THE MAN WHO CAPTIVATED NEW YORK

Rosalie Lieberman continues the story of Brother Angelo, the lay brother endowed with unusual spiritual gifts, which was begun in The Man Who Sold Christmas. Brother Angelo is a mixed blessing to his community: innocent, humble, in direct communication with the Lord, he is apt to both disrupt and edify his more organization-minded brethren. He's sent to New York to take over the menial but essential duties of St. Lawrence's Priory but his harassed superiors find that Brother Angelo is incapable of remaining unobtrusive. They find that he is followed by people who are simply attracted by his saintly expression, that he's very apt to levitate at the most inopportune times and that he is virtually a one-man problem-solving bureau. His simple faith and piety bring relief and joy to the lives of two embittered people; his straightforwardness saves a youngster from delinquency; and single-handed he manages to rebuild a demolished church. By the time Brother Angelo's tour of duty is over he's influenced everyone he's met and he's shattered the tranquility of the Priory, with salutary effects. And there's no reason to believe that Brother Angelo considers his mission completed. A painless, pleasant diversion which remains unmarred by its occasional stickiness.