Summer Theology Program in Norcia with Dr. Kwasniewski, Fr. Crean, and the Benedictine Monks

Since 2012, the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies, in cooperation with the Benedictine Monks of Norcia, has offered a two-week summer theology program at the birthplace of SS. Benedict and Scholastica. This year, for their fifth summer, the Center has planned a truly marvelous program: “The Transcendent Christ: St. Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews.” Participants will study St. Thomas Aquinas’s commentary on Hebrews, exploring its rich teaching on Christology, priesthood, sacrifice, sacraments, and worship. The Epistle offers the opportunity to explore the topic of grace as it is found in its source, Jesus Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body, and, in particular, on how the excellence of the work of Christ has a three-fold extension: to the whole of creation, to the rational creature, and to the justification of the saints.

The faculty will include NLM’s own Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, as well as Fr. Thomas Crean, OP, Br. Evagrius Hayden, OSB. John Joy, Christopher Owens, and Daniel Lendman. Guest lectures will be delivered by monks from the monastery, including its prior, Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB. (It bears noting that, over the years, we have featured numerous items in connection with Fr. Cassian, such as this talk on sacred music, an article by Br. Evagrius, and the superb photography of Mr. Owens.)

The goal of the AMCSS is to offer a meaningful academic experience of scholastic theology in its original fullness: studying Sacred Scripture, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Fathers of the Church, in the peaceful and enchanting setting of a medieval Italian town, imbued with the spiritual and liturgical life of the traditional Benedictine monks (daily traditional Latin Masses, Low and High, and chanted monastic office), and all the culinary delights of the prosciutto and black truffle capital of Italy — in other words, an authentically Catholic feast for mind, soul, and body. This year the course dates include Norcia’s festive celebration of the feast of St. Benedict on July 11th. Pilgrimages to the nearby towns of Assisi and Cascia are included in the cost, with the option of participating in a weekend trip to Rome at the end.

The dates for the Summer program are July 10–24, 2016. Most remarkably, the cost for tuition, room, and half-board (a light breakfast and an authentic five-course Italian dinner every day) is 900 Euros. Tuition includes a hardcover bilingual edition of the Commentary on Hebrews as well as other course materials. A background in academic theology is not required. Students working towards degrees may request a summary of the program with faculty credentials and a certificate of completion that they may submit for possible course credit elsewhere.

For more information, please visit the AMCSS website.