A C W R C V. II, N . S Featuring Reviews by Stephen Lanham on War and the Soul by Edward Tick Shannon Martin on Behold the Heritage by Sister Matthew Marie Cummings, O.P. and Sister Elizabeth Anne Allen, O.P. Sister Hannah Barnes, O.P. on Dante’s Vision of Our Lady by Ralph McInerny Pamela Strobel on Letters to a Young Catholic by George Weigel 2 The Torch — Spring 2013 Welcome to The Torch We are pleased to offer the second issue of communities. Shannon Martin’s review ex- The thoughtful reviews in this issue re- the new Aquinas Torch. plores Catholic and Dominican education, turn again and again to the powerful con- This issue explores the intersection of demonstrating the rich treasure of hope nection between faith, spirituality, and the faith and cultural, ranging from high medi- and wisdom this heritage offers to our cur- health of culture. To the extent that a cul- eval Christendom to our own troubled cur- rent educational challenges. Sister Hannah ture embraces an openness to the transcen- rent epoch. The reviews discuss the themes Barnes, O.P. reviews the last book by the dent and the Gospel of Christ, it can truly of war, education, Catholic culture, and esteemed philosopher and noted Catholic educate and form its members as whole Catholic education. intellectual Ralph McInerny on the sub- persons, and can even find healing for its Stephen Lanham’s review explores the ject of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dante’s deepest wounds, such as the scars of war. terrible personal cost war inflicts upon poetry. Finally, Pamela Strobel’s review Aaron Urbanczyk, Ph.D. veterans in the form of Post-Traumatic discusses the manifestation of Catholic cul- Write Reason Plan Director Stress Disorder, and how this wounding ture through the ages as chronicled by the Dean, School of Arts & Sciences of the soul deeply impacts individuals and noted Catholic author George Weigel. The Soldier’s Heart and Soul By Stephen Lanham A review of War and the Soul: Healing our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder by Edward Tick, Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2005. 289 pp. In recent history, the United States of Amer- To address this crisis, clinical psycho- sacred texts, multicultural rites of recon- ica has played a leading role on the stage of therapist Dr. Edward Tick recently pub- ciliation, the writings of Saint Augustine of global war. American troops have spent lished a book that may help reenergize Hippo, and Native American traditions. As forty-five of the last one-hundred years in- the stagnated field of veterans’ psychiatric a result, War and the Soul has received high volved in combat operations abroad. Since therapy. Tick’s War and the Soul: Healing praise from prominent political leaders, World War I, over thirty-eight million our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic scholars, and veterans alike. American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Stress Disorder (Quest Books, 2005) gives Tick began working as a psychologist in Marines have deployed for at least one of a thorough critique of the current mental the late 1970s, just after the Vietnam War the seven major American wars. Of those health practices and cultural stigmas that came to a close. During his time as a clini- deployed Americans, the Department of all too often fail our returning veterans. cal psychotherapist, Dr. Tick has treated Defense accounts for nearly two-million Furthermore, Tick provides invaluable PTSD in American war veterans, Jewish casualties, both wounded and killed in ac- Holocaust survivors, and refugees of Bos- tion.1 At first glance, these statistics may nian War concentration camps. Through seem startling, but they are mere numbers. his vast experience treating psycho-spiritu- An attempt to quantify the destruction al trauma, Tick states his purpose for War caused by the last hundred years of war and the Soul: is an exercise in reductionism, for human [T]he traumatic impact of war and suffering is a reality that transcends mere violence inflicts wounds so deep we statistics. Likewise, human suffering often need to address them with extraor- transcends the scope of medical science. dinary attention, resources, and Undeniably, medical science is quite often methods. Conventional models of necessary when treating the wounds of war. medical and psychological…thera- Yet, our warriors returning home regularly treatment methods directed at the whole peutics are not adequate to explain repatriate with unseen wounds. Today we human person for traumatized survivors or treat such wounds. Veterans and know these invisible scars as post-traumat- of all backgrounds. Drawing on the unique their afflictions tell us so. ic stress disorder (PTSD), and despite the humanistic ideals of philosophers and great Tick further articulates his intentions in best efforts of our government officials and thinkers—including Aristotle, Homer, Her- writing War and the Soul: “[W]e can regrow psychiatric doctors, many returning war- aclitus, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Faulkner, the war-wounded soul in both individuals riors carry the crushing burden of war from Salinger, Conrad, and Orwell—Tick pres- and cultures [through nurturing a positive the battlefield to the grave. ents an idea of war’s effect on the soul that identity] that surrounds the war experience can be traced through millennia of human with love, compassion, meaning, and for- 1 Data compiled from the Public Broadcasting Service [http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop. history. Tick promotes his position on spir- giveness.” War and the Soul extensively de- html] and the Department of Defense [http://www. itual therapy with evenhanded reference to fends a therapeutic approach for the whole defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf] sacred cultural values that span multiple Continued on page 5 The Torch — Spring 2013 3 History and Heritage: The Catholic and Dominican Approach to Education By Shannon Martin A review of Behold the Heritage: Foundations of Education in the Dominican Tradition, Edited by Sr. Matthew Marie Cummings, O.P. and Sr. Elizabeth Anne Allen, O.P., Angelico Press, 2012. 292 pp. In his last will and testament, Saint Dominic helped restore the authority of the medieval This is an arduous task and there are no de Guzman, the prolific preacher, teacher, Church and founded a religious order that shortcuts. Bearing in mind Pope Benedict’s and evangelizer bequeathed the following would influence Christian XVI counsel that “words to his brethren in the fledging Dominican education for nearly 800 are the main roads in edu- Order: “Behold, my children, the heritage years. cating the mind,” Sisters I leave. Have charity for one another, guard The Church today faces Matthew Marie Cum- humility, make your treasure out of vol- many obstacles in its ef- mings, O.P. and Elizabeth untary poverty.” During his relatively brief fort to proclaim the Gos- Anne Allen, O.P. explore life (1170-1221), Saint Dominic preached pel. Pope Paul VI char- the rich treasury of the the Gospel throughout Europe. His task acterized the Church’s Church’s words on edu- was formidable. Rapid urbanization was challenge as “the split be- cation in their anthology spreading across the continent; moral lax- tween the Gospel and cul- Behold the Heritage: Foun- ity had become the norm and people were ture,” rightly identifying dations of Education in leaving the Church in increasing numbers. this split “as the drama of the Dominican Tradition. Several ancient heresies had resurfaced to our time, just as it was of In one volume Behold the threaten the Church’s spiritual primacy. other times.” Paul VI and Heritage presents nine es- Saint Dominic was convinced that the Saint Dominic both focus sential Church documents Church would be renewed by an earnest on the same solution—a on Christian education. It return to apostolic principles. Through full evangelization of the culture. The pur- is a profoundly relevant work and marks yet contemplative prayer, constant study, and pose of evangelization is to fully educate another Dominican contribution toward preaching rooted in love, Saint Dominic man about the truth of Christ’s Gospel. Continued on page 7 Dante’s Vision of Our Lady By Sister Hannah Barnes, O.P. A review of Dante and the Blessed Virgin by Ralph McInerny, University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. 192 pp. According to Ralph Matthew McInerny, poetry. Drawing upon McInerny’s exten- highest honor in a philosopher’s career.”1 Dante Alighieri’s The Commedia is “the sive knowledge of medieval thought and In 2001, President George W. Bush invited most magnificent poem ever written,” yet culture, Dante and the Blessed Virgin pro- McInerny to serve on his administration’s “[t]he sheer bulk of Dante’s studies make it vides an in-depth analysis of Dante’s poetry Committee on the Arts and the Humani- impossible for anyone to profit from more as well as an introduction to the literary ties. And on January 29, 2010, at the age than a fraction legacy of a master teacher. of eighty, Ralph Matthew McInerny died of them” (McIn- Born February 24, 1929 in Minneapolis, peacefully in Mishawaka, Indiana. McIn- erny 11). To make Minnesota, Ralph McInerny was consid- erny was truly a renaissance man, such that Dante more ac- ered by many academics to be among the one of his former graduate students affec- cessible, the late premier Thomists of the 21st century. McIn- tionately observed “[Ralph’s] middle name Ralph McInerny, erny taught philosophy for over fifty years was Matthew, but it might as well have been an accomplished at the University of Notre Dame, presiding Magis, Latin for “more.” 2 Yet McInerny did philosopher who from 1978 to 2008 as the Michael P. Grace not simply produce his own scholarship, specialized in the Professor of Medieval Studies.