This second volumes of the Mediaeval Continuation contains Letters 31-60 of Peter Damian. While his epistolary style is varied--exhortatory, occasional, pastoral, reforming--his message is singular and simple in urging strict adherence to the canons of the Church. Letters 31 and 40 are long treatises, each published separately in critical editions. Letter 31, also known as the Book of Gomorrah, deplores the degradation of the priesthood through the vice of sodomy and appeals to Pope Leo IX to educate and purge the clergy. Letter 40, perhaps his most celebrated work, is also called the Liber gratissimus. In it Peter Damian opposes the reordination of those ordained simonists but writes that simonists are ""worthy of the supreme punishment that befits the incorrigible."" The very early reference to the ""heart of Jesus"" which is found in this letter was anticipated only by the Venerable Bede. Among the more personal letters are 55 and 57. In the former he writes of a long, debilitating illness, so serious that funeral preparations had been made, and of his immediate recovery when his brethren gave food to one hundred poor people. In the latter, he begs to be relieved of the administration of the diocese of Gubbio because of ill health, so that he may return to Fonte Avellana and his ""beloved solitude."" He also makes many references to folkloric tales and, perhaps, the earliest reference to the game of chess in Western literature. Letter 58 to Henry the archbishop of Ravenna in 1058 is the best example in the collection of Peter Damian's political and ecclesiastical influence. In it he gives his opinion of Benedict X and Nicholas II, the two candidates for the Apostolic See. He makes no effort to conceal his strong opinions but rather requests that this letter be made public so that all may learn what he has thought about the subject. This is perhaps, after all, what he would have hoped for the entire collection.

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an eleventh-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. Over one hundred and eighty letters have been preserved, principally from Damian's own monastery of Fonte Avellana. Ranging in length from short memoranda to longer monographs, the letters provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the eleventh century: purgatory, the Eucharist, clerical marriage and celibacy, immorality, and others. Peter Damian, or ""Peter the Sinner"" as he often referred to himself, was one of the most learned men of his day, and his letters are filled with both erudition and zeal for reform. This third volume of The Letters of Peter Damian is a careful, fluent, and annotated translation of Letters 61-90. These letters reveal the author's concern with the contemporary need for reforms, centering on clerical, especially episcopal, celibacy and on the ""heresy"" of simony which involved the purchase of ecclesiastical offices. In Letter 89, for example, Damian addresses the Selvismatic attempt of antipope Honorius II (Cadalus of Parma) to circumvent the election of Alexander II by the newly organized college of cardinal bishops. Also, among the letters here presented are several of a highly spiritual, even mystical content. These letters demonstrate that this active reformer was at heart a solitary soul who, when away from home, longed for his ""beloved solitude,"" where he could practice the contemplative life. Eventually, Damian grew weary of his efforts at reform and asked to be retired from his office of cardinal bishop of Ostia. Because Damian's Latin was a living language that surpasses the ability of classical Latin lexicography to cope with it, all disciplines that make use of medieval thought will welcome this English translation. Owen J. Blum's thorough notes to each letter indicate the vocabulary problems he encountered and how they were resolved. This third volume, like its companions, uses Damian's thought to understand an important and gripping period in the history of church and state. With these intimate revelations into his character and motivation, readers may more readily appreciate Damian's total dedication to his mission.

Abbo of Fleury was a prominent churchman of late tenth-century France--abbot of a major monastery, leader in the revival of learning in France and England, and the subject of a serious work of hagiography. Elizabeth Dachowski's study presents a coherent picture of this multifaceted man with an emphasis on his political alliances and the political considerations that colored his earliest biographical treatment. Unlike previous studies, Dachowski's book examines the entire career of Abbo, not just his role as abbot of Fleury. When viewed as a whole, Abbo's life demonstrates his devotion to the cause of pressing for monastic prerogatives in a climate of political change. Abbo's career vividly illustrates how the early Capetian kings and the French monastic communities began the symbiotic relationship that replaced the earlier Carolingian models. Despite a stormy beginning, Abbo had, by the time of his death, developed a mutually beneficial working relationship with the Capetian kings and had used papal prerogatives to give the abbey of Fleury a preeminent place among reformed monasteries of northern France. Thus, the monks of Fleury had strong incentives for portraying the early years of Abbo's abbacy as relatively free from conflict with the monarchy. Previous lives of Abbo have largely followed the view put forward by his first biographer, Aimoinus of Fleury, who wrote the Vita sancti Abbonis within a decade of Abbo's death. While Aimoinus clearly understood Abbo's goals and the importance of his accomplishment, he also had several other agendas, including a glossing over of earlier and later conflicts at Fleury and validation of an even closer (and more subservient) relationship with the Capetian monarchs under Abbo's successor, Gaulzin of Fleury. Abbo's achievements set the stage for the continuing prosperity and influence of Fleury but at the expense of Fleury's independence from the monarchy. With Abbo's death, the monastery's relationship with the French crown grew even closer, though Fleury continued to maintain its independence from the episcopacy.

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an eleventh-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. Over one hundred and eighty letters have been preserved, principally from Damian's own monastery of Fonte Avellana. Ranging in length from short memoranda to longer monographs, the letters provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the eleventh century: purgatory, the Eucharist, clerical marriage and celibacy, immorality, and others. Peter Damian, or ""Peter the Sinner"" as he often referred to himself, was one of the most learned men of his day, and his letters are filled with both erudition and zeal for reform. This first volume contains the first thirty letters, and covers the period before 1049. Here we see Peter Damian as an untiring preacher and uncompromising reformer, both of the monastic world and of the church at large. He attacks clerical laxity and monastic decadence in letter after letter. The first letter in the collection is of particular interest, containing a theological consideration of the Christian position against the Jews. Other important letters in this first volume are Damian's allegorical interpretation of the Divine Office, his letters on the Last Days and the Judgment, on canonical and legal points (such as the prohibited degrees of consanguinity in marriage), and on liturgical matters (particularly in monastic observance).

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

CUA Press is proud to announce the CUA Studies in Canon Law. In conjunction with the School of Canon Law of the Catholic University of America, we are making available, both digitally and in print, more than 400 canon law dissertations from the 1920s - 1960s, many of which have long been unavailable. These volumes are rich in historical content, yet remain relevant to canon lawyers today. Topics covered include such issues as abortion, excommunication, and infertility. Several studies are devoted to marriage and the annulment process; the acquiring and disposal of church property, including the union of parishes; the role and function of priests, vicars general, bishops, and cardinals; and juridical procedures within the church. For those who seek to understand current ecclesial practices in light of established canon law, these books will be an invaluable resource.

Multiple gods? Divinely mandated genocide? Rejection of an afterlife? If the Scriptures are the inspired and inerrant word of God that Christians claim them to be, how can they contain these things? For many believers in the modern age, traditional Christian answers to these challenges are no longer convincing. Though spiritually edifying, they are unable to account for the sheer scope and depth of problems raised through the advent of historical-critical scholarship. Following the lead of Pope Benedict XVI, in Dark Passages of the Bible Matthew Ramage weds the historical-critical approach with a theological reading of Scripture based in the patristic-medieval tradition. Whereas these two approaches are often viewed as mutually exclusive or even contradictory, Ramage insists that the two are mutually enriching and necessary for doing justice to the Bible's most challenging texts. Ramage applies Benedict XVI's hermeneutical principles to three of the most theologically problematic areas of the Bible: its treatment of God's nature, the nature of good and evil, and the afterlife. Teasing out key hermeneutical principles from the work of Thomas Aquinas, Ramage analyses each of these themes with an eye to reconciling texts whose presence would seem to violate the doctrines of biblical inspiration and inerrancy. At the same time, Ramage directly addresses the problems of concrete biblical texts in light of both patristic and modern exegetical methods.

Drawing on the Eastern Orthodox tradition of asceticism and integrating it with recent Western thought on liturgy, David W. Fagerberg examines the interaction between the two and presents a powerful argument that asceticism is necessary for understanding liturgy as the foundation of theology. Asceticism may have been perfected in the sands of the desert, but it is demanded of every theologian and, indeed, every Christian. It grants the capacity for pondering liturgy and sharing the life of Christ. Fagerberg brings to light asceticism's essential importance in liturgical theology. Fagerberg's earlier work, Theologia Prima, understood liturgy as the foundation of theology. To that framework, he now adds the relevance of asceticism. Asceticism was understood to overcome the passions by cooperating with grace. It detailed how to train the life of grace and produce what the ancient church called a theologian. Fagerberg carries the wisdom of the earliest centuries forward. He develops a new framework called liturgical asceticism that combines discipline with sharing the life of Christ.

The education provided by CanadaaEURO (TM)s faith-based schools is a subject of public, political, and scholarly controversy. As the population becomes more religiously diverse, the continued establishment and support of faith-based schools has reignited debates about whether they should be funded publicly and to what extent they threaten social cohesion. These discussions tend to occur without considering a fundamental question: How do faith-based schools envision and enact their educational missions? Discipline, Devotion, and Dissent offers responses to that question by examining a selection of CanadaaEURO (TM)s Jewish, Catholic, and Islamic schools. The daily reality of these schools is illuminated through essays that address the aims and practices that characterize these schools, how they prepare their students to become citizens of a multicultural Canada, and how they respond to dissent in the classroom. The essays in this book reveal that CanadaaEURO (TM)s faith-based schools sometimes succeed and sometimes struggle in bridging the demands of the faith and the need to create participating citizens of a multicultural society. Discussion surrounding faith-based schools in Canada would be enriched by a better understanding of the aims and practices of these schools, and this book provides a gateway to the subject.