Summer Theology Program in Norcia, Italy

You may have noticed the new sidebar ad to the right. Our long-time friends at the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies asked that we post some information about the summer program that they will be holding in Norcia, Italy from June 16th-29th.

For two weeks room and board in Italy, you can't beat the price! And Norcia, the birthplace of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica, is an absolutely beautiful town. For anyone who has an interest in studying the Faith of the Church, I would wholeheartedly recommend attending the program.

From their website:

Contemplating the Faith in Umbria

From June 16-29th, the St. Albert the Great Center for Scholastic Studies will hold a summer session in Norcia, Italy. In partnership with the Monasterro San Benedetto, this will be the third year they have held the Summer Institute.

The St. Albert the Great Center is dedicated to the revival of higher studies in theology undertaken according to the mind and method of the great scholastics, and in particular the work of St. Thomas Aquinas.

This summer's program is focussing on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. With the sacred text as our primary source, we will also follow along the interpretive tradition of the Church by reading commentaries of the Fathers and in particular St. Thomas's commentary on the epistle.

In many ways, the epistle is already an early synthesis of the Faith that the Evangelists witness to, and it offers us the opportunity to explore in depth many theological questions such as grace, justification, the relationship between the Old Covenant and the New, and the salvation of the Jews, to name a few.

Besides the daily seminars, there will be a guest lecture by Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB, the founder and prior of the monastery. The two-week program reaches its climax in an authentic scholastic disputation, moderated by one of the monks.

In addition to the academic program, we will, of course, be participating in the daily life of worship (High Mass, Divine Office) of the Benedictine monks who live and pray at the birthplace of SS. Benedict & Scholastica. There will be excursions to Assisi and to Cascia, as well as attendance at the Papal Mass in Rome for the Feast of SS. Peter & Paul at the conclusion of the program.

For more information, visit their website: http://www.albertusmagnuscss.org