Our Lady of Sorrows. A Book of Mediations by Rev. Hilary Morris, O.S.M. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS249 necessary condition for making a translation and for studies of the Fathers. So we welcome this new study and presentation of the text of St. Athanasius' classic De Incarnatione. Dominic Unger, O.F.M. Cap. Capuchin College, Washington, D.C. Our Lady of Sorrows. A Book of Mediations. By Rev. Hilary Morris, O.S.M. Westminster, Md. : The Newman Bookshop, 1946. Pp. 8VO-I-101. Someone has said that the poetry of suffering entered this world with Christianity. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the Cross is the very center of the history of mankind. Theologians may disagree as to the primary motive of the Word's Incarnation, but it is undeniable that in the present economy, the fall of Adam having been foreseen, Christ did come into this world as the "Man of Sorrows", as a suffering Savior. And so it is that the great tragedy of Calvary stands out so prominently among the other episodes of His earthly career. In order to better understand the full significance of the divine drama enacted on Calvary, men have always turned to the Mother of the Savior, who, through her own sufferings, played so important a role in that sacrificial act. Hence the literature on the subject of Mary's sorrows is as vast as that dealing with the Savior's Passion and death. One of the latest contributions to this field is the valuable book now under discussion. Prefaced by a short but interesting historical survey of the devotion to our Lady's sorrows, Father Morris' mediations deal quite extensively and penetratingly with each of the seven sorrows of Mary, pointing out the various causes which in each instance contributed towards making our Lady's suffering almost unbearable. This is not, of course, a theological treatise ; yet the author clearly sets forth what might be called the theological significance of Mary's sorrows. Thus we are told that, through her intimate association with Christ in His Passion, she "merited for us in her own way (de congruo) all that Christ merited in strict justice" (p. 25). And again : "In union with Jesus, she immolated her own self to God..." (p. 27) ; she was the "innocent victim of our sins" (p. 28). Wishing to cooperate as much as possible in the work of Redemption, she "asked God... to accept her, conjointly with her Son, as a Victim for the expiation of sin..." (p. 76). We have thus like a summary of Catholic teaching on the beautiful and consoling doctrine of Mary as Co-redemptrix of the human race. But all these theological reflections are kept in the background, as it were. The book is primarily a series of pious meditations calculated, it would seem, to call men back to the imitation of Mary's heroic patience and fortitude in time of trial. Indeed, in this day and age of incertitude, worries and fears, of fluctuating spiritual values, nothing could be more helpful, comforting and encouraging than the constant recollection of the sufferings of the "valiant Woman". We welcome, then, Father 250BOOK REVIEWS Morris' excellent and penetrating little book, and we have little doubt but that it will bear abundant spiritual fruit. Siena College, Loudonville, New York. J. B. Carol, O.F.M. Compendium Mariologix. By Gabriel M. Roschini, O.S.M. Romae : Scientia Catholica, 1946. Pp. 8+512. Father Roschini hardly needs an introduction to students of theology ; he is a veteran in the field, having written a considerable number of monographs and articles on various theological topics, particularly on Mariology. He is the founder and editor of Marianum, a magazine exclusively devoted to the theology of our Blessed Lady. Not the least tribute to his competence as a serious theologian is the fact that the Holy Father recently appointed him consultor of the Holy Office in Rome. While the book is supposed to be a "compendium" of his monumental "Mariologia" (in three large volumes) it has actually turned out to be the most complete and exhaustive treatise on Mariology that we know of. Here we find scholarly dissertations not only on such "standard" theses as the Divine Maternity, the Immaculate Conception, the Perpetual Virginity and...