Adoro Te Devote

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Given the recent Eucharistic Congress that was organized by the United States Catholic Bishops, I’d like to share this beautiful devotional prayer written by the Dominican and Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. You will also see the video below. This video features a musical composition written by the Catholic composer William Byrd around the year 1600AD. I took his musical setting and adapted it, while adding the words of the prayer of St. Thomas. The words and the music are very moving and commend us to increase our devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament…a mystery that … Continue

Understanding “O Salutaris Hostia”

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O salutaris Hostia, O saving Sacrifice Quae caeli pandis ostium: Who–of heaven–(You) expand–(the) gate: Bella premunt hostilia, Battles–press (us)–hostile, Da robur, fer auxilium. Give strength, confer assistance. Uni trinoque Domino To (the) one triune-and Lord Sit sempiterna gloria, Be eternal glory, Qui vitam sine termino Who life without end Nobis donet in patria. to us can give in (our) fatherland. Amen. Prosody The hymn/poem is composed of two stanzas of four lines each, in iambic tetrameter ((See: https://classicalliberalarts.com/resources/GILDERSLEEVE_LATIN_GRAMMAR.pdf#page=469)). Each line is composed of four iambic feet (dit-DAH dit-DAH dit-DAH dit-DAH). In English hymnody, this is called “Long Meter”. Note that … Continue

Homeschool Culture is Part of the Problem

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The modern homeschool market has always been embarassing to me as a Christian. I understand that the intentions are good, but the idea of having every parent become a curriculum designer reveals the great ignorance in Christian circles and lack of respect for the real work of Christian education. In most places, “curriculum” has come to mean either (a) a brand of homeschool supplies, or (b) a collection of books a parent has decided to purchase for the coming school year—neither of which has anything to do with the word “curriculum”. A curriculum is a course of studies that leads … Continue

There Are No More Excuses for Any Lack of Education

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In this talk, Mr. William C. Michael, headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, discusses how modern students have access to learning resources that have never been available in human history and why parents and students need to learn to think appropriately about education in our generation. Mr. William C. Michael, O.P. Headmaster Classical Liberal Arts Academy https://classicalliberalarts.com

Why Modern “Classical Education” is a Scam

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In this talk, Mr. William C. Michael, headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, explains why modern schools and publishers promoting “classical education” are scamming parents and students. Mr. Michael also explains, positively, what real educational reform requires. Mr. William C. Michael, O.P. HeadmasterClassical Liberal Arts Academy https://classicalliberalarts.com

Modern K-12 Courses in the CLAA: What’s the Difference?

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In this talk, Mr. William C. Michael, headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy answers a great question regarding modern K-12 courses in the CLAA. What’s the difference between these courses and K-12 courses in modern schools or other programs? Mr. William C. Michael, O.P. Classical Liberal Arts Academy https://classicalliberalarts.com

We Should Not Accept Benefits for Free

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In this talk, Mr. William C. Michael, headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, discusses the modern vice of receiving–and seeking–benefits “for free”. Awareness of this vice and efforts to abandon it are very important for the improvement of Christian culture in modern society. Mr. William C. Michael, O.P. Headmaster Classical Liberal Arts Academy https://classicalliberalarts.com

Dealing with Cheating in the AI Generation

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In the present generation, students have access to tools that make cheating easier than ever.  Teachers are going to face some real challenges. Modern schools developed before the internet and make use of practices that made sense in the 1980s, but are now obsolete. When I was in school, if you didn’t do your homework, you could copy your friend’s answers before class. Copying in that way was difficult and risky. A teacher could assign a reading, and the only way a student could know the answer was to do the reading.  This is no longer the case today. In … Continue

St. Jerome, “On Hebrew Names”

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In a past post, I shared a set of instructions I found while studying the life of St. Albert the Great on “How to Master Sacred Scripture“. In that post is mentioned a work by St. Jerome titled, “On Hebrew Names”. It is recommended as an aid to studying the Scriptures. I was able today to find a copy of that old work, which I’m sharing below. For each book of the Bible, St. Jerome wrote the meanings of every Hebrew name encountered.

Supporting Offline Studies

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Dear friends, Since starting the CLAA, we have made use of online quizzes and exams to help with assessment. These online assessments have given us many benefits, but there are also significant problems caused by them. First, online quizzes require that children spend time on the internet. Many parents feel uncomfortable with this–and reasonably so. It is very difficult to supervise online actvity; sometimes impossible. Second, online quizzes require irrational answer-key grading that can be very frustrating. To have a student submit a 50 question quiz and have questions marked wrong before an extra space was added after a word, … Continue