Welcome! 1 May, 2013

Second Spring OxfordEditorial & Educational Services for the Catholic Community

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You can also visit Stratford Caldecott’s three blogs:

 Beauty in Education is for parents, teachers, and students

 All Things Made New is for mystics, theologians, and seekers

 The Economy Project is about Catholic social teaching, ecology, etc.

LATEST NEWS:

We are excited to announce the launch of Stratford Caldecott’s new book, The Radiance of BeingDimensions of Cosmic Christianity, from Angelico Press! More information and testimonials are available on the publisher’s page. You can purchase via Amazon. Also recently, with the first part of the new Hobbit movie released in cinemas and on DVD and the second part coming later this year, the publishers Crossroad have published a new, expanded edition of Stratford Caldecott’s well-received book on the great Catholic writer J.R.R. Tolkien and the spiritual meaning of Middle-earth. Called The Power of the Ring, the new edition incorporates and supersedes the earlier Secret Fire published by DLT, which is now completely out of print. A brand new Spanish edition of the same book, El poder del Anillo, is also available.  A similarly expanded and definitive edition of Stratford’s book The Seven Sacraments is in preparation from Crossroad. Meanwhile BEAUTY IN THE WORD: Rethinking the Foundations of EducationStratford’s sequel to Beauty for Truth’s Sake, completing his study of the seven Liberal Arts, was published in 2012. Education is in crisis, and new possibilities are opening up all the time, but any genuine reform will have to be based on an understanding of what education is for. Follow the link to find out more (and read an article on the whole project here). It is published by Angelico Press and available through Amazon. Read the interview.

2013 SUMMER SCHOOL ‘The Tempest of the Times: the Dilemma of Catholic England from the Reformation to the Modern Age’, Oxford, 12th-26th August. If you are intending to book for this year’s summer school, best to do so soon – while we may still be able to squeeze you in, places are no longer guaranteed.
With lectures from Clare Asquith, Dr Michael Ward, our Directors, and others on topics that include Shakespeare, J.H. Newman, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien, visits to London and a recusant-era house complete with priest holes, this is not to be missed. The programme is organized in conjunction with Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, NH, who will be running an extra week directly before the Oxford course on their campus for all undergraduate students wishing to acquire course credit for attendance. The course is aimed at a high undergraduate level. There are residential and non-residental rates available for the fortnight in Oxford, and a good level of spoken English is required.  See details here, and email us for more information: [email protected]

COLOURING BOOKS  Stocks are low of our much-loved The Mass Illustrated for Children, designed not just to keep a child quiet during Mass, but as a rich resource for parents and catechists to use to explain what happens in the liturgy to young children – to stimulate both faith and imagination. If you are thinking of placing an order this spring, get in there quickly! 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, all at bargain prices. Books in the Second Spring Catechesis series are available through Thomas More College in the US or directly from our distributor in the UK. More books are in preparation. See the books in action in this featurette or Second Spring Catechesis film. FOR DETAILS OF HOW TO ORDER, look under the BOOKS section in the left hand menu.

ABSENT FATHERS  The fifth issue of Humanum, the FREE online book review journal of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Washington (described here), IS NOW AVAILABLE. The fourth issue was devoted to the topic of same-sex unions and the debate over gay marriage. It contains a major article on the topic by David S. Crawford. The previous issue examined the use of technology in human reproduction, including IVF. Edited by Stratford Caldecott, Humanum (not to be confused with Humanitas – see below) regularly examines 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. Follow the link to Humanum and click for a free subscription – that way we can alert you each time a new issue is published!

SECOND SPRING  2012 marked two decades since the first appearance of our flagship journal Second Spring as a supplement in Catholic World Report. The sixteenth issue is on the theme of Holy Vessels and includes articles by Duncan Stroik, Margaret Atkins, Jerome Bertram CO, Margaret Truran OSB, Léonie Caldecott, and others. The fifteenth issue, still available, was guest-edited by Christopher Blum on the theme of Faith and Science. You can purchase back issues from Thomas More College or contact us at the Oxford office. The seventeenth issue, OUT SOON, will be on the theme of the Economy.

MAGNIFICAT  The popular monthly prayer book and missal MAGNIFICAT, which we edit for the UK and Ireland, is now available as a iPhone/iPad app. It contains spiritual meditations for every day of the year by the great writers andsaints of our tradition, with a beautiful cover as well as high-quality artwork to accompany an art essay in each issue. MAGNIFICAT is a wonderful aid to daily prayer and meditation, even if you can’t get to Mass each day. The UK/ Ireland/ Australia edition is edited from our office in Oxford and can be viewed online here. (It is on Twitter too.) The Magnificat Year of Faith Companion is now out of print after selling out rapidly worldwide. HOWEVER, an e-book edition is now available from the main MAGNIFICAT Bookstore.

ASSOCIATED PROJECTS:

G.K. CHESTERTON  The CHESTERTON LIBRARY (Charity No. 1134101), originally collected by Mr Aidan Mackey, is moving this month to the Oxford Oratory’s new study centre devoted to Newman and the Literary Revival. Academic and Christian interest in the great English writer G.K. Chesterton is growing worldwide, and the new study centre will eventually contain a room dedicated to him where the unrivalled collection of books and memorabilia will be made accessible to scholars and visitors. More funds are still urgently required to finish the project and shelve the books and display miscellanea. If you wish to become a supporter of this worthy project, by supporting either the Oratory Building project or the Library Trust itself, go to the Library page where all relevant links are maintained. A Press Release is available on request.

THE SIERRA LEONE CHESTERTON CENTRE  was started by a former student of Plater College and Oxford University, John Kanu, and is a centre for community-led sustainable development inspired by the Distributist ideals of G.K. Chesterton in one of the world’s poorest countries. It is helping to revitalize the rural economy on which the country depends. It desperately needs equipment and tools, ranging from scissors to computers and generators. Detailed information is available on request. Help if you can! John Kanu will be visiting Italy and the UK during the summer, so contact us if you want to meet him.

 OASIS FOUNDATION In a rare visit to London, Cardinal Angelo Scola, the Archbishop of Milan (formerly the Patriarch of Venice), spoke at the House of Lords and Heythrop College in London on 15 November 2012 about Religions, Plurality, and the Common Good, introducing the work of the Oasis Foundation for Christian minorities in Islamic countries, dedicated to better Christian-Muslim understanding. Papers may be found on the Oasis site and a summary on our Economy Project blog here. A close friend of the late Hans Urs von Balthasar, Cardinal Scola is one of the leading “theological bishops” of the Church and is looking for more collaborators in the UK for the Oasis project.

HUMANITAS  This important international journal of Christian anthropology and culture, from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, is available in a beautifully produced English language edition, which can also be read online HERE. The first issue is about the legacy of Pope John Paul II, the second has a number of important articles on Pope Benedict’s call for a broadening of human reason, and the providential relationship between Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem. The third English-language issue, now available, is on the theme of the Year of Faith. Also now available for free download from the Humanum site is a Vademecum or Handbook of John Paul II’s anthropology, plus a selection of other useful and important documents from John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Stratford, Léonie, and Teresa Caldecott