Newsletter #5 de la Société des Bollandistes, May 2020

Message from our Director

Dear Friends of the Bollandists,

The Bollandists are sometimes likened to monks … It is true that our painstaking work resembles that of a Benedictine and that we even refer to our workroom as a scriptorium!
But in fact, in normal times, our library is more like a university institute: the members of the Society travel to teach, give lectures or participate in symposia, readers come to consult the unique collections of the library, emails pour in containing requests for scientific information or scans of rare publications… But for the last two months, because of the corona virus, we are forced to adopt a quasi monastic life: collaborators are confined to their homes, lessons and seminars are suspended, readers are prohibited from entering the premises and mail and emails have slowed to a trickle!
An unprecedented situation which allows resident Bollandists to catch up on the backlog, particularly on the immense work of examining bibliographies, an essential task for updating our library.
 Through the window, I see a row of plane trees vigorously pollarded during the winter: now it is May and yet, no new branch has appeared, no new leaves have sprouted. But I remain confident: Easter has given me the certainty that life will be renewed.

Robert Godding, SJ

Translating the ‘Father of Translation’ (Saint Jerome): Linguistic and Cultural Transfers in Byzantium​

The Bollandist Research Institute partnered with the Greek Ethniko Idryma Erevnon (Athens, Greece) have received the approval of the “EU Horizon 2020 – Innovation and Research Framework Programme” for Dr Anna Lampadaridi to carry out her interdisciplinary project entitled “Translating the ‘Father of Translation’ Linguistic and Cultural Transfers in Byzantium” (proposal n. 892782).  

The project deals with the translation of Latin hagiographical literature into Greek in Byzantium (330-1453), breaks with traditional patterns that imply that Byzantium “gives” and the West “receives”, and sets out new approaches to understand contacts between East and West. 

We look forward to welcoming
Dr Lampadaridi to our Library. 

Find out what is in the next issue of Analecta Bollandiana 138, June 2020:

Pierluigi Licciardello. La Passio di Felice, Ireneo e Mustiola:  con edizione critica delle versioni BHL 4455-4456c

Adam Łajtar – Efthymios Rizos.  A Fragment of a Liturgical Cal­endar From Gebel Adda (Egyptian Nubia).     

Jacques Noret.  Notes sur la Vita «sinaïtique» d’Athanase l’Athonite récemment éditée  

José María Anguita Jaén.  Herberto de Claraval, Herberto de So­brado y el milagro de Moreruela (Miraculum de novitio hispa­niense, BHL 1231a).    

Maria Tziatzi.  The Akolouthia in Honour of the So-Called Kalytenoi Saints by Eustathius of Thessaloniki   

Bernard Joassart.  Une lettre inédite de Frane Bulić à Hippolyte De­lehaye (1932)   

François Dolbeau.  Catalogues de manuscrits latins. 
Inventaire hagiographique (trente-septième série)  

We would like to extend a warm thank you to the members of our Advisory Council. Their guidance and support are crucial for the future of our many centuries old Society:

Michael Caruso, SJ.
President of Saint Ignatius College Prep, Chicago
Michael Garanzini, S.J.
Secretary of Higher Education for the Society of Jesus
Patrick J. Geary
Professor Emeritus of Western Medieval History at the IAS in Princeton
Michael Lapidge
Professor Emeritus of the University of Cambridge, Fellow of the British Academy
Thomas Levergood
Executive Director at The Lumen Christi Institute
Catherine M. Mooney
Associate Professor of Church History Boston College
John W. O’Malley, S.J.
Professor of History, Georgetown University
Mitchell Pacwa, S.J.
President and founder of Ignatius Productions​

An International Study Day devoted to the important ancient book collection of the Bollandists’ Library

There were many attentive listeners who joined us for the study day organized by the Bollandistes in Louvain-la-Neuve on Friday 14/02. Seven speakers – Charles-Henri Nyns (UCLouvain), Pierre Delsaert (KULeuven), Bernard Joassart (Soc. Boll.), Ezio Barbieri (Milano), Giuseppe Guazzelli (Palermo), Robert Godding (Soc. Boll.) and Jean-Pierre Delville (Bishop of Liège) – highlighted the rich and ancient collections of the Bollandists’ Library and marked the end of cataloguing 22,000 books printed prior to 1800.

This project was made possible thanks to the support of the Baillet-Latour Foundation.

Support the Bollandists:

Join the Friends!

Help us ensure the future of our centuries old research centre. If we are to meet today’s multiple challenges and continue being the custodians and scholarly authority of such an important part of our cultural, historical and religious heritage, we need to re-inforce our team, secure our autonomy and allow our Library to welcome scholars in the best possible conditions. 

To join the Friends see our website: https://www.bollandistes.org/support-us/