A Russian site has posted Migne’s Patrologia Graeca in its entirety. Can it last? Hat tip: Adrian Murdoch.
Speaking of Migne … Were he alive today, maybe he’d be blogging. And if he were blogging, he’d maybe be as productive as Roger Pearse. If you haven’t been keeping up with Roger’s projects, do check in and read through the archives. A patristiblogger could do nothing but follow Roger’s work and still stay very busy.
Reviewed at BMCR … Giusto Traina, 428 AD: An Ordinary Year at the End of the Roman Empire
Reviewed at BMCR … Ramsay MacMullen, The Second Church. Popular Christianity A.D. 200-400
Reviewed at BMCR … Chiara Torre (ed.), Martini Bracarensis De ira: introduzione, testo, traduzione e commento (an edition of Martin of Braga — book in Italian, but the review’s in English)
Come along and set your feet in the footsteps of the Fathers.
Once again, I’m helping to lead a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi. It would be awesome if you could join us. I do think this is our best lineup ever:
and Yours Truly
My hope is that — if you want to join us and you can afford to go — you and I can enjoy a grace-filled week together, celebrating Mass at the tombs of the Apostles and Fathers, visiting the holy sites, and enjoying the visual, cultural, and culinary delights that the Eternal City has to offer.
The pilgrimage takes place May 23 to June 1, 2010, and the days and evenings will be full. The trip will be sponsored by the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
We’ll spend time in the Catacombs of St. Callistus; the Basilicas of St. Peter, the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, St. John Lateran, and St. Mary Major; the churches of St. Clement, the Pantheon, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, St. Augustine, St. Peter in Chains, St. Agnes, and Saints Praxedes and Pudentiana. In these holy places rest the relics of so many of the ancients: Saints Peter and Paul, Saints Simon and Jude, St. Lawrence, St. Gregory the Great, St. Leo, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Monica, and many martyrs whose names have been lost to history. (St. Jerome, too, if you accept that much-disputed tradition.)
We’ll tour the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. We’ll climb the Holy Stairs. We’ll pray the Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum. We’ll wander the Roman Forum, see the Arch of Constantine, the Arch of Titus that depicts the emperor’s return to Rome with the plunder of Jerusalem. We’ll visit the tombs of many Jesuit saints at the Church of St. Ignatius. We’ll stroll through dazzling Piazza Navona, and we’ll even leave a little time for gelato or shopping.
Each day will include brief seminars on aspects of history, archeology, and theology related to Christian Rome. We’ll take meals together, celebrate daily Mass together, pray a daily Rosary together, and walk and talk together.
In Rome you’ll gather memories you’ll treasure for the rest of your life — memories you’ll draw from as you guide children or grandchildren, teach CCD, or otherwise witness to the faith. You’ll gather memories that will feed your prayer and help you to feed the prayer of others.
Please pray about whether you might join me and these good friends of mine.
St. Paul Center pilgrimages tend to fill up, once they’re announced. So, if you’re interested, it’s better to register sooner rather than later.
You’ll find an itinerary and registration details here.
There’s a great conference coming up at St. Paul Seminary in Crafton, Pa. (just outside Pittsburgh), Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7. It’s titled “Priesthood and Blessing,” and it will be a good way to mark the Church’s Year of the Priest. It’s not, however, primarily for clergy, and it’s not all about the ordained priesthood. It’s for all Catholics, since we share in the “common priesthood” of Christ.
The lineup of speakers is outstanding. I’ve heard them all and would gladly pay to hear them again.
Friday, November 6
Scott Hahn: “Receive the Spirit: Priesthood and Blessing in the Gospel of John,” 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 7
Fr. Pablo Gadenz (Seton Hall University): “The Priest as Spiritual Father”
Dr. Brant Pitre (Notre Dame, New Orleans): “Jesus, Passover and Priesthood”
Dr. Mary Healy (Sacred Heart, Detroit): “Christ’s Priesthood and Christian Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews”
Dr. Dan Keating, (Sacred Heart, Detroit): “Life-Giving Blessing in St. Cyril of Alexandria”
Bishop David Zubik will celebrate Holy Mass and preach.
Fr. Robert Barron of Chicago (and YouTube) will deliver the annual address in memory of Father Ronald Lawler, OFM Cap.
Registration for the conference is $50 per person, only $25 for full-time students. Seminarians attend free of charge.
You can register online at www.SalvationHistory.com or by calling 740-264-9535.
The conference usually fills up, so register soon. And bring your friends. It’s a great time, with lots of opportunities for conversation and book-shopping. The speakers are first-rate and the talks are rich, but aimed at non-scholars.
Please let me know if you plan on attending. It would be great to meet in person.
I have to admit: I do love it when a reviewer appreciates my prose.
I had the great pleasure of talking up two of my books with Commander Craig on Catholic Radio 2.0.
We discussed Angels of God: The Bible, the Church and the Heavenly Hosts and Fire of God’s Love: 120 Reflections on the Eucharist.
New reviews of Fire of God’s Love appeared in several high places:
Tiber-hopper Russ Rentler is a blogger and doctor, but perhaps known best for his rootsy American music, hammered out with dulcimers, mandolins, and other such. Russ’s new disk, Way to Emmaus, is out and it echoes the Fathers often. “Untier of Knots” draws from Irenaeus’s image of Mary loosening the knot of Eve’s disobedience. “Late Have I Loved You” is, of course, straight out of Augustine (but personal to Russ as well). Russ’s rendition of “Old Time Religion” brings a smile as he invokes a litany of the Fathers. There are also striking arrangements of two of my old favorite hymns, “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” and “Sing of Mary” — but like you’ve never heard them before. Much more, too.
Last year I worked with the folks from Catholic Heroes of the Faith on an animated feature and a documentary on the second-century martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity. At long last, both videos are available for sale or rental. Check them out:
Documentary: The Passion of Saint Perpetua: Martyr of the Faith (or rental). I’m the face and voice through this one, but there’s also lots of footage shot on site in North Africa. The camera takes you into all the relevant ruins.
Animated feature: The Story of Saint Perpetua. I posted reviews of this by noted authors Rod Bennett and Carl Sommer. You can check out new reviews by Binks and Happy Catholic.
Many apologies for my neglect of this patch of land. I’ve been writing and speaking, and more than usual. Busy season is upon us.
There’s been interesting news in the archeology of early Christianity:
MercatorNet ran an interesting analysis of the recent Saxon discovery: Let’s Have Done with the Dark Ages.
The New York Times discussed Counting Coins to Count Rome’s Population.
BMCR has been reviewing interesting books:
Gregg Gardner, Kevin L. Osterloh, Antiquity in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Pasts in the Greco-Roman World. Reviewed here.
Judith Perkins, Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era. Reviewed here.