Angeli annutat ad Mariam. Ave Maria.

BOTTICELLI, Sandro.  Cestello Annunciation.
1489. Tempera on panel. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Advent Meditation, day twelve: in this stunning image, one cannot help but be struck with the immediate and obvious contrast in forms. What suggests this heraldry? Consider today the the posture of Gabriel. Cur? The angel is lower than the woman. Angelus annutat Maria. What a glorious irony that this celestial being who stands daily for the throne of the Almighty God humbles himself in front of what will soon be the Mother of God. Consider this Advent our own humility. 

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Lecture on Book VI-VIII of Ballad of the White Horse  
1. Take notes
3. 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.

Ecce ancilla domini.

BORDONE, Paris. Annunciation.
1555. Oil on canvas. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena.

Advent Meditation, day eleven: what does it mean for a word to change our lives? Consider the word of the angel to Mary. Consider the interruption it bears, its effect shown in her startled gesture. Consider the fire and explosion in the heavens as Gabriel descends. How have we also been interrupted, and are able to know, as Mary did, how recognize the goodness of such a portent?  
In Latin today, we continue our journey through dark labyrinth of pronouns; again, make sure keep track of your thread.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Reading Journal (12/11): Semester 1 Books
1. What are the books we've read the semester? Briefly summarize each book (2-5 sentences). 
2. List 3 important characters from each book. Why are they important? 
3. What are 2 common themes that we see throughout these works? 
4. List at least 2 "turning points" the history of Christian civilization we find in these works. Explain.
3. Lecture on Book IV-V of Ballad of the White Horse  
1. Take notes
4. Review HW:
1. Review and study notes on The Ballad
2. Be good.

Maria, Dominus tecum.

BALDOVINETTI, Alessio. Annunciation.
1447. Tempera on wood.
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Advent meditation, day ten: consider today's depiction of the annunciation. Consider the haste. Angeli currit. What does this rushing haste suggest? Consider, again, God's glory in the light that cuts through at oblique angles. Consider the dies serena. Consider how all these things work to glorify God?

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Lecture on Book VI-VIII of Ballad of the White Horse  
1. Take notes
3. Review HW:
1. Review and study notes on The Ballad
2. Be good.

Second Week of Advent: ad augustum per angustum

ANGELICO, Fra. The Annunciation. 1430-32.
Tempera on wood. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Advent meditation, day 9: consider the lux in Fra Angelico's Annunciation. Consider the divine light piercing through the garden and portico. Consider also Mary's figure as almost in pain. Consider how such news, such an experience, such a piercing revelation might bring the death of the Old Mary and birth of the New Mary.
It is also fitting for this season to meditate on the Incarnation. ad augustum per angustum. That is, "To honor through narrowness (being pressed)." When we think of the "scandal" of the gospel or the complete revolution of values for the world of classical antiquity, we often think of Christ's sermon on the mount or of his passion and sacrificial death. But the Christian revolution of classical values really begins with the Incarnation. It is truly a mystery that God became man. But it is also an offense that Omnipotence Itself pours out Its Strength into the limited, frail frame of a Baby. This offends every worldview where might makes right, every system that bases the Good on power. Every other set of values sees weakness as bad and strength as good. (This is why Feminism and Marxism is so flawed.) But the Christian story shows from its inception that God cares about the weak and lowly things. Attend to Mary's Magnificat. Christ is glorified, then, not because he comes as the strongest, most powerful thing in the universe; rather, Christ attains glory by his descent into the narrow limits of humanity's pressed being. For in this we see that out of the mouth of babe's Thou hast ordained praise. 

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Latin Proverb: Ad augustum per angustum
1. Literally: "To glory through narrowness." Augustum means "straits." Christ took on the definite form of a man and walked through the straits of human woe and the limits of hunger, temptation, and need, yet all the while without falling into sin.  
3. BWH Project: 
1. Presentations on a passage from The Ballad of the White Horse
4. Lecture on Book IV-V of Ballad of the White Horse  
1. Take notes
5. Review HW:
1. Review and study notes on The Ballad
2. Be good.