Scholars’ Corner
The latest issue of the ICSS Newsletter is a wonderful testament to Salesian scholars and the recently beatified Blessed Louis Brisson, OSFS, Founder of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
Full color photographs of the beatification ceremony in September 2012 accompany the scholarly and very interesting articles with these titles:
To Live with One Heart:Louis Brisson and the Salesian Pentecost
Wendy M. Wright
Notre Bon Père, Our Good Father:Fr. Louis Brisson in the Hearts of His Oblate Sisters
Sr. Anne Elizabeth Eder, OSFS, with the assistance of Sr. Susan Louise Eder, OSFS, and Sr. John Elizabeth Callaghan, OSFS
“[C]hoice and formation do not coincide”:Fr. Brisson and the Foundation and Charism of the De Sales Oblates
Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
History of the Cause of Blessed Louis Brisson
Sr. Madeleine-Thérèse Dechambre, OSFS
To access this newsletter, go to this link:
http://www.franz-von-sales.de/icss_en/index.html
click on newsletter and then January 2013 and you should get it.
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Many of you have heard of St. Faustina and the revelations of the Divine Mercy of Our Lord Jesus.
But have you heard of the Apostle of Merciful Love, Sister Marie Teresa Desandais?
She was a Visitation Nun who also was given revelations of Merciful Love, a contemporary of St. Faustina, though a generation older.
Currently Spanish scholars are re discovering Sister Maria Teressa Desandais and publishing articles and books, all in Spanish and French, at present. Two such scholars are: Federico M Requena and Pablo Ramon Verdeja Fernandez.
Currently certain of the works are available on line:
Aproximación teológica al mensaje deMaría Teresa Desandais sobre el amormisericordioso difundido en España: http://dspace.unav.es/dspace/bitstream/10171/22319/1/Verdeja%20Fern%C3%A1ndez.pdf
RECEPCIÓN EN ESPAÑA DEL MENSAJE DE MARÍATERESA DESANDAIS (P.M. SULAMITIS, 1922-1942)
http://dspace.unav.es/dspace/handle/10171/5989
LA MISERICORDIA DIVINA EN LA ESPIRITUALIDAD CRISTIANA .
http://dspace.unav.es/dspace/bitstream/10171/9532/1/8.pdf
Book: Autobiography of Sister Marie Theresa:
http://www.lulu.com/content/livre-%c3%a0-couverture-souple/autobiographie/13223669
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Just Issued: Collection of Conferences from Paris; Nov 14, 15 2010
The Spirituality of the Heart, published by the College des Bernardins, in French.
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Read about the Salesian Scholars Seminar here:
http://livejesus.blogspot.com/2012/10/monday-post-conference-details-from-sr.html
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Deep scholarly articles on St. Francis de Sales, here, in French; easily translated into your language of choice via computer:
http://www.cairn.info/revue-dix-septieme-siecle-2007-2.htm
Papers include:
Rereading St. Francis de Sales
[ First lines ] [ HTML Version ] [ PDF Version ]
Francis de Sales Mystical Anthropology
[ First lines ] [ HTML Version ] [ PDF Version ]
The Impossible Assumption François de Sales From Descartes
[ First lines ] [ HTML Version ] [ PDF Version ]
Bee and dove in meditation of St Francis de Sales
[ First lines ] [ HTML Version ] [ PDF Version ]
Innocent love in the Treatise on the Love of God
First lines ] [ HTML Version ] [ PDF Version ]
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Latest Newsletter of the International Commission of Salesian Spirituality:
http://www.franz-von-sales.de/icss_en/index.html
Then go to NEWSLETTER tab for the newsletter
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The 2012 Salesian Scholars Seminar will take place at DeSales Resources & Ministries, Stella Niagara, NY on October 18-21, 2012.
The theme of the 2012 Seminar will be: “Pentecost in the Salesian Tradition”–a topic that is understood in the broadest sense so as to encompass a wide range of topics (such as the foundation of the Visitation Order, the Visitation mystery, the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart, the so-called 19th-century Salesian Pentecost, etc.–to offer just a few examples).
Arrival is Thursday, October 18. Participant papers will be presented and discussed on Friday and Saturday. Departure is Sunday, October 21.
If you are interested in further information or in submitting a request to attend, contact either of the Seminar leaders below:
Joseph F. Chorpenning, O.S.F.S.
Chairman, International Commission
on Salesian Studies (ICSS)
Editorial Director, Saint Joseph’s
University Press
5600 City Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19131-1395
Tel. (610) 660-1214
Fax (610) 660-1257
E-mail: jchorpen@sju.edu
Wendy M. Wright, Ph.D.
Professor of Theology
John C. Kenefick Faculty
Chair in the Humanities
Creighton University
2500 California Plaza
Omaha NE 68178
Tel. (402) 280-2611
Fax (402) 280-2502
E-mail: wmwright@creighton.edu
Source: De Sales Resources and Ministries
July 15, 2012
Just discovered this!
The Monastic Republic of Letters of the Belgian Visitandines in the Late Seventeenth Century
Ping-Yuan Wang, Ohio University Lancaster
Epistolary exchange within the monastic sphere found close parallels in the secular world in the late seventeenth century. This paper analyzes the Visitandine (the Visitation Order) circular letters in Brussels, 1668-1710. I argue that letters circulated among Visitandine houses created a monastic Republic of Letters, in which the act of writing became a discursive practice that fostered a sense of community within a well-defined institution. While convent writings have been studied mainly for spirituality or the social history of the cloister, this paper emphasizes the self-regulatory and normalizing effects in nuns’ epistolary exchange.
Founded in 1610, Visitandine spirituality favored the “little virtues” in life – gentility, graciousness, and meekness – over the intense asceticism that characterized most contemplative orders. Specifically, these “little virtues” supplied the elite notion of honnêteté with spiritual substance. The circular letters were the Order’s prescribed media for Visitandine houses throughout Europe to connect and communicate with each other. They were largely formulaic in style and content. The Brussels Visitandines’ circulars exuded civility and politesse that were central to seventeenth-century “polite conversation.” They recounted the mundane routines in the convent and life-stories of recently deceased nuns with well-balanced sincerity and formality.
I argue that the Visitandines’ public display of conformity to rules of “polite conversation” launched a self-sustaining mechanism that reinforced codes of conduct as well as fostered a sense of community. The monastic processes of identity-formation were strikingly similar with those found within other corporate bodies. With a focus on how writing shaped the concept of community, my paper brings Catholic religious women into a recently renewed discussion about the reciprocal relationship between the individual and community in the early modern period. My analysis also sheds light on the broader cultural significance as well as historical relevance of female monasticism.
June 8 2012
Freedom… religious liberty… 4th of July….
All these words stir up particular sentiments in our hearts.
St. Francis de Sales had his own unique perspective on freedom, and Fr. Eunan McDonnell, SDB, in his book, The Concept of Freedom in the Writings of St. Francis de Sales, makes a timely and important contribution to both scholarship and daily living.
Fr. Alexander Pocetto, OSFS, says in his foreword to the book,”Fr. Eunan McDonnell, SDB, has tackled the formidable task of the concept of freedom in the works of the Doctor of Love with those qualities of a pearl diver so esteemed by the saint and has uncovered for us many facets of his teachings that shine forth like inestimable pearls. Taking the intellectual temper of our times in mind as the saint himself avowedly did in writing the above-mentioned spiritual classic, (Treatise on the Love of God)Fr. Eunan has brought to bear his not inconsiderable acute powers of analysis and a solid background in philosophy, theology and spirituality to bear on his reading and understanding of many of the saint’s texts and certain aspects of his life.
..The relationship between freedom and love, that is woven into the very fabric of the saint’s writings and life and uses it very effectively to unfold for us the rich implications of this fundamental and optimistic orientation.
Fr. Eunan faces squarely the climate of many misrepresentations and misconceptions in our world today of the concept of freedom and proceeds to deftly show how the saint’s view of this essential quality of human nature can fruitfully engage our culture fashioned by the ideas of freedom of such influential thinkers as John Stuart Mill, Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre. These thinkers, especially the latter, viewed human freedom essentially as an absolute value that stresses man’s autonomy, self-determination and individuality to the detriment of the common good and an authentic human flourishing. He viewed religion as incompatible with and diametrically opposed to human freedom. Fr. Eunan convincingly demonstrates how the saint’s ideas of freedom differ fundamentally from these pernicious and persistent influences.”
This work may be ordered on line at: www.peterlang.com or at http://www.desalesresource.org/
Portions may be available on line at:
March:
A recent dissertation entitled: The Reform of Zeal: Francois de Sales and Militant Catholicism During the French Wars of Religion, by Thomas A. Donlan, published in 2011 by the University of Arizona, can be found here:
http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/203012/1/azu_etd_11856_sip1_m.pdf
This study sheds light ” on one French Catholic, Francois de Sales, who did critique the violence of the Wars of Religion on religious grounds and actively promoted a nonmilitant conceptualization and practice of piety as well. Indeed, as we shall see, in the Order of the Visitation, de Sales suceeds in creating a new religious order committed to cultivating interpersonal relationships and forms of worship characterized by gentleness.” (page 25)
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A new Book has been published, in French, reflecting talks from the 3 Conference Days held in Annecy June 2010 during the 400th anniversary year of the Visitation Order.
What a revelation to learn that so many University scholars and Professors are studying so many aspects of the Visitation Order!Some of the topics covered were the nature of our Circular letters, canon law and the Visitation and historical perspectives.
There were two excellent talks in particular, one of Ven Anne Madeleine Remuzat; another a study on Visitation “cells.”. A third talk was about the beatification and canonization of St Jane and a fourth on Bremond and the Visitation., the fifth being on St Therese and the Visitation.
The Book” Pour Annecy et Pour le Monde” may be purchased in the United States for $35.00 from Michael Shamansky Booksellers Inc.
| Michael Shamansky, Bookseller Inc. P.O.Box 3904 Kingston, NY 12402 USA |
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From the Diocese of Annecy, a review:
… : l’ordre de la Visitation (1610-2010). Les Archives départementales de la Haute-Savoie viennent de faire paraître les actes du colloque international qui s’est tenu à Annecy du 1er au 3 juin 2010, dans le cadre de la Célébration nationale du 4e centenaire de la fondation de la Visitation à Annecy.
L’histoire religieuse et particulièrement l’histoire du clergé régulier féminin, dont les formes évoluent et se diversifient au cours des siècles, demeure un champ de recherche permanent. La célébration de ces 400 ans et de l’essaimage qui s’ensuivit a réuni des spécialistes de provenances larges (Belgique, France, Italie) pour revisiter quatre dimensions de l’ordre de la Visitation et de ses monastères : la chrono-géographie et l’organisation de l’Ordre, ses fonctions sociales – incluant l’enseignement et les rapports à la société civile –, l’architecture et la fonction économique, les spiritualités de la Visitation. L’accent a porté singulièrement, mais pas exclusivement, sur la période contemporaine si peu explorée à ce jour. Ce livre est enrichi par un rapport archivistique très large sur les sources en France.
C’est le parti qu’a retenu le conseil scientifique à l’origine de cet ouvrage, qui réunit les plus importantes contributions présentées en juin 2010 dans le cadre de ce colloque.
L’ouvrage : Pour Annecy et pour le monde : l’ordre de la Visitation (1610-2010)
Archives départementales de la Haute-Savoie-Silvana Editoriale, Actes du colloque réunis par Marie-Élisabeth Henneau, Paola Vismara, Bernard Barbiche, Julien Coppier, Yves Kinossian et Claude Langlois, Annecy, 2011, 387 p., cahier couleur de 12 p.
Pour commander : ISBN : 9788836622214
Prix de vente : 18 Euros
Ouvrage aux Archives départementales de la Haute-Savoie ou en librairie.
Pour revenir sur les temps forts de cette année de la Visitation, cliquer ici
Diocese of Annecy