Dante: The Divine Comedy (Summer Session)

SATURDAY, JUNE 20th

-  The Christian Humanism of Dante

    Rev. Carmelo Mezzasalma

    3:00 p.m.

-  Reading Dante with the Guidance of Hans Urs von Balthasar 

    Fr. Jacques Servais SJ

    4:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, JUNE 21st

-  Visit of the Carthusian Monastery of Florence 

    Comunità di san Leolino

    12:00 p.m.

-  Tour of the Dantesque Sites of Florence 

     Comunità di san Leolino

     2:30 p.m.

MONDAY, JUNE 22nd – SATURDAY, JUNE 27th

-  Guided Reading of Various Texts from the Divine Comedy

    9.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.

    2.30 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.

PROGRAM

• The seminar is intended for young adults, students or professionals, who desire, through a serious study of a literary work central to Florentine and European humanism, to acquire a cultural formation that will enable them to have an impact on the secularized world in which the Christian today lives.
• The scope of the seminar is to offer an initiation into the Divine Comedy, retracing, with the help of H.U. von Balthasar, the journey of conversion and the opening of oneself to true love that Dante proposes to his readers.
• Two introductory talks will be held on the afternoon of Saturday, June 20th, intended especially for those who may be unfamiliar with the author and his work.
• Sunday afternoon, following the 11:00 Mass at the Church of St. Lawrence (in the Certosa) and a subsequent visit of the monastery, participants will visit Florence for a walking tour of the Dante-related places of interest in the city.
• From Monday to the following Saturday, sessions will be held in the mornings and afternoons. These will take place in groups under the direction of a professor, and will involve the reading of various Canti from Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
• Each sitting will be dedicated to a pre-selected text from the Divine Comedy, with a brief introduction at the beginning. After a time of personal study of the text, participants will meet in small-groups for a period of discussion and sharing. At the end of the day, a general exchange will take place between all participants.

STYLE

• The seminar should be characterized by fraternal simplicity, as well as Christian joy and seriousness — not entirely different from that which has, for centuries, characterized the life of the monastery, whose residents enlivened the culture of their time with their prayer and their work.
• Today, the Comunità di san Leolino, which took over responsibility of the Certosa a few years ago, attests to this lifestyle, with the hope of giving new life to the spiritual and cultural heritage of a place so rich with history. Visit: www.certosadifirenze.it
• This seminar on Dante is an extracurricular addition to the general program of the Casa Balthasar, a house of discernment and formation for young adults that takes its inspiration from Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Adrienne von Speyr, spiritual masters of our time profoundly influenced by Ignatian spirituality.
• It is expected that those who participate in the seminar will commit to following the program and its schedule, and will be actively engaged in the material and discussions throughout.
• It is hoped that everyone will make the effort to balance the academic work with times of personal prayer with the Word of God. The holy Mass will be celebrated each day at the end of the day. For those who desire it, priests will be available outside of the scheduled seminar times to offer spiritual counsel.
• The evening of June 26th will feature a cultural celebration in honour of Hans Urs von Balthasar (whose interpretation of Dante will serve as a sort of guide for this seminar’s readings) with music and other contributions by the participants.

PRACTICAL INDICATIONS

• Location: The seminar will be hosted at the Carthusian Monastery of Florence (Certosa di Firenze)
• Dates: June 20th (12:00 p.m.) — June 27th (3:00 p.m.)
• Materials: Participants will be provided the relevant texts for each sitting by the organizers.
• Meals: Lunch will be provided each day at 1:00 p.m.
• Lodging: For those who specifically request it, and in the measure that it is available, the organizers will seek to provide lodging at a nearby residence.

CONTACTS & REGISTRATION

Andrea Brutto 

Casa Balthasar

tel. 06 86 328 193; cell: 327 0491033 

vicerettore@casabalthasar.org

Bernardo Artusi 

Comunità di San Leolino 

tel. 055 20 49 229 

certosadifirenze@gmail.com

Participation is by donation:

https://www.casabalthasar.org/making-a-donation

ORGANIZERS

Fr. Jacques Servais SJ 

and collaborators of the Casa Balthasar

www.casabalthasar.org

Rev. Carmelo Mezzasalma 

and collaborators of the Comunità di San Leolino

www.sanleolino.org

(Printable brochure of event information available upon request)