The World and the Person

No Catholic library is complete without these five landmark works by Romano Guardini, one of the most important Catholic figures of the 20th century. This treasury brings back into print Regnery's classic translations by Stella Lange with a new introduction by Robert Royal: The World and the Person, The Church of the Lord: On the Nature and Mission of the Church, The Word of God: On Faith, Hope, and Charity, The Virtues: On Forms of Moral Life, and The Wisdom of the Psalms. From the Introduction by Robert Royal: The present collection is a highly valuable retrieval of texts that supplement Guardini's greatest and best-known books, such as The End of the Modern World, The Spirit of the Liturgy, and The Lord, which have remained in print and have influenced generations. He makes a point of calling the works in this collection "reflections," not systematic treatments. But in truth they "reflect" the author's deep and internally consistent theological, philosophical, and—unusual among religious writers—literary culture. His books on Dante and Rilke, along with his frequent references to Augustine, Pascal, Dostoyevsky, Heidegger, and even Nietzsche, present an eclectic but deep and coherent vision of the Church and the world. Varying approaches to fundamental questions, of course, have their advantages and disadvantages. But as these texts make abundantly clear, Guardini had the kind of mind—the living virtue, as he puts it in his book on the virtues, included here—that can move flexibly but faithfully through whatever questions it encounters. Which is why these books are less like academic treatises and more like living dialogues with a wise and experienced and learned friend.