This course addresses the practical application of the principles of spiritual direction in preparation for ministry. Lectures and exercises will focus on spiritual direction’s purpose, method, and special circumstances as encountered in parochial and specialized ministries.

The nature of mystical wisdom in the life of the Church remains an area of great misunderstanding even among theologians and contemplatives. With that in mind, this course will discuss how the International Theological Commission distinguishes scientific theological wisdom from mystical wisdom and proposes that they constitute different ways of participating in the life of God. Through a disciplined understanding of the connections between mystical wisdom and the life of Church, the distinction between mystical wisdom and scientific theological wisdom, and how mystical wisdom develops in the life of prayer according to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity and St. John Paul II the class will open up meaningful conversations regarding the primacy of contemplative prayer and the mystical life in ministry, apostolic efforts, and evangelization.

This course explores the theology of the Divine Indwelling and the Gift of the Holy Spirit in the life of faith. Besides the visible missions in which the Son and the Holy Spirit are historically manifest, there are invisible, spiritual missions in which the Word of the Father and the Fire of God’s Love are present to the soul in always new and more profound ways. Saint Thomas Aquinas, John Paul II, and Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity help the Church understand this mystery through their theological explanations, pastoral applications and doctrinal descriptions. By discerning the complementarity of their approaches, this course demonstrates how the ultimate end of the divine economy is anticipated in this life.

The evangelical counsels are proposed by the Church as means by which we may avail ourselves to a conversation with the Risen Lord that takes up our whole manner of life. In today’s world, they are radically counter-cultural, a sign of contradiction. If lived by faith and prudently applied to each one’s manner of life, poverty, chastity and obedience open up the mystery of the beatitudes to all the baptized whether one is single, married or consecrated to the Lord. In his Theology of Body as well as other writings, John Paul II sheds light on the relationship of beatitudes and the evangelical counsels through his own reflections on “the Great Mystery”, the love of Christ for the Church. Chastity, purity of heart and contemplation converge on this Mystery of the Bridegroom and the Bride to reveal the salvific mission of sacramental marriage and the vital importance for those in consecrated life bear themselves as living icons of the life of heaven and the end of time.

This course offers an introduction to the spiritual treasures of the Byzantine tradition of Christianity. The first part looks at the distinctive features of its rich liturgical piety. The second part extends this liturgical perspective to include the ways in which icons communicate the mysteries of the faith. And the third part examines the Hesychast tradition, focusing on the Prayer of the Heart.

In this exploration of the theology of mercy, the spiritual doctrine of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Saint Maria Faustina, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, and Saint Pope John Paul II are thematically surveyed in relation to the realities of conversion and suffering in the Christian life. In light of these modern-day witnesses and the teachings of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict, Divine Mercy remains the dominant spiritual theme of our era and a key to approaching the new evangelization. Learn more in this Graduate level course.

What is the nature of spirituality? What questions must it answer? And, what distinguishes authentic Catholic spirituality from opposing forms of spirituality today? This graduate level course answers these questions and more with the wisdom of Hans Urs von Balthasar and the instruction provided by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

What is the mystical life and how do we make progress in it? How do we become spiritually mature? Why do bad things happen to good people?
Discover some answers to these questions in Introduction to Spiritual Theology. During this course, we will deepen our understanding of the Trinity and how we can strive to imitate Jesus and Mary every day. We will also engage topics such as stages of prayer, discernment of spirits, and ordinary and extraordinary mystical phenomena.

This course provides an overview of the spiritual doctrine of Saint Hildegard, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint John of Avila, Saint Teresa of Avila, and Saint John of the Cross. During the first five hundred years into the second millennium of Christianity, a host of saints rediscovered the power of mental prayer, devotion to Christ and the need for ongoing conversion summarized by Saint Benedict in terms of quaerere Deum, lectio divina, conversatio morum and habitare secum. Thus this second course on the wisdom of the saints flows from the first but is specified by the number of Doctors of the Church – most of whom have been declared only in the last fifty years.

This course begins with a biblical foundation of Mary’s role in salvation history from Genesis through the New Testament and explores the thought of the greatest Marian saints including Sts. Louis De Montfort, Maximilian Kolbe, and Pope John Paul II. Topics include an emphasis on Mary’s relationship to the Blessed Trinity, her perfect example as the preeminent disciple of Christ, and her role as spiritual mother to all believers.