Don't forget to pay Jörgen Vijgen's website a visit (http://www.thomisme.org). Like Thomistica.net, his site is devoted to Thomism, with a particular focus on the work of Fr Leo Elders, often with on-line PDFs to articles Fr Elders has written. More recently Jörgen has placed on-line texts written by Romanus Cessario, OP.
Via Jörgen Vijgen (again!), a link to an interview with Fr Pawel Krupa, OP, of the Leonine Commission (with audio).
With thanks to Jörgen Vijgen, who was in attendance, a report on the 2009 meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas:
At their seat in the 16th century villa Casina Pio IV in Vatican City the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas held their annual Plenary Session on June 19-21, 2009. Since its reform by the motu proprio Inter Munera Academiarum, issued by Pope John Paul II, the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, founded by Pope Leo XIII on October 15, 1879, organizes each year its plenary session on a single topic. In previous years topics such as ‘Truth’, ‘Goodness’, and ‘Natural Law’ were treated. To mark the end of the Pauline Year, this year’s topic was fittingly entitled “Saint-Thomas’s Interpretation of Saint-Paul’s Doctrines”.
The newly appointed president Lluis Clavell of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross had organized an intensive program to which some 30 members took part among which were Stephen Brock, Romanus Cessario O.P., Joseph Di Noia O.P., Kevin Flannery S.J., the papal theologian Wojciech Giertych O.P., Russell Hittinger, Charles Morerod O.P., Robert Wielockx, Horst Seidl, Card. Georges Cottier O.P., Leo Elders S.V.D. and Enrique Alarcon.
Continuing with the tradition of previous years, the Academy had also invited experts from outside the Academy to speak on the topic at hand. This year’s speakers were Michael Waldstein (Ave Maria University) and Reinhard Hütter (Duke University).
The program was as follows:
Needless to say that with these 45 min.-lectures and 30 min.-discussions, which seldom sufficed to treat all the questions, it was an in-depth three days- study of St. Thomas and St. Paul. (The Roman sun, the Vatican Gardens, Saint-Peter’s Basilica, Santa Sabina, the diners and the private trips to the abbeys of Monte Cassino and Fossanova and the village of Aquino however brought it all back in balance.)
Readers who were present at the conference on Aquinas’s Commentary on Romans in February of this year at Ave Maria University (Naples, Florida) might be interested to hear that ecumenical explorations came up more than once during the discussions. We’re looking forward to the final versions of all these papers to be published in the next issue of Doctor Communis.
(NOTE: Jörgen took pictures of the trips south, which I’ll post very soon).
This is terribly, terribly late (since I received this death notice in June), but it should be noted (from Thomas Osborne and Ed Houser of University of St. Thomas in Houston):
University of St. Thomas Remembers Father Victor Brezik, CSB
Philosopher, theologian, visionary and cornerstone of the institution – the University of St. Thomas said goodbye to Rev. Victor Brezik, CSB. He died the morning of Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at the age of 96.
A Funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, June 22 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 2140 Westheimer Rd. A viewing is scheduled from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18 in the Chapel of St. Basil on the UST campus, and a Wake Service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 21 on campus in the Chapel of St. Basil.
Fr. Brezik, who joined the UST faculty in 1954, was the University’s oldest living scholar. Adopting the personal motto, “Dare to do whatever you can,” from his favorite philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Brezik’s philosophical attitude and vision stretched the imaginations and inspired generations of students and colleagues. In addition to his many contributions to the University, Fr. Brezik co-founded the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Thomistic Studies. In 1975 Fr. Brezik teamed up with Houston Philanthropist Hugh Roy Marshall, ‘74, to renew interest in the teachings of the medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas.
In creating the Center for Thomistic Studies, Fr. Brezik and Marshall, who earned a degree in philosophy, established the only doctoral program at the University and the only graduate philosophy program in the United States uniquely focused on the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.
“The Center for Thomistic Studies, where the wisdom of Thomas Aquinas could be brought to bear on the problems of the contemporary world, was Fr. Brezik’s great dream and he never stopped working for it,” said Dr. Mary Catherine Sommers, Center for Thomistic Studies director. “He taught the Center’s first graduate students and, when he retired, continued to write on philosophical and theological issues into the last year of his life. He met each new class of graduate students and attended colloquia and departmental parties up until a few months before his death. Our last conversation, just days ago was not about him, his health or the pain he was suffering, but about the future of the Center and the work it does for the University and for the Church. He was ‘Texas tough,’ physically, mentally and spiritually.”
Born in Hallettsville, Texas on May 2, 1913, Fr. Brezik attended St. Thomas High School in Houston, and graduated in the class of 1931. He went on to join the Basilian order in 1932, and was ordained as a priest in 1940. He studied in Toronto and received his Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies in 1943 at the Pontifical Institute, center of the North American Renaissance in Thomistic philosophy, and his doctorate in 1944. Fr. Brezik returned to Houston in 1954 to join the faculty at the University of St. Thomas. He was named Basilian Superior in 1955.
At UST, he served as a professor of philosophy from 1954 to 1986, and his service to the University continued until his resignation from the board of directors in 2005. He served on the board of directors for a total of 24 years, from 1969-1979, and from 1992 to 2005. The University bestowed on Fr. Brezik an honorary doctorate at the 1989 Commencement Ceremony. Fr. Brezik and Marshall were honored with the Order of St. Thomas Award at the 2008 St. Thomas Aquinas Lecture, held on Jan. 31. The award is presented each year to persons who have testified to the value of the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in their writings, teachings philanthropy and way of life.
The Reverend Victor Brezik, CSB, Endowed Scholarship for graduate students in philosophy at the Center for Thomistic Studies was established on March 26, 1999 by the Basilian Fathers of Toronto. The scholarship/fellowship is awarded to students at University of St. Thomas who are accepted for regular admission into the graduate program of the Center for Thomistic Studies and who meet all scholarship academic requirements. Gifts in memory of Fr. Brezik can be made to the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. Checks can be mailed to University of St. Thomas, Institutional Advancement, 3800 Montrose Blvd., Houston, TX 77006.
Fr. Patrick Braden, CSB, and Fr. Brezik both joined the UST faculty in 1954. Fr. Braden recalled many shared adventures including long cross-country drives in a restored Mercedes Benz to see Basilian Fathers in Toronto, and another road trip to visit East Coast Ivy League Universities and locations of historical interest. Braden also remembered Fr. Brezik as an avid sports fan. A former athlete on the St. Thomas High School football and baseball teams, Fr. Braden said that even late in life, Fr Brezik closely followed the St. Thomas high school baseball and football teams.
“Serving on the board of directors for many years, Fr. Brezik provided the University with wise counsel in a variety of areas,” Fr. Braden said. “His writings in philosophy and his sermons have been an inspiration to many of us.”
Read more of Fr. Brezik’s writings:
One Hundred Years of Thomism Aeterni Patris and Afterwards A Symposium
The Role of Faith in University Education
Remembering Ninety Five Years: A Partial Synopsis Is it Possible to Fulfill the Law of Charity
The Academic Mall and the University Academic Program
Eek! It’s just embarrassing, how behind I am with my posts on the site! Almost a year ago we here at Marquette University had the honor of the presence of Adriano Oliva, OP, head of the Leonine Commission, who had come stateside to participate in the SIEPM conference at Notre Dame, and in our Aquinas and the Arabs conference here at Marquette.
Fr Oliva graciously agreed to do an interview with me about the work of the Commission, and about how our Project (link) might be of use to the efforts of the Leonine Commission. We chose to do the interview in Italian (apologies for my occasionally “airport Italian”—it was a long week), which may prove to be a challenge for some viewers. But Fr Oliva speaks so carefully that I suspect many will get the gist of what he is saying (I’d be thrilled if any visitors had the time and inclination to do a translation [contact me]). One particular highlight: Fr Oliva gives an update on the status of the work of the Commission.
Our audio/visual people here at Marquette worked hard to produce the video, which is hosted on our media server (QuickTime required). So, with apologies for my tardiness, happy viewing.
PS: when they tell you that the camera adds 10 lbs, they lie: it adds 20—and I’ve gone on a diet.
Next Spring's medieval conference at Kalamazoo, MI, will have one session reserved for the theme of "Aquinas and the Arabs," sponsored by the Aquinas and the Arabs International Working Group (led by Marquette's University's Richard Taylor [link to site]). He will have a paper on the following, "Natural Epistemology in Aquinas's Earliest Major Work: the Roles of Avicenna and Averroes" (description scraped from an e-mail from Taylor):
This short presentation is focused on the roles of Avicenna and Averroes in the account of natural human knowing in Aquinas's Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Particular attention is given to the accounts at In 2 Sent. d. 3, q. 3, a. 1 (sol.: in intellectu vero humano similitudo rei intellectae est aliud a substantia intellectus, et est sicut forma ejus; unde ex intellectu et similitudine rei efficitur unum completum, quod est intellectus in actu intelligens; et hujus similitudo est accepta a re) and at In 2 Sent. d. 17, q. 2, a. 1 (sol.: anima habet uirtutem per quam facit species sensibiles esse intelligibiles actu, que est intellectus agens, et habet uirtutem per quam est in potentia ut efficiatur in actu determinate cognitionis a specie rei sensibilis facta intelligibili in actu; et hec uirtus uel potentia dicitur intellectus possibilis. Et harum duarum uirtutum operationes sequitur omne nostrum intelligere, tam principiorum quam conclusionum) and the sources for these teachings in Avicenna's De Anima and Metaphysics and in Averroes' Long Commentary on the De Anima. The paper indicates precisely how Aquinas cobbled together his understanding of the process of human apprehension of intelligibles from selected texts and teachings from these thinkers of the Arabic / Islamic tradition.
R.E. Houser of the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St Thomas (Houston, TX), in conjunction with John F. Boyle of the University of St Thomas (St. Paul, MN), have released their annual call for papers for sessions at Kalamazoo, 2010, where there will be six sessions in total devoted to Aquinas. Papers on all features of Aquinas's doctrine are welcome, but the proposals for papers are due on September 13th. More can be found in this handout (PDF/DOC).
Thanks go to Jörgen Vijgen (what else is new?) for noting Quodlibase, an on-line rendering of Palémon Glorieux’s ground-breaking La littérature quodlibétique de 1260 à 1320 2 vols., (Le Saulchoir: RSPT, 1925; Paris: J. Vrin, 1935 [biblio. info.]). Glorieux scoured the libraries of Europe to come up with what turned out to be a toe-hold into the vast world of quodlibetal literature, the place where “real-world” questions were often addressed to Masters.
Quodlibase lets you into that world. Here is the site’s self-description:
Base de données des Quodlibets théologiques (1230-1350)
Séances extraordinaires de questions disputées, organisées deux fois par an à l’Université de Paris, à l’Avent et pendant le Carême, les Quodlibets permettaient à un public élargi d’interroger les maîtres qui se soumettaient à l”exercice sur toutes sortes de questions. De ce fait, les documents qui retranscrivent ces exercices permettent de saisir la vitalité des débats intellectuels médiévaux.
Quodlibase a pour première matière les répertoires dressés par Palémon Glorieux (1925 et 1935), corrigés et mis à jour en fonction des recherches et éditions de texte menés depuis lors.
Pour la consulter, il est nécessaire de s’identifier. Si vous n’avez encore jamais consulté la base, vous devez vous inscrire en utilisant le formulaire prévu à cet effet.
As the last line notes, you need to register at the site to get access (an instant process).
The people at Calvin College's Philosophy Department have created an on-line library of papers by well-known Christian philosophers in the Protestant, especially Reformed, tradition. Here is the site's self-description:
Calvin's Philosophy Department houses one of the finest undergraduate philosophy programs in the nation. Calvin's Philosophy Department was the undergraduate and/or teaching home of four American Philosophical Association Presidents—Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, William Frankena and O. K. Bouwsma.
At present the Library holds 177 articles, with some of the listed authors having no articles represented, while Alvin Plantinga has twenty. The site's address is: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/philosophy/virtual_library/
Liliana Irizar sent along a reminder that the Spanish-language website devoted to the work of Lawrence Dewan, OP, continues to improve. See the site here.
More news: According to Liliana Irizar, “we are translating Fr. Dewan’s metaphysical lessons (his metaphysics classes). The book will entitled “Lecciones de Metafísica.” The plan is it comes out at the end of this year.”
This seems to be the mother of all on-line resources for Catholic texts, often in the Latin. I got an e-mail from Poland encouraging me to look at Documenta Catholica Omnia. I’ve only looked at it briefly, but the site has the Bible, Du Cange and Mansi! At the least I’ll bookmark the site, and return for further study.
Peter A. Kwasniewski, Thomas Bolin, O.S.B., and Joseph Bolin, have collaborated to produce a book of translations and notes on St Thomas's teaching on love and charity, as found in his scriptum on the Sentences. Published by CUA Press, here is an abbreviated description:
The Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard has suffered almost total neglect among translators. Such neglect is surprising, considering that the massive Commentary is not only Aquinas's first systematic engagement with all the philosophical and theological topics on which he expended his energy over the span of a short career but is also characterized by an exuberance and elaborateness seldom found in his subsequent writings. The present volume, containing all the major texts on love and charity, makes available what is by far the most extensive translation ever to be made from the Commentary with the added benefit that the better part of the translation is based on the (as yet unpublished) critical edition of the Leonine Commission. The collection of texts from all four books has a tight thematic coherence that makes it invaluable to students of Thomas's moral philosophy, moral theology, and philosophical theology. In addition, the inclusion of parallel texts from Aquinas's first (Parisian) Commentary as well as from his second (Roman) attempt at a commentary--the recently rediscovered Lectura Romana--makes this edition all the more valuable for those who wish to track the internal development of Thomas's thinking.
The printed volume is supplemented by a web-based document containing a fuller introduction, "webnotes," and a bibliography, which you can get here.
Under the direction of the Sacra Doctrina Project
