IIIRise and Progress of Universities and Benedictine Essays

British theologian John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)—a leading figure in both the Church of England and, after his conversion, the Roman Catholic Church—was known as "The Father of the Second Vatican Council." His Parochial and Plain Sermons (1834-42) is considered the best collection of sermons in the English language. He is also the author of A Grammar of Assent (1870).Mary Katherin Tillman teaches in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and provided an introduction for Fifteen Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford, also published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

"Tillman's introduction explains how The Rise and Progress (1854-56) completes the Newman classic The Idea of a University (1852) by providing the creative history of "the university venture." Tillman celebrates the Benedictine Essays (1858-59) as a unique literary achievement." —Theological Studies