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Excerpt |
The Chaminade
Legacy
Monograph Series - Document 53
Volume One - The Sodality of Bordeaux
711 pp. $16.00
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Presentation
To prepare for its third centenary in 2017, The Society of Mary decided to produce an integral and critical edition of the writings and words of its Founder, Blessed William Joseph Chaminade. While this pays honor to him, it also makes a treasure available to the entire Marianist Family, as well as to anyone interested in the life of the Church in the 19th century. The reader is thus alerted to the way in which a founder listened to the word of God and rendered it operative in his circumstances. In this way, the richness of the past becomes a living heritage.
Basic Approach
Many of Father Chaminade's texts have been published since the beginning of the 20th century. There have been ambitious syntheses on the spirit of his foundations, doctoral theses on many aspects of his teachings, and popular presentations of his thought. All have had this one weakness in common: they presented at best only certain aspects of his words and writings, and they never presented them in a continuous form.The propitious moment seems to have arrived for a critical edition of those words and writings to allow a fuller reading of them, which hopefully will encourage further studies and commentaries designed to nourish further generations.
The Title of this Work
{The French title is, literally translated, Writings and Words} Father Chaminade wrote a great deal, although he was never an "author." Moreover, he often communicated his teachings and plans by word of mouth. Fortunately, his disciples preserved many of these written and verbal communications for us.
His writings present no problem of authorship when they are either in his own handwriting or annotated by him, for he often signed and approved texts prepared by his secretaries or councilors. However, the words raise many questions concerning the accuracy of texts dictated after a verbal presentation, or notes taken almost word for word during the course of a presentation, or subsequent more personal developments of the thought.
After detailed study and analysis of such texts, we believe we can attribute to Father Chaminade all the writings and words contained in this critical edition. They are, therefore, presented as an authentic souce of his intuitions, his thoughts, and his activities.
Methodology
This critical edition follows both a chronological and a historical methodology. With the first, we follow step by step the evolution of Father Chaminade's thought and activity. Moreover, this method satisfies our sense of order; over time, it reveals the richness of a long and complex life. It allows us to determine the precise moments when the spiritual energy of Father Chaminade and his disciples blossoms forth with renewed fruitfulness.The historical method makes clear the dynamism of a spirituality which, while remaining always open to God's inspiration, must often adapt itself to the human condition, political or cultural. While allowing us to situate these writings and words within their societal context, this method underlines their relationships with other civil and spiritual realities of his day.
Both methods, therefore, permit us to read and understand the writings and words of Father Chaminade in their context and to follow the evolution of an insight, a regulation, a structure, or a pattern of religious behavior.
Outline of this Work
The seven volumes planned for these writings and words form a single unit with the {nine} volumes of letters of Father Chaminade already published in French {and in English by North American Center for Marianist Studies and the Marianist Resources Commission}. At long last we can review in its proper sequence the history of the man who revived the Marian Sodalities of Bordeaux; who cooperated in the founding of the Miséricord; who helped found the Institute of the Daughters of Mary; and who was the Founder of the Society of Mary.
The chronological approach highlights two important periods: the "moment" of the laity and the "moment" of the religious foundations. The volumes of this critical edition, therefore, will be as follows:
I. Developments of
the Lay Movements
Volume 2: Notes for Conferences and Sermons
Volume 3: Notes for Conferences and Sermons
Volume 4: Notes for Conferences and Sermons
II. Founding of the Religious Institutes
Volume 6: Their Growth and Development
Volume 7: Period of Solidification.
However, it must be pointed out that the passage from one "moment" to the other is not clear-cut; there is, in fact, an interpretation. This is why we made the decision to respect chronology, but to place it within the context of a historical reading. This is especially true for the years from 1815 to 1824, when Father Chaminade was occupied both with an outreach to the laity and with his concerns for the religious foundations.
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