The Sacramental Imagination: Themes in Catholic Literature
Instructor: Nina Butorac
Sunday Evenings, 7:30 - 9:00 PM, October 7th - December 9th.
Parhish Hall: Aquinas Library - Blessed Sacrament ChurchIntroduction:
Hey, thanks for signing up for my class (or thinking about it)! Just a few things to get you started: First off, this class isn’t going to be a survey of Catholic writers, where we read a collection of pious works that have come down to us through the ages. Our focus is on literature, first and foremost, as well as the Sacramental Imagination, which is the main theme we’ll be exploring. We’ll be reading a handful of Catholic (mostly) authors, but certainly not all of them. And because this is not a survey class, the readings are not ordered chronologically or regionally, but as the Church orders, sacramentally. You can expect to do some heavy reading! Here’s what you’ll need:
Materials:
A reading list is linked here. You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding the three books in new or used bookstores (or at the library, or even on-line, if you prefer). Just be sure that you get the most recent publication of Three by Flannery O’Connor, which will include the short-story collection called "Everything that Rises Must Converge." There’s another, older publication out there that contains her first short-story collection, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," which we won’t be using.
Lesson 1:
Please read my essay and Fr. Greeley's essay, and be prepared to discuss them at our first class.
If you’re a slow reader, it wouldn’t hurt to get started reading The Fall, by Albert Camus, as soon as you can. It’s a short book, but you may want a head-start. It will be the first book we discuss for the second week of class.
Welcome | Reading List | Essay