Fr. Joseph Spillmann was born at Zug, Switzerland, April 22, 1842. He joined the Jesuits and in 1874 was ordained priest.
Due to his poetic gifts he was assigned to work on various periodicals. Spillmann's literary activity resulted chiefly from his connection with these periodicals, especially the Katholische Missionen, which he edited from 1880-90. His Tales of Foreign Lands series
contains 21 booklets, consisting of edifying and
tastefully illustrated stories for the young. They have been translated into many languages. Newly reprinted by Angelus Press, Volume One combines four of these stories into a single volume.
Love Your Enemies. The Maoris of New Zealand have had enough of being cheated by the English and rebel. Meanwhile, the Patrick O’Neal
family, trying to start a new life there, are overtaken by a marauding tribe and must flee for their lives, all the while trying to practice in
earnest that hardest of Christian maxims: “Love Your Enemies.”
Maron. It is Lebanon in 1860, and the Druses are persecuting the Christians under the complicit eye of the Turkish government. The Mufti of Sidon incites the mob to kill the Christian dogs even as his son Ali, sickened by
the slaughter, helps his Christian friend Maron
flee to the hills, and learns from his actions
the reality of grace and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
The Festival of Corpus Christi. Don Pedro and his nephew have accepted their government’s commission to shut down the Jesuit missions in
Bolivia. Reaching the mission, they discover a village where the Indians are living a civilized,
Christian life. Their preparations for the annual
Corpus Christi procession and the taming of a savage tribe form the backdrop of this tale.
The Cabin Boys. It is 1798, the ninth year of the bloody French Revolution, and fifteen-year-old Paul and twelve-year-old Albert embark
as cabin boys on a sea voyage with unusual cargo in the hold: 200 priests, condemned to forced
labor in Cayenne. Gripping adventures await the
boys, aided by wise priests at sea and on land,
until the tale brings them back home again.
