GREAT MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE OLD TESTAMENT
GREAT MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE OLD TESTAMENT
Through the use of recordings, we will explore some of the stories of the Old Testament. Some of the music we will hear will feature composers like Verdi, Saint-Saens, Britten but predominately using the oratorios of Handel.
Instructor: Charles Powell
Tuesdays, October 10, 17, 24, 31, Nov. 7 & 14, 2023 12:00 noon – 1:15 PM
Second Floor Conference Room
Fee: $60.00
Offering a Sacrifice of Praise: The People’s Part in the Eucharistic Liturgy
Offering a Sacrifice of Praise: The People’s Part in the Eucharistic Liturgy
The themes of offering and sacrifice are prominent in the language of the Roman liturgy but are often misunderstood. Nevertheless, they are vital to understanding the reasons why we gather to celebrate the Sunday eucharist, where we offer God thanks and praise as the gathered body of Christ for all that God has bestowed upon us in Christ. This weekly offering is the culmination of our daily self-offering to God with all that we are and do. The gifts of bread and wine offered in imitation of Jesus’ own example, are given back to us as the holy gifts of Christ’s body and blood so that we may be transformed into what we receive.
During these eight Zoom sessions, we will explore these themes in the prayers of the Roman Missal and focus on the people’s role in this offering as it is expressed in the liturgical actions and texts.
Instructor: Mr. Paul Sansone, M.A.
Tuesdays, October 10, 17, 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2023 12:00 noon – 1:00 PM
on ZOOM
Fee: $80.00
Leo Tolstoy: Shorter Fictions and A Quest for Truth
Leo Tolstoy: Shorter Fictions and A Quest for Truth:
While War and Peace and Anna Karenina remain academic staples, Tolstoy’s shorter works of fiction display his wide stylistic range and his lifelong quest to discover and articulate the meaning of life. The course will include discussions of “The Prisoner of the Caucasus,” “The Forged Coupon” and “Hadji Murat,” and other short stories, as well as the novella, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.”
All the texts that will be discussed during this course can be found in the Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Tolstoy, Leo ; Pevear, Richard (TRN); Volokhonsky, Larissa (TRN); Pevear, Richard (INT): (2010) which is available in Kindle print formats. Of course, there are several other versions of Tolstoy’s complete works that may be used.
Instructor: Sr. Fran McManus, R.S.M., M.A.
Thursdays, Oct. 5 – Nov. 16 12:30PM-1:30 PM
on ZOOM
Fee: $60.00
PRAYING WITH CHANT: SINGING AS A CREATIVE FORM OF PRAYER
PRAYING WITH CHANT: SINGING AS A CREATIVE FORM OF PRAYER
This course will be covering some of the fundamentals of chant, we will focus on the theology of chant as well as singing as a creative form of prayer. Sessions will cover the theology of music as well as how to analyze chant and understand its deeper meaning.
The course will explore the question “why” sing at the liturgy. With a deeper understanding of the meaning of particular chants themselves and why the act of harmonizing together with a single voice does not merely represent, but is, the realization of the Church as body of Christ in worship, we bring a greater self-consciousness and intention to our musical expression.
Instructor: Mr. William Mulligan, M.Mus.
Thursdays, October 5 – November 2, 2023 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm
on ZOOM
Fee: $50.00
Summer Adult Education – Summer Stretch: A Poetry Workshop
Summer Stretch: A Poetry Workshop
Meetings on ZOOM
Mondays 6:00 – 8:00 PM
July 10-August 7
Instructor: Sr. Fran McManus, RSM
This five-week workshop will provide practice in using tools of the poetic trade. Rhyme and meter, figurative language, point of view and line length will be among course topics. We will consider recent trends in narrative poetry, but writers will not be restricted to that genre. We will also discuss ways to generate and revise poems. Beginning with the second class, students will have the opportunity to present their work to the class. Beginners and long-term practitioners are welcome, but enrolment is limited in order for each student to have the opportunity to present their work for a class response.
Enrollment is limited to 15 students.
Fee: $50.00
(financial assistance is available, please email Joseph Nuzzi at jnuzzi@stfrancisnyc.org
for information)
Summer Adult Education – A Certain Slant: Faith-Informed Fiction
A Certain Slant: Faith-Informed Fiction
Meetings on ZOOM
Thursdays 12:30-1:30 PM
June 29 th
-July 27 th
Instructor: Fran McManus, RSM
In this five-week course we will examine how faith is portrayed as practice and shaping influence of the characters of three short novels. The first class will introduce the three authors and provide an overview of the Catholic imagination in literature. We will discuss the works in chronological order, devoting two sessions to The Diary of a Country Priest .
Required texts:
Mr. Blue (1928) by Myles Connelly, the biography of a modern fictional character who like St. Francis of Assisi commits himself to Lady Poverty.
The Diary of a Country Priest (1932) by George Bernanos, the story of a young French priest working to understand and serve his congregation.
The Ninth Hour (2017) by Alice McDermott focuses on the work of group of nursing nuns and the individuals they serve in Brooklyn.
Fee: $50.00
(financial assistance is available, please email Joseph Nuzzi at jnuzzi@stfrancisnyc.org
for information)
Summer Adult Education: What Happens at Mass?
THIS IS A FREE COURSE
(FREE WILL DONATIONS ARE OPTIONAL)
CATHOLICISM 101: “What Happens at Mass?”
We go to Mass Sunday after Sunday, but do we really know what’s going on? Why does the priest wash his hands? How do they choose the readings? Why do we keep getting up and down? What happened to the bells?
This summer, take some time to learn more about our supreme act of worship: The Mass.
During this five-week course we will study the parts of the Mass and the spirituality behind them. We will also reflect on how our prayers and rituals illuminate our Catholic understanding of creation, the incarnation, the bible, discipleship, and salvation.
This class is open to everyone: Catholics and others who would like to learn more about Catholicism.
The course is designed to be a combination of lecture and discussion.
Wednesdays June 14, 2023 – July 19, 2023 (No Class July 5 th
)
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM or 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM (evening class available on Zoom also)
San Damiano Hall (129 W. 31 st
Street, NYC)
Instructor: Joseph Nuzzi
Text:Driscoll, Jeremy What Happens at Mass (Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago: 2005) available at: www.ltp.org
Fee:This Adult Education Summer course is offered free of charge.
A free will offering is requested.(Normal course fee is approx. $10 per week of the class)
MUSICAL MYSTAGOGY: EXPLORING THE MUSIC OF EASTER – Cancelled
MUSICAL MYSTAGOGY: EXPLORING THE MUSIC OF EASTER
Break open the beautiful rites and music of Holy Week and the Easter season in this course. The course will explore how music accompanies the actions, and how the stories of our faith are told through the music that is sung celebrating the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord.
Participants will examine the breadth of the sacred treasury of music: classical, contemporary, and ancient works.
Instructor: William Mulligan, M.Mus.
Sundays, April 16 – May 14, 20233:00 – 4:00 PM;
Classroom 1B
Fee: $50.00
The Queens of Hearts: Women Saints Who Were Queens Throughout Church History
The Queens of Hearts: Women Saints Who Were Queens Throughout Church History
The Queen of Hearts signifies a powerful woman who is regal, has a strong presence, and is compassionate and caring such as Elizabeth of Hungary and Margaret of Scotland. This seminar will also present women from the Hebrew scriptures, other noble women, their male counterparts, and the aristocratic Howard family. They were recusant Roman Catholics from England’s Tudor period during the reign of Henry VIII. Some examples are Bithiah (Pharaoh’s daughter), Queen Esther, Baroness Jeanne de Chantal, Mary Ward, and Satoko Kitahara.
There will be a one-time charge of $12.00 for a follow up class visit (date to be determined during the seminar) to the MET payable at the first class session.
Instructor: Denise De Vito, M.S. Ed
Saturday, March 25, 2023
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Clare Room
Fee: $50.00
Franciscan Short Stories
Franciscan Short Stories: a 5-week series on the life and times of St. Francis of Assisi
During this course, using early Franciscan sources, we will investigate: Who was Francis? Where did he come from? What led him to becoming a saint? What do we know about him, what stories have been told about him, and what can we still learn from him eight centuries after his death?
Instructor: Fr. Steve Patti, O.F.M.
Sundays, February 26 – April 2 (No meeting March 5)
4:00 – 4:45 PM (each session will finish in time for the 5:00pm Mass)
Clare Room
This course is offered free of charge