Donate HereThe Mother Rose Colloquia
Serving God Through Teaching His Children
A.M.D.G.
Who is Mother Rose?
Mother Rose Teresa was born March 18, 1929 and entered eternal life on January 6, 2019. She made her Profession of Vows on May 22, 1952. She served as Reverend Mother Prioress for 50 years at the Carmelite Monastery of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
We were deeply honored to call her our friend.
In her memory and honor, Drs. John and Helen Freeh founded The Mother Rose Colloquia in 2022, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to bringing college-level courses in the humanities to cloistered, contemplative monasteries.
Our Mission
The Colloquia’s mission is to serve God and His Church by offering college-level humanities courses in the liberal arts to cloistered Catholic monasteries at no cost to them from qualified, experienced, and faithfully Catholic professors.
Whom Do We Serve?
The Colloquia primarily serves cloistered Catholic religious monasteries in the United States. We offer these weekend lectures and classes at no cost to the community.
Drs. John and Helen Freeh have given lectures and courses to a number of different communities over the past decade.
Here are some of the monasteries and religious institutes the Colloquia has already and continues to serve:
- Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph: Valparaiso, NE
- Christ the King School Sisters: Lincoln, NE
- Marian Sisters: Lincoln, NE
- Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Roswell, NM
- Abbey of St. Walburga: Walsenberg, CO
- Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary: Summit, NJ
- Our Lady of Clear Creek Monastery: Hulbert, OK
- Our Lady of the Desert: Gobernador, NM
- Mary, Mother of the Eucharist: Ann Arbor, MI
What Do We Teach?
The Colloquia offers lectures and courses based on the Catholic humanities.
We work in close consultation with the monastic superior to shape the course that best meets the needs of the community.
The following is a partial list of lectures we have offered:
- “Community in a Postmodern Isolationist World.”
- “The Friend of Friends: Tolkien’s Re-presentation of Friendship’s Power in Middle-earth.”
- “Willa Cather and J.R.R. Tolkien: Two Modern Authors Depicting True Friendship to a Desperate Audience.”
- “The Waste Land Revisited: T.S. Eliot’s Diagnosis of Modernity.”
- “Newman’s Dream of Gerontius: The Power of Poetry.”
- “ ‘As the gentle rain from heaven’: Shakespeare’s Heart of Mercy.”
Drs. John and Helen Freeh are Catholic educators currently living in Oro Valley, Arizona.
John received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and English Literature from Georgetown University, Northwestern University, and his doctorate in English literature from the University of Oxford.
Helen received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political philosophy and American Studies from the University of Dallas and her doctorate in English literature from Baylor University.
They met when they both taught at Hillsdale College and both were directing the Rite of Christian Initiation for the College students and the local parish, St. Anthony’s of Padua.
Helen “retired” from teaching in order to raise and homeschool their three children, ages 13, 11, and 9. She also has led online courses on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien for the Magnus Institute. She has offered lectures for several cloistered monasteries and been the guest lecturer for religious institute’s days of reflection.
John gave up his tenure at Hillsdale College to help Wyoming Catholic College continue to grow in its early years. He served as the inaugural director for the Newman Center for Catholic Thought and Culture in Lincoln, NE. He has offered numerous online and in-person lectures and courses for monasteries and religious institutes, as well as gatherings of lay groups, such as Legatus and Young Catholic Professionals, around the United States.
Contact Us
If you would like to discuss personalized lectures for your monastery, please contact us.
We customize our lectures based on the needs and interests of the monasteries we serve, and either will offer the lecture ourselves or match a qualified professor whom we know and trust personally with the specific monastery and its requested topic.
Our mailing address is:
10730 N. Oracle Rd., Unit 8204
Oro Valley, AZ, 85737
Our phone number is:
949-573-7342
Our email address is:
Support Our Mission
We need your help to continue offering our services to cloistered monasteries at no cost to them. They spend their days praying for us and the outside world. We want to give something back in return.
They must remain within their monastic enclosure, but your support will help us bring college-level lectures to them.
If a particular monastery, monastic nun or monk has benefitted you in some way, would you consider a contribution to the Mother Rose Colloquia in their honor?
We will begin posting such tributes on our website.
Mother Rose Colloquia operates as a 501(c)(3) organization under the EIN 92-1124823.
All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Click the DONATE button to be redirected to our DonorBox Campaign.
Or check donations may be sent to Mother Rose Colloquia, c/o John Freeh 10730 N. Oracle Rd, Unit 8204, Oro Valley, AZ, 85737.
God bless you for your generosity to us and the monasteries whom we serve.
Video Lectures
Click on the following links to watch past video lectures from John and Helen Freeh’s careers.
Podcasts
Click on the following links to listen to podcasts featuring John and Helen Freeh.
CrosierCast with Bishop James Wall and Dr. John Freeh: “John Henry Newman, Part 1: Seeking Truth No Matter the Cost.”
CrosierCast with Bishop James Wall and Dr. Helen Freeh: “Tolkien, Part 1 – Free Will and Fate in Western Myth.”