It is a user-friendly book on the mystics by well-known Marist priest Craig Larkin.

An Inner Music provides an introduction to 20 mystics and spiritual teachers.

It also offers a series of down-to-earth reflections on how the insights of the spiritual masters can relate to and transform our own lives.

Themes in the book are illustrated with photographs of the stained glass windows in St Mary of the Angels, the church where Larkin was ordained on 1 July, 1967.

Copies will be available ($38 each) at the launches and after that by request from the Society of Mary:

Cerdon
PO Box 12154
Thorndon
+64 4 499 3060
secretary@smnz.org.nz

About the Author

In more recent years, Larkin worked at the Society of Mary's General Administration in Rome but returned to Wellington when he was diagnosed with cancer in December 2013.

An Inner Music is one of several books he was working on when he died in June 2015.

Marist provincial, Fr David Kennerley SM, said the Society of Mary is delighted to see this special book published.

"Craig Larkin was a gifted teacher and writer, well known for his creativity and communication skills.

"An Inner Music is a beautiful book and one which readers will find very accessible.

"Craig had a lifelong interest in prayer and spirituality and studied the mystics in great depth.

"In this book he is writing about what was very dear to his heart.

"It will have great appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about the interior life from the spiritual masters."

Craig Larkin was a former Provincial of the Society of Mary in New Zealand and a popular lecturer in spiritual theology for many years. He was very involved in formation programmes in New Zealand and internationally.

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• Supplied

After teaching at St Patrick's College Silverstream for a number of years Craig went on to be involved in a wide range of ministries.

For some years he was the director of third order of the Society of Mary while also acting as its vocations director.

He then spent a number of years preaching parish missions and running school retreats.

As a retreat director he was ahead of his time in the use of audio visual presentations.

In 1977 Fr Larkin went to Rome for further studies.

On his return he joined the staff at Mount St Mary's Seminary at Greenmeadows and then he became the novice master.

In 1990 he returned to Rome for another two years of study and on his return, became the rector of the Marist Seminary.

Fr Larkin was elected provincial leader of the New Zealand Marists in 1997 and went on to become the vicar general of the Society in 2001.

After serving for 8 years in that capacity he remained in Rome assisting with the formation of Marists responsible for the Society of Mary's training programmes worldwide.

Fr Larkin returned to New Zealand in late 2013 after he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

In the course of his busy life he also found time to write a number of books on subjects related to Marist spirituality, iconography and spirituality in general.

In New Zealand possibly his best known publication is a small book, "Pardon in the Winderness"; helping people to prepare for the sacrament of reconciliation.

He had a life long interest in contemplative prayer as practiced not only by Christians but in other faiths as well.

Fr Larkin's funeral will take place at St Teresa's Church, Karori, Wellington on Saturday 4 July at 11am.

The point of view of one voting Cardinal which wasn't expressed in these days, but was reported at the Synod of Bishops on Evangelization in October last year, came from the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle. Among the hundreds of comments made at that Synod, many of them forgettable, his have remained unforgettable. He said, briefly, that the Church of the time to come must be "more simple, more humble, with a more developed capacity for silence."

I'm struck by his choice of these three qualities. I think I know what he means when he speaks of the Church needing to have a more developed capacity for silence.

This capacity for contemplative silence is a particularly positive feature of Christianity in Asian cultures and countries. It's a capacity to be still, to watch contemplatively, to reflect, to welcome the thoughts of others, to pause before acting. It comes from a soul at peace, and it shows itself in quiet joy. I've found this particularly in the Cathedral in Singapore on a Sunday Mass. I've frequently noticed that visitors to the Church have been moved to tears at these celebrations of Word and Eucharist.

I've got no bets on anyone in particular who may emerge as our next Pope, and to be honest, I'm not particularly worried about who it might be.

But I am passionately interested in what the Church might become under the Pope's leadership.

I would love to see our Church becoming simpler, humbler, and more capable of silence.

Fr Craig Larkin is a New Zealand priest who lives in Rome

The atmosphere at each of these moments could not be more different. Paul VI's funeral was a quiet affair: he died in mid-summer, and the Romans don't easily give up their holiday time. John Paul I seemed to come and go like a meteor. John Paul II's funeral was nothing if not epochal; those who came for it knew they were witnessing a moment in history. But these days, in the lead-up to the Conclave, the atmosphere in Rome is quiet - people are waiting for something to happen.

Benedict's low-key departure reflects how determined he has been to "de-personalize" the office of the Pope, stressing that it is a ministry, not a personality-based task.

But the local people find this hard. For a start, they're not used - as the rest of the Catholic world is - to having a retired Bishop in their diocese. One Roman said to me, "For us the Pope is like our father - and you don't have two fathers in a family."

The Italian people find it hard live through an event like this without being able to express emotions. There's no funeral to weep at, no moments for eulogies or analyses, no chances for passionate exchanges of opinion.

Another significant factor that keeps the atmosphere rather sober is the fairly open talk of the need for an internal audit and cleaning of the workings of the Vatican Curia. Even some of the voting Cardinals are speaking openly of the need for reform and restructuring. Everyone knows that the next man has a humanly impossible task.

Fr.Craig Larkin is a New Zealand priest living in Rome

Take four of his last decisions, for example.

1) Nine months after the sacking of the President of the scandal-ridden Vatican bank, he appoints a new President: a lay man and a non-Italian.

2) He appoints a man of promise to a diplomatic post in a Latin American country, freeing him from the pecking-order syndrome of the Vatican Curia.

3) He changes the rules for the running of the Conclave, reducing the chances of external or internal pressure on the voting Cardinals, and ensuring that something closer to a consensus can be achieved.

4) He accepts the resignation of a Cardinal Archbishop from his post, and without hesitation accepts his offer not to attend the conclave.

These decisions range from the surprising to the dramatic. All are worth "reading" carefully.

Worth reading carefully, too, are his last three speeches.

In his last public audience on Wednesday it seemed that Joseph Ratzinger the simple believer was speaking heart-to-heart to the people. He was applauded at length when he spoke of the Church as "not an organization, not an association for religious or humanitarian purposes, but a living body, a community of brothers and sisters …."

The following day, in his speech to the Cardinals, he seemed to want to turn their attention to the events of the previous day. Once again, he reminded them that "the Church is not an institution devised and built at a desk, but a living reality."

In his final appearance on the balcony of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo he had the look of someone deeply at peace. His last public gesture was a master of understatement. With a smile and a friendly wave, he simply wished the people "Buona notte - goodnight" and disappeared into silence.

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Fr Craig Larkin, a New Zealand priest living in Rome.

Saying farewell to a Pope who hasn't actually died makes this experience of farewell a rather unusual one - at least it hasn't happened for centuries.

Benedict has said clearly that he will spend the rest of his days "hidden from the world" and in prayer and silence. This has made me think a lot about the power of silence, and how it can be used for good or for harm.

Sadly, over centuries, the Vatican has developed the art of placing itself behind walls of secrecy, silence and anonymity. Silence has been used as an instrument of power, and with harmful effects.

Visits of inquiry into dioceses or into the conduct of Bishops in the dioceses have frequently been followed by no report; letters written by people to different Vatican departments often receive no reply or no acknowledgement; anonymity surrounds many of the accusations made about priests, religious or laypeople denounced to the Vatican; people called to explain themselves have often complained of not receiving the information they rightly deserve.

This silence is not the silence of professional confidentiality.

This is something else.

It's a bad way of dealing with people, and this sort of silence becomes an instrument which harms.

Tomorrow Benedict withdraws permanently into the shadows to live a life of prayer and silence. He probably won't be seen again or heard again; but no one can ignore him while he remains a silent presence in the heart of the Vatican which he found difficult to cleanse or govern.

This silence might well be an instrument of healing for the Church.

- Fr Craig Larkin s.m., who is based in Rome, writing exclusively for CathNews NZ Pacific

He had initiated a "Year of Faith" in October 2012; it would have made sense to leave his resignation till the end of the year of Faith.

He has completed two encyclicals - on Charity and on Hope. He was currently writing one on Faith. It might have seemed reasonable to finish this third encyclical before resigning.

But in the light of his recent speeches and homilies in which he calls the Church - from top to bottom - to a radical change of heart, it now seems obvious why he has selected the beginning of Lent to make his announcement, initiating the 40 days of penance and reflection on the Word of God.

A silence is already descending on the Vatican as he and the Cardinals of the Curia begin their annual retreat.

Benedict will make only two more public appearances: next Sunday at the traditional noon Angelus meeting, and on Wednesday February 27^th, when he will hold his final public meeting in St Peter's Square.

Since there is no funeral service to be held, nor any mandatory days of mourning before the Conclave, the lapse of time between Benedict's resignation and the election of a new pope can be short.

The 117 voting Cardinals will begin their pre-Conclave meetings soon after February 28^th. The Conclave could well start by March 10^th.

Though he will take no part in these general meetings, or in the Conclave itself, Benedict has already, through his homilies and speeches, sent out a message to the Conclave: no self-seeking, no divisions or cabals, and no splits within the Sistine Chapel!

Source:

• Fr. Craig Larkin s.m., who is based in Rome, writing exclusively for CathNews NZ Pacific

Celestine, known as Pietro di Morrone was a hermit monk who lived in isolation in the mountains of Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy.

When Pope Nicholas IV died in 1292, the cardinals assembled in conclave could not agree on his successor. After two years of deliberation and in-fighting, they received a letter from Pietro di Morrone, warning them that divine vengeance would fall on them if they did not quickly elect a Pope.

At that, the elderly Dean of the College cried out, "In the name of God, I elect Pietro di Morrone!" All agreed, and the Cardinals persuaded him to accept the office. He took the name of Celestine V.

But he was a hermit, and craved the contemplative life. He was no administrator and could not deal with his Curial cardinals. He resigned after 5 months. Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, placed Celestine in hell for making "the great refusal" of the papacy. But the Church canonized Celestine a saint in 1313.

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Church which contains the remains of Celestine. In a gesture which, with hindsight, could hold all sorts of meaning, Benedict placed on the tomb of Celestine the woolen pallium, the symbol of his office as bishop which he had worn during his own papal inauguration.

In the formal letter of his resignation as pope, Celestine cited as the causes for his decision: "The desire for humility, for a purer life, for a stainless conscience, the deficiencies of his own physical strength, his ignorance, the perverseness of the people, his longing for the tranquility of his former life."

Sources

• Fr. Craig Larkin s.m., who is based in Rome, writing exclusively for CathNews NZ Pacific

Benedict is a teacher, a writer, a scholar, for whom words are never trivialized. Vatican observers are listening carefully to each of his speeches, and watching every gesture and decision he makes.

In recent days he has presided at the Ash Wednesday ceremony in St Peter's; he has addressed the clergy of his diocese of Rome; he has spoken with bishops of other dioceses in Italy.

On Ash Wednesday, he spoke of "the face of the Church marred by divisions and rivalry". He spoke of Jesus' denunciation of "religious hypocrisy, the behaviour that focusses on appearances, the attitude of seeking applause and approval." He underlined that the true disciple serves the Lord "in simplicity and generosity."

These words have significance in the light of the serious scandals that have been revealed inside the Vatican especially in these last three years: financial scandals involving the Vatican Bank; sexual scandals inside the Vatican, including the revelation that a papal usher was involved in a call-boy ring; and most recently the publication of secret and sensitive Vatican documents, stolen from inside the Pope's private office by the Pope's butler - the Vatileaks scandal.

"Vatileaks" was a huge scandal - still not resolved - and it simply revealed in glaring colours the systemic dysfunctioning of the internal organization of the Vatican, known as the Curia.

Benedict has not been able to contain this systemic disorder of the Curia. When he speaks of "divisions and rivalries within the Church", for "Church" read "Curia" and this gives meaning to his statement that someone "of robust physical and mental strength" needs to lead the Church at this time.

- Fr. Craig Larkin s.m., Rome based, writing exclusively for CathNews NZ Pacific