Brief Notices
The author of this short book, an adjunct professor at Handong University Law School in Korea, has divided her work into five independent sections (I-V), dedicated respectively to the law on (I) "War and Its Justification" (pp. 1-48), (II) "Understanding Intent" in Gratian and St. Augustine (pp. 49-75), (III) "The Case of Baptism" in canon law and theology (pp. 77-128), (IV) "The Order of the Templars and Their Criminalization in the 14th Century"(pp. 129-164), and (V) "The History of Penance" in canon law (pp. 165-221). The actual scope of the five treatments is much narrower than the titles suggest. Section I compares passages on just war in Gratian's Decretum and the Summa aurea of Hostiensis; Section II again starts from Decretum, C. 23, and relates a single quote to Augustine's discussion of free will versus divine providence; Section III looks at Gratian, Decretum De cons. D. 4 c. 1-156, and Peter Lombard's Sentences 4.2-6, for different aspects of baptismal doctrine; Section IV examines inquisitorial documentation from Philip the Fair's trial against the Templars, identifying and defining blasphemy as the principal criminal charge; and Section V concentrates on early medieval penitential doctrine in the compilations of Theodore (ca. 680) and Halitgar of Cambrai (830). Kim's method is primarily philological rather than historical, as she consistently privileges the close reading and paraphrase of original texts, assuming that their meaning is immediately accessible to modern students, without significant aid coming from contemporary (decretist or theological) commentary or from modern secondary literature, which is cited very spottily and always carries 1997 as the latest publication date, the year she ended her graduate career with a JD from the University of California at Berkeley. Wolfgang Mueller (Fordham University)
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdeleine, O.C.D. From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity: The Spiritual Itinerary of St. Teresa of Margaret (Redi) of the Sacred Heart, O.C.D. Translated by Sebastian V. Ramge, O.C.D. (Washington, D.C.: Institute of Carmelite Studies. 2006. Pp. 92. $11.95.)
While Carmelites rank Saint Teresa of Margaret (1737-1770) along with Teresa of Jesus, John of the Cross, and Thérèse of the Child Jesus, her story is nearly obscure in the world of today's popular saints. Her complete biography, God is Love: Saint Teresa Margaret, Her Life, was published by the Institute of Carmelite Studies in 2003. The story of Saint Teresa Margaret's life is based [End Page 1019] upon the testimonies of her Carmelite spiritual directors. This new companion study, From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity: The Spiritual Itinerary of St. Teresa of Margaret (Redi) of the Sacred Heart, O.D.C., by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdelene moves beyond her biography to trace her steps following the Carmelite way. Father Gabriel, an astute Carmelite spiritual theologian, grounds his work on the eye witness accounts of her directors during her formative years, decrees used for the process of her beatification in 1839.
Sister Teresa of Margaret Redi was born in Italy in the eighteenth century and canonized in 1934. Father Gabriel divides his treatment of Teresa of Margaret's journey into the ascetical and mystical aspects. The first phase in her ascetical journey began when she read a life of Saint Margaret Mary and assimilated Margaret Mary's devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Teresa of Margaret's intense spiritual journey was marked by the transforming grace she received upon hearing the words "God is Love" during the choral recitation of Terce. From this moment forward she felt herself loved by God and that she loved God in a...
