Driscoll, Jeremy 1951–

PERSONAL:

Born October 24, 1951, in Moscow, ID. Education: Mount Angel Seminary School of Theology, M.Div., 1977, M.A., 1980; Augustinianum Patristic Institute, Rome, Italy, S.T.L., 1983; Pontificio Ateneo Sant' Anselmo, Rome, Italy, S.T.D., 1990.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Mt. Angel Abbey and Seminary, One Abbey Dr., St. Benedict, OR 97373; St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, 2228 Sunset Blvd., Ste. 2A, Steubenville, OH 43952.

CAREER:

Monk, theologian, educator, and author. Benedictine monk, 1973—; Roman Catholic priest, 1981—; Mount Angel Seminary, Saint Benedict, Oregon, professor, 2000—; Pontificio Ateneo Sant' Anselmo, professor of theology, 2002—; St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, Steubenville, OH, senior fellow. Member of the Vox Clara Committee of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; consultant in patristics for AIM (international organization for aide to monasteries in third-world countries); theological consultant to the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy for the United States National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Visiting professor, Gregorian University, Rome, Italy.

MEMBER:

North American Patristic Society, Society for Catholic Liturgy, Socio Corrispondente della Pontificia Academia di Teologia (Vatican), Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology (distinguished fellow), Congregation for Divine Worship (Vatican).

WRITINGS:

The ‘Ad Monachos’ of Evagrius Ponticus: Its Structure and a Select Commentary, Benedictina Edizioni Abbazia S. Paolo (Rome, Italy), 1991.

Some Other Morning (poetry), Story Line Press, 1992.

(Translator and author of introduction) The Mind's Long Journey to the Holy Trinity: The Ad Monachos of Evagrius Ponticus, Liturgical Press (Collegeville, MN), 1993.

(Editor, with Mark Sheridan) Spiritual Progress: Studies in the Spirituality of Late Antiquity and Early Monasticism: Papers of the Symposium of the Monastic Institute, Rome, Pontificio Ateneo S. Anselmo, 14-15 May 1992, Pontificio Ateneo S. Anselmo (Rome, Italy), 1994.

Theology at the Eucharistic Table: Master Themes in the Theological Tradition (essays), Centro Studi S. Anselmo (Rome, Italy), 2003.

(Translator and author of commentary) Evagrius Ponticus: Ad Monachos, Newman Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Steps to Spiritual Perfection: Studies on Spiritual Progress in Evagrius Ponticus, Newman Press (New York, NY), 2005.

What Happens at Mass, Liturgy Training Publications (Chicago, IL), 2006.

A Monk's Alphabet: Moments of Stillness in a Turning World (essays), New Seeds (Boston, MA), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Mysterium Christi, Symbolgegenwart und theologische Bedeutung, Festschrift für Basil Studer, edited by M. Löhrer and E. Salmann, 1995; and A Book of Readings on the Eucharist, a Eucharistic Jubilee edition, Subcommittee on the Third Millennium, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2000. Contributor to the videos The History of Baptism in the Early Church, and The History of Baptism from the Early Church to the Present, both DeSales Publications, both 1986. Contributor to professional journals, including Assembly, Periodicum Internationale Editum a Pontificia Academia Theologiae 4, Letter and Spirit, Logos, Tablet, Spirituality, First Things, Ecclesia Orans, Studia Monastica, Pro Ecclesia, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Augustinianum, Cistercian Studies, and Antiphon. Member of editorial board, Studia Monastica.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jeremy Driscoll is a monk and ordained Catholic priest who has written and edited several books focusing primarily on Scripture, theology, and the liturgy, especially in relation to the early Church Fathers and Egyptian Christian monasticism. He has also written a book of poetry titled Some Other Morning. A monk since the early 1970s and a priest since 1981, Driscoll studied in Rome and is also a teacher.

In addition to numerous scholarly articles, Driscoll has written or edited several books about Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth-century Christian monk and aesthetic from the Egyptian desert who became known for his intellect, which he demonstrated through public speaking and in his writing about the monastic movement and Christian theology. Ponticus was a trusted friend and advisor to several prominent Church leaders of his day and is credited with being among the first to systematically record the oral teachings of a monastic group of intellects known as the Desert Fathers. In his first book about Ponticus, The ‘Ad Monachos’ of Evagrius Ponticus: Its Structure and a Select Commentary, Driscoll provides the first English translation of Ponticus's text known as Ad Monachos. The author also comments on the 137 proverbs that the Ad Monachos contains. In addition to providing commentary on the Ad Monachos in two other books, Driscoll is author of Steps to Spiritual Perfection: Studies on Spiritual Progress in Evagrius Ponticus. In this book, the author comments on Ponticus's many writings and how they still have spiritual relevance for modern Christians and other seekers of the spiritual.

In his collection of previously published essays titled Theology at the Eucharistic Table: Master Themes in the Theological Tradition, Driscoll writes about the theology of the sacrament of the Eucharist. ‘Although each of the essays is concerned with some aspect of Eucharistic theology, the journals and other publications in which they first appeared give an indication of the diverse audiences which the author set out to address in each case,’ reported Louis Weil in Ecclesiology. The author explores the fundamental theology of the Eucharistic rite and the relationship between doctrine and liturgy. Weil commented that ‘a primary theme emerges in a variety of contexts in these essays, and that is the essential link between the Church's Trinitarian theology and its liturgical prayer.’ The authors wide-ranging writings about the Eucharistic rite includes essays about the true meaning of this rite and preaching within the context of the Eucharist. Commenting on the author's views concerning preaching, Weil noted: ‘While affirming the post-Vatican II expansion of the use of Scripture in the liturgy, Driscoll observes that Roman Catholic preachers often fail to connect the homily to the eucharistic celebration for which the community has assembled. Using patristic homilies as points of reference, he explores ways in which preaching within the celebration may be more firmly grounded within the rite."

A Monk's Alphabet: Moments of Stillness in a Turning World was called a ‘grand little book’ by Jeff Andrus on Jeffandrus.com. The author offers a series of nearly 200 short meditations and reflections, in alphabetical order, covering diverse topics, from bugs and oysters to friendship and death. ‘In A Monk's Alphabet, piquant and profound observations abound,’ wrote Gregory J. Sullivan in First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. Sullivan continued: ‘What is most satisfying about this absorbing book is its treatment of the struggles of the moral life.’ For example, in one essay the author writes about God's view of the self-righteous, noting: ‘God so hates religious smugness and self-satisfaction and the certainty that the other is a sinner and will go to hell that he would empty hell completely of the sinners who deservedly belong there and place the smug one there all alone to pass an eternity of painful astonishment, learning that God has mercy on whom he will.’ Jim Manney, writing on the People of the Book Web site, called the author ‘a writer of exceptional talent and insight.’ Andrus added that Driscoll's various ruminations are ‘a refreshing combination of the author's innate dignity and naked honesty."

Driscoll is also the author of What Happens at Mass. In this book, he directs his discussion toward a non-academic audience as he explores the ‘mystery’ of the mass within Catholic theology and then delineates each part of the Catholic Mass and how it all relates to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Referring to What Happens at Mass as ‘a modern touchstone,’ First Things contributor Mary Angelita Ruiz also called the book ‘clear, intelligent, thorough, and touched with awe.’ J. Nicholas Latham wrote on the TheGoodBookstall Web site that the ‘meditation on the Lord's Prayer is particularly fine."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Driscoll, Jeremy, A Monk's Alphabet: Moments of Stillness in a Turning World, New Seeds (Boston, MA), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Ecclesiology, Volume 2, number 2, 2006, Louis Weil, review of Theology at the Eucharistic Table: Master Themes in the Theological Tradition, pp. 233-244.

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, March, 2006, Mary Angelita Ruiz, review of What Happens at Mass, p. 57; February, 2007, Gregory J. Sullivan, review of A Monk's Alphabet, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2006, review of A Monk's Alphabet, p. 48.

Theology, September-October, 2004, Hugh Wybrew, review of Theology at the Eucharistic Table, p. 374.

ONLINE

Jeffandrus.com,http://www.jeffandrus.com/ (October 21, 2007), Jeff Andrus, review of A Monk's Alphabet.

People of the Book,http://peopleofthebook.us/ (September 18, 2006), Jim Manney, review of A Monk's Alphabet.

St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology,http://www.salvationhistory.com/ (October 21, 2007), faculty profile of Jeremy Driscoll.

TheGoodBookstall,http://www.thegoodbookstall.org.uk/ (July 6, 2005), J. Nicholas Latham, review of What Happens at Mass.