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(PUBPaulist)The latest addition to the path-breaking ''Classics of Western Spirituality.'' If you want to preach, read the masters. And the literary and spiritual giant in Victorian England whose sermons and tracts sold by the thousands was the esteemed vicar of St. Mary's at the University of Oxford: John Henry Newman.The literary critic Matthew Arnold once described ''the charm of that spiritual apparition, gliding in the dim afternoon light through the aisles, rising into the pulpit, and then, in the most entrancing of voices, breaking the silence with words and thoughts that were a religious music---subtle, sweet, mournful.''Ker, the leading Newman scholar of our day, has gathered 38 of his choicest offerings---34 from his Anglican period (Parochial and Plain Sermons) and four from his Catholic period out of various collections.As is typical of the series, we are again grateful for the provocative introduction, extensive notes, select bibliography, and thorough indexes. This could even serve as the preacher's own Lenten reading. 432 pages, paper.Ian Ker, former chaplain at Oxford is a prolific researcher and editor of Newman and sought after worldwide for his Newman-related lectures and classes.
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