Canons study Latin in Rome

May. 27, 2008

For two months in the summer of 2008, Br. Robin Kwan, S.J.C., and Br. Brian Schaefer, S.J.C., are studying Latin with the world-renowned Latinist, Fr. Reginald Foster in Rome. During their visit the brothers will reside with the Norbertine Fathers in Rome.

An American, Father Reginald Foster is a Roman Catholic priest and monk of the order of Discalced Carmelites (OCD). Since the time of Vatican II, he has lived in Rome and worked in the Vatican, writing or translating Papal documents and official correspondence into Latin. He is a world-class expert on the Latin language, with a fervent commitment to helping others who love Latin improve their knowledge and appreciation of the language. To this end, he has taught an intensive Latin course in Rome every summer since the 1970’s.

Fr. Foster calls his summer Latin class: “Aestiva Romae Latinitatis” or Summer Latin in Rome. It lasts about six weeks, from early June to mid-July. Classes are held six days a week, in the afternoons, beginning around 2 PM. The student body is divided in two groups (the “Iuniores” and the “Seniores”, a distinction based on demonstrated experience with the language), each group receiving a total of about 3 hours of classroom instruction per day. A typical schedule is: (2-4 PM, “Iuniores” only; 4-5 PM all students; 5-7 PM “Seniores” only). Optional sessions “sub arboribus” (under the trees in his monastery’s gardens) sometimes happen after 8 PM. In addition to classroom time, extensive homework assignments (see question 16, below) are given, which are collected and corrected once or twice a week.

Father Reginald’s only requirements of his students are that they possess knowledge of Latin, love of the language, and the maturity to work consistently at learning more. Due to the fine instruction the brothers receive at St. John Cantius from Mr. Joseph Phelps, Ms. Karen Bowes and Mr. Christopher Jones, Br. Robin and Br. Brian were well prepared to travel to Rome for this unique study experience.

Students, whether religious, clergy or lay, can apply for the summer Latin program by writing:
P. Reginald Foster OCD Teresianum Piazza San Pancrazio 5A I-00152 Rome ITALY

Thanks to the generosity of the patrons of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, these brothers are able to deepen their knowledge of the Church’s official language.

Sancta Missa Website Offers Tridentine Resources

Jan. 2, 2008

The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius has launched www.sanctamissa.org, a unique online multimedia tutorial for learning the 1962 Roman Missal. In thanksgiving for Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius have created the Sancta Missa website to help train priests to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite according to the 1962 Missale Romanum with this online tutorial. We hope that this resource, which provides a study of the Extraordinary Form in a multimedia format, will assist priests in praying the Mass of the Ages with deeper reverence and love, so that the faithful attracted to this venerable rite might more profoundly enter into the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

This presentation of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite will form the laity, both intellectually and spiritually, to understand its sacred ceremonies, and to be transformed by its inestimable beauty.