Foundations in Spirituality: Strengthen Your Understanding of Spirituality and Open Your Heart to a Deeper Spiritual Life

Foundations in Spirituality is a serious reflective study that opens our minds and hearts to the teachings and life examples of the great Christian spiritual teachers that continue to deepen our present spiritual journey.

Explore the rich preaching of St. Dominic; the unbreakable faith of St. Teresa of Avila; the deep spirituality of St. John of the Cross; the life-giving wisdom of the Beguines; the daily prayerful life of St. Ignatius; and the lives of many more who continue to enrich our own faith and spirituality.

The course introduces the practice of contemplative prayer as grounding practices for living a richer spiritual life. Respond to the yearning in your heart for a deeper relationship with God by returning to the Foundations in Spirituality.

The objectives of this course are to:

• Grow in understanding and appreciation of the diverse ways God has been present to and involved in the lives of the great spiritual teachers and guides throughout history.
• Encourage awareness, commitment to, and integration of the spiritual journey in daily life through writing and living a personal rule of life.
• Develop an understanding of contemplative attitudes and presence as basic to living a spiritual life.
• Provide opportunity for an introductory study of writings from the spiritual classics for the purpose of reflection, discussion, and personal appropriation.
• Foster respect for the diversity in past and present theology and spirituality.
• To present basic principles and tools for discernment that are useful for personal, prayerful decision making.

What to Expect

If you are considering The Foundations in Spirituality formation intensive at Dominican Center Marywood at Aquinas College, this video from a graduate of the program may be helpful. Phillip Johnson, Ph.D. completed Foundations in Spirituality in 2020. In this video, Dr. Johnson reflects on how his experience in Foundations transformed his approach as a counselor and member of the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology at Western Michigan University.