restoring catholic vision
A House of Formation
The Stella Maris Institute is a parish-based “house of formation” that forms adults for full stature in the faith (cf. Eph 4:13). It helps adult parishioners encounter Christ, enter into abiding communion with him, and embrace the lay apostolate. Through solid catechetical programs, the Institute offers intellectual formation for adults as the vehicle by which to also provide human, spiritual, and apostolic formation.
Stievenard Hall on the St. Bernadette Campus houses the Institute, acting as our hub for formation. Pairing a youthful and energetic vibe with traditional architecture, Stievenard provides a space suitable for serious study, deepening of faith, formation for mission, spiritual renewal, and growth in charity. It is a launchpad for the lay apostolate within the parish boundaries of Stella Maris, and beyond.
Renewing Catholic intellectual life
Our response to the call.
For decades, the Catholic Church has been emphasizing adult faith formation. St. John Paul II even says adult education “is the principal form of catechesis, because it is addressed to persons who have the greatest responsibilities and the capacity to live the Christian message in its fully developed form.” The Stella Maris Institute is our response to this call.
In a world that doesn’t “think Christian” anymore, the Institute is an “intellectual counterattack.” It’s an effort to recover what the author of From Christendom to Apostolic Mission describes as “the sort of intellectual life that was characteristic of the Church in her early centuries, a life possessed to some degree by every Christian. It is not simply or primarily a matter of college degrees but of the conversion of mind to a Christian vision of reality and of readiness to live out the ramifications of that vision.”
Meeting adults where they are
What We Offer
The Institute will be particularly keen to address the intersection of faith and culture, with an aim to form adults of full stature in the faith (cf. Eph 4:13) who are not “tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery” (Eph 4:14) produced by today’s dictatorship of relativism. We want to restore a Catholic “imaginative vision" through a variety of offerings.
Bible Studies
Book Studies
Talks
Courses
Workshops
Online Resources
Christ-centered
Faithfully Catholic
Personal
Real
We need “the sort of intellectual life that was characteristic of the Church in her early centuries, a life possessed to some degree by every Christian. It is not simply or primarily a matter of college degrees but of the conversion of mind to a Christian vision of reality and of readiness to live out the ramifications of that vision.”
Our team
Real people offering something real.
At Stella Maris, we are building a culture of the Incarnation. God took flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, and we are responding with an emphasis on in person offerings in an increasingly impersonal world. Our Institute team consists of real staff people and real parishioners who are here to cultivate a community of people hungry for whole Catholicism.
Support something bold
Stella Maris Institute Donations
The Stella Maris Institute is a parish-based “house of formation” that forms adults for full stature in the faith (cf. Eph 4:13). The Institute has been blessed from its inception by the charity and gifts of others. Your generosity helps the Institute provide quality adult faith formation across the Family of Parishes and beyond. Thank you for investing in the call to renew adult catechesis as a response to the needs of our times.
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