Our three-year study of Sacred Scripture begins in Form A. Students read the narrative portions of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua (with a brief look at Leviticus). This is a reading class that focuses on the successive covenants God makes in order to gather the human race, scattered by sin, back into one family. Reading skills and developing literacy are key points of emphasis.

Course Length: All Year
Registration Policy: Required for Form A

Students continue their study of the Old Testament begun in Form A. The history of Israel unfolds in the books of Judges, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, and II Kings. Students also read from the prophets, especially Isaiah, as well as other narrative selections. This is a reading class that focuses on the developing understanding of kingdom in Israel. In addition to continued reading skill development, this class begins to place more emphasis on note-taking, outlining, and textual annotation. Students are also exposed to the way Scripture is read in the Church and to the monastic practice of lectio divina (prayerful reading of Scripture).

Course Length: All Year
Registration Policy: Required for Form I

Our Form II students complete their study of Sacred Scripture by reading the Gospel of St. Luke and the Book of Acts. Jesus Christ is presented as the fulfillment of God’s saving plan for the human family in general and the prophecies of the Old Testament in particular. The Acts of the Apostles is considered “Part II” of the same narrative and is and a continuation of the work of Jesus, now carried on by the Church he founded. Time permitting, students will also read selections from the New Testament letters.

Course Length: All Year
Registration Policy: Required for Form II

Our Form III religion class introduces students to the beliefs of the Catholic Church on God, Faith, and Revelation, and the person and work of Jesus Christ. Most material is taught from primary sources, with a special emphasis on the writings of St. Anselm of Canterbury wherever appropriate. Students are challenged to analyze arguments, write critical responses, and generally pursue the Anselmian project of " fides quaerens intellectum" (faith seeking understanding) in the context of the ancient and apostolic faith of the Church.

Course Length: All Year
Registration Policy: Required for Form III

This course will help students understand that in and through the Church, we encounter the living Jesus Christ. The Church is both human and divine; the Church was instituted by Jesus Christ, was given to the Apostles, and is sustained by the Holy Spirit. The Church is not only a visible structure; the Church is made up of persons who make up the living Body of Christ. Then, in the Spring Semester, we will study the seven sacraments, which are real encounters with Christ. We will emphasize the importance of the Eucharist as the source and summit of our faith.

Course Length: All Year
Registration Policy: Required for Form IV

This course presents foundational principles of Christian morality and a method of evaluating the good and evil of human acts. Emphasis is on the importance of Christian virtue expressed through the New Law of the Holy Spirit and the moral teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. The course will also give particular attention to human agency, freedom, knowledge, eternal law, natural law, divine law, moral absolutes, the role of one’s conscience, and Grace. Goals are to assist students in seeking to acquire Christian virtues and to recognize the ethical implications of decisions they make. The course will treat fundamental ethics, and two of the following areas: capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, cloning stem cell research, lying, just-war theory, and human sexuality.

Course Length: All Year
Registration Policy: Required for Form V

The course Modern Spiritual Masters examines the life and writings of a dozen persons who have made major contributions to spirituality in recent decades. Almost all of them were Christian (for example, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa, and Henri Nouwen), and the one who was not (Mahatma Gandhi) was greatly influenced by Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Selected texts from the writings of the twelve masters will be taken from the book Modern Spiritual Masters: Writings on Contemplation and Compassion, edited by Robert Ellsberg and published by Orbis Books. In addition to the reading and classroom discussion of these writings (with discussion being based on questions distributed in advance), there will also be lectures on the life and writings of these persons, the viewing of a number of documentary films, and the discussion of reflection papers written by the students on assigned topics.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective for Form VI

The course will examine the history and development of monasticism in the Church from its 4th century origins to the present. The sources of the Rule of St. Benedict will be explored and the influence of Benedictinism on religious life and Christian culture through the ages. Varieties of monastic life in the contemporary Church will be studied together with current interest in "monasticism for the laity" and the role of Benedictine spirituality today.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective for Form VI

The course will examine some major themes in Church history relating to the unity of the Church and major sources of division in the Christian community. We will look at the development of church institutions in the first three centuries, the Great Schism of East and West in the 11th century, the Protestant Reformation, the age of the Enlightenment, effects of rationalism, and contemporary ecumenism in the post-Vatican II Church.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective for Form VI

The course World Religions in Dialogue offers a comparative theological approach to four religions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The readings will be taken from the book World Religions in Dialogue , edited by Pim Valkenberg and published by Anselm Academic. This work contains perspectives on these traditions from both “insiders” and “outsiders,” the former written by Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist scholars of their own religions, the latter written by Christians who have specialized in the study of each of these religions. In addition to the reading and classroom discussion of these readings (with discussion based on questions distributed in advance), there will also be lectures on topics not covered by the readings, the viewing of some documentary films, the discussion of reflection papers written by the students on assigned topics, and a field trip to a religious site in the Washington area.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective for Form VI

This course introduces the students to the key themes of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. This course will examine the philosophy of the human person and human sexuality in accord with man’s creation in the Image of God. This course will then look at man’s call to love through a total gift of self. This call to love goes to the core of what it means to be a human person; this is not only written on the soul, but is also written into our bodies. With this as our foundation, we will then look at particular themes such as freedom and person, male and female difference, the nature of chastity as virtue, consecrated life, and marriage and family.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective for Form VI

This course will apply ethical principles to issues that concern human life in its development from conception to natural end. Using the dignity of human life and its inviolability as its starting point, we will study the human person in his unified whole. Every human life is a gift, a “unity of body and soul . . . the subject of his own moral acts” (Veritatis Splendor, 48). With this as our foundation, we will then examine some issues such as: fertility care, abnormal pregnancies, contraception and sterilization, abortion, embryo adoption, stem cell research, brain death, organ transplantation, suicide, euthanasia, proportionate and disproportionate means, and end of life care.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective

This course will begin by considering just what is meant by “spirituality” and will then focus on main figures and movements in the history of Christian spirituality from the first century up until recent times, with readings from the works of such authors as St. Augustine, St. Bernard, Meister Eckhart, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Thomas Merton.

Course Length: 1 Semester
Registration Policy: Elective