Saturday, June 14, 2014

The mystery and symbol of the crucifix

One of my favorite religious authors is Thomas Howard (Chance or The Dance?,Dove Descending: A Journey Into T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets,Evangelical is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament,The Night Is Far Spent).

Howard, a prolific author and noted expert on C.S. Lewis, taught English at Gordon College, an Evangelical school, and spent some years in England in the Anglican communion before he entered the Catholic Church in 1985. From 1985-99 he was professor of English at St. John’s Seminary College of the archdiocese of Boston.

One of his many fine essays originally entitled "Crucifix" and published as a chapter of his excellent book, On Being Catholic(Ignatius, 1997), was recently re-published under the title of "The Crucifix Mystery and Symbol," by Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. XX, No. 1 (April 2014). I am grateful for the opportunity to re-visit this essay online. It is a beautiful meditation.

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