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A conference to be held at the Catholic University of Leuven, hosted by the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies.
25-27 March 2013
Call for Papers
The development and meaning of Christian ritual is an essential component of understanding what it means to be a Christian in a particular time and place. Accordingly, the field of liturgical history has devoted a fair amount of scholarly attention to the origin and development of temporal rituals such as the Feasts of Nativity, Epiphany, and Easter. However, insufficient scholarly attention has been paid to the origin and development of the Feasts of Ascension and Pentecost. Moreover, despite the recent flowering of sermon studies, only rarely have the extant festal sermons for these particular feasts been the subject of detailed scholarly investigation. Hence how the first Christian preachers to address these feasts sought to imbue them with theological, rhetorical, and paranetic content is a story yet to be told; there is here a significant lacuna in scholarly understanding of how Christian identity was formed and expressed both liturgically and homiletically in the Late Antique world.
In order to repair that lacuna, the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven is hosting from 25-27 March 2013 a small, expert conference entitled “Preaching after Easter: Late Antique Sermons on the Feasts of Ascension and Pentecost.” Patristic authors already set to be discussed on the program include: Chrysostom (Pentecost), Proclus of Constantinople (Ascension), Severian of Gabala (Pentecost), Severus of Antioch (Pentecost), Augustine (Ascension), Caesarius of Arles, Peter Chrysologus (Mid-Pentecost), and Leo the Great. We invite presentations on one or more Late Antique festal sermons on Ascension, Pentecost, or Mid-Pentecost, especially presentations that will complement the topics already on the program. Presentations may deal with issues of introduction as well as the rhetorical, theological, exegetical, or liturgical aspects of the sermon(s). We are interested in sermons in any language from the sixth century or earlier. Only presentations that adhere to these constraints can be considered. Presentations will last approximately 20 minutes, and presenters will be asked to submit the text of their remarks in advance of the conference in order to facilitate communication across languages. Presentations may be delivered in English, French, or German. If you would like to participate in this conference, please submit a title, 250 word abstract, and an abbreviated CV to Richard W. Bishop at Rich.Bishop@theo.kuleuven.be no later than 29 October. Decisions will be announced no later than November 16th, 2012.