Sophia Institute Summer Program: For the Study of Faith and Reason

Meet Our Hosts: The Perrons

Step back in time to Morrill Farm B&B, our 217-acre working farm. We have an old fashion rustic kitchen with an old slate sink, a wood cookstove, water pump, lanterns and icebox. In our living room we have an old victrola, which is always fun to play, and if you stay in the Winter we have flannel sheets and a soapstone to warm your bed.

Welcome to Morril Farm Bed and Breakfast and the Saint Pio Chapel in Sumner, Maine! We have miles of nature trails for your walking pleasure. The west branch of the Nezinscot River flows through our property and provides great fishing. Additional fishing, as well as swimming, can be enjoyed at many nearby ponds and lakes. Speckle and Bald Mountains are only a five minute car ride away and provide a great day hike with spectacular views. You are about twenty minutes away from Mt. Abram, forty-five minutes from Sunday River and arpproximately the same distance to New Hampshire; for more information, and to reserve a room at the B&B, visit http://www.bbonline.com/me/morrillfarm/.

Thanks to the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Perron and their extended family we will be hosted at Morrill Farm in a rural setting well suited to our purpose--to foster a sense of wonder--surrounded by the natural beauty. The farm is also the site of the Saint Pio Chapel where we will be called to Morning, Evening and Night Prayer as well as Mass by the sound of a bell tolling above the quaint chapel.

Meet the Faculty: The Franks

Dr. J. David Franks is a professor of theoogy at St. John’s Seminary in Boston, teaching courses in systematic and moral theology, and is also a researcher for the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington,Virginia. David earned his doctoral degree from Boston College together with his wife Dr. Angela Franks, who also has a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston College. Dr. Angela Franks teaches in the Masters of Arts and Ministry for the Archdiocese of Boston and is the author of Margaret Sanger’s Eugenic Legacy: The Control of Female Fertility; visit her website at http://www.angelafranks.com/. Both the Franks are adjunct professors of Saint Joseph's College of Maine where they teach in the Graduate Professional Division of the college both online and in the Summer. Presently they are also providing leadership for The Future Depends on Love--an initiative of the Massachusetts Catholic Bishops . The Franks’s are the proud parents of Caterina, John-Paul, and Thérèse.

Meet the Faculty: The Kroms

Dr. Michael P. Krom received a Master of Arts in Philosophy at Boston College in 2002 and was awarded his Doctorate in Philosophy at Emory University; his specialization is in the areas of ethics and political philosophy. He has recently completed his first year as an assistant professor of philosophy at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, where he resides with his wife, Jessica, who home schools their children. They have three sons and a newborn daughter. For more information on Dr. Krom's work, visit http://www.stvincent.edu/academics/philosophy/michael_krom.

Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, patron saint of Christian educators

Dr. Krom attended a LaSallian college and from this experience developed an attachment to St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. He begins his sessions with the following invocation of St. Jean-Baptiste: "let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.

St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle was the founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, educational reformer, and father of modern pedagogy. St. Jean Baptist was born at Reims, 30 April, 1651, and died at Saint-Yon, Rouen, on Good Friday, 7 April, 1719. The family of de la Salle traces its origin to Johan Salla, who, in the early part of the ninth century, was Commander-in-chief of the Royal forces of Alfonso the Chaste. It was not, however, until about 1350 that the younger branch of this family, from which our saint is descended, removed to France and settled in Champagne. John Baptist was the eldest child of Louis de la Salle and Nicolle de Moet de Brouillet. His parents were very solicitous in the care they bestowed upon their child, especially in regard to is moral and intellectual development. After due preparation, he was sent to the College des Bons Enfants, where he pursed the higher studies and, on 10 July, 1669, he took the degree of Master of Arts. Canon Pierre Dozet, chancellor of the University of Reims, was the presiding officer at the academic sessions, and in the discharge of his function had opportunity to study the character of his young cousin, de la Salle, with the result that he determined on resigning his canonry in his favour. Louis de la Salle, however, cherished the hope that John Baptist would select the profession of law, and thereby maintain the family tradition. But young de la Salle insisted that he was called to serve the Church, and accordingly he received the tonsure 11 March, 1662, and was solemnly installed as a canon of the metropolitan See of Reims, 7 January, 1667.

Read more at: http://home.newadvent.org/cathen/08444a.htm

A Prayer for Students of the Sophia Institute

V. Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God
R. + In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
V. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
And enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
R. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created
And Thou shalt renew the face of the Earth.
V. O God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful,
Grant us in that same Spirit to be made truly wise,
Ever to rejoice in His consolation.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord . . .
R. Amen.
V. St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle, Patron of Teachers . . .
R. . . . pray for us.
V. St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron of Christian schools . . .
R. . . . pray for us now and at the hour of death.
V. Live, Jesus, in our hearts . . .
R. Forever.
V. + In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit . . .
R. Amen.
Hail Mary . . .
…Amen.

Note: The invocation, “Let us remember…” and the ending “Live, Jesus…” are the two prayers of St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle, the father of modern pedagogy, patron saint of teachers and the Founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. The main petition of the prayer is taken from the ancient Latin hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus, which is recited at the Mass of the Holy Spirit.