Special Lecture from Fides Patrum
Via coffee house hosts Marquette professor & ecumenical consultant of the Pope for a lecture on 19 February. Don't miss it!
Via coffee house is the place for community every Saturday. Join us on 19 February at 10:30a for a special lecture from Marquette professor and recent ecumenical consultant of the Pope, Dr. Marcus Plested.
From Rome to Milwaukee: a special patristics lecture
Via coffee house is the place for delicious coffee and community, and it’s been hosting Patristic Ponderings along with awesome “homecraft” sessions like how to brew your own mead (this Saturday, 12 Feb!), how to crochet, sewing, and other such activities. But save this date for a special patristics lecture from Marquette professor and ecumenical consultant of the Pope, Dr. Marcus Plested.
Dr. Plested is a wonderful scholar and faithful Eastern Orthodox Christian who has been participating in a worldwide Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical group that recently had the chance to present their work to the Pope. He has also been asked to participate in recent discussions on synodality in Rome, has published multiple well-received scholarly books (including two on Thomas Aquinas and his reception), and possesses a British accent which makes anything he says sound more credible and enjoyable.
What to expect:
The lecture will be on the fourth century Trinitarian controversies (from which we get the Nicene Creed professed every Sunday at Mass), including the particular contributions of the towering eastern Doctor of the Church, St. Athanasius the Great. As such, this will serve to introduce the next book in our ongoing patristics seminar (newly named Fides Patrum - see more below), a book that is arguably the greatest and most widely read classic of the entire Christian tradition: Athanasius' On the Incarnation.
This event will begin at 10:30a in the Frassati Chapel at the UWM Newman Center at 3001 N. Downer. It should go for about an hour, at which point you can leave (if you have other commitments), or you can plan to stick around for some Q&A with Dr. Plested. There will also be extra coffee and snacks provided beforehand, in conjunction with Via coffee house, so please come a bit early for that (or even earlier for Mass at 9a!).
This lecture is "free and open to the public," as they say, so feel free to invite other people. Whether or not you have any prior knowledge of the fourth century or Athanasius, we’re sure you'll come away both intellectually enriched and spiritually stimulated. Feel free to reach out to organizer Josh Miller (joshrmiller11@gmail.com) if you have any questions.
We hope to see you there!
Also: Patristic Ponderings gets a sponsor (and a new name)
As was already announced to the regular group of communicants dedicated to pondering the patristics, there is some more exciting news to share about the future of our little seminar.
Over the past few months, Patristics host and founder Josh Miller has been in touch with The Lumen Christi Institute (the original inspiration for the first Patristic Ponderings meeting), who has agreed to co-sponsor our seminar. For starters, they have purchased a number of copies of Athanasius' On the Incarnation (our next text) for distribution to participants of the group. Josh is very excited about this initiative and what future possibilities it might hold.
In a nod to Lumen Christi and all the Latin apostolates of our young adult community (Cor Jesu, Cor ad Cor, Via), Josh decided to rename the seminar Fides Patrum, which means "Faith of the Fathers."
Furthermore, St. Irenaeus, the first father from whom we studied this beautiful and rich faith, will be the patron saint of Fides Patrum. (You might be interested to know that the decision to declare St. Irenaeus the newest "Doctor" of the Church was first announced by Pope Francis to Marcus Plested and the rest of his ecumenical group, whose patron saint is also Irenaeus!)
St. Irenaeus, pray for us! Pray that the faith of the fathers would become more deeply our own faith.
Peace from Cor ad Cor.