Lights and Delights

UPDATE: We no longer have rooms available at the Abbey.
Those wishing to participate may request a room reservation at:

Residence Hall at Benedictine College adjacent to the Abbey. Contact: Amanda Niemann at aniemann AT benedictine DOT edu (1-913-367-7853).

Monastic guest house of the Benedictine Sisters 2 miles distant. Contact Sr. Marcia Ziska, OSB, at mziska AT mountosb DOT org to reserve a room. She informs me of the following discounted rates for single rooms with a 3/4 bath between two rooms: $45.00 per night; $50.00 per night with breakfast; $7.00 supper.

AmericInn Hotel in Atchison (2 miles distant). Make reservations here.

If you have not yet registered and need to arrive by plane, you may wish to reserve a room in a residence hall of Benedictine College to avoid the need for a car.

The daily fee for participating in the event is $40.00, which now includes both lunch and supper to accommodate better those staying across town. Meals are taken in the monastic dining room following the custom of the monks.

Reginald Foster - Atchison2014

Lights and Delights

of the Latin language

both in 100 B.C. and 600 A.D.

You are invited
to read the Latin letters of

M.T. Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
and
Pope Gregory the Great (590-604 A.D.)
with
Fr. Reginald Foster OCD

Monday – Friday 19-23 May 2014

at St. Benedict’s Abbey
1020 North Second Street
Atchison, Kansas 66002, USA

Download a flyer here to post and share with others.

Contact person: Daniel McCarthy at dmccarthy AT kansasmonks DOT org

Early in his Latin education Reginald fell in love with the letters of Cicero for their synthesis of the whole language in daily speech. Reginald is writing a commentary on 51 of these letters with Daniel McCarthy in order to introduce people to Cicero and his lasting linguistic impression.

Two sessions daily will be spent reading Cicero’s letters together in Latin with on the spot translations as participants are able. Two daily sessions will be spent reading the correspondence of Gregory the Great, written some seven centuries later.

Daily Latin Schedule

8:00-9:00 A.M. reading Cicero‘s letters in Latin
followed by discussion of Latin form and content

10:30-11:30 A.M. reading Gregory the Great’s correspondence in Latin
followed by discussion of Latin

1:00-2:00 P.M. reading Gregory the Great’s correspondence in Latin
followed by discussion of Latin style and content

3:30-5:00 P.M. reading Cicero‘s letters in Latin
followed by discussion of Latin

7:00-9:00 P. M. as possible further discussion of Latin texts

You are welcome to bring texts for us to consider in common during times of discussion.

Registration

Register online here (page in development) through the development office of St. Benedict’s Abbey. Please indicate if you will not be able to attend all five days.

Latinists are welcome without consideration of religion.

Room reservations and meals

There are a limited number of individual rooms in the attached Abbey guest house, all with toilet, sink and shower en suite. Please request a room when registering.

Participants are welcomed to dine from the buffet in the monastic refectory, observing local customs. Please indicate which meals you would like to attend when registering. The meal schedule in the monastery, for those who wish, is:

7:00-7:20 breakfast in silence in the monastic refectory
12:15-12:45 talking lunch in the monastic refectory
6:00-6:30 Supper with table reading in the monastic refectory

Asmall kitchenette available for our use is attached to the room where our Latin lessons will be held.

Hotels and restaurants etc. are located in the center of Atchison 1-2 miles away, if you can arrange for transportation. 

There is a large monastery of Benedictine women 2 miles across town, if you prefer and can arrange for transportation.

 

Transportation

There is no public transport that passes through Atchison, no train, no bus! If you need to be picked up at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) located about 45 minutes away, please indicate this when registering along with airline, flight and time as well as a cell phone number to ease communication and pick up.

Bibliography

Essential are:

GILDERSLEEVE, B.L, – G. LODGE, Gildersleeve’s Latin Grammar, Bolchazy-Carducci, Wauconda IL 2003, reprint of 31985.

LEWIS, C.T., – C. SHORT, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford UP, Oxford – New York 1879, reprinted 1995.

The only presentation of Reginald’s method of teaching Latin published to date is the chapter which includes essential information on Reginald’s system, including the times of verbs, principles of the subjunctive and their uses: FOSTER , R.T. – D.P. McCARTHY, “Collectarum Latinitas”, in Appreciating the Collect, ed. Leachman, 27-56. This book is available from the publisher in the UK and in the US from the abbey gift shop.

Of interest in regard to liturgical prayers is: McCARTHY, D.P. – J.G. Leachman, Listen to the Word: Commentaries on Selected Opening Prayers of Sundays and Feasts with Sample Homilies. Revised from articles that appeared in The Tablet 18 march 2006 – 15 September 2007, augmented with five Homilies, The Tablet Publishing, London 2009. This book is available from the publisher in the UK and in the USA from the abbey gift shop.

All other reading materials will be provided. You are welcome to bring Latin texts of your choice for our consideration.

Your Host: Daniel McCarthy

photo of Daniel McCarthy

Fr. Daniel McCarthy, OSB

I am writing with Reggie several books printed and audio to pass on the unique method of teaching Latin developed by Reggie while teaching over several decades in Rome. Our books and audio recordings include:

The Body of Latin : Latinitatis Corpus

Ossa Latinitatis Sola:
The Mere Bones of Latin
(a three year program of teaching Latin)

Ossium Carnes Multae:
The Bones’ Meats Abundant
(51 letters of Cicero put meat on the bones)

Os praesens Ciceronis epistularis:
The Immediate Mouth of Cicero in his Letters
(audio recordings of the 51 letters)

Over the past four years I have  spent about 13 months in Milwaukee working with Reggie. Please consider giving to my monastic community to support me in this endeavor so that I can help Reggie provide his method of teaching Latin to the next generation and for posterity.  

Please give to support my giving so that together we may help Reggie to give his method of teaching  Latin to the next generation and to posterity.

I am a monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey. I have studied under Reggie since 1999. We published translations and commentaries on the Sunday prayers of the church every week for five years. We have

Share Button