In this seminar, students will encounter the doctrines of the Catholic Church not as abstract formulas, but as mysteries lived out in time—fleshed in story, formed under pressure, and illuminated through beauty.
Drawing from great literature, sacred art, the Catechism, and Scripture, students will enter into a vibrant conversation where Truth is not reduced to bullet points but revealed through narrative, image, and sacramental form. A scene from Kristin Lavransdatter, for example—a man emerging from a burning church bearing a crucifix—can do more to awaken the soul to doctrine than a dozen definitions. Through questions like “Who is comforting whom?” students will learn to think with the Church not only rationally, but imaginatively.
This course explores how doctrines develop historically in response to lived questions, how saints and mystics shape our understanding, and how Catholic teaching is deeply incarnational—rooted in the physical world and expressed in sacraments, symbols, and sacred art. Students will study theological themes alongside the context of Church history, learning about figures like Athanasius, Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux in tandem with the truths they helped articulate.
The seminar invites students to see with a Catholic imagination: to recognize grace in the material, meaning in the mystery, and Christ in culture. By the end of the course, they will not only understand doctrine but see how it shapes a life.
In person classes held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at St. Augustine School in Mendota Heights throughout the school year. $1500/per semester, plus book fees or $2800/per semester for a combination of Humanities and Sacramental Imagination seminars. Formal evaluations with the student, parents, and teacher at the end of the semester. SPOTS LIMITED. Register below.