The Mass of Brother Michel

by Former Head of the Centre for Applied Zoology and Sports Science Lecturer Michael Kent, Peter Kwasniewski (Foreword)

-- The Mass of Brother Michel is a gripping story of adventure, renunciation, redemption, and ultimate victory. No reader will fail to be touched by its inspiring and miraculous climax. The Mass of Brother Michel , set in the tranquil countryside of southern France during the Reformation, is the story of a young man who “has it all”—until a fateful series of events leads him to a monastery. As Huguenot violence mounts, the characters of the story are pushed to extremes of hatred and love. The reader is swept along by a narrative as twisting and turbulent as a mountain stream, which culminates in a sovereign sacrifice as unforgettable as it was unforeseen. This is a story that shows with utter vividness the power of romantic love to cripple and deform, the power of suffering to undermine illusions and induce the labor of self-discovery, the power of prayer to reassemble the shards of the shattered image of God in the soul, and the power of the priest as the divine Physician’s privileged instrument. At the center of the novel is the awesome mystery, scandal, consolation, and provocation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To it some of the characters are irresistibly drawn; against it, others are violently arrayed. Here is a passionately told tale of their inner struggle and outward confrontation. The Mass of Brother Michel is a gripping story of adventure, renunciation, redemption, and ultimate victory. No reader will fail to be astonished at its outcome and touched by its inspiring and miraculous climax. “In The Mass of Brother Michel we have a work that should be shouted about in the marketplace and forced into the hands of those who think that the age of fine writing has passed away. It ought to be not only the Catholic Book of the Month but the Book of the Year.”— The Sign “In style and conception the book is distinguished throughout; it re-creates skillfully the life of the period; it is dramatic and tense, and the author’s wit plays happily over every scene and character. Michael Kent has a rare gift for distilling the stuff of drama and romance that mark the ways of God with man.”— The Catholic World “A really entertaining novel that is also a religious work is hard to find. This is a story of sixteenth-century France, of the volatile de Guillemonts, and of Michel, whose love for Louise conflicts with his love of the Mass. Fine qualities and base, family feuds and jealousies, all enter in to give the story substance.”— Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Catholic, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Religion, Book Club, Spirituality

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I am very surprised I haven't heard of it before now, especially from any of my Catholic friends. There were many points where I honestly couldn't put the book down and had to keep reading. I recommend to anyone who loves a good story and loves the Catholic Mass.

[booklady]

This book was recommended by my Goodreads friend, Anna, and it looks really good! Also, I see that a number of other friends here have read and rated it very highly... 🤔 That might mean the Holy Spirit is nudging me to move some other books over and read this ahead of them...

[Michael Joosten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read (though I would not call it perfect--purely stylistically, I think Kent overwrites things just a little), but I am at a loss as to whether I would say I recommend it. It violates my own literary instincts to write about fictional saints (literal "saints"--not just idealised or good people), because what makes the a real life saint so extraordinary is that they have heroic (that is, supernatural) virtues, YET ACTUALLY EXIST. A fictional saint, to be true to life, has to have supernatural virtues, but by virtue of being fictional, lacks that single trait of actual existence that makes a saint so stunning.

Kent succeeds, for me, but it is all too easy to see how someone could read The Mass of Brother Michel and think it nothing but a soup of Mary Sues and implausible coincidences. Coincidence, after all, is to plot what saints are to people: something that happens in life all the time but are so extraordinary as to be unbelievable in fiction.

In other words, The Mass of Brother Michel works for me as someone who is already Catholic, and I would probably recommend it to anyone else Catholic, but it is not likely to be effective as an apologetic. Even offered as "here, read this if you want to understand how my mind works," I cannot imagine it being successful for a non-Catholic reader, though I should like to be proven wrong.

[Ailsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book. The combination of the fast paced and gripping plot line with the beautiful exploration of religious themes makes this novel thoroughly enjoyable and deeply moving. My life is better for reading this book!

[Ursi Engebretsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is the powerful story of a young man who undergoes a crippling accident, separating him from the woman he desperately loves, then finds a much more deep and wonderful love, the love of God and especially the love of the Mass and the Eucharist. This love transforms Michel and the people around him at a time when the Catholic Faith is being mocked and persecuted, and as Michel wishes to become a priest and not able to become one because he is crippled, he sees that he can make up for the sin of Martin Luther who was a priest and threw that incredible supernatural gift away.

[Two Hearts Homeschool · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best read of 2022 so far. A magnificent ode to the Mass of the Ages, the Mass of our saints and martyrs, and a timely read for our times. May we all have the faith, hope, and inbounding charity of Frere Mich’ if and when the time comes.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book every Catholic should read. There were so many parts to this book that i would reflect back on. Brother Michel has a beautiful reverence and awe for the sacrifice of the mass.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story! I don't know why this book isn't better known or isn't more talked about in Catholic circles. A rich young man seems to "have it all," until an accident renders him disfigured and crippled. His father, ashamed of him, casts him out and he takes shelter in a monastery. Through his immense suffering, he draws closer to God, falls in love with the Mass, and his one desire is to become a priest and offer the Holy Mass. Unfortunately, his handicap makes it impossible for him to be ordained. Meanwhile, the Huguenots are spreading their error and violence through the country. There is romance, religion, vice, virtue, heresy, murder - it's really a very good story and an entertaining novel.

[Suzanne Mcguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an excellent premise for a plot and remains interesting in terms of action all the way until the end— despite a rather predictable ending. However, it fell flat with regard to character development. Even if it had to be a longer novel to do proper justice to the characters’ internal conversions, it would have been worthwhile and made the story more believable and enjoyable.

[Laura Breunig · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, my most very favorite book I’ve read certainly this year but also perhaps will prove to be one of my all time favorites! Oh to have the faith of Brother Michel. Oh to have the love of Christ through the Holy Mass!! I only allowed myself to read this book in short segments as to savor the words and the meaning behind them. Beautiful!

[Jedidiah Preble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the 16th century, it begins with a death and a prophecy, develops through rivalry in courtship followed by so many twists and turns and ends in a beautifully unexpected way.
It is written beautifully with lovely turns of phrases, painting a realistic image of courtly and provincial life in Catholic France during the time of the protestant revolutions.
This book reminded me of my love for the Mass.

[Almachius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodness me! What a story! This has got to be better known. Surely this is a Catholic classic? Incredible.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mass of Brother Michel is a fantastic story about a faith journey and found devotion to the Holy Mass. Tragedy, love, betrayal and ultimate victory found in the dedication to Jesus Christ.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mass is truly a gift to all Catholics. This is a book I will keep to re-read.

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent! Highly recommend

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! One of the best Catholic novels I’ve ever read. It was very moving and helped me understand religious life and true love better.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely testament to the Mass. At times, it almost read as theology rather than fiction. Highly recommend!

[Megan Willome · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mass of Brother Michel Michael Kent

This is the most painful 3-star review I’ve ever given. I have never marked so many passages in a book and then given it the equivalent of a meh. Because it is many things, but it is not meh. It is a mean between 5 and 1.

5—For the way it puts into words the beauty of the Mass. As the Holy Sacrifice becomes everything for Michel and others, we see it, feel it, believe it. And its role in the ending is Glorious.

4—For the setting. I can’t recall reading another novel set during the terror of the Huguenots. I’m surprised this piece of violent history hasn’t made its way into more tales.

3—For the plot. For a very interior novel, the plot does move along. In spots it’s a little soap opera-y, but I kept turning pages. It was literally my beach read.

2—For the characters. They are not very subtle. Often they monologue and don’t sound real. But even many one-note characters, taken together, can make a nice song.

1—For the overwriting. Often I wanted to mark out a sentence, a plot, even a chunk that didn’t advance the story. And yes, I am this kind of ruthless with my own work (at least, I try to be).

My poem is for my favorite character, Marceline, the donkey.

wise, recalcitrant ass,
beast after my own heart –
carry, thou, our bread

–Megan Willome

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

FYI, Goodreads has the author, Michael Kent, grouped with another Michael Kent, who is not the author of this book. This author used the pen name Michael Kent, and is actually a convert named Beatrice Bradshaw Brown, hence the reason I have included her on my Catholic Women Authors shelf. It is noted in her obituary that "Miss Brown was a daily communicant. This example led the writer's mother, Mrs. Florence Bradshaw Brown of Providence, into the Church in 1940." The Mass of Brother Michel is a historical fictional account of the attack upon the Catholic Mass and the Eucharist during the Protestant revolt of the Huguenots in France. I don't care for the illustrations in the original 1942 edition (I don't know if they are in the 2017 reprint).

[Ginny Garner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very spiritual, but I'm just not a fan of fiction.