The Camps of the Saints

“And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth, and seduce the nations, which are over the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, and shall gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they came upon the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.” (Revelation 7-8).

“He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.” (Psalms 2:4)

Faculty, Clergy, Musicians

Jonathan Arrington (Professor for the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel)
Dr. Miguel Ayuso Torres (Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid)
James Bogle, Esq., TD MA DipLaw (Barrister and author of A Heart for Europe)
Clemens Cavallin (Religious Studies, Sweden)
Dr. Danilo Castellano (University of Udine, Emeritus)
Bernard Dumont (Editor, Catholica, France)
Christopher A. Ferrara, J.D. (President, ACLA; Thomas More Society)
Dr. Rudolf Hilfer (University of Stuttgart)
David J. Hughes  (Director of Musical Program)
Rev. John Hunwicke (Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham)
James Kalb, Esq. (Author of The Tyranny of Liberalism)
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (Independent writer; Renowned liturgical scholar)
Michael J. Matt (Editor, The Remnant)
Dr. Rudi di Marco (Jurisprudence, University of Udine)
Sebastian Morello (Essays Editor & Columnist, The European Conservative)
Rev. Dr. Richard Munkelt (Chaplain of the Roman Forum)
Dr. Thomas Pink (King’s College, London)
Dr. John C. Rao (Chairman, The Roman Forum)
Mr. Nicholas Rao (St. Louis University)
Dr. Joseph Shaw (Chairman, Latin Mass Society of England & Wales)
Dr. Thomas Stark (Philosophical Studies, Germany)
James Vogel (Editor, The Angelus Magazine)

Introduction

Catholics necessarily require the aid of the Church and the State, and neither can be abandoned. In times of trouble, believers have tried to find safety solely on their own, in isolated havens they have perceived to be secure. But past “Benedict Options” always found themselves subject to attack, secularization, and destruction even without the kind of technological totalitarianism that renders any contemporary idea of finding peaceful undisturbed hideaways an utterly naïve and dangerously atomistic dream.

Nevertheless, it is a horrifying fact of our times that Church and State have both found themselves more and more the playthings of powerful and unnatural associations of individuals that one cannot under any circumstances call legitimate communities. These forces — seeking ideological, technological, financial, and libertine domination on a global level, and purchasing the support of what may be labeled the “word merchandizing” media — can be characterized in a number of different ways.            

One is that of the late Dr. Thomas Molnar, who prophetically foresaw their rise and their capability of allying with one another to achieve their illicit goals. He compared them decades ago to the barbarian tribes penetrating the Western Christian Roman Empire from the Fifth Century onwards. On the other hand, their joint labors might also be considered those of a many-sided crime syndicate, composed of “families” that are either criminally insane, criminally on the hunt for power, riches, and pleasure “pure and simple”, or criminal in their venal offer of their sophist propagandizing talents to whomsoever pays the highest price for them.

Happily, there remain opponents of the machinations of this neo-barbarian tribal-crime syndicate. These opponents include not only the Catholic faithful but also potential allies who at the moment may be disgusted solely by the assault on all logical thought and cultural achievement that they represent. International, national, and local in form, these defenders of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful have done yeoman service through the maintenance and creation of a myriad of social pillars of Faith, Reason, and Culture supporting every kind of spiritual, intellectual, educational, moral, musical, artistic, and literary endeavor; veritable sacred and secular “camps of the saints”. Even under duress, many of them display a spirit of Christian or proto-Christian hope expressed through a humor and joy that contrast strikingly with the grim humorlessness of the barbarian-criminal hordes surrounding them.

Still, those hordes do indeed work together as a powerful, illicit oligarchy, subverting things supernatural and natural with the aid of their barbarized associates within both Church and State. Acting in unison, they seek to reduce the activity and literal physical movement of the members of the various “camps of the saints” globally and in the ecclesial realm. Those who cannot do without the aid of both sacred and secular authority thus find themselves ever more hindered by the very communities that should promote their work but are instead erecting gulags to confine them, lest the Good, the True and the Beautiful threaten the ever-spreading hegemony of evil, falsity and ugliness in both the ecclesial and civil commonwealths.

What, specifically, are these noble pillars of Faith, Reason, Culture, and even hopeful Humor? What problems and temptations do they face? Do they work with one another to fend them off? How long can they survive against the advanced technological and immensely wealthy forces arrayed against them? Can they escape from their gulags to re-conquer the Church and State that rightfully belong to them? It is these questions that the Thirty-First Annual Summer Symposium in Gardone Rivera will confront.

Liturgy and Music

The Summer Symposium’s music program involves daily mass and vespers. It is important to note that the Roman Forum is just as happy to receive applications from those whose interest is primarily in Church Music as it is from those focused in other areas of Catholic concern. Our music director, Mr. David Hughes, is eager to attract participants with vocal abilities who are willing to commit themselves to daily rehearsals to ensure a better rendition of Gregorian Chant and the polyphonic pieces to be sung.

Accommodation, Setting, and Daily Program

Accommodation and lectures are at the Locanda agli Angeli and the Hotel Villa Sofia in Gardone Sopra, on Lake Garda, in the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy. Both hotels, with swimming pools of their own, are only a ten-minute walk from the lakefront, where free, clean beaches with a number of amenities can be found. Meals are taken at the Angeli and at other trattorie several minutes walk away. Holy Mass is in the parish church, also within walking distance. Gardone is within easy traveling distance of the opera season in Verona, Venice, Trent, Brescia, Milan, Ravenna, Pavia, and Padua. The region offers opportunities not only for swimming, but for hiking, biking, boating, and scenic walks as well.

Each day involves two lectures with discussion (morning and pre-dinner), and Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Rite (Tridentine Mass) at noon. Other traditional masses are offered throughout the day. There are no lectures on Sundays. Musical and theatrical entertainments take place in the garden of the Angeli and in the Piazza dei Caduti in the evenings after dinner.

Application, Cost, and Payment

First time applicants only must include name, address, telephone number, e-mail, date of birth, occupation, academic degrees attained or pending, and the names and phone numbers of two references. Application should be made as soon as possible as there are only sixty places available.

The full cost of the Gardone program in a double occupancy room is $2,900 (based on an exchange rate between $1.10 to the Euro and barring major economic problems). Single rooms are extra ($3,400 in the Hotel Sofia, $3,200 in the Locanda agli Angeli). This includes tuition, room and board (very ample breakfast and dinner with cocktails, wine, beer, and other beverages at will; all gratuities also), transportation to and from Malpensa Airport in Milan, and a boat excursion on the lake. Single rooms are extra, their price depending upon the room concerned.

A number of full and partial scholarships are available. Preference for scholarships will be given to professors, students, clergy, and seminarians. Nevertheless, anyone who genuinely cannot afford the full tuition and believes himself to be a worthy candidate for assistance may apply. Please consider giving a tax-deductible donation to support the attendance of a speaker, a member of the clergy, a seminarian, or a student.

Send all applications, deposits, payments, and donations either through PayPal or directly to: