

The Thomistic Institute
The Thomistic Institute
The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone.
The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events, and much more.
Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.
The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events, and much more.
Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.
Episodes
Mentioned books

4 snips
Mar 6, 2023 • 58min
Theology of the Body: Sources, Context & Genre | Prof. John Grabowski
The speaker's powerpoint slides may be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2mwjyaup
This lecture was given on January 27, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "Theology of the Body."
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org
About the speaker:
A native of Wisconsin, Dr. Grabowski earned his B.A. in theology at the University of Steubenville and his Ph.D. at Marquette University. For the last thirty years he has been on the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where he is currently Ordinary Professor of Moral Theology/ Ethics. He and his wife were appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Family by Pope Benedict XVI in the fall of 2009 where they served as a member couple. He has served two terms as a theological advisor to the U.S.C.C.B. Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, and Youth and one term as an advisor to the subcommittee which produced the Pastoral Letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan (2009). In 2015 he was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as an expert (adiutor) at the Synod of Bishops on the Family.
Dr. Grabowski has published widely in the areas of moral theology, marriage, sexuality, and bioethics. His articles have appeared in scholarly journals as Nova et Vetera, The Thomist, The Heythrop Journal, and the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly as well as more popular publications such as America, Commonweal, The Living Light, and Our Sunday Visitor. His books include Sex and Virtue: An Introduction to Sexual Ethics (CUA Press, 2003), Transformed in Christ: Essays on the Renewal of Moral Theology (Sapientia Press, 2017), One Body: A Program of Marriage Formation for the New Evangelization with Claire Grabowski (Emmaus Road Press, 2018), A Catechism for Family Life with Sarah Bartel (CUA Press, 2018), and Raising Catholic Kids for Their Vocations with Claire Grabowski (TAN, 2019).
Dr. Grabowski has lectured and presented at conferences across the United States. He and his wife Claire are regular guests on Greg and Lisa Popcak’s radio show More 2 Life on EWTN. They have five children, six grandchildren, and reside in the Archdiocese of Washington.

Mar 3, 2023 • 1h 15min
Literature, St. Thomas, and the Sacraments | Fr. Albert Trudel, O.P.
This lecture was given on November 7th, 2022, at Harvard University.
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Fr. Trudel received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2000, and after receiving the post-doctoral License in Mediaeval Studies in 2002, he served as a Junior Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies until 2006. He has taught courses in English Literature at the University of Toronto, Providence College, and Aquinas College (Nashville, TN). His academic interests are in editing medieval Latin and vernacular texts.

Mar 2, 2023 • 1h 1min
Death, Resurrection, and Transformation in Christ | Fr. Jordan Schmidt, O.P.
This lecture was given on December 3, 2022, at the Thomistic Institute's West Coast Intellectual Retreat entitled, "The Eschaton: An Intellectual Retreat on the End of the World."
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Fr. Jordan Schmidt was born in Fargo, ND, and attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN for his undergraduate studies. After entering the Order of Preachers, he came to Washington DC to study theology, graduating from the PFIC in 2009 with an STB/MDiv in theology, and from CUA in 2012 with an STL in biblical theology. Upon his ordination to the priesthood, he was appointed associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT where he served until 2013. Fr. Jordan next returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA. Since earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018, he has been teaching various courses in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies.

Mar 1, 2023 • 40min
Raised to Life: St. Thomas on the Resurrection of the Dead | Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, O.P.
This talk was given on December 3, 2022, at St. Albert's Priory in Oakland, California.
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Fr. Bryan Kromholtz is a Dominican and professor of theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in California. He did his
STD/PhD of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Feb 28, 2023 • 55min
Destruction and Transformation of the Cosmos in the Book of Revelation | Fr. Jordan Schmidt, O.P.
This lecture was given on December 2, 2022, at the Thomistic Institute's West Coast Intellectual Retreat entitled, "The Eschaton: An Intellectual Retreat on the End of the World."
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Fr. Jordan Schmidt was born in Fargo, ND, and attended St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN for his undergraduate studies. After entering the Order of Preachers, he came to Washington DC to study theology, graduating from the PFIC in 2009 with an STB/MDiv in theology, and from CUA in 2012 with an STL in biblical theology. Upon his ordination to the priesthood, he was appointed associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT where he served until 2013. Fr. Jordan next returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA. Since earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018, he has been teaching various courses in Sacred Scripture at the PFIC.

Feb 27, 2023 • 1h 3min
True Sacrifice: What We Do in the Mass | Prof. Bruce Marshall
Prof. Marshall's handout can be found here: tinyurl.com/bdh86t7v
This lecture was given on January 14, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "The Mystery of the Liturgy."
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Prof. Bruce Marshall is the Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University. He holds a masters from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate from Yale University. His teaching interests include medieval and reformation theology and systematic theology. His research interests include doctrine of the Trinity, christology, philosophical issues in theology, sacramental theology, and Judaism and Christian theology.

Feb 24, 2023 • 47min
Who Do You Say That I Am? Liturgy and the Meaning of Life | Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P.
Fr. Smith's handout can be found here: tinyurl.com/3knfh8y5
This lecture was given on January 14, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "The Mystery of the Liturgy."
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P. was born in California and raised in Indiana. He discerned a vocation to the Dominicans while studying music and philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and joined the St. Joseph Province of the Order of Preachers in 2008. After the novitiate in Cincinnati and philosophy and theology studies at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Fr. Innocent was ordained to the priesthood in 2015 by Archbishop Charles Brown. Fr. Innocent’s teaching and research interests include homiletics, liturgy, sacramental theology, ecclesiology, and sacred music. His S.T.L. thesis, “In Collecta Dicitur: The Oration as a Theological Authority for Thomas Aquinas,” explored the importance of the liturgy as a source for scholastic theology. His doctoral dissertation, “Doers of the Word: Bible Missals and the Celebration of the Dominican Liturgy,” focused on medieval manuscripts of the Bible that also contain liturgical texts for the celebration of Mass. Fr. Innocent examined manuscripts at libraries and museums throughout Europe and North America that form an important but previously understudied body of evidence for understanding the liturgical reception of the Bible and the development of the liturgy in the Middle Ages. In addition to publishing popular and scholarly articles related to theology, liturgy, and music, Fr. Innocent has edited chant books that make the musical and liturgical tradition of the Dominican Order available for use in the contemporary liturgy.

Feb 23, 2023 • 41min
Does Neuroscience Disprove Free Will? w/ Prof. James Madden (Off-Campus Conversations)
Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Dr. James Madden about his latest Thomistic Institute, "Does Neuroscience Disprove Free Will?"
Does Neuroscience Disprove Free Will? w/ Dr. James Madden and Fr. Gregory Pine (Off-Campus Conversations)
You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/does-neuroscience-disprove-free-will-prof-james-madden
For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Prof. James Madden is Professor of Philosophy at Benedictine College. He lives in Atchison, Kansas with his wife (Jennifer) and their six children; William, Martha, J. Patrick, Brendan, Jack, and Cormac. He is originally from Wisconsin, where he received a B.A. from St. Norbert College, and did his graduate work at Kent State (MA, 1998) and Purdue (Ph.D., 2002). He was awarded the Benedictine College Distinguished Educator of the Year Award in 2006. In addition to usual general education courses in philosophy (Logic, Principles of Nature, Ethics, and Philosophical Psychology), Dr. Madden typically teaches courses in modern philosophy, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion.

Feb 22, 2023 • 53min
Meeting Christ in the Mass | Prof. Bruce Marshall
Prof. Marshall's handout can be found here: tinyurl.com/ye2yupz7
This talk was given on January 14, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "The Mystery of the Liturgy."
For more information, please visit thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Prof. Bruce Marshall is the Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University. He holds a masters from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate from Yale University. His teaching interests include medieval and reformation theology and systematic theology. His research interests include doctrine of the Trinity, christology, philosophical issues in theology, sacramental theology, and Judaism and Christian theology.

Feb 21, 2023 • 60min
Let Us Pray: Naming God and Our Needs in the Prayers of the Mass | Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P.
Fr. Smith's handout can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/4zwb74vr
This talk was given on January 13, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of "The Mystery of the Liturgy."
For more information, please visit thomisticinstitute.org.
About the speaker:
Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P. was born in California and raised in Indiana. He discerned a vocation to the Dominicans while studying music and philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and joined the St. Joseph Province of the Order of Preachers in 2008. After the novitiate in Cincinnati and philosophy and theology studies at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Fr. Innocent was ordained to the priesthood in 2015 by Archbishop Charles Brown. Fr. Innocent’s teaching and research interests include homiletics, liturgy, sacramental theology, ecclesiology, and sacred music. His S.T.L. thesis, “In Collecta Dicitur: The Oration as a Theological Authority for Thomas Aquinas,” explored the importance of the liturgy as a source for scholastic theology. His doctoral dissertation, “Doers of the Word: Bible Missals and the Celebration of the Dominican Liturgy,” focused on medieval manuscripts of the Bible that also contain liturgical texts for the celebration of Mass. Fr. Innocent examined manuscripts at libraries and museums throughout Europe and North America that form an important but previously understudied body of evidence for understanding the liturgical reception of the Bible and the development of the liturgy in the Middle Ages. In addition to publishing popular and scholarly articles related to theology, liturgy, and music, Fr. Innocent has edited chant books that make the musical and liturgical tradition of the Dominican Order available for use in the contemporary liturgy.