Description
Albert Nolan OP was a South African born Dominican priest, writer, YCS Chaplain and activist against apartheid in South Africa. He is well-known, since the 1970s, for his writings in Christology (Jesus Before Christianity was an international best seller), but there are few published pieces of his writings on Dominican themes. At various times in his life he was Novice Master and Student Master to young Dominicans in his viceprovince and so had to prepare talks to give to those under his care on aspects of the Dominican life, while at other times he was the provincial and so was invited to speak at meetings and conferences and gave talks reflection on his life and his vocation. This books brings together a number of these writings; talks to the novices, and papers he gave to others (including one to the Jesuits’ in South Africa), on Dominican saints, the spiritual life, and on various forms of prayer. Some of the papers are dated and it is clear to whom they were addressed, while others are not. However, they offer significant insights into his life and thoughts of being a Dominican in South Africa.
‘For [Albert it] was clear that Jesus was the prophet par excellence and it is his prophetic or preaching office which we as a Dominican community try to imitate’. The followers of St Dominic are ‘a sign of contradiction, criticising the society in which they live and stand(ing) out as the conscience of the people, condemning every form of worldliness.’ He recognised the important role in the life of the Order played by St Catherine of Siena, ‘a powerful example of what it means to be a true Dominican’. And while Catherine’s first aim was to dedicate herself totally to contemplation, it was precisely her union with God in Jesus that drove her out of her cell to give to others the fruits of her contemplation.’ From the Foreword by Alison Munro OP
About the author
Albert Nolan OP (2 September 1934 – 17 October 2022) was a South African Catholic priest, theologian writer and member of the Dominican Order. He is well known for his book, Jesus Before Christianity, first published in 1976. It has sold more than 150,000 copies and was translated into over 10 different languages. Nolan published his second major work, God in South Africa in 1988. At one point during the writing process he ‘went underground’ to hide from the South African Security Forces during the State of Emergency. In 2006, Nolan published his Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom. In 1990 Albert Nolan received an honorary doctorate from Regis College, Toronto, Canada while in 2003 the South African government awarded him the Order of Luthuli in silver, in recognition of ‘his life-long dedication to the struggle for democracy, human rights and justice and for challenging the religious dogma including theological justification of apartheid’. On 15 November 2008, the Master of the Dominican Order, Fr Carlos Azpiroz Costa OP promoted Nolan to a Master of Sacred Theology in recognition of the significant contribution he had made to theological research and debate.
Alison Munro OP Congregational Prioress of the Oakford Dominican Sisters, South Africa.
Book Review
A new book of selected articles, essays, talks and sermons by renowned South African theologian, priest and activist Fr Albert Nolan OP, who died in October 2022, has been released. The book explores the integration of contemplation and social justice.
Titled “Being Compassionate Contemplatives: Dominican Engagement with the World”, the book includes previously unpublished material, some of which has been transcribed from Fr Nolan’s handwritten notes.
A prominent figure in the Church in South Africa and in the struggle against apartheid, Fr Nolan gained international recognition through his 1976 book Jesus Before Christianity, and further theological literary acclaim through his authoring of God in South Africa in 1988 and Jesus Today in 2006.
Known for a public ministry that included political activism, a simple lifestyle, a deep social analysis that strongly influenced the 1985 Kairos Document, a youth ministry that incorporated his chaplaincy of the Young Christian Students, the editorship of ecumenical magazine Challenge, and the promotion of contextual theology, one chapter in the book also offers a rare autobiographical insight into how Nolan viewed his life as a religious.
Here, Fr Nolan explains the centrality of compassion to his spiritual life, a value that he says was taught to him by his mother. It helped him overcome pride and selfishness as a novice and allowed the prestige of being elected to the position of the order’s master-general to carry no attraction when compared with continuing his work in solidarity with those suffering oppression. Instead, he turned down the honour of leading the world’s male Dominicans.
The chapter also reveals not only the influence of the great Dominican saint Thomas Aquinas on Fr Nolan, but also that of US Trappist monk Thomas Merton, various Catholic religious and Christians from other denominations, as well as political activists of all faith traditions and of no faith at all, who demonstrated tremendous self-sacrifice.
While not explicitly stated, many of the articles embody Fr Nolan’s understanding of, and his desire to live by, the Dominican motto of “Contemplata aliis trader”, or “to give to others the fruits of contemplation”.
“As Dominicans, it is vital that we, who are preachers, give our lives to contemplation and prayer and thereby live our charism by passing on the fruit of contemplation,” Fr Nolan writes. This involves prayer and study but also “truly learning to recognise the presence of God as mystery, in ourselves, in others, in society, in creation and the universe, but above all in Jesus.”
He adds that the true contemplative is someone who has sufficient inner peace to listen to others. “If I am a contemplative, I am able to listen to what God has to say to me through other people — almost any other person and not only the ones we admire.”
The book’s 18 short and accessible chapters deal with broad ranging themes, from reflections on great Catholic personalities such as St Dominic, St Catherine and St Albert, to Fr Nolan’s thoughts on preaching, prayer, leadership and the option for the poor.
It includes a thought-provoking sermon titled “The Unforgivable Sin”, where Fr Nolan explains that the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit is when people describe good as evil, the truth as lies and evil as good. An article on “‘The Great Divorce” between spirituality and social justice looks at how to move beyond such dualism and recognise that spirituality and work for social justice belong together.
In her foreword, Sr Alison Munro OP writes that the book’s essays point to how Fr Nolan grew in understanding of what it means to be human and follow Jesus, to be committed to the poor and marginalised, and to integrate contemplation and preaching in a particular Dominican way. She concludes that Fr Nolan’s spirituality is as relevant today as when he wrote it.
