to all, the Father and the Son, N. Y.. SOME NEW BOOKS 1. The Crackling of Thorns. By Rev. John Condon, O.S.A. Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd. (Price 3s. 6d.) One effect of this book is to make it clear that we have in Father Condon still another Irish priest who has a real gift for story-telling. The ten stories and sketches in the volume, in point of style, finish, and skilful handling, are distinctly above the ordinary run of such collections. The scenes are placed in America, Rome and Ireland-here Dungarvan and its neighbourhood are especially favoured, but we think the author is at his best when he is dealing with his fellow-countrymen, as, for instance, in the story "He Went into a Far Country," with its true, unforced pathos. Without having any appearance of being written with a purpose,' some of the tales suggest forcibly the evils of emigration, the loss to the emigrants' interests, temporal and eternal alike. There are some defects. The conversation is at times too perfectly phrased, too rounded and well written; the first story is not altogether convincing, and the last sketch would be the better for pruning; but these shortcomings are of little weight in comparison with the merits of the volume, and will not prevent us from congratulating sincerely both Father Condon and the Irish public on this very agreeable batch of stories. The six illustrations by Mr. Power O'Malley are a genuine addition to the book, which is well turned out except for its too plain and unattractive cover. 2. Sister Gertrude Mary. A Mystic of our own Days. Extracts from her Diary, translated by a Nun of St. Bride's Abbey. London: R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 2s. 6d. net.) Anne Marie Bernier, as we see her in this record of divine favours, appears such another as Gemma Galgani or the Little Flower, a saintly and highly privileged soul. She was born in Anjou in the year 1870 of a very poor family. She entered the Community of St. Charles in 1887, taught in the schools and had charge of the children's manual work, The suffered much from illness, was looked on as a very edifying religious; and died in 1908. Only after death did her secret become known, even to those of her to those of her community. lengthy narrative of her supernatural favours, which she wrote at the bidding of her spiritual director, was published, and showed that from the day of her first Communion to her death she was raised to a mystical union with God and received frequent and most familiar communications from Him. Some extracts from that narrative go to make the present volume. It is edited by Dom Bede Camm, O.S.B., who deals in an introduction with the visions which are taken to foretell the very striking conversion of the Caldey monks and the nuns of St. Bride's. A number of letters of approbation are included, among them one from Père Poulain in which he says, "The dispositions of this artless soul, of this little daughter of God,' are admirable." There are touching and beautiful passages in this record of revelations, well calculated to freshen the love of Christ in devout souls and to stimulate them to greater delicacy of conscience and more generous fidelity in the service of God. 3. Poems. By Charles Collier. Dublin: James Duffy and Co., Ltd. (Price 2s. 6d. net.) The author of this collection of poems tells us in a modest preface that they were not written for publication but to beguile" the sameness and weariness of a solitary life." This note of solitariness is felt throughout the book; the poems read as the outcome of much meditative communing with nature, the wild and gloomy aspects of which seem to have brought the poet especial comfort. They are simple and unambitious in form and pleasantly un-modern in manner, belonging somewhat to that school of poetry of which Cowper is a foremost example. One of the best is the poem entitled 'Reflections on the Passing Multitude' which contains wise, ripe and kindly thoughts, aptly expressed. It is surprising that religion does not enter more largely into the comments on life of so reflective an author; with more thought of God's love there would have been far more of gladness in the verse. What Faith Really Means. By the Rev. Henry Grey Graham, M.A. London: R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 6d. net.) The purpose of this little book, which is to give a simple explanation of the true nature of Faith, is excellently fultilled. Father Graham first makes quite clear that Faith is an intellectual act by which the mind assents to truths revealed on the authority of God. He then considers the question, how is one to know what God has revealed, and shows that the only accredited seat of authority for the proclamation of that revelation is the Catholic Church. The common objections of modern rationalists are considered and answered briefly and convincingly. Throughout the work is written with the author's customary clearness and vigour and with his trenchant, effective logic. His Lordship the Bishop of Galloway contributes an instructive Foreword. 5. Among recent publications of lesser bulk we have from Messrs. Washbourne a Manual of the Sodality of Our Lady, by S.P. B.V.M. (price one shilling), a very neat booklet which no one would suspect at first sight of containing over two hundred pages; it gives a history of the Sodality (Prima Frimaria), its rules, privileges and forms of reception as well as the Little Office and various prayers; The Offices of Vespers and Compline for Sundays (price twopence) with Latin and English in columns on the same page; and the seventh part of their excellent Roma (one shilling and threepence net) which continues the account of the Catacombs, and like the foregoing parts is richly furnished with beautiful or very useful illustrations. Messrs. Longmans have brought out a presentation edition (1s. 6d. net.) of A Child's Prayer to Jesus, by Fr. W. Roche, S.J.; it will make a very suitable first Communion gift in its artistic white and gold cover, which is as attractive as the simple devotional prayers and the taking illustrations that make up the interior. 6. The Personality of Christ. By Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B. London: Longmans, Green and Co. (Price 5s. net.) Very clearly and at the same time, modestly, the Abbot of Buckfast sets forth the object of his book in a commendably brief preface: "The present work is neither exegetical nor apologetical nor devotional, but strictly theological. . . . My book is a very unconventional rendering of the most important points of the third part of the Summa; but I trust that I have at least succeeded in giving the spirit of the great medieval saint and thinker, and if the following pages produce a desire in the reader to go to the Summa itself, I shall consider that I have had a notable success." The work will attain another very desirable form of success if it furnishes the devotion of many with a solid groundwork of theological knowledge. Though not formally devotional in purport, it is intimately connected with devotion by reason both of its very subject and of the author's treatment. In forty short essay-like chapters he deals with questions relating to the Personality of Christ: for example, with His two natures and two wills, His knowledge and character, His sufferings and happiness. The style is easy and clear enough to make the book quite readable by the ordinary educated person. Popular Sermons on the Catechism from the German of Rev. A. Hubert Bamberg, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, S.J. Volume II. London R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 6s. net.) The reception accorded to the first volume of this series of sermons was very favourable, both in these pages and in the Catholic Press generally, and the second volume has followed without much delay. The sermons in this part number sixty and are of a very practical character; they deal chiefly with the love of God and our neighbour, with the Commandments of God and of the Church, with sin, its nature and its punishment. 8. An Introduction to the Mystical Life. By the Abbé P. Lejeune. Translated from the French by Basil Levett. London: R. and T. Washbourne, Ltd. (Price 3s. 61. net.) Lest readers might be misled by the title, the writer hastens to assure us in the Preface that the Mystical Life is a pure gift of God, not to be earned infallibly by any personal effort of ours. "We only hope to point out to souls of good will some of the practices which spiritual writers teach us as forming the best dispositions for that life." The practices and dispositions he recommends are good old-fashioned ones such as recollection, humility, and mortification-both interior and exterior. Indeed, he holds with Alvarez de Paz that " If the reason be sought why contemplation is so rare, it is because this grace requires a serious and uninterrupted practice of mortification." The best feature of the book, it seems to us, |