Meditations on Constantine the Great, St. Helena, Apostolus Sanctus Paulus, and other things.

UNKNOWN MASTER, German
Darmstadt Altarpiece: Constantine and His Mother Helena
Venerating the True Cross.
207x 109 cm. Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Last week marked the annual celebration of a a man who is known for making some of the greatest advances in civil rights. But last week also marked the celebration of two (much, much more important) figures, whose influence have had a much greater impact not merely on American society or even Western civilization at large but also upon the entire world. The effect was an earthquake that shook every aspect of antiquity in the already fading twilight of the pagan Roman empire. It began, as all truly great things do--with a mother. And the fullness was realized in her son. The two people were Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helena. The feast day was yesterday, though few us knew or probably even cared.

Aside from Constantine, another figure whose affect on the world was even greater. You might be tempted to say of this depiction of St. Paul, "Wow, look at the existential features in this portrait, the cloven beard, the elongation of the face, limbs, and digits--as if time we stretching him gaunt and thin." But you would be wrong to say all that. For existentialism did not exist in the 17th century. This is El Greco. Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Paul.


Remember the Roman cognomen "Paulus"? It means small. Before his conversion to "Paul," we hear of a proud and zealous man named Saul, which means big. After he is confronted by the Lord, what was once "big" is now made "small," just God raises the valleys and puts down the mountains. Consider this aspect of St. Paul's life: his conversion, which is a feast day remember on Jan. 25. In the painting, note the emphasis on Saul's blindness. Note Caravaggio's use of light. Note his ability to create the "slow-motion" depiction of the event. Note the pleading of heaven: "Saule, Saule quid me persequeris." This language here is significant. Christ is establishes the doctrine of the Church as the mystical reality of Christ's body, not merely a metaphor. A reality. Not merely a "picture" of Jesus, but Jesus himself; "for as much as you have done it to the least of these, you've done it to me," says Christ.

GRECO, El. Apostle St Paul. 1610-14
Oil on canvas. Museo de El Greco, Toledo

CARAVAGGIO. The Conversion of St. Paul.
1600. Oil on cypress wood.
Odescalchi Balbi Collection, Rome.

Agenda for Monday, January 27:

1. Pray
2. Latin for the Week: Ego sum Jesus, quem tu persequeris. (Actus 9:5)
1. "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest."
3. Grammar Ex: Pronoun Reference
4. Read the Tragedy of Saul: I Sam. 9-31
5. Begin Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
6. Review HW:
1. Study Grammar Notes. Quiz on Thursday!
2. Be perfect.

Agenda for Tuesday, January 28:

1. Pray
2. Read the Tragedy of Saul: I Sam. 9-31 
3. Correct Grammar Ex. from yesterday. 
4. Hand back Macbeth Essays:
1. Review and discuss. 
2. Revise and turn in essays Friday. 
3. Oral Presentations comparing the life of Saul to Macbeth due February 12.
5. Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!
6. Review HW:
1. Macbeth Essay Revisions (2/3)
2. Macbeth Presentations(2/12)
3. Study Grammar Notes. Quiz on Thursday!
4. Be perfect.

Agenda for Wednesday& Thursday, January 29-30:

1. SNOW DAY!
2. Inclement Driving Conditions.

Agenda for Friday, January 31:

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 1-21. (Quiz Tuesday!)
2. Macbeth Essay Revisions (2/3)
3. Macbeth Presentations(2/12)
4. Read Sir Gawain
5. Be perfect.

 

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!