More than just a bibliography, this catalog of Flannery O'Connor's library is an invitation to better understand the ideas, passions, and prejudices of the extraordinarily observant and creative author of Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away. Noting all the passages O'Connor marked in her books, transcribing many of the passages, and showing all references to specific books in O'Connor's published letters and book reviews, Arthur F. Kinney gives readers the opportunity to hear the intellectual dialogue between O'Connor and the authors of the books in her library--authors as diverse as Carl Jung, Henry James, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. A rich assembly of books on philosophy, theology, literature, literary criticism, and other subjects, O'Connor's personal library was collected while she lived at the family farmhouse near Milledgeville, Georgia. Now housed at Georgia College and State University, it shows signs of her frequent use. Passages that aroused such emotions as joy, wrath, and mockery are marked with her stars, checks, numbers, and often more extensive comments. Providing a general intellectual context for understanding O'Connor's work, the markings and notations offer in some cases a direct guide to specific facets of her work. Helpful to anyone seeking to understand O'Connor, Flannery O'Connor's Library will prove indispensable to future study and criticism of one of the most complex and elusive twentieth-century American writers.

This work provides an introduction to the history and major themes of the 17th-century French School of Spirituality and its contemporary relevance. Included are works of Pierre de Berulle (1575-1629), Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, Jean-Jacques Olier and John Eudes.

An Irish quarterly review.

People today are searching for meaning and purpose. They know that something is missing in their lives and long to fill this void. Many books on spirituality attempt to fill this need, and the approaches are nearly as numerous as the searchers themselves. Such a widespread desire in the human heart speaks to the spiritual hunger at the core of each one of us. It is this hunger of both the head and the heart that Michael Demkovich sees as key to spiritual integration. In this volume readers will rediscover that "there really is something more to life, and spirituality meets the mystery of this something more." A genuine spirituality must address two essential characteristics: It cannot be meant for an elite few, yet it must answer life's toughest and most basic questions: How did we get here? What are we destined to become? It recognizes the crucial role of religious tradition and community; it is not merely eclectic and individualized therapy, focused only on "my" well-being. Retrieving a theological understanding of the soul, Demkovich explores an animating spirituality that integrates faith and life, the moral and the intellectual, into an animated spirituality that makes life meaningful and satisfying. "If you find something is missing in the very soul of your being, then I am certain that this book has something for you."

Spiritually there is a great hunger today for contemplative and more satisfying experiences with God. Puritanism might seem to be an unlikely source for this, yet few groups in the history of Christian spirituality have written more extensively or wisely on the subject. Isaac Ambrose (1604-64), a relatively forgotten English Puritan, developed a theological foundation for the spiritual life based upon the Christian's intimate union with Christ, which the Puritans often called "spiritual marriage." Schwanda demonstrates that this vibrant relationship of union and communion with Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was manifested in a deep contemplative piety of gazing lovingly and gratefully upon God. At the same time, Ambrose did not neglect loving his neighbors. This study reveals how heavenly meditation was one of the significant practices engaged by Ambrose to cultivate spiritual intimacy and enjoyment of God. Further, his experiential reading of Scripture, in particular the Song of Songs, provided him with a language of ravishment and delight in God. This book provides a distinctively Protestant foundation for recovering the contemplative life while recognizing the significant contributions of the Western Catholic tradition.

The publication incorporated selected papers concerning the emblematic books published by the Jesuits during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Spanish Netherlands where they were more active than anywhere else. Jesuits published more emblematic books than any other group during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. And they were probably more active in both the print and material culture in the Spanish Netherlands than anywhere else. The essays are revised versions of papers presented at the Fourth International Emblem Conference held at Leuven in 1996.