Hi,
I was wondering if anyone knew of any lay programs for people to go study theology in Rome or in the East? A little background, I’m Married,Byzantine Rite and not old enough to start studying for the Diaconate. But do want to study theology.
Thanks!
If you’re not old enough for the diaconite consider it a blessing. Give yourself over to preparatory work. If you don’t already have a fundamental understanding – buy the Rosetta Stone and knock out the three level course they offer. Upon your initial survey of the Rosetta Stone courses, get yourself a verb exercise booklet. Work on that booklet everyday for 30 minutes in the morning and evening. Once that is finished hit up the Rosetta Stone again. Just like when you’re in the shower – rinse and repeat ad nauseum. From there you can branch out by finding priests who speak Italian, learning all the basic prayers in Italian starting with the Rosary prayers and the creeds. Learn the Mass in Italian. This will take anywhere from 2 to 4 years. You should gain a good deal of fluency, especially if you remind yourself to let the Holy Spirit guide you; sing stanzas from well-known and traditional Italian hymns while doing yard work, washing dishes, or anything else, until you know them by heart.
“Why Italian? I’m a Byzantine. I should learn Greek!” you might ask. The answer is simple. Although the institutes teach in the languages of the students who come from abroad to study, you are still in Rome. Don’t forget the saying is, “When in Rome.” It will make your life a whole lot easier. IF you do not have a knowledge of Greek. Complete the process I described above at a later date in a similar manner. Greek and Italian go hand-in-hand anyway. Even if it’s modern Greek it does not hurt. It will make it easier for you to study formal Spanish, in two ways: Greek and Spanish share an accent, Italian and Spanish share vocabulary and grammar, should you desire to do that in the future for whatever reason. I do recommend eventual knowledge of Spanish due to the Western Orthodox tradition. Even if you never use the language in speech it’ll flesh out your mind culturally. Without culture we are as good as being dead.
The only downside is that language study is sometimes prohibitively expensive. You may consider working the method described above into a local school of parish Catholic education program to not only defray the individual cost but also share the benefit. Also, it’s a worthwhile influence if you should have any children. I’ve found with children, they can use the computer programs and read childrens’ books at a fairly tender age (once literacy capibility is evident).
I might also mention, that reading the Catechism, and memorizing whole paragraphs is an excellent way to form yourself and keep your ego in check. Rote memorization is the mother of wisdom. I’ve heard way too many disordered things about theology programs not staying in line with the teachings given to us from the Fullness of Faith. After an initial breezing through the Catechism, look at the footnotes. Seek out the sources and read those source materials. I would begin with any source material that comes from the writings of the Popes first and foremost. Doing this will provide you with a more in depth background of the Catechesis.
You, or anybody else, may disagree with my methology. That is great – just please add to it. Its a difficult task to self-teach, if one has never recieved a classic education. We could probably turn this into an entire thread on its own.
A third thing is to enjoy being married and make sure you stay involved with your wife. She is your other half. Wisdom is feminine. Mary is the Mother of Wisdom. Your wife God willing will be, if she is not already, a source of constant energy from which you can draw from when you most need it.
