
- Fr. Bob
Paschasius Radbertus
>> c.785-860. Abbot and scholar. From the vicinity of Soissons, he entered the monastery of Corbie under the direction of Adalhard, its first abbot. Well versed in the Scriptures, Church Fathers, and Latin classics, he became an instructor of younger monks. His exemplary humility refused to allow him advancement beyond the order of deacon. Following the death of Abbot Isaac, however, he accepted the abbacy of Corbie, a post he renounced for unencumbered study about 853. Meanwhile he attended the synods of Paris (847) and Quiercy (849). He produced several biographies and dogmatic works-especially contributions in Mariology-and extensive commentaries on Matthew, Psalm 44, and Lamentations; yet De corpore et sanquine Domini, written in 831 and revised in 844, is his most famous work. His realistic interpretation of Christ's presence at the sacrament, graphically depicted as being in the Lord's same crucified and risen flesh, was sharply opposed by Ratramnus* and Rabanus Maurus* and later gave way to a subtler, Aristotelian explanation. <<
That is the short, authoritative entry in the Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, reprinted here. A longer, much more exciting (but less well documented) life history can be found here. My understanding of Radbertus was influenced by Avery Dulles, The Assurance of Things Hoped For: A Theology of Christian Faith. (excerpt here)
Radbertus wrote a whole treatise on Faith, Hope and Charity. If you have an account with Scribd, you can download a PDF of the 1852 Migne version (Patrologia Latina vol 120) at this link. You can also borrow the PDF from me. This is some information about Patrologia Latina and the newer electronic version (link here).
REFLECTION:
Of the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, every one of the faithful should be knowledgeable and aware of what in it pertains to faith and what to knowledge, because faith in the mystery is not rightly defended without knowledge, nor is knowledge nurtured without faith.
- St Paschasius