C ASTERN HRISTIAN THEOLOGY · Spidlik, The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook, Chapter Two, Life in God, Chapter Twelve, Prayer; Panayiotis Nellas, Deification

INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE CATHOLIC SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

LICENTIATE IN SACRED THEOLOGY

CONCENTRATION:

EASTERN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

Director of the STL-ECT Program:

Rev. DDr. Yosyp Veresh

SCHLOSSGASSE 21 • 2521 TRUMAU • AUSTRIA

STL-EASTERN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

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LICENTIATE IN SACRED THEOLOGY (STL)

CONCENTRATION:

EASTERN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY (ECT)

Table of Contents

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION... ...........................................................................3

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW .………………………………………………………..................4

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS……………………………….………………………………………....5

Common Course in Eastern Christian Theology ..………..………….5

Specialized Mandatory Courses……………………….....…………………6

Specialized Elective Courses……………………………………………………9

Languages..………………………………………………………........................9


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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The STL-ECT (Eastern Christian Theology) is an academic program in theology affording

students the opportunity to deepen their understanding and to develop their academic

research in the areas that articulate the particular heritage of the Eastern Churches. These

Churches enjoy their own liturgical usage, have their own discipline, and inherit a theological

and spiritual patrimony, all of which are distinguished through particular historical and

cultural circumstances (Lumen Gentium, 23; Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 3; CCEO, canon 28).

The integrated study of these components forms the foundation for the curriculum of

Eastern Christian Theology.

The STL-ECT program is composed from Common Courses, Specialized Mandatory Courses,

Specialized Elective Courses and Tutorials. The Common Courses are mandatory courses

chosen from each of the fields of concentration in theology at the ITI and are aimed to study

theological matter within the organic unity of theology as a whole. Specialized Mandatory

Courses are obligatory courses for the area of concentration in Eastern Christian Theology

and are focused on the study of the areas of theology that articulate the particular heritage

of the Eastern Churches. Specialized Elective Courses and Tutorials are focused on particular

topics or authors in the field of the Christian East. The Specialized Courses, combined with

the STL-ECT Common Course, form the core curriculum of this multidisciplinary program,

through the study of the five components of the heritage of the Eastern Churches: liturgy,

theology, spirituality, discipline and history. The study of these components is considered as

indispensable for the full and authentic presentation of the significance of the heritage of

the Eastern Churches, always seen as the integral unity and not as a casual composition of

separate and self standing disciplines. These particular fields, as stated by the Congregation

for the Eastern Churches, penetrate and condition one another in turn inside a global vision

of divine revelation which encompasses all life and which culminates in the praise of the

Most Holy Trinity (Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the CCEO, art. 9).

The STL-ECT program is a graduate program (Second Cycle) in theology designed to enable

students to participate in theological debate as scholars in their own right. On successful

completion of the STL-ECT program, through a number of courses carefully designed and

structured, a thesis and lectio coram, an academic degree of Licentiate in Sacred Theology is

conferred, which enables one to teach in a pontifical graduate institution, such as a major

seminary or equivalent school (Sapientia Christiana, art. 50, 1).


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CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

Requirements for STL program

56 credits of course work (at least 28 credits in area of theological concentration),

divided over four semesters:

1. four common core courses

2. six specialized courses and tutorials

3. two electives (the STL-ECT offers each semester several electives in this area

of concentration)

4. four thesis and pedagogy courses

30 credits for Thesis of 70–80 pages, with public defense

one-hour lectio coram (lecture to assembled faculty) followed by discussion

knowledge of one modern language in addition to one's native language, Latin and

Greek, to be determined by examination. Students who have not taken these

languages or do not pass the exams will take two semesters of each. (Language study

is not included in the 56 credits.)

For further information contact Rev. DDr. Yosyp Veresh, Director of the Centre of Eastern

Christian Studies (ITI), E-mail: [email protected]

Semester 1 Winter Semester

Semester 2 Summer Semester

Semester 3 Winter Semester

Semester 4 Summer Semester

Common Course

(Scripture)

Common Course

(Systematic)

Common Course

(ECT) Byzantine Worship

Common Course

(Marriage and Family)

Specialized

Mandatory Course

The Orthodox Faith in St. John

Damascene

Specialized

Mandatory Course

History of Byzantium

Specialized

Mandatory Course

Deification in the Eastern Christian

Tradition

Specialized

Mandatory Course

The Sacred Canons of the Patristic Age

Specialized

Elective Course

Specialized

Elective Course

Specialized

Elective Course

Specialized

Elective Course

Research, Writing

and Project Management

Thesis Upper

Seminar

Thesis Upper

Seminar

Education, Pedagogy

and Communication

mailto:[email protected]


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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Common Course in Eastern Christian Theology

STL-ECT 602: Byzantine Worship

Course Description:

The course is aimed at studying the richness and the theological significance of the liturgical

heritage of the Byzantine tradition. After studying the stages of Byzantine liturgical evolution

and the spread of the Byzantine Rite, the course gives a general overview to the theology of

Divine Worship and a general consideration of the Sacraments. The course culminates in a

study of the development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Byzantine rite and in a

consideration of the Patristic and contemporary commentaries on the Divine Liturgy. This

course is also directed toward a rediscovery of the authenticity of the liturgical tradition of

one’s own particular Church (sui iuris).

Course Texts:

Primary sources – Decree of the Second Vatican Council on the Catholic Eastern Churches,

Orientalium Ecclesiarum, (1964); The Congregation for the Eastern Churches, The Vatican,

Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern

Churches (1996); St. Maximus the Confessor, The Church’s Mystagogy; St. Germanus of

Constantinople, On the Divine Liturgy; Cabasilas, Nicolas, A Commentary on the Divine

Liturgy. Secondary sources – Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy; Irenee-

Henri Dalmais, Eastern Liturgies; Robert Taft, The Byzantine Rite; Georges Florovsky, The

Worshipping Church in: Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kalistos Ware, The Festal Menaion;

The Orthodox Services and their Structure in: Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kalistos Ware,

The Festal Menaion; Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Tradition, For the Life of the World;

Hugh Wybrew, The Orthodox Liturgy: The Development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the

Byzantine Rite.

Course Goals/Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students are able to (1) explain the special pre-

eminence of the liturgy in the Eastern Churches as a source of identity; the teachings of the

recent documents of the Catholic Church on the reaches of the Eastern liturgical heritage

and its role in the Universal Church and in the ecumenical dialogue; the stages of Byzantine

liturgical evolution in the liturgical families of the Christian East; the significance of the

liturgical cycles in Byzantine Worship; the meaning of the Sacraments of Initiation; (2)

analyze the concept of liturgical symbols and symbolism and their interpretation; the

meaning of “mystagogy”; the texts and symbolism of the Divine Liturgy; (3) critically assess

different commentaries on Divine Liturgy.


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Specialized Mandatory Courses

1. STL-ECT 610: The Orthodox Faith in St. John Damascene

Course Description:

The Fount of Knowledge by St John of Damascus constitutes a compendium of Patristic

learning on major theological issues. It falls into three parts, philosophical, heresiological and

systematic. It embodies the traditions of the Greek Fathers, greatly influenced the Angelic

Doctor (and his contemporaries) and has functioned as a standard introduction to theology

among the dissident Byzantine Churches from the seventeenth century onwards.

Course Texts:

St John of Damascus, Writings (CUA 1958) Frederick H. Chase Jr. trans.; St John of Damascus,

On the Divine Images (Vladimir Seminary Press 1980); Andrew Louth, St. John Damascene:

tradition and originality in Byzantine theology (OUP 2002).


The aim of the course is to achieve a thorough knowledge of The Fount of Knowledge by St

John Damascene. The approach is to read the text from cover to cover discussing the issues

raised by the Damascene and his conclusions as they strike the students and professor. The

format of the seminar is guided discussion with occasional excursuses by professor. The class

is assessed by a paper and an oral examination.

2. STL-ECT 608: History of Byzantium

Course Description:

The History and Culture of Byzantium forms one of the sources of the particular patrimony

of multiple Eastern Churches sui juris. The preponderant number of Eastern Catholics belong

to this tradition. Adopting a topical and chronological approach this course draws from

original texts and modern and classic historiography. Each week is be devoted to one

century of the Empire’s history. Generally one text in each week is original to the period and

one drawn from later historiography. Students should achieve a good structural and basic

knowledge of Byzantine History, the world view, culture and achievements of the first self-

conscious universal Christian State.

Course Texts:

Eusabius of Caesaria, Edward Gibbon, Tribonian, Procopius, Slavic Lives of Constantine and

Methodius, Photios, Luitiprand of Cremona, Michael Psellus, Anna Comnena, Council of

Florence, G. Mousourakis, B. Ward-Perkins, J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, D.M. Nicol, M. Jugie.


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The aim of the course is to provide an overview of the History of the Christian Roman Empire

from 312 to 800 and then in its Eastern recension from 800 to 1453 with particular reference

to its cultural, theological, legal and institutional development. The format of the seminar is

guided discussion with occasional excursuses by professor. The class is assessed by a paper

and an oral examination.

3. STL-ECT 601: Deification in the Eastern Christian Tradition

Course Description:

Blessed John Paul II in his Orientale Lumen articulates that the “theology of deification

remains one of the achievements particularly dear to Eastern Christian thought.” (John Paul

II, Orientale Lumen, no. 6) This course studies the writings of the Eastern Fathers and

contemporary scholars on the theme of man’s deification. After considering some of the

fundamental aspects of man’s deification in the doctrine of salvation and in the Holy

Mysteries (Sacraments), the course addresses a more detailed study of ascetical and

mystical life as it is presented in the Eastern Patristic tradition. The course concludes by

considering the tradition of the Jesus Prayer and Watchfulness as presented in the

Philokalia.

Course Texts:

Primary sources – selected texts from St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies; St. Athanasius,

On the Incarnation; St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 45; St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit;

St. Dionysius the Areopagite, The Mystical Theology, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy (Chapters 1-

4); St. Gregory of Nyssa, (selected texts from mystical writings); St. Maximus the Confessor,

Commentary on the Our Father, On Love, On Theology, Various Texts; Evagrios the Solitary,

On Prayer; Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness. Secondary sources – Tomas

Spidlik, The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook, Chapter Two, Life in

God, Chapter Twelve, Prayer; Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ, Part One, The Image of

God and the “Garments of Skin”; Lars Thunberg, Man and the Cosmos, The Vision of St.

Maximus the Confessor, Chapter Five, The Natural-Social Dimension.


Upon successful completion of this course, students are able to (1) define and explain the

concept of spiritual life in the Christian East; the anthropology of man according to the

teachings of the Eastern Fathers; the Christological Aspects of Deification; the understanding

of the “Ecclesial Hierarchy” in the deification of man; the concept of grace in the Patristic

teachings; (2) analyze the stages of Christian spiritual life; the deifying influence and efficacy

of the Holy Mysteries (the Sacraments); the role of the virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

in Christian perfection; (3) critically assess the understanding of deification through the Jesus


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Prayer and Watchfulness; (4) present a summary of the teaching on Christian deification of

each of the Patristic Fathers which were considered in the course.

4. STL-ECT 612: The Sacred Canons of the Patristic Age: Their

Reflection of the Eastern Ecclesiological Tradition and Impact on

CCEO

Course Description:

Church canons constitute a practical tool for the organization of the Church life. They too

always express and implement into practice the dogmatic and theological teaching of the

Church as well as ecclesiology. In order to understand the Eastern ecclesiology this course

will treat the so-called Sacred Canons which legislate on some Church institutes or canonical

structures of the Church. These disciplinary canons compose the ancient law of the Eastern

Churches and form the Eastern legislative collections from the time of the Council in Trullo

(691-692) on where they were officially recognized as the common patrimony of the Eastern

Christianity. They also compose the core of the CCEO which according to the Pope John Paul

II “must be considered to be assessed most of all according to the ancient law of the Eastern

Churches” (Apostolic Constitution Sacri Canones). These canons have exclusive importance

also by being issued at the time of the undivided Church. In order to learn how the Eastern

Ecclesiological Tradition is reflected in the Sacred Canons and in CCEO such subjects will be

treated: 1) how one becomes the member of the Church (acceptance of the converts and

heretics); 2) how the Church lives (Eucharist and priesthood, especially the episcopacy); 3)

how is governed the Church (Synodal System of governance; Metropolitan and Patriarchal

structures; the Supreme Authority of the Church); 4) How acts the Church (missionary

activity and ecumenism).

Course Texts:

Primary sources—some canons related with the ecclesiology taken from the collection

called Sacred Canons, which was edited by the Trullan Council (691-692); commentaries of

the Byzantine Commentators of the XII ct. on these canons; canons of CCEO treating the

same matter. Secondary sources—studies and articles treating the matters studied in the

course. Supplemental optional texts: legislation of the Latin Church which touches on the

matters studied in the course.


Upon successful completion of this course, student is expected to 1) distinguish the value

and the importance of the Sacred Canons for the life of the Eastern Churches; 2) understand

the ecclesiological roots of the studied canons; 3) explain how the canons on some

structures of the Eastern Churches reveal the Eastern ecclesiology; 4) distinguish the level of

the interrelation between the Sacred Canons and canons of CCEO which treat the same


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ecclesiastical institutes; 5) understand and be able to explain the impact of the Sacred

Canons on the canons of the CCEO.

Specialized Elective Courses (since 2010)

1. Anthropology and Spiritual Direction in the Christian East

2. The Ladder of Divine Ascent in St. John Climacus

3. St. Athanasius Contra Mundum

4. St. Thomas Aquinas and the Great Eastern Schism

5. Byzantine Theology: St. Maximus the Confessor

6. Byzantine Theology: St. Gregory Dialogos

7. Byzantine Theology: Gregory Palamas

8. The First Seven Ecumenical Councils

9. Comparative analysis of Sacraments in CIC and CCEO

10. CCEC, Churches sui iuris

11. Christian Marriage and Monasticism in the East

12. Conjugal Life and Eucharistic Purity: The understanding of the concept of married

clergy in the Christian East

13. History of the Eastern Slavic Churches

14. Koinonia and the Mission of the Eastern Churches

15. Mariology in Patristic Thought

16. Metanoia: Virtue and Sacrament

17. The Sacraments of Healing in the Byzantine Rite

18. Byzantine Ruthenian Liturgical Chant

Languages

1. Greek

2. Latin

3. Hebrew (Modern/Biblical)

4. Aramaic (Biblical/Rabbinical)

5. Syriac

6. Church Slavonic

Prepared by: Rev. DDr. Yosyp Veresh

Trumau, 05.11.2014

Documents

C ASTERN HRISTIAN THEOLOGY · Spidlik, The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook, Chapter Two, Life in God, Chapter Twelve, Prayer; Panayiotis Nellas, Deification