Lots of patristibloggers have already told you the news that Peter Brown has been named co-winner of the 2008 Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Study of Humanity. Since everyone’s weighing in with favorite Brown titles, I can’t resist. Mine are Augustine of Hippo (second edition) and The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (The Haskell Lectures on History of Religions). What are yours?
Year: 2008
Deep-Dish Fun
I just got back from a trip with Junior to Chicago. Despite the wind chill, we had a delightful time. By chance (?), I managed to attend a Mass celebrated by my spiritual director from many years ago, Father Ed Maristany, author of Loving the Holy Mass and Call Him Father: How to Experience the Fatherhood of God. I hadn’t seen him in years. Junior and I stayed at the apartment of my friend Gary Bilinovich, who manages the sprawling campus of St. Mary of the Angels Parish, and we ate, drank, and were merry with my oft-quoted buddy Andy. We also made pilgrimage to meet Nancy Brown and her family. Nancy is the author of The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide and many excellent resources on G.K. Chesterton.
Too much fun. Now I have to catch up on posts for you, because the postal mail and email brought many great tidings of patristic joy.
Ring in the Season
Publishing bigwig Kevin, from Scepter Publishers, directs our attention to some beautiful early Christian signet rings, here and here.
Scepter, by the way, publishes Father Mike Giesler’s patristic fiction trilogy: Junia, Marcus, and Grain of Wheat.
After Thanksgiving, Feast Your Eyes
Adrian Murdoch directs our attention to a virtual tour of Hagia Sophia and updates on its state of disrepair.
PhDiva, who took us to Hagia Sophia last week, now takes us to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, a site I’d love to see some day.
A Year in the Red
There have been many tributes to Houston’s patrologist-archbishop, Daniel DiNardo, on the first anniversary of his being named a Cardinal. Whispers in the Loggia brings them together rather admirably.
We’ll excuse his closing reference to His Eminence as “the Southern cardinal.”
Once a Pittsburgher, always a Pittsburgher.
Cup’s Up
Those who read my book The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence will be cheered by Zenit’s report of an academic conference on the Grail held in Valencia, Spain (home to one of the Grail contenders). My co-author Chris Bailey and I rejoice whenever there is serious discussion of the Grail that doesn’t involve UFOs, healing crystals, or Mary Magdalene’s phenotype.
Cross Purposes, Indeed
Remember the Basque “discoveries” from a couple years ago? It seems they were fraudulent. Here’s word from the Guardian.
Mass Movement
A nice mention of my book The Mass of the Early Christians (scroll down to what she’s reading).
Abu Dhabi Do
Adrian Murdoch reports on the excavation of a Nestorian church and monastery in the UAE. He provides plentiful link and a cool photo.
Egypt Defends Byzantium
Al Ahram covers the Byzantium exhibition at London’s Royal Academy (with photos).
Chain Male
Roger Pearse has posted a helpful series about catenas on the gospels. It starts here.
Roger’s also searching the blogosphere for God (rather than religion).
A Taste for Basil
Sister Macrina is trying to coax St. Basil out of the shadows: “Saint Basil has been badly served both in recent academic research on asceticism and also, particularly, in the recent upsurge in popular interest in monasticism.” She quotes from a recent book by Augustine Holmes: A Life Pleasing to God: The Spirituality of the Rules of St. Basil.
A plethora of books have been produced … to enable non-monastics to appropriate the spiritual riches of the rule of St Benedict … Parallel to this academic work there is no popular interest in ‘Basilian Spirituality’. This is both strange and regrettable as Basil’s teaching is scriptural, practical and avoids the ascetic extremism of the Egyptians and Syrians. It also has a strong social and community dimension which should appeal to modern concerns.
My Second Million
Today I passed the 2,000,000 mark in comment-spam. I’m so deeply moved.
In Memoriam
You Say You Want a Revolution
Adrian Murdoch beat me to announcing a provocative new study: Raymond Van Dam’s The Roman Revolution of Constantine. Adrian discusses shifts in the typological understanding of the emperor and provides excerpts from a review.