Author Archives: marklangley

About marklangley

Academic Dean at The Lyceum (a school he founded in 2003, see theLyceum.org) Mark loves sacred music and Gregorian Chant and singing with his lovely wife, Stephanie, and their twelve children.

Why Does Christ Say His Yoke Is Easy?

Posted on July 10, 2017

Every couple of years I ask my students: Can any of you think of a set of rules or instructions about how to live that would make life easier than those which are embodied under the name of Christianity? And … Continue reading →

Posted in Homer Sightings, Metaphysics, Shakespeare, slavery | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Three Reasons Why Catholic Classical Education is a Tough Sell

Posted on June 20, 2017

Genuine Catholic education appears to be a product which doesn’t sell itself. That was a bit of a surprise for me when I was a freshly minted teacher. Naturally, I thought that an excellent school would flourish immediately. Word about the … Continue reading →

Posted in classical education, catholic education, liberal education | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

How to Choose the Right Catholic High School for Your Children

Posted on May 29, 2017

I suppose twenty-eight years involved in small Catholic schools qualifies me as an experienced educator. Or at least it has provided me with plenty of experience in listening to parents and their children on the subject of “How to Choose … Continue reading →

Posted in classical education, education, catholic education | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Newsflash: Just Because You Know What Virtue is Does Not Mean You are Virtuous.

Posted on May 21, 2017

Now I know that there are many of you who are just naturally charitable.  You easily empathize with the suffering of others and you have a spontaneous instinct to do anything you can to help others carry their crosses and … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Augustine, liberal education, Newman, Sacred Doctrine | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Do Your Children Know the Ten Commandments?

Posted on May 4, 2017

Every couple of years I have the opportunity to teach a course on the Ten Commandments to High School seniors and juniors. I always try to start the course with a one-question pop quiz that looks like this: Write down the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Augustine, Decalogue, Sacred Doctrine, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Pagan Greeks Saw Easter Coming 500 Years Before It Happened!

Posted on April 22, 2017

Sorrow! Sorrow! Very few days pass but that we don’t hear of some new sorrow. A job is lost, a troubled marriage…a near relation passes away, serious illness falls, dashing promises and hopes…a calamity strikes affecting the national interest…a friend loses his … Continue reading →

Posted in aeschylus, Carl Schmitt, classical education, Easter, Fine Arts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Feasting and Easter

Posted on April 18, 2017

Resurrexit! There is nothing like the feeling attendant on the one who, although perhaps he has not scrupulously fulfilled every detail of his Lenten promises, approaches the Easter Morning brunch table and finds this… and this! and Egg Strada! And of … Continue reading →

Posted in Easter, Feasts | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Did you know that our Lord’s death was a miracle?

Posted on April 14, 2017

After suffering such a terrible passion, I must confess I never thought our Lord’s death was something out of the ordinary course of nature. The question in my mind was why did Jesus not die sooner than he did? The … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Easter, The Passion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Father let this chalice pass from me

Posted on April 10, 2017

Originally posted on Classical Catholic Education:
The Fourth century saint and doctor of the church, St. Hilary of Poitiers, has a lovely insight – or perhaps I should say – a somewhat different take on Our Lord’s prayer in the…

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Did Jesus Really Become Sorrowful?

Posted on April 9, 2017

See, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile… O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow: Thus Jeremiah laments at the time of the Babylonian captivity, nonetheless, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Augustine, Catena Aurea, Sacred Doctrine, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments