Event: Announcing the 2016 Summer Theology Program in Norcia, Italy (July 10-24)

We have been asked to announce the following event:

The St. Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies [AMCSS], in partnership with the Monastero di San Benedetto, will hold its fifth annual summer theology program in Norcia, Italy, from July 10–24, 2016.

This summer’s program focuses on the Epistle to the Hebrews, which offers an occasion to explore the mystery of grace as it is found in its source, Jesus Christ, the head of the Mystical Body, and in its threefold extension to the whole of creation, to the rational creature, and to the saints. With the sacred text as the primary source, participants will also follow the interpretive tradition of the Church by reading commentaries of the Fathers, and in particular, the great commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas.

This year’s faculty will include Rorate's Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, Fr. Thomas Crean, OP, and Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB. The two-week program of seminars and lectures reaches its climax in an authentic scholastic disputation, moderated by one of the monks. 

In addition to the academic program, there is the opportunity to participate in the rich daily life of traditional worship (Low Mass, High Mass, and Divine Office) of the Benedictine monks who live and pray at the birthplace of SS. Benedict & Scholastica. The schedule includes the town’s festive celebration of the Feast of St. Benedict on July 11th as well as pilgrimages to the nearby towns of Assisi and Cascia. At the end, participants may choose an add-on weekend in Rome.

The cost for tuition, room, and half-board (a light breakfast and an authentic 5-course Italian dinner every day) is 900 Euros. Tuition includes a hardcover bilingual edition of Aquinas’s 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 to submit for possible course credit elsewhere.

The St. Albertus Magnus Center is dedicated to the revival of higher studies in theology, undertaken according to the mind and method of the great scholastics, above all, the Angelic Doctor -- in the heart of the Church, and at the foot of the altar.

For full information and for registration, visit the summer program page at the AMCSS website.