November 16, 2016

Graduate Program in Spiritual Theology

Are you looking for an opportunity to dive into the mystical tradition of the Church at the graduate level? Do you want to equip yourself to better understand the spiritual life in order to teach it to others? If so, the Avila Institute Graduate Program in Spiritual Theology could be right for you!

Avila Institute Graduate Program

The online Graduate Program in Spiritual Theology can help you to:

Deepen your relationship with Christ through mystical riches of the Church.

Engage in parish ministry, catechesis, and other apostolates or professions that require the animating life of Christ to achieve their mission.

Be well prepared to enter training programs for spiritual direction and counseling with advanced standing.

The online Spiritual Theology Program is a forty credit hour graduate-level program. Courses are offered quarterly each year and students can take them on a two-year schedule or on a slower pace to complete the program in three to four years. Students who successfully complete the Graduate Program will receive a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Spiritual Theology in addition to a deeper understanding of the spiritual life and the increased ability to lead others deeper in the journey of faith.

Winter Session begins December 6

Application Deadline: November 22

Course: Introduction to Spiritual Theology

Professor: Anthony Lilles

Dates: Tuesdays, 7:30-9:45 EST (Dec 6, 13, 20, Jan 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31)

Introduction to Spiritual Theology 1000 is the introductory class for the Avila Institute. It is a systematic presentation of Spiritual Theology and the principles of spiritual direction. Lecture topics include the universal call to holiness, the indwelling of the Trinity, the nature and stages of Christian perfection, the supernatural organism and the Christian life, identification with Jesus and Mary, kinds and stages of prayer, the means to spiritual maturity appropriate for the various states of life, discernment of spirits, and ordinary and extraordinary mystical phenomena.

Dr. Lilles is the Avila Institute’s Chief Academic Officer as well as Academic Dean of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California and Academic Advisor of Juan Diego House of Priestly Formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Having taught graduate level theology for over 20 years, Dr. Lilles is specialized in Spiritual Theology, Spiritual Direction, and various classics of Catholic Spirituality.

Other Courses offered this winter include:

The Spiritual Wisdom of Eastern Christianity
The Gift of the Holy Spirit and Divine Indwelling

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About Dylan Jedlovec

Dylan Jedlovec is an Operations Administrative Assistant at the Avila Foundation, parent organization of SpiritualDirection.com, the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, and Divine Intimacy Radio. Finishing up an undergraduate degree in Marketing and Economics from Samford University, Dylan is first and foremost a disciple of Christ and a son of the Church. Dylan has a heart for evangelization on college campuses, and has worked closely with FOCUS as a student missionary and served as President of the Catholic Student Association at Samford. As a member of the University Fellows Program at Samford, Dylan developed a love for the writings of the Saints, particularly the Doctors of the Church, through his studies of the core texts of the Western Intellectual Tradition. This love for the rich intellectual tradition of the faith brought him to the Avila Foundation, where he seeks to further the kingdom through feeding Christ’s sheep. In his free time, Dylan enjoys watching baseball, reading, hiking, running, and lifting weights (although you can’t really tell).