St. Patrick and Week 2 of Lent

As we continue to the second week of Lent, let us consider Jesus last response to Satan. When Satan takes Jesus to a very high mountain and tempts Jesus to worship him, Jesus answers with another appropriate allusion to the Law: "It is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10b). Jesus isn't just drawing from the "Old Testament" at random. He is citing the very words to Israel in the wilderness. But it is not the Law of Exodus but of Deuteronomy, the "Second Law," given to the children of the generation who perished in the desert because of their sins. Jesus rebukes the devil with the words received by a New Israel, as they are about to baptized and conquer the land. 
And as it regards serving the LORD and worshiping Him only, it is right to think of St. Patrick, at fitting example of one who feared not men but God, whose own worship and obedience transformed not merely the Emerald Isle but perhaps the history of the Western world itself, perhaps even you and me. In spite of the right somber reflection of Lent, it is still right to celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick today. Happy St. Patty's Day!       

Agenda for Monday, March 17:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: scriptum est Dominum Deum tuum adorabis et illi soli servies. Here it is in English: "It is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve." - Matt. 4:10b
3. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales   
1. Finish reviewing Reading Journal: The Knight's Tale
1. How doth "The Knight's Tale" mock the classical world of Ancient Greece?
2. How doth "The Knight's Tale" mock courtly love and romance?
3. What is the moral of the story? How does this story teach virtue?
4. Review HW:
1. Study notes on "The Prologue" and "The Knight's Tale" of Canterbury Tales.  
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz Wednesday (3/19). 
3. Canterbury Tales Exam on Friday (3/21)
4. Canterbury Tales Memorization (4/2)
5. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, March 18:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Notes: Pronoun and Noun Case 
1. Take notes
3. Lecture on Faery Tales, Part I: The Shape of Faery
1. Students take notes by answering the following questions:
1. Explain the narrative structure and character types in faery tales?
2. What are some of the moral lessons taught through faery tales?
3. Why is the happy ending so important?
4. How and why are faery tales more "Christian" than tragedy?
2. Elements of Faery: 
1. Journey
2. Enchantment
3. Encounter
4. Evil Judged (Witch Dies)
5. Happy Ending
4. Review HW:
1. Study notes on "The Prologue" and "The Knight's Tale" of Canterbury Tales.  
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz Wednesday (3/19). 
3. Canterbury Tales Exam on Friday (3/21)
4. Canterbury Tales Memorization (4/2) 
5. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, March 19:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Quiz: Pronoun Case 
3. Watch "Medieval Masterpieces: Chaucer and the Beauty of Books"
4. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
1. Review The Knight's Tale together and take notes. 
5. Review HW:
1. Study notes on "The Prologue" and "The Knight's Tale" of Canterbury Tales.  
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz Wednesday (3/26).
3. Canterbury Tales Exam on Friday (3/21)
4. Canterbury Tales Memorization (4/2)
5. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, March 20:

1. Pray
2. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
3. Lecture on Faery Tales, Part I: The Shape of Faery
1. Students take notes by answering the following questions:
1. Explain the narrative structure and character types in faery tales?
2. What are some of the moral lessons taught through faery tales?
3. Why is the happy ending so important?
4. How and why are faery tales more "Christian" than tragedy?
2. Elements of Faery: 
1. Journey
2. Enchantment
3. Encounter
4. Evil Judged (Witch Dies)
5. Happy Ending
4. Review HW:
1. Study notes on "The Prologue" and "The Knight's Tale" of Canterbury Tales.  
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz Wednesday (3/26). 
3. Canterbury Tales Exam on Friday (3/21)
4. Canterbury Tales Memorization (4/2)
5. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, March 21:

1. Pray
2. Canterbury Tales Exam
3. Review HW:
1. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz Wednesday (3/26). 
2. Canterbury Tales Memorization (4/2)
3. Be perfect.

Et ne nos inducas tentationem.

Juan De Flandes. The Temptation of Christ.
1500. Oil on panel. National Gallery of Art, WA.

"And lead us not into temptation." We pray this almost every day. But what does it mean? Consider the Lenten season we are in. Consider the fact that Christ was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan. The writer of Hebrews explains one of the reasons and benefits for Christ's own temptation: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). In other words, we pray this because man is weak. We pray this because Adam (literally, "man" in Hebrew) has failed. But Christ did not. And so we also call upon Him, the author and finisher of our faith, for help.  

Agenda for Monday, March 10:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: scriptum est non temptabis Dominum Deum tuum. Here it is in English: "It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." - Matt. 4:7
3. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales   
1. Reading Check Quiz: The Knight's Tale
1. What is the "Knight's Tale" about?
2. Explain the role of "Chance" in this tale?
4. Review HW:
1. Finish reading "The Knight's Tale" of Canterbury Tale
2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, March 11:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Notes: Pronoun and Noun Case 
1. Take notes
3. Hand back graded essays:
1. Review and discuss
2. Revisions due at Friday (3/14)
4. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales  
5. Review HW:
1. Sir Gawain Revisions (3/14)
2. Read The Knight's Tale of Canterbury Tales
3. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, March 12:

1. Pray
2. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
1. Review The Knight's Tale together and take notes. 
3. Review HW:
1. Sir Gawain Revisions (3/14)
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
3. Binder Check (3/14)
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, March 13:

1. Pray
2. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
3. Reading Journal (3/13): The Knight's Tale
4. What is the setting of the Knight's story?
5. What change has Chaucer given to these characters in the Knight's tale?
6. How doth "The Knight's Tale" mock the classical world of Ancient Greece?
7. How doth "The Knight's Tale" mock courtly love and romance?
8. What is the moral of the story? How does this story teach virtue?
9. Review HW:
1. Sir Gawain Revisions (3/14)
2. Binder Check (3/14)
3. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, March 14:

1. Pray
2. Binder Check
3. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
1.  Finish discussing and taking notes on "The Knight's Tale"
4. Review HW:
1. Study notes and reading journal on "The Knight's Tale" 
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
3. Be perfect.

Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent

REMBRANDT. The Return of the Prodigal Son.
1669. Oil on canvas. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Today is a Ash Wednesday, which marks the day of corporate repentance for sins and the beginning of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer. Typically we would all have a black ash on our foreheads, the outward sign of our inward contrition, as in the ancient times. Consider, for instance, Rembrandt's depiction of the broken and contrite heart of the Prodigal Son, who returned in dust to his father.
Some of us who might not be familiar with the reasons for Lent, would do well to remember that the Church calendar follows the life of Christ. Christ engaged in the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting, and we see this especially at the start of his ministry. Christ fasted for 40 days in the wilderness and resisted the temptations of the devil. He became for us the true Israel, who did not fail in the wilderness but came "out of Egypt," through baptism at the Jordan, to became the better Moses and the true Joshua who can lead us into the Promise Land of salvation. We fast because Christ himself fasted. Lent lasts for 40 days because Christ was in the wilderness for 40 days. This season of Lent prepares us for the season of Easter, and the 40 days leads to Holy Week where we enter into Christ's Passion. For more on Lent, go here.

Agenda for Monday, March 3:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: scriptum est non in pane solo vivet homo sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. Here it is in English: "It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." - Matthew 4:3
3. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales  
4. Review HW:
1. Finish reading the Prologue of Canterbury Tales (3/5)
2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, March 4:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Notes: Pronoun and Noun Case 
1. Take notes
3. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales  
4. Review HW:
1. Finish reading the Prologue of Canterbury Tales (3/5)
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, March 5:

1. Pray
2. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
1. Review the Pologue together and take notes. 
2. Reading Journal: the Prologue 
3. Review HW:
1. Finish reading the Prologue of Canterbury Tales (3/5)
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, March 6:

1. Pray
2. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
1. Reading Journal: the Prologue 
3. Review HW:
1. Finish reading the Prologue of Canterbury Tales (3/5)
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, March 7:

1. Pray
2. Continue reading and studying Canterbury Tales
1. Reading Journal: the Prologue 
3. Review HW:
1. Finish reading the Prologue of Canterbury Tales (3/5)
2. Study Grammar on Cases of Pronouns and Nouns. Quiz next week. 
3. Be perfect.

The Continence of Christ and Continence of Pagans

Continence of Scipio. Nicolas-Guy Brenet.
Oil on canvas. 1788.

One week from now week from now it will be Lent. Just as the preparatory season of Advent precedes the celebration of Christmas, so the preparatory season of Lent precedes the celebration of Easter. In light of this, we should take this weeks prior to Lent seriously, as a time to take inventory of our souls. What are the physical things we will abstain from? How shall we practice continence? What spiritual disciplines shall we focus on?
Today, consider the Continence of Scipio in contrast to the continence of Christ. Scipio refused the spoils of war and Christ refused spoils of the devil. But the tone is most likely different. Scipio's continence was probably out of contempt (resentiment?) for the Carthaginian women taken in last battle of the second Punic War. But Christ does not condemn matter. Christ's continence seems more out of love for bread that he does not accept the devil's. Christ's continence is not for its own sake but is full of worship for God the Father.

Agenda for Monday, February 24:

1. Pray
2. Finish reading the Omnibus intro to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
3. Reading Journal: Gawain & Manliness
1. What is manliness according to the Scripture? 
2. How does the Gawain poet define manliness? 
3. Compare and contrast manliness in Macbeth and Sir Gawain. 
4. Compare and contrast the story structure in in Macbeth and Sir Gawain. 
4. Review HW:
1. Study for Sir Gawain Exam Wednesday! (2/26)
2. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz tomorrow!
3. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/27)
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, February 25:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: Sed vinum novum in utres novos mittendum est et utraque conservantur. Et nemo bibens vetus statim vult novum dicit enim vetus melius est. Lucas V:xxxviii
1. "But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. And no man drinking old, hath presently a mind to new: for he saith, The old is better." - Luke 5:38
3. Grammar Quiz: Pronoun Reference 23-4
1. Collect, grade and discuss
4. Study for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Exam
5. Review HW:
1. Study for Sir Gawain Exam Wednesday! (2/26)
2. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz tomorrow!
3. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/27)
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, February 26:

1. Pray
2. Study for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Exam
3. Review HW:
1. Study for Sir Gawain Exam Wednesday! (2/26)
2. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz tomorrow!
3. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/27)
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, February 27:

1. Pray
2. Present Gawain Poetry Projects 
3. Grammar Notes on Bedford 24. 
4. Review HW:
1. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, February 28:

1. Pray
2. Begin Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regnum Britaniae 
3. Review HW:
1. Be perfect.

Christ Among the Doctors

DÜRER, Albrecht. Christ Among the Doctors.
1506. Oil on panel. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

We are in ordinary time now, but as we approach the season of Lent on the Church Calendar, we ought not neglect our preparation for Pascha. How do we this? We do this by meditating on The Life that gives life to our calendar, we are careful not to overlook the seemingly innocuous events in the Christ's life, before he enters into Jerusalem.
Last week, we celebrated not the super bowl but something much more important: the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple. After Christ was presented and when he grown as a boy, he mistakenly is left behind during a trip to Jerusalem. He is found by his frantic parents in "his father's house" and being "about his father's business." This week let us recall this strange and profound scene: as they find him, "he said to them: 'How is it that you sought me?' did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?" The boy Jesus is not without a deep sense of irony. Here, dialoging with the priest and "doctors" on theological matters, the "fairest Lord Jesus" is seen in striking contrast to the ugliness of the pharisees, who are depicted, by Durer, as monsters.

Agenda for Monday, February 17:

1. Pray
2. Latin for the Week: Momento Mori.
1. "Remember you're gonna die." An aphoristic fragment from the middle ages consistent with the Biblical wisdom to number our days. 
3. Macbeth Presentations
4. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
5. Review HW:
1. Finish Sir Gawain. Quiz Wednesday! (2/19)
2. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz tomorrow!
3. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/25)
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, February 18:

1. Pray
2. Finish Macbeth Presentations
3. Grammar Quiz: Pronoun Reference 23-1
1. Collect, grade and discuss
4. Read and discuss Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
5. Reading Journal: Gawain and Virtue
6. Review HW:
1. Finish Sir Gawain. Quiz Wednesday! (2/19)
2. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/25)
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, February 19:

1. Pray
2. Reading Check Quiz: Sir Gawain to the end
1. Discuss and discuss
3. Work on Gawain Poetry Projects
4. Review HW:
1. Study Gawain Notes and Reading Journals
2. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/25)
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, February 20:

1. Pray
2. Read and discuss Sir Gawain and the Green Knight! 
3. Discuss essay topics for Gawain
4. Review HW:
1. Study Gawain Notes and Reading Journals
2. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/20)
3. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, February 21:

1. Pray
2. Sir Gawain Exam
3. Discuss essay prompts
4. Review HW:
1. Study Gawain Notes and Reading Journals and prepare for essay next week!
2. Gawain Poetry Projects! (Due 2/20)
3. Be perfect.

Week The Feast of Saint Valentine

Bassano, Jacopo. St Valentine Baptizing St Lucilla.
1575. Oil on canvas. Museo Civico, Bassano del Grappa

Happy St. Valentine's Day! Here Bassano shows the influence and beneficent effect of that mysterious figure, Valentinus. He takes his name from the Latin adjective valens, meaning "strong, effective, or influential." Although there is little known about the man, we honor his martyrdom: "The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those "...whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." One story, that he married Christians during a time of Roman persecution, influenced the holiday, which flourished in the days of Chaucer, during the chivalric days of the courtly love of the Middle Ages. 

Agenda for Monday, February 10:

1. Pray
2. Latin for the Week: Si vis amari ama.
1. "If you want to be loved, love." - Seneca the Elder."
3. Work on Revisions and Oral Presentations of Macbeth Essays
4. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
5. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 22-79. Quiz tomorrow! (2/11)
2. Macbeth Presentations (2/14)
3. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, February 11:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Quiz: Pronoun Reference 23-1
3. Reading Check Quiz: Stanzas 22-79, Sir Gawain
4. Collect, grade and discuss
5. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
6. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 80-the end. Quiz next week.  
2. Macbeth Presentations (2/14)
3. Study Grammar Notes. Quiz next week!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, February 12:

1. Pray
2. Go to Shakespeare Tavern for Much Ado About Nothing!
3. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 80-the end. Quiz next week.
2. Macbeth Presentations (2/14)
3. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, February 13:

1. Pray
2. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
3. Work on Macbeth Presentations
4. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 80-the end. Quiz next week.
2. Macbeth Presentations (2/14)
3. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, February 14:

1. Pray
2. Macbeth Presentations
3. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
4. Review HW:
1. Finish Sir Gawain. Quiz Tuesday! (2/18)
2. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
3. Be perfect.

Nunc Dimittis

BELLINI, Giovanni. Presentation at the Temple
1460-64. Tempera on wood. Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. The Church saw fit to highlight this day of Christ's life for many reasons. For one, it underscores the reality that Christ was under "the Law", and not merely any law. Jesus lived a perfect life within the impossible constraints of the Hebraic Law.

The other reason why this episode of Christ's Presentation in the Temple is significant is the two characters that are highlighted in regards to this scene.

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace: 
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum 
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace;
Because my eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples:
A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.

Notice, however, the grammar of the Latin, compared to that of the English. Notice the mood of the verb "dismiss." What is significant about this? Why does he state it in this manner? Such is the wisdom and profound beauty of this scene. Notice here that Rembrandt places himself within the drama. Why does he do this?

Agenda for Monday, February 3:

1. Pray
2. Latin for the Week: Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
1. "A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." - Luke II: 29-32
3. Grammar Ex: Pronoun Reference
4. Read the Tragedy of Saul: I Sam. 9-31
1. Take notes comparing to Macbeth!
5. Begin Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
6. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 1-21. (Quiz tomorrow!)
2. Macbeth Presentations (2/12)
1. Read I Samuel
3. Study Grammar Notes. Quiz on Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, February 4:

1. Pray
2. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
1. Read intro in Omnibus
2. Read Sir Gawain together
3. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 22-79. Quiz next week.  
2. Macbeth Presentations (2/12)
3. Study Grammar Notes. Quiz next week!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday, February 5:

1. Pray
2. Watch Macbeth
3. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 22-79. Quiz next week.
2. Macbeth Presentations(2/12)
3. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Thursday, February 6:

1. Pray
2. Grammar Quiz: Pronoun Reference
3. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
4. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 22-79. Quiz next week.
2. Macbeth Presentations(2/12)
3. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Friday, February 7:

1. Pray
2. Work on Revisions and Oral Presentations of Macbeth Essays
3. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
4. Review HW:
1. Read Sir Gawain Stanzas 22-79. Quiz next week.
2. Macbeth Presentations(2/12)
3. Study Grammar Notes on Pronoun Reference. Quiz next Tuesday!
4. Be perfect.