The activities promoted by the Catena Society are those which will inspire wonder and stir the imagination through tangible experience. It is important to clarify that this isn't intended to encourage the sole pursuit of highly charged emotional experiences, but to cultivate an understanding of and appreciation for the wonder which is resident in everyday life through an exploration of the world around us and how it came to be.

These activities are mainly focused on the past and getting in touch with historical lives and modes of thought, but are by no means confined to this - members should explore their own creativity and enjoy the potential the future has to offer as well.

The three ways of beauty proposed by Pope Benedict XVI as privileged pathways are the Beauty of Creation, the Beauty of the Arts, and the Beauty of Christ. These can be broadly interpreted in numerous different ways, but can be approximated as stargazing and trips to wilderness areas, visits to traditional churches and appreciating sacred artwork, and gaining a deeper understanding of Catholicism through the ages.

Resources

Fortunately we live in an age of unprecedented access to all sorts of information which can be used by study groups and individuals to explore new activities. Tutorials on almost any kind of craft can be found on youtube or other websites, and if they can't be found, it's usually not difficult to locate someone who knows a lot about them in order to develop experience.

Lecturers and guest teachers can also be hired for a few sessions with the group, which is especially valuable if studying visual arts like calligraphy, and libraries remain an excellent location to find unusual information.

Phone apps will be invaluable assistants for all sorts of activities.

And don't forget day trips! Tangible experiences are at the heart of the Catena Society ethos.

Activity suggestions

Here are a few suggestions for activities that can be enjoyed by your group - there are many other possibilities.

Travel

Look at tourist attractions around your location and plan a few day trips. There are also usually a lot of places which wouldn't normally be seen as tourist attractions but might be very energising, such as museums, older churches and shrines, quiet wooded areas, secluded beaches and so on. Try to combine the visit with an understanding of the area you're visiting, and research it before heading off. Fossil hunting can be fun too!

Trips further abroad are certainly also a good idea, and your group might be able to arrange package deals. For more adventurous members, backpacking could be a fun way to experience new places, or even act as a kind of pilgrimage.

The Outdoors

You needn't go far to gain a deeper appreciation for nature - learning camping skills, how to identify local plants and animals and even things like local geology can be interesting. Can you start a campfire in the same way as a medieval person would have?

The Sky Above

Stargazing and astronomy can be two of the most fascinating activities society members can undertake, but the sky has a lot more to offer! Identifying cloud types and weather patterns, learning to use barometers and about how people have interacted with the sky throughout history can be a very rewarding subject. Even normal binoculars will reveal incredible details above us by day and by night.

Fun and Games

From the Great Game of Ur to chess to modern varieties, card and board games have fascinated people of all ages and times. These are also relatively easy to get into and often have deep connections with the culture they emerged from - see how many English words came from poker! Of course there are also many modern games which are well worth experiencing, from tabletop roleplaying games to Catan.

Physical Activity

Ballroom dancing, horse riding, sports, archery, and historical martial arts are just a few of the historically rich physical activities that Society members should try out. Historical martial arts may be of particular interest, given the prominent position such skills hold in the popular imagination, but please check with the Society for important safety guidelines beforehand.

Food and Drink

There are few better ways to experience the lives of people who came before us than to sample their food and drink, just as we do when we visit foreign countries. There are endless varieties of different - and sometimes quite surprising - dishes from every era and culture to delight our modern palates, and most of them are relatively straightforward to make. These can be accompanied by learning a little of the times and cultures which produced them. As your skills develop you may even consider holding banquets for good causes!

Arts and Crafts

The great variety of historical and contemporary arts and crafts affords many opportunities for society members to explore new areas of expression. Sculpture (which would even include shaping cuneiform tablets from air drying clay), painting, wickerwork, knitting, wood carving and many others form an incredible wellspring of inspiration to draw upon.

Spiritual Studies

Spiritual activities are a fundamental part of the Catena Society's list of activities, although groups focusing on outreach may decide it is best to allow members to grow into it.

These would usually take the form of reading books written by the Saints, in particular the Fathers of the Church, such as The City of God by Saint Augustine, Spiritual Combat by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, the Life of Saint Anthony of Egypt, and various works by Saint Thomas Aquinas and the remarkable Franciscan tradition of St Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus. These should be accompanied by traditional or older prayers, litanies - which are ideal for use in a group - and learning Church history.

An interest in the continuous spiritual tradition of the Church should also extend to the liturgy, and members should take the opportunity to visit a traditional Latin mass using the appropriate Missal, ideally a high or sung mass. Missals may also contain morning and evening prayers which members can enjoy either with the group or at their own leisure.

Spiritual studies should further encompass apologetics with a particular focus on the historical, catechisation, eschatology, angelology, memento moris, relics and sacramentals, and topics including discussion of the best ways to practise the virtues in modern society.

Books

Books on philosophy, classical literature, poetry, history, learning other languages and cultures are all typical topics of discussion at Catena Society meetings, and can become great activities in themselves. The choice of literature can be almost anything, naturally, from light romance to science fiction.

Music

Practising both spiritual and secular music and songs from different periods and places down through the ages can be an extraordinary experience, in particular but not limited to Gregorian chant.

Besides internal society activities, group participation in the wider community will bring benefits and perhaps attract new members. Charity drives, fundraising and working to help those less fortunate would be complementary to the Society's aims.