Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988)

Two great theologians endeavor to recover the centrality of Marian doctrine and devotion for the contemporary Church, offering a spiritually rich approach to Mariology that brings into new relief the Marian contours of ecclesial faith. Ratzinger and von Balthasar show that Mary is both the embodiment of the Church, and the mother who co-operates in giving birth to the Church in the souls of believers.

At once profound and yet readily accessible, Mary: The Church at the Source offers a theologically balanced and biblically grounded presentation of traditional and contemporary thought on Marian doctrine and spirituality.… (more)

"In this year, I wrote this book. Then later I wrote this one. Then, after that, I wrote this one. Karl Rahner is more a journalist than he is a serious thinker. The following year, I wrote this book." Repeat three times, and you have this book.

A lot of people have given this good ratings, and I'm glad they got something out of it, but as far as I can see it's just poorly written, uninformative self-congratulation. I don't begrudge the self-congratulation; Balthasar had a lot to congratulate himself for. Its the lack of information and the turgid prose that I can't handle. Really only the last piece, written in 1988, even suggests something about the detailed contents of the books.… (more)