Recalling St. Anthony of Padua by Rev. Fr. Marcellus Manzo (review)

BOOK REVIEWS217 The reflections are, in many cases, an expanding of the brief points connected with the Passion, and marked out for special consideration by St. Ignatius, in the Third Week of his Spiritual Exercises. A great variety, too, of reflections has been offered, so as to suit the tastes and meet the needs of individual classes of readers. The first five chapters contain preliminary remarks. They deal with the remote and immediate events leading up to the Passion; emphasis is laid on the importance and on the fruits derived from the meditation of Christ's Passion; general norms or hints are given for a fruitful contemplation; finally, a method of examination of conscience is proposed. The remaining twelve chapters are taken up with the two main features of the book. The author does not claim much originality for the work; he has culled the best material from various sources. The book is commendable for its easy reading, accurate narrative of the Gospel data, refreshing thoughts, and inspiring reflections. Gregory Grabka, O.F.M. Conv. Si. Hyacinth Seminary, Granby, Mass. Recalling St. Anthony of Padua. By Rev. Fr. Marcellus Manzo, O.F.M. Cap., M.A., Ph.D., New York City, N. Y. Copyright, 1946. Pp. ? plus 55. Illustrated. 8vo. ("Copies of this book may be obtained from the author at 213 Stanton St., New York City, N. Y") The proclamation of St. Anthony of Padua as a Doctor of the Church Universal by Pope Pius XII on Jan. 16, 1946, has, as is usual on such and similar occasions, evoked from Franciscan and other literateurs a large bibliography and inspired festive celebrations. Besides the encyclicals by each of the three Minister Generals of the First Franciscan Order, accounts of the various festivities held throughout the world have been publicized, books printed and bibliographies compiled. Among the printed accounts were the beautifully illustrated booklet of 214 pages recalling the celebrations at Padua during the months of May and June, 1946; that of 520 pages recalling the celebrations at Rome; and that of our own American friars conducted on November 11, 1946, at the Shrine and auditorium of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. A more or less complete bibliography on St. Anthony of Padua is about to appear in the next number of the Report of the Franciscan Educational Conference held last summer at Santa Barbara, Calif. This reviewer knows of at least two other English works on St. Anthony now on the 218BOOK REVIEWS press and to appear in the Spring of this year; likewise of a dissertation in preparation for an S.T.D. degree at the Catholic University. One of the first books in English to appear in print after the solemn Anthonian proclamation by the present Holy Father was Recalling St. Anthony of Padua by the above-named Capuchin Father of the Detroit Province. It is a very readable, albeit brief life of St. Anthony, appropriately illustrated by Anthony Thomas Esposito of Brooklyn, N. Y., and pleasingly embellished from time to time with poetical selections. The Preface was written by the Rev. Anthony McBride, O.F.M. Cap., M.A.; the Appendix contains an English translation of the Apostolic Letters creating St. Anthony a Doctor of the Church, taken from the Franciscan Herald and Forum, whereas the present Secretary and Socius of the Minister General of the Friars Minor Capuchins, Very Rev. Cuthbert Gumbinger, at that time still in the U. S. A., acted as Censor. The author leans heavily on the biography by Bishop Vittorino Facchinetti, O.F.M., entided Antonio di Padova (Milano, 1925). Since he has evidently intended his book for popular consumption, no one will take it amiss that he did not enter into any of the many controversial questions attending on the life and doctrines of St. Anthony of Padua. With Facchinetti the author assumes that St. Anthony taught the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (pp. .13-14), and also the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, despite the fact that in recent years a rather heated controversy has arisen on the latter point, one Roman Franciscan denying it, another affirming it. Then there is the question of the...