William C. Michael

Prelection by Mr. William C. Michael In this lesson, we continue our study of Aesop’s Fables, reading the fable of “The Geese and the Cranes”. As always, we will study the fable in detail, consider the characters chosen by Aesop, reflect on the moral lessons in the fable and, finally, work to make useful applications of this fable in our own lives. Aesop’s Text Translator unknown The Geese and the Cranes A party of Geese and a party of Cranes were discovered by the farmer eating his young corn, then just appearing above the ground. The Cranes, being light of … Continue

One question that I’ve been asked 1,000 times over the course of my teaching career is, “Why should Christians study classical authors?”  After all, we have the Bible, which is inspired by God. We have the writings of the church fathers. We have writings of saints. All of these Christian writings are available to us, and would take a whole lifetime to read. And if this is true, why would we use any of that time to read non-Christian authors? And it’s a good question. And to be honest, I respect any sincere Christian who desires to devote all of … Continue

In modern circles, it is common to hear Catholics talking about the theory of evolution, and some even suggesting that recent popes have approved the theory of evolution as a scientific fact that agrees with Catholic teaching. This is absolutely false.   “[The] fictitious tenets of evolution which repudiate all that is absolute, firm and immutable, have paved the way for the new erroneous philosophy, has assumed the name of existentialism, since it concerns itself only with existence of individual things and neglects all consideration of their immutable essences.” Now, most modern Catholics, who have never studied Aristotelean reasoning or … Continue

With the article, which already we have explained, and the other parts of speech, which already we about to undertake we are, various dialects occur,  of the work the value shall be in this chapter to set forth generally.  First, what is a “dialect”. Second, how many are the kinds of dialects more distinguished and used.  Third, what of whatever dialect proper and peculiar chief(ly) may have: Dialects however of individuals declensions and of conjugations its/their own whatever in places we shall enumerate; so since and confusion shall be avoided and labor of learning shall be minimized. What is a … Continue

Declensions are divided into simple and contracted. Of simple declensions, there are four: of which four first are called “parisyllabic”, because the oblique cases are equal in number with the Nominative case; if words are declined, without dialects and poetic licenses; as Aineias, Aineiou; time, times; logos, logou.  Those other declensions shall be imparisyllabic, when when evenly by in the fifth, the oblique cases some Nominative number of syllables exceed, as: Ainei’as, Ainei’ao, lo’gos, lo’goio. But of dialects this no is to be had rule. First Simple Declension This declension contains only the masculine [gender] in –as and –hs, as: … Continue

For most school writing assignments, a five or six paragraph essay is the norm. You students need to learn to write a simple essay well and this can be done by thinking of the essay as the tour of a home given by one who is trying to sell his house. Step 1: Introduction At the first step, we welcome our visitor and introduce the home. We give a brief introduction and let visitor know what we’re going to show him. The introduction should feel something like this: “Welcome to our home. We’re happy to have you visit with us … Continue

As many sense the failures of modern educational theories and experiments, a desire for a return to ancient studies arises. Many desire to return to the study of ancient languages or classical reasoning or rhetoric or moral philosophy, but moderns get nervous when talk begins of classical natural sciences or mathematics. “There is one order that reason does not establish but only beholds, such is the order of things in nature.” St.Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Aristotle’s Ethics “The function of natural philosophy is to consider the order of things that human reason considers but does not establish-understand that with natural … Continue

There are very few young men and women choosing to enter into religious vocations today. There are very few Catholic students in the nation’s best universities, which leads many to complain, falsely, that these institutions are opposed to Catholic faith and morals. Catholic students are simply not qualified for admission. Despite this, if we look around at the promotional materials from Catholic schools or homeschool programs, we find promises of raising the highest caliber of students and equipping students to become leaders in modern society. These promises are not being fulfilled. They are promises that cannot be fulfilled by any … Continue