The Mission of the College of Saint Mary Magdalen

Our Catholic purpose, vision, and identity

The College of Saint Mary Magdalen is a residential Catholic liberal arts college located in Warner, New Hampshire. Founded in 1973, the College seeks—through the rigorous study and discussion of primary texts and through its vibrantly Catholic student life—to call our students to the life-long pursuit of intellectual and moral virtue, following Christ who is the source of all virtue.    

Within the pages of our website, you will find detailed descriptions of our courses and the readings that form the heart of our Program of Studies. In these pages you will find an integration of the very best of the “Great Books” tradition—its devotion to the reading and discussion of primary texts—with the strengths of Catholic humanistic studies.   

The education we offer at the College is not for the faint of heart: the journey to freedom—intellectual and spiritual freedom—is arduous. But no one at the College undertakes this journey alone. The students, the faculty, and the larger community of the College support one another within and outside the classroom as we seek to become fully human and fully free, thriving in the light of Truth.

At the College of Saint Mary Magdalen, the liberal education we offer is more than a communication of factual data—what Pope Benedict XVI calls a merely “informative” encounter with truth. The Catholic liberal arts education we offer seeks, rather, to be also “performative,” opening a path toward an encounter with Truth itself and leading to a fundamental transformation of our lives.

We hope you will consider what we offer and join us on the journey.