Preservation...

There are about four weeks in a year when weather in Rome borders on perfection - two in October and two right now in May. It has arrived. And with it came Fr. Columba Stewart, OSB who is participating in a conference of Mission and Monasticism, sponsored by Sant'Anselmo. Fr. Columba is a monk of the Abbey of St. John's in MN and was a professor of mine in the School of Theology two years ago.

We had a nice dinner together last night and caught up on life in general, my studies, and the important endeavors he helps to direct. Yesterday was also when the Wall Street Journal published an article on Fr. Columba's efforts to digitize ancient and precious manuscripts that are at the risk of being lost to the corrosion of time, poor environmental conditions, and the instability caused by revolt and war. Also, earlier this year, National Public Radio produced a very interesting piece on the work of digital preservation of manuscripts.