By What Authority

Review PRAISE FOR THE CENACLE PRESS EDITION OF By What Authority?"The reader, if he allows himself to be carried thither, will find himself transported to the late sixteenth century, the terror and tension of the times gripping him as tightly as it grips the leading characters, who gave courageous witness to their faith in a hostile and deadly environment."-from the foreword by Joseph Pearce, author Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton "In a manner that contradicts the biased narrative still taught in many schools, By What Authority? portrays the true impact of the Protestant revolution and its imposition on ordinary people. Actual events are interwoven with the great questions of conscience and religious authority. Yet, the characters cannot be simply described as mouthpieces for conflicting doctrines-the story is a compelling work of literature. I pray that the renewal of interest in Robert Hugh Benson's writings will touch minds and hearts and play their part in the return of the Dowry of Mary, and indeed all who have broken communion with Rome, to the one true fold of the Church."-Fr Patrick O'Donohue FSSP, Irish Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter "Blending wit, chivalry, theological insight, and deep sympathy with all Christians of goodwill, Benson leads the reader inside the minds and hearts of Reformation England, dramatizing how the Lord uses small acts of fidelity to raise up joyful saints and martyrs in every generation. With its lively illustrations and helpful notes, Cenacle Press's new edition is a must-have for every Catholic home (and home-schooling) library."-Melinda Nielsen PhD, Associate Professor of Classical Literature, Baylor University Product Description The fates of two young people caught in a conflict of ideals is the theme of this stirring and tragic novel, set in the England of Elizabeth I. At a time when following the Old Religion resulted in penalties stretching from heavy fines to imprisonment and death, Puritan-bred Anthony and Isabel Norris find themselves drawn to the Church of their forefathers. Underlying their struggles and conflicts with Protestant England is the strength and vitality of Catholic Church supporting and drawing the characters into Her embrace. In a story which delves into the deepest reaches of the Catholic and Anglican dilemma, Benson weaves together the lives of his characters and their encounters with central figures in English Reformation history in order to praise and defend the England that was, the England that is truly England: the Catholic England. About the Author Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914), the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was educated at Eton and Trinity College. Drawn toward the High-Church tradition, Benson was ordained an Anglican priest by his father, but began to investigate the claims of the Catholic Church during a trip to the Middle East in 1896. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1903 and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood the following year. Amid his various ecclesial duties, he was a well-known preacher and a prolific writer, and his works span many genres, including science and historical fiction, contemporary novels, children's books, apologetics, plays, poetry, and devotional material.

Literature & Fiction

Benson, Robert Hugh

Literary

Cenacle Press at Silverstream Priory

The King's Achievement

Review\nPRAISE FOR THE CENACLE PRESS EDITION OF By What Authority? 
"A good story, excellently told-capable of inspiring deep love for the Faith and opening our eyes to the sufferings which have preserved it for us."-FR AIDAN NICHOLS OP, St Michael's College, Kingston, Jamaica 
"Enjoyable as it is edifying, Benson's historical novel The King's Achievement helps us third-millennium readers become more familiar with the heroic times of anti- Catholic persecution in England."-FR ARMAND DE MALLERAY FSSP, author X-ray of the Priest In A Field Hospital 
"Breathe the air of a recusant household and family; rejoice in the triumphs of Divine Grace imagined in these absorbing pages: because this story is as exciting and as page-turning as a modern thriller."-FR JOHN HUNWICKE 
"This precious historical novel is essential reading to all those interested in the national and personal complexities of the English Reformation."-TIMOTHY KELLY PHD, Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford\nOne of the most coldly calculated acts of Henry VIII during the Reformation was the dissolution of the monasteries. Monks and nuns were driven from their cloisters; the abbeys were plundered and turned over to greedy courtiers. From these ignoble proceedings came Robert Hugh Benson's inspiration for this great historical novel, the story of a house divided against itself. The Torridon brothers are sworn to serve different masters; one is a monk, in love with the Mass and the Faith of Ages, the other an agent of the Crown, in love with Beatrice Atherton, a protege of Sir Thomas More. Among the giant figures who move through the tale are those of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, the ruthless King Henry VIII, and the grasping Cromwell. Their actual deeds are carefully woven into this harrowingly romantic tale of the attempted destruction and resilience of the Catholic Faith in England.

One of the most coldly calculated acts of Henry VIII during the Reformation was the dissolution of the monasteries. Monks and nuns were driven from their cloisters; the abbeys were plundered and turned over to greedy courtiers. From these ignoble proceedings came Robert Hugh Benson's inspiration for this great historical novel, the story of a house divided against itself. The Torridon brothers are sworn to serve different masters; one is a monk, in love with the Mass and the Faith of Ages, the other an agent of the Crown, in love with Beatrice Atherton, a protege of Sir Thomas More. Among the giant figures who move through the tale are those of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, the ruthless King Henry VIII, and the grasping Cromwell. Their actual deeds are carefully woven into this harrowingly romantic tale of the attempted destruction and resilience of the Catholic Faith in England.

New Nazareths In Us: Sermons & Meditations on Seeking Christ & His Mother

Religion & Spirituality

Sliwa, Fr Ryan T

Christian Books & Bibles

We Work While the Light Lasts

Van Zeller, Dom Hubert

Dawn Tears, Spring Light, Rood Peace: Poems

This book invites the reader into a cloister of poems, there to look with eyes of faith through the arches of rhythm and rhyme onto the wide vistas, terrible chasms, and hazy mountains of Mystery, Beauty, and Love. Written by monks of Silverstream Priory, some poems let memory and imagination search the corners of the earth, there to glean the sorrows, hopes, and joys of men, and so present them to the Father. Others draw from the deep wells of tradition, with verse translations of ancient Latin hymns, or new compositions in that Catholic tongue. From there, gazing upwards, free verse explores the dark night of the soul, only to discover a sky star-speckled with the hope of immortality. Themes such as spiritual darkness, search, and self-gift, are juxtaposed with pieces composed for recreation celebrations of various brothers' name days. Poems that exult in the beauty of nature find a place beside ones which meditate the economy of salvation in Scripture, the Liturgy, and religious life. 
A brief authors' preface explains the provenance of the poems and the different sections of the book. On one level, they move from time to eternity, from the created to the uncreated. Dawn is a daily beginning; spring, a yearly resurrection and transition; the cross, an eternal reality in which time is subsumed and redeemed. They also interweave the interior and subjective with the exterior and objective. Tears spring from what we experience; we perceive the exterior world by the created lights of the universe and are led into the eternal; supernatural peace drops down into our hearts and minds as a gift of God that surpasses nature, a result of God's redemptive realities.\nPraise for Dawn Tears, Spring Light, Rood Peace: Poems 
Roman Catholicism will return to Ireland when the monasteries are rebuilt and poetry flourishes once again. The present volume is a first offering in view of this grand work of restoration-a matter of blood of the Irish soul, of the sweat and labour of the poor, and of many tears.-Abbot Philip Anderson OSB, Clear Creek Abbey, Oklahoma\nOut of this delightful volume comes the air of a community of monks where immersion in the tradition of the church is also vivid openness to the daily world. These are poems worked over for their craft....Biblical resonance and legendary importance alike emerge here, as do meditations of pure lyric intensity and longing that take the reader deep into the joy and challenge of monastic life.-Glenn C. Arbery PhD, President, Wyoming Catholic College\nHere we find the fruits of the prayerful silence which leads to the contemplative dilation of the soul into the fullness of God's presence.-Joseph Pearce, author Tolkien: Man and Myth and Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton\nThis book of poems, fruit of contemplation of the monks of Silverstream Priory, is a gift....Most are evidently born of the deepest silence and prayer; some are written in fun and to entertain in Chestertonian style. All offer a privileged glimpse into a life lived close to God and steeped in the significance of language and beauty. Many of the pieces are akin to prayers and will be helpful in Adoration and the spiritual life of the reader....this book allows us to become, in a small but rich sense, a part of the monks' way.-Sally Read, author Night's Bright Darkness and Dawn of This Hunger

Silverstream Priory, Monks Of

Poetry

This book invites the reader into a cloister of poems, there to look with eyes of faith through the arches of rhythm and rhyme onto the wide vistas, terrible chasms, and hazy mountains of Mystery, Beauty, and Love. Written by monks of Silverstream Priory, some poems let memory and imagination search the corners of the earth, there to glean the sorrows, hopes, and joys of men, and so present them to the Father. Others draw from the deep wells of tradition, with verse translations of ancient Latin hymns, or new compositions in that Catholic tongue. From there, gazing upwards, free verse explores the dark night of the soul, only to discover a sky star-speckled with the hope of immortality. Themes such as spiritual darkness, search, and self-gift are juxtaposed with pieces composed for recreation. Poems that exult in the beauty of nature find a place beside ones which meditate the economy of salvation in Scripture, the Liturgy, and religious life.\nA brief authors' preface explains the provenance of the poems and the different sections of the book. On one level, they move from time to eternity, from the created to the uncreated. Dawn is a daily beginning; spring, a yearly resurrection and transition; the cross, an eternal reality in which time is subsumed and redeemed. They also interweave the interior and subjective with the exterior and objective. Tears spring from what we experience; we perceive the exterior world by the created lights of the universe and are led into the eternal; supernatural peace drops down into our hearts and minds as a gift of God that surpasses nature, a result of God's redemptive realities.\nPraise for Dawn Tears, Spring Light, Rood Peace: Poems 
Roman Catholicism will return to Ireland when the monasteries are rebuilt and poetry flourishes once again. The present volume is a first offering in view of this grand work of restoration-a matter of blood of the Irish soul, of the sweat and labour of the poor, and of many tears.-Abbot Philip Anderson OSB, Clear Creek Abbey, Oklahoma\nOut of this delightful volume comes the air of a community of monks where immersion in the tradition of the church is also vivid openness to the daily world. These are poems worked over for their craft....Biblical resonance and legendary importance alike emerge here, as do meditations of pure lyric intensity and longing that take the reader deep into the joy and challenge of monastic life.-Glenn C. Arbery PhD, President, Wyoming Catholic College\nHere we find the fruits of the prayerful silence which leads to the contemplative dilation of the soul into the fullness of God's presence.-Joseph Pearce, author Tolkien: Man and Myth and Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton\nThis book of poems, fruit of contemplation of the monks of Silverstream Priory, is a gift....Most are evidently born of the deepest silence and prayer; some are written in fun and to entertain in Chestertonian style. All offer a privileged glimpse into a life lived close to God and steeped in the significance of language and beauty. Many of the pieces are akin to prayers and will be helpful in Adoration and the spiritual life of the reader....this book allows us to become, in a small but rich sense, a part of the monks' way.-Sally Read, author Night's Bright Darkness and Dawn of This Hunger

The Friendship of Christ

History

World

A Benedictine Soul: Biography, Letters, and Spiritual Writings of Dom Pius De Hemptinne

Holy Trinity, Whom I wish to love with all my heart, with all my strength and with all my mind, I beg Thee to look upon this little Note-book and consider it as being an "Appendix of my heart"; into it I shall pour out all the overflowings of my soul and shall note down all my most intense desires. May these lines be, before Thee, like a prayer forever for all who are dear to me. This Note-book then, is Thine own- "God's Notebook"-and the first prayer in it is: "My God I love Thee." 
With these words, a young monk Began his spiritual journal. In the first entry, dated September 24, 1900, he writes: "If Thou wilt give me the time I would like to hold a long conversation with Thee-but I cannot. Read, then, in my heart and be assured that I wish to unite myself to Thee." 
A Benedictine Soul gives us a precious glimpse into the life and "secret communings" with God of Dom Pius de Hemptinne, a monk of the Abbey of Maredsous who died in 1907 at the age of twenty-seven. Containing a biographical sketch of Dom Pius' life along with some of his selected writings, this book is a master class in what it means to love God with the innocence of the pure in heart. In these pages, one will behold love for God blossoming without hindrance in a soul. Dom Pius is graced to pour forth ardor without sentimentality, intensity without heaviness, and innocence without naivety. 
Born into a large family of the Belgian aristocracy, Dom Pius was brought up in an atmosphere of fervent faith and service to the Church. Dom Pius' biography shows that he was taught to love by both his natural and his spiritual family, and that both family life and celibate life can be animated with the love of Christ.\nA true son of St. Benedict as well as a living fruit of the spiritual teaching of Blessed Columba Marmion, his prior and teacher, Dom Pius teaches us that no act of obedience is too small to be the kindling for our love for the Father, a teaching reminiscent of St. Thérèse's Little Way. This book teaches Christians in every state of life what it is to be a soul that is "strong in loving." 
The reflections and letters of Dom Pius reveal to us a young monk who, formed into the spirituality of adoption by Blessed Columba Marmion, became, at a young age, a contemplative soul who, as Blessed Columba writes, was a "beautiful, virgin soul" having "splendid qualities of heart and mind." In the Communion of Saints, saints help others to become saints. May Dom Pius' life and words, once more in print, help to guide and nourish contemplative souls to live fully their filial adoption, to live wholly in sinu Patris. - Mother Maria Regina of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, F.L.M., Foundress and Superior of the Filiae Laboris Mariae

Biographies & Memoirs

De Hemptinne, Dom Pius

De Hemptinne, Dom John

Leaders & Notable People

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