All times Eastern

SUNDAY, OCT. 22

Luigi Cherubini’s

Solemn Mass in G Major

EWTN, 1:30 p.m.

Cherubini (1760-1842) composed this Mass for the 1814 coronation of Louis XVIII of France.

SUNDAY, OCT. 22

The Monastery

The Learning Channel, 10 p.m.

In this first of five hour-long episodes, five men stay at the Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiu, N.M. The five — a recovering alcoholic, an ex-con, an Iraq war veteran, “a cynic” and a man  considering becoming an Episcopal clergyman — join the monks in following the Rule of St. Benedict. They express hope that their lives will change.

MONDAY, OCT. 23

Engineering an Empire: Greece

History Channel, 9 p.m.

This show examines the ancient Greeks’ spectacular engineering feats such as the mile-long Tunnel of Samos, dug through limestone.

MONDAY, OCT. 23

Beaux Arts at 50

PBS, 10 p.m.

In July 2005, pianist Menahem Pressler and his friends in the Beaux Arts Trio played three of

Beethoven’s most beloved trios as they reprised their debut together back in July 1955 at the Berkshire Music Festival.

OCT. 25, NOV. 1

Secrets of the Dead: Catastrophe!

PBS, 8 p.m.

Not the usual “disaster” show, this episode features scientists who speculate that European and world history were altered around A.D. 535 by a South Seas volcanic cataclysm so big that it changed Earth’s weather and ushered in drought, famine, plague and resultant social and political chaos in the so-called Dark Ages.

FRIDAY, OCT. 27

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

ABC, 8 p.m.

This 40th anniversary airing of “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz’s animated classic includes a bonus: A cartoon in which Linus runs for class president.

SATURDAY, OCT. 28

An Empire Conquered

EWTN, 8 p.m.

Kaisers, czars and many an emperor and dictator have tried to copy the worldly “glory” of the Caesars’ Rome. They never saw that far mightier than that cruel empire were the followers of Christ, who conquered it with martyrdom, graces and love.

SATURDAY, OCT. 28

Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

Familyland TV, 11:45 p.m.

War is a punishment for sin, said Our Lady of Fatima. War’s horrors are sadly evident in this documentary, the second in the seven-part “Why We Fight” series created under the War Department in World War II by Catholic director Frank Capra (1897-1991), maker of classics such as Lost Horizon, You Can’t Take It with You and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Dan Engler writes from

Santa Barbara, California.