Armand-Benjamin Caillau (22 October 1794 – 1850) was a French Catholic priest, a missionary and writer.
Life
Caillau was born in
Paris. Ordained in 1818, he was successively a member of the Missions de France, rector of Sainte-Geneviève (rue d'Enfer) and chaplain of the
Infirmerie Marie-Thérèse (92 avenue Denfert-Rochereau). He joined, in 1834, the
Fathers of Mercy, newly re-organized by Father Rauzan. His love of missionary life made him decline episcopal honours and a chair at the
Sorbonne, but was no obstacle to his literary pursuits.
Sollier, Joseph. "Armand-Benjamin Caillau." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 7 September 2021 He died in Paris in 1850.
Works
Besides many contributions to the ''Bibliographie Catholique'', Caillau wrote ''Instructions sur l'oraison mentale'' (Paris, 1833), a French translation of Tertullian's ''De Spectaculis'' (Paris, 1835), several monographs on Our Lady's Sanctuaries: ''Roc-Amadour'' (1834), ''Loretto'' (1843), ''N.D. de Puy'' (1846), ''Litanies du St. Nom de Jesus'' (Paris, 1845), ''Les nouveaux illuminés'' (Michel Vintras) (Orléans, 1849), etc.
He is best known, however, by the following works: "Thesaurus Patrum" (Paris, 1823-5), a patristic digest modelled on Merz's "Thesaurus biblicus", with an introduction to patrology; "Collectio selecta Patrum" (Paris 1829-1842), 133 octavo volumes, undertaken in collaboration with Mgr. Guillon and suspended at the announcement of Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a u ...
's "Patrology". The insertion of new sermons under the name of Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
(P.L., XLVII) brought about a controversy between the two editors. "Histoire de la Vie des Saints" (Paris 1835-1840), four octavo volumes, and also (Paris 1863) five octavo volumes, written in collaboration with Abbé Juste; "S. Gregorii Nazianzeni opera" (Paris, 1842), two folio volumes (also P.G., XXVII and XXVIII), an edition, partly from the manuscript notes of D. Clémencet, reviewed by Villemain in the "Journal des Savants" (1845 and 1847) "Rhetorica Patrum" (Paris, 1838), three volumes never completed.
A similar project of a "Bibliotheca Mariana" resulted only in the publication of a few opuscula of St. Ephrem, Bonaventure, Idiota
Raymundus Jordanus (fl. c. 1381), best known by his Latin nom de plume Idiota ("the Idiot"), though this identification is disputed by some, was a medieval Catholic writer whose identity remained unknown for some centuries.
Biography and identi ...
(Jordan), and the Marial monographs noticed above. Caillau also re-edited Merz's "Thesaurus biblicus" (1822), "L'Année sainte" (1826), vols. III and IV of D. Ceillier's " Histoire des auteurs sacrés " (1838-9); and "Lettres de Scheffmacher" (1839).
References
Sources
*Delaporte, Vie du P. Rauzan (Paris, 1857); Bibliographie catholique, X;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caillau, Armand-Benjamin
1794 births
1850 deaths
19th-century French Roman Catholic priests