Course of Monastic Formation (CFM)
The Monastic Formation Course (CFM) was set up in 2001 by the Abbot General of the Cistercian Order, Dom Mauro Esteva i Alsina, to promote the training of formators of young monks and nuns in the Order, and subsequently of monks and nuns in formation.
The CFM takes place at the Generalate of the Cistercian Order (Rome), the seat of the College of Saint Bernard in Urbe. The CFM lasts three five-week periods in three consecutive years, from the end of August to the end of September. The courses are taught by professors from Roman universities, with simultaneous translation into five languages.
Since 2008, the CFM has been under the patronage of the Pontifical University of Saint Anselm (osb, Rome).
The CFM is devoted to the study of monastic sources and tradition, patristic and liturgical knowledge, knowledge of spirituality specific to the monastic ideal and cultural heritage, contact with the human sciences, psychology and anthropology, and above all a solid knowledge of Sacred Scripture and monastic theology. A number of cultural and spiritual visits enrich the intellectual training.
All our training courses
Course of Monastic Formation (CFM)
The Pontifical Benedictine Athenaeum of Saint Anselmo on the Aventine in Rome is one of the few Benedictine universities in the world to have (among other faculties) a Faculty of Theology, which has full ecclesiastical and civil rights and can award the doctorate in theology. It offers a course of study with a sapiential orientation for beginners up to the baccalaureate. For more advanced students, there are special courses in ‘monastic theology of spirituality’, ‘sacramental theology’ and ‘history of theology’.
