Summer Seminars
for Undergraduate Students
June 11–14, 2025
Join the Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, for a four-day experience that combines academic study, prayer, recreation, and a faith-filled community.
Our Summer Seminars include two different seminars for rising college seniors that run simultaneously in June: the Sacred Page Seminar, which is dedicated to the study of Scripture, and the City of God Seminar, which explores the writings of St. Augustine in the context of today’s culture.
Features
- An integrated experience of study, prayer, and fellowship with fellow Catholic college students
- Seminar-style discussions led by faculty
- Daily Mass and liturgy of the hours
- Nature walks, recreation, and visits to local St. Louis holy sites
- Fellowship with Augustine Institute faculty and students
Who Should Attend
We invite rising college seniors with a lively interest in studying the Bible or the writings of St. Augustine.
This is an apt opportunity if you are exploring the possibility of graduate studies in the field of Biblical Studies, Theology, or Pastoral Theology. Or, we welcome your attendance if you simply desire to deepen your Catholic faith in an environment of intellectual and spiritual fellowship.
Sacred Page Seminar
The seminar is a concentrated experience of reading the Bible rigorously, thoughtfully, and faithfully.
Course Description
The Church teaches that by reading God’s inspired word in the light of faith, our pursuit of truth and love are “most powerfully strengthened and rejuvenated.” “The study of the sacred page,” therefore, is rightly called “the soul of sacred theology” (Vatican Council II, Dei Verbum §24).
The Scriptures are not merely a sourcebook to be mined for apologetics or theological debates, although they do serve such purposes. They are, with sacred tradition, a wellspring of life meant to nourish, challenge, teach, and propel believers along the path of truth and love in Christ.
The Book of Psalms have been the prayer book of God’s people for time immemorial. Here, in a special way in Scripture, “God gives us words to speak to him, to place our lives before him” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, §24). In praying the Psalter, we join our voices with God’s ancient people in sorrow and exultation, in repentance, and with hope in God’s deliverance.
And as we read of righteous sufferers and anointed kings like David, the Church sees a figure of Jesus, the suffering and risen King who reigns over all things and saves his people. Join us for the 2025 Sacred Page Seminar at the Augustine Institute as we study how to read the Psalter for all its worth.
City of God Seminar
The seminar explores the intersection of the apostolic faith and contemporary culture through the thought of St. Augustine.
Course Description
The City of God, according to Saint Augustine of Hippo, has to be understood “both as it exists in this world of time, a stranger among the ungodly, living by faith, and as it stands in the security of its everlasting seat” (City of God 1.preface).
Drawing especially on the wisdom of Saint Augustine, this course pursues a deeper understanding of our condition and calling as those who seek to “live by faith” in the context of secular modernity. What are the unspoken premises, questions, and longings that shape the worldviews of contemporary Americans?
What principles and practices are needed for Christians to respond credibly to those worldviews and to live in a manner commensurate with their heavenly citizenship (cf. Philippians 3:20)?
Cost
The seminar is free. Lodging and meals will be provided by the Augustine Institute. The course’s required texts will be mailed to participants in early May.
Application Details
The application for the Summer Seminars will open on December 15, 2025, and close on April 30, 2025. Interested students are encouraged to apply early as space is limited and students will be admitted on a rolling basis.
What past attendees have to say…
"It is a wonderful opportunity to experience a bit of graduate school life and meet other young, faithful Catholics interested in graduate school. Even for those who decide not to receive a Masters degree, the seminars are very enlightening and invite you to look at the Bible in a way you never have before. Not only that, they address how this new understanding should be used to bring others to Christ.”
— Monica, Michigan
"This is the perfect opportunity to come see what the Augustine Institute is all about. Students have personal interactions with professors and other students, dive into theology, participate in the sacramental life, and enjoy meals and recreation during the Summer Seminar. Even if one is the slightest bit curious about graduate school, this is an incredible opportunity to come check it out.”
— Charlie, California
