The McGrath Institute for Church Life invites Notre Dame football fans to join the Institute for the sixteenth season of its gameday lecture series, “Saturdays With the Saints.” This season's theme, “Saints of the Poor” was chosen to explore the lives of saints who encountered Christ in the poor and marginalized and made care for those in need a central expression of their faith.
The opening lecture features Joshua C. Benson, Ph.D., of The Catholic University of America, who will present "St. Francis of Assisi: Letter and Spirit."
Saturdays with the Saints has established itself as a popular Notre Dame football pregame ritual that combines the university's rich traditions of its Catholic faith and spirited gamedays. Hundreds of fans regularly pack the auditorium to hear McGrath Institute faculty and staff, Notre Dame Department of Theology faculty, and invited guest scholars, deliver dynamic lectures on saints chosen for their uncommon virtue and their willingness to let their faith stand in contradiction to the wisdom of the world. The series offers football fans an opportunity to enrich their time on Our Lady’s campus by encountering the lives of the saints and reflecting more deeply on the mysteries of Christ revealed through them.
Other lectures in this year’s series include remarks on St. Frances Cabrini by Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Ph.D.; St. John Chrysostom by Blake Leyerle, Ph.D.; St. Charles Lwanga by Rev. Emmanuel Katongole, Ph.D.; Ven. Satoko Kitahara by Corynne Staresinic, M.A.; and Sts. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac by Rev. Matthew Hovde, C.S.C., Ph.D.
Presentations from previous seasons can be accessed on our website.
The lectures take place on Saturdays of home football games at 10:30 a.m. EST in Andrews Auditorium on the lower level of Geddes Hall and are free and open to the public. The current season’s schedule can be found at mcgrath.nd.edu/saints.