“Independence and unvarying reliability, and to pay attention to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the logos. And to be the same in all circumstances—intense pain, the loss of a child, chronic illness. And to see clearly, from his example, that a man can show both strength and flexibility. His patience in teaching. And to have seen someone who clearly viewed his expertise and ability as a teacher as the humblest of virtues. And to have learned how to accept favors from friends without losing your self-respect or appearing ungrateful.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
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

Claude Monet
The Magpie is the largest of approximately 140 snowscapes painted by Monet. This painting features one of the first examples of Monet using colored shadows to represent the actual, changing conditions of light and shadow in nature.
1
Claude Monet (1840-1970) was born in Paris, though he later moved to Normandy when he was five to live with an older brother. He did not like being confined to a classroom and preferred being outside. He loved drawing from an early age and would draw caricatures of the people in his town. When he decided to study painting, he moved back to Paris. Monet was one of the most famous painters in art history and one of the founders of the Impressionist style. It was not uncommon for Monet to paint the same view of a subject several times to capture it in different lighting, sometimes lining up canvases and painting as quickly as he could. Some of Monet’s favorite subjects were the gardens around his home.
2
MUSIC APPRECIATION
| “Waltz in D-flat Major,” Op. 64 No. 1 |
Frédéric Chopin’s Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1, commonly known as the “Minute Waltz,” was actually named Valse du petit chien — “Waltz of the Little Dog.” He dedicated the piece to one of his former students, a Polish countess named Delfina Potocka, and he maintained a close friendship with her until his death in 1849.
3
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish French composer and pianist of the Romantic period, best known for his solo pieces for piano and his piano concerti. Although he wrote little but piano works, many of them brief, Chopin ranks as one of music’s greatest tone poets by reason of his superfine imagination and fastidious craftsmanship.4
- Lange, Krista, and Leigh Lowe. First Grade Enrichment: Classical Core Curriculum. Teacher Guide. Memoria Press, 2017. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “Chopin ‘Minute Waltz’ Op. 64 No. 1 in D Flat Major.” Philadelphia Piano Institute, philadelphiapianoinstitute.com/chopin-waltz-dflat-major-minute-waltz. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
↩︎ - “Frédéric Chopin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 13 Jan. 2025, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederic-Chopin. ↩︎
