“The mind which is created quick to love, is responsive to everything that is pleasing, soon as by pleasure it is awakened into activity. Your apprehensive faculty draws an impression from a real object, and unfolds it within you, so that it makes
the mind turn thereto. And if, being turned, it inclines towards it, that inclination is love; that is nature, which through pleasure is bound anew within you.”
― Dante, The Divine Comedy
HEBREWS 13:1-17
1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
ST. THOMAS’S PRAYER BEFORE STUDY
Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of our understanding. Take from us the double darkness in which we have been born, an obscurity of sin and ignorance. Give us keen understanding, retentive memories, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant us the talent of being exact in our explanations and the ability to express ourselves with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
ART APPRECIATION
Inness was commissioned in 1855 by the president of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad to paint the site of the railroad’s first roundhouse in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The result was The Lackawanna Valley. Art historians have noticed the train and the field of tree stumps in the middle of the painting. They think that Inness was unhappy about the effect of industrialization on the landscapes that he loved. 1
George Inness (1825-1894) was a prolific American landscape artist, producing over 1,150 paintings, watercolors, and sketches. He was a part of a group of artists in the Hudson River School who strove to represent nature as faithfully as possible. Inness believed that there was a relationship between the natural and spiritual worlds. His philosophical and spiritual ideas inspired his work.
2
MUSIC APPRECIATION
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467: I. “Allegro maestoso” by Wolfgang Amadeus Motzart
Mozart was riding the crest of his popularity as a composer and pianist in Vienna when he premiered his Piano Concerto, Number 21 on March 9, 1785 at the Burg Theater, in one of his subscription concerts. That evening was a well-attended leading musical and social event, with a new concerto from the composer. The critic, Niemetschek, reported that his playing “captivated every listener and established Mozart as the greatest keyboard player of his day.” Leopold Mozart, who was visiting his son at this time, noted that the work was “astonishingly difficult.” This happy visit would be the last time that the father and son would see each other. At this time, Mozart was highly energized—he had completed K. 467 only one month after Piano Concerto Number 20 and within the upcoming 21 months would produce four more.
3
Wolfgang Amadeus Motzart (1756-1791) was one of the most influential, popular and prolific composers of the classical period. He composed over 600 works, including some of the most famous and loved pieces of symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart was born in Salzburg to a musical family. From an early age, the young Mozart showed all the signs of a prodigious musical talent. By the age of 5 he could read and write music, and he would entertain people with his talents on the keyboard. By the age of 6 he was writing his first compositions. Mozart was generally considered to be a rare musical genius, though Mozart said that he was diligent in studying other great composers such as Haydn and Bach.4
- Lange, Krista, and Leigh Lowe. First Grade Enrichment: Classical Core Curriculum. Teacher Guide. Memoria Press, 2017. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “Mozart: Symphony No 21.” Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, 1 Feb. 2021, http://www.indianapolissymphony.org/backstage/program-notes/mozart-symphony-no-21/. ↩︎
- Opera Philadelphia. “Composer – Mozart Biography.” Opera Philadelphia, http://www.operaphila.org/whats-on/on-stage-2016-2017/figaro/composer/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024. ↩︎
Providence School of Tifton 