Posts Tagged ‘Boston College’

Jesuit Father Jeremy Clarke with items featured in the Boston College exhibit "Binding Friendship: Ricci, China and Jesuit Cultural Learnings." (Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert)

Boston College Assistant Professor of History Jesuit Father Jeremy Clarke helped his undgergrad students create an exhibit that opened on Mar. 21 titled “Binding Friendship: Ricci, China and Jesuit Cultural Learnings.”

The exhibit, which highlights the history of East-West exchanges, has a number of multimedia resources to demonstrate Christian mission history in Asia.

In the 16th century, the Chinese were utilizing what at the time was advanced technology through their observatory in Beijing, Fr. Clarke said.

“In one display, we show the observatory and all the astronomical devices that they used during the time the Jesuits were there,” said student Alexander Gilman ’11.

Utilizing excerpts and outtakes from Clarke’s documentary, “Beyond Ricci: Celebrating 400 Years of the Chinese Catholic Church,” students were able to compile their own virtual history.

“One of the ways people learned about East-West cultural exchange was through six melody lines written down by a Jesuit in Beijing at that time,” said Clarke. Using these melodies as a creative point of departure, Clarke commissioned the composition of an aria that is played as people pass through the exhibit.

A number of rare books are also on display, including Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, the translations of the first three of the four canonical books of Confucianism. A group of Jesuits originally translated the philosophies of the Chinese to lead to greater understanding of Chinese thought and brought the culture to Europeans and beyond, Clarke said.

For more information, watch a video preview of the exhibit and visit the Boston College Chronicle.

Jesuit Father Jeremy Clarke with items featured in the Boston College exhibit "Binding Friendship: Ricci, China and Jesuit Cultural Learnings." (Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert)

Boston College Assistant Professor of History Jesuit Father Jeremy Clarke helped his undgergrad students create an exhibit that opened on Mar. 21 titled “Binding Friendship: Ricci, China and Jesuit Cultural Learnings.”

The exhibit, which highlights the history of East-West exchanges, has a number of multimedia resources to demonstrate Christian mission history in Asia.

In the 16th century, the Chinese were utilizing what at the time was advanced technology through their observatory in Beijing, Fr. Clarke said.

“In one display, we show the observatory and all the astronomical devices that they used during the time the Jesuits were there,” said student Alexander Gilman ’11.

Utilizing excerpts and outtakes from Clarke’s documentary, “Beyond Ricci: Celebrating 400 Years of the Chinese Catholic Church,” students were able to compile their own virtual history.

“One of the ways people learned about East-West cultural exchange was through six melody lines written down by a Jesuit in Beijing at that time,” said Clarke. Using these melodies as a creative point of departure, Clarke commissioned the composition of an aria that is played as people pass through the exhibit.

A number of rare books are also on display, including Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, the translations of the first three of the four canonical books of Confucianism. A group of Jesuits originally translated the philosophies of the Chinese to lead to greater understanding of Chinese thought and brought the culture to Europeans and beyond, Clarke said.

For more information, watch a video preview of the exhibit and visit the Boston College Chronicle.

On December 3, 2010, the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Boston Archbishop Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., presided at the blessing of the Chapel of the Holy Name of Jesus at the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community near the Boston College (BC) campus.

The chapel stands at the heart of the Jesuit Community of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (BCSTM). Named for one of the first Jesuits who was known for his preaching and spiritual guidance, the Faber Community is home to BCSTM faculty members and 55 Jesuits from more than twenty countries who are preparing for priesthood and other ministries in the Catholic Church. The new community residence was needed when the former Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts reaffiliated with Boston College and moved to the BC campus.

“The opening of the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community this fall enriches the strong Jesuit presence on the BC campus,” said Jesuit Father Thomas H. Smolich, president of the Jesuit Conference. “The Jesuits appreciate the support Cardinal O’Malley has given to our ministry of priestly formation through his blessing of the chapel.”

Cardinal O’Malley expressed gratitude to the Society of Jesus for service to the Church in Boston and throughout the world. As evidence of his gratitude, Cardinal O’Malley is giving the community an image of Our Lady of Montserrat to place in the chapel. The pilgrimage site of Montserrat in Spain is where St. Ignatius of Loyola formally abandoned his military and courtly life and embraced his new identity as a pilgrim, a first step toward his founding of the Society of Jesus.

In addition to  Fr. Smolich, principal concelebrants of the Eucharist were Jesuit Fathers Bradley M. Schaeffer, rector of the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community, William P. Leahy, president of Boston College, and Steven C. Dillard, secretary for formation at the Jesuit Conference.

On December 3, 2010, the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Boston Archbishop Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., presided at the blessing of the Chapel of the Holy Name of Jesus at the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community near the Boston College (BC) campus.

The chapel stands at the heart of the Jesuit Community of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (BCSTM). Named for one of the first Jesuits who was known for his preaching and spiritual guidance, the Faber Community is home to BCSTM faculty members and 55 Jesuits from more than twenty countries who are preparing for priesthood and other ministries in the Catholic Church. The new community residence was needed when the former Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts reaffiliated with Boston College and moved to the BC campus.

“The opening of the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community this fall enriches the strong Jesuit presence on the BC campus,” said Jesuit Father Thomas H. Smolich, president of the Jesuit Conference. “The Jesuits appreciate the support Cardinal O’Malley has given to our ministry of priestly formation through his blessing of the chapel.”

Cardinal O’Malley expressed gratitude to the Society of Jesus for service to the Church in Boston and throughout the world. As evidence of his gratitude, Cardinal O’Malley is giving the community an image of Our Lady of Montserrat to place in the chapel. The pilgrimage site of Montserrat in Spain is where St. Ignatius of Loyola formally abandoned his military and courtly life and embraced his new identity as a pilgrim, a first step toward his founding of the Society of Jesus.

In addition to  Fr. Smolich, principal concelebrants of the Eucharist were Jesuit Fathers Bradley M. Schaeffer, rector of the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community, William P. Leahy, president of Boston College, and Steven C. Dillard, secretary for formation at the Jesuit Conference.

The Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community, a space dedicated to the formation of Jesuit priests, recently opened on Boston College’s campus.

The five buildings that make up the grounds are now home to an international group of 75 Jesuits, whose main apostolate is theological reflection, scholarship and research. Formerly the Weston Jesuit Community, the group includes many students and teachers from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

Last month, the Jesuits — some of them having lived in Harvard Square for 40 years ‑ moved into their new residence.

Jesuit Father Richard Roos, minister of the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community, said the new community — built in less than a year and under budget — allows for relationships to develop more organically among the Jesuits. Prior to the move, the community was scattered throughout Harvard Square, he said, making it difficult to make connections.

Fr. Roos said the design of the property is a gentle reminder of what brings the very diverse group together. In the middle of the ring of five buildings stands a chapel, a space large enough that all in the community may celebrate Mass together.

“That is quite appropriate,” said Roos, “because the heart of our community is Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.”

To hear more about the new Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community and to see what the new space looks like, please watch the video below: