A Silence full of bells - Foreword by Dr. M M Raftery

A selection of Marian praise poetry with the title 'A Silence full of bells' was compiled and presented by Little Flower Press in Virginia, South Africa in 2000. Dr. Margaret Mary Raftery, published author and specialist in Medieval English literature at the Free State University in South Africa, wrote the foreword to the book.  Dr. Raftery noted that this anthology presents a body of poetry hitherto practically unknown and uncommented upon in literary histories - in the main, that of North American nun-poets of the 1920's to the 1950's. Their literary work, however, if disseminated at all, generally saw the light of day only in very ephemeral publications, and had thus become all but inaccessible to readers until Dr. Luky Whittle returned it to its rightful place among the writing of the modernist period in her doctoral dissertation, 'Images of Mary'. The poems anthologised represent a selection from the work of the nun-poets investigated in that study, with the addition of several nun-poets working in later decades and in other countries, including South Africa.

Dr. Raftery concluded the foreword to 'A Silence full of bells' by referring to Prior Robert Stewart's description of Dr. Whittle's doctoral dissertation as well worth the reading, since the research reflected in its pages rediscovered and made manifest a world of hope which readers never knew existed in the world of existential Angst. Dr. Raftery finalised the foreword with the words, 'Ad Jesum per Mariam.'*

A number of blog posts will be made available from 'A Silence full of bells', drawing from the book.


*The words 'To Jesus through Mary,' is written in Latin, the Italic language often used in scholarly and university works. The phrase refers to individuals in the human family (ourselves) reaching out to develop deeper relationship with Jesus, the Son of God, through knowing more about Mary of Nazareth. His human mother Mary is representative of the finest and noblest qualities of the human character; utter devotion to God and to her Child, loving parenting skills, strength of character, healthy emotions, wisdom,  practicality, thoughtfulness, prayerfulness, knowledgeability, leadership qualities and strongly developed social skills.


*Photograph was taken by Rev. Catherine. Please feel free to use the photo copyright free for any Christian, educational or spiritual purpose.