Registration open For:
Summer 2025
June 2 - July 31
Classes being offered this summer
Introduction to Spirituality
This course will provide an in-depth introduction to Spiritual Theology, the discipline within theology which can also be termed the Theology of the Interior Life or the Theology of Christian Perfection. The course will examine the nature of Spiritual Theology as well as its method and sources. The nature of Christian holiness will be treated, especially as it involves the integral operation of the theological virtues, the moral virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The vocation to the perfection of Christian charity (the call to holiness) will be treated in relation to baptismal consecration along with the obligation to pursue this perfection. The obstacles to Christian perfection, the stages of purgation normally traversed by the soul, positive means of growth in virtue and holiness, and the various grades of prayer will be treated. The sacraments of the Catholic Faith as primary means of holiness will also be considered.
Church History
Church History traces the development of the early Christian community to the present. This course thematically addresses thematically the divine origin of the Church and its historical pilgrimage as a community of disciples. Events in the New Testament, the Patristic era, the Middle Ages, the encounter with Islam, the schism between the East and West, the Renaissance, Reformation, and the modern world are explored. This course also discerns continuity and development in the Church by principally engaging primary source documents.
Ecclesiastical Latin (*Audit only)
This course will offer a basic introduction to ecclesiastical (i.e. Church) Latin. In order to give a wider context, it will begin with a brief survey of the history of the role of Latin in the Church followed by an exploration of the continued place of Latin in the Church today as envisioned in ecclesial documents. Next, it will introduce students to the Latin alphabet and to proper ‘ecclesiastical pronunciation’ as distinct from ‘classical pronunciation.’ Then, the bulk of the course will focus on the basics of Latin grammar and vocabulary that are particularly necessary for ecclesiastical use, with a particular focus on the Ordinary of the Holy Mass. The overall goal of this course is to give a modest introduction to ecclesiastical Latin which can serve as a foundation for future study and use of the lingua Ecclesiae ("language of the Church").