Sacred Art and the New Evangelisation
Thursday 11th - Sunday 14th August 2016
One Year distance-learning course1 with a residential long weekend.
The residential weekend acts as an introduction to the 1-year course or as a stand-alone Summer School.
Pope Benedict spoke of beauty as an essential means for the new evangelisation and he said this could be found in two ways: the beauty of the Church’s sacred art and the beauty of the lives of the saints. This distance-learning, part-time course presents some of the most beautiful of the Church’s artistic heritage, explaining the content and context of the art works. The introductory weekend explores how to ‘read’ Christian paintings, how to teach from them, and how to reveal the unity and depth of faith in pictorial form.
The three modules of the course are introduced at the weekend and include, for example, the classical meaning of beauty, means of portraying faith, and many other subject areas.
Sacred Art and the New Evangelisation
Who is the course for?
This Sacred Art and New Evangelisation course is suitable for those who love or are simply fascinated by sacred Christian art, especially its rootedness in the unity of faith and the sacred Scriptures. It is for parents and those who teach or catechise and for all those who want to pass on to others the depth and wonder of the Christian faith pictorially and through the attraction of beauty.
What does the course cover?
The course introduces students to sacred art in the context of the liturgy and the Christian life. It explains and explores the classical objective meaning of beauty, enabling students to find this in creation, the human person and in Christian art, and to consider ways of working with this meaning for discerning beauty and its opposite, ugliness, for the sake of the New evangelisation.
There are three modules2 in the course covering, for example, the following areas:
- four transcendental properties of being: unity, truth goodness and beauty
- beauty as the splendor of truth and goodness and ugliness in relation to truth, goodness and beauty
- creation as good and therefore beautiful because of the Creator God of love
- the dignity of the human person as the point of equality and as relevant to portrayal of the person in art including saintly Christian life as beautiful
- Evaluating nakedness and clothedness in a respect for human dignity
- appreciation of the Church, its liturgy and hence its architecture, as an essential context for Christian life
- how to read and evaluate a Christian painting
- Speaking about Christ and Christian faith to others using beautiful works of art
How do I take the course?
You study mainly from home, following prepared texts and online. You attend an initial introductory weekend in the beautiful setting of the Abbey at Buckfast. The Benedictine prayer life of the monastic community, including daily Mass, Vespers and Compline is central to the time students and staff spend together at Buckfast, which is steeped in monastic history. The natural beauty of the location and the wonderful hospitality of the site make for a unique residential time of prayer, learning and community fellowship.
The course is led by Dr Caroline Farey, Director of Studies.
How much will it cost? The costs for 2016 is £740 for the one year course. With an application fee of £50 payable upon application. For the 4-day summer school, the cost is £345 with an application fee of £20 payable upon application.
Cancellation Rights:
You have a 14 day cooling off period which starts from the date of application.
When does it start? The course begins with the residential study time at Buckfast Abbey which begins at 5.30pm on Thursday 11th August 2016. For those who are taking the one year, three module, distance-learning course, a Sunday morning lecture introduces the course structure before finishing with Holy Mass on Sunday morning 14th August 2016. The morning lecture is not required of those present for the four day residential weekend experience and their time is free before Holy Mass.
How much time will I need to spend on study every week? We ask you to devote four to five hours to study per week.
How long will each module take? Each module will take approximately 12 weeks to complete.
What work do I need to do? For each module you will be asked to write a 2,500 word essay. You will be guided as you work towards this by your tutor.
What level is the course? The course is at the level of a first year university course. An added advantage of doing the course is that it will exempt you from one module of the School of Annunciation’s Diploma in New Evangelisation, if you wish to go on to take that course.
How to apply:
Please download an application form here.
To apply online, please click here.
1 Course – this term refers to an entire series of studies which may result in a qualification, for example the Diploma in the New Evangelisation (referred to as a program in US terminology).
2 Module – one of the units which make up a complete course, for example Metaphysics (referred to as a course in US terminology).