Non-Credit Courses
OPEN TO ALL - REGISTRATION REQUIRED
CHRISTIAN LATIN:
AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS
1st and 3rd Mondays, 7:00 - 8:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Second semester begins February 3, 2025, through May 2025
Zoom
Taught by patristics scholar Christopher McLaughlin and Classical languages instructor Michael O’Brien.
Participants should have completed and have some recollection of one year or more of Latin. Registration required. Read and translate selected passages from this seminal work of world literature and of the Catholic tradition, while reading the full text in English. Second semester will continue and finish the work; new registrants welcome! Readings distributed for each class; notes and study aids provided. Primary focus is on translation, but theology, history, and rhetoric will be touched on as well.
OPEN TO ALL - REGISTRATION REQUIRED
NEW TESTAMENT GREEK:
1 CORINTHIANS
1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 7:00 - 8:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Second semester begins February 4, 2025, through May 2025
Zoom
Taught by Classical languages instructor Michael O’Brien and Deacon Tim O’Donnell (Harvard Catholic Forum).
Participants should have completed and have some recollection of one year or more of Classical or Koine Greek. Registration required. Read and translate selections from 1 Corinthians in Greek; full letter covered in English. Readings and notes distributed for each class; extensive study aids are available online. Primary focus is on translation, but theology, history, and rhetoric will be touched on as well.
OPEN TO ALL - REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Co-sponsored by St. Paul's Parish
DANTE ALIGHIERI’S
DIVINE COMEDY: PARADISO
Second and Fourth Fridays, 12:00-1:15 PM
Begins February 14, Spring Term, 6 Sessions
St. Paul's/Harvard Catholic Center, Harvard Square
Brian FitzGerald, D. Phil., Lecturer on Medieval Studies and the Study of Religion, Harvard University
This course will read in translation and discuss the third part, Paradiso, of Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece, Divine Comedy. The instructor will pay particular attention to Dante’s conception of the relationship between theology, literature, and the spiritual life. Lunch provided.
OPEN TO BOSTON AREA UNDERGRAD/GRAD/YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
Co-presented by the Abigail Adams Institute
FAITH AND FABLES
CLASSICAL AND BIBLICAL STORYTELLING
Wednesdays, 6:00-7:30PM,
Begins February 5, Spring Term, 7 sessions
Harvard Catholic Center/St. Paul’s, Cambridge, MA
Biblical narratives and their Greek and Roman counterparts exhibit a remarkable consistency in some places and telling variations in others. Does this point to an unoriginality in either tradition, a universality in the nature of religious belief, or something else entirely? This reading group will explore the relationship between Classical religion and Christianity through selected readings from the Greek, Roman, and Biblical traditions. Dinner provided.
OPEN TO BOSTON AREA UNDERGRAD/GRAD/YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
Co-presented with the Abigail Adams Institute
Co-sponsored by the Ratzinger Memorial Society
LEO STRAUSS AND THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
Thursdays, 5:30-7:00PM (Note changed meeting time)
Begins February 13, Spring Term, sessions every 2 weeks unless noted otherwise
Harvard Catholic Center/St. Paul’s, Cambridge, MA
This group explores selected writings of Leo Strauss, one of the most influential twentieth century political philosophers, in conversation with the Christian intellectual tradition. Some secondary sources on Strauss and religion will be considered as well. Light dinner provided.
OPEN TO BOSTON AREA UNDERGRADS - REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Co-sponsored by the Harvard Catholic Center Undergraduate Chaplaincy
CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT:
CATHOLIC LIFE IN THE MODERN WORLD
Mondays, 8:00-9:15PM,
Begins February 3, Spring Term
Harvard Catholic Center/St. Paul’s, Cambridge, MA
This reading and discussion group explores key insights found in Catholic Social Thought and examines how these ideas can shape how we respond to contemporary social and political challenges. Reading materials & light refreshments provided.
OPEN TO BOSTON AREA UNDERGRAD/GRAD/YOUNG PROFESSIONAL
Offered in collaboration with the Harvard Catholic Center
CHORAL TUTORIAL WORKSHOP
Academic Year, Sundays 3:30-4:30 PM before the 5 PM Mass
Offered by HCF Graduate Fellow Adam Ziccardi
Join us for the second semester!
For those of any ability or skill level, including beginners. Because musical skills are learned. not innate, the workshop offers that learning in a way that is fun, rewarding, and community-building. Each week, learn techniques, drill fundamentals, and master one hymn or chant that can be sung with the choir and Schola at the 5pm Mass. Attend regularly and become a functional singer in less than one semester, and musically literate in one year - building a lifelong skill that is liturgically useful and personally edifying.
OPEN TO UNDERGRAD/GRAD/YOUNG PROFESSIONAL - REGISTRATION ENCOURAGED
Co-presented by the Harvard Catholic Forum
RATZINGER MEMORIAL SOCIETY:
SATURDAY DISCUSSION GROUP
Saturdays, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Begins October 26, Fall Term
St. Paul's/Harvard Catholic Center, Harvard Square
The Ratzinger Memorial Society is rooted in the conviction that theology should form the center of a liberal arts education. The Society runs a discussion group every Saturday at 11:00AM during the academic term, co-presented with the Harvard Catholic Forum. It hosts talks, reading groups, and fellowship that support an intellectually rigorous exploration of the Catholic tradition. Refreshments provided.