Emmanuel Amand de Mendieta (1907–1976) was a Belgian

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

scholar who specialised in the works of St. Basil of Caesarea. Of Belgian aristocratic descent, he attained a brief prominence in the English-speaking world through his conversion to

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

in 1962. De Mendieta was born in

Bouvignes-sur-Meuse Bouvignes-sur-Meuse ( wa, Bovegne) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Dinant, located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium, on the River Meuse. In municipal terms, the ''commune'' was merged with Dinant ...

in 1907 and entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

at Maredsous in 1925—shortly before the

Malines Conversations The Malines Conversations were a series of five informal ecumenical conversations held from 1921 to 1927 which explored possibilities for the corporate reunion between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, forming one stage of Anglic ...

between Roman Catholics and Anglicans—and was given the name of

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

David. He was

professed A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddin ...

in 1930. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

in 1932.''Patrimoine Littéraire Européen: Anthologie en Langue Française''; Volume 13 - Page 271 Jean-Claude Polet - 2000 "Amand de Mendieta (Emmanuel) 1907-1976 Entré à l'abbaye bénédictine de Maredsous (Belgique) en 1925 (il reçoit alors le nom de David), Emmanuel Amand de Mendieta prononce ses vœux monastiques en 1930 et est ordonné prêtre deux ans plus .." He became a noted

patristics Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

scholar and an international authority on St.

Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...

. In 1956 de Mendieta announced his conversion to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. He left Belgium and moved to Great Britain, where he was received into the Church. After several years of teaching at various smaller colleges, he was named a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

, that is a canon residentiary, of

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

and thus a member of the Cathedral Chapter. Of studious disposition his career at the cathedral reflected his monastic experience in his general lack of knowledge of some standard procedures of modern life. Publishing in several European languages, he continued to live a relatively secluded existence after his move to England. De Mendieta's acceptance of an office in the Anglican Church invited a journalist's comparison with the case of de Dominis' appointment to the Deanery of Windsor under King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

. It was also subsequently noted that the 20th-century cleric, Charles Davis, did not opt for a similar route when he left the Roman Catholic Church. (Other distinguished early foreign appointments to Anglican canonries, but from Protestant backgrounds, were

Isaac Casaubon Isaac Casaubon (; ; 18 February 1559 – 1 July 1614) was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England. His son Méric Casaubon was also a classical scholar. Life Early life He was born in Geneva to two Fr ...

, Gerrit and

Isaac Vossius Isaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss (1618 in Leiden – 21 February 1689 in Windsor, Berkshire) was a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector. Life He was the son of the humanist Gerhard Johann Vossius. Isaak formed what was accoun ...

Selected works

* Fatalisme et liberté dans l'antiquité grecque: recherches sur la survivance de l'argumentation morale anti-fataliste de Carnéade chez les philosophes grecs et les théologiens chrétiens des quatre premiers siècles, 1945 * L'Ascèse monastique de saint Basile, Essai historique, Maredsous, 1948 * Damase, Athanase, Pierre, Mélèce et Basile, in L' Eglise et l'église. Travaux offerts à dom Lambert Beauduin I, Chevetogne, 1954 * Le Mont-Athos, la presqu'île des caloyers, Bruges, Paris, 1957, completed by L'Art au Mont-Athos, 1977 * with Stig Y. Rudberg, Basilius von Caesarea:Homilien zum Hexaemeron, Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1997 * with S.Y. Rudberg, Basile de Césarée. La tradition manuscrite directe des neuf homélies sur l'Hexamèron, Texte u. Untersuchungen, Berlin 1980 * Rome and Canterbury: A Biblical and free Catholicism, 1961 * 'Honest to God': Three Sermons delivered in Winchester Cathedral, 1963 * Anglican Vision, S.P.C.K., 1971 *numerous articles in monastic and theological journals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Mendieta, Amand 1907 births 1976 deaths People from Namur (province) Patristic scholars Belgian Benedictines 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Belgian emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century Anglican priests Former Benedictines

Selected works

See also

References