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.

Passion Sunday (Fifth Sunday of Lent)

Posted on March 29, 2020

One unforeseen perk of being a parish music director is the ability to participate at Holy Mass during this strange period. I am grateful to my wife and daughters for providing the beautiful chant. In the future, I am hoping … Continue reading →

Posted in beauty, Music, Sacred Music, Sacrosanctum Consilium | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Confusion about the Common Good

Posted on March 28, 2020

In the not too distant future, I am hoping that someone much brighter than I will perform the heavy philosophical lifting that it will take to state precisely what is wrong with the current approach that our Church is taking … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Aquinas, Common Good, liberal education, Modernists, philosophy, Socrates, The Mass | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

A Dialogue Concerning Large Discourse

Posted on March 25, 2020

Today we shall content ourselves with purely intellectual discourse. OX: Why? Lion: Because you and I, my dear Ox, both possess the ability for large discourse! And as we all know, reaching way back to the vestiges and remnants of … Continue reading →

Posted in enlightenment, Heraclitus, Hesiod, liberal education, Shakespeare, socratic dialogue, truth for its own sake, Wisdom | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Sadness and Anxiety With William Byrd

Posted on March 22, 2020

No better way to purge anxiety and sadness than through the music of Byrd!   Tristitia et anxietas occupaverunt interiora mea. Mœstum factum est cor meum in dolore, et contenebrati sunt oculi mei. Væ mihi, quia peccavi. Sed tu, Domine, … Continue reading →

Posted in beauty, Music, passions, William Byrd | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

On March 23, 1775 Patrick Henry made a famous speech. Would he repeat it today?

Posted on March 20, 2020

In the face of COVID-19, one wonders if Patrick Henry would have repeated today the sentiment that he uttered before the second Virginia convention on 23 March 1775. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What … Continue reading →

Posted in America, classical education, Custom, enlightenment | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well: Who Were Those Five Husbands?

Posted on March 15, 2020

[I could not resist reposting this – the original may be found here with a number of great comments!] The Gospel for the third Sunday of Lent offers a special little gem for the classically minded church-goer. As Jesus is … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine, Catena Aurea, classical education | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Learning in Virus Time

Posted on March 9, 2020

In a sermon delivered in the Fall of 1939 titled Learning in Wartime, C.S. Lewis asserts, every Christian who comes to a university must at all times face a question compared with which the questions raised by the war are … Continue reading →

Posted in catholic education, Christendom, classical education, education, Latin, Liberal Arts, liberal education | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why I do not want to be the King of Scotland

Posted on February 25, 2020

I’m not so certain that I want to be king of Scotland anymore. After reading The Tragedy of Macbeth with my students, I am having a difficult time shaking off a sense that life is meaningless when worldly ambition is the governing principle. … Continue reading →

Posted in classical education, Literature, Shakespeare, Temptation, truth for its own sake | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sin is first in the will: a brief lesson in morality from Lady Macbeth

Posted on February 20, 2020

Of all the authors we should compel our students to read, surely no one is so foolhardy as to demand a reason for reading Shakespeare. I can forgive the one who asks, Why should students read Aeschylus? Or Why do you force them to … Continue reading →

Posted in aeschylus, Augustine, catholic education, classical education, Literature, Shakespeare, Temptation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Priest: Privileged Witness of the Reality of Grace Present in the World

Posted on January 3, 2020

On this, the eve of the Epiphany, with the Christ Child still lying in the manger, a great many Catholics everywhere are hoping and praying for a year of renewed grace. And, of course, with the turn of the secular … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine, beauty, Christmas, Feasts | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments