The 2017 Norcia Summer Theology Program of the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies, "Divine Power in a Hidden Way," dedicated to the theology of the sacraments, will be starting up in a month's time: July 2-14. We still have room for last-minute applications, so if you've been tottering on the edge about coming, now's the time to make the final decision. A full description of the program and practical details may be found at the above link.
The syllabus for the seminars will be as follows (each seminar to be based on a reading from St. Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on the Sentences IV):
Monday, July 3: Introduction to program, author, book, and themes
Monday, July 3: Definition of sacrament; whether sacraments were necessary after the fall; whether sacraments consist of words and things
Tuesday, July 4: Whether sacraments of the New Law are a cause of grace; whether sacraments of the Old Law confer grace
Tuesday, July 4: Whether sacraments are remedies for evils; why there are seven; how these ought to be ordered; why the sacraments were instituted at a certain time
Wednesday, July 5: Definition of baptism; the formula of baptism; why water must be used
Wednesday, July 5: The sacramental character; the effects of baptism; the three kinds of baptism
Thursday, July 6: The Eucharist as a sacrament; its unity, names, figures, and institution
Thursday, July 6: The words of consecration of the host and the chalice
Friday, July 7: Understanding the Mass: St. Thomas’s commentary on the Roman rite
Friday, July 7: The reception of the Eucharist
Monday, July 10: The Real Presence
Monday, July 10: Transubstantiation
Tuesday, July 11: The matter of the Eucharist
Tuesday, July 11: The effects of the Eucharist, and how frequently it is to be received
Wednesday, July 12: The minister of the Eucharist
During the program, there will also be formal lectures by
Fr. Thomas Crean, OP
Gregory DiPippo
Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski
Fr. Benedict Nivakoff, OSB, Prior
Christopher Owens
The monks of Norcia look forward to welcoming all participants in the Summer Theology Program, especially as they open their new chapel to the public (which will be inaugurated this Pentecost Sunday). The best part of the program, in my opinion, is studying the rich readings of Aquinas in the context of attending the daily usus antiquior Masses and the chanted Divine Office. It is the sort of combination that ought to be the norm in Catholic life but is so rarely met with.
