Course Overview
- This short course covers eight significant Carmelites and how the events of the 20th Century influenced and directed their spirituality.
- It is an entry level course (Level 5 certificate course, accredited by CIBI) for those wishing to broaden their understanding of the significant Carmelites in the 20th Century.
- It is a delivered fully online, and can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis
The course can also be tailored to suit the interests of groups or communities.
Course Structure
There are eight modules to be completed, and it generally takes six weeks to complete a module. There are four entry points to the course: two in semester one and two in semester two.
The academic year comprises two twelve week semesters:
- Semester 1: September – December
- Semester 2: January – April.
The course is delivered in the form of a phased release of reading material made available through the CIBI website.
Assessment
To complete the course students must study the eight modules, and complete a ten-question assessment at the end of each module.
Course Details
Modules
DC19: Saint Raphael of St Joseph Kolinowski O.C.D.
- Joseph Kalinowsk (1835–1907) was a Polish Discalced Carmelite friar who was born in the city of Vilnius, now in Lithuania. He was a teacher, engineer, prisoner of war, royal tutor, and Priest, who founded many Carmelite monasteries around Poland after their suppression by the Russians. Kalinowski was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1991, the first man to be so recognized in the Order of Discalced Carmelites since St John of the Cross.
DC20: Jacques de Jésus O.C.D.
- Jacques de Jésus (1900–1945) was a French Priest and Discalced Carmelite friar. He took in several Jewish refugees to protect them from the Nazi government of occupation, for which he was arrested and imprisoned in various Nazi concentration camps. Pere (Fr.) Jacques was named one of the “Righteous Among the Nations”, a non-Jew who risked his life during the Holocaust to save Jews, by the State of Israel in 1985.
DC24: Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity O.C.D.
- Élisabeth Catez (1880–1906) was a French Discalced Carmelite. A gifted pianist, she was drawn to the mysticism of Carmel and her writings are now regarded as spiritual classics. Pope John Paul II celebrated her beatification in Paris on 25 November 1984 and she was canonised as a Saint by Pope Francis on 16 October 2016.
DC25: Saint Titus Brandsma O.Carm.
- Anno Titus Brandsma (1881-1942) was a Dutch Carmelite friar, Priest, and Professor. He was vehemently opposed to Nazi ideology and spoke out against it many times before and during the Second World War. He was imprisoned in the infamous Dachau concentration camp, where he was put to death. He was beatified as a martyr of the faith in 1985.
DC28: Saint Teresa of the Andes O.C.D.
- Juana Fernandez Solar (1900–1920) was a Chilean Discalced Carmelite nun. Her time in the convent was cut short due to her contracting an aggressive disease but she was able to make her profession before she died. Her canonisation process opened in 1976 under Pope Paul VI and she became a Servant of God. She was beatified in 1987 after a miracle attributed to her from her native land. Another miracle, also from Chile, led Pope John Paul II to canonise her as a Saint on 21 March 1993.
DC29: Saint Theresia Benedicta a Cruce (Edith Stein) O.C.D.
- Edith Stein (1891-1942) was a Jewish German-Polish philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Discalced Carmelite nun after reading the Life of St Teresa of Avila in 1922. She was canonised as a martyr and virgin and she is one of six co-patron saints of Europe. She joined the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Cologne. On August 2nd 1942, she and her sister Rosa, by then also a convert and an extern sister in the Dutch convent of Echt, where both had been living since 1940, were arrested by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died in the gas chambers on 9 August 1942.
DC37: Blessed Isidore Bakanja.
- Isidore Bakanja (c. 1887-1909) was born at Busira in the Belgian Congo and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1994. Isidore accepted the Christian faith at eighteen years of age through the ministry of Cistercian missionaries in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His employers had forbidden him sharing the Gospel with others and tried to remove the Carmelite scapular that he wore as a witness to his faith. As a result, he was brutally beaten and chained. Isidore’s wounds became severely infected and, as his condition worsened, his supervisor sought to keep him hidden from the plantation’s inspector. Isidore was discovered, however, and taken to the inspector’s home for treatment. By this time, however, his condition had deteriorated so severely that he died soon afterwards.
DC44: Blessed Hilary Januszewski O.Carm.
- Paweł Hilary Januszewski (1907–1945) was a Polish Carmelite friar and Priest who studied theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome before becoming Prior in the Carmelite convent in Krakow. When the normal religious activities of the Friars were outlawed by the Nazi authorities, Hilary, along with a number of other friars, was arrested and eventually sent to the Dachau concentration camp. In February 1945, there was an outbreak of typhoid in Dachau and, along with some others, Hilary volunteered to look after the physical and spiritual needs of those who were dying in the isolation blocks. Eventually, he contracted the disease himself and died as a result. Hillary was one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II who were beatified as a group by Pope John Paul II in 1999.
Modules
Each module comprises five units to be studied. The content of one unit is equivalent to approximately that delivered in a 45 minute lecture.
Duration
It generally takes six weeks to complete one module on a part-time basis.
Accreditation
The Significant Carmelite Figures of the 20th Century Certificate is awarded by the Carmelite Institute of Britain and Ireland to students who have completed all eight modules of the programme to the satisfaction of their correctors and the Director of Studies.
Fees
- Full programme €240.00