Books

'John Paul II's Book of Mary', compiled by Margaret R. Bunson

Reviewed by Anthony Cappello

Contents - Dec 2000 - Buy a copy now Editorial: At the end of the Year of Jubilee: an audit - Michael Gilchrist ACU - when will the 'Statement of Conclusions' be implemented? - Michael Gilchrist Jubilee Congress of Families: Rome report - Anthony Cappello News: The Church Around the World C.S. Lewis: Christian apologist - Sarah Macdonald G.K. Chesterton: fresh and accessible today - Dale Ahlquist The 'new breed' of orthodox seminarians - Carter H. Griffin Australian Foundation to back new Pontifical University New Australian women's religious order - Sr Carmel Doherty Letters: Clarification (letter) - Bishop James Foley Letters: Priest shortage (letter) - Bernard O'Connor Letters: Spiritual Poverty (letter) - Joe Garreffa Letters: 'Creating Our Future' (letter) - Patricia Byrnes Letters: Toowoomba Diocese (letter) - Maria Lossberg Letters: Serious duties (letter) - Myles M. Kehoe Letters: Rainbow Serpent (letter) - Hans Klaver Letters: Positive response (letter) - Geoff Taylor Letters: The Church in China (letter) - Francis Vrijmoed Letters: Corrected translation (letter) - Hugh Henry Letters: Remembrance services (letter) - Richard Grant Letters: Women's ordination (letter) - Dr Frank Mobbs Letters: Misguided (letter) - Joyce Pearson and Marie Kennedy Letters: Wordiness (letter) - Kathleen Murnane Letters: Hell? (letter) - P.J. Jones Letters: Sermons (letter) - Gordon R. Coomber Letters: EWTN programs (letter) - John Lovegrove Books: 200 Years of Faith: A Multimedia Tour of the Holy Land - Catherine Sheehan (reviewer) Books: 'Biblical Holy Places: An Illustrated Guide' by Rivka Gonen - Catherine Sheehan (reviewer) Books: 'John Paul II's Book of Mary', compiled by Margaret R. Bunson - Anthony Cappello (reviewer) Books: 'Anti-Catholicism in American Culture', edited by Robert Lockwood - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Summer School of Evangelisation 2001 Reflection: The coming of Christ on earth - Pope John Paul II

John Paul II's Book of Mary, compiled by Margaret R. Bunson (Our Sunday Visitor, 1996, 207pp, $24.95 plus postage. Available from AD Books)

When in 1981 Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt, he credited his survival to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His love and devotion for her, which he has expressed repeatedly, perhaps dates back to the death of his own mother when he was eight years old.

The Holy Father's love for Mary is particularly evident in his prolific writings, where she emerges as the one who sustains the Church, fortifies his work as Pope and strengthens believers all over the world. It is not surprising that he bears on his coat of arms the letter "M".

In producing John Paul II's Book of Mary, Margaret Bunson has sifted through John Paul II's writings to provide the reader with an excellent cross section of his best reflections on the Mother of God.

The present volume is on a par with Bunson's other compilation, Pope John Paul II's Book of Saints, with its convenient arrangement of selections of the Holy Father's writings into topical chapters, which prompt the reader to search out more examples from his vast output.

Anthony Cappello is a Melbourne Catholic writer.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 13 No 11 (December 2000 - January 2001), p. 19