Egan, John J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 23 | Number 4 Article 611-1-1956Book Review of Beginning Your Marriage by John L.ThomasJohn J. EganFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqPart of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Medicine and Health SciencesCommonsRecommended CitationEgan, John J. (1956) "Book Review of Beginning Your Marriage by John L. Thomas," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 23 : No. 4 , Article 6.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol23/iss4/6., It is not known whether the Muse of music, Euterpe, is a blood relation of C\ Aesculapius, the god of medicine , but • we suspect that some relationship ex- C\.. ists -. however tenuous. As evidence for th,s hypothesis, we offer the fol-lowing musical compositions and an C\. a ppropriate (?) medical connotation: • The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas) Rounds (Diamond) Wasps (Vaughan) Ionisation (Varese) The Slippers (Tchaikovsky) Undertow (Schumann) Mass of Life (Delius) John Brown's Body-(Bishop) Surprise Symphony (Haydn) !\~ademic Festival O verture (Brohms) Trial by Jury (Gilbert and Sullivan) Hunt Symphony (Haydn) In the Beginning (Copland) M~ther Goose Suite (Ravel) Enigma Variations (Elgar) T~e Lost Chord (Sullivan) Night on Bald Mountain (Moussorgsky) Slee pin~ Beauty Ballet (T chiakovsky) Fantaslic Symphony (Berlioz) Fancy Free (Bernstein) Nutcracker Suite (Tchiakovsky) Pomp and Circumstance (Elgar) Yeoman of tha Guard (Gilbert and Sullivan) The Medical Student Ward Walks Antihistamine Therapy Electro lyte fher o;:,y ln tervertebral Disks T richophytosis Autopsy Tissue Culture Clinicopathological Confe rence Graduation Practice Consultation Obstetrics Pediatrics Internal Medicine Laryngology Dermatology Anesthesiology Psychiatry Psychoanalysis Neurosurgery Some Other Man's Specialty Nursing Staff Kind permission was given to reprint th b, h" 1%6 issue of Physician's Bulletin pu:li~he~veb; ~~ih L71jyp•:~:d ~n thel dS_epte mb1·"' Indiana. . o., n 1onopo 1s, 126 LINACRE QUARTERLY IMPORTANT PUBLICATION J ohn L. Thomas, S.J. Review by Rev. John J. Egan The Cana Conference of Chicago Sometimes good things do come in small packages. After having made one's way through many large and frequently loosely writ-ten works that present partial viewi: as complete guides to mar~ riage, it is .gratifying to find a rela-tively thorough, well-balanced and realistic work in a pamphlet of seven chapters and I 04 pages. Beginning Your Marriage is a small booklet . that has been · pub-lished by the Cana Conference of Chicago to fill the need for a brief text for engaged couples on the questions about the final days of courtship and the initial days of wedded life. Intended for engaged couples. it" presupposes the deci-sion for marriage and is not con-cerned with such preliminary ques-tions as basic sex instructions, dat-ing or courtship problems. The author is the Reverend John L. Thomas, S.J., assistant di-rector of the Institute of Social NOVEMBER, 1956 Order at St. Louis University. His deep interest in the problems of the modern marriage and the fam-ily is evident from his other wor~s. as The American Catholic Fam-ily ( Prentice-Hall. 1956) and a Guide t o Catholic Marriage ( Bruce, 1955) on which he col-laborated with Clement Mihano-vich and Brother Gerald Schnepp. S.M. His qualifications are those of a priest and professional sociol-ogist writing in an area of his field in which he has specialized. It is only natural that the preoccupa-tions and viewpoints of the sociol-ogist ra ther than those, e.g .• of the psychologist. economist, or physi-cian, should be apparent through-out the work. The booklet is of peculiar value because of the broad but detailed presentation of a Catholic philoso-phy that the author has been able to inject in his terse treatment of the various practical problems that 127 a newly wedded couple will meet. Indeed, the matter treated is so broad and the problems considered a re so numerous and varied that the bookle t seems like a careful condensation of a much larger work. Nonetheless, readability of style ( despi te the scattered ap-pearance of technical theologica l and sociological terms) and hu-mor of approach have not been sacrificed. Some idea of the wealth of ideas presented can be found in a list of t he subjects treati::d. The first chapter quite adequately outlines the theology of human life a nd the role that the division of the sexes and marriage play in this synthe-s is. The second chapter sketches in the personal. social. religious, a nd properly sacramental aspects of marriage. In the third chapter the social elements are discussed under the headings of ecclesiasti-cal law, state law, and current marita l customs. Under the con-sidera tion of the various a d just-ments that must be made, the a uthor in the fourth chapter takes up the personal aspect of marriage - a djustments in sexual. spiritua l, and economic matters; adjustments with the other's family and friends ; adjustments with the realities of family living. The marriage act f(?rms the subject of the fifth chap-ter; here the author is not con-cerned so much with the tech-niques as he is with the personal significance and values necessary 128 to ma ke physical love a gen uine expression of Christian man ied love. In the sixth chapter various specific sexua l problems a nd q 11es-tions common to newlyweds are handled briefly but adequatd y. The seventh and final cha pter closes the booklet with a disLUS· sion of the couple's vocation md task of living, work, and sa \ ing their souls together. This little volume can serv,- as an excellent pre-ma ri tal instruction text. I t is, perhaps of a specific use to physicians i n the guidance of young people about to be married. or recently married, for it provides an excellent integration of the phy-sical aspects of marriage with the psychological and spiritua l fa ctors w hich ma ke them meaningful. It is too brief to serve as a tex t for any marriage course in school. Its frank discussion of sexual love likewise precludes its use to a ll but ma ture persons who are soon to be married. Within these limits, how-ever, it not only is the one booklet of its kind, but probably will re-main among the best for some years to come. Beginning Your Marriage Booklet published by Delaney Publica tions 206 So. Grove A venue Oak Park, Illinois 50c a copy, plus postage 20% discount on quantity orders of IO copies or more LI NACRE QUARTERLY The Linacre Quarterly JOURNAL OF THE FEDERATION OF CATHOLIC PHYSICIANS' GUILDS INDEX V OL U M E 2 3 1956 A An lgnatian Heritage (Ja mes F. G ilroy, S.J.) , Ma y. 56 . Annotations on the Oath of Hippocra tes and the General Version of the Hippocra !tc Oath (T. Raber Taylor. A .B .. LL.B.) . May, 34 B Beginning your Marriage, John L. Thomas, S.J. (Review) - Rev. John J. Egan, Nov., 127 Benefactor of M ankind - Louis Pasteur, Nov., 123 Braceland, Francis. J., M.D., ScO .. F.A.C .P. Out of the Shadows, Feb., 2 1 C Care of Religious {Bernard P . H arpole, M.D.) , Feb., 2 E Egan, John J., Rev. . N 127 (Review) Beginning Your Mamage . ov., . . . . 8 Ez,cutive Board Federa tion of Catholic Physicians Guilds Wmter Meeting, Feb., 2 Ezecutive Board Meeting - June, 1956 Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds, Aug., 88 F Pord, John C., S.J. Al h 1· Nov 95 'lne General Practitioner's Role in co o ism, ., G Gannon, Very_ Re,;. T. J. T od A G melli OF M M.O., May, 62 (Book Review) Psychoanalysis a y - · e , · · ·• General Practitioner's Role in Alcoholism, The · (John C . Ford, S .J.) , Nov., 95 Gilroy, James F ., S .J. 6 An lgnatian J-leritage, May, 5 H Harpole, Bernard P ., M.D. Care of Religious, Feb., 2 Invitation: To .Our Town, Feb., 18 K Kelly,ThGerald, S.J. f. P p · XII on Artificial Insemination, Feb., 5 e T eaching o ope ,us Notes and. Questions, .May, 47 P . f - the-whole, Aug., 70 The Principle of Totahty . . . art or Nov£MBER, 1956 129 

Book Review of \u3cem\u3eBeginning Your Marriage\u3c/em\u3e by John L. Thomas

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Book Review of \u3cem\u3eBeginning Your Marriage\u3c/em\u3e by John L. Thomas

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