Report of the Anglo-Catholic Congress; The Holy Eucharist / London July 1927
London: The Society of SS. Peter & Paul, Limited, 1927. First edition. Octavo (8 7/8 inches tall), original orange cloth, spine and front board stamped in black, uncut. Oxford bookseller's ticket, owner signature, several instances of underlining and marginalia, foxing to edges, tiny nick to bottom of lightly toned spine, gentle bumping to upper corners. A near-fine copy. Item #1720
"A SACRAMENT GIVES US THE INVISIBLE REALITY THROUGH VISIBLE MEANS...AN OUTWARD SIGN OF AN INWARD GRACE" (EVELYN UNDERHILL)
First edition of the Report of the Third Anglo-Catholic Congress—collecting speeches and papers on the Holy Eucharist—including contributions by B.C. Butler, Nevill Coghill, Edwyn Hoskins, E.O. James, H.L. Goudge, Kenneth Kirk, and "Miss Evelyn Underhill."
Printed by the Society of SS. Peter and Paul on laid paper and decorated throughout with a title page vignette, historiated initials and tailpieces, and an S.S.P.P. colophon by Martin Travers.
The 1927 Congress was significantly larger than its predecessor in 1923. "The speakers were intellectually distinguished and the papers, designed for a general audience, were of a high caliber" (Geoffrey Rowell). Edited by C.S. Gillet and K. Ingram, the papers printed here are arranged in a dozen sections: 1. The Background of Sacramental Belief, 2. The Context of the Eucharist, 3. Sacraments and Mysticism, 4. The Eucharist and Revelation, 5. The Idea of Sacrifice Outside Christianity, 6. The Christian Sacrifice, 7. The Real Presence, 8. The Approach to the Presence, 9. The Meaning of the Presence, 10. The Reserved Sacrament, 11. The Eucharistic Liturgy, 12. Eucharistic Worship. A short Foreword by the editors concludes: "Whatever the future contains, the Movement possesses a spiritual virility and devotion which justifies a sense of thankfulness." Three additional lectures are collected in an Appendix: I. Address by the Revd. Father Hughson, O.H.C., II. Address by the Revd. G.D. Rosenthal, and III. Address by Sir Henry Slesser, K.C., M.P.
Evelyn Underhill was the only participating laywoman included here. Her paper, Sacraments and Mysticism, sought to reconcile the two, seemingly opposite ideas, describing how "the very greatest Christian mystics, from the fourth Evangelist onwards, have also been great sacramentalists." Underhill concludes her remarks with a quote by St. Francis: "My God and all!' said St. Francis. 'What art thou? and what am I?' Perhaps the answer of the mystic to that stupendous question might be something like this: 'Thou art the One Eternal and Transcendent Reality. I, a little fluctuating, half-animal creature, passing my short life upon a tiny planet, imprisoned in time and place—knowing only such fragments of thy great universe as are shown me along the channels of sense. Herein is the miracle of love; that here, on this narrow stage, and along those very paths of sense through which I know and maintain my place in the natural world, thou, the Infinite, hast sought me, the finite, and satisfied the deepest craving of my soul by the gift of thy Supernatural Life.'" Bound with six pages of advertisements describing the goods, services, and organizations of the contemporary Catholic Movement. Rowell. The Vision Glorious: Themes and Personalities of the Catholic Revival in Anglicanism.
Price: $65.00