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Summer and Fall 2026 Class Schedule

Registration opens March 17th

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Summer 1
Summer 2
5-Week Courses

Summer 1 Courses

These courses run from May 18 to August 21.

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 101 specifically will focus on chapters 1 through 8 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • None

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 102 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 9 through 18 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 103 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 19 through 27 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

  • Matthew Ratcliff - T/TH 7:30 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102

2 Credits

Course Description

This is the last course of the Latin 100-level courses which will complete the Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102
  • LAT103

2 Credits

Course Description

Writing is a uniquely powerful tool for fixing knowledge in memory. This course will take you through a series of guided practice sessions in writing Latin. You will quickly review noun and verb forms, then produce Latin of your own, featuring the most important syntactic features of the language. Active exercises will help you internalize the mechanics of indirect discourse, purpose and result clauses, etc. This course is introductory, suitable for students who have studied Latin grammar but never taken a Latin prose composition class before.

Course Materials

  • Provided by the instructor.

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102
  • LAT103
  • LAT104

2 Credits

Course Description

This class will serve as an introduction to the Latinity of the Vulgate Bible, with a special focus on texts which figure prominently in the Church’s liturgical prayer, both in the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, including passages from the Psalms and Gospels, and some of the most important stories from the Old Testament. The students will also become familiar with these texts by preparing brief presentations on specific aspects of them, and their role in the Church’s liturgical, theological, and artistic tradition. The list of subjects for these presentations come from passages under the following major biblical events:


Major Events of the Old Testament
Part I: Creation
Part II: The First Covenant
Part III: The Exodus
Part IV: The Resettlement
Part V: The Age Of Kings
Part VI: Exile and Return


Major Events of the New Testament

Part VII: Jesus
Part VIII: The Church

Course Materials

  • Provided by the instructor.

Instructor(s)

  • Marcus Porto - M/W 8:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104; LAT201

Summer 2 Courses

These courses run from July 13th to October 30th.

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 101 specifically will focus on chapters 1 through 8 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • None

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 102 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 9 through 18 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101

5-Week Summer Courses

Runs May 26 – June 26

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course deepens the students’ knowledge of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as exploring catechetical documents of the post-conciliar Magisterium and the General Directory for Catechesis.

Course Materials

  • Provided by the instructor.

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102
  • LAT103
  • LAT104
  • LAT201
  • LAT202
  • THC350

Runs July 13th – August 14th

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course introduces students to the Propers of the Roman Mass, through the reading of a broad selection of texts from Masses of both the seasonal cycle and the more important feasts of the Saints. Our study will examine their development, with close attention to the different genres (chants, prayers, Scriptural readings), their sources (Biblical and otherwise), and their style and vocabulary.

Course Materials

  • Provided by the instructor.

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102
  • LAT103
  • LAT104
  • LAT201
  • LAT202

Introductory Level Fall Courses

These courses run from August 24 – December 11

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 101 specifically will focus on chapters 1 through 8 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • None

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 101 specifically will focus on chapters 1 through 8 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

  • Matthew Ratcliff - T/TH 10:00 a.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • None

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 102 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 9 through 18 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 103 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 19 through 27 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

  • Matthew Ratcliff - T/TH 8:00 p.m. ET
  • Dr. Brian Lapsa - T/Th 11:30 a.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 103 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 19 through 27 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102

2 Credits

Course Description

This and each of the subsequent Latin 100-level courses will cover the entirety of Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana textbook, according to the Spoken Latin Teaching Pedagogy that is unique to VSI. Students will begin to speak and understand Latin with the same efficacy as in other modern languages. Each of these courses carries 2 credits, and will meet online twice a week for 50 minutes each.

Latin 103 specifically will focus roughly on chapters 27 through 33 depending on the pace of the students.

Course Materials

  • Hans Ørberg’s Familia Romana

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • LAT101
  • LAT102
  • LAT103

2 Credits

Course Description

This course will consist primarily of guided reading and guided practice in speaking and listening
centered around Logos: Lingua Graeca Per Se Illustrata. We will complete chapters 1–8 during this semester. These sessions will prepare the student to complete the exercises present in the same book and on Canvas, and so, reinforce what you have learned. At the end of this experience, you should be able to read adapted Greek, and write simple sentences, about the content of the textbook, or about similar topics using the same vocabulary and structures.

Course Materials

  • Textbook: Santiago Carbonell Martínez, Logos:Lingua Graeca per Se Illustrata (Λόγος· Ἐλληνική Γλῶσσα Αὐτοεικονογραφημένη), 2nd ed., Cultura Clásica, 2022.

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • None

2 Credits

Course Description

This course will consist primarily of guided reading and guided practice in speaking and listening
centered around Logos: Lingua Graeca Per Se Illustrata. We will complete chapters 17-24 during this semester. These sessions will prepare the student to complete the exercises present in the same book and on Canvas, and so, reinforce what you have learned. At the end of this experience, you should be able to read adapted Greek, and write simple sentences, about the content of the textbook, or about similar topics using the same vocabulary and structures.

Course Materials

  • Textbook: Santiago Carbonell Martínez, Logos:Lingua Graeca per Se Illustrata (Λόγος· Ἐλληνική Γλῶσσα Αὐτοεικονογραφημένη), 2nd ed., Cultura Clásica, 2022.

Instructor(s)

Prerequisite

  • GRK101-102

16-Week Upper Level Fall Courses

These courses run from August 24 – December 11

2 Credits

Course Description

Writing is a uniquely powerful tool for fixing knowledge in memory. This course will take you through a series of guided practice sessions in writing Latin. You will quickly review noun and verb forms, then produce Latin of your own, featuring the most important syntactic features of the language. Active exercises will help you internalize the mechanics of indirect discourse, purpose and result clauses, etc. This course is introductory, suitable for students who have studied Latin grammar but never taken a Latin prose composition class before.

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - M/W 6:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104

2 Credits

Course Description

Writing is a uniquely powerful tool for fixing knowledge in memory. This course will take you through a series of guided practice sessions in writing Latin. You will quickly review noun and verb forms, then produce Latin of your own, featuring the most important syntactic features of the language. Active exercises will help you internalize the mechanics of indirect discourse, purpose and result clauses, etc. This course is introductory, suitable for students who have studied Latin grammar but never taken a Latin prose composition class before.

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • Zachary Thomas - T/TH 10:00 a.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104

2 Credits

Course Description

This class will serve as an introduction to the Latinity of the Vulgate Bible, with a special focus on texts which figure prominently in the Church’s liturgical prayer, both in the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, including passages from the Psalms and Gospels, and some of the most important stories from the Old Testament. The students will also become familiar with these texts by preparing brief presentations on specific aspects of them, and their role in the Church’s liturgical, theological, and artistic tradition. The list of subjects for these presentations come from passages under the following major biblical events:
Major Events of the Old Testament
Part I: Creation
Part II: The First Covenant
Part III: The Exodus
Part IV: The Resettlement
Part V: The Age Of Kings
Part VI: Exile and Return
Major Events of the New Testament
Part VII: Jesus
Part VIII: The Church

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • Marcus Porto - M/W 8:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201

2 Credits

Course Description

Writing is a uniquely powerful tool for fixing knowledge in memory. This course will take you through a series of guided practice sessions in writing Greek. You will quickly review noun and verb forms, then produce Greek of your own, featuring the most important syntactic features of the language. Active exercises will help you internalize the mechanics of indirect discourse, purpose and result clauses, etc. 

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • Marcus Porto - T/TH 7:30 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • GRK101-104

8-Week Upper Level Courses

These courses run from August 24 – October 16

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course will focus firstly on the Councils of the Early Church.

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - T/TH 6:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course focuses on reading selections from the Catechismus Romanus ad Parochos, Catechismus Ecclesiae Catholicae (selections).

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - M/W 6:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course introduces students to the Latin version of both Testaments. The students will familiarize themselves with the grammar vocabulary of the Church’s official bibical text, with specific emphasis on grammatical and lexical particularities. While the principal text of the bible used in this course is the Sixto-Clementine version of the Vulgate, close attention will also be paid to the Hieronymian version (the Stuttgart Vulgate, 5th ed, 2007), to the Vetus Latina (especially where pre-Jerome readings are found in the traditional Roman liturgical texts), and lastly to the Nova Vulgata (2nd ed., 1986).

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - M/W 8:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course introduces the science of theology in Latin with a focus on terminology and themes drawn from the Latin-language theological tradition, using authors such as Tertullian, Augustine, Boethius, and Thomas Aquinas.

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - T/TH 5:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202

These courses run from October 19 – December 11

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course focuses on the Documents of Vatican II.

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - T/TH 6:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202, THD370

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course will deepen the students’ knowledge of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and also explore catechetical documents of the post-conciliar Magisterium and the General Directory for Catechesis.

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - M/W 6:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202, Catechism I

1.5 Credits

Course Description

This course introduces students to the Latin version of both Testaments. The students will familiarize themselves with the grammar vocabulary of the Church’s official bibical text, with specific emphasis on grammatical and lexical particularities. While the principal text of the bible used in this course is the Sixto-Clementine version of the Vulgate, close attention will also be paid to the Hieronymian version (the Stuttgart Vulgate, 5th ed, 2007), to the Vetus Latina (especially where pre-Jerome readings are found in the traditional Roman liturgical texts), and lastly to the Nova Vulgata (2nd ed., 1986).

Course Materials

  • TBA

Instructor(s)

  • VSI Faculty - M/W 8:00 p.m. ET

Prerequisite

  • LAT101-104, LAT201-202, SSB401

Magister Gregory DiPippo

Director of Academic Development, Assistant to the Dean, Magister - Introductory Latin

Magister Gregorius was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, where he attended a high school which offered an excellent Latin program. He attended McGill University in Montreal, where he studied Classical Languages and Literature, and the Augustinian Patristic Institute in Rome, where he studied the Fathers of the Church. For 23 years, he worked as a tour guide in Rome, and for the last 15 years, he has been a regular contributor (and for 10 years editor) to the New Liturgical Movement website.

Magister Marcus Porto

Magister - Introductory Latin

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.

Fr. Dylan Schrader, PhD

Magister - Scholastic Theology

Pater Pelagius is a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, ordained in 2010. He holds a PhD in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America and is the translator of several Scholastic works, including On the Motive of the Incarnation, the first volume in CUA’s Early Modern Catholic Sources series, and Book 2 of Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences, edited by the Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine. Fr. Schrader is the author of The Shortcut to Scholastic Latin, published by the Paideia Institute Press. He has attended every Veterum Sapientia conference since its inception.

Matthew Ratcliff

Coordinator for Marketing and Course Development

Matthew Ratcliff is a graduate from Belmont Abbey College, where he fell in love with Latin while studying under Nancy Llewellyn and Gregory DiPippo, and where he encountered the natural method for the first time. He has previously taught for Aquinas Learning Center in Charlotte for the 2023-2024 academic year. Matthew firmly believes that everyone can learn Latin well. He loves incorporating physical movement in the classroom and is excited to share the joy of the language with every class!

Dr. Nancy Llewellyn

Co-Founder, Veterum Sapientia Institute
Magistra - Introductory Latin

Magistra Annula is Associate Professor of Latin at Belmont Abbey College, coming to North Carolina after a decade at Wyoming Catholic College. She teaches Latin at the Charlotte Diocese’s new St. Joseph College Seminary in addition to her work at Belmont. Earlier in her career she studied with Fr. Reginald Foster and at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome. Returning to her native California, Nancy founded SALVI in 1997 and served on its board until 2019, directing SALVI workshops (Rusticationes) around the country and abroad. She holds her PhD (2006) from UCLA.

Mr. Christopher Owens, STM

Chief Executive Officer

Christopher Owens completed licentiate studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (“the Angelicum”) with a concentration in Thomism, and is a doctoral candidate at the same university. His research investigates the question of predestination in the writings of the early Thomists. More generally, Christopher’s research interests in both philosophy and theology are focused on the preambles of faith, ontology, meta-ethics, and action theory as found principally in the Thomistic tradition, as well as in the medieval dialectic of the University of Paris. Additionally, Christopher serves on the editorial board for Philosophical News, the official journal of the European Society for Moral Philosophy, and is vice-president of the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies, based in Norcia, Italy.

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.

Dr. Samuel Stahl

Magister

Samuel Stahl earned a PhD in Classics at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His dissertation is an annotated verse translation from Claudian’s carmina minora; his passions, both personal and professional, include Christian poetry and ecumenism. In addition to his work with VSI, he teaches ELA at a Catholic grammar school in Western New York, where he lives with his wife and two cats.

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.

Kit Adderley

Magister

Kit Adderley became interested in Ancient Rome at a young age, and following a particularly interesting and formative Roman History class in high school, decided to study Classics at Franciscan University of Steubenville. While studying and in subsequent years, Kit was blessed to attend many spoken Latin programs both in the United States and in Rome. Kit has taught Latin for 10 years at the high school and middle school level in Texas and Minnesota, most recently designing and implementing a spoken Latin program for high school that enjoyed tremendous success. Kit currently works in the finance industry but continues to love Latin and the classical world and is excited to work with Veterum Sapientia in bringing that knowledge to others.

Andrea Allen

Title

Bio coming soon!

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