Basil Moreau: Essential Writings

by Basil Moreau

Overview

This definitive introduction to the life and vision of Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., is the first book to gather together the essential spiritual, pastoral, and educational writings of the nineteenth-century French priest who founded the Congregation of Holy Cross, which is the religious order that founded the University of Notre Dame in 1842.

Basil Moreau: Essential Writings is an anthology of all the important published and previously unpublished writings of Basil Moreau, who was beatified in 2007 by the Catholic Church. This anthology provides generous selections from Moreau's sermons, pastoral letters, educational treatises, and spiritual reflections, which reveal a figure who was no stranger to difficulty and conflict but also a man deeply committed to a hope that can only emerge from Christ's passion, death, and resurrection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870612831
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	04/28/2014
Series:	A Holy Cross Book
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 5.90(h) x 1.60(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword John C. Cavadini ix

Preface and Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

Moreau's Context: Two French Revolution Sketches 2

Moreau's Intellectual Formation 7

Moreau as Scholar and Teacher 11

Intellectual and Spiritual Influences on Moreau 16

The Early Developments of Holy Cross 23

Moreau's Leadership and Development of Holy Cross 29

Moreau from 1860 to 1866 40

Moreau's Resignation and Last Years 42

Moreau's Spiritual Emphases 45

Conclusion 53

Chapter 1 Sermons 55

Meditation 57

Community Spirit 78

Confession 106

Holy Communion 120

Renewal of the Vows 131

The Sacred Heart of Jesus 151

The Immaculate Heart of Mary 167

St. Joseph 175

Reception of the Habit for Carmelite Sisters 191

Chapter 2 Spiritual Exercises 201

Second Week: The Illuminative Way 203

Meditations for the Feast of the Sacred Heart 239

Fourth Week: The Unitive Way 248

Chapter 3 Christian Meditations 259

Epiphany: Meditation on the Mystery 261

Third Sunday after Epiphany: Meditation on the Leprosy of Sin 267

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany; Meditation on the Minor Virtues 271

Sexagesima Sunday: Meditation on the Word of God 277

Friday after the Third Sunday of Lent: Meditation on the Mystery of the Five Wounds of Our Lord 282

Fourth Sunday of Lent: Meditation on the Behavior of Jesus Christ and of the People in the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes 285

Friday after Passion Sunday: Meditation on the Mystery of the Transfixion or Compassion of the Blessed Virgin 288

Quasimodo Sunday: Meditation on Interior Peace and Exterior Peace 292

Fourth Sunday after Easter: Meditation on Silence 298

Fifth Sunday after Easter: Meditation on Mental Prayer 304

Sixth Sunday after Easter: Meditation on Preparing for the Holy Spirit 310

Pentecost: Meditation on the Mystery 313

First Sunday after Pentecost: Meditation on the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity 317

Thursday after the Most Holy Trinity: Meditation on the Procession of the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament or of the Most Holy Body of Christ 322

Chapter 4 Christian Education 329

Preface 331

Introduction 333

Part One: On Teachers and Students 334

Part Three: On the Formation of School Children in the Christian Life and the Means to Ensure Their Perseverance 361

Chapter 5 Circular Letters 377

Circular Letter 14 (September 1, 1841) 379

Circular Letter 23 (January 4, 1845) 387

Circular Letter 25 (January 5, 1846) 403

Circular Letter 34 (June 19, 1848) 413

Circular Letter 36 (April 15, 1849) 415

Circular Letter 79 (January 1, 1857) 424

Circular Letter 96 (June 16, 1858) 439

Circular Letter 137 (January 3, 1861) 444

Circular Letter 179 (January 10, 1865) 449

Circular Letter 8 to the Sisters (January 22, 1858) 456

Circular Letter 16 to the Sisters (January 2, 1859) 466

Moreau Chronology 476

Map of Moreau's France 483

Notes 484

Selected Bibliography 507

Index 510

Biblical Index 519

What People are Saying About This

Most Reverend, Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend - Kevin C. Rhoades

"In this era of the New Evangelization, we can learn much from the inspiring example and writings of Blessed Basil Moreau, a holy priest who embraced with passionate zeal the mission of the new evangelization in nineteenth-century France, facing challenges not unlike our own. This wonderful collection of his writings provides rich material for spiritual reflection. Moreau's spirituality, focused on the imitation of Christ, trust in divine providence, and hope in the victory of the cross, reveals to us the necessary foundation for all our evangelizing endeavors: prayer and friendship with Christ."

President, The Catholic University of America - John Garvey

"Blessed Basil Moreau had a singular ability to address problems with a combination of intellectual acuity, spiritual wisdom, and practicality. His thoughts on Catholic education and the virtues of teachers are especially noteworthy. We would do well to reread them at the beginning of each academic year. Grove and Gawrych have assembled a wonderful introduction to the mind and character of the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross."

President and CEO, Catholic Relief Services - Carolyn Y. Woo

"These writings are a rich bequest to the Holy Cross family by Blessed Basil Moreau, who shared his vision and design of a Holy Cross education; urged the imitation of Christ as the way to know, love, and serve God; and lived the motto of Holy Cross as he accepted his own cross in his darkest hour and deepest anguish. Amidst chaos and during a time of religious persecution, Moreau showed how the passion and faith of one man brought God back into a world that had rejected him and into the new world that did not know him."

John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology (Emeritus), University of Notre Dame - Lawrence S. Cunningham

"By retrieving the words of their sainted founder, Basil Moreau, two young Holy Cross religious help us to understand the mind and heart of a man who provided (and still provides) the deep impetus that urges the Holy Cross family to proclaim the Cross as our only hope. This inestimable collection will help sustain the Congregation in its charism and give ample encouragement to those who share in its mission."

S.J., Procurator General, Society of Jesus, Professor of Canon Law, Pontifical Gregorian University - Robert Geisinger

"In their steady, non-intrusive editing and organization of Basil Moreau's key writings, Grove and Gawrych make tangibly near the wide-ranging and energetic thoughts of a man notable for his ability to live deeply into his own time yet beyond it.... In accessible and smooth translation, these essential writings reveal that Moreau's spiritual vision is powerful, ongoing, edifying, and gritty, the contribution of a man whose consequences have remained anything but hidden over the ages, under the standard of the cross, to the greater glory of God."

Most Reverend, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland - Charles J. Brown

"This much-anticipated and brilliantly compiled volume responds to the need for an English-language anthology of the writings of Blessed Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross. For students of history and religion, as well as for anyone seeking to understand and benefit personally from the profound spirituality of Father Moreau, this book is an absolute treasure."