Merry Christmas

ANDREA DEL SARTO. Holy Family (Barberini).
1528. Oil on wood. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.

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. Pater noster
2. Review for the Final:
1. Take notes on grammar for Cap IV
3. Review HW:
1. Study grammar concepts for Cap III & Cap IV for the Final.

Angeli annutat ad Maria. 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. Pater noster
2. Finish reading Capitulum IV 
3. Review for the final:
1. Take notes on grammar for Cap IV
4. Review HW:
1. Study grammar concepts for Cap III & Cap IV for the Final.

Nolite timere ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum quod erit omni populo.

BASSANO, Jacopo.  
The Annunciation to the Shepherds.
1533. Oil on canvas.
Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England.

Advent Meditation, week three, day 15: In this season of Advent, we often only consider the annunciation to Mary. But in truth there are many annunciations. Consider Bassano's depiction of the annunciation to that ancient class of people, who stand for all the poets of the world. What does this say about the revelation of God? Consider the "evangelizo" and how that changes our world too.
In Latin today, we are reviewing for the impending judgment of the Final. 

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Vocab Quiz: Cap IV
3. Review for the final by going over the grammar
4. Correct and review Pensum A of Cap III
5. Do #2, 8, 10 of Pensum C of Cap III
6. Read Capitulum IV
7. Review HW:
1. Study grammar concepts for Cap III & Cap IV for the Final

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. Pater noster
2. Lecture on Cap III Grammar
3. Review HW:
1. Study grammar concepts for Cap III & IV for the Final.

Silva Praenominis

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. Pater noster
2. Review for the Final.
   
3. Review HW:
1. Study words for Chap IV. 
2. Study words and concepts for Cap III and IV. It's what's on the Final.

Second Week of Advent

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. 
In Latin today, we will enter back into the labyrinth of pronouns; again, make sure keep track of your thread.

Agenda:

1. Prayer
2. Finish Pensum A for Cap III
3. Finish posters / charts for Latin.  
4. Review HW:
1. Study grammar notes for Caps III & IV for Final
2. Study words Chapter 4. Quiz on Friday (12/14).

Mundum olim erat obscura.

BAROCCI, Federico Fiori. Annunciation.
1582-84. Oil on canvas. Pinacoteca, Vatican.

Yes. It's true. The world was once dark. Advent meditation, day five: consider the contrast of light and dark in Barocci's "Annunciation" and this should of course remind us of the primordial darkness before the light of Christ, through Mary, broke open ancient night of a fallen world.

Agenda:

1. Prayer
2. Study a bit
3. Vocab Quiz: Cap III
4. Get Lingua Latina Books:
1. Do Pensum A of Cap II
5. Review HW:
1. Study Cap IV.
2. Be good.

Ave Maria Gratia Plena

ANDREA DEL SARTO. The Annunciation. 1512-13.
Oil on wood. Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence.

Advent meditation, day three. Consider Del Sarto's background; consider the contrasts of turbulence and peace, the strange arches of heaven breaking up the distance of all the world. 
In Latin today, we will have arts and crafts...seriously, though, to review and utilize all year. We need our charts. The land of Latin requires a map, in fact, many charts. 

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Project Poster Help:
1. Noun Cases
2. Verbs
3. Adjective
3. Get you chant on with "The Endless Noun Ending Song"
4. Study
5. Review HW:
1. Study words for Chapter 10. Quiz on Block Day (12/6).

Ave Maria

ALLORI, Alessandro. Annunciation. 1603.
Oil on canvas. Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence.

Advent meditation, day two: consider Allori's depiction of the divine interruption by Gabriel and the humble response of Mary. In this painting we are reminded of Mary's beautiful submission to the Divine calling on her life.
In Latin today, after our quiz, we will continue our study of nouns in the ablative case, generally known as the case of separation.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Study for five minutes
3. Read Cap III together.
4. Review HW:
1. Study words Cap III. Quiz on Wednesday (12/5).

Adventus Laetus.

ANDREA DEL SARTO. Annunciation.
1528. Oil on wood. Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence.

Yesterday marked the beginning of the season of Advent, the new year of the Church calendar, that season of dark that precedes the light, that season of waiting of the LORD, that season of following the star to Christ. In Latin today, we enter back into the labyrinth of nouns; make sure keep track of your thread.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Study and make up other work.
3. Review HW:
1. Study words for Cap III. Quiz on Wednesday (12/3).

Into the wilds of Lingua Latina.

ANDREA DEL SARTO.  
Staints Michael and 
John Gualbert.
1528. Tempera on wood.
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

The past few weeks, we've studied history and now we're back to the nitty-gritty of Latin grammar. We must mov at a quickened pace in the weeks to come. Winter is coming on. From this point on, we shall continue our Latin lessons without interruption for the rest of the semester.
   
Agenda:

1. Pray the Pater noster
1. NOTE: Put away iPads after bell rings.
2. Study for a bit. 
3. Cap IX Grammar Quiz
4. Remember our greetings and intros in Latin. This is what we can say to each other: 
1. Salvete, discipuli! (says the the teacher to the students, whose faces are happy and shining with enthusiasm to learn, without irony in their countenances or weakness in their bones.)
2. Salve, Magister! (says the the students to the teacher, whose heart is warmed with the thought that his life is not wasted in service to unappreciative and apathetic youths).
3. Quid agis? (Literally "What are you doing?" but figuratively, "What's up, holmes?" or "What's the word, yo?")
4. Sum...bene (well), tristis (sorrowful), optime (great), iratus (angry), fessus (tired), laetus (happy).
5. Valete, discipuli. (says the teacher to the students as they leave)
6. Vale, magister. (says students to the teacher as they leave)
5. Do Pensum C of Cap 2 
6. Read together: Cap III of Lingua Latina
7. Review HW: 
1. Study for Cap III vocab Quiz next week.
2. Be perfect.

Capitulum II

Cano, Alonso. Saint John the 
Evangelist's Vision of Jerusalem.
1636-37. Oil on canvas.
Wallace Collection, London.

Today we are reviewing the last of the grammar notes for Chapter 2. In addition to this, we need to thank God for Latin.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Finish Cap II Grammar Lecture:
1. Possessives
3. Correct, discuss, and grade Pensum A pro Cap II. 
4. Review HW:
1. Study Grammar notes for Cap II. 
2. Study words for Cap III.
3. Be perfect.

Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras, hoc opus, hic labor est.

LOO, Carle van. Aeneas Carrying Anchises.
1729. Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

It is easy to get into hell, says the Sybil to Aeneas. The trick is coming back out again. "But to recall one's steps, and to up above to the air, that is the task, that the work." Surely, you must understand this by now. It is easy to begin Latin, but trick is being able to finish.   

Agenda:

1. Pray
   
2. Lecture on Grammar for Cap II:
1. Gender and Genitive
2. Interrogatives
3. Possessives
3. Correct Pensum A of Cap II
4. Review HW: 
1. Study notes on grammar for Cap II.
2. Study Cap III vocabulary. Quiz next week.

Sequitur patrem, non passibus aequis.

BAROCCI, Federico Fiori. Aeneas' Flight from Troy.
1598. Oil on canvas. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Welcome back. Happy belated Thanksgiving. I hope that you all have had some time, even leisure to consider how blessed you really are. And hopefully you had the ability to also include the language of Latin in your gratitude. 
Well, today we are back at it. We still have one more presentation to hear on Coriolanus. In the future, we shall, like Aeneas, make haste toward the end of the first semester.
 
Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Announcements: 
1. This week at glance.
2. End of the Semester.
3. Finish Coriolanus Projects
4. Work on / finish Pensum A of Cap II.
5. Hand back work and quizzes. 
6. Study words for Cap III. 
7. Review HW: 
1. Study Cap III vocabulary. Quiz next week.  

Coriolanus Project...et convivium.

Why is it significant that a consul must have the "voices of the people" of Rome? Why did Shakespeare focus his attentions on the life of a relatively obscure Roman? What are we to learn from his play?  Each group has focused on Shakespeare's treatment of Coriolanus, and today you are all presenting the answers to such questions. Such an assignment enriches and broadens our understanding of Rome, what it means to a Roman, and the influence and changes effected by the great men (and women) of Rome.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Correct Lessons 2 & 3 in Latin for Americans.
3. Make-up work & Making corrections for graded work.
4. Coriolanus Project Presentations
1. Turn in your papers too! (This is a separate grade.)
5. Review HW:
1. Finish Capitulum II Pensum A. (Use the handouts that I gave you.)
2. Study words for Cap III.

Cap II: Familia Romana

CAMPI. St Matthew and the Angel. 1588.
Oil on canvas. San Francesco d'Assisi, Pavia.

This week we are continuing our studies of the familia Romana, looking into the structure of the family and how a family of Rome is comprised not merely mother, father, and children but also of slaves. Today you are continuing your work on Chapter 2 of Lingua Latina. Remember my admonition from last time: use the time I give you wisely, and work as unto the Lord.  

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Chapter II of Lingua Latina:
1. Do Pensum A
2. Do Pensum B
3. Use the text. Grab it from the shelf. The "Pensa" handout is provided for you.
3. Work on Coriolanus Project. 
4. Review HW:
1. Coriolanus Project.

In omni disciplina infirma est artis praeceptio sine summa adsiduitate exercitationis.

CARAVAGGIO. St Francis in Meditation. 1606.
Oil on canvas. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.

"In every discipline," writes Cicero, "artistic theory is of little avail without unremitting exercise, but especially in mnemonics theory is almost valueless unless made good by industry, devotion, toil, and care." This is the case for all who want to do great things. Remember what Virgil says, that we attain the stars per aspera. This is true in football, for instance; without the constant drills and exercises there would be no genius players. So think on this as we proceed today. Consider also, Caravaggio's "St. Francis," the devotion we find in his gaze and posture, the torn and tattered robes, which speak of his constant attendance to his Christian duties. 

Agenda:

1. Pray.
2. Finish Vocab Quiz on Chapter II: add endings for numbers 12-19 and numbers 25-28.
3. Lingua Latina:
1. Read Capitulum II together.
4. Review HW: 
1. Coriolanus Project.

Ora et labora...secula secularum.

Work. Work. Work. And also, it is my birthday.
 
Agenda:

1. Pater noster 
2. Study for a bit.
3. Chapter 2 Vocab Quiz
4. Continue to work in groups on Coriolanus Project
5. Review HW:
1. Study vocabula pro Cap III. 
2. Work on the Coriolanus Project.

ORA ET LABORA.

CARAVAGGIO. St Jerome (detail). 1606.
Oil on canvas. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Ora et labora. This is our objective this week (and next), for we have much to cover before the Thanksgiving break. Though it would not be a bad thing if this monkish refrain were our motto and practice all the time. Today we are also focusing on your research projects. I hope to see good presentations, so use your time well and wisely. Be productive. After all, you live, like the monks of old, orare et laborare. That is, "To pray and to work."

Agenda:

1. Pater noster 
2. Study for a bit.
3. Chapter 1 Grammar Quiz
4. Vocabulary Exercise pro Cap II: take five words (nouns or verbs) and write 5 sentences in Latin using each word correctly. Also, include a translation for each sentence. I will grade this for completion but you should try to be as accurate as possible.
5. Read Capitulum II of Lingua Latina.
6. Continue to work in groups on Coriolanus Project
7. Review HW:
1. Study vocabula pro Cap IX. 
2. Work on the Coriolanus Project.

Non scholae sed vitae discimus.

CARAVAGGIO. St Jerome. 1606. Oil on canvas. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

"Not for school, but for life do we learn." This is always important to remember--nay, it is the sine qua non of education. Here we have the picture of a saint, who took pains to gives the Word of God in our common tongue. Let emulate St. Jerome, as we translate our passages of Holy Writ. After all, it wasn't until later in life that he found just how important his schooling would become, not merely for his own vocation but for the good of the Church and, I daresay, the world.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster 
2. Work in groups on Coriolanus Project
3. Review HW:
1. Study notes and concepts for Chapter I of Lingua Latina.  Quiz on Friday.
2. Study vocabula pro Cap II. 
3. Work on the Coriolanus Project.

Coriolanus, The Bible, and Political Philosophy

ASSELYN, Jan. Italian Landscape with the Ruins
of a Roman Bridge and Aqueduct. Oil on canvas.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Today we are working on our Coriolanus Projects. Remember, that whenever Shakespeare gives us the events of the ancient world, it is never as it was. His versions of Roman stories and events are always processed through the 11 centuries of Christian civilization that preceded. Consider, therefore, the Biblical wisdom in light of this assignment.  

Agenda:

1. Pater Noster
2. Work in groups on Coriolanus Project: 
1. Here it is as a Word Doc.
2. Check out this new source: The Biblical Case for Limited Government.
3. Review HW:
1. Study vocabula pro Cap II. 
2. Work on the Coriolanus Project.

Serving the multitudes.

BREENBERGH, Bartholomeus. Joseph Selling Wheat to
the People. 1655. Oil on canvas.
Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingh

Last year we studied the beginnings of Ancient Rome, its mythological patronage from the Trojan warrior Aeneas, its founding sacrificial murder of Remus, and the transition from monarchy to republic in the revolution of 509 B. C. We learned about a number of famous Romans, completing a research project and a presentation on the significance of their stories in regards to the influence of Rome and the West. One of the characters was a man by the name of Coriolanus. Shakespeare chose him as the subject as one of his tragedies. It is called, aptly enough, Coriolanus, and it stands as a fitting study for our class for many reasons. The language is the beautiful and powerful language of Shakespeare, and the historical and political elements merit our study as it fulfills our objectives to study the history and culture of ancient Rome, what Napoleon said is “the story of the world.”

Agenda:

1. Pater Noster
2. Check out Words for Cap II.
3. Ecce Coriolanus Project: 
1. Here it is as a Word Doc.
4. Review HW:
1. Study notes and concepts for Cap I.
2. Study words for Chapter II
3. Work on the Coriolanus Project.

All Saints' Day

This image depicts the Biblical promise to the Church:
"God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet,"
which is one of the celebratory purposes of Halloween.

Happy All Saints' Day! Yesterday was "All Hallows Eve" (the day before All Saint's Day). It is essential to remember that Halloween was and still ought to be a Christian "holy-day." The problem is that we have let the World redefine it;  because the Church has lost its voice, lost its love of the calendar, lost its militant power, we have forgotten the true significance of many such holidays. We are supposed to worship in spirit and in truth; we must, therefore, return once more to the true meaning of things. Remember, any calendar and the significance of its events shows the cultus of a culture, that is, the thing that binds a culture together in worship. The Christian calendar saw fit that it should tell a story, the story of the life, death, resurrection of Christ. Today is All Saint's Day, the last day on the Church Calendar, where we celebrate the final victory of Christ over the devil through his saints.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Do Lessons in Latin for Americans
1. LESSON II: SCILIA
2. LESSON III: ROSAE
   
3. Finish Shakespeare's Coriolanus.
4. Review HW:
1. Study words for Cap II. Find the list of words on the Quizlet App: search for "Lingua Latina" and the list of different chapters will appear. 
   

Happy Halloween...et alium rerum.

FUSELI, John Henry. The Nightmare.
1790-91. Oil on canvas. Goethe-Museum, Frankfurt.

Happy Hallowse'en! Consider Fuseli's imagining of might be the causes of a nightmare. Today our rationalistic scientists might look at nightmare's as a having only material causes. But we as Christians know better, that much of the physical events of the world have spiritual causes.
This also raises the question, quid est Halloween? When we look at how our culture, if one can call it that, celebrates this day, we are confronted with an anachronistic and moral problem: How are we as Christians supposed to think about such a holiday that is marked by such impure show and often gratuitously violent images.

Agenda:

1. Prayer
2. Quid est Halloween?
3. Lecture  on Cap I Grammar
1. Take notae bonae!
4. Review HW:
1. Study notes and concepts for Cap I.

Lingua Latina, Cap I

BRIL, Paul. Landscape with Roman Ruins.
1580. Fresco. Torre dei Venti, Vatican City, Rome.

Salvete, discipuli. (And you all say, "Salvete, Magister.") Today we are entering into the text of Lingua Latina.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Read Lingua Latina Capitulum I:
1. Do Pensum A 
2. Do Pensum C
3. Review HW:
1. Study grammar for Chapter 1.

Coriolanus, Part III

Nicolas Poussin. Coriolanus. 1640-1655.
Oil on canvas. Les Andelys, Musee Municipal.

Today we shall continue Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

Agenda:

1. Pater nost
2. Finish Shakespeare's Coriolanus
3. Review HW:
1. Study

Coriolanus, Part II

Gaspare Landi. 1756-1830.  
Veturia at the Feet of Coriolanus.

Salvete! Greetings! We will be watching a film in class this week. It is a Shakespeare play, but it is a contemporary version yet retains the Shakespearean language. Last year we learned about a number of famous Romans, completing a research project and a presentation on the significance of their stories in regards to the influence of Rome and the West. One of the characters was a man by the name of Coriolanus. Shakespeare chose him as the subject as one of his tragedies, and this year a new film version of his play has been released. It is called, aptly enough, Coriolanus, and it stands as a fitting study for our class for many reasons. Again, the language is the beautiful and powerful language of Shakespeare, and the historical and political elements of the film merit our study. 

Agenda: 

1. Pater nost
2. Continue Shakespeare's Coriolanus.
3. Review HW:
1. Cap I, Pensum A

Coriolanus, Part I

Act V, scene iii of Shakespeare's Coriolanus. 1803.
Engraved by James Caldwell. Attribution: Adam Cuerden.

Salvete! Greetings! We will be watching a film in class this week and next. It is a Shakespeare play, but it is a contemporary version yet retains the Shakespearean language. We have learned about the beginnings of Rome, and now we will learn about a number of famous Romans, eventually completing a research project and a presentation on the significance of their stories in regards to the influence of Rome and the West. One of the characters is a man by the name of Coriolanus. Shakespeare chose him as the subject as one of his tragedies, and this year a new film version of his play has been released. It is called, aptly enough, Coriolanus, and it stands as a fitting study for our class for many reasons. Again, the language is the beautiful and powerful language of Shakespeare, and the historical and political elements of the film merit our study. 

Agenda: 

1. Pater nost
2. Watch Shakespeare's Coriolanus.
3. Review HW:
1. Cap 1 Pensum A

Roma in Italia est.

WITTEL, Caspar Andriaans van. 1711.  
St Peter's in Rome. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

If you have not noticed yet, we have come to the end of the 1st Quarter. And if you have not noticed it yet, this is a real course, which requires real work and real study.  

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Read Lingua Latina: Capitulum I 
1. Work with a partner on the following exercises for Cap I: 
1. Do "PENSVM A"
3. Review HW:
1. Bring Mediterranean dainties for the Roman Feast.

Ad augusta per angusta.

LOTTO, Lorenzo. Madonna and Child with 
St Ignatius of Antioch and St Onophrius.
1508. Oil on wood. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Having come to the end of the 1st Quarter, we shall take this Homecoming Week to "let our hair down," as they say. This does not mean, however, that we will cease from being a class. It simply means that towards the end of the week we shall take our rest in convivio. Today is still a work day. After all, it is a new quarter.Therefore, ad augusta per angusta. That is, "To honor through narrowness (being pressed)."

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Get the Lingua Latina text. There on the  book shelf (to the left of my desk).
3. Read Lingua Latina: Capitulum I 
1. Work with a partner on the following exercises for Cap I: 
1. Do "PENSVM A"
2. Do "PENSVM B"
3. Do "PENSVM C"
4. Review HW:
1. Be good.