Fr. Harry Hagan, OSB
- Department Scripture
- Title Associate Professor of Scripture
Education
- BA (Saint Meinrad School of Theology, 1969)
- MDiv (Saint Meinrad School of Theology, 1974)
- MA (Indiana University, 1975)
- SSL (Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1978)
- Ad lauream (Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1986)
- SSD (Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2014)
Biography
Father Harry Hagan, OSB, of Bardstown, KY, joined Saint Meinrad Archabbey in 1971. After completing graduate studies in Rome in 1982, he began teaching Old Testament and serving on the Student Life Staff.
From 1996 to 2008, he served as the Novice and Junior Master for the Archabbey, becoming interested in the translation of early Latin monastic literature. He has recently finished a new translation of the Rule of Benedict.
Each year he teaches core courses in Old Testament narrative and poetry and related electives, particularly on covenant and the Psalms. He maintains a great interest in languages and regularly teaches Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
He served on the Renovation Committee of the Archabbey Church (1993-1997) and maintains an interest in church architecture.
Since 2000, he has produced three CDs of Gregorian chant for which he has written some of the English texts. He also developed the Meinrad chant font.
Since the publication of Awake, My Soul in 2002 by OCP Publishers, he has published over 40 hymns.
Email: hhagan@saintmeinrad.edu
Publications
Elements of Biblical Narrative: A Brief Introduction with an Analysis of the Red Sea Story. PALNI, 2021. An open-access eBook.
This brief introduction (12,000 words) surveys the basic elements of narrative found in the Bible and uses the Red Sea Story (Exod 13:17–14:31) for its examples. The monograph concludes with an analysis of that story to show how the pieces work together to create the power of narrative.
https://pressbooks.palni.org/biblicalnarrative/
Elements of Biblical Poetry: An Introduction to Its Craft, Language, and Genres. PALNI, 2022. An open-access eBook.
An introduction to the craft, language, and genres of biblical poetry seen in the English text of the psalms, wisdom literature, and the prophets.
https://pressbooks.palni.org/elementsofbiblicalpoetry/
Mighty in Battle: A Literary Study of Battle Narrative in the Ancient Near East and in the Bible. PALNI, 2021. An open-access eBook.
This literary study examines the heroic and the royal patterns of battle narrative in the ancient Near East and then turns to how the Bible uses and reshapes these patterns, particularly with its emphasis on the Lord as the hero—a theme underscored by the Bible's unlikely heroes and prophets.
https://pressbooks.palni.org/mightyinbattle/
Hymns for the Liturgy of the Hours at Saint Meinrad: The Liturgical Seasons
(Dissertation: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1986)
(Dissertation: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2013)