Classroom for Online Course:
The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer

By Dr. Anthony Lilles, Professor of Theology, St. Patrick’s Seminary

Six Tuesday Nights at 07:00 PM beginning September 13, 2022 – Pacific Time (US and Canada)
{class recordings available below – allow time for recorded class to be edited and uploaded}

The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer Course

Instructor: Dr. Anthony Lilles
Professor of Theology, St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA 

At the dawn of the New Millennium, St. John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter on the rosary as an aid to his great pastoral program: contemplating the face of Christ.  He presents this contemplation as both Marian and Eucharistic, a loving gaze that discovers the gaze of Christ through the Church.  Twenty years later, the Church faces a crisis in Eucharistic devotion and at the same time, a crisis in personal prayer.  Having lost a sense of the Real Presence of Christ, many Catholics are adrift in the chaos of secularism, and they are searching for something sacred to hang onto that will help them regain a sense of hope.  Contemplation in the Catholic spiritual tradition as expressed in the rosary offers a life line for these disciples. These lectures propose Marian devotion to Christ found in the rosary as a powerful tool for spiritual revival.  A biblical, historical and practical exploration, participants reflect on the meaning, mysteries and power that this contemplation unleashes for fuller and more conscious participation in the liturgy, renewal of Eucharistic devotion, and spiritual transformation.

Course Syllabus: The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer, September-October 2022

An online course for the School of Pastoral Ministry, Archdiocese of San Francisco

Instructor: Dr. Anthony Lilles, Professor of Theology, St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA

Highly Recommended Reading*:

John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Apostolic Letter, 2002Available here: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html

Catechism of the Catholic Church, ## 2673-2682

Recommended Reading:

Aidan Nichols, OP There is No Rose: the Mariology of the Catholic Church, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015, pp 1-21, 131-150 (available as an eBook through the San Francisco Public Library)

Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Mary: The Church at the Source, trans. Adrian Walker, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005, pp 19-36 (available through FORMED.org)

Outcomes:

  1. Describe how the rosary has impacted you or the life of the Church and the context of the rosary today.
  2. Discuss the meaning of the mysteries of the Rosary and their relation to contemplation and Eucharistic Revival.
  3. Discern best practices and personal appropriation of the rosary in one’s own life, family and parish.

*For the St. Patrick’s Seminary Students required to take this course the “Highly Recommended Reading” is REQUIRED. 

September 13: Marian Piety, Contemplation and Eucharistic Revival: a context for our study.  Lecture based in recommended readings (see above) from There is No Rose and Mary: The Church at the Source.

Slide presentation as a PDF:

The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer – Lecture 1 slides presentation

September 20: Introduction to Rosarium Virginis Mariae (hereafter, RVM) 1-8

Slide presentation as a PDF:

The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer – Lecture 2 slides presentation

September 27: Contemplating Christ with Mary, RVM 9-17

Slide presentation as a PDF:

The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer – Lecture 3 slides presentation

October 4: The Mysteries of Christ, the Mysteries of His Mother RVM  18-25

Slide presentation as a PDF:

The Rosary and Contemplative Prayer Lecture 4 slides presentation

October 11: For me, to live is Christ, RVM 26-38

Slide presentation as a PDF:

The Rosary and Contemplation Lecture 5 slides presentation

October 18: The Power of the Rosary, RVM 39-43

Slide presentation as a PDF:

The Rosary and Contemplation Lecture 6 slides presentation

We’d be very grateful if you would donate what you can to help keep this program going. We will turn down no one due to financial need. Your support helps us make these classes accessible to more people.

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We’d be very grateful if you would donate what you can to help keep this program going. We will turn down no one due to financial need. Your support helps us make these classes more accessible to more people. If you can’t afford to make a donation, just email Deacon Fred Totah at [email protected] and let him know you’d like a scholarship. No one will be turned down. No questions will be asked.

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Please choose your donation (please be generous so we can liberally give scholarships out to those who need them):