An Introduction: by the Chairman of the Eckhart Society

Abstract

The 1998 London event on St Valentine's Day was even better attended than 1997. 115 people were present for the Sermons, brilliantly performed by James Roose-Evans, introduced by Fr John Onne Mills and with commentaries by Fr Richard Woods. About 80 people attended the more light-hearted concert by Opus Anglicanum in the eveni~g entitled 'The Merrie Tales of Master Skelton' which followed a reception for about 130 people in the cloister. Judging by the feedback there is no doubt that this is one of the best ways of introducing Meister Eckhart's work. In a large space audibility is of crucial importance and we were fortunate that the event succeeded admirably in this respect. The music, too, added impressively to the atmosphere created by the splendid 12th-century church founded by Rahere. This year an Essay Prize of £200 has been offered by the Society and will be offered again next year. All the academic institutes providing medieval studies in the UK were mailed and the Society's website was used to announce it with appropriate details for the international field. The Society is greatly indebted to Richard WOQds for his help in the field of comniunications. An Assistant Editor has been found in the person of Professor Niklaus Largier and we hope that this will enable us to offer an additional service to our members by providing information about new publications. Membership has continued to grow and in March stood at 273 compared to 232 at the same time last year, of whom 77 are abroad in no less than 18 countries. Twenty-five new members joined in January and February 1998, mainly we think as a result of publicity given to the London event. The number of people attending the Plater College Conference in 1997 at 60 was substantially lower than in 1996. However, the extraordinarily high attendance in 1996 (94) can partly be explained by the presence of Carol Horrigan speaking about Pain Control. She undoubtedly attracted people who were particularly int~~ested in that aspect of Ursula Fleming' swork. This year, the tenth anniversary of our foundation, we hope that there will be a full house to hear Bernard McGinn, Alois Haas and Joseph Milne, all of whom have spoken before, and Philip MacShane OP, \vho has chosen the intriguing title 'What does Eckhart recommend we do?'. The Society is now in its tenth year and the Conference at Plater College Oxford at the end of August will be its eleventh. I hope you will be there and it remains for me once again to thank all our members for their support and especially the members of the Committee, whose enthusiasm has assisted so much in the expansion of the Society's work. Peter Talbot Willcox 18 March 1998