The Baptism and the Flood

TINTORETTO. The Baptism of Christ. 1579-81
Oil on canvas. Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Note the contrast. Note the cataclysm. Note the apocalyptic imagery in Tintoretto's Baptism of Christ, suggesting that this event was not merely a detail in the life of Christ. It was a fulfillment of ages-old prophecy, as we see in this depiction. Consider this destructive imagery in light of its typological significance that relates to the great Deluge of Noah's time. 
 
Agenda for Monday, January 20:

1. No School Today.

Agenda for Tuesday, January 21:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: Mortui Vivos Docent
1. The dead teach the living. 
3. Continue reading and studying Macbeth together. 
1. Reading Journal: Act V
1. How does Lady Macbeth's state of mind change throughout the play, esp/ in Act V?
2. Describe the changes in the relationship of Macbeth to his wife through the second half of the play. 
3. What does the doctor say about Lady Macbeth?
4. How does Macbeth die?
5. Who succeeds Macbeth as king?
4. Finish reading the Omnibus intro on Macbeth:
1. Take notes
5. Review HW:
1. Review the notes and Reading Journals on Macbeth.
2. Study Omnibus intro.
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, January 22:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Quiz: Pronoun Reference 
3. Review Essay Prompts for Macbeth.
1. Craft thesis statements and outlines.
4. Review HW:
1. Review the notes and Reading Journals on Macbeth.
2. Study Thematic Essay Questions.
3. Study for Macbeth Exam!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, January 23:

1. Pray
2. Review Essay Prompts for Macbeth.
1. Craft thesis statements and outlines.
3. Watch Macbeth.
4. Review HW:
1. Review the notes and Reading Journals on Macbeth.
2. Study for Macbeth Exam!
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, January 24:

1. Pray
2. Macbeth Exam
3. Review HW:
1. Be perfect.

Baptismus Christi.

Veronese, Paolo. Baptism of Christ.
1561. Oil on canvas. Venice.

Monday, Janurary 13 is the Feast of the Baptism of Christ. When Jesus comes to be baptized, John says to him, "It is I who should be baptized by you." John asks why. Many continue to do so. Why did Christ need to be baptized? The answer has to with the Old and New Covenant, which are distilled in written form by the Old and New Testaments.  How could Christ redeem those from the Law of Moses? Only because he himself was under the Law. Circumcision. Yes, Christ knew even this as a child. For he was fully human yet without sin, and it was that to save mankind he must pass through man's world in order to, as Matthew says, "fulfill all righteousness." 

Note here the connection of baptism with circumcision.  
Here is another depiction of Christ's baptism. Again, it's clear that artists such as Veronese wish to show that Christ's baptism was an cosmological event. Note the heavens riven in two. Note the humility in the posture of Christ.

Agenda for Monday, January 13:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui. (Matt. 3:17)  
3. Continue reading and studying Macbeth together.
4. Reading Journal: Act I, Macbeth 
5. Review HW:
1. Read Act II of Macbeth.



The Circumcision.
MANTEGNA, Andrea. 
1460-64. Tempera on wood.
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, January 14:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Lesson: Pronoun and Agreement
3. Continue reading and studying Macbeth together. 
4. Review and discuss the Reading Journal on Act I
5. Reading Journal: Act II, Macbeth
6. Review HW:
1. Read Act III of Macbeth.
2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, January 15:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Lesson: Pronoun and Agreement
3. Continue reading and studying Macbeth together. 
4. Review HW:
1. Read Act IV of Macbeth.
2. Study grammar notes on Agreement and Pronoun reference.
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, January 16:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Lesson: Pronoun and Agreement
3. Continue reading and studying Macbeth together. 
4. Review and discuss the Reading Journal on Act I
5. Reading Journal: Acts III-IV, Macbeth
6. Review HW:
1. Read Act V of Macbeth.
2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, January 17:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Lesson: Pronoun and Agreement
3. Continue reading and studying Macbeth together. 
4. Review and discuss the Reading Journal on Act I
5. Reading Journal: Act V, Macbeth
6. Review HW:
1. Review the notes and Reading Journals on Macbeth.
2. Be perfect.

Epiphany, and how the world begins again.

BOSCH, Hieronymus. Epiphany. 1475-80.
Oil on panel. Museum of Art, Philadelphia. 

Monday of this week marks the Feast of Epiphany, the "showing forth" of Christ's divinity, which is celebrated in the West (us) by the recounting the story of the presentation of gifts to child Christ by the Wise Men, and in the East, it is marked by noting the story of the baptism of Christ.  In both the East and the West, Epiphany marks the end of Christmas; as January 5th is the "12th night," there is also a feast marking the last day of the Christmas season of convivia and making merry. Only a fool would accuse the Church of being boring and joyless.  

This semester we begin the world anew, all things starting over, the slate wiped clean. You, having reflected upon your the last year, have resolved to work harder and to do better in school. And I, of course, am glad to hear of your new year's resolutions.

Agenda for Monday, January 6:

1. Too cool for school. No seriously. It's way too cold today.

Agenda for Tuesday, January 7:

1. Too cold again.

Agenda for Wednesday, January 8:

1. Pray for warmth.

Agenda for Thursday, January 9:

1. Pray
2. New Seating Chart for Quarter 3
3. Discuss the "road map" of this next semester
1. The week, the quarter, the semester
2. Books and blog this semester
4. Review Semester 1 Finals:
1. Check your score. See what you missed.
2. Write a brief account of how you could have better prepared for the Final exam.
3. No more than a paragraph in length.
5. Begin reading Macbeth together. 
6. Review HW:
1. Read lines of Macbeth.
2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, January 10:

1. Pray
2. Begin reading Macbeth together. 
3. Review HW:
1. Read the rest of Act I of Macbeth.
2. Be perfect.

On the Blog for Semester 2: A Change of Format

Dear Parents,
I hope this blog has been useful; I hope it has perhaps even been edifying and enjoyable. So far I have used the blog as a record of daily events in the classroom; I wish to keep up this tradition but to change the format. Instead of publishing a new post for each day, I will now publish a new post for each week. So from now on, we will see a week at a glance, so to speak. This will satisfy the requests of some parents who have expressed a desire to see things ahead of time, and it will be less work for me as well.
Pax Vobiscum,
Mr. O'Donnell

Felix sit annus novus

LOTTO, Lorenzo. Nativity. 1523.
Oil on wood. National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Happy New Year. And if you don't know, we are still in the Christmas season, so Merry Christmas. Gaudite! In spite of your disappointment at going back to school, rejoice!

Final Days

BASSANO, Jacopo.  
Adoration of the Shepherds.
1590-91. Oil on canvas.
San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice.

Happy Advent. For our last Advent mediation, consider now the darkness of the world before Christ. Note in "The Adoration of the Shepherds" the contrast brought by the Light that ruptures the heavens and breaks open hearts of even the rustic shepherds. Consider the ancient night, the slumber of a dead world. Consider the distance Bassano portrays from heaven to earth.
For the Latin, make sure you study in these last days.  

Agenda:

1. Pray God to have mercy on you. 
2. Take Finals. 

Week III: Advent Meditation Part II

ALTDORFER, Albrecht. Nativity.
c. 1513. Linden panel, 36 x 26 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Yesterday we recalled the story of Moses and the golden calf at Sinai. How the people of Israel lost faith because of their impatience. And how many people still do this today and cannot wait for Christ to come back down the mountain of heaven. Let us today consider another aspect to that story. When Moses did descend the mountain and found the Israel breaking the first commandment he so recently received from God, broke the commandments themselves, almost as an object lesson for mankind. But what was it that he carried? Was it not the word of God? Whether or not they knew it, the Israelites were awaiting the word of God from Moses. But in Advent we wait for the Word of God Himself, who is Christ, waiting for his coming now in Christmas and for his return at the end of all things.    
 
Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Review the end books of The Ballad of the White Horse. 
3. Study for Finals!
4. Review HW:
1. Study for Oral Exam for Monday!  
1. Recall keys ideas from all books thus far
2. Think of the common themes
2. Review and study notes on The Ballad:
1. Check the Essay Prompts for the Final
3. Be good.