The Work Of The Bollandists

Author : Hippolyte Delahaye Sj
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781517796945
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (969 download)

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Download or read book The Work of the Bollandists Through Three Centuries written by Hippolyte Delahaye Sj and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-10-13 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Several years ago, the distinguished librarian of the Accademia dei Lincei at Rome, pronouncing a eulogy in wannest tenTIS upon the Acta Sanctorum, recalled the fact that the Bollandists would have occasion in the year 1915 to celebrate the tercentenary of the publication of the Vitae Patrum of Rosweyde, a work which marks the inception of this great enterprise. Now, to tell the plain truth, the Bollandists were in that year much more concerned with the progress of their labors than they were to comInemorate any anniversary. However, inasmuch as this subject had been brought to their attention fronl the outside, they were naturally struck by the fact that the second centenary of Papebroch's death, which occurred in 1714, coincided almost year for year with the tercentenary of the Vitae Patrum, the herald of the dawn of the Bollandist undertaking. The early months of 1915 seemed therefore a propitious season at which to unite in a common tribute of gratitude the memory of the precursor of the Acta Sanctorum and, no less so, of the most illustrious representative of critical hagiography, John Boll. And us. But the mere mention of the year 1915 is enough to explain why the project of a comn1cllloration had to be abandoned. Even though the precise moment has passed when it would have been an appropriate date to pay especial homage to these noble men, it is not by any means too late to give a survey of the work of the Bollandists which will always remain inseparable from the names of Rosweyde and of Papebroch. This has now been done in deference to many requests in the past from friends of the Bollandists the world over. The purpose of the present volume will be to tell how the work originated and to whom it owes the form and development to which it has reached today. Inquiry will also be made both as to the spirit in which it was conceived as well as to the influences that have moulded it, through the evolution of its principles and the vicissitudes of external circumstance. Finally, the book will aim to show to what point the work has progressed at the present day and also how one may best utilize the resources which it has brought to light.