In Memoriam: Mary T. Hansbury
Jeanne-Nicole
Mellon Saint-Laurent
Marquette University
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James E. Walters
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
2021
Volume 24.2
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https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv24n2obhansbury
Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent
In Memoriam: Mary T. Hansbury
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol24/HV24N2OBHansbury.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, 2021
vol 24
issue 2
pp 375-376
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal
dedicated to the study of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in
January and July) by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. Published since 1998,
Hugoye seeks to offer the best scholarship available in the field of Syriac
studies.
File created by James E. Walters
Syriac scholar Dr Mary Hansbury passed away on March 2, 2021,
at 79. Hansbury earned a PhD from Temple University in 1987, and she wrote her
dissertation on Evidence of Jewish Influence in the Writings of
Isaac of Nineveh. Hansbury produced many translations of Syriac texts by
Ephrem, Jacob of Serug, Simeon the Graceful, Isaac of Nineveh, and John of Dalyatha,
and these books brought Syriac authors to wider audiences. She lived in China for a
semester and was interested in interreligious dialogue and the Syriac Church in the
Tang dynasty. Don Giuseppe Dossetti, to whom Hansbury dedicated her translation of
Jacob of Serug’s homilies On the Mother of God, had a lasting
impact on her spirituality and approach toward scripture, as David Michelson
recalls. Hansbury fostered a close relationship with the Sisters of the Love of God
in Oxford, who also published her work. She taught at La Salle University, Bethlehem
University in Palestine, and SEERI in Kerala. Hansbury was also known for being an
excellent iconographer. She offered beautiful icons to her teachers, students, and
friends, as Jason Scully and Sebastian Brock noted in their comments about Mary’s
life.
Although she liked to refer to herself as “just an Irish peasant,” in truth, she was
a dedicated scholar and theologian who deeply cared about making Syriac spiritual
writings accessible to wider audiences. Her conviction that the wisdom of the Syriac
monastics could nourish contemporary spiritual seekers shaped her work. Hansbury
attended and presented at many international conferences and was a faithful
supporter of the community of Syriac Studies in greater Philadelphia. When one would
converse with Mary at a conference or event, one would note her straightforward way
of getting to the heart of what mattered to her, and often, as Daniel Schwartz
remembers, it came down to the worship of God. She had a gift for making people feel
appreciated and seemed genuinely curious to learn about the scholarship and ideas of
others. In the introduction to her dissertation, one hears her enthusiasm for Isaac
of Nineveh as she showcases his understanding of mercy as the foundation of
adoration and humility: “And what is a merciful heart? It is the heart’s burning for
all of creation… It grows tender and cannot endure hearing or seeing any injury or
slight sorrow to anything in creation.” I will miss conversing with Mary and am
grateful for all she taught me through her work. In the words of Sebastian Brock,
who taught Mary and assisted her in editing her work, may Mary’s soul find rest in
the bridal chamber of joy: ܬܬܢܝܚ ܢܦܫܗ̇ ܒܓܢܘܢܐ ܕܚܕ̄ܘܬܐ .