Music, Liturgy, and Spirituality

Benedictine Spirituality in Our Time

Faculty: Dr. Anthony Burkart (Profile)

Description: Benedict, who crafted the “Rule of St. Benedict”, possessed a certain genius for the understanding of human nature, its strengths and frailties, and how this configured itself into the life of community. Although originally intended for the eremitic(monastic) community of his time its profundity possess a universality to all times and applicability to human community outside of cloistered life. Two aspects permeate the Benedictine approach, balance and living with paradox and contradiction in the rumble tumble of our daily lives. We will use two required texts. One is a nuts and bolts look at the “Rule” in our contemporary time. The other is an opportunity to read the “Rule” in a Lectio format(Lectio is an approach that allows the head to connect with the heart) and respond to it from your own personal experience and insights.

Required Reading:

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Big Bang Spirituality: Creation, Evolution, the Cosmos and Rational Faith

Faculty: RP Jorge R. Colón, C.Ss.R., S.T.D., Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies (Profile)

Description: The course explores the basic relationship between the origin of the universe, creation, evolution, and the final consummation of creation. It considers theological and scientific perspectives, and leads the student to discover new links between science and spirituality.

Required textbook for the graduate and undergraduate level:

  • Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. Chance or Purpose?: Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith. San Francisco, Ignatius Press 2007. www.ignatius.com

Additional Graduate Level Texts and Recommendations (pick one additional text for this course)

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Christian Spirituality

Faculty: RP Jorge R. Colón, C.Ss.R., S.T.D., Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies (Profile)

Description: A study of the basic theological foundations of Christian Spirituality, considering its biblical images and its historical expressions in the Church. The course will explore the types of Christian spiritualities, some denominational considerations in Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism, and will study the link between the basic Christian mysteries and spirituality, such as creation, the Trinity, the incarnation, redemption and resurrection. It will also study some examples of classic texts of major spiritual masters.

Required textbook for the graduate and undergraduate level:

Additional Graduate Level Texts and Recommendations (pick one additional text for this course)

  • Olivier Clement, On Human Being: A Spiritual Anthropology. Hyde Park, NY 2000 www.newcitypress.com
  • William J. O’Malley. Holiness. Maryknoll, NY 2008 www.maryknoll.org
  • William A. Barry. A Friendship Like No Other: Experiencing God’s Amazing Embrace. Chicago, Loyola Press 2008. www.loyolabooks.org
  • George A. Maloney. Discovering the Hidden Reality: A Journey into Christian Mystical Prayer. Staten Island, NY 204 www.albahouse.org
  • George A. Maloney. Abiding in the Indwelling Trinity. Mahwah, NJ 2004 www.paulistpress.com

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Contemporary Trends in Church Music

Faculty: Dr. Martha H. Sobaje (Profile)

Description: The issue of contemporary vs. traditional music for worship has never been more controversial than it is today. This e-tutorial is designed for those who want to examine contemporary, traditional, and blended styles of church music, with the goal of forming some conclusions and philosophies for their own church situation.

Required Reading:

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Creating a Gathering for Peace

Faculty: Dr. Vivian Robles Dettbarn-Slaughter (Profile)

Description: The purpose of this tutorial is to:

  • allow the student to explore various writings on the subject of peace
  • create a proposal for a peace/prayer event based on the ideas that have grown out of the assignments.

Required Reading:

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Feminist Perspectives On Spiritual Direction

Faculty: Rev. Susan Fowler, Ph.D., Dorothy Day Professor of Spirituality (Profile)

Course Description:  Spiritual direction is a process of looking at one’s own life and journey in the context of one’s values, agency and selfhood, and relationships to self, others, God and the world.
In this tutorial, students will gain an understanding of how dominant theological and cultural worlviews impact women’s spiritual experience: - e.g. patriarchal and androcentric views of God, the person and human relationships; traditional understandings of sin that distort and diminish women’s self-understanding and relationships; - and reinterpret these in light of feminist theological reflection that yields models that redeem and affirm women’s experience as the locus for knowing and being in the world.

Required reading and viewing:

  • Fowler, Susan.  “Deadly Sins and Spiritual Direction: A Feminist Reflection” Morgan, John Ed. Foundation Theology 2010.   IN.   Graduate Theological Foundation (available in syllabus)
  • Fischer, Kathleen Women at the Well: Feminist Perspectives on Spiritual Direction. NJ, Paulist Press  1988.   May be ordered online at www.Amazon.com
  • Ruffing, Janet. Spiritual Direction: Beyond the Beginnings. NJ, Paulist Press 2000
    • May be ordered online at www.Amazon.com 

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Gregorian Chant: The Proper Chants of The Mass

Faculty: Dr. Christoph Tietze (Profile)

Description: This course is designed as an overview of the repertoire of the variable Mass chants. A basic knowledge of the liturgy and the liturgical year is required. Students not familiar with square notation of chant will find the optional book, which is easy reading, extremely helpful.

If a student wishes to take "Gregorian Chant: The Proper Chants Of The Mass" and "Processional Chants: A Pilgrim People Sings," care must be taken that the material is sufficiently different and that the musical examples used in each paper is distinct from the other course.

Required Reading:

  • The Gregorian Missal, Solesmes/Desclee 1990, ISBN 2-85274-133-4 (I find this text most suitable for most people, since it also contains the English translations. Alternate books are the Graduale Romanum or the Graduale Triplex, which are more comprehensive but without translations)

  • David Hiley, Western Plainchant: A Handbook, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993, ISBN 0-19816572-2

Optional Readings:

  • For those students who are not familiar with square notation:
    The Community of Jesus, The Song of Prayer, Paraclete Press, Brewster, MA, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55725-576-1

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Hymnology: Past and Present

Faculty: Dr. Martha H. Sobaje (Profile)

Description: In this e-tutorial the student will gain an understanding of the history of hymnology, those components that make up good hymns, and tools for effective use of congregational hymn-singing in the present day worship service.

Required Reading:

Online registration form

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In Search of Spirituality: A Resource Guide for Catholics and Protestants

Faculty: Dr. John H. Morgan (Profile)

Description: This tutorial is designed for clergy and ministry professionals, whether Catholic or Protestant, who wish to take a closer look at the basic components of spirituality as understood in the Christian tradition. Because Catholic spirituality has dominated Christian tradition, the tutorial is from that historic perspective but presented in such a fashion as to encourage and elicit participation in the study of spirituality for all Christians. There is an emphasis upon the saints and mystics of the Church, the terminology of spirituality, and the classic texts in Catholic spirituality. The textbook used in the tutorial was written specifically to assist individuals in becoming generally acquainted with the fundamental components of the tradition. It includes a summary of the Creeds, the Councils, and a listing of religious orders.

Required Reading:

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Irish Spirituality

Faculty: Dr. Anthony Burkart (Profile)

Description: Ours is an age in which the institutional church struggles amidst the rapidly changing templates of our world’s circumstances.
The church, its clergy and laity wrestle with its role, how to act that out in the world, worship and its meaning and living breath in our lives, gender identities, issues of sexuality and the roots of the Christian tradition and transformational teachings of Jesus.

In the past twenty five years there has been a renewed interest in Celtic Christianity for some quite specific reasons. The Celts never institutionalized, dove underground when the Roman Church attempted to absorb it. Gender made little difference in the functions within church life, women and men sharing in ecclesiastical functions and roles, bishopry and leadership, abbots and abbotress’s of monastic communities which usually incorporated whole villages. But perhaps most significant is that the contemplative tradition was never divorced from the life of the people allowing the head-heart connection to permeate the daily life of the church community.

Most scholars agree that the term “Celtic Christianity” is inaccurate and much to all encompassing. After the 5th century, the church in Ireland, Wales and Scotland took distinctly different turns and varied forms. So we will focus in Irish Celtic Christianity as such in it’s form and practice.

There remains an extensive list of books available but for the purpose of this brief course. We will look at two books as required reading and one which is optional but of immense interest, fun and entertaining.

Required Reading:

Optional Reading:

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Methods of Musical Archaeology: The Origins of the Proper Chants of the Roman Mass

Faculty: Dr. Christoph Tietze (Profile)

Description: James McKinnon and Christoph Tietze researched a cross-section of the same sources and came to some divergent conclusions. The student will study the methods behind each text and develop skills for further study.

Required Reading:

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Praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Part I: God’s Creative and Personal Love

Faculty: Rev. Susan Fowler, Ph.D., Dorothy Day Professor of Spirituality (Profile)

Description: Your whole life is your spiritual life; God is in every part of it. In this retreat format and under the guidance of a certified spiritual director, you will reflect on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, a profoundly wise guide for those who seek greater freedom and authenticity, a clearer sense of God’s presence in your life, a spirit of discernment and deeper sense of the sacred, as you move more deeply into a felt knowledge of and relationship with God/Jesus as you encounter them in the Christian Gospels and your own life and spirit.

Using as our guide the text Moment by Moment by Smith and Merz, each moment (or unit in this tutorial) is constructed to engage you in “ a process of prayer and reflection about your ordinary life rhythms, about scripture and excerpts from St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises:” and contains the following structure:
Each week, you’ll reflect on a “Moment” which invites you to pray with some aspect of your life in relationship to God. There are a number of resources to help you in this: reference from the Spiritual Exercises, suggested scriptures, questions for reflection and aids to discerning your thoughts, feelings and moods as you move through the day.
You’ll end the day with the Examen, a structured daily prayer form based on the Exercises. (see end of tutorial). At the end of each week, you will reflect on your experience in the form of a 500 word essay which your professor will reflect on and provide feedback that invites you to enter more deeply into your experience.

Please note that this retreat in daily life comprises 12 weeks, or two e-tutorials. However, you may take one or both, and in non-consecutive order. At the end of each tutorial, you will write a 3000 word essay based on your experiences in each tutorial.

Required Reading:

  • Carol Ann Smith and Eugene F. Merz, Moment by Moment: A Retreat in Daily Life. Notre Dame, IN Ave Maria Press 2000. Available on the Ave Maria Press website www.avemariapress.com
    or at www.amazon.com

Recommended Readings:

  • Wolff, Pierre. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. Liguori,MI. Liguori Publications.1997

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Praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Part II: Living Faithfully in the World

Faculty: Rev. Susan Fowler, Ph.D., Dorothy Day Professor of Spirituality (Profile)

Description: Your whole life is your spiritual life; God is in every part of it. In this retreat format and under the guidance of a certified spiritual director, you will reflect on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, a profoundly wise guide for those who seek greater freedom and authenticity, a clearer sense of God’s presence in your life, a spirit of discernment and deeper sense of the sacred, as you move more deeply into a felt knowledge of and relationship with God/Jesus as you encounter them in the Christian Gospels and your own life and spirit.

Using as our guide the text Moment by Moment by Smith and Merz, each moment (or unit in this tutorial) is constructed to engage you in “ a process of prayer and reflection about your ordinary life rhythms, about scripture and excerpts from St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises:” and contains the following structure:
Each week, you’ll reflect on a “Moment” which invites you to pray with some aspect of your life in relationship to God. There are a number of resources to help you in this: reference from the Spiritual Exercises, suggested scriptures, questions for reflection and aids to discerning your thoughts, feelings and moods as you move through the day.
You’ll end the day with the Examen, a structured daily prayer form based on the Exercises. (see end of tutorial).At the end of each week, you will reflect on your experience in the form of a 500 word essay which your professor will reflect on and provide feedback that invites you to enter more deeply into your experience.

Please note that this retreat in daily life comprises 12 weeks, or two e-tutorials. However, you may take one or both, and in non-consecutive order. At the end of each tutorial, you will write a 3000 word essay based on your experiences in each tutorial.

Required Reading:

  • Carol Ann Smith and Eugene F. Merz, Moment by Moment: A Retreat in Daily Life. Notre Dame, IN Ave Maria Press 2000. Available on the Ave Maria Press website www.avemariapress.com
    or at www.amazon.com

Recommended Readings:

  • Wolff, Pierre. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. Liguori,MI. Liguori Publications.1997

Online registration form

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Processional Chants: A Pilgrim People Sings

Faculty: Dr. Christoph Tietze (Profile)

Description: This course will explore the processional chants of the Mass (introit, gospel acclamation, offertory, and communion) and other liturgical and devotional services (e.g. Easter Vigil, Palm Sunday, and Holy Thursday processions, Stations of the Cross, etc). During this course, the student will examine the texts associated with each procession, the musical form of the associated chant, the historical context in which these processions were and are used, and some contemporary applications.

If a student wishes to take "Gregorian Chant: The Proper Chants Of The Mass" and "Processional Chants: A Pilgrim People Sings," care must be taken that the material is sufficiently different and that the musical examples used in each paper is distinct from the other course.

Required Reading:

Optional Reading:

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Sacred Music in the Church: A History and Philosophy

Faculty: Dr. Brian J. Taylor (Profile)

Description: This tutorial is designed to give the student a thorough grounding in the history of Christian sacred music with an emphasis on the theological and cultural influences which affected its development. This history will deal primarily with the dominant European tradition, but it will also look at non-Western traditions, both in terms of their own integrity and in terms of their interplay with the European tradition. In addition, it will examine a number of parallel developments from the last 200 years. From this study the student will gain an understanding of the different philosophies that led to the great diversity of styles and performance practices in Christian sacred music. As the student encounters these different philosophies the student can develop or refine his/her own philosophy of sacred music in the Church.

Required Reading:

Online registration form

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Spirituality and Psychology I

Faculty: Dr. Anthony O. Nwachukwu (Profile)

Description: There is a big connection between spirituality and psychology. Prayer could be a spiritual exercise if demonstrated in action. Most people think that spirituality is based on the number of hours spent in a Church or the hood of a monk. Spirituality has nothing to do with all that except when intrinsically evaluated within the context of decision and behavior. On the other hand, it takes into account all the minutest details of what we do, the way we do it, the intention for it etc cetera. In this sense, psychology becomes a vehicle through which spirituality becomes feasible and attainable. There can be psychology without spirituality or religion, but there can be no religion or spirituality without psychology. Besides, spirituality is not the same thing as religion per se.

Required Reading:

WRITING ASSIGNMENT:

1. Who is spiritual?
2. To what extent does spirituality resemble religion and differ from it?
3. How is psychology related to spirituality?
4. Is being spiritual the same as being religious –explain?
5. Can an Atheist be spiritual?
6. What makes spirituality interesting in the practice of religion?

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Spirituality and Psychology II

Faculty: Dr. Anthony O. Nwachukwu (Profile)

Description: There is a big connection between spirituality and psychology. Prayer could be a spiritual exercise if demonstrated in action. Most people think that spirituality is based on the number of hours spent in a Church or the hood of a monk. Spirituality has nothing to do with all that except when intrinsically evaluated within the context of decision and behavior. On the other hand, it takes into account all the minutest details of what we do, the way we do it, the intention for it etc cetera. In this sense, psychology becomes a vehicle through which spirituality becomes feasible and attainable. There can be psychology without spirituality or religion, but there can be no religion or spirituality without psychology. Besides, spirituality is not the same thing as religion per se.

Required Reading:

WRITING ASSIGNMENT:

1. Psychology seems to incorporate or cut across all fields of study, do you agree?
2. Man is both psychological and spiritual/religious – expatiate?  
3. Which of these is an option for heavenly rewards – spirituality or religion?
4. Relationships are more of psychological than religious – explain with examples.
5. Is there any miracle or magic in a relationship one is not ready to maintain or keep?
6. “Everyone is his or her own relationship” – how do you react to that?

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Suffering, Meaning, and Healing: The Evolution and Importance of Mystical Consciousness

Faculty: Dr. Michelle Foote Pearce (Profile)

Description: Traditional, historic premises of diverse religions including mysticism and esoteric traditions have contacted, perceived, and interpreted divinity within the context only of religion and religious frameworks while science has perceived the evolution of the human species within the context of matter, the body. The idea of the evolution of consciousness and widespread acceptance of self-realization or individual evolution into divinity is a more recent and largely secular development. A synthetic and inclusive view of an evolution of the human into divinity, Self-realization, might include the idea of the human form and faculties evolving to meet the needs of the evolving consciousness of the self, the indwelling soul. This striving is impelled and enhanced through the human need to find meaning and healing within the context of suffering. This course explores how meaning through suffering may impel the evolution of the mystical consciousness and how the individual and religious organization can cooperate and contribute to this evolutionary impulse.

Required Reading:

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Thomas Merton, Zen and Taoist Spirituality

Faculty: Ekman P. C. Tam, Ph.D. (Profile)

Professor of Spirituality and Psychotherapy

Description: This E-Tutorial explores Thomas Merton's writings in and understanding of Zen Buddhism and classical Taosim and what Merton, as a Christian contemplative, had learned from them.  A reflection on the dialogue between Christian Spirituality and Zen and Taoism will also be emphasized. 

Required Reading:

  • Tam, Ekman P. C.  Christian Contemplation and Chinese Zen-Taoism: A Study of Thomas Merton's Writings.  Hong Kong: Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, 2002. 

Available from Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre.  Download PDF order form.

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