FEISS, Hugh (Bernard) 1939-

PERSONAL: Born May 8, 1939, in Lakeview, OR; son of Sherman (a forester) and Margaret (a teacher; maiden name, Furlong) Feiss. Education: Mount Angel Seminary, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1962, M.A., M.Div., 1966; Catholic University of America, S.T.L., 1967, Ph.L., 1972; attended University of St. Thomas, Rome, Italy, 1974-75; Pontificum Athenaeum Anselmianum, Rome, S.T.D. (summa cum laude), 1976; University of Iowa, M.A., 1987. Hobbies and other interests: Ornithology.

ADDRESSES: Home—Monastery of the Ascension, 541 East 100 S., Jerome, ID 83338; fax: 208-324-2377. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Benedictine monk, 1960—; ordained Roman Catholic priest, 1966—; Mount Angel Seminary, St. Benedict, OR, began as instructor at Mount Angel Seminary College, became professor of philosophy, 1967-74, seminary professor of theology and humanities, 1976-96, director of Mount Angel Abbey Library, 1987-96; Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, ID, member, 1996—, coordinator and instructor for monastery Elderhostels, 1997—. Yale University, fellow at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 1992. Sacred Heart Academy, Salem, OR, part-time chaplain, counselor, and instructor, 1977-83; Trappist Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe, lecturer, 1987-96; Benedictine Consortium for Distance Learning, coordinator and instructor, 1996—; instructor with adult Catholic education program in Boise, ID, 1997—; Mount Marty College, instructor in pastoral ministry, 2001—; speaker at other institutions, including St. Michael's College, Burlington, VT, and University of Calgary; leader of religious retreats. Also worked as part-time basketball and tennis coach for parochial secondary schools.

MEMBER: Medieval Academy, Catholic Theology Society of America, American Catholic Philosophical Association, Society of Biblical Literature, American Academy of Religion, American Benedictine Academy.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fellow of National Endowment for the Humanities, 1982, 1986, 1989, 1993.

WRITINGS:

(With Martin Pollard) Mount of Communion: Mt.Angel Abbey, 1882-1982, 1982, 2nd edition, 1985.

(Editor) Glad for What He Has Made: A Guide to theTrees, Shrubs, Flowers, and Birds of Queen of Angels Monastery and Mount Angel Abbey, 1982, 2nd edition, 1990.

(Editor and translator) Thomas de Cantimpré, Supplement to The Life of Marie d'Oignies, Peregrina Publishing (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), 1987, 3rd edition, 1993.

(Editor and translator) Pierre de Celle, Selected Works, Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, MI), 1988.

(Editor and translator) Hildegard of Bingen, Explanation of the Rule of St. Benedict, Peregrina Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990, 2nd edition, 1999.

(Translator and author of introduction) The Life of theSaintly Hildegard, Peregrina Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

(Translator and author of introduction) Hugh of St.Cher on the Prodigal Son, Peregrina Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

(Translator and author of notes, with Daniela Re and Marilyn Hall) Catherine of Bologna, The Seven Spiritual Weapons, Peregrina Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Essential Monastic Wisdom: Writings on the Contemplative Life, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1999.

(Translator and author of introduction, with Ronald Pepin and Catherine Hamaker) Two Medieval Lives of Saint Winefride, Peregrina Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

(Editor, with Jan Emerson, and contributor) ImaginingHeaven in the Middle Ages, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 2000.

(Translator and author of introduction) The Works ofArchard of St. Victor, Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, MI), 2001.

(With Ronald Pepin) St. Mary of Egypt: ThreeMedieval Lives in Verse, Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, MI), in press.

(Translator) Marbod of Rennes, Life of Robert ofChaise-Dieu (published with translation of The Life of Stephen of Obazine by Ronald Pepin), Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, MI), in press.

Contributor to books, including Bernardus Magister, edited by John R. Sommerfeldt, Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, MI), 1993; The Joy of Learning and the Love of God: Studies in Honor of Jean Leclercq, edited by E. Rozanne Elder, Cistercian Publications (Kalamazoo, MI), 1995; and "And God Saw That It Was Good": Catholic Theology and the Environment, edited by Drew Christiansen and Walter Grazer, USCC (Washington, DC), 1996. Contributor of articles; translations from Latin, French, German, Italian, and Spanish; and reviews to periodicals, including Liturgy OCSO, Vox Benedictina, Cistercian Studies, Country Life, Studia Monastica, and Word and World. Editor, Desert Chronicle and Link, both 1997—; associate editor, American Benedictine Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A reader in medieval monasticism; editions of opuscula of Hugh of St. Victor; a study of Richard of St. Victor.

SIDELIGHTS: Hugh Feiss told CA: "When I was in graduate school, Edward Duff, S.J., who had been editor of a magazine which promoted social justice, told me I should write. For the next fifteen years I was too busy teaching and continuing my education to give writing much thought. In 1982 I attended a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar with Daniel Sheerin and Ruth Steiner. I realized then that I wanted to spend more time doing scholarly research, which in turn gave me something to write about. When Father Chrysogonus Waddell accepted a study I had prepared during that seminar for publication in Liturgy OCSO, I was a published writer.

"Thereafter I began publishing scholarly articles and translations from Latin. I can do the latter without having access to a big library, which is important now that I live in a small monastery in Idaho. Most of what I write is of little interest except to a few monks and medievalists. One exception is Essential Monastic Wisdom: Writings on the Contemplative Life. Tom Grady, who was an editor for HarperCollins at the time, asked Kathleen Norris to write the book, but she recommended he ask me to do it, which I did. Tom helped me formulate the plan for the book and negotiate the contract.

"I write because I feel called to do so. Most of what I publish brings no royalties. I do both my research and my writing after my other tasks as monk and priest are finished. Sometimes I wonder whether anyone reads most of it. However, results and impact are secondary considerations.

"Lately a teenager has been sending me some of her poetry. She is a voracious reader. She may be called to be a writer. I gave her Mary Oliver's Poetry Handbookso she could learn more about the craft of poetry and also about what it is to be a writer and a poet. It is to have received a gift and a task."