New Book: Art Commentaries and Essay on the Blessed Virgin by Fr Michael Morris

I am delighted to hear of book containing essays and art commentaries by the late Fr Michael Morris will be released on December 8th. It is published by Magnificat, for whom he wrote for many years.

I haven’t read the book, but will review it for this column as soon as I get hold of copy. For those who can make it, the launch will be at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA, at 4.30pm on December 8th. Speakers will be art historian Dr Kathryn Barush, and Fr Christ Renz, the Academic Dean of the DSPT.

It is especially timely for me. I attended a lecture at the Acton Institute last summer about the crisis of the culture by Dr Carrie Gress, who is on the faculty of Pontifex University. She was commenting on the ‘Benedict Option’ movement which has grown up out of this angst arising from the confliect between Christian and secular culture. In the course of this lecture she suggested that history and theology seem to suggest that a better response might be one of looking to Mary as a crucial guide in our desire to evangelize the culture. I felt that she was on to something and have heard a rumor since that she is in the process of writing a ‘Marian Option’ book. If that is so, I can’t wait to read it (I will keep you posted),

Dr Gress’s idea seemed to me to be coming out of the same place that gave rise to the re-establishment of the the Men’s Holy League recently under the patronage of Cardinal Burke. I am anticipating the Fr Michael’s book will have much material to connect with this theme.