A Plug for the Sisters’ New Book, The Crucifixion
What was it like for Our Blessed Mother, standing at the foot of the Cross of Her Son, gazing up into His eyes, watching the Precious Blood trickle from His awful wounds? What was She thinking about? What was Her Heart saying to His?
If ever there were a time to ponder these exquisite questions, it is now—in the holy season of Passiontide. If ever there were an author whose insights could assist you in this worthy endeavor, it is Fr. Frederick William Faber.
Make no mistake — Fr. Faber’s book on the Seven Dolors of Our Lady, The Foot of the Cross, stands in the field of Marian literature arguably unsurpassed for the depth of its pathos and the grandeur of its expressions. It is truly breathtaking. Its thoughts are original and well-nigh heartbreakingly beautiful. It deserves to be read by every serious Catholic on earth, not once but many, many times; for, we know, the love of Mary is the surest, easiest way to advance in the love of Christ, which is the whole purpose of our mortal existence. It is not just a gem but an entire diamond mine.
However, when we once recommended Fr. Faber’s book to a devout laywoman of our acquaintance, her response was, “Is it hard?”
“Well, yes,” we had to admit. “His style requires a bit of unpacking at times. But it is well worth the effort.”
Far from being reassured, the good lady was visibly disappointed, explaining that, in the evening, when she might actually have some time to settle down with a book, she would scarcely have the mental energy needed to dive into “a hard read.”
We knew she was not alone in such sentiments. Given the general busyness of the typical modern lifestyle, it is not surprising that many people would be deterred by a style of writing in which sentences run on for paragraphs, and paragraphs continue for pages.
It was to address just such a dilemma that we thought to re-present Fr. Faber’s work. If the priest-scholars Walter Farrell and Martin J. Healy could condense into one compact, pocket-sized volume the entire Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas for the sake of getting the solid principles of Thomistic theology into the hands of as many people as possible — cleric and lay alike! — surely it could not be wrong to use a similar tactic in order to make devotion to our Mother of Sorrows as widespread as possible.
That is precisely what we have done in The Crucifixion: A Marian Meditation. Proceeding reverently, sentence by sentence, we adjusted advanced Faberian vocabulary, we modified punctuation, and we inserted section headings. That was all. The content was left — deliberately so! — perfectly intact. Thus, the final product is neither a summary nor a condensation nor an abridgment. It would better be called a translation. The difficult English of a master theologian and spiritual writer of the 19th Century has been “translated” into the common tongue of the 21st.
Order your copy of the Sisters’ little Passiontide gem today!
