Ferdi McDermott's other blog

Interesting quote from Cardinal Ratzinger ...

2011-08-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Not every valid council in the history of the Church has been a fruitful one; in the last analysis, many of them have been a waste of time."

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Principles of Catholic Theology. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987, p. 378.

Interesting thought, I suppose.

Be a priest ...

2011-07-31T04:39:00.000-07:00

There are some well-made films on youtube presenting the vocation of the priesthood to the young. http://youtu.be/qqtOvt7d490 is a good place to start. For a boy who is already searching, these thoughts could be very inspiring.

Dr Thomas Arnold

2011-07-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

In the second half-year of 1828 Thomas Arnold took over the reins of government . . . [at Rugby Schol] and the fourteen years which he held them form one of the most important epochs in the history of the school of of English education in general. He is perhaps the most famous of schoolmasters. . . .

What Arnold did for public schools was to alter and expand, to a degree which amounted to a revolution, the aims and objects which these institutions set before themselves. Before his time the avowed object of the public schools was to impart learning; system and discipline were subservient to this end, and though incidentally they had other effects, their main object was to render learning possible and effective; if this object was attained their work was done, and they were judged by their success or failure in this respect.

Arnold took a much broader view of the objects of education; while deeply impressed with the importance of learning, he realized that it was only a part of education, and that the great end and aim of education was the formation of character. This was the great object which was to dominate all others: to this end learning and everything else must be subservient. The ideal which he set before himself was to train boys to become not merely scholars but Christian gentlemen.

But, like most men who have done great things for the world, Arnold was not only an idealist, but a most practical man as well. In the public school system at Rugby he found to his hand an instrument which, however imperfect, was capable of serving his ends; he did not therefore attempt to revolutionize; he accepted the system as a whole, rejecting some parts and developing others, with the object, of creating conditions under which a boy's character could grow on right lines. We may mention a few points to illustrate the way in which he worked.

He accepted the two great features of English public schools, the liberty allowed to all, and the power exercised by the senior over the junior boys, but he bent all his energies to bring it about that the liberty should not be mere licence, and that the power should be exercised for good and not for than evil, as had too often been the case. The power he vested in the hands of the Sixth Form only, having, as Stanley says, "a strong belief in the general union of moral and intellectual excellence;" the liberty he curtailed but little, but, on the other hand, he freely exercised the right of sending away those who, even if they had not committed any flagrant evil, showed themselves unfit to make proper use of their privileges; on this point he was very emphatic, and his opinion is well worth notice at time when the justice of superannuation rules is called into question; "till a man learn that the first, second and third duty of a schoolmaster is to get great rid of unpromising subjects, a great public school," he said, "will never be what it might be, and what it ought to be."

Secondly, he introduced very necessary reforms as regards the status of assistant masters. "From the first," to quote Stanley again, "he maintained that the school business was to occupy their main and undivided interest. The practice, which owing to their lower salaries had before prevailed, of uniting some parochial cure with their school duties was entirely abolished and the boarding houses us they respectively became vacant he placed exclusively under their care." Hitherto "dames' houses" had still survived. An increase in school fees had also enabled him to raise the salaries of his assistants, so that he felt himself justified in every way in making the demand energies to their school work.

Thirdly, he laboured strenuously to make the direct religious teaching effective. This he did, not by multiplying services, nor by attempting to force young minds into a fixed mould of piety, but by using the opportunities which the pulpit afforded him for imparting something of the fiery zeal for right which consumed him, for presenting forcibly and directly to the minds of his hearers the practical effects which religion ought to have upon their daily life at school, and for stimulating in them the quality of moral thoughtfulness which he prized so much.

Such were the main points of his system. In carrying it out he had to meet with the storm of abuse and opposition that so often is the lot of great reformers. Perhaps, had he been content to concern himself with the school only, people might have let him alone; had he done so, he would not have been Arnold. His heart and mind were too full of passionate desire for reforms in Church and State for him to stand aloof; the education of boys in the small society of school was successful to him only if they learned there how to play a true part in the larger societies wherein they were destined to move. And so it came about that the man whose great aim in life was to help to make English boys and men Christians in practice and not only in name, was accused of laxity of religion, and that his educational system was the object of bitter attack, But he was "ever a fighter," a magnificent fighter, with no arrogance and the broadest sympathies, but inflexible in the maintenance of what he thought right, and in the end he triumphed over all opposition. With the better sort of boys he soon succeeded; no boy worth anything could resist the influence of a man so transparently sincere, in whose zeal for religion there was such a complete and refreshing absence of humbug or of mere conventionality, a man who was not afraid of anybody. The trustees, in spite of the dislike with which many of them regarded his public views, did not fail to recognise the good work which he was doing at the school; even in July, 1836, when a resolution of censure was brought forward, which Stanley says "would probably have occasioned his resignation had it not been lost." there was no criticism of his school work; " they did all I wanted," writes Arnold at the time, "about the school." They could, indeed, hardly have done otherwise in face of a special resolution of confidence in him which they had passed in the previous March. Last of all the popular prejudice against him died away, and in 1841, the year before his death, when he was elected Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, he was beginning to occupy in general estimation the place which he deserved.

From

Bradby, H. C.

Rugby. The Great Public Schools Series. London: George Bell and Sons, 1900.

Some quotations on the single lay state and teaching ...

2009-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

CCC 1658 We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live - often not of their choosing - are especially close to Jesus' heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors. Many remain without a human family often due to conditions of poverty. Some live their situation in the spirit of the Beatitudes, serving God and neighbour in exemplary fashion. The doors of homes, the "domestic churches," and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. "No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who 'labour and are heavy laden.'"

Virginity for the sake of the Kingdom
CCC 1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social.113 From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming.114 Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:
"For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."115
1619 Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away.116
1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will.117 Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom118 and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other:
Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.119

TEACHING AS A VOCATION ...
Beautiful indeed and of great importance is the vocation of all those who aid parents in fulfilling their duties and who, as representatives of the human community, undertake the task of education in schools. This vocation demands special qualities of mind and heart, very careful preparation, and continuing readiness to renew and to adapt.
Gravissimum Educationis 5
_______

The laity build up the Kingdom of God in a way that priests and religious cannot. See Lumen Gentium 31:

But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity. Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of temporal affairs it is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in such a way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.

Full-time lay apostleship is envisaged by the Church:

Ministers of lesser rank are also sharers in the mission and grace of the Supreme Priest. In the first place among these ministers are deacons, who, in as much as they are dispensers of Christ's mysteries and servants of the Church, should keep themselves free from every vice and stand before men as personifications of goodness and friends of God.(225)

Clerics, who are called by the Lord and are set aside as His portion in order to prepare themselves for the various ministerial offices under the watchful eye of spiritual shepherds, are bound to bring their hearts and minds into accord with this special election (which is theirs). They will accomplish this by their constancy in prayer, by their burning love, and by their unremitting recollection of whatever is true, just and of good repute. They will accomplish all this for the glory and honor of God.

Besides these already named, there are also laymen, chosen of God and called by the bishop. These laymen spend themselves completely in apostolic labors, working the Lord's field with much success.

(LG 41)

St Paul in 1 Corinthians spells out clearly that it is for each Christian to discern whether he can cope with the celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, a condition that he recommends ...

Brothers, everyone should continue before God in the state in which he was called.
25
Now in regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, 11 but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
26
So this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is.
27
Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife.
28
If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that.
29
I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
30
those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning,
31
those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.
32
I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
33
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34
and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35
I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.
36
If anyone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, and if a critical moment has come and so it has to be, let him do as he wishes. He is committing no sin; let them get married.
37
The one who stands firm in his resolve, however, who is not under compulsion but has power over his own will, and has made up his mind to keep his virgin, will be doing well.
38
So then, the one who marries his virgin does well; the one who does not marry her will do better.

Gifted and talented boys - benefits of international boarding school

2009-03-18T09:27:00.001-07:00

Gifted and talented boys need intellectual stimulus and emotional security, both areas in which small international study environments such as Chavagnes International College are particularly strong.

Over the last few years Chavagnes has welcomed a number of gifted and talented pupils from the UK, France and Spain and Principal Ferdi McDermott considers that his school provides an ideal environment for boys dealing with issues relating to intellectual precocity. Read more about Gifted and Talented boys and Chavagnes International College ...

Hold fast to what is good; reasons to be conservative

2009-03-18T01:34:00.000-07:00

Russell Kirk (in his Conservative Reader) spells out six main features observed in reflective conservatism, since Burke wrote his Reflections on the Revolution in France at the end of the eighteenth century. Conservatism is essentially the negation of "isms" so Conservatives are not necessarily able to explain what they think and feel about life and politics. They are not ideologues; they just feel it in their gut.

Here are those six typical characteristics:

Sacred order. A sense that there are truths beyond us that bind us forever. Some things are always right and some wrong. Many call this the natural law.

Social continuity. The body politic of society is like a kind of secular church. People come, people go, but society, with all its accumulated experience lives on. Revolution, which hacks at the body politic, can end up draining the blood from its veins and diseasing society.

The wisdom of the ages. The individual may be foolish, but the species is wise. There is no point departing from established morals and ways of doing things. It would be a dangerous shot in the dark. The fact that some things have always been done a particular way is often a good argument to keep on doing them that way.

Prudence. For Plato, this is the most important virtue in a politician. That means leaders must take the long view and avoid populism. Also, because people and society are complex, solutions to their problems will rarely be simple or simplistic ones such as extremists often propose. Be careful and proceed slowly but deliberately, weighing up the lessons of history.

Love of variety. The conservative loves the multiplication of different groups, societies, orders, classes, organizations, each with its own traditions, customs and distinctive take on life. The conservative also loves natural inequality (which is not the same as injustice): some people are stronger than other others, some are cleverer than others, and so on. But that is the way it was meant to be. Equality can only be before God and before the law.

Imperfectibility. This life and the society which we inhabit, are bound to be imperfect. To suggest that we could make them flawless is a nonsense, since Adam and Eve took humanity down a different path. The rabid search for the perfect (by politicians) is the enemy of the good. Let saints seek it, by all means, and let all men find it in heaven.

Intrigued? Why not come and spend some time at Chavagnes this summer and we'll talk some more! As part of our effort to promote the knowledge and love of our great tradition of western thought, we're holding a Great Books Summer Programme at Chavagnes, France, this summer, led by Professor Anthony O'Hear of Buckingham University. He has published a book on The Great Books, just released by ISI. Professor O'Hear will be assisted by me, by my good friend Robert Asch (co-editor of StAR) and Denis Boyles a prolific American writer now resident in France, just down the road from our College.

It's going to be a great 10-day cultural house party (with great French food and wine) that you'll remember for a life time. We're inviting Homer, Aeschylus, Virgil, Ovid, St Augustine, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Pascal, Racine and Goethe along too, so you'll be in good company. More information: www.thegreatbooks.chavagnes.info

Ferdi McDermott, founder of St. Austin Review and Principal of Chavagnes International College, France.

Catholic boarding schools blog

2009-03-13T01:56:00.000-07:00

I have started a modest little blog with articles about Catholic boarding schools and Catholic boarding education in general. Why not pay it a visit.

Spanish heretics lambasted with golden prose

2009-03-10T03:25:00.000-07:00

I've just finished edited a great translation of probably the greatest ever work on heterodoxy ever published, at least in the last few centuries. It is Menendez Pelayo's History of the Spanish Heterodox, an account - by turns amusing, impassioned, exciting, suspense-filled and absolutely fascinating - of how the early church in Spain fought off all attempts to derail her divine message.

The author (in further volumes now in preparation) brings the story right through the Inquisition, the Reformation, Counter-Reformation, up to the nineteenth century, but the current volume tracks Spain's Gnostics, Arians, Priscillianists, witches and other nasties from the days of Spain's conversion in Romain times up to the early Middle Ages.

You can find out more about it (and buy the book) at http://menendezpelayo.wordpress.com/ The translator is friend Eladia Gomez-Posthill , who has also translated a beautiful guide to the spiritual life from the Golden Age of Spanish mysticism, Juan de los Angeles' The Loving Struggle.

Catholic boarding schools, private schools for boys

2009-03-03T01:24:00.001-08:00

Yes, just a little more promotion of our Catholic boarding school for boys (plus I enjoy writing press releases anyway): http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200903/1236070715.html

The challenge of boys' brains ...

2009-01-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

At Chavagnes we place great store by daily sport and think it's important for boys to 'keep moving'. The teaching style of male teachers teaching boys typically involves: speaking in a louder voice, moving about the classroom, using comptetive quizzes ... all of these are less popular (or effective) methods with girls.

The bottom line, however, is that for a teacher in a single-sex setting, it almost comes naturally to gear one's teaching, discipline and pastoral styles to the boys or girls in the school.

The challenges facing teachers in mixed schools are much more nuanced. In all sorts of subtle ways there has been a feminisation of school (partly because there are so few men teachers these days). I have been impressed by Peg Tyre, the US journalist who has drawn attention to this issue in a very balanced and convincing way. Here is a clip from Amercian television, dealing especially with approaches to PRE-SCHOOL, a time when boys and girls are getting the first experience of schooling in a formal setting.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here is a link to her book, The Trouble with Boys

Educational Site for Parents of Boys

2009-01-27T05:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.boysandschools.com/index.php Just came across this site which could be of interest, especially for parents not contemplating boarding school, but keen to keep up to date with the latest thinking on the way boys learn and develop.

It is produced by a coalition of US parents who campaign for single-sex schools in the public (state) sector.

Bring back Grammar schools

2009-01-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Provost of Eton argues that it's time to call time on the Comprehensive school experiment, for the sake of all the children ...

"There are three problems with our schools. We are failing to give an excellent education to cleverer boys and girls. We are failing to give a sound basic education to less able pupils, especially in deprived areas. And we are failing to stimulate the social mobility that good education makes possible. Your educational chances, and your life chances, depend too much on where you live."

Read more

Join the Great Conversation : Summer course on the Great Books

2009-01-20T05:42:00.000-08:00

Discover The Great Books of western civilisation at a summer school to make your brain cells sizzle.

Le Professor Anthony O'Hear take you on a whistle-stop cultural tour of the minds that made the west, based on his book The Great Books: From "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" to Goethe's "Faust": A Journey Through 2,500 Years of the West's Classic Literature.

This is what the press has been saying about O'Hear's historical and literary grand tour:

"O'Hear's range is extraordinarily wide and he has a rare ability to explain complex ideas in a straightforward fashion." Sunday Telegraph

'Impassioned and impressive' John Gray, Independent
'Salty and addictive' Daily Telegraph

'Fascinating' Alain de Botton, Observer

Now you can join in: ten days of intellectual formation and stimulation, with great company, good French food and wine, and daily cultural entertainment. it is going to be a literary house party to remember for anyone who wants to discover, or rediscover, the roots of our culture and participate in the 'great conversation' with the minds that forged our civilisation.

About Professor O'Hear's book:

Anthony O'Hear presents a personal tour of the most impressive, influential and era-defining books mankind has ever produced. "Paradise Lost", "The Canterbury Tales", "Don Quixote": great literature can be read by anyone, with a little help. Anthony O'Hear leads the way with this captivating journey through two-and-a-half millennia of books as dark, powerful, erotic, thrilling, politically astute and awe-inspiring as any modern bestseller. We begin with Homer, whose poems of epic struggle have made him the father of Western literature. After Greek tragedy, Plato, and Virgil's "Aeneid" comes Ovid, whose encyclopaedic "Metamorphoses" is an inexhaustible source for European art and literature. Via St Augustine we reach Dante, the author of "The Divine Comedy", a sublime, terrifying tour through "Hell", "Purgatory" and an ecstatic vision of "Paradise". Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Milton, Pascal, Racine and finally Goethe complete the cast list. In each case, O'Hear patiently draws out themes, focuses on key passages and explains why they are important. Personal, passionate, painstakingly researched and beautifully illustrated, this is a grand work of reference. But it is also a narrative history shot through with a love of literature, and a deeply-held belief in its power to shape everyone's world.

More information on the Great Books summer course: 26th July to 4th August 2009 in France.

Buy The Great Books from Amazon.