Game day lecture series featuring the saints returns for eighth year

By Meg Mirshak

Saturdays with the SaintsSaturdays with the Saints

The eighth annual “Saturdays with the Saints” lecture series sponsored by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame will feature seven saints whose lives give witness to the idea that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” (1 Cor. 1:25)

The lectures will be held on Saturdays of home Notre Dame football games combining the university’s rich traditions of Catholic faith and spirited football game days. Notre Dame theology faculty and McGrath Institute staff will 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 saints are those who stretch our imagination. Through the medium of their lives, they interpret the mystery of the Christian faith,” said John Cavadini, McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life. “In the lives of the saints, we see a light that leads us closer to faith, hope, and love and that challenges common fascinations with pride, desperation, violence, and force.”

Saturdays with the Saints has established itself as a popular pregame ritual for members of the Notre Dame community and visitors to campus. The lectures begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Andrews Auditorium on the lower level of Geddes Hall adjacent to Hesburgh Library. The talks are free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early as the events tend to fill to capacity.

“The saints matter to everyone because love matters to everyone. People understand love,” said Tim O’Malley, managing director of the McGrath Institute and director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. “It is love that attracts, that woos, that changes the world. That same love is also what brings us together for Saturdays with the Saints.”

 

The 2017 Saturdays with the Saints schedule:

September 2: Sts. Francisco & Jacinta Marto, The Child Saints of Fatima

Sr. Ann Astell, Professor of Theology, Notre Dame

 

September 9: St. Philip Neri, God’s Humorist

Leonard DeLorenzo, Director of Notre Dame Vision, McGrath Institute for Church Life

 

September 30: St. Rose of Lima, Mother of the Poor

Jessica Keating, Director of Human Dignity and Life Initiatives, McGrath Institute for Church Life

 

October 21: St. André Bessette & Ven. Solanus Casey, Doorkeepers for God

Fr. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., Assistant Professor of Theology, Notre Dame

 

October 28: Blessed Miguel Pro, The “Folly” of Martyrdom

Timothy Matovina, Professor of Theology, Notre Dame

 

November 4: St. Robert Southwell, S.J., A Eucharistic Poet

Timothy P. O’Malley, Director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, McGrath Institute for Church Life

 

November 18: St. Nicholas, Miracle Worker and Gift Giver

Lawrence S. Cunningham, O’Brien Chair of Theology, Emeritus, Notre Dame

 

Contact: Brett Robinson, Director of Communications, McGrath Institute for Church Life, 574-631-6109, brobins6@nd.edu.

The McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to address pastoral challenges with theological depth and rigor. By connecting the Catholic intellectual life at Notre Dame to the life of the Church, the McGrath Institute for Church Life forms faithful Catholic leaders for service to the Church and the world. Visit icl.nd.edu.

Originally published by Meg Mirshak at icl.nd.edu on August 09, 2017.