The Theology School: Diffused Peace and Sanctified with the Prayer of Life
Diffused peace… this is how Hanna Pavlenko described the atmosphere of the Theology Summer School of the Ukrainian Catholic University. She teaches medieval and baroque literature at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She decided to teach at the school because of the scope of her academic interests: “To convey to students the beauty and peculiarity of medieval texts, I must live in the atmosphere. Because, as a rule, these texts are closely related to the Bible: there are many biblical reminiscences, allusions, direct and indirect quotations, they are characterized by biblical exegesis. The Univ atmosphere allows for a deeper understanding of this,” says the teacher.
Over the course of three weeks, in addition to academic enrichment, participants of the school have a unique opportunity to delve into the liturgical life. We wake up at 6:00 for matins. We have several lessons and a Liturgy during the day, and finish in the evening with vespers and compline. Every day. Of course monastic ordinance is not mandatory for students, but all with great enthusiasm try to participate in the daily range of services.
The Theology Summer School was formed historically. In the mid-90s there was a plan to bring to Ukraine the model that had developed in North American where the theological university or faculty organizes summer courses in basic theological subjects. Therefore, people who have no theological education can obtain this knowledge in the summer. “The school offers academic credit, and after several years of participation (5-6 times), one can obtain the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in theology,” explains co-organizer of the school, Professor of Theology at UCU Taras Tymo.
An important element of this practice is the combination of the prayer experience with learning. Financier Taras Khoma says that for the first time in his life he managed to plunge so deeply into the liturgical life of the church, the monastic routine: “For many it is terra incognito: no one knows, or has an unclear idea, about these things. In different societies there are some common stereotypes about religious life and people live comfortably in this captivity.”
Spending three weeks in the monastery environment, communication with monks, the release from everyday worries is something that seems unreal to ordinary people, “Where in our daily bustle is there time to attend lectures, read theological books, go to worship? This is a unique experience that transforms people,” said Taras Tymo.
This year organizers have offered students two courses “Christ is Among Us: The Proceedings in Eastern Church Life” (given by Fr. Dr. Vasyl Rudeyko) and “Early Christian Monasticism: Origins and Development” (Hieromonk Leontii Tumovskyi).
Commenting on the relevance of the Eastern liturgical life, Fr. Vasyl Rudeyko stresses that Christian prayer is in any case the sacrament, which we can never comprehend to fullest. “Often the faithful come to church, experience worship, but do not reflect on its deeper meaning. And now comes the critical moment when a person wants to understand why he or she goes to church.”
In one of his lectures the priest talks about how a Christian needs constant prayer. Of course, for the modern person who has a bunch of problems this is a shock. So I immediately ask how this is possible. “Every moment of the Christian life can be a prayer, if we remember God. Throughout life and every day the Church tries to send this prayer: it sanctifies our entry into the Church, our states (e.g., marriage), at the beginning and end of the day it calls us to pray together, to remember that our lives should be lived in communion with Christ. When we wake up, lie down, eat, relax – all this can and should be consecrated with prayer and with the memory of God,” says Fr. Vasyl.
And if you do not always have the opportunity to participate in the full cycle of daily liturgies, the priest advises to pray alone. Each person must come up with a rule for themselves. At first it might be the prayer “Our Father,” to which the Trisagion can be added, and then the Church offers a complete prayer rule. Take the Byzantine Book of Hours, which presents “instructions” to the faithful on how to pray without a priest, which parts to omit, to change. So if there is no time for matins or vespers in the church, you can pray alone according to methodological guidelines.
Hieromonk Leontii (Tumovskyi), talking about the course of history of early Christian monasticism, says: “These are major personalities, especially of Egypt of the 4th century, Cappadocia, Syria, Palestine. We also look at the major works of that time that portray monastic theology, spirituality and the leading theme. These texts are important for us because the tradition that started in the desert, in Egypt or the Middle East, is alive, continues to this day. The monks, including the ones in our monastery, study these texts, live this tradition.”
According to the hieromonk, the history of monasticism (which is also part of the history of the Church) can help every Christian to understand their place in the Church and their own vocation.
“Unfortunately, I think that most people who pray do not know what it is,” continues Hanna Pavlenko. “Our Church today needs to educate the faithful: it may be through Sunday school, explanations during Divine Services. The clergy should pay more attention to its flock, and, indeed, most Christians should take the initiative themselves. The Scriptures, Book of Hours are available – why not look where I am going, what I hear there, read the prayers, Psalms. At work, I work with biblical and church texts, but I never heard them as they were performed here in Univ. When teaching such large blocks as hymnography, then after a short time the topic should be explained to the students. And to understand kontakia, stichera, kathismata, troparia, one must listen, be at services, see how it works. The very space of the church creates a certain atmosphere for understanding these texts.”
It is difficult to be a good Christian today, says my Pavlenko. And what is in the human soul, in her opinion, is very important. “Maybe you cannot go to church, but help someone, volunteer, treat people in a different way. Everything in a person should be in harmony.”
Given our business, unrestrained changes and tempo, it is hard to allocate time to meet with God, which begins with a meeting with oneself. Often it seems that the Church simply does not understand its faithful and demands to much from us. Subdeacon Andrey Terebushko of the St. Elias Church in Brampton, Canada, believes that the Church must always stay with the times so that people do not feel strange. “In our small parish we have been able to establish communication between the faithful – they feel like members of one community, which lives a spiritual life. People who feel alone know that they can come here. It is good if a church has a pastor with good charisma and attracts people. Based on this a strong nucleus is formed, around which a community is formed.”
According to the subdeacon, lay education, training in this type of theology school can give people an impetus to be active, to induce them to create a community.
Participants of the Theology School state that the education and stay is transforming. Even after two days of my stay in Univ I felt the need for attaining new horizons (of course, I don’t know how long this enthusiasm will last). At the Theology School you do not learn academic theology. It is, rather, to meet with God and understand this meeting. “Christianity is a great experience and great wisdom, but in order to apply this wisdom to life it must be studied. Theology is the life of the Church, prayer of the Church, tradition, sermons, confessions, communion with God,” summarizes Taras Tymo.
And most importantly, at the School you will not get answers to all questions, but rather find the tools you need to find the answers. As one participant told me, in life there comes a critical moment when you realize that there are things that are more important than those you once thought were essential.
Veronika Savruk
