Liturgy Institute London

For a detailed and peaceful study of Liturgy

Courses Summer 2024

Survey: courses for Summer 2024

Tell us your preferences for courses to be offered in the summer 2024 on this Google Form.
We will confirm our offerings at the end of March 2024 for the summer of 2024. 
Our regular programme for Summer 2024 is listed below. 

Our summer courses are arranged in three blocks of two weeks each. These course offerings and descriptions are subject to change.

All courses are held at the Benedictine Institute,
74 Castlebar Road, Ealing, London W5 2DD, UK

Block 1: 1 – 12 July 2024, weekdays

L701 Liturgical Research Seminar (IL certificate course)

L702 Liturgy in the West: History and Context (IL certificate course)

L705 Theology of the Liturgy (IL certificate course)

St Bede Lecture

The annual St Bede Liturgy Lecture will be given by (yet to be determined). The lecture is scheduled for Saturday 6 July 2024 at 2:30 pm, at Ealing Abbey, free of charge.

Block 2: 15 – 26 July 2024, weekdays

L703 Western Liturgical Books (IL certificate course)

L712 The Eucharist in History (IL certificate elective)

L719 A: Research Seminar: Icons and Liturgy (IL certificate course)

L719 B: Research Seminar: register your choice of topic (IL certificate course)

G811 Reading Greek Liturgical Texts (no exams – not for credit)

Liturgy courses are not held during for the fortnight from 27 July – 11 August.

22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

Latin summer courses are listed below according to their own schedule.

29 July – 9 August 2024, weekdays

Biblical Hebrew for beginners is held in person during these two weeks. See below.

 

Block 3: 12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists (IL certificate elective)

 

Syriac Summer Term

1 – 26 July 2024, weekdays – not for credit

Syriac is taught weekdays for two or four weeks, for an hour and a half daily.

SY411 Readings in Syriac (IL certificate elective)

Syriac Project publishing unedited Syriac manuscripts from the British Library

Biblical Hebrew Summer Term

BH411 Biblical Hebrew for Beginners (no exams – not for credit)

Latin Summer Term

Hours of instruction for the Latin courses are yet to be determined.

22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays – ONLINE only

LA411 Beginning Latin (no exams – not for credit)

LA611 Intermediate Latin (no exams – not for credit)

L711 Advanced Latin (no exams – not for credit)

We shall have a one week break between the online and in person Latin courses.

12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays – IN PERSON only

Non residential participants may enrol for both weeks or for only the first week: 12 – 16 August 2024.

LA411 Beginning Latin (no exams – not for credit)

LA611 Intermediate Latin (no exams – not for credit)

L711 Advanced Latin (no exams – not for credit)

L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists (and Canonists) (offered for academic credit or not for credit)

LA813 Reading Plautus (no exams – not for credit)

Course Descriptions

General information. Each course runs Monday – Friday for two weeks for a total of ten daily sessions, unless noted. Most courses are scheduled for 3 hour sessions including a break.

Block 1: 1 – 12 July 2024, weekdays


L701 Liturgical Research Seminar

(required for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Daniel McCarthy OSB

At the end of the course each student will be prepared to conduct their own Master’s level research in liturgy with skills in three areas:
1) gathering the essential body of information,
2) interpreting a liturgical event and
3) developing a coherent presentation.
Each student will research and present the history and theology of an agreed upon collect type prayer.

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L702 Liturgy in the West: History and Context

(required for IL certificate)  KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Stefan Geiger OSB

The course aims to provide insight into the origin and developments of the liturgy in the West up to the present day. Students reflect on the different cultural periods of society and how these shape the liturgy of the Catholic Church and how the liturgy in turn influences the culture. Students examine both the historical and liturgical record and the recent debates among Catholic liturgists concerning the past and future development of the Roman Catholic liturgy. The course will proceed by means of a chronological study of the major periods of the liturgy of the Catholic Church in the West and beyond.

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L705 Theology of the Liturgy

(required for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Dr Joris Geldhof and Prof. Stefan Geiger OSB

Students:

  • Familiarize themselves with the emergence of theology of the liturgy in the course of the 20th century;
  • Understand the content of A. Schmemann’s, A. Kavanagh’s and D.W. Fagerberg’s approach to theology of the liturgy;
  • Explain the meaning of the adage lex orandi, lex credendi as well as the reasons why it is both important and controversial;
  • Develop a personal and critical standpoint towards the particularity of theology of the liturgy as it is interpreted by Schmemann, Kavanagh, and Fagerberg;
  • Apply the insights of theology of the liturgy to methodological issues and to questions of a more systematic – theological nature.

Three Hours including a break. 

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the previous course descriptor at KU Leuven is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

Block 2
15 – 26 July 2024, weekdays

L703 Western Liturgical Books

(required for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Daniel McCarthy OSB

At the end of the course each participant will be prepared to:

  • Name and describe the characteristics and historical evolution of the principle liturgical books of the West, especially: the sacramentaries, lectionaries, and missals; the ordines, pontificals and rituals; breviaries;
  • Describe the content, historical context and contribution to the developing tradition of the primary books;
  • Use each book’s critical apparatus along with other research instruments;
  • Present one’s own research into these liturgical books.

Three Hours including a break. 

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L712 The Eucharist in History

(elective for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Dr Barry Craig

This course considers the two major parts of the Eucharist; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist and is designed to lead the reader through the major periods of cultural and theological change in the Church particularly in the West up to the present. We wish clearly to indicate the changes in the liturgical forms throughout history and to present the theological understandings of the Eucharist in the different periods. In this way it is hoped that readers will understand both what the Church teaches and the reasons given for these teachings.

Three Hours including a break. 

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L719A Research Seminar: Icons and Liturgy

(a seminar for IL certificate)   KU Leuven 4 credits.
Prof. Dr Basilius Greun

This seminar is under development.

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the seminar is available here.
The descriptor of this course ‘Research Seminar in Liturgical Studies’ at KU Leuven is a general description intended to account for the changing topics offered each year.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

L719B Research Seminar topic upon demand

 

(a seminar for IL certificate)   KU Leuven 4 credits.
Prof. Stefan Geiger OSB

Tell us your preferred topics to be investigated during this seminar on this Google Form.
We will confirm our offerings at the end of January 2024 for the summer of 2024. 
Your choices are not limited to our regular programme of topics, which include:

Christian Initiation
Eucharist
Eucharistic Prayers
Christian Marriage
Liturgies of the Early Church
Liturgy and Cultures

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of one possible topic is available here.
The descriptor of this course ‘Research Seminar in Liturgical Studies’ at KU Leuven is a general description intended to account for the changing topics offered each year.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

G811 Reading Greek Liturgical Texts

No exams – Not for credit.
Prof. Dr Basilius Groen

Reading Greek-Byzantine liturgical texts is key to understanding Christian liturgy. Knowledge of Greek is very helpful to enter into the spirit of this essential tradition. The course consists of reading together several core segments of liturgical services. Basic knowledge of Greek is required, yet English translations are available as well.

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Cost: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

Syriac Summer Term

1 – 26 August 2024, weekdays – not for credit

SY411 Readings in Syriac

No exams – Not for credit.
Prof. John Elie Semaan LMO 

This course is adapted to the level of beginning students. As needed the alphabet will be presented, but the majority of class time will be spent reading texts. During the first two weeks we shall review the pronouns, nouns and adjectives; prepositions, numbers, days and seasons with readings and exercises. During the third and fourth weeks we shall work on verbs in different roots, forms and tenses with readings and exercises. We shall also begin to translate biblical and liturgical texts. At the end of the course each student will be prepared to describe and explain short readings from the Syriac New Testament and to produce translations of the texts.

Hours: 8:30 – 10:00 including a break

Fee: £300 per 2 weeks; £500 per 4 weeks (with minimum numbers).

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Enrol directly with the Institutum Liturgicum London.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

Syriac Project publishing unedited Syriac manuscripts

No exams – not for credit.
Prof. John Elie Semaan LMO 

We shall work on unedited manuscripts in Syriac from the British Library or from other digitalized manuscripts. We shall transcribe and translate the Syriac texts into English or French depending on the need of the student. When a manuscript does not have a colophon, we shall use palaeography and other methods to begin to understand the date and origin of the manuscript. Our goal is to publish these unedited Syriac texts in our journal Ephemerides Ealingnenses and in an online database: syriaca.org.

If you are interested in joining our project, please contact Clare Cogswell at this email link and she will put you into contact with Elie Semaan.

Dates: Enrol for the first week only: 1 – 5 July 2024
or for the first two weeks: 1 – 12 July 2024, weekdays
or for the first three weeks: 1 – 19 July 2024, weekdays
or for all four weeks: 1 – 26 July 2024, weekdays.

Hours: to be determined

Fee: £300 for 2 weeks; £500 for 4 weeks

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Enrol directly with the Institutum Liturgicum London.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

Biblical Hebrew Summer Term

29 July – 9 August 2024, weekdays – not for credit

BH411 Biblical Hebrew for Beginners

No exams – Not for credit.
Prior Anselm Brumwell OSB

Students should study the Hebrew alphabet and vocalisation system in advance of the course, since this will be assumed. This two-week intensive course aims to introduce the basics of the Biblical Hebrew language, enabling the student to begin to read more straightforward prose texts from the Old Testament.

Two hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Hours yet to be determined.

Fee: £380

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Enrol directly with the Institutum Liturgicum London.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

Latin Summer Term

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

Online Latin courses and courses offered throughout the year are listed at the Benedictine Institute link here.

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

Only L711 may be taken for academic credit

LA411 Beginning Latin

No exams – Not for credit.
No knowledge of the language is presumed. From the first day, you will tackle real Latin from acorss the centuries, and begin to express yourself in Latin. We will cover:

  • All verb times in the indicative
  • The active and passive voice
  • Command forms
  • All noun and adjective groups and most of their usages.

We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster directly from his book Ossa Latinitatis Sola.

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Fee: £380

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.


LA611 Intermediate Latin

No exams – Not for credit.

Students entering this level will be expected to have a solid grasp of the topics covered in Beginning Latin. You will read a variety of original Latin texts, spanning many centuries, and write in Latin. We will cover:

  • The meaning and uses of the subjunctive mood
  • The forms and natural meanings of the four participles
  • VArious uses of participles including the ablative absolute.

Intermediate Latin covers the material of the Third Latin Experience in Ossa Latinitatis Sola. We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster.

This not-for-credit course is designed for students preparing for the exam following the initial semester of Latin at KU Leuven, and the Latin proficiency exam at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Rome.

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Fee: £380

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

LA711 Advanced Latin

Students will encounter Latin literature written by many authors from every age. During this course students will learn and develop a facility with the following elements of the Latin language:

  • The accusative with the infinitive used in indirect discourse and object sentences,
  • The gerund and gerundive and the participle of passive necessity,
  • Conditional sentences: if … , then … ,
  • The 3% use of the sequence of tenses and modal attraction,
  • Verbs of doubting, fearing and prohibiting,
  • Oblique complements of verbs and their passive construction,
  • Specific usages of the dative, genitive, ablative,
  • Overviews of:
    • 14 ways to express purpose,
    • 10 usages of the relative pronoun,
    • Positive and negative commands,

We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster OCD from his book Ossa Latinitatis Sola, and its forthcoming companion volume Ossa Ostensa Book 3 by Laura Pooley. This course covers most of the Fourth Experience in ten weekdays.

The material presumed for this course is listed above for the First and Third Experiences.

Students wishing more instruction are encouraged to enrol also in Reading Plautus, LA813. A discount is offered when enrolling with us in both courses.

Location: Benedictine Institute,
74 Castlebar Road, Ealing W5 2DD

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Enrol directly with us for the not-for-credit course.

Cost: £380.

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists

(elective for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Daniel McCarthy

Students will encounter Latin liturgical texts and canonical texts on liturgy written by authors from many ages. They will proceed to a greater facility and ease with the Latin language and come to a more detailed and direct understanding of liturgical texts. They will develop a fuller expression of liturgical ideas accurately and beautifully in both Latin and English. We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster OCD directly from the draft copy of his book Ossa Latinitatis Sola along with a workbook in development by Laura Pooley which allows students to cover most of the Fourth Experience in ten weekdays. The material covered in its First and Third Experiences is presumed for this course, including the natural meaning and usages of the four participles and the forms and very many usages of the subjunctive mode. Because of limited hours of instruction, we shall cover the main elements, but not all of the Fourth Experience. These include indirect discourse (accusative with the infinitive), gerunds and gerundives, conditional sentences.

Canon law students of KU Leuven who are qualified may enrol in this course along with the course Reading Cicero’s Letters as a preparation for the advanced exam in Latin at KU Leuven. This course was originally designed for liturgists but includes a consideration of canonical texts relating to liturgy such as Sacrosanctum Concilium, Praenotanda, Decreta and sententia that involve liturgical law.

Students wishing more instruction are encouraged to enrol also in Reading Plautus, LA813.

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Our Registrar, Clare Cogswell, will help students enrol for this course L711 for credit with KU Leuven: B-KUL-A07E3A.

Otherwise, students may enrol directly with us for the full not-for-credit course LA711. Fee: £380.

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

LA813 Reading Plautus

No exams – Not for credit.
Jonathan Day

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BC) had an enormous influence not only on Latin literature but on writers over the centuries. Over two weeks, we will read Mostellaria (“The Ghost”, or “The Haunted House”), focusing primarily on Plautus’ Latin, but also touching on the text as a play. We will follow the approach developed by Reginald Foster, seeking a deep understanding of the language. Plautus presents fascinating challenges not only because his style had idiosyncrasies, but also because syntax was much less stable in his time than it became later on. He was far more than a writer of crude comedy. His plays provide insight into how Latin was actually spoken on the street.

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

We’ll meet for two hours daily, including a short break.

Fee: £200
Discount fee £175 when this reading course is taken in combination with LA711 Advanced Latin or L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists (and Canonists).

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

FAQs: Frequently asked questions about the summer session

A listing of our courses for the summer of 2023 here
and a proposed course listing for
the summer of 2025 is based on that for the summer of 2023 available here.

© James Leachman, O.S.B., page updated by DM on 29 September 2023.

 

L719 A: Research Seminar: Icons and Liturgy (IL certificate course)

L719 B: Research Seminar: register your choice of topic (IL certificate course)

G811 Reading Greek Liturgical Texts (no exams – not for credit)

Liturgy courses are not held during for the fortnight from 27 July – 11 August.

22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

Latin summer courses are listed below according to their own schedule.

29 July – 9 August 2024, weekdays

Biblical Hebrew for beginners is held in person during these two weeks. See below.

 

Block 3: 12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists (IL certificate elective)

 

Syriac Summer Term

1 – 26 July 2024, weekdays – not for credit

Syriac is taught weekdays for two or four weeks, for an hour and a half daily.

SY411 Readings in Syriac (IL certificate elective)

Syriac Project publishing unedited Syriac manuscripts from the British Library

Biblical Hebrew Summer Term

BH411 Biblical Hebrew for Beginners (no exams – not for credit)

Latin Summer Term

Hours of instruction for the Latin courses are yet to be determined.

22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays – ONLINE only

LA411 Beginning Latin (no exams – not for credit)

LA611 Intermediate Latin (no exams – not for credit)

L711 Advanced Latin (no exams – not for credit)

We shall have a one week break between the online and in person Latin courses.

12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays – IN PERSON only

Non residential participants may enrol for both weeks or for only the first week: 12 – 16 August 2024.

LA411 Beginning Latin (no exams – not for credit)

LA611 Intermediate Latin (no exams – not for credit)

L711 Advanced Latin (no exams – not for credit)

L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists (and Canonists) (offered for academic credit or not for credit)

LA813 Reading Plautus (no exams – not for credit)

Course Descriptions

General information. Each course runs Monday – Friday for two weeks for a total of ten daily sessions, unless noted. Most courses are scheduled for 3 hour sessions including a break.

Block 1: 1 – 12 July 2024, weekdays


L701 Liturgical Research Seminar

(required for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Daniel McCarthy OSB

At the end of the course each student will be prepared to conduct their own Master’s level research in liturgy with skills in three areas:
1) gathering the essential body of information,
2) interpreting a liturgical event and
3) developing a coherent presentation.
Each student will research and present the history and theology of an agreed upon collect type prayer.

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L702 Liturgy in the West: History and Context

(required for IL certificate)  KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Stefan Geiger OSB

The course aims to provide insight into the origin and developments of the liturgy in the West up to the present day. Students reflect on the different cultural periods of society and how these shape the liturgy of the Catholic Church and how the liturgy in turn influences the culture. Students examine both the historical and liturgical record and the recent debates among Catholic liturgists concerning the past and future development of the Roman Catholic liturgy. The course will proceed by means of a chronological study of the major periods of the liturgy of the Catholic Church in the West and beyond.

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L705 Theology of the Liturgy

(required for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Dr Joris Geldhof and Prof. Stefan Geiger OSB

Students:

  • Familiarize themselves with the emergence of theology of the liturgy in the course of the 20th century;
  • Understand the content of A. Schmemann’s, A. Kavanagh’s and D.W. Fagerberg’s approach to theology of the liturgy;
  • Explain the meaning of the adage lex orandi, lex credendi as well as the reasons why it is both important and controversial;
  • Develop a personal and critical standpoint towards the particularity of theology of the liturgy as it is interpreted by Schmemann, Kavanagh, and Fagerberg;
  • Apply the insights of theology of the liturgy to methodological issues and to questions of a more systematic – theological nature.

Three Hours including a break. 

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the previous course descriptor at KU Leuven is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

Block 2
15 – 26 July 2024, weekdays

L703 Western Liturgical Books

(required for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Prof. Daniel McCarthy OSB

At the end of the course each participant will be prepared to:

  • Name and describe the characteristics and historical evolution of the principle liturgical books of the West, especially: the sacramentaries, lectionaries, and missals; the ordines, pontificals and rituals; breviaries;
  • Describe the content, historical context and contribution to the developing tradition of the primary books;
  • Use each book’s critical apparatus along with other research instruments;
  • Present one’s own research into these liturgical books.

Three Hours including a break. 

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L712 The Eucharist in History

(elective for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Dr Barry Craig

This course considers the two major parts of the Eucharist; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist and is designed to lead the reader through the major periods of cultural and theological change in the Church particularly in the West up to the present. We wish clearly to indicate the changes in the liturgical forms throughout history and to present the theological understandings of the Eucharist in the different periods. In this way it is hoped that readers will understand both what the Church teaches and the reasons given for these teachings.

Three Hours including a break. 

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here,
and a link to the course descriptor at KU Leuven is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L719A Research Seminar: Icons and Liturgy

(a seminar for IL certificate)   KU Leuven 4 credits.
Prof. Dr Basilius Greun

This seminar is under development.

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of the seminar is available here.
The descriptor of this course ‘Research Seminar in Liturgical Studies’ at KU Leuven is a general description intended to account for the changing topics offered each year.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

L719B Research Seminar topic upon demand

 

(a seminar for IL certificate)   KU Leuven 4 credits.
Prof. Stefan Geiger OSB

Tell us your preferred topics to be investigated during this seminar on this Google Form.
We will confirm our offerings at the end of January 2024 for the summer of 2024. 
Your choices are not limited to our regular programme of topics, which include:

Christian Initiation
Eucharist
Eucharistic Prayers
Christian Marriage
Liturgies of the Early Church
Liturgy and Cultures

Three Hours including a break.

Fee: £300

A fuller description of one possible topic is available here.
The descriptor of this course ‘Research Seminar in Liturgical Studies’ at KU Leuven is a general description intended to account for the changing topics offered each year.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

G811 Reading Greek Liturgical Texts

No exams – Not for credit.
Prof. Dr Basilius Groen

Reading Greek-Byzantine liturgical texts is key to understanding Christian liturgy. Knowledge of Greek is very helpful to enter into the spirit of this essential tradition. The course consists of reading together several core segments of liturgical services. Basic knowledge of Greek is required, yet English translations are available as well.

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Cost: £300

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

Syriac Summer Term

1 – 26 August 2024, weekdays – not for credit

SY411 Readings in Syriac

No exams – Not for credit.
Prof. John Elie Semaan LMO 

This course is adapted to the level of beginning students. As needed the alphabet will be presented, but the majority of class time will be spent reading texts. During the first two weeks we shall review the pronouns, nouns and adjectives; prepositions, numbers, days and seasons with readings and exercises. During the third and fourth weeks we shall work on verbs in different roots, forms and tenses with readings and exercises. We shall also begin to translate biblical and liturgical texts. At the end of the course each student will be prepared to describe and explain short readings from the Syriac New Testament and to produce translations of the texts.

Hours: 8:30 – 10:00 including a break

Fee: £300 per 2 weeks; £500 per 4 weeks (with minimum numbers).

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Enrol directly with the Institutum Liturgicum London.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

Syriac Project publishing unedited Syriac manuscripts

No exams – not for credit.
Prof. John Elie Semaan LMO 

We shall work on unedited manuscripts in Syriac from the British Library or from other digitalized manuscripts. We shall transcribe and translate the Syriac texts into English or French depending on the need of the student. When a manuscript does not have a colophon, we shall use palaeography and other methods to begin to understand the date and origin of the manuscript. Our goal is to publish these unedited Syriac texts in our journal Ephemerides Ealingnenses and in an online database: syriaca.org.

If you are interested in joining our project, please contact Clare Cogswell at this email link and she will put you into contact with Elie Semaan.

Dates: Enrol for the first week only: 1 – 5 July 2024
or for the first two weeks: 1 – 12 July 2024, weekdays
or for the first three weeks: 1 – 19 July 2024, weekdays
or for all four weeks: 1 – 26 July 2024, weekdays.

Hours: to be determined

Fee: £300 for 2 weeks; £500 for 4 weeks

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Enrol directly with the Institutum Liturgicum London.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

Biblical Hebrew Summer Term

29 July – 9 August 2024, weekdays – not for credit

BH411 Biblical Hebrew for Beginners

No exams – Not for credit.
Prior Anselm Brumwell OSB

Students should study the Hebrew alphabet and vocalisation system in advance of the course, since this will be assumed. This two-week intensive course aims to introduce the basics of the Biblical Hebrew language, enabling the student to begin to read more straightforward prose texts from the Old Testament.

Two hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Hours yet to be determined.

Fee: £380

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Enrol directly with the Institutum Liturgicum London.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

 

Latin Summer Term

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

Online Latin courses and courses offered throughout the year are listed at the Benedictine Institute link here.

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

Only L711 may be taken for academic credit

LA411 Beginning Latin

No exams – Not for credit.
No knowledge of the language is presumed. From the first day, you will tackle real Latin from acorss the centuries, and begin to express yourself in Latin. We will cover:

  • All verb times in the indicative
  • The active and passive voice
  • Command forms
  • All noun and adjective groups and most of their usages.

We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster directly from his book Ossa Latinitatis Sola.

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Fee: £380

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.


LA611 Intermediate Latin

No exams – Not for credit.

Students entering this level will be expected to have a solid grasp of the topics covered in Beginning Latin. You will read a variety of original Latin texts, spanning many centuries, and write in Latin. We will cover:

  • The meaning and uses of the subjunctive mood
  • The forms and natural meanings of the four participles
  • VArious uses of participles including the ablative absolute.

Intermediate Latin covers the material of the Third Latin Experience in Ossa Latinitatis Sola. We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster.

This not-for-credit course is designed for students preparing for the exam following the initial semester of Latin at KU Leuven, and the Latin proficiency exam at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Rome.

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Fee: £380

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

LA711 Advanced Latin

Students will encounter Latin literature written by many authors from every age. During this course students will learn and develop a facility with the following elements of the Latin language:

  • The accusative with the infinitive used in indirect discourse and object sentences,
  • The gerund and gerundive and the participle of passive necessity,
  • Conditional sentences: if … , then … ,
  • The 3% use of the sequence of tenses and modal attraction,
  • Verbs of doubting, fearing and prohibiting,
  • Oblique complements of verbs and their passive construction,
  • Specific usages of the dative, genitive, ablative,
  • Overviews of:
    • 14 ways to express purpose,
    • 10 usages of the relative pronoun,
    • Positive and negative commands,

We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster OCD from his book Ossa Latinitatis Sola, and its forthcoming companion volume Ossa Ostensa Book 3 by Laura Pooley. This course covers most of the Fourth Experience in ten weekdays.

The material presumed for this course is listed above for the First and Third Experiences.

Students wishing more instruction are encouraged to enrol also in Reading Plautus, LA813. A discount is offered when enrolling with us in both courses.

Location: Benedictine Institute,
74 Castlebar Road, Ealing W5 2DD

ONLINE ONLY
22 July – 2 August 2024, weekdays

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Enrol directly with us for the not-for-credit course.

Cost: £380.

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists

(elective for IL certificate)     KU Leuven 4 credits
Daniel McCarthy

Students will encounter Latin liturgical texts and canonical texts on liturgy written by authors from many ages. They will proceed to a greater facility and ease with the Latin language and come to a more detailed and direct understanding of liturgical texts. They will develop a fuller expression of liturgical ideas accurately and beautifully in both Latin and English. We use the teaching method of Reginald Foster OCD directly from the draft copy of his book Ossa Latinitatis Sola along with a workbook in development by Laura Pooley which allows students to cover most of the Fourth Experience in ten weekdays. The material covered in its First and Third Experiences is presumed for this course, including the natural meaning and usages of the four participles and the forms and very many usages of the subjunctive mode. Because of limited hours of instruction, we shall cover the main elements, but not all of the Fourth Experience. These include indirect discourse (accusative with the infinitive), gerunds and gerundives, conditional sentences.

Canon law students of KU Leuven who are qualified may enrol in this course along with the course Reading Cicero’s Letters as a preparation for the advanced exam in Latin at KU Leuven. This course was originally designed for liturgists but includes a consideration of canonical texts relating to liturgy such as Sacrosanctum Concilium, Praenotanda, Decreta and sententia that involve liturgical law.

Students wishing more instruction are encouraged to enrol also in Reading Plautus, LA813.

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

3 hours each weekday including a break. 

Our Registrar, Clare Cogswell, will help students enrol for this course L711 for credit with KU Leuven: B-KUL-A07E3A.

Otherwise, students may enrol directly with us for the full not-for-credit course LA711. Fee: £380.

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

LA813 Reading Plautus

No exams – Not for credit.
Jonathan Day

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BC) had an enormous influence not only on Latin literature but on writers over the centuries. Over two weeks, we will read Mostellaria (“The Ghost”, or “The Haunted House”), focusing primarily on Plautus’ Latin, but also touching on the text as a play. We will follow the approach developed by Reginald Foster, seeking a deep understanding of the language. Plautus presents fascinating challenges not only because his style had idiosyncrasies, but also because syntax was much less stable in his time than it became later on. He was far more than a writer of crude comedy. His plays provide insight into how Latin was actually spoken on the street.

IN PERSON ONLY
12 – 23 August 2024, weekdays

We’ll meet for two hours daily, including a short break.

Fee: £200
Discount fee £175 when this reading course is taken in combination with LA711 Advanced Latin or L711 Proficient Latin for Liturgists (and Canonists).

A fuller description of the course is available here.
Contact Clare, the Registrar at this linked email address.

FAQs: Frequently asked questions about the summer session

A listing of our courses for the summer of 2023 here
and a proposed course listing for
the summer of 2025 is based on that for the summer of 2023 available here.

© James Leachman, O.S.B., page updated by DM on 29 September 2023.