50 courses with the subject SPIR, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
SPIR 414Theology and Spirituality of Vocation3
This course will address the theological, spiritual, and practical dimensions of Christian vocation. Students will examine the history and development of Catholic and Protestant theologies of vocation, with attention to creation, providence, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The course emphasizes vocation both as general, the calling Christians share together, and as particular, the unique ways God calls each person. We will study callings as they pertain to the whole of life, across the lifespan (children, teens, young adults, adulthood and the elderly), and in regards to work and professions. We will examine practices of discernment as well as interfaith perspectives on vocation. Cross listed with PTHM 414. Equivalent courses: PTHM 414
Why is spiritual practice on the rise? What do contemplation and social justice have to do with each other? Can people from different religions borrow practices from others? Students in this course will examine spiritual practices and ways of thinking about them that have become prominent in recent decades. These movements include the retrieval and redefinition of ancient practices (e.g., lectio divina, centering prayer, and the Jesus Prayer); the intersection of spiritual practice and social issues (e.g., the influence of other religions; the environment; and social justice); and contemporary theological emphases (e.g., work, the body, art, science, and gender). Students will explore recent scholarship on the rise of spiritual practice, the theological foundations as well as the actions and disciplines that comprise these approaches. Cross listed with PTHM 416. Equivalent courses: PTHM 416
An exploration of the significant formative elements, experiences and writers of Christian spirituality in its first 700 years. Cross-listed with HCHR 424. Equivalent courses: HCHR 424, HHTH 424
A study of the Christian spirituality of the Middle Ages, especially from the end of the seventh century to the Reformation. Special attention will be given to notable figures, writings, events, institutions and movements that shaped the expression of Christian convictions and practice, up to the dawn of the "modern" period. Cross-listed with HCHR 425. Equivalent courses: HCHR 425, HHTH 425
The development of Christian spirituality from the Protestant and Catholic Reformations to the present. Also included will be events in Asia, Africa, North and Latin America. Cross-listed with HCHR 428. Equivalent courses: HCHR 428, HHTH 428
This course involves critical and reflective reading of works that might be classified as "spiritual autobiography" in the Christian theological and spiritual tradition. Examining these "self-presentations" as theological fonts, the course introduces students to this genre and an understanding of each work in its historical and theological context. Particular attention is given to presentations of life as a "journey" with emphasis on those experiences which advance the person in his or her relationship with God. Themes such as grace, sacramental action, self-examination, prayer, and good works inform the way in which the course considers progress in the life stories, and the course will invite students to think about how biography might shape on-going insights into current Christian thought and practice. Cross listed with HCHR 429.
The relationship between concrete experience and theological inquiry as seen in the works of outstanding spiritual writers of the Christian tradition. Prayer in Christian life. Forms of spirituality and asceticism.
A study of the place of prayer in Christian life, with special emphasis on the Our Father, using various classical commentaries as a case in point. Theological problems and considerations related to doctrine of prayer are included, e.g. discernment in prayer, content of prayer, polarities in prayer (such as its apophatic and mystical, individual and communitarian, sacramental and liturgical aspects), and laws of the spiritual life emanating from teachings on prayer.
The mystical dimension of Christianity as exemplified in ancient and modern mystics. Questions of discernment of true from false mysticism; comparative studies; influence of psychology on studies of mysticism to the Church.
The development of monastic spiritual theology will be studied from the perspective of monastic primary sources. Texts will be studied as guides and sourcebooks for models of monastic spiritual progress and human maturity. Special emphasis will be placed on: (1) the original meanings of "active" and "contemplative" in the vocabulary of early monasticism; (2) models of spiritual development in the early church and in the early monastic movement; (3) the interrelationship between the cenobitic and eremetic lifestyles; (4) the theory and practice of lectio divina; (5) the mystical interpretation of the scriptures and the practice of liturgical prayer; (6) monastic reform and renewal; (7) spiritual guidance in the monastic tradition. Cross-listed with MONS 434.
The development of Christian asceticism will be studied from the perspective of primary sources, drawn chiefly from the Christian monastic tradition. Texts will be studied as guides and sourcebooks for models of conversion, growth in human maturity, and spiritual progress. Special emphasis will be place on: (1) classical and Christian understandings of ascesis; (2) repentance and the call to conversion as the basis for authentic ascetical practice; (3) the dynamic interrelationship between ascetical practice and contemplative vision; (4) philosophical and monastic models of virtue and vice; (5) the contrasting and interdependent asceticism of hermitage and cenobium; (6) friendship as the form and ascetical school of virtue; (7) spiritual exercises and the love of learning-implications for monastic reform and renewal. Cross- listed with MONS 435. Equivalent courses: MONS 435
This course will examine early Christian and monastic attitudes toward the biblical text and the interplay between the Bible and forms of prayer. Topics will include: methods of interpreting the Bible; ways of encountering the Bible (reading, memorization, meditation), kinds of early monastic prayer and their biblical basis. There will also be some attention to the subsequent history of those traditions and a consideration of present-day implications. Cross-listed with MONS 436. CSBSJU Graduate Academic Catalog 2026-2027 75
SPIR 437Practice of Discernment in Prayer (or audit) is a course1
requirement for the spiritual formation program for students enrolled CSBSJU Graduate Academic Catalog 2026-2027 51 in ministry degrees (MDIV, MAM) and is taken in the student’s first or second semester. Field Education: Practicum and Clinical Pastoral Education Practicum: Students work with the Director of Formation & Field Education to establish sites for their Field Education experiences. After a site for the p r a c ti cu m experience is determined, students work with an on-site supervisor and the Director of Formation & Field Education to coordinate a learning agreement. This agreement serves as the basis for the ministerial evaluation of the student. Theological Reflection on the field education is also a required piece of the experience. Clinical Pastoral Education: A basic unit of CPE (PTHM 412, 3 credits) is required for all M.Div. students. M.A.M. students may also take a unit of CPE towards their field education requirements. After the CPE has been completed, the on-site supervisor sends a final evaluation to the Director of Formation and Field Education. For seminarians, that copy is shared with the Rector and kept on file in the Rector’s office. Saint John’s assesses a $50 administrative fee; other costs for CPE programs are the responsibility of the student.
This course explores important themes in the Rule of St. Benedict, such as doing good works in order to reach God’s kingdom, being an apprentice in the spiritual life, having the right interior dispositions (e.g., humility), and the usefulness of observances. In addition to reading the Rule, we will look at some materials from the historical context in which St. Benedict wrote and some contemporary treatments of related topics. This course will be valuable for those looking to engage the perennial wisdom of the Rule more deeply.
This course will look at the curious history of acedia, the 8th “bad thought” of the 4th century monastics. They considered acedia, anger, and pride to be the worst of the common temptations faced by people trying to live a monastic life. Acedia was considered especially treacherous, as it could cause a monk to lose all faith in God and abandon a life of prayer. By the 6th century acedia had been subsumed into sloth, as one of the “seven deadly sins,” and came to mean physical laziness rather than what the monks knew it to be: a profound inertia caused by spiritual despair. This course will look at that history and the implications of a rediscovery and reclaiming of acedia in the present day, including its emergence during the COVID pandemic. Equivalent courses: MONS 446
In his Rule, Saint Benedict instructs monks to pray “the full complement of one hundred and fifty psalms every week” (RB 18:23). In light of this counsel and the traditional Benedictine psalmody that follows from it, this course will investigate the transformative spiritual wisdom of the Psalter that emerges when one studies and prays all of the psalms together. To do so, we will engage with contemporary scholarship on individual psalms and the theological development across the whole book. We will also consult traditional interpretations and prayerful uses of the Psalter, with an emphasis on Benedictine sources. Equivalent courses: MONS 447
Brief overview of monastic liturgy, with a view toward its renewal since the Second Vatican Council; the nature of ritual in a monastic context; spiritualities of monastic prayer; music in monastic worship; and the place of Eucharist in monastic life. Equivalent courses: MONS 448
SPIR 468ACatholic Environmental Ethics and Spirituality3
Inspired by the integral ecology of Laudato Si’, this course explores Catholic commitment to care for our common home. It does so from a theological perspective, focusing especially on the spiritual roots of the crisis and spiritual resources from within the Catholic tradition (such as Benedictine spirituality) that can inform one’s response to that crisis. That is, this course aims to help students express how one might live in right relationship with God, neighbor, and creation and promote ecclesial practices that hear the cries of the earth and the poor. Cross listed with MORL 468.
This course is an exploration of Christian contemplative traditions from a comparative, historical, textual, and experiential perspective. Students will examine contemplative practices through close reading of representative texts and through active and self-reflective engagement in contemplative practices.
