Gems in Wonersh library

The library at Wonersh is one of those libraries that is full of character. The original shelving is intact – solid as a rock, it would be possible to walk along the deep, waist-high shelf that supports the top section of each bookcase. (OK, it is possible: I do it sometimes.) Some of the gems tend to be tucked away under here: Bellarmine’s Controversies, Jugie’s Summa of dogmatic theology of the orthodox Churches and many other wonderful tomes. Then high up above the most consulted books, there are the manuals in Latin and other forgotten works. Well, they are not entirely forgotten…

Today, I was looking for a suitable book of meditations. I found a copy of Ronald Knox’s Meditations on the Psalms from 1919 which looks as if it will do nicely.

Then I came across a book by Cardinal Bona, published in Nancy in 1836. The full title is De Sacrificio Missae Tractatus Asceticus. Continens praxim attente, devote, et reverenter celebrandi. (Ascetical treatise on the Sacrifice of the Mass, containing the practical advice for celebrating attentively, devoutly and reverently.)

While driving over here, listening to Archbishop Fulton Sheen's sermons on Death/Judgement, Purgatory, and Heaven, (Hell is left for the way back) I was thinking that it would be good to post something positive on the blog. So I will translate a little of Bona for you.

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