Dear Lumen Christi community,

In the Lenten season, we enter the desert with Christ. The 40 days of Lent mark Jesus’s retreat into the desert for prayer and fasting. As his disciples, we aim to imitate his example during this season. This year with the coronavirus outbreak, the threat of disease, social distancing, and quarantine have made this season a different kind of Lent—one that has included even the cancellation of Masses and the doubt of whether we will celebrate Christ’s Resurrection with the communal celebration of the Mass at Easter.

This is certainly true for us at the Lumen Christi Institute, where our staff had planned a packed and edifying spring program. However, current events require us to act responsibly and in solidarity with all other efforts to safeguard the well-being of our community. While we are currently working to take a portion of our programming online, we have decided to postpone all of our scheduled events through May, including:

Despite these scheduling changes, our mission continues as we develop new ways to bring the wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition to you, to the university, and to our culture online. 

We have already moved some of our regularly scheduled events online, such as our Young Catholic Professionals Great Books Seminars, and are looking into moving our spring non-credit course on the medieval wisdom tradition online as a webinar. This latter program will be uniquely open to all Lumen Christi community members, and you can sign up here.

We are also working to create new online content, including webinars, aimed at our various constituents. More details will be available on our website in the coming days. In addition, we are preparing curated lectures, podcasts, and readings that we will share with you, from our archives right to your inbox, through our digital newsletter. For a foretaste, click here to watch our most recent video with Father Michael Sweeney, OP, who offers a Dominican perspective on synodality and Church governance.

As Christians, we are reminded that the desert is the birthplace of monasticism, a privileged font of Christian wisdom. During this desert period, we hope our continued programming online will contribute to your growth in wisdom through the Catholic intellectual tradition.

During this exceptional time, we believe it is important to stay connected as a Christian community. Social media is one of the many ways we intend to maintain our bonds of community. We invite you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for news and resources, if you haven’t already, and to access our YouTube, Soundcloud, and Apple Podcasts channels for resources that will help to nourish your soul and stimulate your mind throughout your day. 

We do not know how long the current public health situation will last. However, given the most recent outlook announced by public health officials, we expect our summer programming to proceed as scheduled, and we will update you should circumstances change.

Please be assured of our closeness in prayer to all those who may be suffering during this coronavirus outbreak and to those who are working to secure the health and safety of the community. May God grant us the grace to walk in the light of Christ and to share his light with others in the days and weeks ahead.

Wishing both peace and good health to all on our Lenten journey,


Thomas Levergood, Executive Director
and the staff of the Lumen Christi Institute