The goal of this course in to introduce students to biblical theology, based mainly on the subject of divine‐ human alliance. Through responses to the history of geographic and historic progression, particularly pertinent to us since Lebanon is a part of the Holy Land, the issue of inspiration, revelation and canonicity of sacred texts, the presentation of literary genres and direct contact with biblical texts, will give students a general idea about the divine‐human process promised in the Book of Genesis and accomplished by Jesus Christ. The Bible, a book said to be hard to understand and sometimes impossible to even be considered as credible (especially in the Old Testament, which remains inaccessible), is made approachable in this course because it introduces us, not only to the face of God the Teacher who never tires of understanding the “ungrateful” people, but also the Loving face of God who insists on establishing a alliance with the whole of humanity even though they crucified his Son. Students who finish the course will acquire the understanding that each biblical story is a reflection to their own story with the “Good God”.

This course introduces music in the education of children. The child is conceived as a store of potentiality; musical education contributes to the multidimensional development on the physical, moral, intellectual, esthetic, emotional levels of the child

 This is an introduction to the Johannine corpus, with particular emphasis on the fourth Gospel. The course will focus on the texts themselves, and on the different environments of their composition. In order to approach these testimonies of faith, passages under study are resituated in the historical context of their development and analyzed using narrative and rhetorical strategies used by the authors of communal and personal literary books.

 The sacraments cannot be understood or experienced unless they are based on a fundamental theological approach that highlights the sacramentality of the Church in relation to the salvation of Christ and the active role of the Holy Spirit. The objective of this course is to shed light on this approach and introduce students to the extensive and particular study of each sacrament.

This course meets the recommendation of the Second Vatican Council to give future pastors of the Church, and also all believers, an ecumenical education which aims to strive for the construction of one Church of Christ in the world. This education is especially important in the life of our Oriental Churches that live beside one another. After presenting the unity challenge and the divisions danger, especially the roots of certain doctrinal issues, their branching and development throughout history, the course explores the situations of today’s Churches and Christian communities, explains the foundations of ecumenical behavior, and determines ways that contribute to the reestablishment of Christian unity. The course outlines clearly the history of the ecumenical movement which emerged in the early twentieth century and which had deeply influenced the life of various Churches, by stimulating the desire for visible unity and communion among all Christians.

This course is an introduction to Islam, as both a religion and a tradition consisting of various schools of thought. After examining the origin of Islam and the history and themes of the Quran, it approaches the major doctrinal and philosophical patterns of the different branches of Islam and their practices. Students are encouraged to engage a dialogue with Muslims who constitute the major religion in the region.

This course aims to help students discover the theological foundations of ministries and the sacraments of healing, penance and anointing of the sick. The question of ministries is a particularly important chapter of ecclesiology, simply because the departments are above all in the service of the Church. This issue entails multiple dimensions: historical, sociological, theological, canonic, pastoral, and ecumenical, and it is conditioned by the realities of church life and, consequently, subject to constant evolution.

The course mainly focuses on the thirteen epistles which are part of the Pauline school. It covers the epistles ranging from the Romans to Philemon, as ranked by our Bibles. Before studying the epistles themselves, we start with two preliminary parts. The first part studies the life of the Saint Paul according to the Acts and to the epistles; the second part presents the epistolary genre, the categories of epistles and some hints for a better understanding of the studied epistles.

 The course aims to highlight the theological foundations of the Sacraments of Initiation: baptism which gives access to the Body of Christ and the divine adoption, completed by the confirmation that is the work of the Holy Spirit living in the heart of the believers as in a temple, and crowned by the Eucharist which is the real and historical incorporation into the ecclesial body of Christ. The course is largely based on the baptism catechesis of Cyril of Jerusalem, Theodore of Mopsuestia and John Chrysostom, and shows the evolution of sacramental doctrine of the Church with special emphasis on the teaching of the Council of Trent.

The synoptic writings are introduced in this course, namely: the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, in addition to the Acts of the Apostles which is the second volume of the Lucan work. The course starts with an introduction on the "synoptic question" and the adoption of the modified theory of the two documents, followed by the study of each of these writings and their most important themes. The approach is synchronic. The method adopted is criticism of the composition which is a specification of the writing criticism which reviews the editorial activity of the author in order to discover the theological thought.

This course aims to give students the first level of comprehension and oral and written reproduction of the Syriac language, through typographical, grammatical, lexical‐semantic and morphological entries. Students will also be able to understand some texts of Syriac literature, to locate the Syriac language and literature in the context of Semitic languages and to perform a comparative reading between Syriac and Arabic.

This course will provide 1st year students in Humanities with essential methods for the preparation of their work during the years of study at the University. These methods are common to all material and address different levels, ranging from exercises promoting correct educational attitudes in the introduction to the methods of work, the investigation of a text, and finally, to the mastery of speech essential to establish one Exchange with others, orally and in writing, and to assert with confidence and autonomy. In addition, the objectives of this course will address data essential for the design, drafting and the realization of research work.

This course will consider the Byzantine office from several angles: legal, theological and liturgical. Emphasis will be given to the liturgical aspect that consists of advancing the wide-ranging evolution of the Byzantine office and its development.

This course examines the Vatican Constitution II on the Liturgy, which does not present itself as a dogmatic text but rather as a document of a pastoral nature. Its primary purpose is not to draw a theology of the liturgy, but to direct the restoration and the progress of liturgy with authority.

The objective of this course is to pursue the scientific research of students through the biblical and patristic sources and through the offices and the celebrations of Holy Week, to create awareness of the importance of this Holy Week, the summit of the liturgical year (SL 102, 111).

The objective of this course is to discover the two liturgical cycles of Christmas and Epiphany. It should answer the fundamental question: What is the connection between the Epiphany, manifestation of the Lord, and Christmas? The goal is to guide students in theological liturgical scientific research around these two liturgical rites, Christmas and Epiphany.

If the liturgy is the work of God celebrated in the ecclesial communities, it is still engaged in a well-defined historical and geographical environment. Students will examine the content of liturgical prayer celebrated by the monks of the early centuries as an expression of the multiple wisdom of God. This liturgical-monastic aspect affirms the conjunction of the divine mystery and its symbol to reach the peaks of union with God.

The different Christian communities of Lebanon have different liturgies. This diversity is in itself an invaluable asset for this small country with a substantial Christian population. The source of this diversity of liturgies in the Church is attributed to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that, on the day of Pentecost, gave the apostles the ability to tell diverse liturgies in several of languages to the Church. All these existing liturgies in Lebanon (Antiochian, Byzantine, Catholic, Orthodox, etc.) have their origins outside Lebanon. The case is the same for the Armenian liturgy created in the distant Armenia.

The objective of this course is to give students a comprehensive training on Eastern liturgy which will complement his/her detailed training received on the Eastern liturgy course. The goal is to introduce students to research, to expose them to Western liturgy, and from there, to understand and fully participate in each liturgical celebration in any rite, whether Eastern or Western.

This course will teach students how to closely identify the liturgical sources, to follow them through their historical development, their rituals and literary developments and to highlight their worship-based importance within the Christian community.

Liturgy is both science and celebration. The practical side is an integral part of this science. In other words, the liturgy can be a science of the liturgy only through this transition from theory to live experience and from science to the celebration.

The course is a true introduction and a practical guide to understanding spirituality in general and its relationship with the liturgy. We intend, through this course, to bond spirituality with science; because beyond all, the life lived concretely and individually is the one we tend to lead to science to reach a desired spirituality.

The essence of religion is to be found in the intersection of the symbolic and the sacred, and the essence of the symbol is to look within the liturgy; because man and symbol meet and interact in a prayer and in a liturgical action.

This study studies the different concepts of time and of multiple dimensions. It seeks to write the history of the origins of the calendar, in general, and particularly of the Hebrew one, which was the basis of the Christian calendar. This study presents the liturgical year in each Eastern rite, its structure, characteristics and spirituality.

This course highlights an important part of the Maronite and Syriac Jacobite liturgy, neglected or forgotten to some extent. It describes, in light of recent and critical research, the structure and theology of the different Hours of the office, and guides students towards an objective understanding of the liturgical reform of the Maronite office.

The course is presented through a liturgical, historical and theological perspective. The first part considers the historical and liturgical development of the parts of the Mass, through the various Eastern liturgies, and distinguishes between the Antiochian and the Alexandrian structure. The main parts of the Mass will be detailed. A major importance will be given to the anaphora.

The mystery of death remains an impenetrable subject in many traditions and cultures. But with Christianity, it has become more obvious; it is a sign of hope provided that the texts of the funeral service reflect the truth of the Resurrection of Christ.

God has established marriage by “creating man and woman” that owes nothing to the state or to the Church. It is a natural institution called “customary marriage”: a union based on marriage and family more than on formalities. Even for the chosen people, marriage is an earthly reality. The Church, in turn, believes that “marriage has God as its author. It was from the beginning as a figure of the Incarnation of the Word of God”. The Vatican does not diverge from this biblical vision. This course examines the development of the celebration of marriage throughout history.

This course will consider the liturgical aspects of Divine Office of the first five centuries and students will try to develop the wide-ranging evolution of the office. The course highlights the contribution from the Jewish heritage and the Christian meaning of the Hours.

This course focuses on the liturgical assembly, and how liturgy celebrates the faith of an assembly as it was the case of the first Christian communities. To the extent that the assembly is “liturgical” and alive, its liturgy will be meaningful and will be the “incarnation of the Church”. The celebration of the paschal mystery opens to communion and sharing, and makes the sanctifying Spirit acting in the lives of Christians. There is, therefore, a logical sequence between the paschal mystery, Christian worship, liturgical assembly and Christian life leading to the incarnation of the Church.

This is a course that analyzes and comments on the famous saying: Lex Orandi, Lex credendi, “the law of prayer is the law of faith”, and offers a preliminary explanation of the meaning of “liturgy” that will be followed by three illustrations of the saying.

Assaulted by media, attacked by images, deafened by sounds, we are still free to choose, are we still free to act and communicate? How to communicate? How to be understood? Does communication have any principles? What are its principles? According to which models of communication did Jesus communicate? Does the multimedia civilization allow us to celebrate Jesus Christ and to offer our faith? How to celebrate Jesus Christ in the multimedia era?

Many courses taught at the Institute of Liturgy endeavor to encompass several liturgical disciplines, such as the Holy Mass, the Divine Office, the liturgical year, and so on. However, a course on the Book of Rituals was lacking, even though this book is of paramount importance because it is the priest’s book and details most of the ceremonies in which the faithful participate. This is why the liturgical, theological and spiritual study of the Rituals is essential since this book encompasses various important rites or ceremonies, starting with the rites (or ordos) of the sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick. Other rites include those of the Holy Week, the Resurrection, and Pentecost; in addition to various blessings (for children, mothers who have just given birth, newborns, etc.). This course highlights the importance of this liturgical book in the various oriental liturgies with the aim of making it more accessible to students across various liturgical families: Maronite, Syrian, Chaldean, Byzantine, etc.