Question: Who are these courses designed for?

Catholic parents. Directors of Religious Education. Deacons. Men and women considering consecrated life. Any adult who wants to have an adult grasp of the Faith.

Question: I go to Mass pretty regularly and I learned the Faith as a child. What will you teach me that I don't already know?

For most Catholic adults, the last exposure we had to any formal teaching in the Faith was our Confirmation preparation in grade school or high school. Think about that. Catholic Faith is like everything else - math, science, chemistry, English - what we teach the kids is only a start. It isn't enough to live life as an adult.

Question: I hear what you say, but I'm not sure I believe you. What more is there, really?

The adult ability to connect the facts. For instance, take these three facts and connect them: (1) Christ is called the Bridegroom, (2) the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, it is the Flesh of God, (3) the Church is the Bride of Christ.

Conclusion: when we receive the Eucharist at the Mass, the flesh of the Bridegroom enters the flesh of the Bride and life springs forth within us. That's why the Mass is called the Wedding Feast.

You can't teach that to a grade-school-age child. Even if you did, they wouldn't have any context for understanding what it means. A child cannot grasp the fullness of the Faith. You can.

Now you can explain something you couldn't before. Do you want more?

Question: So I have trouble explaining the Faith, even trouble living the Faith, because no one ever helped me get an adult grasp of the Faith?

Exactly! How can you live what you don't know? No one can explain what they don't understand.

But today's question is tougher: how are you going to get what you were never given? Your life is a lot more complex now than it was when you were twelve. You have a lot less time and a lot more commitments. People are depending on you. How do you get what you need given these stumbling blocks? That's why the College of Athanasius was founded.

Question: Yeah, well, I was not exactly a shining light in the classroom. How will you help me get what I need?

We keep class size small, so you get personal attention. Classes are restricted to adults, most of whom are in exactly your situation: short on time but with a deep thirst to know more. Because we are all Christian adults, everyone pulls together to make sure no one falls behind. You don't have to leave your house, arrange for baby-sitting or break your schedule to attend the courses. You work from home at times convenient to you - noon, 2 p.m., 2 a.m. - however you want to do it is fine by us. The course fits your schedule, you don't have to schedule around it. Best of all, it answers your questions.

Question: Yeah, well, maybe I don't want all my questions out there for everyone to read.

Course content is private. No one can see what you write in your assignments except the other people in the class. If you have a question you don't want anyone else to see, just send it to the instructor privately. No one else will ever see that question or ever associate it with you. When the class ends, the class conversations are destroyed.

Question: Alright, it sounds fairly interesting, but let's change the subject. Why is it called "The College of Athanasius"?

St. Athanasius was a bishop who concentrated on teaching adults the Faith.

St. Athanasius (born c. 296; died May 2, 373 A.D.), is called the "Father of Orthodoxy" because he defended Jesus' divinity against heretics who called themselves Arians and who insisted Jesus is not really God. St. Athanasius was like you and me: when he heard someone lie, he called them on it. He took nothin' off of nobody. He was superb at explaining, defending, and living the Faith and he was given the title "Doctor of the Church" - only one of 33 people who ever got such an honor.

Exiled five times by three different emperors, his dogged perseverance in teaching the Faith is an example for every Christian. He and the Pope were virtually the only bishops who were not Arian heretics. He fought the Arian heresy - the combined force of emperors, princes, heretical bishops, and the Roman army - almost single-handed for most of his adult life. He won.