Böcker av Julian Bauer

In the year 1560, Pius IV asked his young nephew, Carlo Borromeo, to be the Secretary of State for the Roman Catholic Church. This historical novel enables the reader to see how Carlo countered the dangerous threats of impious clergy and of Christians who saw Rome's Pontiff as the Anti-Christ. Carlo's childhood friend, the skillful swordsman Robert Vecchi, was not as saintly as Carlo, but faithfully engaged the omnipresent enemy including the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto, and Carlo's political foes in Rome and Milan. Careful and factual attention is paid in the novel to the inner workings and intrigues of Church politics and the decisions reached through the Council of Trent as saint and prideful sinner used their unique skills to reach their individual goals.

Following the Pattern examines the environment in which Jesus was born, the parents on whom he would be dependent, and the education which would one day enable his human lips to speak the words of God with authority. Jesus led an exemplary life, and we are asked to emulate it, but to emulate it we must meditate on what his life in an Israeli culture might have been like. While the Son of God worked with human hands and thought with a human mind, we assume Jesus possessed only that divine knowledge required by his age-stage. He functioned as a normal person would, being born into a world of the Scriptures and living the life we wish to pattern ourselves after. He was humble enough to recognize authority and meek enough to obey such authority. As his stature grew, the revelations needed to teach and influence others were given to his human nature to the extent his divine mission necessitated. With this book, intended for a general audience, Julian Bauer hopes the reader will remember the words of St. John of the Cross that the closer our attachment to God, the greater the likeness between us. To be totally "one" requires an equality of love. The effort to pattern ourselves after Jesus is a never-ending undertaking in pursuit of a divine communion with God.