The Passion of the Infant Christ

Although forgotten until quite recently, Caryll Houselander, who died in 1954, was a sensitive and profound English Roman Catholic writer on Christian spirituality. In this critical edition of her 1949 book The Passion of the Infant Christ, Houselander argues that the physical world is an inscaped revelation of the mind of the Creator. Every concrete object and every temporal event mirrors the eternal, just as the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus mirror the circumstances surrounding his death and resurrection.

Editor Kerry Walters discusses both Houselander's life and the primary themes of The Passion of the Infant Christ in his introduction to this critical edition of one of Houselander's most insightful books. What a delight to have Caryll Houselander's tender and thought-provoking meditation The Passion of the Infant Christ once again available to readers. Her singular vision of the ongoing 'Christing of the World' is explored here through the profound mystery that the divine pattern of the universe is discovered in little things--in the daily care of a child or a childhood sense of wonder--and that in each of us a Bethlehem must be readied for this revelation. --Wendy M.

Wright, Professor Emerita of Theology, Creighton University Kerry Walters is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Peace & Justice Studies at Gettysburg College. He is the author of forty books and hundreds of articles.