Francis De Sales Research Articles

A espiritualidade de Francisco de Sales e o acompanhamento espiritual

The present study presents the contributions of Francis de Sales on the theme of spiritual accompaniment. The work is developed from the concept of spiritual accompaniment as friendship, understanding it as a practice that respects the autonomy of the accompanied subject. It follows from this, then, that the vision of the human being must be integral, in the sense that there is a concern with the intellectual, human and spiritual aspect. The path that seems most appropriate and that is followed for this analysis is thematic. This work will make it possible to situate the Salesian practice of spiritual accompaniment as a service to the human person. At the same time, it is hoped to make explicit that Salesian spirituality is an experience open to all, experiencing the "God of the human heart."

THE PRESERVATION OF THE RELIGIOUS CULTURAL PATRIMONY

The present article analyzes the preservation of the religious cultural patrimony of the Catholic Church, whose collection is of great size both in tangible and intangible assets. It is based on concepts related to the patrimony, in accordance to Brazilian law and to deals stablished between Brazil and the Holy See, aiming the universal interest in protecting, promoting and valuing the religious, historical, artistic and cultural patrimony. It showcases local realities of the Society of Saint Francis de Sales in Brazil, specially of the Salesian Province in São Paulo, and of the Salesian Province in Campo Grande. These actions contribute to the historical, artistic and cultural preservation by perpetuating the memorable facts of the church to future generations and by cooperating to spread the knowledge as to correspond to the learning and comprehension of the contexts of each historical period. The preservation of the territory (building/church) has the collective participation and is solidified through religious experiences linked to the sacred place.

Wizyta delegata Przełożonego Generalnego Towarzystwa Salezjańskiego dla Inspektorii Polskich ks. Stanisława Rokity SDB na Wileńszczyźnie w 1973 r. Edycja źródłowa

Following the end of second World War, 48 percent area of the Second Polish Republic was incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. A significant number of Polish citizens remained in the annexed areas and along with them their pastors. As for members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians), ten remained in the areas incorporated into the USSR, who helped organize the religious life of the faithful under very difficult circumstances. They maintained contact with the religious congregation in Poland, mostly it was limited to correspondence and short visits on the occasion of family visits to Poland. The source presents notes from the stay in the USSR of Fr. Stanisław Rokita SDB, who in 1973 was the first Salesian superior to visit his congregation remaining in the East.

Nurturing and Caring?

Abstract This essay examines Francis de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life through the framework of caregiving. It also uses de Sales’s correspondence with two elite women, Jeanne de Chantal and Marie Brûlart, to demonstrate how de Sales’s guidance for laity was put into practice. Exploring women that yearned for a richer spiritual yet also had extensive caregiving obligations that did not allow for complete withdrawal from the secular world, reveals the increased labor these women faced. Women could not neglect household and family to spend more time in prayer and devotional practices. Caregiving duties were ongoing for most women of Early Modern Europe and continue today. Exploring how caring was viewed as part of women’s obligations as Christians, highlights the often-hidden labor of women.

The Nineteenth-Century Salesian Pentecost: The Salesian Family of Don Bosco, the Oblates and Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales, the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales, and the Fransalians by Joseph Boenzi, SDB et al. (review)

The Nineteenth-Century Salesian Pentecost: The Salesian Family of Don Bosco, the Oblates and Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales, the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales, and the Fransalians by Joseph Boenzi, SDB et al. (review)

Be A Good Listener- Learning from Saint Francis de Sales

The purpose of the study is to show that the spirituality of Francis de Sales in his work, “Introduction to the Devout Life” is still relevant today, especially for the formation of priests and religious candidates in Indonesia. His work was written when as the Bishop of Geneva, he was concerned for the spiritual life of the laity in his diocese because of the Protestantism movement that swept most of Europe at that time. Francis wants to tell his people that, not only in the Protestant Church, but in the Catholic Church also that holiness belongs to everyone, not only for the clergy, monks, and nuns. His book provides a practical guide for anyone who wants to develop a spiritual life. De Sales offers a new perspective that the first step to develop a spiritual life does not begin with the celebration of the sacraments and liturgies but from the human longing for God that arises from everyone's heart. This longing of God must be cultivated and nurtured, first of all, in spiritual friendship with those who are more experienced in spiritual life. In the formation, this is known in several forms such as spiritual guidance, personal assistance, or cura personalis.

Analysis and diagnosis of the state of conservation and restoration of paper-based artifacts: A non-invasive approach

• Diagnostic of ancient paper by completely non-invasive diagnostic approach. • UV–Vis-NIR imaging, FORS and fluorescence spectroscopies performed in-situ . • HPLC and FTIR analyses on extracts obtained by a smart sampling method. • A complete characterization of two letters of St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622) was obtained. We report a non-invasive and multi-analytical physico-chemical method for the characterization of paper artworks, able to identify sizing, inks, and glues and to quantify oxidative degradation by-products. The proposed methodology is mostly carried out in situ by using easy-to-use and cheap portable instrumentation for the acquisition of multispectral images, punctual ultraviolet-visible-near infrared fiber-optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) and punctual fiber optics fluorescence spectroscopy. Further analytical information is provided by non-invasive in-situ sampling of paper surface by using soft latex sponges, making possible laboratory chromatographic and infrared spectroscopic analyses on the aqueous sponge extracts. The proposed diagnostics method was applied to two 17th century letters written by St Francis of Sales (1567–1622), collected at the Chigi Palace in the town of Ariccia (Italy). Results show an intense oxidative degradation of the letters, also localized in water spots, and the presence of carboxylic acids by-products. Analysis of FORS spectra provided the concentration of chromophores in the paper substrate. The diagnostic method allowed the identification of gelatin sizing, the presence of starch glue in specific areas of the letters and the type of ink used in the text. Our diagnostic approach aims to offer to conservator-restorer a characterization of a paper artwork, that can be applied to other, for a correct planning of conservation interventions.

The power of love: The spiritual foundations of chaplaincy in Catholic universities – A framework for discussion

This article delineates the foundational theological principles upon which a Catholic Higher Education chaplaincy devoted to the spiritual development of staff and students might rest. We claim that this is a key dimension of chaplaincy work. In a (post)modern culture where staff and students exhibit a range of beliefs or none, we offer a broad definition of spirituality not necessarily tied to religion and construct a framework which might appeal to a wide cross section of people attending Catholic Universities. It examines how the insights and guidance of two French Catholic writers, the 16th century priest St. Francis de Sales and the contemporary philosopher Jean-Luc Marion, offer a basis for understanding what constitutes a spiritual approach to life. We suggest that their emphases on the power of love, the heart, God’s glory, imago Dei and gift constitute a ground of hope and stable base from which spiritual progress might take place. We also outline how this template challenges the emphasis on autonomous agency at the centre of much educational discourse at the present time.

Care and educational activity of the Salesians in Prague in years of People's Poland

The Society of Saint Francis de Sales was founded by St. John Bosco. The guiding principle of the activities of the Salesians was to take care of abandoned and neglected youth. St. John Bosco (b. 1815, d. 1888), who had the good of young people at heart, launched his works in Turin and gave an example of how to make friendly contacts with young people who were waiting for understanding, spiritual support or the warmth of the family. Henceforth, he funded the Oratory, a place that was a substitute for a family home, where love for God and people was sown and deepened. In the Oratory created by John Bosco, his charges, usually vagrants, street children, people with prison experiences, met with understanding, spiritual values, kindness, help, in an atmosphere conducive to overcoming various types of mental crises, as well as material support. Don Bosco also ensured that they would receive education, mainly vocational one. Although he had no formal pedagogical education, St. John Bosco intuitively sensed the needs and expectations of young people. A distinctive characteristic of the educational method developed by St. John Bosco was its preventive system (pre-emptive, anticipatory). Its three pillars are reason, religion and educational love. In 1898 the Salesians came to Poland to Oświęcim where their Motherhouse still exists. After Poland had regained her independence and undergone structural changes, the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was established in Warsaw's Praga district in 1919 and a few years later the Salesians officially took over the basilica, opening an oratory for abandoned, loitering youths in its basement. Praga was a working-class district populated mainly by poor and unemployed people, living in cramped flats with numerous offspring. In pursuit of earnings parents often did not have the time and skills to take care of their own children, hence there was a high crime rate in this district. The Salesians managed to create an educational community and appointed Fr. Ludwik Rupala, a strict follower of the instructions of St. John Bosco and one of the most outstanding educators with many years of teaching practice, to the position of the head of the Oratory. Rupala was in charge of the Oratory from 1934 until the outbreak of World War II. During the war, the Oratory could not function officially and it was only after 1945 that work with youth was resumed, but in a revised format. This change was dictated by the then prevailing communism in which religion was not tolerated, therefore the functions of the Oratory were taken over by altar boys. The authorities tried to make tutelage more difficult for the Salesians, who, in their eyes, were treated as followers of religion, an opium for the people. The scientific, socialist worldview was the leading theme in Polish schools, where there was no room for either religion or Catholic organizations that successfully functioned in the pre-war Polish education. Despite admonition from the church hierarchy regarding the removal of all religious elements from schools, the state authorities have not changed their position on this issue since 1947. Irrespectively of the position of the authorities, the Salesians unofficially continued their educational and pastoral work among the Praga children and youths, organizing summer holidays, providing shelter, developing interests, promoting culture, creating a healthy educational environment, cultivating Christian traditions by putting on Nativity plays and the Passion of the Lord, receiving the Eucharist. And the reluctance of the residents of both the district and the citizens of the country towards the new system has integrated them, as more and more young people clung to the Praga Oratory which was providing home warmth, religious education, entertainment, education and relaxation.

Dying and the Virtues by Matthew Levering

Reviewed by: Dying and the Virtues by Matthew Levering Craig Steven Titus Dying and the Virtues. By Matthew Levering. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2018. Pp. xi + 260. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN: 978-0-80287548-8. In Dying and the Virtues, Matthew Levering affirms that dying leaves indifferent neither nihilists, who see death as a disaster, nor optimists, who expect the afterlife to be familiar. Levering's approach is a thoroughly Christian response to the tragedy of death and its meaning. He draws from Hans Urs von Balthasar (2-4), who offers three essential ways to find sense in dying. First, there is the incomprehensibility and absurdity of death. It insults meaning, undermines the whole of life, and unsettles the very permanence of love. Second, there is the New Testament affirmation that believers need not worry about death. They have already died with Christ in baptism and will also be resurrected and live forever with Christ (John 6:58). Third, union with Christ and his redemptive suffering is the source of new life. For Levering, these three angles—death as absurd, death as conquered, and union with Christ's death as the source of becoming a new creation—combine to illuminate the Christian call to a virtue-informed preparation for dying. Levering provides a compelling approach that pairs the virtues with themes and exemplars: (1) love and Job's challenge to God, (2) hope and meditation on the nature of dying, (3) faith in Jesus and the fulfillment of desire, (4) penitence and the witness of the protomartyr St. Stephen, (5) gratitude and St. Macrina, (6) solidarity through divine mercy and redemptive suffering, (7) humility as evidenced in Jesus' dying and in our own, (8) surrender and the sacrament of the sick, and (9) courage to say goodbye to the world as we know it. His matching of the virtues with such themes and models, practices and goals becomes enriched as throughout the book he draws out insights through careful study of its sources. [End Page 339] In the first five chapters, Levering addresses the three theological virtues and their effects in a unique way. Chapter 1 employs the Book of Job to reveal the urgency of the question about whether God loves Job, which is especially pertinent in the face of Job's loss of family and his anguish about the annihilation of his personal existence. Levering's interpretation of the narrative of Job identifies the pattern of the encounter between God and Job: God's definitive response to the painful course of events opens up a silence through which God responds with divine love to queries about life after death (27). Chapter 2 offers narratives that demonstrate how to bolster hope by meditating on dying (meditatio mortis) as a preparation for death. Christian examples include Josef Pieper, Robert Bellarmine, Francis de Sales, and Jean-Pierre de Caussade, who contribute to a philosophy and theology of death, the spiritual soul, and the existence of God. There is a vivid contrast to the Christian approach in the way philosophical materialists, such as Susan Sonntag and Oliver Sacks, suffer despair due to their denial of meaning in life and in death (31). They suffer from an expectation that their desire for eternal interpersonal communion will be met with everlasting nothingness. However, the believer's imagination is marked by the ultimate end of life (37). Christ offers a way to die well, to be patient in suffering (Rom 12:12), and to hope on one's deathbed. Chapter 3 addresses the questions of what the greatest and most persistent desire of people is when they are dying, and whether Jesus responds to this desire. Levering compares a Christian perspective with interreligious and New-Age perspectives on the experience of dying. In particular, Kathleen Dowling Singh (The Grace in Dying) and David Kuhl (What Dying Persons Want) identify the main human desires in the face of death: eternal "existence, communion, and unity" (59). Beyond these three desires, however, Levering rightly recognizes the need for reconciliation with God. Although expressed through self-giving love, reconciliation is not usually included in such non-Christian approaches. Nonetheless in basic human experience, we do find that...

Dom Bosco: perspectiva histórica de sua prática social e pedagógica:

In the present text, we try to present the historical itinerary of the practice of the founder of the Salesian congregation around the working youth of his time. Far from being a Marxist revolutionary, the practice developed by the Italian priest was uncomfortable for some Catholics, but it also caused admiration in some sectors of the Church of the nineteenth century, for the social praxis created and developed by the young priest was revolutionary in the social context of his time. “To be in the world for others” was one of the main slogans that permeated the sense of life and priestly practice of John Bosco, founder of the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians). At the end of the first half of the 19th century, in Turin, Italy, John Bosco transformed the social reality of young people without perspective, giving them a sense of living. John Bosco, as a priest, was based on evangelical values, inspired by the biblical image of the “Good Shepherd” who gives his life for his sheep. The text presents the historical context in which he inserted the social and community activity of John Bosco, highlighting the undeniable legacy that inspires professionals in the area of education, especially those who are dedicated to peripheral schools or regions of less privileged social classes. The analysis contributes to educators and those who act directly or indirectly in other spheres of the social area understand the need to recognize the needs of social subjects in order to reconfigure and transform their social reality.

Rainbow Body and Resurrection: Spiritual Attainment, The Dissolution Of the Material Body, and the Case of Khenpo a Chö by Francis V. Tiso

Reviewed by: Rainbow Body and Resurrection: Spiritual Attainment, The Dissolution Of the Material Body, and the Case of Khenpo a Chö by Francis V. Tiso Thomas Cattoi RAINBOW BODY AND RESURRECTION: SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT, THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MATERIAL BODY, AND THE CASE OF KHENPO A CHÖ. By Francis V. Tiso.. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2016. 393 pp. In recent years, the growing popularity of comparative theology as an academic discipline has led to the proliferation of academic studies exploring the points of contact between different religious traditions, bringing into conversation authors and texts that address analogous themes or question, without however postulating any historical or conceptual link between the strands of the tradition in question. For instance, Francis Clooney's Hindu God Christian God (2001), Divine Mother Blessed Mother (2003), or Beyond Compare: St. Francis de Sales and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God (2008) set out an ambitious road map for an intellectual exchange between two vastly different religious traditions. These monographs, however, focus on speculative and conceptual echoes between Hindu and Christian authors from different eras and never claim any instance of reciprocal influence. In a similar way, a work like John Keenan's I Am/No Self: a Christian Commentary on the Heart Sutra (2011) may highlight unexpected echoes between the well-known Mahāyāna text and the Gospel of John, but it certainly does not venture any hypothesis about historical exchanges of ideas. At this stage in the history of interreligious dialogue, to embrace an alternative approach would seem a throwback to the Campbellian world of The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), where a sort of perennialism for the masses presents all religions as culturally determined expressions of the same tradition. Francis Tiso's Rainbow Body and Resurrection is not a neo-perennialist work in the vogue of Campbell or Guenon: Tiso is certainly not interested in erasing the peculiarities of different religious traditions or in turning Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity into masks of the divine. At the same time, Tiso makes a number of daring claims, namely he affirms that there are peak mystical experiences in Buddhism and Christianity that share intriguing similarities, even if no one can actually affirm their identical character. In addition, he affirms that the interpretation of such experiences in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism was actually influenced by certain theological strands of Syriac Christianity that were largely erased from the historical consciousness of Western, and to a great extent Byzantine Christianity, but were able to spread to the East via the Silk Road, until they encountered the [End Page 467] Buddhist world on the Tibetan plateau and in Western China. Tiso is well aware of the fact that most scholars will question his reconstruction of the history of Tibetan thought and that many readers will be startled at his acceptance of the truth of seemingly "paranormal" phenomena. Even this reviewer, while sympathetic to Tiso's enterprise, is ultimately reluctant to accept the full import of his claims. At the same time, whether or not one chooses to follow the author in his search for the ever-elusive historical contact between Buddhism and Christianity, this monograph has the distinctive merit of trying to challenge established academic conventions and reset the terms of the comparative conversation. Perhaps, Tiso appears to suggest, there is more to comparative theology than the mere juxtaposition of texts; it may be high time to go back to fieldwork, let go of our enlightened prejudices, and seek out the extraordinary phenomena that religious traditions—at least in the past!—routinely acknowledged as possible. In the introduction, Tiso observes that the resurrection of the dead in Christianity is associated with the notion of a transcendent God returning his creation to fullness of being, while such an eschatological perspective is not universally present in Buddhism. At the same time—he claims—this teleological thrust can be found in later strands of the Tibetan tradition of Dzogchen, where the emphasis on the interrelatedness of all phenomena coexists with the conviction that human experience can have a direction or purpose. What would this be? According to many Dzogchen authors, then, the purpose of human experience is to break...

Teresa, Descartes, and de Sales: the art of Augustinian meditation

ABSTRACT There are longstanding debates regarding the extent to which Descartes’s Meditations can be connected to the genre of devotional meditations popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this article, I follow Guéroult and Ariew in maintaining that the Meditations is distinctly Augustinian because of its emphasis on withdrawing from the senses and use of the intellect. I add support to this reading by arguing that the Meditations can be specifically linked to St Francis de Sales’s immensely popular Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God. I also consider in detail Christia Mercer’s thesis that Descartes owes a significant debt to Teresa of Avila for exposure to – and adoption of – the meditational genre. While there is good reason to believe that Descartes does indeed owe this debt, I nevertheless argue that his Meditations shares stronger methodological and epistemological similarities with that of de Sales’s canonical works. I do this by drawing attention to passages in Teresa’s Interior Castle in which she explicitly addresses and rebukes the Augustinian mode of meditation (a mode shared by de Sales and Descartes), and instead features an Ignatian-style meditation in which the items exemplified in the mind are images of awesome Christian scenes.

Report on the Activities of the Francis de Sales Scientific Society in 2018

Report on the Activities of the Francis de Sales Scientific Society in 2018

An Idea of Order at St. Francis de Sales

An Idea of Order at St. Francis de Sales Michael McGibney Whelan As we beheld her striding there alone,Knew that there never was a world for herExcept the one she sang and, singing, made. —Wallace Stevens It was as wasHas ever been wont to be—Selective and elusive enigmatic. That tiny moment thatOnly a very newLittle-boy-wonder-capture-senseCould catch. A butterfly of early timeLighting on a flower. And thenOpening the glory of its wingsTo lift away on air. In a gentle net his nascentMemory caughtIt and yet It flew simultaneousAwayInto the void of was As ifIt had two beings,One caught, oneBeyond, unlinked. It teased like the songStevens caughtOut of the nightInsisting it had no link to the worldOver whose sea it carried itself. What the boy caughtNever left him. That sudden blend ofScent and sight. That seaOf flowers on a Saturday afternoonAs he and his friends played inThe empty church of St. Francis de SalesOn East 96th Street. Roses, gardenias andLilies waiting all in white on a wedding. [End Page 272] Seventy years later,That lush luscious blur of whites in glory,And their sumptuous scent in his mindStill vivid freshAs then There for only that momentOn a Saturday afternoon That unlinked itself and liftedIts tiny flighting glory into The void of was. [End Page 273] Michael McGibney Whelan Washington, D.C. Copyright © 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press

Vincent de Paul, The Lazarist Mission, and French Catholic Reform by Alison Forrestal

Reviewed by: Vincent de Paul, The Lazarist Mission, and French Catholic Reform by Alison Forrestal Brian Boosel O.S.B. Vincent de Paul, The Lazarist Mission, and French Catholic Reform. By Alison Forrestal. (New York: Oxford University Press. 2017. Pp. x, 312. $135.00. ISBN 978-0-19-878576-7.) In her masterful study, Vincent de Paul, The Lazarist Mission, and French Catholic Reform, Alison Forrestal reminds the reader of Vincent de Paul's missionary philosophy, namely, that a true missionary, "found everything good and indifferent, he accepts everything, he can do anything" (p. 101). Forrestal uses the [End Page 373] theme of mission and missionary activity to weave together carefully and with great clarity the life of Vincent de Paul (1581–1660). Her study begins with an analysis of de Paul's coming to know himself from his childhood experiences through his education and ordination as a priest. Forrestal illuminates the transformational moments in de Paul's life. Her study prepares the reader to experience the full dynamism of de Paul's missionary activity by setting up a background in which de Paul is schooled by such notable French clerics as Pierre Bérulle and Francis de Sales. One must note that Forrestal's research is well grounded in both secular and ecclesiastical archival sources. Forrestal presents the story of the Lazarist mission not only as a narrative, but also as an analysis of the statistics regarding the numbers of missionaries, the numbers of people being treated for various maladies, and the interaction between the de Paul's Congregation of the Mission and his fraternal collaboration with Louise de Marillac and the Daughters of Charity. Another strength of Forrestal's present study is the balance of the question of gender within her research. While the book is mainly a study of Vincent de Paul, Forrestal nonetheless explores de Paul's friendships and working relationships with women beginning with Madame de Gondi, his partnership with Louise de Marillac, and the mentoring relationships he fostered with Jane Frances de Chantal, and numerous other women religious. Forrestal's inclusion of a gendered narrative strengthens the study of Vincent de Paul while allowing the history of these pioneer missionary men and women to tell their own stories. Forrestal is careful to include in her study a discussion of Jansenism and the issues that it presented for early modern French Catholicism. Vincent de Paul was no stranger to the teaching of the Jansenists and even to some of the main players in the Jansenist movement. Forrestal details Vincent's theology of grace, which he offers as a counter to the Jansenistic teachings found in many parts of France in the seventeenth century. Overall, Alison Forrestal's exploration of the life of Vincent de Paul and the Lazarist Mission is fresh and presents a new facet within the larger study of Vincentiana. It should be noted that Forrestal has provided a wealth of information in a series of three appendices which chronicle the Lazarist houses established during de Paul's lifetime along with a list of significant benefactors and their donations toward the work of the Mission. Scholars of early modern French Catholicism will find in Forrestal's bibliography a treasure trove of sources in English, French, and other European languages. Any serious scholar of de Paul, de Marillac, the Catholic Reformation, or Early Modern France in general would benefit greatly from a thorough reading of Forrestal's research. [End Page 374] Brian Boosel O.S.B. Saint Vincent College Latrobe, Pennsylvania Copyright © 2019 The Catholic University of America Press

Is the Church Defenseless Against Sociocultural Changes? Which Moral Theology Provides the Response to this Modern Challenge? A reflection on Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Essay “The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse”

REV. TADEUSZ ZADYKOWICZ – was born in 1968 and graduated from the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Białystok and the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL). He obtained his Habilitation of Theological Sciences degree with a specialization in Moral Theology. Since 2001, he has conducted research and teaches at KUL’s Institute of Moral Theology. He is currently a professor in the Department of Fundamental Moral Theology and serves as the Director of the Institute of Moral Theology. Rev. Zadykowicz belongs to the following academic societies: the Scientific Society of KUL (2002-), the Society for Moral Theology (1999-), the Scientific Society of Lublin (2003-), the European Society for Catholic Theology (2004-), and the Francis de Sales Scientific Society (2008-). His primary research interests include: the morality of religious life; the contemporary context of religious and moral life; the biblical and cultural premises of morality; the role of personal examples in the Christian moral life; the morality of researchers and conducting research.

Catholic Devotion Fitted for the Use of Protestants: Francis de Sales's Introduction à la vie dévote in France and Britain

AbstractThe issue of prayer is central to many volumes of devotional literature. Although the simple acts of praising, giving thanks and intercession seem uncontroversial, manuals of devotion have different concepts of the capacities, natures and workings of their readers’ minds and choose different methods of training habits of prayer. Such differences are highlighted when a devotional text crosses borders of denomination and language, as in the adaptations of Francis de Sales's Introduction à la vie dévote (1609) by Henry Dodwell (1673) and William Nicholls (1701), which seek to adapt a Catholic best‐seller to the needs of a Protestant readership.

Life's Loves: In Memory of Christopher J. Kauffman

Life's Loves:In Memory of Christopher J. Kauffman* Joseph P. Chinnici O.F.M. (bio) Trained in the best of Catholic schools, fingers never touching the keys of even a Royal Typewriter, and never a fan of the Palmer Method, my friend Chris's handwriting was a wonder to behold, moving from the upper left hand corner of the page containing one word, down through the center, edge to edge in a sharp diagonal, each line expanding or contracting as the diagonal slowly made it way past the middle, getting smaller and smaller and finally ending at the bottom right hand corner in one word. His scattered notes befuddled even the best of interpreters. We all thank numerous editors and Denise McCord for her assiduous translations.1 He was an accomplished writer of influential books that occupied the highest echelons of his historical profession. Yet in several prefaces to these tomes he refers consistently to the one book that really mattered to him: "my book of life," he says. The reference is biblical. The Book of Revelation uses the phrase numerous times, most especially when it describes the just man standing before the throne of God. "The book of life" is opened for each person and the citizens of the city of God are announced: "Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."2 Chris' life was written from the beginning in the Lamb's book of life. In one way, I feel sorry for the announcing angel, for as Chris stands now before the throne, the angel will discover that the "book of life" for Chris is not one Gospel sentence of "well done, good and faithful servant," nor one paragraph detailing his many accomplishments, nor even one full [End Page 5] page extolling his faithful service to the poor, but instead the accounting angel will find Chris surrounded, as he was at the end by his beloved family, by a host of witnesses, each bearing a book of over a thousand pages. These books will be neatly bound, filled with impeccable spelling and correct grammar, each line carefully typed so as to be read in public by all the saints—and all the witnesses will sing the same melody in resounding voices: "Chris is my friend and he is now a complete friend of God." At this point, Chris will be surprised beyond belief. It is "friendship" that for me threads together the various chapters of my friend's life and work. He was after all classically trained, deeply read in literature, a practitioner of Benedictine ora et labora et amicitia [prayer, work, friendship/brotherhood], a Christian humanist in the tradition of Erasmus, Thomas More, Francis de Sales, and Jane Frances de Chantal. "Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter, whoever finds one finds a treasure; faithful friends are beyond price, no amount can balance their worth," the book of Sirach reads (6:14–15). Did you know that in the prefaces to his books Chris uses the term "friend" or "friends" for his teachers, his colleagues, his students, and his family. The word "friend" for me jumped out from the page and moved in all directions. In this short reflection, let me mention four of these poles. They represent the north and south, the east and west, and the centering gravitational pull of my friend's universitas. First, Justus George Lawler, whom Chris identifies as "friend, mentor, and an encyclopedic resource person." He stands for Chris's education. A truly great light in twentieth-century Catholic literary circles, George, as Chris called him, entered into the Kauffman home and shared a mutuality with the family that contains a treasure chest of memories. You can ask them. This wondrous intellectual fired Chris' imagination for literature, poetry, and history, served as his mentor in the publishing business, edited his manuscripts, and reconciled his ironies.3 Yet, he, in turn, received as much from his quick minded younger friend. Justus George tells a story this way: "I recall running by [Chris] Edith Sitwell's neat characterization of J.S. Bach as 'the divine sewing machine.' Without missing a beat Chris responded, "that's...

Holiness in a Secular Age: The Witness of Cardinal Newman by Fr. Juan R. Velez

Reviewed by: Holiness in a Secular Age: The Witness of Cardinal Newman by Fr. Juan R. Velez Matthew M. Muller Holiness in a Secular Age: The Witness of Cardinal Newman BY FR. JUAN R. VELEZ New York: Scepter Publishing, 2017. 206 pages. Paperback: $18.95. ISBN: 9781594172816 Fr. Juan R. Velez, a priest of the personal prelature of Opus Dei, has written "a monograph on some of Newman's most important contributions to spirituality and theology" (15) with the stated purpose to "present the figure of Newman as a man, as a Christian, a priest, a theologian—as a new saint for our times" (16). To this end he writes for the broader Catholic public. This is no easy task, however, given the range of Newman's life and the complexities of both the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in the nineteenth century. As a result, this work at times seems overly-simplistic to the Newman specialist and overly-specialized to the uninitiated Newman reader. Fr. Velez analyzes a variety of topics demonstrative of Newman's holiness of life, originality of thought, and depth of spirituality. There are individual chapters dedicated to Newman's friendships, holiness, meditation on scripture, moral theology, Marian piety, and living in the world. Of the fifteen chapters, five are dedicated to Newman's educational ideas. This disproportionate attention given to educational topics may be inspired by Fr. Velez's hope that the book be read by college students, especially at Catholic Newman Centers. The second chapter presents many of the most important friendships for Newman throughout his life. This chapter is indicative of the challenge of presenting Newman and his complex web of evolving relationships to a broad audience within a limited number of pages. At the end of this chapter Fr. Velez suggests that, "if after his future canonization Newman were declared a doctor of the Church, one of his possible titles would be doctor amicitiae (Doctor of Friendship)" (37). This is a unique claim, since, as Fr. Drew Morgan has argued, most anticipate Newman would be named the "Doctor of Conscience," if such an honor were ever bestowed on him.3 In his third chapter on holiness, Fr. Velez argues that Newman's writings on "holiness in everyday life" are comparable in quality and clarity to those of St. Francis de Sales, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Josemaría Escrivá (42). In chapter six, "A Christian Vision of Pursuits in the Word," Velez argues that Newman, like Escrivá, "offered laymen a vision of work in the world" (73). [End Page 93] In total, Escrivá receives nine references in the book. This frequency, along with the author's background, and the topics covered in the book, contribute to the book's presentation of the Newman of Opus Dei. The fourth chapter deals with Newman and scripture in which Fr. Velez describes Newman's insistence on the secondary senses of biblical interpretation and the prevalence of scripture in Newman's preaching. Fr. Velez has an excursus in this chapter on the issue of biblical inspiration, which seems to be a departure from the intention to introduce Newman to the uninitiated. Fr. Velez draws on the typical Newman sources related to inspiration (Tract 85 and On the Inspiration of Scripture) to argue that Newman "anticipated by many years some of the teachings of Vatican II's constitution, Dei Verbum" (53). Fr. Velez goes on to acquit Newman of heresy, explaining that the condemnations by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XII regarding any appeals to obiter dicta ("sayings in passing") were not meant to condemn Newman's appeal to obiter dicta regarding the inspiration of scripture. In his defense of Newman, Fr. Velez opens the door to the charge that Newman taught a form of partial inspiration of scripture in his later Catholic years. James Burtchaell has in fact argued this point in his book, Catholic Theories of Biblical Inspiration since 1810.4 The fifth chapter treats Newman's moral theology. Fr. Velez dedicates most of the chapter to the themes of obedience and conscience. He describes Newman's understanding of obedience as "healthy and appealing," (66) because for Newman "the moral life aspires to...