San Damiano House of Formation

“What do you have to fear? Nothing. Whom do you have to fear? No one. Why? Because whoever has joined forces with God obtains three great privileges: omnipotence without power, intoxication without wine, and life without death.” - St. Francis of Assisi

  • A Different Way of Learning

    You won't fall asleep in the San Damiano classroom. Recovering an educational model from the days of St. Thomas Aquinas, San Damiano takes an active, dialectical, disputation-oriented approach to learning. Students come to class ready to stand and argue with each other and the faculty for or against important claims found in the greatest works written by the brightest minds and most passionate hearts of the western world.

  • Summary

    The San Damiano House of Formation is a non-degree program offering young men working in the trades a life in community ordered toward the integration of life into one meaningful whole through a study of theology, and spiritual habits of life that develop virtue. The person completing this program receives no credit, no credential, no certificate nor any exterior recognition of achievement. Men who go through the program take with them only the interior treasures of knowledge, moral, intellectual, and theological virtue along with habits of living well in community. There is no set curriculum with syllabi, however, men in this program can expect the the following:

  • Scripture

    We read Scripture in union with sacred tradition and the magisterium of the Catholic Church. The inspired word of God offers an integral narrative of all salvation history that students learn to understand as a whole by working through the narrative arc of Old and New Testament over two semsters.

  • Catechism in 9 Months

    Students make their way through the Catechism of the Catholic Church over the course of one academic year.

  • Catholic Morality

    "Good teacher, what must I do to be saved?" From the Fundamental moral principles to applied situations, students will understand and winsomely defend the timeless moral truth revealed by the Word and taught by the Church's magisterial authority.

  • Theology of Manhood and the Dignity of Work

    Joseph taught Jesus with calloused hands but a heart aflame with love. He never speaks a word in the Gospel. John the Baptist spoke the truth in and out of season. Though contrasting in many ways, both are paragons of masculinity in Scripture.

    Especially in our current cultural milieu that identifies masculinity as almost everywhere "toxic," men are left wondering what the nature and goodness of manhood might be. We study the Church's tradition on what it means to be human, what it means to be a man, and how the dignity of work fits into a vocation of man as human and man as masculine.

  • Real Men Worth Imitating - The Saints

    Students will encounter energetic, vibrant primary source accounts of the saints lives that will spur them to greater zeal for holiness and provide examples of how a life radically devoted to following Christ can be lived.

  • Cost

    Tuition: $8,000

    Room and Board: $10,750

    Total: $18,750

Formation Life Up Close

1.     Twice-a-week Formation days: Two days per week (typically Monday and Friday) are directly devoted to theological education in either teacher-led classroom settings, liturgical settings, or private study setting. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, students will be working at their own job or apprenticeship in the trades. Mass, vespers, adoration, penance, and compline will still be available daily. During these days, students can expect the following:

a.      Morning workout

b.     Morning Mass

c.      Breakfast

d.     Morning theology session 1

e.      Morning theology session 2

f.      Lunch and midday prayer

g.     Afternoon theology session 3

h.     Afternoon theology session 4

i.       Evening meal

j.       Vespers

k.     Adoration

l.       Compline and examination of conscience

m.   Friday or Saturday Night session: Theology on Screen film discussion

n.     Sunday – Lord’s Day leisure

2.     Weekly Formation:

a.      Acolyte – students learn the theology and practice of serving at the altar according to the 1962 Missal and the Paul VI Missal of the Roman rite.

b.     Schola  -- students learn the theology and practice of Gregorian chant with the Norbertines.

3.     Monthly Formation:

a.      Spiritual Direction with a Norbertine priest or another priest.

b.     Discernment Practicum reading Paths of Love or another text on discernment.

c.      Sacrament of Penance (available daily but structurally committed monthly).

d.     Meeting with faculty adviser to discuss progress.

4.     Annual Formation:

a.      Silent Retreat – One weekend retreat led by a Norbertine priest.

b.     Adventure Pilgrimage – Pilgrimage to either Assisi, Italy, Mexico City, or another destination for an intense outdoor journey of growth in holiness.