The Devil's Advocate

The Devil's Advocate by Morris L. West (1959) 351 pages

Blaise Meredith is an English priest based in Rome, who has been diagnosed with cancer. In the limited time he has left, he is given the task to investigate a request to declare a man named Giacomo Nerone to be a saint. Nerone's past has many gaps in it, which makes it harder to investigate, and some of the activities that are not in question include the fact that he lived with a woman he didn't marry and they had a child together before Nerone was killed by Communist partisans.

Blaise Meredith, a somber man, accepts the task to be the Devil's Advocate, which involves digging through the evidence and subjecting it to the severest scrutiny. We learn that there is also a Postulator who builds the case for sainthood. Meredith travels to the poor town in southern Italy where Nerone lived the last year or so of his life, and he meets with the local priest (who has his own ethical lapses), the local doctor (who is a Jew who has never been fully accepted by the community), a rich Countess (who seems quite unhappy), as well as with the woman who had a child (who is now an adolescent) with Nerone. Time is ticking away: Meredith's symptoms worsen, but he experiences some of the greatest friendship in his life during this process.

I found this to be a compelling drama with many distinct personalities and intrigues, along with narrations of how the Fascists, as well as bands of Communists, affected the lives of these very poor people during the war.

Dangerous Mystic

Dangerous Mystic: Meister Eckhart's Path to the God within / Joel F. Harrington, 361 p.

Meister Eckhart, in his day, was a Paris-educated German Dominican who appeared to have nearly attained the stature of Aquinas.  He formulated and preached a 'wayless way' of union with God that was personal and superficially seemed to bypass many of the ritual and sacramental features of the Church.  His fame rose in tandem with the popularity of beguines, loosely organized groups of religious women who did not take Holy Orders and were not affiliated with any specific religious order, and who were eventually forced to disband under pressure from Church hierarchy.  Never condemned as a heretic, some of Eckhart's teachings were nevertheless ruled as being in error.  A period of obscurity was followed by renewed interest beginning in the 19th century.  Harrington presents a very balanced view of the man and his teachings and does an excellent job of immersing the reader in the period. 

Christine Falls

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black, 340 pages. After Christine dies, and a drunken pathologist, Garret Quirke, finds a surgeon in his offices, altering the notes of the case. The surgeon, Malachy Griffin, is the natural son of Quirke's adoptive father. Quirke and Griffin are also brothers-in-law, and long-time rivals. This case stirs up old wounds, and threatens to expose many in Ireland's corridors of power. Quirke cannot leave the case alone, even when his secrets, and his life are on the line. An excellent book, but maybe not the best choice for reading while travelling to adopt a daughter. Check our catalog.