School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Books

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Believe That I Am Here: The Notebooks of Nicole Gausseron

Nicole Gausseron, William Skudlarek OSB, and Hilary Thimmesh OSB

In a small, simple chapel during the celebration of the Eucharist, Jesus revealed his presence to Nicole Gausseron and began speaking to her. In the first in a series of three books, Gausseron documents her conversations with Christ. Nicole Gausseron is not a visionary. She was born to a prosperous French family and was educated to be a professor. Translated from French, this volume is a record of Gausseron's first encounter with Christ and many others, kept daily in her "petit cahier"-her little notebook.
Devoid of the reverential tone often found in works of piety, Gausseron's journals read more like Gospel accounts of Jesus' ministry; episodic, terse, and objective. The value of the notebooks lies in their cogent reminder that Jesus lives and seeks a personal relationship with those who believe in him.
Piety and Politics: The Dynamics of Royal Authority in Homeric Greece, Biblical Israel, and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia

Dale Launderville OSB

In Homeric Greece, Biblical Israel, and Old Mesopotamia, the king was said to be installed by divine appointment and was regarded as having a special and privileged relationship with God or the gods. This comparative and thematic study assesses the role of the king as a divine messenger and his use of, and reliance on, piety to legitimate his position and ensure the compliance of his subjects. Based on a variety of texts from each of the three regions, including poetry, philosophy, history and theological works, Launderville examines the rhetoric of royal legitimation. He also looks at what the community expected from the king as the centralising symbol of the community, the chief messenger from the divine world and the dispenser of justice, and he explores the means by which the king's power and privileged position could be kept in check.
Swift, Lord, You Are Not

Kilian McDonnell OSB

Some poets begin very early to write great poetry. Arthur Rimbaud wrote one of his best poems at 15, Percy Shelley published his first book of poetry at 18. But Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B., did not start until he was 75, after decades of writing as a professional theologian. Now 82 he gives us Swift, Lord, You Are Not, poems of the struggle to find God—waiting for the silence of God to break. He does not write pious verse, or inspirational poetry, but of wrestling with the illusive God. His themes are mostly biblical and monastic. He closes with an essay Poet: Can You Start at Seventy-Five? in which he describes the literary decisions he makes within the monastic context—decisions he needs to make with some dispatch. At 75 he does not have decades to mature. He writes with a new language.
The Other Hand of God : The Holy Spirit as the Universal Touch and Goal

Kilian McDonnell OSB

If the Spirit is not equal to the Father and the Son, can the Trinity survive? Is the role of the Spirit in salvation as important as that of the Son? Why was the divinity of the Spirit problematic in the early Church? If the Son, Jesus Christ, is "the way the truth and the life," what role does the Spirit have in God’s reaching out to touch the Church and the world? Is there any contact with, any experience of God, apart from the Spirit? In what sense is the Spirit the goal of the Christian life? The Other Hand of God addresses these theological queries.

Chapters are "To Do Pneumatology is to Do Trinity," "Struggling with Ambiguity," "The Way of Doxology," "To Do Pneumatology is to Do Eschatology," "Movement Toward Fixity: Holy Spirit in Patristic Eschatology," "To Do Pneumatology Is to Start at the Beginning," "No Unified Vision in the New Testament," "Losing the Battle to Stay with the Imprecision of the Scriptures," "The Mission of the Spirit: Junior Grade?" "God Beyond the Self of God," "The Return: The Highway Back to the Father," "The Spirit Is the Touch of God," "The Tradition of Subordinationism," "Basil: Not Subordination but Communion of Life with the Father and the Son," "Gregory Nazianzus: The Divine Pedagogy in Steps," "The Council of Constantinople: The Triumph of Discretion," "To Do Pneumatology is to Start with Experience," "Experience of the Spirit in the Early Church," "William of St. Thierry: ‘So I May Know by Experience,’" "Bernard of Clairvaux: ‘Today We Read in the Book of Experience,’" "The Role of Pneumatology in an Integral Theology," "The Continuing Quest for a Theology of the Holy Spirit," and "Toward a Theology in the Holy Spirit.
Reading in Christian Communities : Essays on Interpretation in the Early Church

Charles A. Bobertz, David Brakke, and Rowan A. Greer

The essays in this book honor and extend the work of Rowan A. Greer, Walter H. Gray Professor Emeritus of Anglican Studies at Yale University Divinity School, by exploring the connections between textual interpretation and the formation of religious identity. A diverse and prestigious group of biblical scholars, church historians, and theologians studies the role that scripture plays in the creation and maintenance of faith communities and the ways that communal locations in turn shape the interpretation of scripture.

The first part of the book examines specific examples of ancient biblical interpretation as a means of creating, maintaining, and challenging Christian identity in the pluralistic ancient world. Authors study interpretation in the Martyrdom of Polycarp, the Physiologus, Gnostic literature, the fifth-century mosaic of the Church of Hosios David in Thessaloniki, and in the works of Irenaeus, Origen, Augustine, John Chrysostom, and Porphyry of Tyre. Reading scripture emerges as a strategy for locating the reader and his or her community with respect to other Christians, Jews, and pagans. Part 2 of the volume considers the general problem of interpretation within Christian communities, whether ancient or modern, as they face the task of maintaining a coherent identity.
New Proclamation: Year B, 2002-2003, Advent through Holy Week

Frederick Houk Borsch, James M. Childs, Philip H. Pfatteicher, and Martin F. Connell

The New Proclamation series helps preachers write better sermons from Advent through Pentecost. It offers creative links to literature, spirituality, and the sociocultural scene in addition to historical and exegetical reflections on all the biblical texts. Its format assists those using the Revised Common Lectionary, the Roman Catholic lectionary, and the Episcopal lectionary (BCP).
Adam on the Lam : The Uses of Impertinence

Kilian McDonnell OSB

Poetry collection; the Park Press' fifth Christmas book.
The Art of Biblical Texts and Images : Selections from the Arca Artium Collections

Columba Stewart OSB and Mary F. Schaffer

Exhibition catalogue booklet for the exhibit "What we have heard, what we have seen": The Art of Biblical Texts and Images, January 9-March 2, 2000, in the Alice R. Rogers and Dayton Hudson Galleries, Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota.

About the exhibit: This second major exhibit of holdings from the Arca Artium collections focuses on the Bible as book and as inspiration for artistic creativity. During the years that donor Frank Kacmarcik has formed the collections of Arca Artium, he has shown a particular interest in materials related to the Bible. Central both to Christian experience and to Benedictine monasticism, the Bible has also been the most important focus of artistic meditation in the western world. This exhibit follows its twin themes from the medieval period to the present day, featuring the work of both Christian and Jewish artists inspired by their meditation on the Word of God. The exhibit is designed to highlight the interplay between books and images, word and visual meditation. Many of the finest items in Arca Artium have been chosen, though by no means all of them: limitations of gallery space have compelled the curators to practice the asceticism of selection.
Parish Faith Formation Assessment and Planning Tool: Catholic Education Ministries, Diocese of St. Cloud

Jeffrey J. Kaster

How are new member being welcomed into your parish? How are parishioners being challenged to grow in their relationship with God and in service to others? Parish Faith Formation Assessment and Planning Tool, winner of the 1997 Research Award from the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership, helps identify key areas in faith formation for assessment and planning. This book is solid and comprehensive, yet flexible enough to meet individual needs.
The Death of Jesus: The Diabolical Force and the Ministering Angel: Luke 23, 44-49

Michael Patella OSB

Beginning with Peter's Pentecost oration, the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ become the object of preaching throughout the remainder of Acts. The Lucan corpus has two volumes, the Gospel and the Acts. Thus, the possibility for detecting the literary strains which went into the Christian kerygma is greater in the third gospel than in Matthew, Mark , or John. It has been demonstrated that the kerygma was transmitted orally before its achieving canonical, written form. The salvific strains contained in the kerygma, and how and why they were redacted into a final Lucan version of the death of Jesus constitute the major examination of this study. [from the Introduction]
Guide to the Revised Lectionary

Martin Connell

Description of series: The Basics of Ministry series explores parish ministries that are vital to an active and meaningful eucharistic celebration. Each book provides useful material for the recruitment and training of new ministers, as well as insights to revitalize those who have been involved in ministry for years. The series includes introductions to specific ministries, brief histories, spirituality and instructions. You also will find a list of other resources, along with prayers and questions for discussion and reflection.
Traditions and Transitions

Martin Connell and Eleanor Bernstein

A collection of presentations from the 1996 annual conference of the Notre Dame Center for Pastoral Liturgy. This conference considered our liturgical heritage in terms of what has changed over time and what has remained constant. The progress of reform during the three decades from the end of the Second Vatican Council until today was measured by the major scholars and speakers on liturgy that gathered to share insights, perspectives and experiences of the past, present and future of liturgy.
The Changing Face of the Church

Martin Connell and Timothy Fitzgerald

For a generation since Vatican II we have been engaged in the diverse challenges of renewal. This collection of papers seeks to understand how the changing face of the church influences the liturgies we celebrate. Its contributors envision how the church of the future will embrace the church of the past. The authors deal with topics like initiation, eucharist, preaching, inculturation, music, liturgical space and design, conversion and the formation of the assembly and its ministers.
Cassian the Monk

Columba Stewart OSB

This book is a study of the life, monastic writings, and spiritual theology of John Cassian (c., 360-435). His Institutes and Conferences are a remarkable synthesis of earlier monastic traditions, especially those of fourth-century Egypt, informed throughout by Cassian's awareness of the particular needs of the Latin monastic movement he was helping to shape. Sometimes portrayed as simply an advocate of the sophisticated spiritual theology of Evagrius of Ponticus (360-435), Cassian was actually a theologian of keen insight, realism, and creativity. His teaching on sexuality is unique in early monastic literature in both its breadth and its depth, and his integration of biblical interpretation with the ways of prayer and teaching on ecstatic prayer are of fundamental importance for the western monastic tradition. The only Latin writer included in the classic Greek collections of monastic sayings, Cassian was the major spiritual influence on both the Rule of the Master and the Rule of Benedict, as well as the source for Gregory the Great's teaching on capital sins and compunction. Columba Stewart's book is the first major study of Cassian to be published in twenty years. It begins by establishing Cassian's credibility as a teacher on the basis of his own experience as a monk and his familiarity with the fundamental literary sources. Stewart then turns to Cassian's spiritual theology, paying particular attention to Cassian's view of the monastic journey in eschatological perspective, his teaching on continence and chastity, the Christological basis of biblical interpretation and prayer, his method of unceasing prayer, and his integration of ecstatic experience with an Evagrian theology of prayer.
Prayer and Community : the Benedictine Tradition

Columba Stewart OSB

This exploration of Benedictine spirituality provides the perfect introduction to St. Benedict and his Rule. The book places Benedict and his Rule within the extraordinary world of early Christian monasticism and explores his key insights about awareness of the presence of God and meeting Christ in other people.
An Introduction to the Church's Liturgical Year

Martin Connell

Why is Christmas always on December 25, but Easter is on different Sundays? What are the origins of Advent? The Church keeps time based on the life of Christ, with its most important seasons corresponding to the major events in the life of Jesus. The liturgical year is also strongly linked to the Church's early rites of initiation. This handbook guides you through the history and nuances of the Church year. Especially helpful in planning school liturgies and prayer services.
The Renewal That Awaits Us

Martin Connell and Eleanor Bernstein

Presentations from the 1995 Notre Dame Center for Pastoral Liturgy conference.
The Rule of St. Benedict: Latin & English

Luke Dysinger OSB

The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written by 6th-century Saint Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The Catechetical Documents: A Parish Resource

Martin Connell

Gathered in this one book, you'll find the major teachings about catechesis from the Second Vatican Council until the present. This is an essential reference tool for teachers, catechists, clergy, pastoral leaders and students of catechesis. Includes General Catechetical Directory (1971), Basic Teachings for Catholic Religious Education, Sharing the Light of Faith, Guidelines for Doctrinally Sound Catechetical Materials and many others. Each document is preceded by a general overview that describes the origin, context and contribution of the document.
The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan : The Trinitarian and Cosmic Order of Salvation

Kilian McDonnell OSB

The feast of the baptism of Jesus is the second most ancient liturgical celebration and is among the major mysteries of Christ. The synoptics mention Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, and John's Gospel gives a report of it, indicating its importance.

The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, a systematic study, isolates those themes (Trinitarian, cosmic, sinlessness, liturgical, messianic, divinization, orientation to a future paradise, descent into Sheol/hell, institution of the sacrament of baptism) with which the early Church proclaimed and celebrated the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. Drawing on Latin, Greek, and Syrian sources, Father McDonnell shows the Jordan event as the dominant paradigm of Christian baptism in the earliest centuries, and also presents its relation to growing interest in the Pauline death and resurrection themes in the fourth century.

Because it was widely looked upon as the institution of Christian baptism, this history is relevant to contemporary theology and to the liturgical celebration of Christian baptism. The way the early Church used the baptism of Jesus to communicate the central truths of the faith, especially proclaiming the call to holiness the vocation to participate in the divine life is still valuable today.
The Little Notebook : The Journal of a Contemporary Woman's Encounters with Jesus

William Skudlarek OSB, Hilary Thimmesh OSB, and Nicole Gausseron

The notebook of a woman living in Chartres, France who had visitations from Jesus during the years 1984-1991. Nicole Gausseron experienced Jesus' presence both in church and the outside world, even entering dialogues with her. These dialogues form the basis of this notebook.
The World of the Desert Fathers : Stories and Sayings from the Anonymous Series of the Apophthegmata Patrum

Columba Stewart OSB

These stories and sayings of the Desert Fathers, in a translation by Columba Stewart, give insights into a tradition where words have a resonance beyond their surface meaning. They are intended to lead the reader further along the way of Christ. Columba Stewart provides an introduction to each section to help us understand the world of the early monks.
Worship and Work : Saint John's Abbey and University 1856-1992

Colman J. Barry OSB and David J. Klingeman OSB

A history of Saint John's Abbey and Saint John's University in Collegeville, MN.

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Toward a New Pentecost, for a New Evangelization

Kilian McDonnell OSB

A presentation of the theological basis of the charismatic renewal rooted in the rites of initiation and therefore at the heart of the church's life. The text came out of an international consultation of leaders in the charismatic renewal held in Malines, Belgium, in 1974 under the sponsorship of Cardinal Suenens.
Catholic Rites Today: Abridged Texts for Students

Allan Bouley OSB

Just as there can be no thorough study of a literary work without first a careful reading of it, so there cannot be an adequate study of the major liturgical rites of the Catholic Church without a knowledge of the texts of the rites.

The purpose of this volume is to provide students with a one-volume abridged yet sufficiently comprehensive edition of the major contemporary rites of the Roman Catholic Church. It is not a commentary but rather a convenient source for the texts of these rites.

The volume includes large excerpts from the Roman Missal: The General Instruction, the complete Order of Mass, prayers from the Sacramentary, and other texts allowing for an adequate study of the Catholic Eucharist. For the other Catholic sacraments - Initiation (for adults and children, including Confirmation), Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, Orders - at least one complete version of each rite is presented along with its introduction or introductory sections. Texts from the Order of Christian Funerals are also included.