Pietas
—PIETAS—
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion
June 22-26, 2026 at Portsmouth Abbey School
Spend five days with the writings and wisdom of Tolkien, exploring how his Catholic imagination illuminates the purpose of Christian education and the role of the Christian teacher.
Pietas welcomes you to spend five days with the writings and wisdom of Tolkien, exploring how his Catholic imagination—rooted in a sacramental vision of the world—illuminates the purpose of Christian education and the role of the Christian teacher. By becoming students once more and encountering the creative sources of Tolkien’s spiritual vision, educators will be equipped to help their own students recognize the presence of grace woven throughout all learning, all beauty, and all narrative.
Participants will read selections from The Silmarillion. Through careful reading and contemplative discussion, we will explore the essential questions: How does Tolkien’s sacramental imagination recover the meaning of our own world? What does it mean to create in the image of the Creator? How might Catholic teachers cultivate wonder and reverence for the deep structures of truth and beauty that govern all disciplines?
In a world increasingly emptied of transcendence, Catholic educators must help their students perceive the presence of God in their specific areas of study. Tolkien’s faith permeated his entire intellectual life, shaping the way he understood language, mythology, creativity itself, and the human person’s place within a divinely ordered cosmos. By studying Tolkien alongside our own practice as educators, we will discover how to rekindle in ourselves the love of learning that we are called to share with our students. We will remember that the teaching of any discipline—whether literature or logic, mathematics or music—is ultimately an invitation to recognize the handiwork of God. The Catholic teacher, like Tolkien, is called to be a maker, a “sub-creator,” helping students perceive the sacred architecture beneath all learning.
Engagement with The Silmarillion will not only deepen our intellectual formation but will also nourish our spiritual lives. The monastic setting at Portsmouth Abbey, the rhythm of liturgical prayer, and the shared meals and conversation will provide the contemplative space necessary for renewal. Here, in community with fellow educators, you will encounter again the wellsprings of your own passion for learning and teaching, and you will be enlivened to return to your classrooms as witnesses to the transformative power of beauty, truth, and the grace that works silently beneath all good teaching.
PIETAS
Pietas Information
Where is Pietas held?
Pietas is hosted at Portsmouth Abbey, a Catholic Benedictine monastery and boarding school in scenic Rhode Island. The monastic life and horarium (daily schedule) informs much of our daily itinerary. The Abbey is situated on a 500-acre campus stretching along the Narragansett Bay. Our campus is just a few minutes north of famous Newport, Rhode Island, thirty minutes from Providence, and an hour from Boston.
What is the cost?
Residential Tuition: $1,500. Includes seminars, accommodations, meals (breakfast, lunch, and communal dinners), cultural excursions, and materials.
Non-Residential Tuition: $1,150. Includes seminars, meals (lunch and communal dinners), cultural excursions, and materials. Overnight accommodations and breakfast are not included.
Scholarships: Thanks to the support of generous donors, scholarship support is available on a limited basis by application. Early application is encouraged, with scholarships being awarded as funds are available. For questions, please contact Darryl De Marzio at ddemarzio@portsmouthabbey.org
Can I stay on campus overnight?
Yes! Please choose the residential tuition rate when enrolling in Pietas. Residential tuition includes accommodations & breakfast. PLEASE NOTE: Accommodations are in modest dormitories on the campus of Portsmouth Abbey School. Rooms are single occupancy with a shared bathroom on a first-come, first-served basis. Linens and a pillow but not toiletries will be provided. A small window fan is provided for comfort. Late registrants may be limited to double occupancy.
What will we read?
Readings Include:
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and “On Fairy Stories”
Participants will receive copies of each upon registration.
What will we study?
We will read, discuss, and pray alongside the writings of Tolkien’s writings to discern the truly distinctive character of a Christian education. Questions we will explore include:
What is the purpose of Christian education?
What is distinctive about the Christian teacher, or the Christian student?
How can the discipline I teach—whether explicitly religious or not—be oriented towards God?
How can I put the wisdom of Christian education to use in my classroom?
What is the schedule?
The program begins on Monday, June 22nd at 6:00 pm with an opening reception and dinner, with check in beginning at 3 pm. Mass is available every morning at 7:20am. The program ends on Friday, June 26th, around 2:30pm. All meals are included in the registration fee for Monday dinner through Friday lunch. Participants are expected to be present for all sessions, including dinners, cultural excursions, evening film screenings, etc., as the program is cumulative.
What can I expect?
Pietas is designed to be an intimate cohort experience, limited to around 15 participants. In addition to an opening dinner on Monday evening, participants will gather for three seminars per day, two prior to lunch and one following lunch. Each seminar will include remarks by the faculty and in-depth discussion of the text. A culminating project will ask each participant to prepare a short presentation on the final day of the seminar.
There will be an opening reception, and dinner on Monday evening for all participants with opening remarks from Executive Director, Dr. Darryl De Marzio, and a closing lunch at the conclusion of the program on Friday afternoon. Participants are free to depart Friday after 3:00 p.m. Limited accommodations may be available on Friday night for guests departing on Saturday. Please contact institute@portsmouthabbey.org to make this request.
In addition to seminar discussions, we will participate in the Divine Office with the monks, pray lectio divina, the ancient monastic form of prayer, receive spiritual direction with our monastic community, and more.
Ample leisure time is provided over lunch and throughout the day to encourage friendship among participants. We also encourage time for exploration of the local culture and participation in recreational activities that our campus and Rhode Island has to offer. Time and space are also given for moments of personal writing and reflection.
Daily mass is available each morning in the monastery Church of St. Gregory the Great at 7:20am. Evenings include poetry readings, social gatherings, evening prayers with the monastery, dinner, after-dinner lectures, film screening, and more.
How do I get to Portsmouth Abbey?
You can find out about best ways to access Portsmouth Abbey here: TRAVELING TO PORTSMOUTH ABBEY. If you are flying or training in, we recommend renting a car: public transportation is limited, and even taxi and uber are unreliable in our part of the state. You will also have free time to explore nearby towns and cities—even head to the lovely Newport beaches! Having a car is by far the most convenient means for getting around.
I would love to support teachers and administrators who want to attend Pietas. Are sponsorship opportunities available?
If you are interested in sponsoring an attendee or group of attendees, please contact Dr. Darryl De Marzio, Portsmouth Institute Executive Director at ddemarzio@portsmouthabbey.org or 401.643.1255.
Schedule
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, June 22nd — Opening Day | ||
| 3–5 p.m. | Check-in for Overnight Guests Please call Daniel Caplin at (401) 829-5021 upon arrival. | St. Brigid’s House |
| 6 p.m. | Remarks & Dinner with the Monastic Community Abbot Michael Brunner, Portsmouth Abbey; Darryl De Marzio, Portsmouth Institute | Linenfold Room |
| 7 p.m. | Opening Reception | Stillman Dining Hall Terrace |
| Tuesday, June 23rd | ||
| 7:20 a.m. | Mass Available | Abbey Church |
| 8 a.m. | Continental Breakfast Available | Dining Hall |
| 9:30–10:30 a.m. | Seminar 1: Lefler, “Entertaining Angels: The Beginning of Tolkien’s Moving Story” | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | Seminar 2: Caplin, Ainulindalë, pages 15–22 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 12–2 p.m. | Lunch | Dining Hall |
| 2–3 p.m. | Seminar 3: Lefler, Valaquenta, pages 25–32 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 3–5 p.m. | Free Time | |
| 5 p.m. | Dinner | Linenfold Room |
| 6:10 p.m. | Depart from Campus | |
| 7 p.m. | Haydn’s Creation, Providence Singers | |
| 10 p.m. | Return to Campus | |
| Wednesday, June 24th | ||
| 7:20 a.m. | Mass Available | Abbey Church |
| 8 a.m. | Continental Breakfast Available | Dining Hall |
| 9:30–10:30 a.m. | Seminar 4: Zelden, Quenta Silmarillion I–V, pages 35–62 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | Seminar 5: Lefler, Quenta Silmarillion VI–IX, pages 63–90 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 12–2 p.m. | Lunch | Dining Hall |
| 2–3 p.m. | Seminar 6: Caplin, Quenta Silmarillion X–XIII, pages 91–105 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 3–5:30 p.m. | Free Time | |
| 5:30 p.m. | Vespers | Abbey Church |
| 6 p.m. | Hospitality | Linenfold Room |
| 6:30 p.m. | Dinner | Linenfold Room |
| Thursday, June 25th | ||
| 7:20 a.m. | Mass Available | Abbey Church |
| 8 a.m. | Continental Breakfast Available | Dining Hall |
| 9:30–10:30 a.m. | Seminar 7: Zelden, Quenta Silmarillion XIV–XVIII, pages 118–161 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | Seminar 8: Caplin, Zelden, Quenta Silmarillion XIX–XX, pages 162–197 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 12–2 p.m. | Lunch | Dining Hall |
| 2–3 p.m. | Seminar 9: Zelden, Quenta Silmarillion XXI–XXIV, pages 198–256 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 3–6:30 p.m. | Cultural Excursion TBD | |
| 7–9 p.m. | Dinner and Film | Student Center |
| Friday, June 26th | ||
| 8 a.m. | Continental Breakfast Available | Dining Hall |
| 9–10 a.m. | Seminar 13: Caplin, Akallabêth, pages 257–282 | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 10:30–11:30 a.m. | Final Seminar: Participant Presentations | Head Family Seminar Room, Science Building |
| 12–12:30 p.m. | Closing Mass | Abbey Church |
| 12:30–1:30 p.m. | Closing Picnic | Monastery Garden |
“Ecce pietas est sapientia.” Behold: piety is wisdom.
—St. Augustine
PIETAS
Testimonials
Pietas
Pietas Faculty
Nathan Lefler, Ph.D.
Nathan Lefler is Professor of Theology in the department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Scranton. He holds a PhD in Systematic Theology from The Catholic University of America, an MA in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago. His doctoral and early research focused on the relative merits of monastic vs. scholastic theology in the high Middle Ages, while sustaining an active commitment to the field of biblical theology and the related theological topoi of revelation and inspiration. Increasingly, his research interests have moved in the direction of a rigorous theological engagement with such literary figures as Flannery O’Connor and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Darryl De Marzio, Ph.D.
B.A., Philosophy, Drew University
M.A., Elementary Education, Montclair State University
M.Phil., Philosophy and Education, Columbia University
Ph.D., Philosophy and Education, Columbia University
Dr. Darryl De Marzio, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Portsmouth Institute for Faith and Culture. Prior to joining the faculty at Portsmouth Abbey in 2022, Dr. De Marzio was Professor of Foundations of Education at the University of Scranton since 2007 where he taught courses in philosophy and educational theory. He completed his M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees at Columbia University in Philosophy and Education with a scholarly focus on the role that the study of philosophy plays in the ethical formation of teachers. He was awarded the Merryman Prize for excellence in the graduate study of philosophy and education and his dissertation, The Teacher as Ethical Subject, was awarded distinction by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. He has served as President of the Middle Atlantic States Philosophy of Education Society and on the Committee for Pre-College Instruction in Philosophy of the American Philosophical Association. He has worked and researched in education for over twenty-five years.
Kale Zelden
B.A., Literature, Thomas More College
M.A., English, Louisiana State University
Kale Zelden is the chair of the Humanities department at Portsmouth Abbey School, where he has previously served as both Academic Dean and Dean of Faculty. After graduate school and a stint in teaching, Kale went to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment industry, where worked with other writers in story development as a creative producer and was a programmer for the top student film festival The Angelus Awards. After returning to teaching, Kale won Portsmouth Abbey’s Dom Peter Sidler Award for teaching excellence. He became the Academic Dean in 2010 and in 2015 he became the Dean of Faculty. He notes that nothing is more thrilling than introducing students to the best that has been thought and written. “Reading the classics, and allowing them to delight and instruct the contemporary skeptic, has been challenging and rewarding.” Kale has worked in education as a teacher and administrator for over twenty years.
Dan Caplin
B.A., History, Providence College
B.A., Theatre, Providence College
M.A., History, Providence College
A Portsmouth Abbey alum, Daniel met his future wife, Catherine, at freshman orientation in 2006. After graduating from Providence College in 2014, Daniel decided to come back to Portsmouth in the Fall of 2018. In 2020, he received his Master’s in History from Providence College. Daniel has given lectures at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, as well as Northeastern University. In 2023, he received the Dom Peter Sidler Award for Excellence In Teaching. Daniel has been an instructor at the Portsmouth Institute since 2022, and recently presented “The Subversive Self: Rules for a Discursive Formation on Artificial Intelligence” at the Institute’s 2024 Hildegard Forum. Daniel and his lovely wife live in Saint Mary’s dormitory with their sons Westley and Walker, their dog Fagan, and their cat, Duck.
Stephen Zins, Ph.D.
B.S., Biochemistry, University of Michigan
Ph.D., Pathobiology, Brown University
Stephen Zins co-directs the Center for Science and the Liberal Arts at the Portsmouth Institute and Portsmouth Abbey School which seeks to inspire both knowledge of and a sense of wonder towards the created world. He earned his Ph.D. at Brown University in the pathobiology program where he studied how human polyomaviruses are controlled by the human immune system. He developed a desire to teach high school students through the Summer@Brown program, where he developed his own course on infectious disease and introduced students to scientific research through laboratory modules. He has co-authored eight manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals, and his Ph.D. research is published in the Journal of Virology.
In 2017 Stephen was awarded Portsmouth Abbey School’s Dom Sidler Award for Excellence in Teaching, and he currently teaches AP Biology, Honors Biology, and a highly popular Infectious Disease elective that he created in 2019.
Katie Zins, Ph.D.
B.A., Art History, University of Rhode Island
B.A., Classics, University of Rhode Island
B.A., French, University of Rhode Island
M.A., Art History, Pennsylvania State University
Ph.D., Art History, Pennsylvania State University
Born and raised in Bristol, Rhode Island, Dr. Zins graduated from Portsmouth Abbey in 2004. She received a B.A. in Art History, French, and Classics from the University of Rhode Island in 2008. Attracted to the interdisciplinary nature of art history, she pursued her M.A. and Ph.D. at Penn State University. Her graduate work focused on Italian art from the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Combining her interests in mendicant patronage, hagiography, and fresco painting, her doctoral dissertation explores how the Order of Augustinian Hermits represented their self-proclaimed founder, St. Augustine, in images from 14th- and 15th-century Italy.
In 2016 Dr. Zins returned to Portsmouth Abbey to teach Humanities and Latin. Inspired by outstanding high school teachers and university professors, she realized early on her desire for a career that was centered on the classroom experience. She hopes to develop in her students an appreciation for the Western intellectual tradition, which was so vital to cultivating her own interests.
Lauren Revay
B.A., Philosophy, Catholic University of America
M.A., Theology, University of Notre Dame
Lauren Revay works at the Portsmouth Institute for Faith and Culture and Portsmouth Abbey School. Her academic interests are in the intersection of philosophy and theology particularly in aesthetics, virtue theory/ethics, and political philosophy as they relate to the common good. She’s presented at the University of Notre Dame and with the American Maritain Association. She received her Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Notre Dame through the McGrath Institute’s Echo Graduate Service Program. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy Pre-Law from The Catholic University of America.
