Fr. Patrick Briscoe, O.P., on Why Jesus Is Astonishing

"'Repetitio est mater memoriae' he often crooned. 'Repetition is the mother of memory.'

"The Dominican friar Fr. A.C. Fabian, O.P., who for almost 50 years taught logic and Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy at Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minnesota, was famous for reciting over and over again his classroom aphorisms. We called these little phrases after him: Fabianisms. He even had a 72-word mantra, which he repeated every class, which I can still recite without missing a syllable, even though it's been over a decade since I stepped into his classroom.

"Fr. Fabian was an extraordinary teacher, not because he used the latest methods or knew every scholarly trend in vogue. In fact his classroom was rather the opposite. Fr. Fabian was an unforgettable teacher because he knew that teaching was not about his own life or ability. . . ."

In a recent commentary, Father Patrick Briscoe, O.P., reflected on how the "role of the teacher, present and personal, is indispensable in the project of education" and on Jesus' capacity to teach was extraordinary."

To access Fr Patrick's complete post, please visit: 

Aleteia: Fr. Patrick Briscoe, OP: Why Jesus is astonishing (30 JAN 21)