Magis Lecture | Why Do We Need Saints and Miracles?
2025-10-30 17:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Saint Ignatius College Prep, 1076 W Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL
REGISTER HERE
5:00 Mass | 5:30 Drinks & Hors d’Oeuvres | 6:30 Lecture | 7:30 Close
Cosponsored by the Bollandist Society, St. Ignatius College Prep. Supported by the Fr. Paul V. Mankowski, S.J., Memorial Fund for Jesuit Scholarship at Lumen Christi. This project is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
Free and open to the public. Registration required. For questions, please contact Margaux (Killackey) Taffet mtaffet@lumenchristi.org.
Lecture Description
Two of the most significant features of Catholic Christianity are its focus on holy men and women and the miracles ascribed to them. What is it that makes saints and miracles so significant? What difference does this characteristic of Catholicism make, not just for its history, but for us, here and now? Asking such questions is absolutely necessary for Catholics, and in this talk we will explore why this is so. Please join the Lumen Christi Institute, the Bollandist Society, and St. Ignatius College Preparatory School for this lecture delivered by Yale scholar, Carlos Eire.
About the Magis Series
The Magis Series on Faith and Reason is a partnership between the Lumen Christi Institute, St. Ignatius College Prep, and Loyola Academy to bring accessible yet sophisticated lectures on the Church’s intellectual tradition to the broad lay public. The event is open to everyone from high school students to retirees. Anyone who desires a lively entrée into the mind of the Church is welcome and encouraged to attend; no affiliation with either high school is needed.

The Silmarillion
2025-10-30 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-11-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-11-13 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
7:00 – 8:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate students. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
Peter Thiel wants to live forever, and he’s cited the works of JRR Tolkien as a justification: “why can’t we be elves?” But a careful reader of Tolkien’s works, especially the cosmological and mythic stories in The Silmarillion, knows that the answer to that question is very complicated. In this group, we will discuss what Tolkien has to say about death, mortality, and suffering, along with his rich worldbuilding and epic tales.
Schedule:

Oct 16 – Week One (52 pages): Ainulindalë (pages 13-23), Quenta Silmarillion chapters 1-8 (pages 35-77)
Oct 23 – Week Two (52 pages): QS chapters 9-16 (78-130)
Oct 30 – Week Three (56 pages): QS chapters 17-19 (131-187)
Nov 6 – Week Four (49 pages): QS chapters 20-22 (188-237)
Nov 13 – Week Five (45 pages): QS chapters 23-24 (238-257), Akallabêth (257-283)

Faculty Colloquium on They Flew by Carlos Eire
2025-10-31 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | The Catholic Theological Union, 5416 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL, 60615, United States
This event is by invitation only. For more information contact Geoffrey Zokal gzokal@lumenchristi.org
The Lumen Christi Institute will host a faculty colloquium with Carlos Eire on his book They Flew: A History of the Impossible. Remarks will be given by Richard Kieckheffer (Northwestern University) and Barbara Newman (Northwestern University) with responses followed by Carlos Eire. The colloquium will be moderated by Father Andrew Summerson.

The Vice of Curiosity
2025-11-03 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-11-10 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate students. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
This project is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
In our Information Age, we are constantly bombarded by a deluge of new knowledge, whether it be academic works, social media alerts, or 24/7 news blasts. In the academy in particular, we are taught from an early age that the ideal student is the one with insatiable curiosity – a never-ending appetite for knowledge in whatever guise it may come. And yet if we are honest, this ceaseless quest for total knowledge often leaves us more distracted and anxious than ever before. St. Augustine would have a surprising diagnosis for our age – we suffer from the vice of curiositas, a kind of malformed appetite for knowledge that prizes novelty and control over the intrinsically true, good, and beautiful.
In the Vice of Curiosity and Intellectual Appetite, esteemed theologian Paul J. Griffiths outlines an Augustinian critique of the modern academy’s ways of knowing, including the history of how modernity turned curiosity from vice into virtue, a theological criticism of patent law, and analysis of why plagiarism is not in fact theft. In this five week reading group, we will dive into the thought of both St. Augustine and Griffiths as we seek to understand what a properly catechized intellectual appetite looks like and how we can rightly desire knowledge as students.
Schedule:

Oct 13 – Week 1: Introduction (Optional Reading, Intellectual Appetite: 9-18 of Introduction)
Oct 20 – Week 2: The Vice of Curiosity, p. 1-21 (Optional: I.A. p. 19-22 & 75-91)
Oct 27 – Week 3: V.C., p. 22-41 (Optional: I.A. p. 139-162)
Nov 3 – Week 4: V.C., p. 41-59 (Optional: I.A. p. 163-186)
Nov 10 – Week 5: V.C., p. 60-79 (Optional: I.A. p. 125-138)

The Works and Legacy of St. Augustine
2025-11-04 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-11-11 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-11-18 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
6:00 Dinner | 6:30 Lecture (last 20 Q & A) | 7:30 End
This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org.
In his first public address, Pope Leo XIV declared himself “a son of St. Augustine, who once said, ‘With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.’” This moment served as an ode to the Augustinian order, of which he is a member, and marked St. Augustine as a central influence to his papacy.
In order to understand Pope Leo XIV, we must return to St. Augustine.
St. Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354–430) was a North African bishop and theologian whose writings, like The Confessions and The City of God, shaped Christian thought. After a life of searching and struggling with what is true, he embraced the Christian faith. His philosophy ultimately centers on the idea of the restless soul finding rest in God.
Join us as we survey one of the most prominent theologians in the history of Christianity and explore his enduring legacy on the Church today.

Schedule:
Oct 7 – Week 1: City of God pt 1
Willemien Otten (Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor of Theology and the History of Christianity; also in the College; Associate Faculty in the Department of History, Social Sciences Division, The University of Chicago)
The City of God is a major historical-theological work that gives both a macrohistory of the world but also a microhistory of Adam and Eve folded within it. The first two sessions of the class will deal respectively with the dynamics of the macro- and the microhistorical view.
To focus on City of God, books 1, 5 and 11-13. See also the article by James Wetzel, “Augustine on the Origin of Evil: Myth and Metaphysics.”
Oct 14 – Week 2: City of God pt 2
Willemien Otten
The City of God is a major historical-theological work that gives both a macrohistory of the world but also a microhistory of Adam and Eve folded within it. The first two sessions of the class will deal respectively with the dynamics of the macro- and the microhistorical view.
To focus on City of God, books 14-15 and 19. See also the article by Willemien Otten, “Between Exegesis and Naturalization: Gender and Creation in Augustine.”
Oct 21 – Week 3: Confessions
Ryan Coyne (Associate Professor of the Philosophy of Religions and Theology; also in the College, The University of Chicago)
Oct 28 – Week 4: On The Trinity
Bernard McGinn (Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology and of the History of Christianity in the Divinity School and the Committees on Medieval Studies and on General Studies, The University of Chicago)
Augustine’s “De Trinitate” is one of his longer and most difficult writings. The book makes three significant contributions to Christian theology of the Trinity: (1) sorting out the biblical basis for the Trinity; (2) establishing a “grammar” of correct speaking about the doctrine, and (3) exploring the inner appropriation of the Trinity into the life of the believer.
Nov 4 – Week 5: On Christian Teaching
Scott Moringiello (Chair of the Department of Catholic Studies, Associate Professor, DePaul University)
Augustine’s On Christian Teaching (De Doctrina Christiana) is in some ways an overlooked classic. But this book gets to the heart of Augustine’s theological vision. In explaining the proper way to interpret the Scriptures and to preach Augustine offers a vision of how to do theology. If you read the Scriptures, and love does not increase in you, you’re misreading them.
Nov 11 – Week 6: Augustine and the Sociology of the Self
Cassandra Sever (Postdoctoral Fellow, The Lumen Christi Institute)
What if the key to understanding today’s cultural crises is hidden in an ancient vision of the self? This lecture explores Augustine’s idea of the self as ordered to the sacred and meaning-seeking—and shows how this vision can illuminate the sociology of who we are, what we long for, and the fractures of the contemporary world.
Nov 18 – Week 7: History of the Augustinian Order
Fr. Peter Funk, O.S.B. (Prior of the Monastery of the Holy Cross)

MacIntyre’s Dependent Rational Animals
2025-11-06 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-11-13 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-11-20 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
5:00-6:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org.
“What is ‘in your character’ (NOT ‘in your wallet’)?” Who is your guide to a happy, fulfilled life–Nietzsche or Aristotle? Given the ethical confusion, indeed meltdown, afflicting our society, who offers the most reliable “moral compass” to help us find our way?
This reading course will read and discuss Dependent Rational Animals by Alisdair MacIntyre. Drawing on Aristotle, MacIntyre describes our biologically rooted condition and the need to cultivate the virtues that take account of our shared human condition. Macintyre criticizes Aristotle’s ideal of the “great souled” man; he argues for the cultivation of virtues that acknowledge our inescapable dependence and inter-dependency.
A midlife convert from atheistic Marxism to Catholicism, MacIntyre is considered by many to be the most important moral philosopher of the past 50 years. He died in the spring of 2025, making a re-assessment of his life’s work all the more timely.
Copies of Dependent Rational Animals will be provided to all participants. Weekly meetings are held over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 40 pages.

SCHEDULE

Oct. 16 Introduction (readings available in class Google Folder)
Oct. 23 DRA, preface + chapters 1-4, pp. 1-41
Oct. 30 DRA, chapters 5-7, pp. 43-80.
Nov. 6 DRA, chapters 8-9, pp. 81-118.
Nov. 13 DRA, chapters 10-11, pp. 119-146
Nov. 20 DRA, chapter 12-13, pp. 147-166

Religion, Politics, and Revolution in The Ancient City
2025-11-12 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
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6:00 p.m. Dinner | 6:15 p.m. Discussion | 7:30 p.m. End
This event is designated for current University of Chicago undergraduate students. All registrants will be provided with a free copy of the text.
This seminar and the Nicklin Fellows are made possible by the First Analysis Institute. This seminar is co-sponsored by the Seldon Institute and is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
Description:
Nothing could be stranger than life in the cities of ancient Greece and Rome:

Property is private, but its sale is forbidden
Celibacy is illegal
Marriage ceremonies combine ritualized force and denunciation of ancestors
Politics is all-consuming

The more one looks at the ancient world, the odder it appears–until one realizes that ancient religion was the key to the social state.
The Ancient City is the great masterpiece of the 19th century French historian, Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges. By turning an incisive eye towards the primary sources of Ancient Greece and Rome, supplemented by comparisons to ancient Hindu texts, Coulanges reconstructed the basis of ancient Greek and Roman society. At the root of this society was ancient religion and the domestic cult. Only by understanding ancient religion could one begin to understand the nature of ancient law, property relations, and political organization.
Coulanges traced the origin and development of the ancient city, its transformation among various social and political revolutions, and its demise. Coulanges’ new approach to old things paved the way for 20th century developments in anthropology and the sociology of religion.
Join us as we read selections of The Ancient City and discuss Fustel’s theses about the beginnings of religion, the birth of political life, and the nature of human society.
Schedule:
Each session will have about 15 pages of assigned reading. An additional 30 pages of recommended reading are suggested as well.

Oct 15 – Week 1: The Family and the Domestic Cult
Oct 29 – Week 2: The City
Nov 12 – Week 3: Revolutions

Please click here for the syllabus with more detailed reading assignments. PDFs of readings for the first session can be found here.

Series Description:
Fundamental Questions Seminar
This event is part of Lumen Christi’s Fundamental Questions program, a quarterly seminar designed for undergraduate students at the University of Chicago. By fostering intellectually rigorous conversation around culturally resonant texts, we aim to allow students to experience the force of the deep existential concerns which animate our lives: “Where do my values come from? What is the good life? How can I become happy?” Our aim is not to answer such fundamental questions, but rather to equip students with the intellectual skills needed to recognize and articulate them for themselves. This group welcomes students from all religious and philosophical backgrounds because existential questions of being are of concern to all.
In addition, undergraduate students who participate in this seminar are eligible to become “Nicklin Fellows.” These fellows will have exclusive access to research and development grant funds to pursue their intellectual interests. Grants can be used to do things like the following:

Organize a reading group
Bring a speaker to campus
Organize a movie night
Develop and plan future fundamental questions seminars
Write a paper for a journal
And more!

Augustine the Teacher – Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Sources of Pope Leo XIV | West Suburban Catholic Culture Series
2025-11-12 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Ruth Lake Country Club, 6200 South Madison Street, Hinsdale, IL
The West Suburban Catholic Culture Series

Ever Ancient, Ever New:
The Sources of Pope Leo XIV
REGISTER HERE

November 12th:
Augustine the Teacher
Schedule: 6:30 p.m. Drinks | 7:00 p.m. Dinner, Lecture, & Q&A | 8:30 p.m. End
LECTURE DESCRIPTION
Doctor of the Church, Saint Augustine of Hippo, has a lot to say about teaching. He writes memorably about the way his early teachers failed him, teaching him to love praise and worldly success. He writes too about the vocation of the teacher, a vocation he lived in many different ways as rhetorician, father, priest, and bishop. In his early work “On the Teacher” he insists teaching is not a matter of passing along information. Instead, he writes, true teaching is an invitation to attend to the voice of Christ. Join Dr. Erika Kidd to learn more about Augustine’s timeless teaching wisdom and its continued relevance today.
Business casual attire encouraged. For questions, or if you would like to request a comped ticket as a priest, religious, or high school teacher, please email Margaux (Killackey) Taffet at mtaffet@lumenchristi.org.

Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life
2025-11-14 18:00 - 21:30 (America/Chicago) | 5554 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL 60637, Hyde Park, IL
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6:00 – Dinner | 6:30 Film | 9:30 End
Please reach out to Graham Certain (gtcertain@uchicago.edu) with any questions.
Widely considered Terrence Malick’s masterpiece, The Tree of Life is a meditation on the transcendent order of creation and the place of man in it. The film tells the story of Jack O’Brien and his family as he grows up in 1950s suburban Texas, interwoven with scenes from his adulthood and from the dawn of the universe. It is a glimpse into how nature and grace, suffering and beauty, strife and love all come together in a cosmic whole which surpasses understanding.
The event will consist of dinner beginning at 6pm, some brief introductory remarks beginning at 6:30, the film itself immediately following, and a discussion to conclude. Runtime is 139m.
The movie screening will be held at the Woodlawn House, a Victorian mansion located at 5554 S Woodlawn Ave. It is the site of the Lumen Christi Institute’s residential student community.

Conversion in the Modern Church: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil
2025-11-15 17:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | The Monastery of the Holy Cross, 3111 South Aberdeen St. Chicago, IL 60608, Chicago, IL
REGISTER BELOW
This event is primarily designated for current University of Chicago students. This event is co-sponsored by the Calvert House. Please reach out to William Hurley (whurley@lumenchristi.org) with any questions.
Experience the silence, prayer, and chant with the monks at the Monastery of the Holy Cross. In addition to a taste of the contemplative life, join a conversation hosted by the Prior of the Monastery, Fr. Peter Funk. He will lead a discussion on “Conversion in the Modern World,” with a focus on “The World.”
Lumen Christi will coordinate rides to and from the monastery for those without transportation.
SCHEDULE:

5pm – Arrival
5:15pm – Vespers
6:00pm – Dinner (with reading)
6:20pm – Silent Prayer
6:40pm – Discussion
7:05pm – End Discussion
7:15pm – Compline
7:30pm – End

Virtual Masterclass: The Thought of John Henry Newman
2026-01-09 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Chicago) | IL
Newly named Doctor of the Church, Saint John Henry Newman was a theologian, philosopher, educator, preacher, and writer. Remarkably, in each of these areas Newman produced works that have come to be recognized as classics: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, The Grammar of Assent, The Idea of a University, and the Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
Providing a glimpse of the 2026 intensive summer seminar on Newman’s thought, this virtual masterclass will engage adjacent texts on Newman on Faith and Reason.
The Zoom link, reading, and syllabus will be distributed in advance of the seminar.
This program is restricted to graduate students from any university or discipline.
This program is part of the project “In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide” (Grant #63614) supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
For more information contact Geoffrey Zokal at gzokal@lumenchristi.org

The Miraculous and the Supernatural
2026-01-13 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-01-20 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-01-27 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-03 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-10 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
6:00 Dinner | 6:30 Lecture (last 20 Q & A) | 7:30 End
This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”…or acknowledged by materialistic naturalism! [Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” act 1 sc.5]
This 5-session course will study Jesus’s miracles and miracles performed in Jesus’s name, the Eucharistic miracle in which bread and wine are transformed into his Body and Blood, and his miraculous Resurrection whereby he was raised body and soul from the dead. If the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth of Jesus, it is both a relic of his tortured death and a witness to his heavenly transformation! The course will also investigate the mystical experiences of saints such as Francis of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, and Theresa of Avila. Supernatural reality also includes the demonic, so exorcisms will be studied.
Schedule:

Jan. 13: The miraculous & the supernatural. Jesus the Miracle Worker and miraculous healings. The dogmatic limits of philosophical materialism.
Jan. 20: The Miracle of the Eucharist and eucharistic miracles.
Jan. 27: “They Flew”: mystical experiences of the saints.
Feb. 3: The reality of evil, the demonic and exorcisms.
Feb. 10: Near death experiences and the Shroud of Turin: experiential evidence for Life after death.

Why Think? Hannah Arendt and the Life of the Mind
2026-01-14 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-01-28 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-11 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-25 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
Meets Bi-Weekly on Wednesdays: Jan. 14, Jan. 28, Feb. 11, Feb. 25
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org).
What is “thinking”? This question attracts Hannah Arendt’s attention in her later works. Though Arendt claims that thinking is utterly without purpose and leaves no trace behind, she also proposes that it can provide a protective effect against certain forms of evil-doing in our time.
With that said, what is the practical relevance of thinking, today? Given the destructive, resultless nature of this activity, why bother? In short: Why think? In this seminar led by Prof. Magnus Ferguson, we will investigate what it means to ‘think’ in an Arendtian sense through close readings of key excerpts from Hannah Arendt’s final work, The Life of the Mind, as well as several short essays.
Copies of The Life of the Mind will be provided to all participants. Bi-weekly meetings are held on Wednesday evenings over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 30 pages.
Schedule:

Jan. 14: “Thinking and Moral Considerations”
Jan. 28: Life of the Mind Vol I (p. 69–98)
Feb. 11: Life of the Mind Vol I (p. 141–151, 166–182, 187–193)
Feb. 25: Life of the Mind Vol. I (p. 197–216), and “Karl Jaspers: A Laudatio”

Series Description:
Reading Course
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a student-centered reading course at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading course is usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.

Image Credit: Samuel Bak, “In Search of a Roof of One’s Own” (2017)

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien's Silmarillion
2026-01-15 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-01-22 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-01-29 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-02-05 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-02-12 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
Meets Weekly on Thursdays: Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5, Feb 12
*Note: Start Date has Been Moved Back a Week from Jan. 8 to Jan. 15
7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org).
There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and historical philosophies of Tolkien himself, The Silmarillion is a story of morality, greed, bliss, and tragedy. We invite you to join us in a discussion of The Silmarillion’s most dramatic tales, from the creation of the world to the forging of the One Ring.
Copies of The Silmarillion will be provided to all participants. Weekly meetings are held over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 30 pages.
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation (or prior knowledge of Tolkien!) is necessary.
Schedule:

Jan. 15: Ainulindalë and Valaquenta (p. 15-32)
Jan. 22: The story of Fëanor and the Silmarils (p. 63-90, 106-107)
Jan. 29: The story of Beren and Lúthien (p. 162-187)
Feb. 5: The story of Túrin Turambar and Nienor Níniel (p. 198-226)
Feb. 12: Akallabêth

Glimpses of Wonder: Faith, Reason, and Technology in the University Today
2026-01-23 09:00 - 10:30 (America/Chicago)
One great challenge in the modern research university is the siloing of information and of knowledge. While specialized knowledge is valuable, pressing questions confronting the contemporary world require that diverse forms of knowing be integrated, both in the heart of the knower and in society. A Catholic Institute is uniquely poised to speak to this challenge since the Catholic intellectual tradition has sought to embrace and integrate five intellectual virtues as presented in Aristotle (NE, VI:3) and St. Thomas Aquinas (ST, 1a-IIae, q. 57): wisdom, science, art, prudence, and mind or understanding. The Franciscan tradition has also emphasized the importance of wonder at the beauty of creation in this synthesis. In this class, we will engage the unity of these virtues under the guidance of wonder and discuss specific applications to new technologies in artificial intelligence and ecological engineering. True human flourishing is not necessarily about slowing down or accelerating the advance of progress as finding a new measure that allows one to see epiphanies of beauty and learn from them about oneself, the world, and the creator of the beauty of the world.
This masterclass will provide an engagement with topics related to the 2026 Summer Seminar “Glimpses of Wonder: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change” and will help students explore in advance related themes.
The Zoom link, reading, and syllabus will be distributed in advance of the seminar.
This program is restricted to graduate students from any university or discipline.
This program is part of the project “In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide” (Grant #63614) supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
For more information email Geoffrey Zokal at gzokal@lumenchristi.org

Greek New Testament
2026-01-23 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-01-30 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-06 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-13 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-20 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-27 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER BELOW
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Refreshments Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” This dramatic opening salvo of the Letter to the Hebrews, summarizing salvation history, is one of the most famous and consequential one-liners in the New Testament. But who is this Son? How is he “appointed heir of all things”? What is the relationship between God’s message through him and His message through the prophets? In this reading group, we will examine, through careful study of the Koine Greek text, how the Letter to the Hebrews answers these questions and more, with an eye to the authorship, audience, and genre of this mysterious text. All levels of Greek proficiency are encouraged to join. Advance preparation is recommended but not required.
Schedule:

Oct. 17: Introduction; Hebrews 1.1-4: God’s Son
Oct. 24: Hebrews 1.5-14: The Son’s Superiority to the Angels
Oct. 31: Hebrews 2.1-9,:The Son’s Abasement
Nov. 7: Hebrews 2.10-18: The Son, the Pioneer of Our Salvation
Nov. 14: Hebrews 3: The Son and Moses
Nov. 21: Hebrews 4.1-13: God’s Promised Rest

Jan. 23: Hebrews 4.14–5.14

Jan. 30: Hebrews 6.1–20

Feb. 6: Hebrews 7.1–22

Feb. 13: Hebrews 7.23–8.13

Feb. 20: Hebrews 9.1–14

Feb. 27: Hebrews 9.15–28

Winter Newman Forum Conference for High School Students: Back to the Future!
2026-02-21 09:30 - 14:30 (America/Chicago) | University of Saint Mary of the Lake, 1000 East Maple Avenue Mundelein, IL 60060, Mundelein, IL
REGISTER BELOW
Presented by the Lumen Christi Institute’s Newman Forum. Open to current high school students. This conference is cosponsored by the University of Saint Mary of the Lake at Mundelein Seminary, and the Archdiocese of Chicago Vocation Office. For more information, please email Margaux Taffet at newmanforum@lumenchristi.org.
What is the relationship between the past and the present? And how can this relationship prepare us for our future? How do we think about the past in a world fixated on the new? If our world is constantly changing, what does it mean to profess eternal truths?
On February 21, 2026, the Newman Forum’s “Back to the Future!” conference will gather high school students at the University of St. Mary of the Lake to discover the fascinating realities of everyday and misunderstood scientific, historical, literary, and religious topics. Students will meet with presenters and discuss the wonders of science, the lessons of history, the beauty of literature, and the mysteries of faith.
Students will get to pick three 20-minute “lightning round” presentations. Presentation topics may include: “Is there time in heaven?” “Did the Medieval world make modern science possible?” “Was St. Augustine anxious?” “What would Aristotle say about post-modern art?” or “Does the past still matter?”

PROGRAM

Registration
Welcome & Opening Prayer
Lightning Round Talks by invited professors and graduate students from the University of Chicago, Notre Dame, and other Universities
Lunch at the USML dining hall
Office Hours to engage with the faculty and learn about their interest, research, and school
Eucharistic Adoration

COST
$15 by Friday, January 30 | $30 after Friday, January 30th
$10/participant for groups over 10.

Please register a group of 9 or fewer using this “Individual Ticket” option. Indicate the number of participants you are registering, and record their names.
For a group of 10 or more, please register using this “Group Ticket” option. Indicate the number of participants you are registering, and record their names. For example, if you are registering a group of 30, be sure to select 30 tickets.
Please note: everyone must be pre-registered for this event by name. If a participant arrives who has not been registered by name, they will not be able to attend the conference. For questions, please email Margaux Taffet at newmanforum@lumenchristi.org.

The Mystery of Christ from Chalcedon to Maximus
2026-06-14 - 2026-06-20 | Sheptytsky House at the University of St. Michael’s College, 81 St. Mary Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1J4, Canada
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The Mystery of Christ from Chalcedon to Maximus
The seminar, to be held at the University of Toronto, will offer a contextual study of doctrine of the person of Jesus, beginning with the council of Chalcedon and culminating in Maximus the Confessor. This period is determinative for Christian thought on Christ for subsequent centuries and maps a complex interrelation between philosophy, politics, scriptural exegesis, and the accrued weight of prior Christian tradition. Students will be exposed to a wide range of texts and equipped to teach them effectively in the classroom.
Lewis Ayres, Angelicum University/Durham University
Paul Blowers, Milligan University
Fr. Andrew Summerson, Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies
Co-presented with the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College.

There are no tuition costs for the seminar and all course materials are provided. Lodging and most meals will be provided. Students will be responsible for some meals on their own.
After completion of the seminar, participants will receive a travel reimbursement of up to $350 to offset travel expenses.
Participants will arrive on Sunday, June 14 and depart on Saturday, June 20.
Fifteen applicants will be admitted to the seminar.

Working knowledge of relevant ancient languages will be helpful, but not essential. Preference will be given to Ph.D. students in theology, philosophy, classics, and other relevant fields of study. Advanced M.A. students will also be considered.
There will be two sessions each day in the morning and in the afternoon. Each session will include lectures and seminar-style discussions. Students will be expected to prepare the readings carefully and participate in the discussions of the material.
The application deadline is February 2, 2026.
Contact us with any questions at seminars@lumenchristi.org.

Glimpses of Wonder: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change
2026-06-14 - 2026-06-20 | Duke University, Chapel Drive Durham , NC 27708, Durham, NC
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Glimpses of Wonder: Epiphanies of Beauty in the Midst of Technological Change
Eugene Wigner, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963, was not only a celebrated scientist but also defended the “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics” in aesthetic terms. The beauty of the natural realm and the capacity of mathematical reason not only to measure the world but to see beyond its own finitude and look for a whole in the midst of parts is both mysterious and ubiquitous. In times of technological change, those parts move at an accelerated pace. True human flourishing is not necessarily about slowing down or accelerating the advance of progress as finding a new measure that allows one to see epiphanies of beauty and learn from them about oneself, the world, and the creator of the beauty of the world.
The point of this seminar will be to compare ancient visions of the wonder and beauty of creation, above all in the Augustinian and Franciscan intellectual tradition, with the challenges of technological revolutions, medieval and modern. The idea of the mechanical arts predates Newtonian mechanism and is already a theme in 13th century Paris, as can be found in distinct realms of technological advancement ranging from the motion of mechanical clocks to the engineering of the Gothic cathedral. The point is not to vindicate ancients, moderns, or contemporaries but to create a fruitful dialogue between ancient grammars of wonder and the intellectual, moral, spiritual, and everyday challenges that arise in the midst of rapid and accelerating technological change.
In order to give a foretaste for the summer seminar, Lumen Christi will offer a virtual masterclass on related themes, to be held on January 23, 2026 for graduate students from any university or discipline. The program is entitled “Glimpses of Wonder: Faith, Reason, and Technology in the University Today” and will be led by the seminar organizers, Peter Casarella and Sr. Damien Marie Savino. Click here for more information and registration.
Instructor: Dr. Damien Marie Savino, FSC, University of Notre Dame,
author of Learning the Language of Creation: Catholic Social Teaching and Integral Ecology, forthcoming in the spring of 2026 with Liturgical Press.
Other presenters from Duke:
Peter Casarella,
author of The Song of Creation: Saint Bonaventure’s Franciscan Pilgrimage into God, forthcoming, Word on Fire Academic.
Matthew Whelan, author of Christianity and Agroecology, Cambridge UP, 2025.
Norman Wirzba, author of Love’s Braided Dance, Yale UP, 2024.
Reinhard Huetter, Duke Divinity School and International Theological Commission
Kevin Hart, author of Lands of Likeness: For a Poetics of Contemplation. Chicago, 2023.
Co-Sponsors:
In Lumine Network
Fons Vitae
LOCATION AND FORMAT:
The seminar will take place at Duke University in Durham, NC. Admitted students will be required to arrange their own travel to and from the seminar.
Admitted students will be granted a stipend of $350 to offset travel costs in addition to having their lodging and meals covered for the duration of the seminar.
Participants will arrive in Durham, NC on Sunday, June 14 and depart on Saturday, June 20. The seminar will take place from Monday to Friday, with a lecture and discussion session each morning and afternoon.
Participants will be required to read the assigned materials in preparation for the seminar.
In order to receive the $350 stipend, students must participate fully in all seminar activities and complete a survey at the end of the seminar.
Open to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in STEM fields, medicine, the history of science, philosophy, theology, and relevant fields.
Applicants must submit an online application, including details on their course of study, a statement of interest, and a letter of recommendation (optional).
Make application inquiries to Dr. Peter Tierney at ptierney@lumenchristi.org
15 applicants will be admitted to the seminar.
This project is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
The Application Deadline is February 2, 2026.
Contact us with any questions at seminars@lumenchristi.org.

Catholic Social Thought in Business Education
2026-06-16 17:00 - 2026-06-19 14:00 (America/New_York) | Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC 20064, Washington, DC
Apply here
We are pleased to announce the sixth annual seminar on “Business and Catholic Social Thought: A Primer.” During the seminar, graduate students and faculty members in business schools will cover foundational principles in Catholic social thought and apply them to their own field of research and teaching. This seminar aims at widening epistemological preconceptions and showing practical implications of Catholic social thought for business in a way that affirms the goodness of business directed toward the common good. Participants will delve into social encyclicals, secondary sources, and relevant business texts that show the path for principled entrepreneurship in order to gain knowledge, exchange experiences, receive help with their syllabi and consider how best to integrate Catholic social thought into business education.
The seminar is co-sponsored by the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Business, the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame; the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America; the Lumen Christi Institute; and the Markets, Culture and Ethics Research Centre at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.

Location:
The seminar will take place at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. between Tuesday June 16 (day of Arrival) and Friday June 19 (Departure after lunch).

A limited number of travel grants are available to all admitted applicants.

To apply for financial assistance, please complete and submit the attached request for funds to murphyinstit@stthomas.edu by April 27, 2026 – Click for the Attachment

There are no tuition/registration costs to attend the seminar. All participants will be provided with accommodations and meals.

Application Information

This seminar will be open to graduate students and faculty of any specialization in business schools.

Applicants will be required to submit a completed online application, including:

An updated CV/resume.
A brief statement of research interest related to Catholic social thought no longer than 750 words.
All application materials can be submitted via the online application interface. Fifteen participants will be admitted to this seminar.

Application materials are due February 2, 2026.

This seminar will be led by:

David Cloutier, University of Notre Dame

Msgr. Martin Schlag, University of St. Thomas
Nicholas Schmitz, The Catholic University of America

Andreas Widmer, The Catholic University of America

"Judgment in Rome: Art and Papal Teaching from John Paul II to Leo XIV."
2026-06-21 - 2026-06-25 | Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Piazza Santa Apollinare, 49, 00186 Roma, Italy, Rome, Italy
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We are pleased to announce the inaugural summer seminar on Law in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, “Judgment in Rome: Art & Papal Teaching from John Paul II to Leo XIV.” During the seminar, participants will engage in seminar discussions on papal teachings (writings, speeches, etc.) from Pope St. John Paul II to Pope Leo XIV on the topics of law, justice, judgment, and related matters. Attendees will also encounter artistic works located throughout Rome that address the theme of judgment. Participants will be provided with a curated reader of papal teachings on seminar topics. One goal of the seminar is to equip participants to better incorporate Catholic teaching on judgment and jurisprudence into their teaching, scholarship, and service to the academic community and to the legal profession.
The seminar is co-organized by: The Center for The Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy at Villanova University, the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, The Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network at the Lumen Christi Institute, and Notre Dame Law School.
Location: The seminar sessions will take place in Rome, with seminars held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and the Augustinianum, and artistic site visits taking place across Rome.
Participants will arrive on Sunday, June 21 and depart on Thursday, June 25.

All participants will be provided with accommodations and most meals as well as travel stipends of $750

Application Information: This seminar will be open to faculty from any specialization in law schools as well as faculty in related disciplines.
Applicants will be required to submit a completed online application, including: A brief statement of interest no longer than 750 words. While the statement may touch upon teaching and research interests, it should specifically address why you are interested in this seminar. The statement should also include how you envision the course impacting your future teaching, scholarship, or service to the academic community and to the legal profession.

All application materials can be submitted via the online application.
Application materials are due February 2, 2026.
Scott Roniger – Loyola Marymount University
Fr. Petar Popović, Pontificial University of the Holy Cross
Ralph van Bühren, Pontificial University of the Holy Cross

The Thought of René Girard
2026-07-02 - 2026-07-08 | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
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The Thought of René Girard
One of the most influential 20th century Catholic thinkers, René Girard transformed our understanding of culture, religion, and human behavior. His “mimetic theory” builds on the demystifying power of the Old and New Testaments to illuminate the religious history of mankind. Through an intensive reading of his more accessible works, in conjunction with the fiction of the greatest writers, this five-day seminar for undergraduate students will explore Girard’s key insights into imitation, conflict, and scapegoating, connecting them to central themes of Christian theology.

Location and Format:
This seminar will be held at Gavin House in Chicago, Illinois.
Participants will arrive on Thursday, July 2 and depart on Wednesday, July 8.
The seminar will comprise of two 2.5-hour sessions each day (with only afternoon sessions on Sunday). Each session will have a seminar-style discussion of the text and the issues at hand. Students will be expected to prepare the readings carefully, submit study questions in advance, and participate actively in each session. The seminar will also include optional excursions within Chicago.
Admitted students will be granted a stipend of $350 to offset travel costs in addition to having their lodging and meals covered for the duration of the seminar.
Application Information:
This seminar is open to all undergraduate students (including 2026 graduates) interested in understanding the thought of one of the great modern Christian apologists. Applicants must be 18 by the time of the seminar.
Applicants will be required to submit an online application form including:
A list of completed coursework.
At least one and as many as two letter(s) of recommendation from a professor at the school in which the student is currently enrolled.
A statement of interest no longer than 750 words, which includes an explanation of how this seminar might bear on the student’s current intellectual interests.
All application materials can be submitted via the online application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Fifteen applicants will be admitted to this seminar.
Application Deadline is February 2, 2026.

The Thought of John Henry Newman
2026-07-19 - 2026-07-25 | The National Institute of Newman Studies, 211 N. Dithridge St., Pittsburgh, PA, PA 15213, United States
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National Institute of Newman Studies, Pittsburgh, PA
Fr. Stephen Fields, SJ, Georgetown University
Staff of the National Institute for Newman Studies
Now in its twelfth year, this intensive seminar will examine the achievements of Saint John Henry Newman as a theologian, philosopher, educator, preacher, and writer. Remarkably, in each of these areas Newman produced works that have come to be recognized as classics: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, The Grammar of Assent, The Idea of a University, and the Apologia Pro Vita Sua. This seminar will approach Newman’s thought through a critical engagement with these texts.
Students will also be introduced to the work and digital Humanities’s tools of the National Institute for Newman Studies.
This seminar is cosponsored by the National Institute of Newman Studies (NINS).
LOCATION AND FORMAT:
The seminar will be held at the National Institute of Newman Studies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
There are no tuition costs for the seminar and all course materials are provided. Lodging and most meals will be provided.
After completion of the seminar, participants will receive a travel reimbursement of up to $350 to offset travel expenses.
Participants will arrive on Sunday, July 19 and depart on Saturday, July 25.
Participants will be required to read the assigned texts in preparation for the seminar.
Fifteen applicants will be admitted to the seminar.
In order to give a foretaste for the summer seminar, Lumen Christi will offer a virtual masterclass on related themes, to be held on January 23, 2026 for graduate students from any university or discipline. The program is entitled “Glimpses of Wonder: Faith, Reason, and Technology in the University Today” and will be led by the seminar organizers, Peter Casarella and Sr. Damien Marie Savino. Click here for more information and registration.
QUALIFICATIONS AND APPLICATION:
This seminar is open to Ph.D. students in theology, philosophy, classics, and other relevant fields of study.

A completed online application form. An updated CV.
At least one and no more than two letter(s) of recommendation.
A statement of research interest no longer than 750 words, which includes an explanation of how this seminar might bear on the student’s current or future research plans.
One academic writing sample (30 pages maximum).
All application materials can be submitted via the online application.

THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 2, 2026.
Contact us with any questions at seminars@lumenchristi.org.

Economics and Catholic Social Thought: A Primer
2026-08-02 - 2026-08-05 | University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, Notre Dame, IN
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Now in its ninth year, this seminar is designed as an introduction and immersion into Catholic social thought for graduate students and junior faculty in economics, finance, or related fields. Participants will cover foundational principles in Catholic social thought, starting with the human person, dignity, freedom, subsidiarity, solidarity, and the common good, and moving toward applications of these principles to conceptual understandings and ethical considerations involving economic topics such as utility theory, firm and business ethics, wages, markets, globalization, poverty, and development. Participants will delve into social encyclicals, secondary sources, and relevant economics texts.
This seminar is sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute; the Catholic Research Economists Discussion Organization; the De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture; the Kellogg Institute for International Studies; and the the Institute for the Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, College of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame.
Format: There will be two sessions each day, featuring a different instructor. Each instructor will open with a lecture, and then we will turn to a seminar-style discussion of the texts and issues at hand. In the final sessions, we will discuss how the material can be applied to each student’s particular area of interest.
Location: The seminar will take place at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend.
Participants will arrive on August 2 and will depart on August 5.
There are no registration or tuition costs to the seminar.

All participants will be provided with accommodations and meals.
Partial travel reimbursement funds are available as awarded to offset travel costs.

Application Information: This seminar will be open to PhD students and faculty in economics, finance and related fields.
Applicants will be required to submit a completed online application form, including:
An updated CV.
A brief statement interest no longer than 750 words.
All application materials can be submitted via the online application.
Fifteen students will be admitted to this seminar.
The application deadline is February 2nd.
Please direct any further questions to seminars@lumenchristi.org

Catholic Social Thought: A Critical Investigation
2026-08-02 - 2026-08-08 | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
“The Lumen Christi Institute will host its second week-long seminar for recent PhDs interested in the Catholic intellectual tradition. In this seminar, participants will read, analyze, and discern continuities and discontinuities in Catholic social thought from the late 19th century to the present. Lectures, seminar reports, and discussion will focus on original sources (encyclicals and other magisterial documents), beginning with Rerum novarum (1892) and concluding with Caritas in veritate (2009) and Evangelii Gaudium (2013). This intensive course is multi-disciplinary, since this tradition of social thought overlaps several disciplines in the contemporary university including political science, political philosophy, law, economics, theology, and history. The seminar is an opportunity to meet 12 to 15 promising scholars working in different academic fields, all with interests tied to Catholicism.
This seminar is our 2026 annual postdoctoral/early career scholar seminar.
There are no seminar fees and reading materials are provided. LCI will cover accommodations and most meals. Additionally, participants will reimburse travel expenses up to $500. The seminar will begin with Vespers, followed by a welcome dinner on Sunday, August 2 and conclude the evening of Friday, August 8.”
This project is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
The seminar is by invitation only.
