Second Spring Oxford: Editorial & Educational Services for the Catholic Community

For frequently updated content, please follow our blogs:

Beauty in Education – for parents, teachers, students.

All Things Made New – for mystics, theologians, seekers.

The Economy Project – Catholic social teaching, ecology, etc.

LATEST NEWS

NEW BOOK  Stratford Caldecott’s just published Beauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education is a sequel to his earlier Beauty for Truth’s Sake, and completes his study of the seven Liberal Arts as a foundation for the renewal of humane education by looking at the Trivium of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric (the three arts of language). Follow the link to find out more. It is published by Angelico Press, who also recently brought out Stratford’s All Things Made New, a study of the mysteries revealed in the Book of Revelation and the Holy Rosary (a Saturday Book Pick at the National Catholic Register). 

SECOND SPRING OXFORD IS NOW ON PINTEREST.  Pinterest is a new social media site that we think you’ll agree is great fun. It functions like an online “pinboard” for web-based images and text. Click on the link and explore the possibilities. (By the way, we are also on Twitter.)

2012 SUMMER SCHOOL   The title of our Faith & Culture Summer School this year is “A Question of Humanity: From Reformation to Catholic Literary Revival“. A week at Downside Abbey near Bath with Lady Oxford (Clare Asquith) and a group of amazing lecturers is followed by a week in Oxford, studying the question of Catholic identity and the vocation of the writer in the company of Thomas More, Campion, Newman, Chesterton, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Book your places soon! The dates are 7–21st August.

COLOURING BOOKS  We brought out a revised edition of our much-loved The Mass Illustrated for Children with the new translation of the liturgy last autumn (see the cover above right). If you are curious, we also created a little animated featurette. Meanwhile, Scott Hahn’s introduction to the Bible for children (God’s Covenant with You), a colouring book illustrated by David Clayton in the style of classical icons and illuminations, is still available, along with our other titles, at bargain prices in our main BOOKS section.

CHILDREN OF DIVORCE  The second issue of the FREE online book review journal of the John Paul II Institute in Washington is dedicated to the effects of divorce on children. Humanum aims to examine some of the most pressing issues of our time, especially as they affect the most vulnerable members of society, and includes a round-up of relevant life, health, and family news from around the world. The next issue will be about artificial reproductive technology (A.R.T.), and is due to be published online at the beginning of June 2012. Follow the link to Humanum and click for free registration – that way we can alert you each time a new issue is published.

CURRENT ISSUE OF SECOND SPRING JOURNAL  The beautiful fourteenth issue, “In the Garden”, is on the theme of nature, gardening, and ecology, and features a lead article by Cardinal Scola. The next issue, guest-edited by Christopher Blum, will be on the theme of Faith and Science. It should be out by the summer. To purchase back issues that are still available, please contact us at the Oxford office. Keen gardeners may also be interested in a new book from CTS called Gardening for God, by Jane Mossendew. Gardens have always occupied an important place in Holy Scripture, from the garden of Eden to the many horticultural images used by Christ himself. Jane’s booklet, like Second Spring, is an invitation to remember God when we head out of our back door. It shows how we are brought closer to God through being surrounded by, and helping to grow, His creation.

VISIT OF CARDINAL SCOLA TO LONDON  In a rare visit to London, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (formerly the Patriarch of Venice) will be speaking at Heythrop College in London on 15 November about the work of the Oasis Foundation for Christian-Muslim understanding. Cardinal Scola, a close friend of the late Hans Urs von Balthasar, is one of the leading “theological bishops” of the Church and is looking for more collaborators for Oasis in the UK.

THE OXFORD ORATORY  The G.K. Chesterton Library (Charity No. 1134101), originally collected by Mr Aidan Mackey, will be housed at the Oxford Oratory’s study centre devoted to Newman and the Literary Revival by some time in 2013. Building work has now begun, although more funds are still required to finish the project. In the meantime our collection is being catalogued in preparation for the move. The illustration shows the late Natalie Trauberg (Chesterton’s Russian translator) and John Kanu (founder of the Sierra Leone Chesterton Centre) sitting in the Library when it was housed at Plater College. If you wish to become a supporter of this worthy project, please get in touch with us or with the Oxford Oratory Appeal.

MAGNIFICAT  is a popular monthly prayer book and missal, containing spiritual meditations for every day of the year by the great writers and saints of our tradition. The UK/ Ireland/ Australia edition is edited from our office in Oxford. Printed in a handy pocket-sized edition on high-quality Bible paper, and incorporating the approved liturgical translations, lectionary, and calendar for our territories, as well as high-quality artwork to accompany an art essay in each issue, MAGNIFICAT will be very much in evidence during the upcoming Eucharistic Congress this June in Dublin. We hope to see you there! You can follow Magnificat on Twitter too.

Stratford, Léonie and Teresa Caldecott