“O farmers, happy beyond measure, could they but know their blessings!”
— Virgil, Georgics, Bk. II
M uch of who we are, what we do, and how we express ourselves as Catholics is tied inexplicitly to our ancient, but mostly forgotten, agrarian heritage. One cannot read the bible, for example, without soon stumbling onto a reference about the land, or farming, or animal husbandry. The pages of Scripture are saturated with numerous references to shepherds and sheep, fields and vineyards, plough shears and winnowing forks.
Richard S. Meloche, Ph.D. is president of the Alcuin Institute for Catholic Culture.