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MONS
434:
MONASTIC
SPIRITUAL
THEOLOGY
ANNOUNCEMENTS
WELCOME
TO
Monastic Spiritual Theology (MONS 434) This is the
Announcements
page. It will be the first thing you see each time you log on to
this webcourse. The other sections of the
course may be accessed through the navigation bar to the left, (the panel with
St. Benedict, blessing and holding the Rule, at the top). If you click any of the blue-colored links on the
navigation panel (With the exception of the DISCUSSION
link), this central panel will be replaced by the section of the
course you have chosen. The DISCUSSION
link will take you to Collegeville Moodle, where our discussion
forums may be found. You may always return to this original configuration by
clicking on the red course title in the center of the banner (the panel at the
top of this page). You will not need to use the grey links on the banner: they
will take you places you do not need to go.
PLEASE
make sure you are able to play audio-files on your computer. If you go to
the Lectures and Assignments section,
you will find a sample audio file and some suggestions. After that, your first
assignment is to introduce yourself in the discussion forum.
AUDIO-lectures
associated with texts are available for each week of the course in the Lectures and Assignments
section: the approximate schedule of lectures is shown on the course syllabus;
and those who wish to read and listen ahead will be able to do so. Please
post your responses to discussion questions during the corresponding week of the
course - try not to fall behind!
PLEASE
note that the “Class roster” link will take you to a page that
shows the e-mail addresses of all class participants, as well as the relevant
administrators at St. John’s. I have been requested to use ONLY
these e-mail addresses in communicating with class
participants; so whenever you send me a note (and you are welcome to do so
anytime!) please use ONLY
your
St. John’s e-mail address to send and receive messages in matters that
concern this class. If you are not sure what this means or have not yet
worked out how to use the St. John’s webmail service, please contact Patty
Weishaar (
PWEISHAAR@csbsju.edu ), the theology
webcourse coordinator at SJU.
I
look forward to getting know all of you.
Fr. Luke Dysinger,
OSB.
ldysinger@stjohnsem.edu
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January 16, 2006
WELCOME
TO
our first week of class. You will notice that the
announcements from last Friday are still posted at the top of this page. Each week (or more frequently) this page will be updated,
and the more recent information will be added at the bottom the page. This will also be
true in the "Lectures and Assignments" and "Discussion" parts of the course.
You will always be able to look back at earlier assignments or discussions by
scrolling up on the appropriate portal page.
AT
this point only about half the class have introduced themselves in the Introductory Discussion Forum.
Don't be shy! This is your first assignment: if you have not introduced
yourself yet,
please do so now before beginning the first set of lectures and readings.
And be sure you have also reviewed and listened to the Syllabus.
THE
first set of lectures and texts for Part One,
CELESTIAL
VISIONS,
HEAVENLY
VOYAGES:
Pre-Christian Models of
Contemplation, is now available in the
"Lectures and Assignments" section of the course. Discussion Forum One is
also open for you to share your reflections on these texts.
LECTURES
generally do not exceed 12-15 minutes in length. This is because some
class participants use rather slow modems, and the download time for larger
audiofiles would be discouraging. Our pace, in terms of the number of
lectures and texts, will be more leisurely during the first two weeks of class
to allow everyone to become comfortable with the technology. From the
third week of class onwards the number of lectures and texts will pick up.
FOR
those who wish to read and work ahead, about 2-3 weeks' worth of forthcoming
lectures and texts will generally be available. However, discussion forums
will not be open in advance of the assigned dates. And those enthusiasts
who read ahead need to remember that I reserve the right to make last-minute
changes and assignments: so always check the CURRENT
week's assignments closely to make sure you have not overlooked anything.
HAVE
FUN!
January 23, 2006
THE
second (and concluding) lectures in our first section,
CELESTIAL
VISIONS,
HEAVENLY
VOYAGES,
are now available in "Lectures and Assignments". Discussion Forum Two is open
for you to share your reflections on these texts.
PLEASE
feel free to go back to earlier discussions and to add new reflections if you
find yourself with new convictions or insights on earlier questions. The
discussions thus far have been great. Keep up the
wonderful work!
January 30, 2006
THE
second part of our course,
BIBLICAL AND
EARLY
CHRISTIAN
MODELS OF
SPIRITUAL
ASCENT,
is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Three is open
for you to share your reflections.
PLEASE
begin thinking about what you might like to write as a research paper or
presentation. Remember that you may substitute a Powerpoint,
Webpage-based, or other multi-media presentation for the paper; but I will need
to see it (and hear you present it) in order to evaluate it. Your are not
absolutely limited to the subjects in the syllabus; but it should provide a
jumping-off point. My principal goals for the paper or presentation are: (1)
for you to demonstrate familiarity with primary sources in the monastic
spiritual tradition; and (2) for you to
apply and reflect on those sources in your own situation of ministry or
work. I'll send out a group e-mail at the end of this week asking about your
initial thoughts and direction.
February
6, 2006
THE
third part of our course,
SOLITUDE
and COMMUNITY
in EARLY
MONASTICISM,
is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Four is open
for you to share your reflections.
PASSING
reference was made in a lecture and on the Syllabus to an article, “Are We
Contemplatives, What is Our Future?” I decided several weeks ago that this
might be a more helpful text to use in review towards the end of the course.
But if anyone would care to look at it now, they are welcome to do so. It
is available for download in “Course Documents”.
February
13, 2006
THE
second part of
SOLITUDE
and COMMUNITY
in EARLY
MONASTICISM,
is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Five is open
for you to share your reflections.
THANKS
to all of you who have shared (via e-mail) your musings on possibilities for a
paper or presentation. I look forward to hearing from the rest soon!
February
20, 2006
THE
first part of
LECTIO DIVINA is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Six is open
for you to share your reflections.
PLEASE
permit me to share with you all again how amazed I continue to be at the rich
insights and interactions that daily emerge in our discussion forums,
particularly our most recent discussion of hermitage and coenobium in Forum
Five. This diversity of shared experience and insight from so many different
shades of the monastic spectrum – Cistercian, Benedictine, Lay, Carmelite,
Franciscan – is unparalleled in my experience. In my last webcourse I attempted
(unsuccessfully, due to copyright issues) to make the course available to all
participants on CD-rom at the end of the course. Again, because of copyright
and “fair access” legal issues it will not be possible to provide a CD
containing all the resources of the course; but I cannot see any reason why I
could not provide any of you who are interested with a CD containing the
complete discussion forums. I’ll raise this possibility again at the end of the
course.
KEEP
up the wonderful work, all of you!
February
27, 2006
THE
conclusion to our discussion of
LECTIO DIVINA is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Seven is open
for you to share your reflections.
ONE
minor technical issue has arisen for a couple of class participants. As
these pages are progressively updated it is sometimes necessary for you to press
the "refresh" button on your web browser. Many browsers store earlier
versions of the pages in memory and occasionally needs to be jogged into
checking for the current version. This is especially true of links that I
do not activate until the beginning of the new week. If you have not had
any problems, just ignore this message.
March
6, 2006
THE
first part of our discussion of
PSALMODY
and PRAYER is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Eight is open
for you to share your reflections.
MANY
thanks to those of you who looked ahead and noticed that the link to the texts
on Cassian for this week was not correct. That has now been fixed: some of
you may need to use the "refresh" button to get your browser to find the
corrected link.
March
13, 2006
THE
second (and concluding) part of our discussion of
PSALMODY
and PRAYER is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Nine is open
for you to share your reflections.
March
20, 2006
THE
first part of our discussion of
LITURGICAL PRAYER is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Ten is open
for you to share your reflections.
March
27, 2006
THE
second part of our discussion of
LITURGICAL PRAYER is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Eleven is open
for you to share your reflections.
April
3, 2006
THE
first part of our discussion of
CONTEMPLATIVE
EXEGESIS is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Twelve is open
for you to share your reflections.
THOSE
who have already begun to work on this section, please note that
I have added (on April 4) a link to the Assignments page that allows you to
dowmload a chapter from Leclercq's Love of Learning and Desire for God. I
make reference to this text in the introductory lecture; but it will make more
sense if you have read the whole chapter.
WE
will have two weeks until the next set of lectures and assignments is opened,
since next week is Holy Week. For those who may have already looked ahead to
this week's lectures, please note that I have decided to defer our study of
Cassian's Conference 14 until after the Easter Break. Evagrius'
Gnostikos
will provide us with quite enough to think about!
April
17, 2006
THE
conclusion of our discussion of
CONTEMPLATIVE
EXEGESIS is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Thirteen is open
for you to share your reflections.
JUST
a reminder that our course officially ends on May 12. I am
required to submit grades by the fifteenth; so I would be grateful to have your
papers by May 12. Anyone who
already knows that they will need to take an incomplete in order to obtain an
extension for their paper should contact me as soon as possible so we can
discuss how that works.
FOR
those who wish to read ahead I have included the text-links for
our next two weeks of work in “Lectures and Assignments”. The
audio-lectures will be added as they become available.
HAPPY
EASTER!
April
24, 2006
THE
first part of our discussion of
MONOLOGISTIC
PRAYER is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Fourteen is open
for you to share your reflections. I have decided to divide this section into
two, so as to allow us to consider in greater depth next week four article by
Bishop Kallistos Ware. I believe this change from the Syllabus is
necessary, since we will need the background this section provides (especially
this weeks' texts from Cassian) in order to
understand and assess popular variants of monologistic prayer that
are being widely practiced and recommended, especially in Benedictine and Cistercian
circles: namely, Centering Prayer and the “Christian Meditation” of John
Main.
THAT
will, unfortunately, leave us only the last week of class to
reflect on the subject of monastic reform and renewal. However I am less
than penitent about that, since I believe authentic monastic reform and renewal
will consist precisely in the continuing rediscovery and reactivation of the
traditions we have been studying throughout this semester.
May 1, 2006
THE
conclusion of our discussion of
MONOLOGISTIC
PRAYER is now available in
“Lectures and Assignments”. Discussion Forum Fifteen is open
for you to share your reflections.
May 8, 2006
WELL,
our last week together has arrived. The texts and lectures
I've assembled on
MONASTIC
REFORM and
RENEWAL
barely scratch the surface of this fascinating and
important subject; yet there is somewhat more in “Lectures and Assignments” to
read and listen to than is normally available for a week's work. Those who are
pressed for time may wish to skip the material on Prosper Guéranger.
I WILL
also open an entirely optional Discussion Forum (§17) for suggestions
and thoughts concerning this course. For example: this is the first year
that I have been able to offer the sections on Monologistic Prayer and Monastic
Reform, and I would be grateful to hear which portions of these (or any other
sections) you think ought to be expanded or reduced. And please let me
know what you thought about the pace of the course. If anything else is to
be added, or if any sections are to be expanded, that would mean increasing the
number of lectures and texts per week. Any thoughts?
IT
has really been wonderful to quietly listen (and very occasionally join) in on
your conversations with one another in the Discussion Forum. Thank you
all, and God bless you.
....x.... ’ “”.