Category Archives: Franciscan History

#280 – Father Theobald Mathew, Apostle of Temperance – Part Two

March 17, 2012 – 4:29 pm

Father Theobald Mathew, OFM Cap., traveled to the United States in the hopes of spreading his Total Abstinence Society and raising funds for continuing his work in Ireland. He attracted enormous crowds and even met the president. However, he also found himself caught up in the maelstrom that was slavery.

Links:
Wikipedia page of Father Mathew with many images related to him
Website devoted to Father Mathew
Father Mathew’s influence in Canada

Sources:
Kerrigan, Colm. Father Mathew and the Irish Temperance Movement: 1838-1849. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press, 1992.
Nelson, Katherine H. “Knights of Father Mathew.” Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2003: 350-351.
Quinn, John F. Father Mathew’s Crusade: Temperance in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Irish America. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2002.
Quinn, John F. “Father Mathew’s Disciples: American Catholic Support for Temperance, 1840-1920.” Church History 65, no. 4 (December 1, 1996): 624–640.
Townend, Paul A. Father Mathew, Temperance and Irish Identity. Dublin ; Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2002.

Image:
Father Mathew

Image of Father Mathew among other famous Irish
Image of Total Abstinence Society Medal
Australian Total Abstinence Society Medal
Medals of the Knights of Father Mathew
Images of the Catholic Total Abstinence Fountain

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podcasticon#280 – Father Theobald Mathew, Apostle of Temperance – Part Two

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Irish History, Podcast, US History | Comments (1)

#279 – Father Theobald Mathew, Apostle of Temperance – Part One

March 10, 2012 – 5:28 pm

Father Theobald Mathew, OFM Cap., the Apostle of Temperance, greatly struggled against the evils of alcoholism as part of his Total Abstinence Society. Millions, inspired by his message, took the Pledge to give up drinking. However, conflicts with bishops, problems with Irish nationalism, and the Great Famine threatened to undo it all.

Links:
Wikipedia page of Father Mathew with many images related to him
Website devoted to Father Mathew

Sources:
Kerrigan, Colm. Father Mathew and the Irish Temperance Movement: 1838-1849. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press, 1992.
Quinn, John F. Father Mathew’s Crusade: Temperance in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and Irish America. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2002.
Quinn, John F. “Father Mathew’s Disciples: American Catholic Support for Temperance, 1840-1920.” Church History 65, no. 4 (December 1, 1996): 624–640.
Townend, Paul A. Father Mathew, Temperance and Irish Identity. Dublin ; Portland, OR: Irish Academic Press, 2002.

Image:
Father Mathew Administering the Temperance Pledge

Image of Father Mathew among other famous Irish
Image of Total Abstinence Society Medal

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podcasticon#279 – Father Theobald Mathew, Apostle of Temperance – Part One

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Irish History, Podcast | Comments (1)

#271 – Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM – Part Two

January 14, 2012 – 1:29 pm

After his ordination, Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM ministered in Prisoner of War camps braving the anger of German Nazis and French guards. More than once his life will be in grave jeopardy. He will have to endure much before he finally fulfills his dream of going to Japan.

Links:
Biography and photos of Fr. Goldmann, OFM
Wikipedia article on Fr. Goldmann, OFM
German video with interview of Fr. Goldmann, OFM

Sources:
Gereon K. Goldmann, OFM. The Shadow of His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM. Ignatius Press, 2003.
Seitz, Joseph. Against the Current: Thrilling Experiences of the Ragpicker of Tokyo, Father Gereon Goldmann. 1971.

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podcasticon#271 – Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM – Part Two

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in German History, Japanese History, Podcast | Comments (3)

#270 – Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM – Part One

January 7, 2012 – 2:57 pm

When WWII broke out, Gereon Karl Goldmann, a Franciscan seminarian, was ordered to enlist in the German Army. He will struggle to remain faithful to his Church and to his country both as an officer in the Wehrmacht and, later, in Hitler’s Waffen SS. This struggle will bring him on the path to the priesthood and to membership in a plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler.

Links:
Biography and photos of Fr. Goldmann, OFM
Wikipedia article on Fr. Goldmann, OFM
Jimmy Akin Podcast

Sources:
Gereon K. Goldmann, OFM. The Shadow of His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldman, OFM. Ignatius Press, 2003.
Seitz, Joseph. Against the Current: Thrilling Experiences of the Ragpicker of Tokyo, Father Gereon Goldmann. 1971.

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podcasticon#270 – Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM – Part One

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in German History, Podcast | Comments (0)

#263 – Lift As You Climb

November 5, 2011 – 1:56 am

As we begin National Black Catholic History Month in the United States, we look at the life and work of Lena Frances Edwards. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Edwards spent her life in defense of those most in need.

Links:
Articles on Black Catholic History Month can be found here, here, here and here
Important dates in Black Catholic History
Important Black Catholics in history

Ebony article about Lena Edwards on the mission in Texas
A brief biography of Lena Frances Edwards can be found here

Sources:
Davis, OSB, Cyprian. The History of Black Catholics in the United States. New York: Crossroad, 1995.
Interview with Lena Edwards, M.D. Cambridge, MA: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, 1980.
Scally, Mary Anthony. Medicine, motherhood, and mercy: the story of a Black woman doctor. Washington, D.C.: Associated Publishers, 1979.

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podcasticon#263 – Lift As You Climb

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Black History, Podcast, US History, Women's History | Comments (2)

#261 – Nature Abhors A Vacuum

October 22, 2011 – 12:03 am

The great philosopher Aristotle would influence the Catholic understanding of theology and science throughout the Middle Ages. However, reflections on the nature of the vacuum will, in turn, lead to reflections on the nature of God.

Links:
Condemnations of 1277

Image – horses attempting to separate the Magdeburg Hemispheres

Sources:
Barrow, John D. The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe. Vintage, 2002.
Grant, Edward. Much Ado about Nothing: Theories of Space and Vacuum from the Middle Ages to the Scientific Revolution. Cambridge University Press, 2008
Shea, William R. Designing Experiments & Games of Chance: The Unconventional Science of Blaise Pascal. Science History Publications: Canton, 2003.

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podcasticon#261 – Nature Abhors A Vacuum

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Dominican History, French History, Podcast, Science | Comments (0)

#255 – Saving Husserl’s Nachlass

September 3, 2011 – 3:32 am

Father Herman Leo Van Breda, OFM played a key role in the preservation of the nachlass of Edmund Husserl. At great risks to himself, he ensured that these priceless writings concerning phenomenology would survive – writings that would in turn prove tremendously influential upon Catholic philosophy and John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.

Links:
For more on Husserl you might listen to this presentation by Fr. Robert Sokolowski. You might also look at Fr. Sokolowski’s book Husserlian Meditations.

You might also look at this paper by Ken Archer – “Why Phenomenology Matters to Theology”

Sources:
Breda, OFM, Father Herman Leo Van. “The Rescue of Husserl’s Nachlass and the Founding of the Husserl-Archives.” History of the Husserl-Archives. 2007. pp. 39-69.
Vongher, Thomas. “A Short History of the Husserl-Archives Leuven and the Husserliana“. History of the Husserl-Archives. 2007. pp. 99-126.

Photo of Fr. Breda courtesy of Dr. Thomas Vongehr.

CNMC – Catholic New Media Celebration

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podcasticon#255 – Saving Husserl’s Nachlass

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Belgian History, German History, Podcast | Comments (2)

Today in Catholic History – Edward Gibbon and the Franciscans

October 15, 2010 – 9:29 am

On 15 October 1764, Edward Gibbon received his inspiration to write his famous The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which is seen as the beginning of modern historical writing on the Roman Empire and a tremendous influence on later historical writing.

Gibbon wrote in his Autobiography that it was as he heard Franciscan Friars singing Vespers in the Church of Santa Maria Aracoeli in Rome, which had been built on a site where there had previously been a Temple of Juno, where his desire to write about Rome began. Gibbon believed that he was on the former site of a Temple of Jupiter, but was mistaken. Gibbon’s first inspiration was to write about the city of Rome and only later concerned himself with the entire empire.

One of the main arguments of Gibbon in his magisterial work was that Christian hostility to the Roman Empire was one of the main reasons for the empire’s eventual collapse. Many historians today, however, reject this argument and instead point to economic and military reasons for the end of the Roman Empire in the West.

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in British History, Italian History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (1)

Today in Catholic History – Saint Clare and the Privilege of Poverty

September 17, 2010 – 11:23 am

On 17 September 1228, Pope Gregory IX answered Saint Clare’s request for the Privilegium Paupertatis. This was a modification of the 1219 Rule for the Poor Clares through which Gregory granted that the Poor Clares could not be forced to accept property.

For Clare, living the poverty of Christ as exemplified in the life of Saint Francis was a necessary element of her own community. However, the Catholic authorities greatly doubted that a community of women could survive without material wealth. Thus, there were many attempts to get Clare to accept property so as to provide her community with support. However, Clare believed that accepting property would mean a rejection of the total dependence that she and her sisters wanted to have upon Christ.

That Clare was able to obtain this privilege which had never been granted before or has been granted since is a testament to the authority and respect that Clare possessed.

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Papal History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (0)

#244 – The Leonine Union

September 7, 2010 – 2:41 pm

Struggling to live the life of St. Francis amidst the threats and temptations of the modern world, four groups of Franciscans had to decide if life together was better than life apart.

Links:
Image of the history of the divisions and union within the First Order of Saint Francis

Diagram of the Franciscan Family Tree showing the relationship of the First, Second and Third Orders of Saint Francis

Sources for this episode “The Leonine Union of the Order of Friars Minor 1897” and “The Franciscan Story: St. Francis of Assisi and His Influence Since the Thirteenth Century” both by Maurice Carmody.

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podcasticon#244 – The Leonine Union

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Papal History, Podcast | Comments (0)