Monday, January 23, 2012 saw nearly half of the Thomas More College student body marching for life in Washington, DC.

Students departed Sunday night for Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they joined Harvard students in an hour of adoration and Vespers before boarding the bus to DC—a fitting beginning for a pilgrimage.

They arrived in Washington at dawn, attended Mass celebrated by Archbishop Dolan at the National Shrine, marched for life until four in the afternoon, and by 6:30pm were homebound.

The trip was grueling to be sure, but for the students of Thomas More College, it was a joy to stand up for the dignity of all human life.

“The crowd was huge, almost everyone was young, and the enthusiasm was amazing!” stated freshman Amie Green who attended the March for the first time this year. “I am so grateful to be at Thomas More College where I am not only discovering the truth in the classroom, but I am given opportunities to really live it with my peers.”

“As I was marching with so many thousands of others I was amazed at how much it meant just to be there,” said junior Kate Almeda. “The March is serious, but at the same time it is so hopeful and exciting because the focus is love of life and, as Archbishop Dolan said during his homily, the victory is already won because Christ has already conquered death through His resurrection.”

The students did not arrive back on campus until 4am on Tuesday morning giving them only a few hours to sleep before morning classes began.

“All those who made the trip displayed a striking commitment to the prolife cause,” said Gwen Adams, Dean of Women and Visiting Fellow at Thomas More College. “As students, they have responsibilities that demand the majority of their time, but they were willing to make the necessary sacrifices to defend life and still get up Tuesday morning for class—that’s admirable.”

Thomas More College students are regularly seen engaging the pro-life cause throughout New England and in Washington, DC.

They pray in front of Planned Parenthood in Manchester, volunteer at Friends of the Unborn, a home for young mothers who have struggled with abortion, and faithfully attend the Walk for Life in Boston as well as the March for Life in DC.  Each year, classes are cancelled so that students are able to travel to Washington to attend the annual March for Life.

To these activities is added the power of prayer—every night as the community of students pray the Rosary together they remember the prolife cause.

“Students attending Thomas More College are given a deep appreciation and understanding of the sanctity of all human life from conception to its natural end,” said Dr. Fahey.  “As part of our curriculum, students develop an understanding of the life issue on both the philosophical and theological levels so they are prepared to defend their position in the public square.”

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a four-year undergraduate education which develops young people intellectually, ethically, and spiritually in the Catholic tradition and in faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.  Thomas More College introduces its students to the central questions of Western Civilization—and to the Church’s response.  It teaches students how to reason, engage in academic discourse, and to write.  Students from Thomas More College are shaped into faithful leaders who are able to pursue the individual vocations which God has given each of them.

Students of Thomas More College returned from their Christmas recess to an exciting surprise—a beautifully transformed chapel. 

While the students were home with their families, Thomas More College’s staff and faculty joined together to install a new altar, polish and position the tabernacle in the center, unveil three new icons, buff pews, wax floors, and tastefully paint and frame the sanctuary space.

The new mahogany altar is placed to ensure that the priest be Ad Orientem during both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms of the Mass. On the front is painted the traditional symbol of the chi rho, the first two Greek letters of ‘Christ’, emphasizing the symbolic representation of the altar as the body of Christ. 

On the back wall hang four icons, painted by the College’s artist-in-residence, Professor David Clayton. Three of these icons were installed just this week: Our Lady, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Thomas More. 

The icons of Our Lady and Saint John—the traditional figures shown at the cross—appear at the foot of the large hanging crucifix, even though it is suspended ten feet from the wall on which the icons hang. The icons are seemingly connected to the crucifix due to the complementary color schemes, matching borders, and careful positioning. 

Interestingly, the unique placement of these icons also causes them to appear at the foot of the smaller crucifix, which hangs on the back wall for the priest to view during Mass. 

“The icons were arranged in such a way as to draw the viewers’ attention to both the crucifixes and to the tabernacle,” Clayton noted. “Our Lady and St. John are looking at the tabernacle and their postures indicate they are paying homage to and adoring the Blessed Sacrament.” 

The icon of Saint Michael the Archangel, unveiled last March, is now joined by a new icon of the College’s patron, Saint Thomas More.  Both icons are five feet in height and two and a half feet width. They hang above the two smaller icons, while a fifth icon of the Sacred Heart, installed two years ago, hangs to the left above the bench where the priest sits during Mass.

Clayton said: “When we sing Vespers and Lauds, we always close by asking for the intercession of Saint Thomas More, Our Lady, Mother of Beauty, and a prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After Compline, we say the Saint Michael prayer. With the recent additions, we can now turn, face forward, and look directly at the appropriate image for each of these prayers and, thus, predispose ourselves to grace.”

The space is bordered with Fleurs de Lis on a background of warm burgundy. The Fleur de Lis is a traditional symbol of both Our Lady and the Trinity.  As a result, the space is marked apart from the rest of the room as being the sanctuary.

Most important, changes made to the College’s chapel now allow the tabernacle to be situated in the center of the altar.  

Dr. Fahey, president of Thomas More College, remarked, “When the Holy Father met with leaders from Catholic Universities and Colleges in the United States, he reminded everyone that ‘First and foremost every Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals His transforming love and truth.’   It seems to me essential that we place Our Lord visibly at the center—the center of the Chapel and the center of our entire educational endeavor.” 

Reverend John Healey, longtime chaplain of Thomas More College, stated, “The great deal of work done recently in the Chapel signifies in the community a wonderful devotion and love for Christ for which I am truly grateful. Deo Gratias!”

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a four-year undergraduate education which develops young people intellectually, ethically, and spiritually in the Catholic tradition and in faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.  Students graduate as skilled and critical thinkers eager to apply their knowledge and serve in whatever vocation they are called to.

By Christopher Pineo
The Boston Pilot

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts welcomed Father Benedict Groeschel and three experts on language and liturgy to speak as part of a day-long event before their annual President’s Council Dinner on Dec. 3 in Boston.

In the evening, a fellow Franciscan helped Father Groeschel, a founding member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in 1987 and director of the Office for Spiritual Development for the Archdiocese of New York, into a high-backed chair as he took the stage during applause from the crowd in the 500-seat Harvard Hall.

He began the keynote address speaking on the subject of a transition between the social upheaval in the 1960s and 1970s and a movement toward more open governance in the current times, detailing his views on what the Church can expect in the future. His keynote address outlined a sense of optimism for people of faith, despite the complications caused by secularization in the United States.

Father Groeschel’s keynote address capped a day-long symposium, “The Language of Liturgy: Does It Matter?” featuring three speakers discussing aspects of the changes to the new Roman Missal.

Father George Rutler, Russell R. Reno, and Anthony Esolen each addressed the changes in the language of the liturgy from casual, academic, and artistic perspectives.

“Each of these speakers for different reasons has a known excellence with respect to either liturgy, or language, or both of them together,” said Thomas More College Dean Christopher Blum.

Father George Rutler of the Archdiocese of New York is a documentary film-maker, author and contributor to numerous scholarly and popular journals. He spoke about casual attitudes toward language corroding the previous translation in a culture of cynicism.

He used the Emperor Julian the Apostate, a 3rd century critic of Christianity, as an example of how cynicism impacts not only the religious body of the Church, but also detracts from the coherence of conversation surrounding its work in liturgy.

“Julian today, when asked of matters of religion, probably would have used the current refrain, ‘Whatever,’” Father Rutler said.

He said to pursue the truth, particularly the truth of Christ, people must take great care in their use of language. His talk connected articulate, thoughtful language with deep thinking and deepening faith.

“Why are people afraid of raising the bar?” He asked. “Because it raises us closer to God. It takes us out of ourselves.”

Russell R. Reno, editor of the journal First Things, discussed the changes to the liturgy from a more academic position, presenting Jesus in the role of teacher and orator.

“The Risen Christ pours out the Holy Spirit, but not hither and yon,” the author said. “Instead he pours it out to biblically and liturgically formed followers.”

Reno said the changes in liturgical language move people beyond simple understanding.

“Out of Israel’s scriptures, out of the words of the apostles, and in and through the life of the Church, God has forged a language for us,” Reno said. “He gives us the words whereby our spiritual imaginations are healed.”

Anthony Esolen, author of 12 books, brought his experience as a published commentator on scripture, as an English professor at Providence College, and as a specialist on Renaissance and Middle Age literature to bear, highlighting the artistic role of poetic language in scripture.

“The new translation brings out the poetry that had been simply abandoned,” Esolen said.

“I won’t say that it had not been rendered well, because that would imply that the translators in 1973 actually tried to render it. They did not,” he added.

Esolen presented Jesus Christ as a poet of sorts, using a mustard seed as a metaphor for the Kingdom of God as he enlightened his students. Esolen said, presumably, the students had seen mustard seeds before.

“The parable turns our attention from a familiar term, The Kingdom of God, to a wholly unfamiliar and mysterious being, namely The Kingdom of God, as it really exists,” Esolen said. “The soul of poetry is not so much to make strange things familiar, but to make familiar things strange.”

In mid-November, the students of Thomas More College ventured from Rome to Naples, which lies on the southern coast of Italy. Exploring Naples took the form of a pilgrimage. Guided by Corinne Manella, Resident Director at the Thomas More Campus in Rome, the students visited an assortment of local churches, including: San Paulo Majore, San Lorenzo Majore, The Naples Duomo, and the Pio Monte della Misericordia, which houses Carravagio’s famous painting: The Seven Acts of Mercy (pictured on the right). Afterward, the group walked down the Via San Gregoria Armeno, a street packed with a multitude of artists who make intricate hand-made miniature figures for nativity scenes.

“To see master craftsman putting that amount of skill and effort into creating something so miniature, something that most people purchase from the Christmas decoration section at their local department store was both fascinating and inspiring,” says Adam Kubiak. “Each piece was a miniscule sculptural masterpiece; some even had moving parts and running water.”

The pilgrims spent the evening relaxing on the vast coastline beyond Naples, sitting on a dock and praying a rosary before heading to their guest house at the local Dominican Convent.

The next morning was spent traveling to Pompeii, a city near Naples that was destroyed by the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Pompeii is especially well known for its ruins, which, after excavation, revealed the bodies of victims preserved under a coat of volcanic rock. The sight provided an extraordinary insight into the daily life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire.

Apart from seeing ruins, some of the students had the opportunity to visit the famous image of Our Lady of Pompeii. The picture is a possession of Bartolo Longo, a Third Order Dominican lawyer who inaugurated a confraternity of the Rosary in Pompeii. After being provisionally exposed in a small declining chapel, miracles were reported and pilgrims began to frequently venerate the image. It portrays Our Lady of the Rosary with Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena.

John Audino shares his perspective on seeing the miraculous picture: “We waited over two and a half hours in line to see the image. The wait was a pilgrimage in itself!” For him, praying the rosary among the crowd and slowly progressing to the veneration at the end was a memorable end to a weekend of spiritual growth.

            On the weekend of September 23, 2011, thirteen Thomas More College students ventured forth to walk the 62-mile pilgrimage from Lake George to the Shrine of Our Lady of the North American Martyrs.

            In its sixteenth year, the annual Pilgrimage for Restoration, organized by the National Coalition of Clergy and Laity, is a spiritual journey of the faithful to the place where Saints Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, and John LaLande were martyred 369 years ago. It is conducted in honor of Christ Our King, for the restoration of new Christendom, and in reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

            Invoking the intercession of America’s saints and martyrs, pilgrims desire that the Catholic Faith restore every dimension of life: hearts, families, workplaces, parishes, neighborhoods, cities, dioceses and the whole American nation.

            The pilgrimage is an exercise of penance and prayer, of contradiction and restoration, having both a personal and social character. Modeled on the annual Pentecost pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Chartres, France, the Pilgrimage for Restoration embraces the traditional doctrine and practice of Holy Church, with all its demands.

            Thomas More College students were thrilled to participate in the pilgrimage this year. The students met at a campsite at Lake George where they stayed for the first night and made ready for the journey. At 4:30AM the following morning, the students attended Mass, after which they had a simple breakfast, and began the long pilgrimage.

“The pilgrimage represents your life writ small,” said Liam Mitchell, a sophomore at Thomas More College. “It taught me that you can’t really do life by yourself; you can’t do it without God. Learning that lesson was a great relief for me.” He continued, “The first day was disorganized, but I was still able somehow to remain recollected. By the second and third day we came together, there was comradeship, we all pushed each other along.”

The pilgrims were divided into “brigades,” each brigade representing an army for Christ. The young women of Thomas More College were in the brigade of St. Joan of Arc, while the young men were in the brigade of St. Isaac Jogues. There were other brigades as well, totaling about 250 people, including families, three priests, and several religious brothers and sisters.

The pilgrimage was done on foot, though there were a few buses that drove alongside in case anyone needed a temporary break from the walking.

Marie O’Brien, a sophomore, was one of few who persevered in walking the whole way. “You never really think about walking as being hard. It makes sense that jogging or running is hard, but not walking. This was hard. You hurt after a time,” Marie said. After a moment of reflection she added, “The pilgrimage was profitable because it allowed you to suffer a little bit the way our Lord suffered, and I think that’s not something that we really think about or do very often, the actual physical suffering.”

Talks and meditations were given on topics such as confession, vocation, and the Rosary. In between talks, people prayed litanies, sang the Rosary and hymns, or prayed silently. People also sang folk songs to keep each other motivated and lighthearted when tired. “It helped because if we weren’t praying or singing, we were grumbling,” admitted Liam.

“In St. Isaac Jogues’ brigade,” Liam added, “we felt a bit guilty for complaining because we had just been reading St. Benedict in our Humanities class, and he writes about no grumbling. One of the speakers, though, presented the example of Christ complaining in the Garden of Gethsemane. He didn’t complain to everyone but only to those close to Him, and not for long.”

            Oliver Domina, also a sophomore at Thomas More College, commented, “It was a really wonderful experience.” He explained: “I had a rough start—I forgot my warm clothes and my sleeping bag in my car. I got to the campsite very late—I had to drop people off, take my car to where the pilgrimage would end, and catch a ride back with another driver in his car. By the time I went to bed it was one in the morning, and then I only slept about ten minutes that entire night because it was so cold.”

“During the second day, while I was walking, I stopped and just burst out laughing,” said Oliver. “I couldn’t stop! I was overcome by the fact that I was getting the exact opposite of everything I wanted from the trip. Everything from wanting a little snack I thought I had put in my backpack—and it not being there—to being stuck walking next to someone who was annoying the heck out of me, to numerous other things. Whenever I thought to myself, ‘I really hope this doesn’t happen,’ it would happen. I realized that I had been going on the pilgrimage for the wrong reasons and God was telling me to be patient and to think about why I was there. I realized that I needed to be on this pilgrimage to tell my sleeping body to wake up and see the Light, and through the physical pain I was given the perfect opportunity. I also realized that I had thousands of people that I needed to pray and offer up my pain for. It was hard but good, in the best and highest sense of the word.”

Fr. Thomas Kocik, a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, MA and regularly contributor to the New Liturgical Movement website, spoke to a packed room of students, staff, and friends of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts about the 100-year history of the Liturgical Movement.

Fr. Kocik began his talk by discussing the central role of the liturgy in the life of any Catholic:

“In the liturgy, the events of Christ’s life are made present to us and we live them with him. By ‘liturgy’ is meant the prayer of the whole Church united with Christ her Head. Immediately, the Mass comes to mind, and with good reason: it is the most familiar form of liturgy. At a deeper level, it is also the greatest form of worship, for it is a sacrifice of praise offered to God by Christ and his Church. But the sacred liturgy also includes the celebration of the other sacraments, the official daily prayer of the Church (the Liturgy of the Hours), the funeral rites, the rite of exorcism, and other special rites.”

Fr. Kocik noted that the liturgical landscape of today looks as it does because of the Liturgical Movement, which began more than a century ago:

“In its origins, the Liturgical Movement sought to restore liturgical piety to the very heart of Christian life. The liturgy, with its complex of words and ceremonies, had by and large ceased to be what it was always meant to be: the primary source of instruction and nourishment for the faithful. It was, in the popular imagination, a sacred but mysterious heirloom, having no vital meaning for everyday life. For this reason, the early pioneers of the Liturgical Movement sought to reawaken people’s consciousness, including that of the clergy, to the Church’s traditional spiritual treasury. Years later, the movement began to press for changes in the liturgy itself.”

The Liturgical Movement, he added, “reached its fruition in 1963 at the Second Vatican Council, and thereafter transformed the religious imagination and practice of two generations of Catholics.”

Fr. Kocik went on to describe, in clear terms, what the Second Vatican Council had outlined in regard to the liturgy and why these changes were necessary.  He also noted there was great disappointment by many in the Liturgical Movement as many of the recommendations were only partially implemented or wrongly implemented.  Many elements of the Mass have appeared since the Council for which there appears to be no justification at all:

“The introduction of the vernacular into all parts of the Mass was a development hardly anyone expected during the Council.  Clearly the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium did not anticipate an all-vernacular liturgy; on the contrary, it says that ‘the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites’ (SC 36.1).  But, once allowed, what began as a permission, became, in practice, a rule in many places.  And since Gregorian chant is essentially Latin, born of the Latin text, it too vanished overnight.”

“The aftermath of Vatican II brought many other changes, foreseen and otherwise, to liturgical practice and environment.  Pianos and guitars began to be heard in church, fasting regulations were eased, and permission was given for Sunday Mass to be anticipated on Saturday evening.”

“Experimentation reached great heights, or sank to great depths, depending on one’s perspective, with pop music and homegrown Eucharistic Prayers prayed aloud at times by the whole congregation.  How differently things might have gone had the first wave of reform not taken place during that multifaceted upheaval called ‘the Sixties’.”

In offering hope for the future, Fr. Kocik describe the New Liturgical Movement, which has grown more popular in the past decade, and how under Pope Benedict XVI,this movement has begun to gain traction.  In fact, many reforms have already been implemented to move the Church towards what the Second Vatican Council had intended

“The Jubilee Year 2000 saw the publication in English of Ratzinger’s masterwork, ‘The Spirit of the Liturgy,’ which opens up the full riches of the Church’s liturgical life.  At the end of the preface, Ratzinger calls for a second Liturgical Movement, ‘a movement toward the liturgy and toward the right way of celebrating the liturgy, inwardly and outwardly.’

“With Ratzinger’s election to the papacy in 2005, prospects for a new Liturgical Movement looked more promising than ever before. Pope Benedict’s broad approach is best described in terms of ‘continuity,’ that is, recovering elements of liturgical tradition that were hastily abandoned in the first wave of reform. His own style when he celebrates Mass reflects this thrust. He administers Communion to the faithful who kneel and receive on the tongue. Gregorian chant figures prominently. A crucifix stands at the center of the altar to bring home a point he made in The Spirit of the Liturgy: ‘Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord.’ Benedict has even used the eastward-facing altar in the Sistine Chapel, thereby encouraging us to revisit the value of celebrating Mass with priest and people standing together on the same side of the altar, facing the liturgical east of the rising sun, meaning the risen Son who is to come.

Perhaps the strongest instance of the Holy Father’s program of continuity is Summorum Pontificum, his 2007 Apostolic Letter easing restrictions on the use of the liturgical books promulgated or in force in 1962.”

Fr. Kocik concluded by encouraging students to embrace the New Liturgical Movement and examine their own consciences and think deeply about the ways in which they can incorporate the liturgy of the Church into their every day lives:

“Where do you find your own spiritual sustenance? Is it primarily from the liturgy? Do you shape your life according to the liturgical seasons, fasting and feasting with the Church as she celebrates the life of Christ? Does Advent disappear beneath a barrage of Christmas celebrations? Does the Christmas Season end on December 26? Where are you each year for the Paschal Triduum? Do you engage your mind and heart with the rites and prayers of the Mass, pondering their meaning? Do you participate in the Liturgy of the Hours where it is available? Could you pray some of the hours at home — perhaps Lauds, Vespers, or Compline — thereby taking up the Psalter, the most traditional prayer book known to the Church, and adding your voice to the sacrifice of praise she offers day and night? Or could you perhaps begin the day with the beautiful Laudate psalms (Psalms 148-150), which in all likelihood formed part of Our Savior’s own morning prayer? Where do you place the emphasis when arranging Baptisms, weddings, or funerals: on the best possible celebration of the liturgy, or on the reception afterwards?

I think this liturgical ‘examination of conscience’ offers at least some ways in which each of us can grow in liturgical piety as well as lay some popular foundations for a new or revived Liturgical Movement. All of these things are possible, and when they become habits, we will start to reap the spiritual rewards of a wholesome liturgical diet. Faith lived as liturgy: that is what the Liturgical Movement was all about.

The history of Christendom is written in the stones and on the ceilings, in the streets and the cemeteries of great cities, where we stand astonished at the beauty unveiled by man.  If our study at Thomas More College is both of God and man, then we are called to learn from and love the works of man.  So it is fitting that Thomas More College students spend a semester in one of the world’s greatest cities—site of the empire that shaped Western history and the seat of the universal church.

Thomas More College Class of 2014 made the 4,000 mile trek last month to reach their new home—the College’s 14-acre monastery campus located just four miles from the Vatican.  Students will carry a full course load taught by Vatican-based theologians, and will spend each day touring a city whose skyline is dominated not by skyscrapers, but by the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica—the massive baroque basilica that grew from the lonely burial site of a fisherman killed for a carpenter.

Thomas More College sophomore, Elisabeth Rochon, explains why Rome is such an integral part of studies at Thomas More College:

“Sometimes reading books by Roman and Greek writers is like a sound without an echo or having a thought without a context — you can understand the thought, but there is a certain personal quality that you cannot grasp by just reading the printed letters on the page. By being here in Rome we are immersing ourselves into their culture: seeing where people stood when they talked, what they were looking at, and what surrounded them. It gives you a personal look into what was distant before and the ancients become very near to you.”

One may be surprised to learn that the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts has not regularly offered the Extraordinary Form of the Mass on its campus. After all, this is a College centered tightly on the liturgy of the Church, beginning each day by chanting Lauds, offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass just before lunch, and singing Vespers upon conclusion of the day’s classes. 

But on Friday, October 7, 2011, longtime chaplain, Father John Healey, celebrated the Extraordinary Form in the College chapel—now to be a weekly tradition. The Extraordinary Form will be offered in accordance with the Rubrics of the 1962 Missale Romanum each Friday throughout the academic year.

“It is fitting that Thomas More College chose the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary to institute the Extraordinary Form on campus,” said Thomas More College President, William Fahey. “In the sixteenth century, Pope Saint Pius V instituted the feast to honor Our Lady with the victory of the Christians in the Battle of Lepanto. The battle itself took place because of the Pope’s initiative to defend Western Civilization against the Ottoman Turks. The same Pope was responsible for authorizing the promulgation of the Roman Missal which first made the Extraordinary Form the official Rite of the Roman Catholic Church.”

“Interestingly, the liturgy said today at the College was the very same one as was said on the galley decks of the Last Crusaders as they prepared themselves spiritually for the greatest naval contest in human history,” added Fahey.

Following Mass at the College, the students were privileged to listen to a lecture on that very subject—The Battle of Lepanto—by Christopher Check, Executive Vice President at the Rockford Institute.

The College is now able to offer the Extraordinary Form thanks to the recent clarification of Summorum Pontificum by the Holy Father in Universae Ecclesiae. In this document, Pope Benedict wrote, “The Church’s rule of prayer corresponds to her rule of belief.” The staff and faculty at Thomas More College acknowledge this truth. Knowing that the Mass is the central prayer of the Church, the College wishes to make available to the students the fullness of the Catholic Liturgical tradition.

Michael Bryan, a junior at Thomas More College, lived and worked in Livorno, Tuscany after his Rome Semester. During his stay, he had the privilege of serving at Masses said in the Extraordinary Form. The fact that the priest knew no English, and Michael no Italian, had no bearing—they both knew the universal language of the Church.

Reflecting on this memory Michael said, “It made the universality of the Church real for me. It is a very positive thing that the students at the College will now be exposed to this beautiful tradition. It fits with the hope of the College to teach the critical importance of humbly reaching back to the past in the hope of gleaning some of the wisdom of our forefathers.” 

Thomas More College is unique in that it is committed to exposing its students to the full treasure of Catholic liturgy.

Of course, as an institution of higher education, Thomas More College’s chief mission is the education of students.  As a Catholic institution, its foremost responsibility is to form young minds and souls in a way consistent with the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.  The College uniquely recognizes that the liturgy of the Church permeates all aspects of life—including the intellectual life—and so it has renewed its own liturgy consistent with the principles of the Church.

Dr. William Fahey, President of Thomas More College, said, “Through public lectures, symposia, retreats, and by setting an example, we are calling our students and the wider public to greater engagement with the truths of the Catholic Faith.  Liturgical renewal is crucial to this engagement. To offer the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, with its solemn and prayerful manner shaped by the abundant richness of tradition, could not be more in line with this mission and we are truly grateful to be able to do so.”

On Saturday, December 3, the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts will host its annual President’s Council Dinner in downtown Boston featuring Fr. Benedict Groeschel.

Details may be found at www.ThomasMoreCollege.edu/PresidentsCouncil. Fr. Groeschel is a Catholic priest, retreat master, author, psychologist, and host of the television talk program Sunday Night Prime with Father Benedict Groeschel, which is broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network.

Fr. Groeschel serves as director of the Office for Spiritual Development for the Archdiocese of New York, as associate director of Trinity Retreat, and the executive director of The St. Francis House.  He is also one of the founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

Preceding the Dinner, the College will host a symposium on “The Language of Liturgy: Does It Matter?”

“The symposium will be of interest to anyone eager to understand better the broad impact of liturgy on culture,” said Thomas More College President William Fahey.  “The speakers will offer unique insights into the importance of linguistic precision in liturgical matters, the changes and developments of the new Missal, and the place of liturgy in evangelization.”

The symposium will begin with a talk by Fr. George Rutler.  Fr. Rutler is a priest in the Archdiocese of New York and has made documentary films in the United States and England, contributes to numerous scholarly and popular journals, and has published 16 books on theology, history, cultural issues, and the lives of the saints.

The symposium will also feature Rusty Reno, editor of the popular journal, First Things: A Journal of Religion, Culture, and Political Life.  Dr. Reno is a widely published author.  His most recent books include, Fighting the Noonday Devil, Genesis: Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible, and Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible.

Finally, the symposium will feature Dr. Anthony Esolen.  Professor Esolen teaches Renaissance English Literature and the Development of Western Civilization at Providence College.  He is widely published in several print and online journals, and serves as senior editor for Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity.  Dr. Esolen is the translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and his most recently published books include Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization.

“The President’s Council Dinner and Symposium are important events held each year in support of Thomas More College’s scholarship funds,” said Dr. Fahey.  “It is through this Dinner that we are able to raise the funds necessary to provide young people with both the philosophic habit of mind and the critical skills learned in the traditional liberal arts – an education that has formed generations of priests and nuns, and laymen who founded faithful families.”

This is the third year Thomas More College has hosted its President’s Council Dinner in Boston.

“Thomas More College is a unique liberal arts college in the Boston area – ardently Catholic and academically rigorous,” said Fahey. “We are dedicated to offering the young people an education that is deeply rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition and completely faithful to the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church. We have moved this annual dinner to Boston to make it clear that we are committed to the region, and wish to play our part in re-evangelizing New England.”

This year’s President’s Council events will be held at the Harvard Club in Boston.  The Symposium begins at 1:00p.m., the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at 4:00p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. reception and a 6 p.m. dinner.

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts provides a four-year undergraduate education which develops young people intellectually, ethically, and spiritually in the Catholic tradition and in faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.  Thomas More College introduces its students to the central questions of Western Civilization—and to the Church’s response.  It teaches students how to reason, engage in academic discourse, and to write.  Students from Thomas More College are shaped into becoming faithful leaders who will be able to pursue the individual vocations which God has given each of them.

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts recently appealed to the Obama Administration to exempt religious institutions from being coerced into providing health insurance plans which do not respect the dignity of human life.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is attempting to force institutions such as Thomas More College to offer health insurance covering sterilization and contraceptives, including some that cause abortion. The government mandate specifically states that one of its objectives is to “ensure that collegiate women have access to ‘contraception,’ abortifacients, sterilization and the like.”

“As a Catholic institution, Thomas More College simply will not compromise the dignity of human life,” said Dr. Fahey, President of Thomas More College. “To do so would go against what is at the very core of the College, namely, a firm commitment to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church which cherishes human life as a priceless gift from God not to be treated as something disposable.”

“This government mandate could not be more directly contradictory to the position of Thomas More College on the moral question of contraceptives,” added Fahey. “The mandate promotes contraceptives as essential to the welfare of young people. Thomas More College views contraceptives in the same category as abortion and other crimes against life. The objective of the mandate is abominable and moreover, it leaves no room for religious freedom, which is in violation of our first and fourteenth amendment rights.” 

The appeal was organized by The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education, a division of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS). The voice of Thomas More College was joined by several Catholic higher education groups, seventeen colleges, and Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education.

The joint appeal requested a “blanket, non-discretionary” exemption from the mandate for any person or institution who objects to it for any religious or moral reason.

Founded in 1978, Thomas More College is a four-year undergraduate program that pledges full fidelity to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the fundamental moral principle of life.

The College energetically encourages its students to take part in pro-life activities. Each winter dozens of students from Thomas More College make the ten-hour trek to the nation’s capital to the March for Life. The College also takes part in the Boston Walk for Life on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The students of Thomas More College do not stop at just two events a year, many make it a weekly commitment to pray and witness at the abortion site in nearby Manchester, New Hampshire.

Recent alumnus Teddy Sifert, who worked at a school serving handicapped children, recalled, “At Thomas More College, pro-life activities were the parapet upon which we could see reality all around us. All the gifts given to us by God depend on the most basic right to life.”

Even as he took part in the academic search for Truth, Sifert wondered, “How can we claim to pursue truth when the worst falsehood in human history is taking place right in our own neighborhoods? Abortion has killed more people than all the plagues, famines, genocides, and wars combined.”

“I’ve noticed that while many graduates from big universities float through life on ever-changing feelings, my classmates chose different careers, grounded in truth and virtue,” Sifert said.

Every four years, presidential candidates make their way through New Hampshire, seeking venues where they can garner support. In its 30 year history, Thomas More College has welcomed a wide variety of such candidates—but only those who stand with the Church in defense of innocent life. 

The College’s recent appeal to the federal government asking them to revise a mandate that forces institutions to violate natural law is one more example of Thomas More College’s long history of defending life.