The Secret of the Curé d'Ars; Translated by F.J. Sheed with a Note on the Saint by G.K. Chesterton
London: Sheed & Ward, 1929. First edition. Octavo, original paper boards over white cloth spine, original dust wrapper. Penciled convent inscription to blank flyleaf, scarce original wrapper has been reinforced on the verso and laminated. An excellent copy. Item #1603
"OF ALL GREAT HEARTS, THE GREATEST IS STILL THE HEART OF A SAINT"
First edition in English of this authoritative Life of St. Jean Vianney—the Patron Saint of Parish Priests—complete with a previously unpublished portrait ("the only known portrait from life") by L. Janmot, and with an Afterword by G.K. Chesterton. Laid-in is a color portrait of the Saint, separately printed in Italy. Now uncommon in the original dust wrapper with a small illustration of Christ bearing the Cross.
This simple priest, laboring in a remote French village, became famous for his "extraordinary gifts as a confessor. It was said that he had an ability to read souls. With disarming simplicity, the Cure d'Ars was apparently able to discern the secrets of his penitents and unlock the barriers that prevented them from knowing and loving God. This gift attracted a growing stream of penitents which gradually expanded so as to lay claim to nearly all of his waking hours. Fixed in his cramped confessional, shivering in the winter, stifling in the summer, he would sit, ten, twelve, as many as eighteen hours a day" (Robert Ellsberg, All Saints). Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925, Vianney was declared the Patron Saint of Parish Priests in 1929. Pope Benedict XVI described Fr. Vianney as "a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock." Translated from the original French edition by F.J. Sheed, and appended with G.K. Chesterton's note, "The Challenge of the Curé D'Ars." Complete with the original dust wrapper, printed in red on thick, buff paper with a lovely wood-engraved colophon of Christ bearing the Cross (repeated in black on the title page). Approbations. John Sullivan, G.K. Chesterton: A Bibliography, 358.
Price: $175.00