From Green Hills of Galilee

In the present volume, Cathal O'Byrne struck out a new line of extraordinary interest and vitality. Simon the Cyrenian, the Roman soldier who lanced the Master’s side, the bride of Cana, Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman at the Well of Jacob, Pilate’s wife, and others are among the men and women who make but a brief appearance, each, in the Gospel narrative; and having performed their predestined parts in relation to the Savior, they are suffered to sink again into obscurity. Yet their significance in the divine ordinance is very great, and many a devout reader has doubtless wished that something more were known of their antecedents and of what happened to them in the sequel. This is where Mr. O'Byrne steps in and by a happy exercise of his imaginative powers, he provides us with what we may accept as a possible answer.