Vatican II: A Pastoral Council by Serafino M Lanzetta (Gracewing, £25). “What did Vatican II really mean?” asks Fr Serafino Lanzetta. It was “for many, a starting point. For others, a halt,” and Fr Lanzetta hopes to apply a “more appropriate hermeneutic” to the conciliar documents. How do we distinguish between dogmatic and pastoral readings? What levels of authority do the documents command? Fr Lanzetta situates his analysis in historical context, exploring specific issues ranging from ecclesiology to Mariology. Ultimately, he hopes that Vatican II can still be “a council for the unity of the Church”.
Morning Homilies II by Pope Francis (Orbis/Alban Books, £11.99). These homilies show Pope Francis at his most personal and prayerful. The homilies every morning at his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, range from reflections on prayer to the necessity of sharing one’s faith; from fidelity to God to the humility of the Gospel; from the tree of the Cross to recognising that “love isn’t a soap opera”. Editor Robert Ellsberg tells readers in his preface that the Pope attaches great importance to preaching, following his own advice to be short and positive, as well as intimate and spontaneous.
The End of the Cold War by Robert Service (Pan, £12.99). Service is perhaps this county’s finest historian of the long shadow of depredation and injustice that communism cast over the 20th century. His most recent book takes a look at the aftermath. Starting with Gorbachev’s relationship with Ronald Reagan, Service uncovers the fault lines that had divided Soviet society for so many years and which made the end of communism inevitable. Drawing on new source material, this book presents a moment of history when the world underwent a massive paradigm shift.
Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm by Gil North (British Library, £7.99). Part of the British Library’s ongoing programme of reissues of long-neglected British authors, this is the first in a series of Sergeant Cluff detective stories that were also hugely popular on television. Set in the writer’s native Yorkshire, there is a geniality and calmness in these books that is absent from much modern fiction. When a spinster in a small village suddenly marries a man much younger than her, there is the predictable gossip. When a few months later the woman is discovered dead, Sergeant Cluff is called in. Brilliantly atmospheric, this novel evokes a forgotten England.
The Spirit of Solesmes edited by Sister Mary David Totah OSB (Gracewing, £14.99). In this selection from the works of Dom Prosper Guéranger, Abbess Cécile Bruyère and Dom Paul Delatte, Sister Mary Totah, of the Benedictine community in Ryde in the Isle of Wight, seeks to convey the essence of the Christian life. These three major figures, whose writings, retreats, letters and conferences she examines, are celebrated for the part they played in the spiritual renewal associated with the Abbey of Solesmes. All who have been influenced by the spirituality of Solesmes will value this book.
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