My name is Catherine Addington. I’m the first English translator of the collected writings of St. Rafael Arnáiz Barón, a young Spanish Trappist oblate of the early 20th century. He’s a painter, architecture student, diabetic, letter-writer, chocolate factory worker, turnip-peeler, Marian devotee, opera aficionado, and cigar smoker. I’m a writer and translator, vegetarian, former teacher, soccer fan, once-but-not-future academic, pixie-cut evangelist, aspiring media apostle, and Twitter obsessive. We share the ability to quote St. Teresa of Ávila from memory and a deep sadness for living in times with terrible politics. Welcome. I’m excited to invite you into our collaboration.
I have called this newsletter faith-full because translators are always judged on faithfulness of the wrong kind. Here I will argue that my work as a translator is answerable neither to the author nor to the reader—the traditional trinity of this particular discourse—but to God, who has entrusted me with this work.
If that sounds like a ride you want to be on, sign up below. In the meantime, tell your friends!
