Academic Excellence Meets
Immersive Greek Instruction
The Greek Major, offered in partnership with Belmont Abbey College, combines the academic integrity of a Catholic liberal arts college with the immersive Greek instruction of the Veterum Sapientia Institute (VSI). In this unique collaboration, students complete their Core Curriculum coursework through Belmont Abbey College, while all Greek courses are taught by VSI faculty using a dynamic, spoken method grounded in the pedagogy pioneered by Hans Ørberg and adapted for Greek by Santiago Carbonell Martínez.
This program is designed for students seeking active engagement with the language and literature of the Greek tradition—from classical antiquity to ecclesiastical texts. Graduates will emerge with both linguistic fluency and a robust formation in this intellectual and spiritual heritage.
Program Objectives
- To cultivate active fluency in Greek: reading, writing, and speaking.
- To explore Greek texts from every major period.
- To prepare students for teaching, graduate study, and service to the Church through a rigorous and faithful Greek formation.
- To transmit the intellectual and spiritual riches of the Greek tradition in the context of the Church’s living heritage.
Program Structure
Institutional Partnership
- Core Curriculum (52 credits): Taken at Belmont Abbey College
- Greek Major Courses (36 credits): Taught by VSI using immersive, active pedagogy
Degree Requirements
- 52 credit hours in the Core Curriculum (Belmont Abbey)
- 36 credit hours in Greek Major courses (VSI)
- 120 total credit hours required for graduation
- Minimum GPA of 2.0; no more than two passing grades in the major below “C”
Courses Offered
All courses taught by the Veterum Sapientia Institute
Year 1
Fall
- GRK 101: Fundamentals of Greek I – 3 credits
Spring
- GRK 102: Fundamentals of Greek II – 3 credits
Year 2
Fall
- GRK 103: Fundamentals of Greek III – 3 credits
Spring
- GRK 104: Fundamentals of Latin IV – 3 credits
Year 3
Fall
- GRK301: Greek Composition
- GRK302: Introductory Greek Readings
Spring
- GRK431: Classical Greek Prose
- GRK421: Classical Greek Poetry
- GRK450: Ante-Nicean Fathers OR GR 460: Ordinary texts of the Divine Liturgies of the Byzantine Rite
Year 4
Fall
- GRK450: Ante-Nicene Fathers OR GR 460: Ordinary texts of the Divine Liturgies of the Byzantine Rite
- GRK451: Post Nicene Fathers OR GR 461: Proper Texts of the Divine Liturgies of the Byzantine Rite
- GRK432: Classical Greek Prose II OR GR 422: Classical Greek Poetry II
Spring
- Latin Elective
A Unique Partnership, A Singular Formation
The Greek Major offered through the Veterum Sapientia Institute (VSI) in partnership with Belmont Abbey College is unlike any other undergraduate Greek program available today. It is intentionally crafted to restore the living use of Greek in education, culture, and the Church.
Here’s why this path stands apart:
Rooted in Tradition, Alive in Practice
- At VSI, Greek is not merely studied—it is lived. You’ll speak, read, and write Greek daily, just as students in antiquity and the Church’s own scholars once did.
- Courses follow the direct method pioneered by Hans Ørberg, where immersion and active use foster deep internalization.
Greek for the Church and the World
- Unlike most classical programs, this major includes direct engagement with ecclesiastical texts— liturgy, theology, and patristics —in their original Greek.
- Learn how Greek has shaped Christian civilization, and be formed to serve the Church’s intellectual and liturgical mission.
Faculty Who Live the Language
- All Greek courses are taught by VSI’s experienced and mission-driven instructors, who themselves operate in Greek as a living, spoken language.
- You’ll learn from Catholic scholars committed to faithfully transmitting the Greek tradition in all its richness.
Launchpad for Teaching, Graduate Study, and Ecclesial Work
- The major prepares students to teach Greek, pursue graduate studies in classics or theology, or serve in roles that require Greek fluency.
- With the renewed rise of classical education and interest in the Church’s patrimony, Greek expertise is in growing demand.
Integrated with a Classical Liberal Arts Core
- While your Greek formation is handled entirely by VSI, your core liberal arts education is completed at Belmont Abbey College, an authentically Catholic institution grounded in Benedictine tradition.
- This integration ensures both spiritual depth and academic excellence.
In short, this is not just a degree.
It’s a formation in the soul of Western civilization—an invitation to enter deeply into the life of the Church, the legacy of the Eastern saints, and the perennial wisdom of the Greek language.
Contact/Questions
For any questions, please contact Monica Charles, VSI Registrar and Director of Student Services.
Meet Our Faculty
Fr. Joseph Matlak
Magister
Fr. Joseph Matlak is a priest of the Eparchy of Saint Josaphat in Parma (Ukrainian Greek-Catholic). Born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, he studied Ancient History at King’s College London, and completed seminary studies and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. He is currently finishing a doctorate at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, England. He serves as administrator of Saint Basil the Great Parish in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is an instructor within the Honors College of Belmont Abbey College. He has previously worked in parishes and missions, schools, youth and young adult ministry, liturgical music, and Catholic media, among other roles.
Magister Tod Post, MA
Magister
Mr. Post holds a B.A. in philosophy from St. John’s Seminary College in Camarillo, CA and an M.A. in Medieval Studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. His areas of study and interest include codicology and palaeography and creating medieval and classical inks and writing materials. He particularly enjoys working in his garden surrounded by plants from the classical world such as papyrus, acanthus, figs, olives and grapes which also gives him an opportunity to practice his botanical Latin. He is a lifelong resident of southern California where he has been teaching and promoting Latin since 2004 and where he resides with his wife and six children.
Magister Marcus Porto
Magister
Magister Marcus holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College and a Latin Fluency Certificate from Academia Vivarium Novum, where he learned to speak Latin under Luigi Miraglia. He is currently a graduate student at Kentucky University, studying Latin under Terence Tunberg and Milena Minkova, and works as a classical languages’ instructor, Liberal Arts teacher, and editor at Instituto Hugo de São Vitor, Brazil.
