Dulles on Feeney via Cardinal Cushing

Many many papers and holy cards fall out of our books at Loome Theological Booksellers, each item with varying historical significance. The following ended up on my desk the other week:

It's a letter from Richard Cardinal Cushing (which is for sale for $20 – email me if you want to purchase it) to, I assume, one of his parish priests regarding Rome's condemnation of Leonard Feeney's teaching and the work of St. Benedict's Center during the late 1940s in Boston. Feeney gets a bad rap these days (Feeneyism and Feeneyites) so I was surprised and delighted to find this article on Feeney by Avery Cardinal Dulles. Reading this Dulles article I was reminded of two issues of "From the Housetops" that we have in stock:

DULLES, AVERY & LEONARD FEENEY (contributors).
From the Housetops. Cambridge: St. Benedict Center, 1947.
"From the Housetops Vol. I, No. 4 June, 1947". 60pp booklet in good condition. Inlcudes two articles by Leonard Feeney: "Is Faith a Gift?" and "Sentiment and Emotion". Includes one article by Avery Dulles: "Outline of Art".
Price: $40.00

FEENEY, LEONARD and CLARE BOOTH LUCE (contributors).
From the Housetops. Cambridge: St. Benedict Center, 1948.
"From the Housetops Vol. II, No. 4 June, 1948". 50pp booklet in good condition. Inlcudes two articles by Leonard Feeney: "The Four and Forty Rivers" and "Meet Doctor Livermore". Includes one article by Clare Boothe Luce: "A Postscript for the Prejudiced".
Price: $30.00

You can also find many of Feeney's novels by doing an author search for "Feeney" here. If Dulles is more to your liking, see our recent eCatalog of Dulles' works here.

Now, back to Cardinal Cushing's letter. Two passages from his letter stand out:

"You have read of the condemnation by the Holy See of the teaching and actions of St. Benedict's Center . . . It is my wish, therefore, that there be no comment of any kind, either in announcements or sermons, on this matter." – This passage shows Cushing's use of the tactic of silence. Far far better to impose silence on all rather than let rumors and dissension proliferate.

Secondly, "We all sincerely pray that the grace of God will touch the hearts of those associated with this misled group, and move them to seek reconciliation with the Church". – Thus Cardinal Cushing wrote in September of 1949, and, thanks be to God, Feeney and many of his followers were reconciled to the Church in 1974. Am I not the only one who sees in Feeney's situation shades of the present lifting of the excommunications of bishops of the Society of Pius X?

Christopher Hagen

Movie Filming at Loome Theological Booksellers

Although I wish someone were writing a book at Loome Theological Booksellers (we are booksellers after all, champions of the book!), the reality is that Paul Eckhardt is shooting a film at Loome Theological Booksellers this weekend. Films get plenty of press coverage and I wish books would get more press coverage. Good books need good press coverage. Good books from the annals of Christendom need good press coverage. Good books published by the likes of Benziger Bros, Newman Press, Catholic Truth Society, and Longmans need good press coverage. However, such books are commonplace for us and a movie is not. Therefore, I write to tell you that Paul will be filming a movie this weekend, and I do find that exciting. Read his blog (www.filmdetails.blogspot.com) for more information. The selection of our bookstore as a filming location is a compliment to Dr. Thomas Loome who bought a vacant bat infested church building more than 25 years ago and transformed it into the beautiful Loome Theological Booksellers it is today: stained glass windows, hardwood floors, towering book cases, emaciated crucifixes, baptismal certificates, statues and all. It's worth a visit.

If you want to read a BOOK about films, check out these books from our store:

ELIOT, T.S. & HOELLERING, GEORGE.
The Film of Murder in the Cathedral. London: Faber and Faber, . First Edition
8vo, 126pp. Color frontispiece, many illustrations, 48 b&w plates. Very good cloth with some wear around the edges.
Price:
$50.00

LYNCH, WILLIAM F.
The Image Industries. [A Constructive Analysis of Films and Television]. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1959.
8vo, 159pp. Good cloth with worn d/j.
Price:
$15.00

McMURTRY, JO.
Shakespeare Films in the Classroom: A Descriptive Guide. : Archon Books, 1994.
8vo, xii + 250pp. Original cloth with dustjacket, in excellent condition. Tight binding and immaculate text. D/j is protected in clear Mylar. ISBN: 0208023690
Price:
$25.00

Sweaty Cows

Recently a professor of the Saint Joseph Centre for Christian Studies in Macau sent me the following email: “Happy Chinese New Year of the OX! We have a Chinese saying that describes the house of a learned man with many books on the shelves: “Han Ngau Chong Tung” (literally, the sweaty cow filling columns). It means one has so many books that the cows / oxen that he uses to carry the books become sweaty due to the labour”.

We at Loome Theological Booksellers couldn’t agree more and look for the day when there are sweaty cows in the yards of every patron of our bookstore.