Classic Catholic Converts by Fr. Charles P. Connor

This one wasn't on the official shelf. It just snuck into the line-up. In the room where I sit when I say my morning prayers there is a nice comfy chair with an overflowing bookcase on the left. Most of these books have something to do with the faith, and I almost always have one that I am reading for about 10 minutes every morning. So, when I finished the last one, I just reached over and pulled out this one.

I didn't have a lot of hope for Classic Catholic Converts because I went through a period when I read probably a hundred conversion stories, and after a while I decided to move on. And besides that, I already know a fair amount about the five on the cover. But, there it was on the shelf, and I had to at least give it a try. I don't know how it got there, really.  It's brand new. It doesn't have any kind of price tag from a store, and I know I didn't order it from Amazon.

The first morning, I read the first chapter about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. It was pretty much what I expected. The second morning, I read the second chapter about the Oxford Movement, and that was pretty interesting because I don't know a lot about it except for Blessed John Henry Newman. The third morning, there was a chapter on Blessed John Henry Newman, and I read that and went on to the next one about St. Rose Hawthorne, and then I brought it upstairs and just kept reading it.

The thing that I had noticed about this book is that it isn't about the conversion process. Fr. Connor writes a bit about where the person came from, writes a very brief passage about their converting--sometimes a short as, "He converted to Catholicism at the age of  X," and then tells what they did after their conversion. That is what makes this book different. It's not the conversion that is the main point of the stories. It's what they did with it. We barely get a glimpse into the hearts and minds of these people as they are drawn into the Church. The one exception is Malcolm Muggeridge, and the passage about his first intimation that the faith might be true is really lovely.

There are 17 chapters in the book, each about 10 pages long, and a few of the chapters are about more than one person, for example, the chapter about the Oxford Movement. There is also a chapter about the converts of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Obviously, Fr. Connor doesn't go into any great detail, but it's a good introduction to the men and women he writes about. One section I really like was in the chapter about Dorothy Day where he was telling about Cardinal John O'Connor's involvement in her canonization process.

Unfortunately, like almost every book I have read so far, it has made me want to read about six other books. I would like to read more about Jacques and Raïssa Maritain, and I would like to know something more about Léon Bloy.

It's a good book, but it's not a keeper. I am going to give this book away sometime soon. I you would like it, let me know.

AMDG