St Thomas Aquinas Institute of Religious Studies in Kyiv is a unique higher educational institution that has no analogues not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. It is a place that unites people who mainly seek to combine their basic education and activities with theology, as it is a kind of harmony between reason and faith; but for some people, studying here becomes the main thing and they unite their lives with the depths of theology forever. The Institute does not unite people who are interested in only one direction and field of specialisation, so the students here are very diverse and special individuals. Only at our Institute you can find philosophers and doctors, psychologists and lawyers, engineers and directors, artists and actors, teachers and many others who are eager to develop theological education, share experience and move together towards the maturity of spiritual life, or simply take something for themselves. Now just imagine how multifaceted our conversations are.
Student life at St Thomas Aquinas Institute is an ordinary student life with a Dominican feature. Since the Dominicans are children of freedom (Fr Petro Baloh), they pass this freedom and responsibility for it on to their students. Students are always open to new ideas, and they move from generating these ideas to implementing them. Students (like the Dominicans) are always in “search of the Truth”, which they try to get to know (as much as possible) by taking courses in basic theological and philosophical subjects, learning the teachings of the Church and Its history (more information on the curriculum can be found in the section “Curricula”).
But the Institute is not only about lectures and studies, which are obviously its foundation, but also about student self-governance. Events, communities and meetings, serious and relaxing, regular and improvised, make your time at the Institute unforgettable, useful, full of incredible emotions and the atmosphere of the Aquinat community.
- The Bible Theatre. The text of the Bible that we usually hold in our hands is just the text itself, but it arose from a certain story, persons and events. We read the text of the Bible as a script of a certain story, which is embodied in our theatre. It is the theatre that we want to create and actually create due to our personal need to discover what the Bible wants to say to us, the people of the XXI century. We begin our work on the theatre by reading the text of the Bible repeatedly in order to understand it. We create the theatre based on the text of the Bible itself, trying to limit to a minimum what is not directly written in it.
- A picnic is a relaxed communication between students and lecturers in the countryside. Traditionally, the picnic takes place at the beginning and end of the academic year at our special place in the Druzhby Narodiv Park. It always brings incredible emotions and atmosphere, and of course, we talk about different topics and find answers to the most difficult questions. After all, it is Aquinat…
- Other events and meetings. In addition to the regular and traditional meetings, the student council also organises other events: Lectio Divina (Divine Reading of the Holy Scripture), the Dominican School of Faith at the pastoral care centre, joint film screenings, various thematic meetings (e.g. St Andrew’s Day, Halloween or traditional Christmas Eve with carols and kutia, Stations of the Cross, Adoration, etc.) and many other meetings with coffee (tea) in the coffee shop and a lot of conversations, as well as joint trips.
This is mostly what student life and our atmosphere at Aquinat looks like, because this is the impetus that the Dominicans give to students at St Thomas Aquinas Institute.
