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The Greater GloryThirty-Seven Years with the Jesuits |
eBook Available
A candid memoir by a former Jesuit about a way of life that is becoming obsolete.
Stephen Casey was twenty-one when he entered the Jesuit Order in Canada in 1947. The striving for Christian perfection eventually led him to depression and a complete breakdown - he almost lost his ability to speak. After thirty-seven years as a Jesuit he left the priesthood.
The Greater Glory is a candid memoir about a way of life that, after fifteen hundred years, is disappearing. Casey offers a vivid and incisive portrayal of the seminary, especially the training for novices - the physical and spiritual discipline, the asceticism, the anxieties that surrounded the socialization of young seminarians, the struggles that their chosen careers held for them.
Casey also describes growing up in Winnipeg during the Depression in a comfortable but strict Catholic household, offering an intriguing look at childhood during that period as well as revealing his painful experience with a pedophile priest. But it is his critique of life in the Jesuit Order that lies at the heart of the book.
The Greater Glory is a candid memoir about a way of life that, after fifteen hundred years, is disappearing. Casey offers a vivid and incisive portrayal of the seminary, especially the training for novices - the physical and spiritual discipline, the asceticism, the anxieties that surrounded the socialization of young seminarians, the struggles that their chosen careers held for them.
Casey also describes growing up in Winnipeg during the Depression in a comfortable but strict Catholic household, offering an intriguing look at childhood during that period as well as revealing his painful experience with a pedophile priest. But it is his critique of life in the Jesuit Order that lies at the heart of the book.
Details
Part of the Footprints Series (number 7 in series)
264 Pages, 6 x 9
7 b&w photographs
ISBN 9780773532434
March 2007
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"Casey's respect and, indeed, love of his companions in the Society of Jesus shows how a generous and forgiving man can move into a new life without deep rancour. His stories about his companions and life in their schools will delight his former confreres and students. His personal journey can bring hope and courage to those who are engaged in similar life struggles. His experience could serve as a memo to those in positions of power within the church that every person's story is individual and sacred." Kelly Walker, The Catholic Register
"This book will add significantly to our understanding of Catholicism in Canada in the twentieth century." T.F. Rigelhof, author of Nothing Sacred: A Journey Beyond Belief
"Casey offers a significant exploration of the religious life, especially of why Catholic religious structures, methods, and procedures for both men and women have become outworn and hold little future in their present form." Vincent McNally, Sacred Heart School of Theology
"This book will add significantly to our understanding of Catholicism in Canada in the twentieth century." T.F. Rigelhof, author of Nothing Sacred: A Journey Beyond Belief
"Casey offers a significant exploration of the religious life, especially of why Catholic religious structures, methods, and procedures for both men and women have become outworn and hold little future in their present form." Vincent McNally, Sacred Heart School of Theology
Stephen Casey is a retired associate professor, classics, Concordia University. He lives in Montreal.
Preface ix
1 221 Yale 3
2 The Nuns 27
3 Scruples 38
4 “Soft Lydian Airs” 51
5 “Elected Silence” 67
6 Repetition 107
7 No Kant 116
8 “Get the Grass Seed” 144
9 The “Ad Grad” 154
10 The Third Degree 173
11 Scotland Yard 183
12 Sleeping with the Mummy 195
13 The Greater Glory 214
14 “Pastures New” 230
Acknowledgments 239
1 221 Yale 3
2 The Nuns 27
3 Scruples 38
4 “Soft Lydian Airs” 51
5 “Elected Silence” 67
6 Repetition 107
7 No Kant 116
8 “Get the Grass Seed” 144
9 The “Ad Grad” 154
10 The Third Degree 173
11 Scotland Yard 183
12 Sleeping with the Mummy 195
13 The Greater Glory 214
14 “Pastures New” 230
Acknowledgments 239
