Archbishop'S House
ARCHBISHOP'S HOUSE
5418 MOELLER AVENUE
NORWOOD, OHIO
THE learned author of Perfection chrétienne et contemplation. Father Garrigou-Lagrange, needs no introduction. His works in philosophy and theology have given him wide renown. Sister Timothea's translation, Christian Perfection and Contemplation, makes available to English readers a valuable treatise on ascetical and mystical theology which is clearly expounded and is solid in doctrine. The author gives reasonable attention to the historical and traditional aspects of the questions treated. He wisely chooses as his guides the great teachers of ascetical and mystical theology, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Teresa of Avila.
Sister Timothea, while faithfully adhering to the French text, has given us a smooth, idiomatic translation in which little, if any, of the clarity and charm of the original is lost.
Everyone is called to advance in the way of perfection according to his state of life. Ascetical and mystical theology, as Father Garrigou-Lagrange remarks, is the application of moral theology, as expounded by St. Thomas, in directing souls to an ever closer union with God. Too many imagine that ascetical and mystical theology is for the select few. They therefore wrongly think that it is confined to priests, religious, and a few chosen souls in the world.
The appearance of Father Garrigou-Lagrange's work in English should not only aid greatly in dispelling this false idea but should, we trust, lead many souls to a higher state of perfection and to a closer union with God. It should find a place in the library of every priest and seminarian, in the libraries of sisters' convents, and in homes where there is Catholic reading. May Christian Perfection and Contemplation awaken in many an appreciation of the higher things of the spiritual life.
JOHN T. MCNICHOLAS
Archbishop of Cincinnati