This study represents a work of practical narrative theology which originates in the notable prominence of an ancient form of catechesis in a modern document, the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), issued in 1997 by the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy in the Vatican. The GDC first mentions narratio explicitly in number 39 in the form of an imperative: "Catechesis, for its part, transmits the words and deeds of Revelation; it is obliged to proclaim and narrate them and, at the same time, to make clear the profound mysteries that they contain." It is under the weight of that obligation that this study came to be. Narratio, or the narration of salvation history, which was a standard part of the catechesis of the Church of the fourth and fifth centuries gave way to the exigencies of a changing Church in which the catechetical focus turned from adults, who needed a Judeo-Christian worldview to replace a Greco-Roman one, to children who had grown up in communities shaped by a Christian vision. This doctoral thesis proceeds by, first, surveying Roman Catholic magisterial teaching immediately preceding the issuance of the GDC to trace the roots of this apparent innovation within an institution which is otherwise noted for its conservatism. After establishing the context and character of the GDCs call for revival of narratio, this thesis examines the historical setting, rhetorical structure, and function of narratio in Augustine of Hippo's De catechizandis rudibus, and then its scriptural precursors in the two Testaments in order to discover how this narration functioned in the Jewish and Christian communities which practiced haggadic and anamnetic recitals of God's saving works as a means to the formation and maintenance of communal identity. This study seeks to establish that a positive response to the GDC's call is as much warranted by the evidence provided in the biblical and post-biblical Jewish and Christian practice of ritual/covenantal remembrance as by the Catholic magisterial imperative in the GDC. In this, it may aid to inform and direct such a positive response to the GDC for the revival of the catechetical narratio. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

The present thesis examines the way in which two twelfth century authors, the Cistercian monks, Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) and William of St. Thierry (c. 1080-1148), used Augustine (354-430) in the articulation of their mystical thought. The approach to this subject takes into account the fact that in the works of all these medieval authors the “mystical” element is inescapably entangled with their theological discourse and that an accurate understanding of their views on the soul’s direct encounter with God cannot be achieved without a discussion of their theology. This thesis posits that the cohesion of Bernard’s and William’s mystical thought lies in their appropriation of the guiding principle of Augustine’s mystical theology: “You made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (conf. 1.1.1), reflected in the subtle interplay of three main themes, namely (1) the creation of humanity in the image and likeness of God, which provides the grounds for the understanding of the soul’s search for direct contact with God; (2) love as a longing innate in every human being, which explores the means to attain immediacy with God; and (3) the soul’s direct encounter with God, which discusses the nature of the soul’s immediate experience of the divine presence that can only be achieved in lasting fullness at the end of time. This examination of Bernard’s and William’s use of Augustine is structured on the basis of these three core themes which form the scaffolding of their mystical thought. Investigating the specific methods of their reception of Augustine will highlight the originality and uniqueness of each of the two Cistercian authors, who while drawing on the same patristic source use it nevertheless in various ways, by focussing on different aspects of Augustine’s immense oeuvre and by arriving at distinct mystical programmes.

This study represents a work of practical narrative theology which originates in the notable prominence of an ancient form of catechesis in a modern document, the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), issued in 1997 by the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy in the Vatican. The GDC first mentions narratio explicitly in number 39 in the form of an imperative: "Catechesis, for its part, transmits the words and deeds of Revelation; it is obliged to proclaim and narrate them and, at the same time, to make clear the profound mysteries that they contain." It is under the weight of that obligation that this study came to be. Narratio, or the narration of salvation history, which was a standard part of the catechesis of the Church of the fourth and fifth centuries gave way to the exigencies of a changing Church in which the catechetical focus turned from adults, who needed a Judeo-Christian worldview to replace a Greco-Roman one, to children who had grown up in communities shaped by a Christian vision. This doctoral thesis proceeds by, first, surveying Roman Catholic magisterial teaching immediately preceding the issuance of the GDC to trace the roots of this apparent innovation within an institution which is otherwise noted for its conservatism. After establishing the context and character of the GDCs call for revival of narratio, this thesis examines the historical setting, rhetorical structure, and function of narratio in Augustine of Hippo's De catechizandis rudibus, and then its scriptural precursors in the two Testaments in order to discover how this narration functioned in the Jewish and Christian communities which practiced haggadic and anamnetic recitals of God's saving works as a means to the formation and maintenance of communal identity. This study seeks to establish that a positive response to the GDC's call is as much warranted by the evidence provided in the biblical and post-biblical Jewish and Christian practice of ritual/covenantal remembrance as by the Catholic magisterial imperative in the GDC. In this, it may aid to inform and direct such a positive response to the GDC for the revival of the catechetical narratio. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)