title: Credo: Essays on Grace, Altar Boys, Bees, Kneeling, Saints, the Mass, Priests, Strong Women, Epiphanies, a Wake, and the Haunting Thin Energetic Dusty figure
author:  Brian Doyle 
description: Asked by a friend why he was Catholic, Doyle, editor of Portland magazine, cited among his reasons "the enticing power of the story." Doyle's appreciation of story as the expression and vehicle of faith is evident throughout this small volume, a collection of the author's essays. Nearly all have been previously published, mostly in a variety of Catholic publications. The quality of the selections is somewhat uneven. Some readers may find certain pieces too short and pious for their taste; others may value those same selections for devotional or reflective reading. Overall, though, Doyle's enviable skill as a wordsmith elevates these essays above the norm of the "spiritual memoir" genre. A few selections, such as the author's reflections on the "cold black country" where he waited for a child to come out of heart surgery and his hilarious parody on hagiographic legends about saints, are especially memorable. Doyle's topics range from reminiscences on his tenure as an altar boyAin an exceptionally strong piece originally published in the American ScholarAto short reflections on familiar rituals and petty annoyances: kneeling and making the sign of the cross, for instance, as well as "Christmas Catholics." As a whole, the essays are valuable for their evocation of Catholic spirituality: "Catholic is my language, Catholic is the coat I wear, Catholic is the house in which I live." (Nov.) <BR>Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # In a Green Shade
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Maurice Hewlett
  
  
  This page formatted 2005 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  IN A GREEN SHADE
  
  
    
  ROUND ABOUT A PREFACE
  
  
    
  CHANGE AND THE PEASANTRY
  
  
    
  A HERMITAGE IN SIGHT
  
  
    
  DORIAN MODES
  
  
    
  CHURCH AND THE MAN
  
  
    
  BESSY MOORE
  
  
    
  THE MAIDS
  
  
    
  POETRY AND THE MODE
  
  
    
  POLYOLBION
  
  
    
  THE WELTER
  
  
    
  CATNACHERY
  
  
    
  LANDNAMA
  
  
    
  “WORKS AND DAYS”
  
  
    
  THE ENGLISH HESIOD
  
  
    
  FLOWER OF THE FIELD
  
  
    
  UNDER THE HARVEST MOON
  
  
    
  LA PETITE PERSONNE
  
  
    
  A FOOL OF QUALITY
  
  
    
  SHERIDAN AS MANIAC
  
  
    
  A FOOTNOTE TO COLERIDGE
  
  
    
  THE CRYSTAL VASE
  
  
    
  NOCTES AMBROSIANAE
  
  
    
  SKELETONS AT A FEAST
  
  
    
  A COMMENTARY UPON BUTLER
  
  
    
  THE COMMEMORATION
  
  
    
  THE QUAKER EIRENICON
  
  
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  Produced by S.R.Ellison, Audrey Longhurst, and the Online Distributed
  
  
  Proofreading Team.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In a Green Shade.
  
  
  A Country Commentary.
  
  
  By Maurice Hewlett.
  
  
  
  
  
  London
  
  
  G. Bell and Sons
  
  
  1920
  
  
  
  
  
  G.