The Catholic Book Club discussion

The second part of the book deals with 26 short biographies of Saints, Blessed, servants of God and Popes who the author considers champions of the rosary. Add your comments here to indicate:
a) whether you knew (or not) of their existence;
b) whether you consider them to be well-chosen as champions of the rosary;
c) anything else you may want to discuss.

Today, on the feast of the Ascension, which this year coincides with the festivity of Our Lady of Fatima, I have started with the second part of this book, by reading the first two of the twenty six biographies it contains, on St. Dominic and Alan de la Roche.

Each biography is divided into four parts: a short introduction, the Marian devotion of the champion, what he did as a champion of the Rosary, and a few Rosary Gems: quotations by the person in question, or about him by others.

In general, this part of the book is repetitive, for most of what it says, including a few of the quotations, have been given in the first historic part. But it is not bad to see everything related to the same person joined together, and the author probably thinks that repetitiveness can be useful and profitable. After all, the Rosary itself is repetitive (:-)

Part II of the book is the profiles of the 26 champions. Of the 26 champions of the rosary profiled 2 are venerable, 4 are blessed, 5 are classed as 'Servant of God', 7 are popes, and 11 are saints. I was surprised there were only 2 females in the list.

One surprising omission in the profiles is Romano Guardini. He wrote two wonderful books on the rosary (that I know of), The Rosary of Our Lady, and one that is long out of print, Das Jahr des Herrn - Ein Betrachtungsbuch (The Year of the Lord - A Book of Contemplation). The second one was published in 1953 and follows the pre-Vatican II liturgical year. For each Sunday and all holidays he put together five meditations for the rosary. They are lovely!

In Germany there is also the tradition of praying the "Comforting Mysteries" on Sundays, which are said to originate with Guardini in the 1930s. Given the tumultus times Germany went through during the 3rd Reich, they are indeed comforting.

1) Jesus, who reigns as king
2) Jesus, who lives and works in his Church
3) Jesus, who will return in glory
4) Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead
5) Jesus, who will bring everything to fulfillment
(my translation)

Kerstin when I read your post I remembered I had the Romano Guardini book on my to read shelf. Now it is on my “soon” pile.
Thank you for reminder and for sharing beautiful Comfort Mysteries.

You're welcome, Bice :)

In the biography of Frank Duff, the following sentence can be read:

...the Legion of Mary as the greatest movement to help souls since the establishment of great mendicant religious orders of the 16th century!

The great mendicant religious orders (Franciscans and Dominicans, Augustinians, Mercedarians and Carmelites) were created in the 13th century. In the 16th century the only mendicant orders created were the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God, and for a time the Jesuits, who were soon no longer considered mendicants and then became classed as Clerics Regular. Perhaps Calloway refers here to the Jesuits, but I think this can be a typo in the century. Can other readers confirm whether their edition of the book says 16th century here?

Kindle edition - ISBN 9781596143937, Publication Date: August 8, 2016 - says at chapter "The Servant of God Frank Duff": "Blessed Pope Paul VI described the Legion of Mary as the greatest movement to help souls since the establishment of the great mendicant religious orders in the 16th century!"

Yes, mine is also the kindle edition.

I have the paperback. It reads the same way as yours (p, 259).

CD in the paperback version are the footnotes on bottom of page or at the end of book?

There are no footnotes at the bottom of the pages. All references are at the back.

Thanks.

C.D. wrote: "I have the paperback. It reads the same way as yours (p, 259)."

Then I think it could be the author's typo. Perhaps he hasn't noticed it yet.

It was nice to read that Pope Pius XII placed his pontificate under the care of Our Lady of Good Counsel. When I was a child, I studied primary and high school in the Augustinian school of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Madrid (Spain). Near my last term there, my father (who was a painter and sculpter) was entrusted with the carving of a large wood statue of Our Lady of Good Counsel for the altar of the school chapel. If you want to see a photograph, it is located to the right of my father's page in the Spanish Wikipedia:
es.wikipedia:Manuel Alfonseca Santana

In Calloway's book there is another mention of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the chapter about St. Alphonsus Liguori.

Manuel thank you for sharing this! Oh what a lovely rendition! I especially like Baby Jesus. So boy looking. How large is the sculpture and where does it hang?
Lovely , lovely. Also was the other sculpture a self portrait of your father?

Bice wrote: "How large is the sculpture and where does it hang?
Lovely , lovely. Also was the other sculpture a self portrait of your father?"

The sculpture is about 1.5 meter high (5 ft.) and hangs in the altar of the chapel of the Augustinian school of Our Lady of Good Counsel. I remember that my father had a hard time to hang it there, for it was quite heavy!

Yes, indeed the other photograph is of a self portrait of my father.

Wow! It must be very impressive in person.

Lovely, thank you so much for this personal note. I love Mary listening intently as Jesus whispers in her ear. Perhaps he is giving good counsel, more likely seeking hers!

Our celebrant this morning missed the new memorial in honor of Mary, Mother of the Church.

Ours did not yesterday, though I had trouble following exactly what he was saying - :-). He did speak about the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and about Mary, Mother of the Church. I got some more of the details, but not a lot - my French just isn’t good enough to follow an entire sermon. But I did much better than last week when I was too tired to concentrate. Thank goodness the mass is the mass.

John wrote: "Ours did not yesterday, though I had trouble following exactly what he was saying - :-). He did speak about the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and about Mary, Mother of the Church. I got some more of the ..."

I also had trouble following ours, although he was speaking in Spanish :-) He was speaking far from the micro and I am deaf of one ear :-(

In the chapter about St. Josemaría Escribá, Calloway writes the following:

In Spanish, sonsoles means “those suns” and refers to the beautiful eyes of the Marian statue there.

This is not true. In Spanish, "sonsoles" does not mean anything. There is a popular legend that says that the image appeared to some little shepherds, and they shouted: "¡Son soles!" (i.e. "they are suns!") referring to the light in the eyes of the Virgin and the Child. Another explanation refers to the transport of the body of St. Zoilo from Cordoba to Carrion, which took place in 1080 (San Zoilo -> Sonsoles). But the most accepted explanation is the assertion that we don't know where the name came from :-)

Of the 26 Champions of the Rosary I knew quite well 16, just a little 3. The other 7, I had never heard about.

It looks like being a Champion of the Rosary makes for living a long life. The average length of the lives of the 26 Champions in the book is above 78 years, even though one of them (St. Maximilian Kolbe) was a martyr who was killed at 47.

It doesn't work for Jacinta and Francisco of Fatima. ;)

Mariangel wrote: "It doesn't work for Jacinta and Francisco of Fatima. ;)"

I said the 26 Champions in the book. Jacinta and Francisco aren't there, just Lucía.

I am still reading the biographies, and will probably do so slowly alternating with the June read.

Before this book, I had never heard of: Joseph Kentenich, Frank Duff, Dolindo Ruotolo, Patrick Peyton.

I had previously read their names and quotes in connection to Mary or the Rosary, but didn't know any more about: Alan de la Roche, Bartolo Longo, James Alberione.

I liked this part very much, especially the way it was structured.
I liked the repetition of facts. There were many I had not heard of and many that I knew and got to know better. I found the biography tidbits of Pope Champions fascinating..

I found the first few Champions somewhat repetitive, but after that it was pretty engaging and I did enjoy reading about these Champions.

I have had the missionary rosary with 5 colors since I was a kid, from the Comboni missionaries. It is still my travel rosary. I didn't know that it was invented by Fulton Sheen; in fact, I first heard of him 5 years ago.

I thought this book was well written, informative and that the subject material was presented in a way that was easy to understand and entertaining.

Mariangel wrote: "I have had the missionary rosary with 5 colors since I was a kid, from the Comboni missionaries. It is still my travel rosary. I didn't know that it was invented by Fulton Sheen; in fact, I first h..."

Interesting. I don't recall ever seeing one, and the first I heard of it was from reading this book.

Although I haven't read this book yet just from experience and memory I know Saint John Paul II was a great champion if praying the rosary. I always say mine everyday with a very special rosary that was my mom's before she passed. I treasure it always.

Yes so agree JPII was a great Champion of the Rosary. Very touching about your Mother’s Rosary. Isn’t losing a Mother the hardest thing.?

Bice wrote: "Yes so agree JPII was a great Champion of the Rosary. Very touching about your Mother’s Rosary. Isn’t losing a Mother the hardest thing.?"

Losing either parent is unbearable but I know they're in heaven watching over me. Not sure why my mom chose me out of 3 daughters to give the rosary to but I absolutely adore it.

Yes they are! What a comfort.