Maundy Thursday.

Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples.
TINTORETTO. 1547. Oil on canvas
Museo del Prado, Madrid

For most of you, the significance of today will extend only insofar as it marks the last day before our school's Spring break. But if you are a Christian, then you ought to know that today's meaning transcends your superficial excitement at the prospect of having a little time off. It is "Maundy Thursday" people, so go and love one another as Jesus showed us. That is a com-MAND, that is, mandatus. Have a good Easter break.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Study a bit. 
3. Expansion of Rome Quiz
4. Correct and review Vocab Quiz: Cap VIII  
5. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII.
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Spy Wednesday

GIOTTO. Judas' Betrayal. 1304-06
Fresco. Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

In Western Christianity, the Wednesday before Easter is sometimes known as "Spy Wednesday",as a reference to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, indicating that it is the day that Judas Iscariot first conspired with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Wikipedia).

In Latin today we are proving our knowledge of the demonstrative pronouns, as well as finishing our new lesson on passive infinitives. 

Agenda:

1. Apostle's Creed
2. Get your chant on!
1. The Endless Noun Ending Song
3. Read Chesterton's Commentary on the Punic Wars (and on its significance).
4. Correct and review Vocab Quiz: Cap VIII  
5. Study for Expansion of Rome Quiz
6. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII.
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Holy and Great Tuesday

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
William Blake. 1822. Tate Gallery, London.

On this day the Church commemorates the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), which forms one of the themes of the first three days of Holy Week, with its teaching about vigilance, and Christ as the Bridegroom. The bridal chamber is used as a symbol not only of the Tomb of Christ, but also of the blessed state of the saved on the Day of Judgement. The theme of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) is also developed in the hymns of this day (Wikipedia).

In Latin today we will chant our nouns...because you need to know them. In addition, we shall cover an important way of expressing certain verbs. To be educated is to be whole. You get the humor of this by the end of today.

Agenda:

1. Apostle's Creed
2. Get your chant on!
1. The Endless Noun Ending Song
3. Vocab Quiz: Cap VIII  
4. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII.
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Ave Maria et Sancta Dies Lunae

ANGELICO, Fra. Annunciation (Cell 3).
1442. Fresco. Convento di San Marco, Florence

Why the Annunciation, you ask? Isn't it Holy Week? Aren't we building up to Easter? It is true, yes, the season of Lent is giving way to the season of Easter. But this year, interestingly enough, Holy Monday, March 25th also happens to be the Feast of the Annunciation.What does this mean? Two things: (1) that life begins at conception, and without Mary's "ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum," we'd still be sacrificing inadequate bulls and goats, we'd still be in our sins, we'd still live in darkness, et cetera res; (2) that if we consult the astronomical record, we find it proven that Christ was born to die, for, as Shakespeare says, "the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." The stars in their arrangements tell a story, and it is the fulfillment of millennia of prophecy. This week is the beginning of that story. 
Agenda:

1. Pray and Apostles Creed
2. Finish review of Pensum B of Cap VII. 
3. Read Cap VIII together. 
4. Study for Cap VIII vocab quiz cras. 
5. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII.
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Summus dies Pompeii.

Vesuvius from Portici. Joseph Wright of Derby. 1776.

What were some of the most important events in the first century of Rome? What was daily Roman life like? At the end of last quarter, we viewed two films that show accurate glimpses of Roman life in that transitional period from B.C. to A.D., particularly events in the first century. We are doing this for two reasons: (1) We wanted to answer the above questions regarding our course objectives to study Rome, and (2) we also wanted to complete our study of the phases of Roman history. This means we are entering into the Patristic period, from the Golden Age of the Empire from 44 B.C. to the Fall of the Roman Empire in the 6th century Anno Domini.
Today we reviewing Latin grammar things: third declension, demonstratives, etc. 

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Review the 3rd Declension Worksheet
3. Finish Pensum B of Cap VII. 
4. Read Cap VIII together.
5. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII.
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Morituri te salutamus.

A retiarius stabs at a secutor with his trident.
Mosaic. Nennig, Germany. 2nd–3rd century CE.

"We who are about to die greet you." Last week we began following the journey of "Verus," the gladiator. Here we see not merely an imaginative account of two gladiators but a very accurate depiction of two types of gladiators: a retiarius and a secutor. They represent two schools of gladiatorial combat.

In addition, we are going to review and learn from our quizzes from last week.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Review the following:
1. Present Tense Verb System.
2. 3rd Declension Nouns
3. 3rd Declension Worksheet
3. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Studying

I am sick. Picked up some bug during my travels. You all can study for tomorrow's quiz. 

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Study 3rd Declension Nouns (Quiz tomorrow!)
1. Read & study 3rd Declension Nouns
3. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

Third Declension

Minotaur at center of labyrinth. 16th-century.

Today we shall enter into a yet another labyrinth. It has to do with nouns. (Huge surprise.) You are becoming like the cynical Daedalus, no doubt? Well, there's good news and bad news: the bad news is that you have absolutely no familiarity with these nouns at all; the good news is that once you master the nouns of the third declension, you will know the majority of all Latin nouns. But remember Theseus and keep track of your threads. The Minotaur awaits all those who have forgotten.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Finish Pensum B in Cap VII. (Hand it into the tray when finished.)
3. Read & study the Present Tense Verb System.
4. 3rd Declension Nouns
1. Read & study 3rd Declension Nouns
2. Do  3rd Declension Worksheet
5. Review HW: 
1. Study words for Cap VIII
2. Study Present Tense Verb System
3. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
4. Este perfecti!

URI, VINCIRI, VERBERARI, FERROQUE NECARI

Gerome, Jean-Leon. Pollice Verso. 1872. Oil on canvas. Phoenix.

That is the oath of the gladiator, the sacramentum gladiatorium. All gladiators were to pledge a chilling promise: "I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword." This oath, however, is ultimately selfish, only for one's own glory.
Consider the "arena" as a metaphor. The truth is that we all are in our own arena. The Christian especially is a kind of gladiator. Paul alludes to this. And it is true that many Christians have already endured being beaten, burned, or killed with the sword; we call them martyrs. In fact, some of them were in the same arenas as the gladiators. But the difference is that the Christian did not seek his own glory but rather the glory of the Father. Here is the wonderful irony. Remember what Christ said about losing your life for his sake? That "whosoever shall lose his life shall ... shall preserve it." And what has happened? We remember the fame of the martyr more than that of the gladiator. Who is remembered more? The martyr has found life in our continued memory of their sacrifice. 

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Study for 1 minute
3. Grammar Quiz: Cap VII
1. You may work in partners
2. When finished, work on Pensum B for Cap VII
4. Watch Colosseum. (Est sub hoc.)
5. Review HW: 
1. Get your chant on! The Endless Noun Ending Song
2. Este perfecti!

Watch and enjoy the following adventure in Latin!

Cap VII Pensa

SARACENI, Carlo. 1610.
St Gregory the Great. Oil on canvas.
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

Two days ago was the feast day of St. Gregory the Great. Here he is working diligently. Let us also follow suit.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Work on Pensa pro Cap VII
3. Review HW:
1. Study for Grammar Quiz on Cap VII (3/15)
   
2. Este perfecti!

St. Gregory the Great.

CRESPI, Giovanni Battista.
St Gregory Delivers the Soul of a Monk.
1617.  Oil on canvas. San Vittore, Varese

The feast day of Gregory is today, without whom we'd not have England. Consider the following image and the two dimensions revealed in Crespi's painting. Consider how small the physical and natural dimension is in comparison to the spiritual realm.
Today we are continuing our study of Cap VII.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Work on Pensa pro Cap VII
3. Review HW:
1. Grammar Quiz on Cap VII (3/15)
   
2. Este perfecti!

End of Quarter 3; beginning of Quarter IV.

CARRACCI, Annibale.
The Temptation of St Anthony Abbot.
1597-98.Oil on copper. London.

Today we are wrapping things up for quarter 3. We are now into the fourth quarter of the school year. As we enter into this last phase, let us not grow complacent in our labors; let us rather press ahead with all the more diligence, so that we might finish well. Here consider St. Anthony's steady gaze on God, so that he might resist the temptations of the devil.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Finish correcting and reviewing Cap VI, Pensum A
3. Finish reading Capitulum VII:
1. Get into groups of 3-4. 
2. Read scenes II-III of Cap VII
4. Review HW:
1. Be perfect. 

Omnium rerum principia parva sunt.

BELLOTTO, Bernardo. Capriccio with the Colosseum.
1743-44. Oil on canvas. Galleria Nazionale, Parma.

Cicero here, telling us, "The beginnings of all things are small." This is true, of course, of Rome, who was not built in a day. This aphorism expresses perhaps that most Roman of virtues, the idea beauty takes time. In other words, the people of Rome understood the patience and perseverance involved in building great things, things that last for more than the generation that has created it. Today we shall hear of the lives of those men who helped make Rome great.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Finish Famous Roman Research Projects:
1. Presentations
3. Review HW:
1. Study notes on Ancient Rome: Expansion and Conquest. (Quiz in 4th quarter.)
2. Be perfect.

Ora et labora!

The Younger Pliny Reproved.
Colored Print. Thomas Burke (1749–1815).

 Let us not think we are done with a task by only completing half of it. Today we are finishing our work that we began in chapter 6 (even though we have started chapter 7 now). So...ora et labora!

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Finish Pensum A in Cap VI.
3. Correct and discuss our quizzes.
4. Review HW:
1. Famous Roman Research Project. Download the resources:
1. Fami Viri Romae
2. Fabulae a Romana Historia
2. Study notes on Ancient Rome: Expansion and Conquest. (Quiz in 4th quarter.)
3. Be perfect.

Famous Romans Part IV

Battle Scene with a Roman Army Besieging a Large City.
CORTE, Juan de la. Oil on canvas. Private collection

Today we will begin a new Latin lesson, which is really an old Latin lesson. Having taken the pronoun quiz there were some things about the relative pronouns in particular that we reinforce and review.

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Work on FRPs. Get 'em. 
3. Review HW:
1. Famous Roman Research Project. Download the resources:
1. Fami Viri Romae
2. Fabulae a Romana Historia
2. Study notes on Ancient Rome: Expansion and Conquest. (Quiz in 4th quarter.)
3. Be perfect.

CAP VII Continued

PANNINI. Architectural Capriccio
1730. Oil on canvas. Private collection

Today we continue where we left off yesterday, but we will utilize our time to study, study, study for the quizzes this week and next week.

Agenda:

1. Pater noster
2. Lecture on Grammar for Cap XIV:
1. Pronouns: Reflexives & Datives 
2. Adverbs & Points of Style
3. Review interrogatives
3. Read Cap VII together. 
4. Work on Famous Roman Projects
5. Review HW:
1. Famous Roman Research Project. Download the resources:
1. Fami Viri Romae
2. Fabulae a Romana Historia
2. Study notes on Ancient Rome: Expansion and Conquest. (Quiz in 4th quarter.)
3. Be perfect.