How it works...
The Structure of the Programme:
Each week, you will enjoy a 2-hr session of lecture and discussion. The lectures are once per week for year one and once per week for year two. Each session runs in the morning and the evening. The evening is a repeat of the morning session so you can choose each week which time suits you best. Come in morning or evening, or if it helps your learning experience come to both! (at no extra cost)
You will receive reading assignments and activities to reinforce what you are learning in the virtual classroom.
- Enjoy the Interactive Lectures & Discussions from your own home
- Interactive Real-time Participation
Course fees – £998 per year – onetime payment. Or £120 per month for nine months. This includes registration fee, notes, and your final certificate.
Claritas Spiritual Theology also welcomes students to attend this course for personal enrichment, but without the pressure of assignments and assessments for a diploma. Once you have registered for the course, you can decide during the first month of the programme, if your experience leads you to choose to do the assignments and assessments for a diploma.
Once you have registered and made your payment you will receive an email on the evening before each lecture/discussion session, with the link for the next day’s session.
On the first day of a course, there will be an optional test meeting 15 minutes before the start of the session – for anyone who wishes to practice clicking the link and making sure they can see and hear without any problems. At the time of the session, to “enter the meeting room”, you simply click the link in your email, follow the directions, and you are in! There is no need for any advanced computer or technical skill.
Real-time Interactive Participation
Once you are in the “meeting room”, you can see and hear everything. To ask questions, or participate in the discussion, you simply un-mute your microphone (or you can opt to just listen). We prefer everyone’s web-cam to be turned on, so that we’re all visible to each other, but you can opt to turn off your web-cam if necessary. You can ask questions, contribute to the discussion, and participate just as you would if you were onsite – all from the comfort of your own home.
- Following each session, notes will be emailed to you.
- 24-hour email, and access to your tutor by phone or Zoom by appointment.
In Case You Miss a Lecture on one of our long courses
As with any discipline, a certain time commitment is necessary in order to learn effectively. Nevertheless, we understand that there will be times when you might be unable to attend a lecture. When this happens, you can contact your course lecturer as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made for you to learn the material covered in the lecture you missed. You will be provided with the resources necessary, so that you do not have major gaps in your learning.
Year 1 Course/Module:
SF1 The Supernatural Organism, Grace, and the Virtues
“Advancing toward union with God is a beautiful adventure, and certainly never boring. Our whole life is a journey that can be so much greater if we invite the living God into our hearts; for there is no better travel than advancing towards God with a heart inflamed with love. This journey is full of beauty, and the treasure that waits for us at the end is beyond compare … for ‘the gift of grace surpasses every capability of created nature, since it is nothing short of a partaking of the Divine Nature, which exceeds every other nature.’ God gives us a wonderful gift when He gives us the gift of life; however, He gives us an even greater gift when He bestows on us the supernatural life …” [D.C. Oliver, Discerning your Spiritual Journey, 2013]
This course/module provides us with an overview of the graced human soul. We will study the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and St Thomas Aquinas concerning the powers of the soul and the perfection of grace. We will see the importance of authentic Christian anthropology; we will consider the infused virtues, and how growth in virtue is at the heart of our life of discipleship.
Year 1 Course/Module:
SF2 The Mystical Life and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
“The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification: enabling them to believe in God, to hope in Him, and to love Him through the theological virtues; giving them power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.” [D.C. Oliver, Discerning your Spiritual Journey, 2013.]
This course/module focuses on the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit. We will learn how to identify the action of these gifts – the action of the Holy Spirit – in our lives. We will learn about the difference between the gifts and the charisms. We will see the reasons why these gifts are necessary for salvation, and how we can be better disposed to cooperate with the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Year 2 Course/Module:
SF3 The Stages of Prayer according to St Teresa of Avila, and Spiritual Direction
“Sometimes a soul hinders the blessing that God wants to give through this gift of infused contemplation because it does not understand what is happening. When God wants to bless a soul with this type of prayer, He is giving a great gift. Unfortunately many souls who arrive at this stage do not advance any further in the spiritual life. The experience of infused contemplation is very different from the more discursive form of prayer to which the soul has been accustomed. It is not always easy for us to recognise that God is blessing us with this type of prayer. Consequently, we may try to continue with our usual more active forms of prayer…” [D. C. Oliver, Discerning your Spiritual Journey, 2013.]
In this course/module, we will learn about the various stages of prayer and the spiritual life; our primary text will be St Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. We will consider the distinction between ascetical and mystical prayer; the distinction between active prayer and passive prayer, as well as the transition from one to the other. We will learn to recognise the signs of true growth in holiness; and we will consider important principles of spiritual direction.
SF4 The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life, Discernment and Spiritual Direction
“God is like a wise physician. He knows exactly what a soul needs at each moment. Sometimes He gives favours, lights, and consolations; at other times, He hides Himself. When God hides His face, it seems to the soul that He is nowhere to be found. In Catholic Tradition, this has been called by different names—St John of the Cross refers to it as ‘the dark night’… The soul who experiences this kind of darkness has not been abandoned by God; He is very close …” [D. C. Oliver, Discerning your Spiritual Journey, 2013.]
In this course/module, we shall examine the three stages of the spiritual life. We will learn how to recognise the great blessings God is giving to the soul in and through the gift of infused contemplation, and we shall learn how to recognise when a soul is entering into one of the Dark Nights. We will consider the purifications the soul must endure in order to arrive at perfect union with Jesus, the Beloved. Finally will shall look at discernment of spirits according to St Ignatius of Loyola and consider all of the above topics and their practical implications for spiritual direction.
(Step 2) Please choose:
One time purchase by debit/credit or BACS:
Monthly payments:
