There is no horse on the road to Damascus, by Florence Delay
The writer evokes these altarpieces painted with a cat’s mustache or a woodcock’s feather… Her book is a marvelous canticle of creatures. The first thread she draws questions the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Traditional imagery and paintings by painters show him disconcerted by the voice that calls out to him.
However, never in the Acts of the Apostles which recount this face-to-face encounter, is it mentioned that Saul was on horseback. Why did the artists imagine him as a rider? More vertiginous is its metamorphosis. From the horse of Saul we pass to the lion of Saint Jerome, carrying his mane to the side like a woman’s hair, the wounded paw on the knees of the saint, and conversing with an ass. Then to the crow that feeds the prophet Elijah, and to the dog that accompanies Tobias, and that of Saint Roch, patron saint of pilgrims. The animals of the four evangelists are not forgotten and, of course, brother the donkey and brother the ox from the crib of the Poverello of Assisi.
The immortal academician Florence Delay breaks with the prevailing rationalism and invites us to rediscover a joyful spirit of childhood. She flushes out her animal mythology in the Old and New Testaments, calls the poets to the rescue, from Verlaine to Max Jacob, summons Bernanos. Joseph Delteil sings with them the alliance of joy and poverty. And Cardinal Etchegarray, who considered himself the ass of Jerusalem ridden by the Lord on Palm Sunday, declares: “I carry him, but he leads me. » How cool is this book! What joy! What a treat ! Y.V.
Threshold, €18.
Muslim, disciple of Christ, by Chahina-Marie Baret
The title of this testimony is so exact and so disturbing that it required all the theological credibility of the Jesuits, its publishers, to dare to do so. Chahina, daughter of an Indian Shiite mullah, an esteemed spiritual leader in her community, added a hyphen between her first name and that of Mary when she received baptism on the day of her marriage to Merryl, some thirty years ago. years. Tales of conversion from Islam to Christianity, there are.
The originality of the author’s journey is precisely this hyphen: Chahina-Marie does not choose. Or rather, she chose to nourish her love of Christ with the Muslim soil that built her and allowed her to discover the all-merciful God. Without denying anything of Islam, she continued to deepen her approach at the Center Sèvre and by drawing on the spirituality of Christian de Chergé. Her book, muscular, concise (and so current!) is postfaced by Gilbert Audry, bishop of Reunion where she grew up, and by Omero Marongiù-Perria, Muslim theologian, both witnesses of a path of personal union. DF
Loyalty, Jesuit Editions, €13.
They chose solitude. Hermits of yesterday and today, by Jean-Claude Noye
Already author in 2007 of a Big Book of Fasting (Albin Michel), Jean-Claude Noyé continues his exploration of asceticism in the desert, with an investigation devoted to hermits. Fascinating journey through time populated by these figures of solitude, where the historical narrative is skilfully intertwined with encounters and portraits, even going far beyond the borders of the Christian anchorites alone.
He thus offers a fine and very embodied understanding of the springs, the riches but also the trials of hermit life, a radical search for the absolute or a better existence, even going so far as to suggest ways to experience it yourself. . To tell the truth, we expected no less from our former colleague from Life, tireless apostle of happy sobriety! AC
Tallandier, €20.50.
Give a soul to his house, by Olivia de Fournas
What is my dream house? And if, in the light of our memories and our aspirations, we revisit our habitat, even a tiny apartment? This meditative visit invites us to review our foundations and open our eyes to the four walls that surround us, in order to better inhabit them.
Because our interior says a lot about our lifestyle: choice of colors, furniture, decoration, the importance of light. Is our door open, our home welcoming? Are we available to our guests? Does God have a place with us? A reading that could well initiate some changes: a new layout, a little storage, decluttering, a more conscious presence… Original and inspiring. CS
Mom, €12.90.