Dr. Eric W. Gritsch
The Rev. Dr. Eric W. Gritsch Memorial Fund, Ltd.
PO Box 23064
Baltimore, MD 21203-5064
bonbmore
2018 Fellowship Archive
Recipient of the Eric W. Gritsch Memorial Fund
2017 Fellowship - Thomas Santa Maria
Mr. Santa Maria received his Bachelor’s degree in History and Classics with a minor in Catholic Studies from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. He holds a Master’s degree in Theological Studies from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and is expected to complete a Masters of Arts in Renaissance Studies and History from Yale University this fall. Mr. Santa Maria will continue his work in Renaissance Studies and History at Yale as a Doctoral candidate.
Thomas Santa Maria Presentation at the Gritsch Memorial Fund's
2019 Symposium in Baltimore.
Follow Thomas on his original Twitter Feed: https://twitter.com/TheRoadsToRome
AND ON THE ARCHIVE LOG BELOW!
Tom Santa Maria @TheRoadsToRome 17 July 2018
I’m very happy to say that I’m back in the states and to extend sincere thanks to the @GritschMemorial fund for their support! I so look forward to presenting some findings in Baltimore in the near future!!!
Tom Santa Maria @TheRoadsToRome 4 July 2018
Happy Fourth of July!
Tom Santa Maria @TheRoadsToRome 29 Jun 2018
Happy feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul! A great day of celebration in Rome.
Tom Santa Maria Retweeted
Durham Cathedral Library@BedesBooks 21 Jun 2018
Niccolò Machiavelli died #OnThisDay in 1527. His works were banned by the Pope, so printers used false imprints like this one to get round the ban: dated 1550 (pre-ban), it was actually printed in Geneva in 1635.
Tom Santa Maria @TheRoadsToRome 22 Jun 2018
Some shots from the Collegio Romano, the college founded by the Jesuits in Rome from yesterday’s feast of Luigi Gonzaga...more from the rooms of the early Jesuits to follow
Tom Santa Maria @TheRoadsToRome 17 Jun 2018
Missing dad today on Father’s Day, but I had an extra gelato for him! Happy father’s day to all the dads, fathers, caretakers, teachers, coaches, and role models out there! We need you to keep up the great work!
June 15, 2018
Spent some time at the Archivio di Stato (formerly La Sapienza - the university of Rome) today checking out some papal privileges. Below is a shot of the cortile and the church
June 12, 2018
A Saint Sebastian from the San Andrea Della Vale! But where are the arrows??
June 10, 2018
Ok! This morning I’ll be leaving the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (BAV) behind for the Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV). For a little fun fact: neither institution is part of the Church, both the library and the archives belong to the pope.
June 8, 2018
From a pit stop on the way to the BAV this morning
June 5, 2018
A Baroque wonder, the macchina that reveals the Saint Ignatius statue at the church of the Gesu!
Jun 4, 2018
“...the present volume, and I did not find anything repugnant, rather, it was beyond erudite with many good warnings: therefore I judge it worthy to be printed.” I hope books I write can be reviewed as glowingly as the former, but I’ll be content with the latter appraisal!
Jun 4, 2018
“...one glimpses in the book the great zeal that the author has for the salvation of souls. Hence one can only hope that by means of the printing press it might bring extraordinary benefit to those who will read it.” Girolamo Rosati added: “I read and studied...
Jun 4, 2018
Domenico Galli wrote: “I saw and read this books with the greatest enjoyment (gusto), I found it adorned and beautified with much erudition, established with well-founded doctrine, full of teaching useful for artists, and everyone else....
June 1, 2018
So I cannot take pictures inside the BAV (Vatican Library), but I took some outside it. Pictures is the arch into the Belvedere courtyard .
May 30, 2018
Today I cracked open Francis Borgia’s manual for preachers at the Biblioteca Vaticana. It was my first time there! A little bit of a process to make it through, but it’s truly an incredible library, and a beautiful space to research. Will try to follow up with some pictures soon
May 29, 2018
Pictured here on the right is the Chiesa Nuova (church of the Oratorians), on the left is the Biblioteca Vallicelliana (one of Rome’s finest rare book libraries).
May 28, 2018
Greetings from Rome! Wishing everyone a very happy Memorial Day!
May 27, 2018
With a bunch of items ticked off the checklist it’s time to head to Rome with heartfelt thanks extended to the people behind the Gritsch memorial fund; for their generosity and warmth I am most grateful! More soon! A presto!.........
March 27th, 2018
From the Ratio Studiorum, the Jesuit plan and rules for study finalized in 1599:
March 21st, 2018
The Cornaro Chapel sculpted and it's S. Teresa in Ecstasy by Bernini in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Note the figures looking into the scene. One is the patron Cardinal Cornaro. Can you guess which?
@GritschMemorial
Sang Andrea Quirinale home to many Jesuits (including two relevant to my work. Bellarmine and Oliva) and the Jesuit novitiate, design by Bernini. Here the facciata, the tomb of St. Stanislaws Kostka, the rooms of Kosta, and the Sacristy also designed by Bernini.
The rooms of Ignatius painted by Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo.
A stone marking the very spot where St. Ignatius died.
Ignatius very own slippers.
March 20th, 2018
March 20th, 2018
This here is an example of a sin chart given by Giulio Mancelli in a manuscript on various meditations and spiritual exercises. It was a method suggested by St. Ignatius to tally your sins and avoid them.
March 19th, 2018
Didn't know I'd be stumbling upon this guy at mass today:
March 19th, 2018
In today’s morning session I was looking at some very interesting manuscript copies of adaptation of Spiritual exercises meant to cultivate good virtues and inspire the exercitant to avoid vice. For the afternoon: lives of jesuits (good and bad) - early modern sensationalism
March 17th, 2018
Not a bad spot to hang out on Saturday night.
Saturday night.
March 16th, 2018
March 16th, 2018
March 14th, 2018
March 13th, 2018
March 13th, 2018
Some more important updates: GELATO. To be specific nocciola and stracciatella. @GritschMemorial#wheninRome
March 12th, 2018
Professors are banning laptops in class and demanding students take notes by hand, spurring complaints and hand cramps
March 12th, 2018
A typical Roman scene (or the view from my bedroom...). Next stop: the archives...right around the corner to the left. Very convenient.
March 12th, 2018
Some updates: starting to get the hang of this archive thing. Found some material on the senses and the examination of conscience a twice daily prayer that Jesuits do every day.
March 9th, 2018
Speaking of Luigi Gonzaga...today is his 450th bday! Sup Gen Arturo Sosa, S.I. opened a Jubilee year in honor of the event. Picture of Robert Bellarmine’s tomb built in 1923 for his beatification. B was L’s mentor, spiritual director/confessor. S. Luigi ora pro nobis!
March 8th, 2018
A little pick me up prosciutto pizza lunch before returning to the archives - it’s as good as it looks @GritschMemorial
March 7th, 2018
View from roof of Jesuit archives
March 7th, 2018
Some of what I was reading today. These are accounts from a number of Jesuits testifying to the sanctity if Luigi Gonzaga, S.I. Bonus points for those who can read it - I know I struggled @GritschMemorial
March 6th, 2018
March 5th, 2018
March 5th, 2018
First step en route to Rome: presenting this paper at Renaissance lunch at Yale. This paper is the corner stone of my upcoming research. Find it on http://academia.edu @GritschMemorial
November 27, 2017
Dear Friends of Reverend Gritsch,
I am both delighted and honored to receive the Gritsch Fellowship in Reformation Studies! I hope that my research can be a testament to Dr. Gritsch’s work as a scholar, pastor, and leader in ecumenical dialogue.
My project on the senses in the spiritual life intersects with these three pillars of Dr. Gritsch’s life and work. My aim is to to discover where Reformation thinkers, especially Jesuits, drew the line between using the bodily senses to meditate on the divine and live ethically and guarding the senses from the occasion to sin. These texts and sermons were fundamentally pastoral. They were aimed at audiences for the care of souls. Interestingly, these texts (and even some sermons in print form) transcended the tense political and religious boundaries of reformation Europe. That is, authors from different faith traditions reached audiences of traditions outside of their own. These texts on how to live a good Christian life were ecumenical.
I am very grateful for the resources that come with the fellowship, since they will enable me to pursue new lines of research that require archival studies. My research will take me to Rome where the Jesuit archives are housed. There I hope to find unpublished sermons and letters that might shed light on this issue. Outside of the archives I hope to explore the relationship between preaching on the senses and architectural and artistic spaces (and to enjoy a gelato or two!). For example, did preachers have the occasion to point to religious art they thought dangerous while explaining the importance of custody of the senses? These questions are at the intersection of theology and lived Christian experience, which was of the utmost importance in the age of Reformations.
I look forward to sharing my research and insights with you all and thank the Eric W. Gritsch Memorial Fund for supporting my research endeavors!
Wishing you peace and blessings,Tom
Thomas can be reached at: thomas.santamaria@yale.eduKEEP WATCHING! MORE TO COME!
The Rev. Dr. Eric W. Gritsch Memorial Fund, Ltd.
PO Box 23064
Baltimore, MD 21203-5064
bonbmore