Visit to the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross
REGISTER HERE Open to current university students. Others interested in attending should contact us. Join us for an evening of prayer with Benedictine Monks at the Monastery of the Holy Cross. Students will participate in the prayer of the Divine Office (including Solemn Vespers with Gregorian Chant and Compline), and have dinner and discussion with Fr. Peter Funk, O.S.B., prior of the monastery and alumnus of the University of Chicago. More information on the music for Solemn Vespers can be found HERE. SCHEDULE 4:15pm Meet at Gavin House (1220 E. 58th St.) 4:30pm Depart from Hyde Park 5:00pm Arrive at…
The Soul of Early Irish Monasticism
Not many people are aware that when it comes to Irish religious history, St. Patrick only scratches the surface. The island in fact has a rich and fascinating Christian heritage, of which monks and sprawling monastic communities play a central role.
The Greek East and the Spiritual Franciscan View of History
REGISTER HERE Cosponsored by the Theology & Religious Ethics Workshop The Spiritual Franciscan Angelo Clareno (d.1337) fervently promoted the view that St. Francis’ life and Rule renewed the true evangelic life. When ecclesiastical persecution led him to flee to Greece, Angelo came into contact with both Greek monasticism and Greek theology based on the Church fathers. While in Greece, he translated Greek texts and he found in Greek monastic traditions possibilities for living according to Francis’ rule outside the Franciscan order. Angelo’s time in Greece also led him to reflect on Church history and the relationship between Greek and Latin…
Master Class on The Wisdom of Bernard of Clairvaux
REGISTER HERE This master class is open to current students and faculty. PDFs of the readings will be made available for participants. This one-time Seminar will study selected writings of the great Cistercian theologian and mystic, Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1157). Bernard was one of the most remarkable figures of the twelfth century—monastic leader, ecclesiastical politician, and noted theologian. His most important legacy, however, was as a mystic and mystical writer. His mystical treatises, such as On Loving God (De diligendo Deo), and especially his eighty-six sermons on the biblical Song of Songs (Sermones super Cantica Canticorum), are among the most…
Lecture on the Easter Mysteries, Dinner, and Prayer at the Monastery of the Holy Cross
REGISTER HERE Open to current university students and faculty. Transportation from Hyde Park will be provided. Cosponsored by the Hildegard of Bingen Society. Join us for an evening of prayer with Benedictine Monks at the Monastery of the Holy Cross. Students will participate in the prayer of the Divine Office (including Vespers and Compline), and have dinner and discussion with Fr. Peter Funk, O.S.B., prior of the monastery and alumnus of the University of Chicago. More information about the monastery can be found HERE. SCHEDULE 4:15pm Meet at Gavin House (1220 E. 58th St.) 4:30pm Depart from Hyde Park 5:00pm …
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.: The Priest & The Poet
REGISTER HERE 6:00pm Buffet Dinner | 6:30pm Lecture Open to current students. G M Hopkins (1844-1889) converted to the Catholic Church while a university student and later became a Jesuit priest and lecturer in classical Greek. The poems by which he is known today were unpublished in his own lifetime, but in some measure formed — and were formed by — his friendships and his distinctively sacramental view of his own priesthood. This course will consist of seven classes in which, after some brief biographical introduction, two or three poems of Hopkins will be read, together with pertinent material from…
The Gospel According to Matthew
6:00pm Buffet Dinner | 6:30pm Lecture Registration required. Open to current students and faculty. St. Matthew’s Gospel brings us into powerful contact with Israel’s longed-for Messiah and permits us to hear the voice of Jesus of Nazareth with memorable vividness. Foregrounding the Israelite language of expectation, the narrative views Jesus as Son of Man, Son of David, and Son of God, reminding us of Israel’s messianic hopes and showing us how these hopes are, in Jesus, both brought to fulfillment and surpassed. The course will focus on what might be called the spirituality of the evangelist, by means of a…
Angels, Demons, Heaven, and Hell: On Christian “Mythology” and the Spiritual Life
Join the Lumen Christi Institute for a special Epiphany symposium and reception with medieval historian Rachel Fulton Brown and Benedictine Monk Fr. Peter Funk, OSB. Free and open to the public. Many traditional Christian beliefs and teachings about spiritual realities have become unpalatable to modern sensibilities. Accounts of angelic visitations, demonic possessions, the stain of original sin, and the threat of eternal torment are today considered untrue or irrelevant by non-believers and even many Christians. Why were such “myths” so central to Christian belief and practice for so many centuries? Is there any value in understanding why ancient, medieval, and…
Silence, Prayer, and Contemplation in a Secular Society
Information on directions and parking can be found HERE. Information on the club’s dress code can be found HERE. Our secular society does nothing to encourage us to discover God’s presence in our lives through silent, prayerful reflection. To the contrary, the overload of media and noise discourage cultivating a habit of silent, meditative prayer. Yet prayer of this kind is essential if we are to recognize and accept God’s mercy and love acting in our lives. The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity grow in us when we cooperate with the grace that enables us to pray contemplatively…
Prayer, Dinner, and Discussion at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross
REGISTER HERE Transportation will be provided from Hyde Park. Open to current university students and faculty. Cosponsored by the Hildegard of Bingen Society. Join us for an evening of prayer with Benedictine Monks at the Monastery of the Holy Cross. Students will participate in the prayer of the Divine Office (including Solemn Vespers and Compline), and have dinner and discussion with Fr. Peter Funk, OSB, prior of the monastery and alumnus of the University of Chicago. This evening will feature a special Solemn Vespers, in which the monks will be accompanied by Schola Laudis. More information about the monastery can…