WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several tributes were held recently at the Franciscan Monastery here to honor Blessed John Duns Scotus.
On Nov. 9, homilist Fr. Romuald Green, OFM, remembered Scotus in the context of his defense of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On Nov. 14 at St. Francis Hall, author/lecturer Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, joined Fr. Romuald of Holy Spirit Province in Australia for a presentation. Sr. Ilia’s topic was “Duns Scotus and the God of Generous Love.”
Romuald, part of the team editing Scotus’ second and third versions of his Commentary on the Sentences, discussed “Scotus’ Teaching on the Univocity of Being.”
A champion of human rights and freedom, Scotus was “the tower of faith,” according to Pope John Paul II. His voluminous body of work is considered “centuries ahead of his time,” according to the Nov. 7 issue of SJB News Notes, the publication of St. John the Baptist Province, which provided a photo of the stained glass windows at the Franciscan Monastery (pictured above).
Commemorations of the VII centennial of the death of Blessed John Duns Scotus are being held throughout the world. The November 2008 issue of Fraternitas, the monthly newsletter of the Order of Friars Minor, describes many of them.
In Great Britian, a Mass commemorating Scotus was celebrated Nov. 13 at the International Center of Studies in Canterbury.