Monday, December 12, 2016

Bishop Barres's dissertation

In a brief biography of Bishop John O. Barres (linked HERE), mention is made of his doctoral dissertation, "Jean-Jacques Olier's Priestly Spirituality: Mental Prayer and Virtue as the Foundation for the Direction of Souls."  He wrote this while becoming a Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) with emphasis on spiritual theology, gained from the Opus Dei Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in the Piazza di Sant'Apollinare, Rome.
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The dissertation is available at some libraries.
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In his forty-eight years of life, Jean-Jacques Olier did quite a few other things than improve the training of priests.  Like St. Vincent de Paul, he was concerned about the lives of Parisians, particularly those of the parish of St. Sulpice, Wikipedia article.
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Although John Baptist de la Salle was only five years old when M. Olier died, Olier was a tremendous influence on de la Salle, as described here.  And so, I heard the name Olier in teen years and later searched out Rue Princesse and the nearby church of St. Sulpice.
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Bishop John O. Barres will take his see at St. Agnes, Rockville Centre, January 31, 2017.  You may find various articles at licatholic.org