To Dwell in Peace: An Autobiography (Daniel Berrigan Reprint) [Paperback]

Daniel Berrigan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the most seminal of counterculture leaders in the 1960s and, arguably, the most notorious of Jesuits, Berrigan recounts his life in this moving, reflective and poetic autobiography. Beginning with his strong-willed family"The ill luck principle applied here with a vengeance"he recalls his roots, his origins among a people who knew hardship. His entrance into the Jesuit community was both a withdrawal from that life and a wondrous opening to another. In the long period of preparation for priesthood, Berrigan blossomed as teacher, poet, charismatic leader of college students, notably on the Cornell campus. Paying tribute to Dorothy Day and to her style of Christian community that influenced him, he describes his soul as "moving in a contrary wind." His acts of civil disobedience with his brother Philip, also a priest, their arrests and convictions, are well known. Today, Berrigan, a member of the Jesuit community in New York City, remains actively engaged in social causes. In this assessment of his life, the 66-year-old author shows that his fidelity to the precepts of Ignatius Loyola endures. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

With humility, deep insight, and poetic sensitivity of perception and expression, Berrigan gives the story of his life. He describes his early years as the fifth of six sons, his entrance into the Jesuits, his growing social activism while a chaplain at Cornell, his sacrifice of security and freedom to protest the Vietnam War in an act of civil disobedience, his further civil disobedience as a fugitive, and finally his increasing sensitivity to gay liberation and to AIDS. The biography illustrates the development of personal conscience and integrity, and especially the roles his mother and younger brother played in that development. Highly recommended.Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood College, Farmville, Va.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers (October 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556354738
• ISBN-13: 978-1556354731
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #869,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IN THE 87TH YEAR OF THIS GREAT AMERICAN PROPHET AND HOLY CATHOLIC PRIEST LET'S REVIEW HIS LIFE AND LEARN COURAGE IN OUR FAITH, March 9, 2008

By 

C. Scanlon "least helpful reviewer" (among us humans) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: To Dwell in Peace: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

As this courageous Roman Catholic Priest, moral leader in America and prolific exegete approaches his ninetieth year, let us learn to live out our own Faith journey from his earlier pilgrimage with this memoir written over twenty years ago.

The first thing I did upon opening this book was to move my plaster coyote pup figurines right next to my terra cotta Saint Francis of Assisi statue outside at the Saint Jude Shrine here near the high desert hermitage, as the Reverend Father Berrigan opens by recounting the legend of Saint Francis and the ravenous wolf, and the taming of the wolf through compassion, understanding, forgiveness, acceptance, loving and respectful negotiation, and communion and mutual solidarity.

Considering this lesson globally we can see how much such wisdom and Faith is lacking today, to the genocidal affliction of so many millions of human beings, our victims and those of our heavily supported allies. Considering this personally I can see how I have myself failed in living this intense ideal of courageous and moral pacifist practice fully of our Roman Catholic Faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore I move the singing coyote pups next to Saint Francis so that three times a day while feeding the wild birds, doves and desert quail I may see what Saint Francis tells me today, through the powerful teachings and admonitions of our prophet and priest and pacifist Father Berrigan. I moved these pups so that I may in union with these Saints more courageously pray for peace and recall how strongly Jesus bids us peace, in the Last Supper, at Mass, and everywhere always. Love thy enemy.

And that is only thre first page of this book, already impacting powerfully my life and calling me back to reflect and to practice the fullness of our Faith, a strong call to continual conversion to nonviolence in Jesus Christ's compassionate mercy.

Deeper into this essential work of Catholic spirituality and call to action, we continue to read words which strengthen and direct us now to Peace and to the Reign of God. On page 222 and following we read how the Reverend Father discovered that speaking of Peace to audiences forty years ago was considered political rather than Biblical, while to him working for Peace is the fulfillment of Faith and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"But the fact that the war might be inconsistent with the words and example of Christ, that killing others was repugnant to the letter and spirit of the Sermon on the Mount - this was too much; it turned living ears to stone."

Sadly this remains even more true today, forty years later, twenty years after the writing of this excellent accounting. Christ's preachings of peace fall upon petrified hearts and ears in America. We must read this book as well as the Good Book, the Good News, that our hearts of stone may become once more human flesh as created by God, for Love and for peace.

After a careful dismantling of the so-called just-war theory, he demonstrates how each and every side proclaims the justice of their homicide, of their crimes against humanity and against God, how each and every side calls upon the Church to bless their so-called just cause and so-called just means.

"In such wise, also, the universal Church is broken to bits, like a body fallen on a grenade. The Church is held up to shame among the nations, who contemn her even as they enlist her blessing. She is held to mockery before true history - which is the evidence not of self-contradicting teachings, contradicted in the act; but a history (her own, in spite of herself) of those who withstood, of the great, humiliated refusers."

We too must now refuse war, resist war, detest war, and thus live fully our Faith.

Please read in its totality this wonderful book by the Reverend Father Berrigan, and find peace, and strength, and courage, and Faith. We who are striving to live our Faith in America today do well to ride upon his mighty shoulders and hear his strong Catholic voice. We do well to follow within his footsteps through resistance to banal evil and onwards upon the pilgrim path to peace and the ultimate Reign of God.

Also upon this fortieth anniversary let us read his early dramatic work The Trial of the Catonsville Nine and remember the way is not easy, but it is the way. Let us read his several powerful and orthodox Biblical commentaries, inclduing of the great Old Testament Prophets and of the Acts of the Apostles, available so favorably here on the amazon. We find at hand Job: And Death No Dominion; we see Isaiah: Spirit of Courage, Gift of Tears; we read Jeremiah: The World, the Wound of God; we encounter Ezekiel: Vision in the Dust and so much more. We may read with edification of Faith Whereon to Stand: The Acts of the Apostles and Ourselves and his Jesus Christ. We may pray his Stations: The Way of the Cross as fervently as we have Way of the Cross--Way of Justice.

We may read directly of his most courageous and direct and earliest resistance to the imperial war machine which yet grinds out the bones of its victims in Night Flight to Hanoi: Daniel Berrigan's War Diary With Eleven Poems, and so many other works from this prolific prophet of Peace in Jesus Christ. We may also read from his brother Jesuit the Reverend Father John Dear's Disarming the Heart: Toward a Vow of Nonviolence and so many other strong works from the Catholic priest. And we may rest from these arduous and challenging theological studies with the ever interesting and Reverend Father Andrew Greeley's A Stupid, Unjust, and Criminal War: Iraq, 2001-2007.

We may also recall nearly the only words from the great and silent Carthusian monks, found on the second disk of Into Great Silence (Two-Disc Set), which in writing prays urgently for peace in Iraq, as Our Holy Father ordered.

Highly recommended for all practicing Roman Catholics and for every human being who still breathes, whose heart still beats even under this endless hour of unholy war.

I did not notice here in the book Father Berrigan's explanation of why SAInt Francis went out to preach peace to the wolves (and wild birds). The people would not listen to hm, but hardened their human hearts and blocked up their ears with war cries. So Saint Francis found greater reception among the wild beasts. And so today too.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, although flawed, October 11, 2007

By 

Mariana (Los Angeles, US, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Dwell in Peace: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

I read this book for a college course, wanting to learn more about Daniel Berrigan, who I had heard of but did not know very much about. It was definitely worth reading.

The great strength of the book is Berrigan's ability to clearly demonstrate his convictions as a societal and governmental critic, as a nonviolent activist who believes that killing is wrong, that war harms the poor disproportionately, and that nonviolent resistance is the work of God. Berrigan definitely knows what he believes and conveys it strongly. Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was Berrigan's writing style. A poet, Berrigan begins each chapter with a poem and his special ability with language makes itself known even on the most mundane subjects.

The main weakness of To Dwell in Peace is that Berrigan leaves out important information or reflection in some places and spends too much time on other, in my opinion, less important subjects. First of all, in this book Berrigan presumes a certain familiarity with his life and his previous books. If you haven't read his other books you might feel a little out of the loop. Perhaps then this is not the best book of introduction to the man's life. In terms of more in depth reflection, I wish that Berrigan gave more of an insight into what specifically went on in his mind that made him go from a fairly secluded, apathetic existence, to one of active, public opposition to war. Also, the last third of the book seems to lose its focus and is not as interesting.

Although this autobiography has its flaws, it's definitely a compelling look into a prominent American pacifist.