Holy Wisdom
Cowley Calendar : With Some Words Chiefly from the Unpublished Retreat Addresses of Father Benson, S.S.J.E. Compiled by 0. T. Pulley, S.S.J.E. (Mowbray. 2s. ed.) Tins small rich book is singularly ill-served by its title, which suggests an ephemeral calendar of quotations, or "Christmas book" of the pious sort. It is, on the contrary, a true anthology of spiritual wisdom, gathered from the writings of a modern saint. The works of R. M. Benson of Cowley have always been known and valued by a special circle ; but their power and beauty have never yet been fully and generally recognized, nor have they been given their rightful place among our English spiritual classics. Cowley Calendar must convince all its readers of the treasury of wisdom, in the truest and most exalted tradition of Christian spirituality, which lies hidden in them. St. Bernard was accustomed to say that spiritual teachers are of two kinds—the reservoirs and the canals. He added that one encountered in the Church few reservoirs but many canals. To read these linked extracts, many of them from inaccessible sources, is to -realize that here we are in the presence of a reservoir of spiritual knowledge and power. The deepest and most beautiful of these sayings are unsuited to casual quotation, but among them are scattered sparks of "holy wisdom" of a more practical sort, which may well bring a salutary sensation of discomfort to many earnest minds. I give three :
"Thinking badly of ourselves does not constitute humility, but thinking nothing of ourselves." "Oh, what multitudes of Christian works are destroyed by publicity ! "
"There is nothing divine about Innry, no hurry in anything divine."
It is sometimes said by her critics that the Church of England, can produce "worthies, but not saints." A study . ,
of Cowley Calendar *should do something towards correcting
Previous page
