Sunday, December 16, 2007

Biblia Clerus

The Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy introduced last week Biblia Clerus, which is both a powerful research website, and a downloadable tool which offers several different, searchable versions and translations of the Bible (NAB and RSV are offered in English; you can also choose the Latin, Hebrew, Greek, French, etc. Versions will differ depending on which language is selected), cross-referenced (and easily clickable) links to commentary on every verse from the early Church Fathers, Papal documents, Council documents, several catechisms, Aquinas' Summa Theologica and writings from other Doctors of the Church. From the Congregation's Clerus website:
This program offers Sacred Scripture, its interpretation in light of Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium, with appropriate theological commentary and exegesis. The downloadable version allows you to connect Sacred Scripture to the complete works of many Doctors of the Church, Councils, Encyclicals, teachings of the Popes, Catechisms, as well as commentaries from secular literature, etc.
So far, after downloading and poking around the program a bit, I've discovered literature in English from Belloc and Chesterton (including his biography of St. Thomas, and the delightful Fr. Brown mysteries!), and the poems of St. Therese (cross referenced to scripture!). There is also an option for downloading the 2002 Roman Missal - all of it - including the propers for each day.

Latin students can, of course, check out all of these works in ... Latin!

This is an amazing resource for teachers, students, priests, everyone with an interest in reading and understanding scripture "in the light of sacred tradition" and magesterium of the Church, as the Congregation for the Clergy's site puts it. The website appears to still have a few glitches (I could only find the daily readings in French, for example, and the Antiqua Vulgata in Tibetan!), so I recommend, if you have the space (40ish mb) and a speedy internet connection, downloading the Biblia Clerus program and the texts to have on your own computer.