2008
Hilaire Belloc ‘The New Paganism’, from his Essays of a Catholic (1937) republished in Tan Books 1992
Brian Moore, Catholics (1972) republished in Penguin Books 1977
G. K. Chesterton The Everlasting Man Part II (chapters 1-6) ‘On the Man Called Christ’ (1925) (printed from online texts)
J.R.R.Tolkien’s poem ‘Mythopoeia’ (1931) (printed from online texts)
Francis Thompson, ‘The Hound of Heaven’ (1889) from the 1913 edition The Poems of Francis Thompson, Oxford University Press ed Wilfrid Meynell
2009
January - the film of Brian Moore's "Catholics"
February - Evelyn Waugh Brideshead Revisited. The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder (1945) republished in Penguin Books 1962
March - John Henry (Cardinal) Newman Loss and Gain. The Story of a Convert (1845) republished in Oxford University Press series The World’s Classics, 1986
April - Graham Greene The Power and the Glory (1940) republished in Penguin Books 1962, together with a viewing of the 1947 film The Fugitive, based on the novel
May - George Bernanos Journal d'un cure de campagne (1936) translated as Diary of a Country Priest (1937 trs. Pamela Morris)
June - Thomas Keneally Three Cheers for the Paraclete (1968) republished in Penguin Books 1969
July - (Margaret) Rumer Godden In This House of Brede (1969) republished in Pan Books 1970
August - Flannery O’Connor selections from The Complete Stories, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1971.
September - Gerard Manley Hopkins selected poems from the 1918 Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford University Press) edited by Robert Bridges
October - Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth 2007
November - Anne Rice Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt 2005
December - Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol in Prose Being a Ghost Story of Christmas" (1843) republished in Penguin Books 1994
2010
January - Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (Blessed Pope John XXIII) Journal of a Soul (1964) English translation Geoffrey Chapman Ltd 1965, New Edition with additional material, Journal of a Soul: The Autobiography of Pope John XXIII, Doubleday 1999
February - Gerard Manley Hopkins ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ (1875/6) first published 1918 in Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford University Press) edited by Robert Bridges
March - Romano Guardini The Lord, 1954. Republished in Elinor Brief’s translation in 1956, Longmans Green & Co, and in 1996 with an introduction by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Gateway Editions, Regnery Publishing
April - Robert Bolt A Man For All Seasons. A Play of Sir Thomas More, 1960
May - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa 11th Prince of Lampedusa Il Gattopardo (published posthumously in 1958, translated as The Leopard (1960)
June - Walter M Miller Jr A Canticle for Leibowitz, 1959 republished in Bantam Books 2007
July - Michael D O Brien Father Elijah. The Story of an Apocalypse, Ignatius Press 1998
August - Sigrid Undset Kristin Lavransdatter (a trilogy 1920-1922) Volume 1: The Wreath trs Tina Nunnally, Penguin Classics, 1997
September - James Augustine Aloysius Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916 republished by Granada 1964
Piers Paul Read Hell and Other Destinations Ignatius Press, 2006
October - Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin (St Thérèse of Lisieux) ‘The Story of a Soul’: Autobiography of a Saint 1898, Trs Ronald Knox, The Harvill Press, 1958
Selections of St.Therese’s poems (printed from online texts)
November -
December -
2011
January - Geoffrey Chaucer The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale & The Parson’s Tale (printed from online texts)
February - Rose Macauley, The Towers of Trebizond, 1956
March - Jacques Maritain, The Peasant of Garonne. An Old Layman Questions Himself About the Present Time, Geoffrey Chapman, 1968
April - no meeting due to the Royal Wedding!
May - J.R.R.Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, vol 3, 1965
June - George Weigel, Letters to a Young Catholic, Gracewing, 2004
July - John Dryden, "The Hind and the Panther", 1687 (available online)
August - Sigrid Undset Kristin Lavransdatter (a trilogy 1920-1922) Volume 2: The Wife trans. Tina Nunnally, Penguin Classics, 1997
September - Graham Greene, Monsignor Quixote, 1982 republished in Penguin Books 1983
October - Robert Hugh Benson, Lord of the World, 1908 (available online)
November - a selection of short stories by Muriel Spark
December - William Langland, Piers the Ploughman, late fourteenth century, republished in modern prose translation in Penguin Books, 1959 by Frank Goodridge
2012
January - Charlotte Wood, The Submerged Cathedral (2004) Vintage Australia
February - F.Scott Fitzgerald, early short stories and The Great Gatsby (1925)
March - Malachi Martin, Vatican. A Novel, 1986
April - J.F.Powers, The Presence of Grace, 1956
May - 2 books by David Lodge, How Far Can You Go (1980) and The British Museum is Falling Down (1980)
June - C.S.Lewis (1942) The Screwtape Letters. Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil
July - Julien Green, Each Man in His Darkness (1960)
August - Walker Percy (1981) The Second Coming
September - Francois Mauriac (1932) Le Nœud de Vipères trs. Gerard Hopkins 1951 as The Knot of Vipers
October - Monica Baldwin, The Called and the Chosen
November - Sigrid Undset Kristin Lavransdatter (a trilogy 1920-1922) Volume 3: The Cross translated by Tina Nunnally
December - T.S. Eliot, "Journey of the Magi", followed by Christmas drinks
2013
January - Georges Bernanos, Monsieur Ouine, 1943 (trs. William S Bush)
February - T.S.Eliot, Ash Wednesday. Six Poems, 1930
March - Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth (Volume 2) Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, 2011
April - Iris Murdoch, The Bell, 1958
May - A.N.Wilson, C.S.Lewis A Biography, 1990
June - Poems from The Australian Anthology of Religious Poetry, 1986 (2nd edition 1991)
July - Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (1827) translated as The Betrothed. A Tale of XVII Century Milan (Archibald Colquhoun 1951)
August - Flannery O’Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge (short stories), 1956-1965
September - Evelyn Waugh, Helena, 1950
October - Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row, 1974
November - J.F.Powers, Morte D’Urban, 1962)
December - Poems - 'The Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour' by Christopher Smart, 'The Cultivation of Christmas Trees' by T.S.Eliot and 'Precious Five' by W.H.Auden, followed by Christmas drinks
2014
January - Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, In the First Circle, written 1955-58, expurgated version published 1968, the first uncensored edition published 2009, trans. Harry T. Willetts
February - Bernard Bergonzi, The Roman Persuasion, A Novel, 1981
March - “Poems”, The Divine Office. The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite, 1974
April - Giovanni Guareschi, Mondo Piccolo: Don Camillo, 1948 translated by Una Vincenzo Troubridge as The Little World of Don Camillo, 1951
May - Robert Bolt, The Mission
June – Graham Greene, The End of The Affair, 1951
July - Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story, 1791
August - discussion of the film Calvary
September - Henry Harland, The Cardinal’s Snuff Box, 1898
October - Julia O’Faolain, Women in the Wall, 1975
November - Sheila Kaye-Smith, Superstition Corner, 1934
December - Antonia White, The Hound and The Falcon: The Story of Reconversion to the Catholic Faith, 1965
2015
February - by Fyodor Dostoyevsky,The Brothers Karamazov
March - Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment or (in an earlier translation) Self Abandonment to Divine Providence
April - Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy (Inferno)
May - Mrs Humphrey Ward (Mary Augusta Ward née Arnold), Helbeck of Bannisdale, 1898
June - Robert Hugh Benson, Confessions of a Convert, 1913
July - St Augustine, Confessions (Books 1-9)
August - Deborah Larsen, The Tulip and the Pope: A Nun’s Story
September - Vincent Cronin, The Wise Man from the West : Matteo Ricci and his Mission to China, 1955
October - Nancy Klein Maguire, An Infinity of Little Hours
November - G.K. Chesterton, Father Brown Stories
December - Christmas poems by St Teresa of Avila, followed by Christmas drinks
2016
26 February - Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (Purgatorio)
1 April - Laudato si’ - Encyclical Letter by Pope Francis on Care for our Common Home
29 April - A Distant Prospect by Australian author Annette Young, who joined us for the session.
27 May - Miracles by C.S.Lewis
24 June - Utopia by St Thomas More
29 July - The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
26 August - The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest by John Gerard
30 September - The Pensées by Pascal
28 October - The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
25 November - Eclipse of the Sun by Michael D. O’Brien
16 December - the poem Precious Five by W. H. Auden, followed by Christmas drinks
2017
February – “The Four Loves” by C.S.Lewis
March – “In this Vale of Tears” by Australian author Gerard Charles Wilson, who joined us for this session
April - “Introduction to the Devout Life” by St Francis de Sales
May – “The Axe”, volume 1 of “The Master of Hestviken” by Sigrid Undset
June – “The Dialogue” by St Catherine of Siena
July – “Gaudy Night” by Dorothy Sayers
August – “City of God” by St Augustine
September – “Out of the Silent Planet” by C.S. Lewis, Volume 1 of his space trilogy
October – “The Divine Comedy: Paradiso” by Dante Alighieri
November –“Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth” by Richard John Neuhaus
December – Poems by St Robert Southwell followed by Christmas drinks
2018
23 February - "The Snake Pit", Vol 2 of "The Master of Hestviken" by Sigrid Undset.
23 March - a selection of poems by James McAuley.
We read 'Captain Quiros', which is a long poem, and the following 11 much shorter ones:
The Incarnation of Sirius
O Clear Day
An Art of Poetry
Jesus
Father, Mother, Son
Cantilena
Exploit
Nuptial Hymn
One Tuesday in Summer
Because
At a Child’s Grave
27 April - "Silence" by Shusaku Endo
25 May - "The Tyranny of Tolerance" by Peter Kurti, 2017
29 June - "The Power and the Glory" by Graeme Greene
27 July - "The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth" by Scott Hahn
31 August - "Men at Arms" by Evelyn Waugh
28 September - "The Path to Rome" by Hilaire Belloc
26 October - "The Children of Men" by P.D. James
30 November - "Perelandra" by C.S.Lewis, Volume 2 of his space trilogy
14 December - a short work (to be advised) followed by Christmas drinks
2019
22 February – “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes
22 March – “In the Wilderness”, Volume 3 of “The Master of Hestviken” by Sigrid Undset
“The Master” was written following Undset’s conversion to Catholicism. A Norwegian novelist, Undset was awarded the Nobel prize for Literature in 1928.
26 April – “Citadel of God: A Novel about Saint Benedict” by Louis de Wohl
31 May – “St Francis of Assisi” by G.K. Chesterton
28 June – “The Castle of Heavenly Bliss” by Australian author Gerard Charles Wilson, who will join us for this session
26 July – “Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy” by Rumer Godden
30 August – “From Union Square to Rome” by Dorothy Day
27 September – “Two Lives: Edmund Campion, Ronald Knox” by Evelyn Waugh
25 October – “A Woman of the Pharisees” by Francois Mauriac
29 November – “Orthodoxy” by G.K. Chesterton
16 December - Christmas drinks and text to be advised
2020
February 28 - Michael D. O'Brien, Strangers and Sojourners.
March 27 - Evelyn Waugh, Officers and Gentlemen (Vol 2 of the Sword of Honour trilogy)
April 24 - Henri de Lubac SJ , The Drama of Atheist Humanism
May 29 - Dawn Eden Goldstein, Sunday will Never be the Same: A Rock and Roll Journalist Opens Her Ears to God
June 26 - Piers Paul Read , The Death of a Pope
July 31 - Edward Feser, The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism
August 28 - C. S. Lewis , Mere Christianity
September 25 - Walker Percy , Love in the Ruins
October 30 - Sigrid Undset , The Son Avenger, Vol 4 of The Master of Hestviken
November 27 - Fiorella de Maria, The Sleeping Witness