“And give your love to Him who, for pure love, upon a cross first died that He might pay our debt, and rose, and sits in Heaven above. He will be false to no one that will lay his heart wholly on Him, I dare to say. Since He is best to love, and
the most meek, what need is there a feigning love to seek?”
― Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde
JOHN 3:16-21
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
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
Observe the bald eagle and the golden eagle. The bald eagle is our national bird. It is not bald, but its white head looks featherless from a distance. The golden eagle is often called the “king of birds.”
1
John James Audubon (1785-1851) was interested in birds, nature, drawing, and music as a young child. Born in what is now Haiti, he lived in France as a child and came to America at age eighteen. At his family’s estate near Philadelphia, he hunted and drew birds. He also conducted the first known bird-banding experiment in North America. He tied strings around the legs of Eastern phoebes and learned that the birds returned to the very same nesting places each year. Audubon struggled off and on as a businessman, and in 1819, he sailed down the Mississippi to add to his portfolio of birds. After several years, Audubon sailed to England, where his drawings and paintings of birds were published as a book. This book called The American Woodsman, was a huge success. He continued throughout his life to study and draw birds and other animals. Today, the name Audubon is still strongly associated with birds and bird conservation.
2
MUSIC APPRECIATION
| “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa |
With the possible exception of “The Star Spangled Banner,” no musical composition has done more to arouse the patriotic spirit of America than this, John Philip Sousa’s most beloved composition. … Symbolic of flag-waving in general, it has been used with considerable effectiveness to generate patriotic feeling ever since its introduction in Philadelphia on May 14, 1897, when the staid Public Ledger reported: “It is stirring enough to rouse the American eagle from his crag, and set him to shriek exultantly while he hurls his arrows at the aurora borealis.”
3
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was born in Washington, D. C. on November 6, 1854. His father, John Antonio Sousa, was born in Spain of Portuguese parents, and his mother, Marie Elizabeth Trinkaus, was born in Bavaria.
Sousa received his early education in Washington public schools, while simultaneously studying music at a private conservatory. At age 13, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Band as a “boy” (apprentice) musician, but he also continued his private music studies. His most important teacher was George Felix Benkert, with whom he studied violin, harmony, and composition. After serving seven years with the marines, he was discharged. Thereafter, he performed as a violinist and conductor in various theater orchestras in Washington and Philadelphia.
By 1880, his fame as a conductor, composer, and arranger had been established. He was appointed leader of the U. S. Marine Band and held this position for 12 years, eventually molding the band into the finest military band in the world.4
- Lange, Krista, and Leigh Lowe. First Grade Enrichment: Classical Core Curriculum. Teacher Guide. Memoria Press, 2017. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “Unit Home.” United States Marine Band, http://www.marineband.marines.mil/Audio-Resources/The-Complete-Marches-of-John-Philip-Sousa/The-Stars-and-Stripes-Forever-March/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.
↩︎ - “John Philip Sousa: Articles and Essays: The March King: John Philip Sousa: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/collections/john-philip-sousa/articles-and-essays/biography/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025. ↩︎
Providence School of Tifton 