FORMER ARTLETS faculty secretary and UST Asian Studies Prof. Lino Baron is set to publish a book chronicling 50 years of the St. Thomas More lectures, the Faculty of Arts and Letters annual lecture series.
The book titled “Celebrating More” will be launched during the 57th St. Thomas More lecture at the Medicine Auditorium on Feb. 24. It is also one of the activities that will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB).
Baron’s Celebrating More consists of the lectures from 1968 to 2019. It contains lectures that tackled the identity of St. Thomas More including his roles as a saint, lawyer, humanist, businessman, writer, theologian and family man.
The English martyr and patron saint of AB was a lord chancellor who was executed for refusing to recognize King Henry VII as the head of the Church of England.
“The objective here of writing the book is to be able to chronicle what they wrote, and to incorporate it into the lives of St. Thomas More,” Baron told The Flame.
Baron, who will also serve as the speaker in this year’s lecture, collected 13 of the original texts of the past speakers while the rest were retrieved from various university publications.
When asked about the challenges he faced while writing the book, Baron said finding the lectures was difficult as some of them were not readily available.
“There were only 13 original texts which I collected, those of which were lying idle in the Dean’s office when I was the faculty secretary,” he said
“So, what I did was just retrieve them and then file them and then keep them without knowing that there will come a time when I will make this book.”
Baron began to write the book during his sabbatical in 2019. According to him, about 95% of the final manuscript was finished by 2020.
The book was supposed to be launched between 2020 to 2021, in celebration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, but was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Renaissance Man
Baron said one of the crucial details about St. Thomas More is that he was a Renaissance humanist, and yet the humanities are more often than not overlooked by most people, even when notable figures were humanists themselves.
“Many people will say that we need more science and math to progress, and people will often judge you for taking a humanities course because it “doesn’t make money.” But if that were the case, the humanities would have long been abolished. Why are there still many students enrolling in the humanities if they are unimportant?” Baron said.
“We are important because these speakers came up with a speech where they’re giving importance to any course in the humanities, and we are in the humanities,” he added.
Baron said the book seeks to introduce the Artlets to their patron saint and to help them keep their faith.
“Hold on to your religion. Hold on to your faith. Because your God is going to really protect you and save you,” he said.
Notable speakers of the St. Thomas More Lecture include National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, former president Diosdado Macapagal, and former president Corazon Aquino.
“The opportunity of being the 57th Thomas More speaker… You will give it to presidents, senators, national artists, academicians, Supreme Court chief justices… Who is Lino Baron? Lino Baron is just an ordinary faculty member,” he said.
According to the Asian Studies professor, Celebrating More is set to be the first-ever book of the Faculty of Arts and Letters. It will also be released as a volume publication, as Baron purposely wants the lecture series to be continued by other fellow academics later on.
“Maybe the reason it was delayed is because of the Divine Providence of St. Thomas More telling me—no, not yet, we will launch this in the 60th anniversary of the faculty. After six decades of Arts and Letters, we will now have a book of our own,” he said. F – with reports from Joss Gabriel Oliveros
