The Writings of Clare of Assisi: Letters, Form of Life, Testament and Blessing - Studies in Early Franciscan Sources

The three volumes in the series, Studies in Early Franciscan Sources, provide assistance to those interested in a deeper understanding of the writings of the Early Documents The Writings of Francis and Clare. The authors, scholars interested in and committed to the Franciscan tradition, have brought contemporary research together, applied it to each of the specific texts, and offered their own perspective. First, the essays definethe status questionis by informing the reader about the state of current research on each of the texts considered. Second, the essays are intended to introduce the reader to these texts within the dimensions of their multilayered contextual-historical framework. The hope of those involved in producing these studies is to help others learn how to read, interpret, and apply these newly translated texts to enrich the historical understanding, theological vision, and practical living out of the Gospel message. This volume contains essays by Ingrid Peterson, Lezlie Knox, Michael W. Blastic and Jean-François Godet-Calogeras.

Michael Blastic, OFM Conv., a native of the Chicago area, is a member of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Order of Friars Minor, with headquarters in New York City. He has ministered in parishes, religious formation, and been a faculty member of the Washington Theological Union 1988-1996, and of the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University from 1996-2010. In summer 2010, he returned to the Washington Theological Union as the Director of the Franciscan Center. His major area of research, teaching and publication includes early Franciscan texts, the early Franciscan Theological tradition, and the the writings of Franciscan women between the 13th and 16th century.
Jay M. Hammond, PhD, is an Assistant Professor/Director of Graduate Studies at St. Louis University. He previously taught at the University of San Francisco (1998-2000) and Quincy University (1998-2002), where he received the Teacher of the Year, Excellence in Teaching Award in 2001. He has been working at SLU since 2003. He received his Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University. Dr. Hammond is co-editor of the series, Studies in the Early Franciscan Documents, and is an associate editor of the Bonaventure Texts in Translation Series. He contributed to Divine and Created Order in Bonaventure s Theology.
J. A. Wayne Hellmann, OFM Conv., received his Doctorate of Theology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (Munich) in 1974; an S.T.L. from the Pontifical Faculty of St. Bonaventure in Rome in 1968; and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Dayton (Ohio) in 1964. Since 2005, he has served as Chair of the Department of Graduate Theology at St. Louis University where he has been a faculty member since 1974. His long-time interest has been Franciscan texts. Among the various positions and responsibilities he has held, Wayne has been a member of the Board of the BTTS project (Bonaventure Texts in Translation Series), since 2003; a senior editor for the scholarly journal, Franciscan Studies, since 2004; and a member of the editorial board for Greyfriar s Review, since 2003. Most recently he has served as the coeditor of FA:ED (1999-2003); editor and translator (with Joshua Benson) of a multivolume Theological Reader, drawn from Bonaventure s Commentary on the Sentences (BTTS), and co-editor of the projected seven-volume series, Studies in the Early Franciscan Documents (to be published by Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011).