“Let us take our place, dear
brothers and sisters, at the school of the saints ….”
—John Paul II, Eccelsia de eucharistia 62.
“You are great, O Lord, and
greatly to be praised …. Man, a little portion of your creation, wishes to
praise you. You excite him so that he
delights in praising you, because you have made us for you, and our heart is
restless until it rests in you.”
—St. Augustine, Confessions 1.1.
Conversions and Conversations:
A Guided Reading of St. Augustine’s Confessions.
The Confessions of St. Augustine of Hippo is one of the most
influential, most beautiful, and least understood texts in the world. Here is an opportunity to learn more about
this wonderful work. More than an
autobiography, Confessions is a
series of conversations and conversions—turnings and turnings—of
a restless heart that moves closer and closer to the all-embracing
love of God. Augustine is a thinker who
never settles for easy answers, seems to question all things, yet comes at last
to “Beauty, so ancient and new.” To
spend time with him is to learn how to ask tough questions of ourselves and to
recognize a Love, an Understanding, and a Beauty that is beyond us yet has
always been waiting for us and reaching out to us. Beginning Thursday, July 12th, and continuing on
Thursday evenings into the fall, we shall go on this journey, discussing
Augustine’s Confessions.
Meetings are from 7:30 to
9:00 p.m. in the Msgr. Bowe room, Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption 1111
Gough Street, San Francisco.
Feel free to come to one,
some, or all of the meetings.
Recommended translation:
Augustine.
Confessions. F.J. Sheed, translator. Second edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2007. ISBN 0-87220-816-8.
Discussions facilitated by
Stephen C. Córdova, instructor in Philosophy at Dominican University of
California and the University of San Francisco.
Suggested Reading Schedule:
|
12 July |
Introduction and Book One |
|
19 July |
Book Two |
|
26 July |
Book Three |
|
2 August |
Book Four |
|
9 August |
Book Five |
|
16 August |
Book Six |
|
23 August |
Book Seven |
|
30 August |
Book Eight |
|
6 September |
Book Nine |
|
13 September |
Book Ten |
|
20 September |
Book Eleven |
|
27 September |
Book Twelve |
|
4 October |
Book Thirteen |
For more information,
please email stephen.cordova@dominican.edu