Omnes Sancti et Sanctæ Coreæ, orate pro nobis.

Now Blogging Afresh at Ad Orientem 西儒 - The Western Confucian



Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Soloviev and O'Connor
Today, I finished The Russian Church And The Papacy by Vladimir Soloviev. This excellent but mistitled book, an abridgement of the author's Russia and the universal church (out-of-print), really has little to say about the Russian Church, except that it should be under the Pope. The book offers an astonishingly thourough defense of the Papacy, using scripture, tradition, history, and common sense to illustrate why the Pope is and always has been essential to the unity and orthodoxy of the Christian Faith.

I've given this book a permanent link on my sidebar under "Recommended Books on Catholicism," the first time I have added a book to that category since this blog was created. The book is that good. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who seeks an answer to the question of why the Catholic Church has and needs a Pope.

Hans Urs von Balthasar ranked Soloviev second only to Thomas Aquinas as "the greatest artist of order and organization in the history of thought." I'd really like to get my hands on a copy of Soloviev's unabridged tome.

Now, I begin The Habit of Being : Letters of Flannery O'Connor. "The Hillbilly Thomist" is perhaps my favorite American writer. One of these letters contains the author's famous quip about the Eucharist: "Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it."

Fans of Miss O'Connor's work might like this: If Flannery Had A Blog...