TRIVIUM SCRIPTATRIVIUM SCHOOL LANCASTER, MASS. VOL. XIV Spring 2008

CLASSICAL SCHOOLING

Dr. William M. Schmitt

(Continued on next page.)

Peter Leithhart, in the most recent edition ofThe Intercollegiate Review, has written about

the classical schoolingmovement. There heprominently men-tions Trivium School:“On a twelve-acre es-tate forty miles westof Boston, students atthe Trivium Schoolmeet in a turn-of-thecentury mansionknown as Crown-ledge. Founded in1979, the TriviumSchool teaches Catho-lic doctrine but alsofocuses on liberal andfine arts to inculcatethe ‘intellectual skillsand habits that pre-pare the student forlife-long learning.’”His article is a reviewof the revival of classi-cal education. He em-

phasizes the influence of Dorothy Sayers’essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” andseeks to convince the reader that this move-ment is “more radical than reactionary—radical, that is, in its original sense, describ-ing something that goes to the roots.” Bythis he means that classical education ismore concerned with the foundations ofour civilization and giving rebirth to ourculture than with fighting a war againstsecularization and atheism.

Leithhart’s article is thoughtful and bal-anced, but he fails to see the issue withdepth. Classical education seeks to under-

ANNUAL AUCTION

Stephen Chartier

“An autumn evening at Trivium School” wasthe theme of the wonderfully successful auc-tion held in the Arts &Athletic Center at theSchool in November.Decorated by SusanWalsh, BrendanEnwright and RosalieBerquist, the gymna-sium was transformedinto an atmosphere inkeeping with J.W.Riley’s “When theFrost is on the Punkin’and the Fodder’s in theShock.” Many familiesand all classes wererepresented by way ofa talent or contribu-tions. A cherry book-case, hand-stitchedquilt, and vintage Cap-tain Mattias Chestwere among the manyhandmade donations.A “down under”wine-tasting, as well as full-course dinners—Chinese, French and “fresh from the farm”—rounded off the list of items.

The entire evening was a pleasant expe-rience. Indeed, the manner in which CatherineChaisson and Diane Kaulbach orchestratedthe event took the focus off of buying andonto easy conversation, goodwill and goodcheer. Nancy McGarry’s hot hors d’oeuvres,the good humor of emcee Ted Turner, andthe background entertainment by RosemaryReynolds, Tess and Sara Smillie, ClarenceChaisson, and Michael Enwright all added tothe near-to-perfect fundraiser. Bottom line:$36,365—a delightful “autumn evening atTrivium School.”

Senior Eileen Gallagher responds to questionsabout her thesis.

“. . . to inculcatethe intellectualskills and habitsthat prepare thestudent for life-longlearning. . .”

2

Junior Theses

Whether Sports are Necessaryfor a Full LifeTimothy Beer

Whether Musicians Who DoNot Write Their Own Music

Are ArtistsTeresa Bloemer

Whether Christians ShouldFear Death

Lauren Brouillette

Whether When a CatholicUniversity Fails to RecognizeThat Reason is Built Upon

Faith It Becomes Anti-Catholic

Thomas Cheffers

Whether DevelopmentallyDisabled People Have a

Spiritual AdvantageJohn DeMasi

Whether a CivilizationRequires the Simple Life

Paul DeMasi

Whether Stoicism andChristianity Are Compatible

Peter Hannon

stand the nature ofthings: the nature ofGod, man, and the uni-verse. By “classical” ismeant Greek and Ro-man antiquity. The an-cient Hebrews are notclassical; all other cul-tures outside of theWestern tradition arealso not classical. Whatis distinct about theWestern tradition thatfinds its roots in Greeceand Rome? These cul-tures made a bold anduniversal claim thatman is a reasonable ani-mal who can know thetruth, the truth not just for his own culture,but for all people. Indeed, this is what theyidentified with culture and they called allother peoples barbarians. And yet . . . withall of this, they wrestled with what JacquesMaritain called “pagan melancholy” becausethe truth was not fully attainable. Whatnature aspired to, it could not even imagine.To understand this predicament is the goalof classical education. It is the nature ofman.

Classical education is not limited to thehumanities. In the area of science, it also

brings clarity about the nature of things.When Aristotle developed the idea of cau-sality, he was not proposing a new theory;he put down what every ancient sought inhis understanding. This is built on severalideas: the world is not merely material, andthings that exist are not their own cause nordo they determine their ultimate purpose.No one has disputed these ideas until mod-ern times. Let me put that more simply:ancient science never made the mistake ofreducing all nature (in the ancient sense) toscience (in the modern sense). Although the

ancients were im-poverished whenit comes to a mate-rial and math-ematical under-standing of theuniverse, theynever fell into ourmodern hubris ofclaiming that sci-ence and materialcausality can ex-plain everything.

C h r i s t i a n sknow this predica-ment and haveheard the GoodNews of Christ,who lifts man outof this darkness

John Schmitt (’10) andJoseph Meier (’11) work onLatin II exams.

Philippe Ortiz (’11)

3

Whether Parables AreSuperior to Rational

ArgumentsLauren Lagasse

Whether Fame Is Essentialto an Actor

Margaret Murphy

Whether the IncarnationWas Caused by Man’s Sin

Andrew Newcombe

Whether a Robin Hood IsUnjust in Stealing

Adam Reiley

Whether Admissions ShouldBe Blind to Gender and

RaceThomas Schmitt

Whether it Is a GreaterGood To Resist Temptation

or To Fall and RepentJulie Schroeder

Whether Mary Had PerfectFaith

Theresa Smillie

Whether it Is the UnitedStates’ Duty To Be the

World PoliceRobert Walsh

into the light of faith. In our sinful state, wecan only grasp something of grace and itssignificance in relationship to man’s fallennature. The alternative has led to manymore difficulties. The modern world hasdistorted Christianity. Buoyed by our vastmaterial wealth, Christianity is mistakenlypresented as one of many possible ways toobtain fulfillment. In this way, man overes-timates the capacity of his nature. And hereis the fatal step: the gifts of grace are attrib-uted to our own efforts.

This classical vision is the a central themefor seniors in Intellectual History. It is morethan a survey of past history, an overview ofWestern Civilization based on originalsources. It presumes a basic knowledge ofthe facts of our culture; the students seek toform some general conclusions about thesignificance of the events that make us whowe are. I have taught this class several timesand we seek to understand in a unified vi-sion, how Western man understands him-self.

In terms of content, the most interestingthing is to show the students three stages ofour history: the Ancients discovered greatbeauty and the power of reason, but came upagainst a wall when they asked the ultimatemeaning of things; Christianity provides ananswer with the coming of our Savior whobrings redemption; modern man, like theTitans of old, seeks to storm heaven andattribute to himself all the good that man canaccomplish. This three-fold distinction is verydifferent from the usual history of progressthat secular historians preach. The students,although they have been introduced to Eu-ropean History and have read some of theliterature of the Ancients, have difficulty inaccepting this Christian worldview becauseit is contrary to what the world tells them. Itsounds pessimistic. They tend to be criticalof modernity only insofar as it has lost itsmoral compass.

At the beginning of the year we readabout Plato’s cave and even acted out thedrama. We closed the window curtains, andI made clever shadows on the board of birdsand dogs. They tried to guess what the ani-mals were. Then I showed them how to formimages in front of the lamp. Next, I invited

them outside into the sun. It was a brightautumn day, and they enjoyed the sunshineand what they thought was a silly diversion.Maybe they will remember at the end of theyear how I finished by saying that I will tryall year long to get them to look beyond theshadows and step out into the light. Nor-mally I ridicule this sort of exercise, but thistime I wanted to catch their imaginationsand fortify their memories. The modernworld is not simply a rejection of faith: it isa confusing attempt to build a world with-out reference to God. The ancient Greeksand Romans knew better than we whatman’s nature is.

The other crowning element of Intellec-tual History is its seminar format. Early on,the students read some Plato and see first-hand how Socrates teaches. They spend therest of the year trying to imitate these dia-logues. In this drama I often play the role ofSocrates and seek, by means of dialectics, toquestion and probe their presuppositionsand prejudices, so that they can come to amore certain truth. The students have a tastefor this method from many other classes: inLatin, the teacher asks students to translate.When they make a mistake, they are ques-tioned. Building upon what they know, the

9th grade studentslisten and askquestions..

(Continued on next page.)

4

teacher tries to lead them to remember whatthey had apparently forgotten. Euclid classis an even clearer example. Socratic semi-nars are not simply an opportunity for thestudents to interact, share points of view,and learn how to articulate their opinions.They are an exercise in reasoning. In fact,they are the way in which the tutor leadsthe student out of the cave of his ignoranceand into the light of truth.

The most characteristic aspect of So-crates’ method is his irony. Students recog-nize it early on when they see him point outthe contradictions of his opponent. At thesame time that he seems to be asking naivequestions in order to get the other to think,they see suddenly that, like a good chessplayer, his questioning is directed towardsshowing that the other has contradicted him-self. This is what infuriated his opponents.But Socrates, with his irony, is not trying toshow his quick thinking. He gently and hum-bly is trying to lead the other outside thecave of ignorance and opinion.

Romano Guardini describes the ironicmethod of Socrates in this way:

What does a man do when he treatsanother with irony? He makes him ri-diculous. But he could do that withoutirony. He could say something straightout which would put the object of hisattack in a comic light; but that wouldnot look well. It would show up theattacker as unimaginative and coarse.There is one otherdrawback too: to at-tack directly showsone to be entangledin the situation,while the wielder ofirony stands aboveit. He makes appre-ciative remarks, butin such a way thatan unfavourablemeaning appearsthrough them. Hisassent only under-lines the contradic-tion more plainly.He assumes an in-offensive air, onlyto wound the moresurely. The ironic

Mass in the ExtraordinaryRite is about to begin inthe Trivium library.

Senior Theses

Whether Enjoyment ofFantasy Is a Suitable Leisure

ActivityMary Bisbee

Whether We Should Pray tothe Saints

Eileen Gallagher

Whether Predestination CanBe Reconciled with Man’s

Free WillThomas Janik

Whether Modesty is ObjectiveSarah Kearney

Whether Methodical Doubt isthe Best Approach to Truth

Maura McCluskey

Whether Man Has Rights inRelation to God

Eileen Meier

Whether Speculation IsContrary to the Common

GoodIsaiah Prever

Whether Nature Is OrderedToward the Good

Joseph Swope

attack shows the aggressor in blithesecurity.

All this could be said of irony ingeneral; but Socratic irony is more thanthis. In the last resort its object is not toexpose, to wound, to despatch, but tohelp. It has a positive aim: to stimulatemovement and to liberate. It aims atserving truth. . . Socrates’s concern is,above all things, for an inward mobil-ity, a living relation to being and truth,which can only with difficulty be elic-ited by direct speech. . . He must not beone who lectures others in the con-sciousness of his own secure posses-sion, but one who is himself a seeker.

Learning is a slow and personal journeytowards the truth that can hardly be summedup in a few paragraphs. What goes on inevery class, if we allow grace to guide us, isof inestimable value. Some men come to arealization of their limitations and the gloryof God that surrounds us by reading Ancienttragedies. They expand their experience andjudgment vicariously by wide reading. Oth-ers suffer tragedy themselves. The personwho is classically schooled, when he ap-proaches the truths of our faith, sees themshine forth like a treasure found in a field.The great thinkers of our past have this toteach us, and the students at Trivium aremost fortunate to have a taste of these reali-ties, for they will have a lifetime to ponderthem.

5

From Thursday to Saturday, just beforeHoly Week, the School held its first FortyHours devotion. For forty continuous hoursat least two adorers -- and usually manymore -- prayed before the holy Eucharist.Mass was celebrated each day during thedevotion, which concluded with Benedic-tion on Saturday morning. The purpose ofthe Forty Hours was to pray for the needs ofthe School, its students, faculty, and bene-factors, in reparation for our sins and for thePoor Souls in Purgatory. It was also a wayin which our community could be a part ofthe preparation that the whole Church ismaking for the Eucharistic Congress inQuebec City this June.

The Forty Hours devotion originated inthe 1530s in Milan. The Archbishop of Milanrequested an indulgence for the practice offorty hours continuous adoration in all thechurches in his diocese. The area faced theinvading Turks who sought to destroy theChristian faith. Sixty years later Pope Clem-ent VII established in his letter Graves etDiuturnae, the practice of the Forty Hoursdevotion in all of the Churches in Rome atappointed days and times so that “at everyhour of the day and night, the whole yearround the incense of prayer shall ascendwithout intermission before the face of theLord.” The practice continued and spread inthis country, promoted by St. John Neumann,the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. Through-out the centuries the saints have pointed tothis devotion as a way to strengthen commu-nities by renewing an understanding of Chris-tian unity through the gift of the Eucharist.

Both Pope John Paul II and Pope BenedictXVI have exhorted the faithful to renew Ado-ration of the Blessed Sacrament, and to re-new the practice of the Forty Hours devo-tion. In the words of our Holy Father, “Iheartily recommend…the practice of Eucha-ristic adoration, both individually and incommunity…The personal relationshipwhich the individual believer establisheswith Jesus present in the Holy Eucharistconstantly points beyond itself to the wholecommunion of the Church, and nourishes a

fuller sense of membership in the Body ofChrist” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 67, 68). Dur-ing the devotion we adore Christ as he giveshimself to his Church again and again,without reservation, in the Blessed Sacra-ment.

At Trivium the Forty Hours began onThursday night with Mass celebrated byFather David Cavanaugh. The choir wasdirected by Jerry Phillips. Immediately fol-lowing the Mass, the Sacrament was ex-posed and the library doors were shut, trans-forming the classroom into a chapel. Manyguests, students, and tutors visited through-out the night. One junior, who came in at 3:00a.m., was amazed to see six classmates pray-ing before the Blessed Sacrament. Duringthe next day on Friday, many students foundtheir way to the chapel in the time betweentheir classes or during study hall.

On Friday afternoon Father Mark Withoosgave a talk to the students about the recentMotu Propio Summorum Pontificum, in effectsince September of 2007. The Motu Propioallowed for the use of the 1962 edition of theRoman Missal by any priest. The Mass, saidaccording to the older Roman Missal typi-cally called the “Tridentine Mass,” is nowcalled the Extraordinary Form of the Roman

O Salutaris Hostia!

(Continued on next page.)

FORTY HOURSIngrid Mitchell

Rite. Fr. Withoos ex-plained that becauseof the controversyabout the old LatinMass, this action ofthe Holy Father ap-peared to manypeople to increase therift between those de-voted exclusively toeither the ordinary orextraordinary form ofthe Mass. On the con-trary, Fr. Withoosquoted the Holy Fa-ther: “It is a matter ofcoming to an interiorreconciliation in theheart of theChurch…There is no contradiction betweenthe two editions of the Roman Missal. In thehistory of the liturgy there is growth andprogress, but no rupture. What earlier gen-eration held as sacred, remains sacred andgreat for us too.” The Forty Hours devotionwas a beautiful occasion to cherish theheritage of the Extraordinary Form of theMass, again recognizing the unity broughtabout by the celebration of the Eucharist.

It happened that, according to the calen-dar of the earlier missal, March 7 is the feastof St. Thomas Aquinas. Furthermore, be-cause the Mass was said at a school, it wasa solemn feast day. Fr. Withoos remarked, “I

Father MichaelLavallee at theclosing Mass.

Students helped outduring the SeniorTheses Night Dinner.Cecilia Dillon (’11),Madeline Schmitt(’11), Laura Reiley(’11), and SaraSmillie (’11).

think St. Thomas worked that one out forus, because I don’t think anyone else plannedfor it.” Mass was said in the library whichwas overflowing with students, and guests.Filled with incense, candlelight, and still-ness, it was beautiful to hear the same wordsand see the ancient form of the Mass that St.Thomas Aquinas offered, especially on hisfeast day!

On Saturday morning, the devotion con-cluded with a Mass and Benediction cel-ebrated by Fr. Michael Lavallee, AssociatePastor of St. John’s in Clinton. FatherLavallee focused in his homily on the neces-sity of the prayer for the whole Church, aswell as for our School. He invited us toremember in prayer those who have lost orare losing the faith in our Church andcommunity. Through our prayers for eachother, we allow Christ to come into ourhearts and heal wounds caused by our sin.

Although the dangers to the faith are notas obvious as invading Turkish armies, trialswithin and without our community do exist,and the Forty Hours devotion centered for usthe Source of truth and charity. One tutorremarked, “I forgot how much I really needthose graces and consolations from the Eu-charist. It was such a necessary thing to do.”Hopefully this devotion will continue an-nually at the School. Thank you to all thosewho planned and organized, as well asthose who participated.

7

NEWS & NOTES

This year Trivium School was recog-nized as one of the top 25 Catholic highschools in thecountry for its aca-demic program andreceived an Hon-orable MentionAward in Aca-demic Excellence.The Catholic HighSchool HonorRoll, a project of theActon Institute,lists the bestCatholic highschools in three categories: academic excel-lence, Catholic identity, and civic education.Trivium School, with its core liberal artsprogram, does not offer civics classes. As aresult, the School could not show distinc-tion in all three categories.

!The junior class will be staging William

Shakespeare’s MacBeth May 15 at 7:00 P.M. Itis a gruesome play, not for all of the youngerfamily members. Although the students areworking with an abridged version, its manycharacters make it an especially challengingplay to stage. The special effects will also takeimagination, but Ingrid Mitchell, the direc-tor, believes that the juniors are up to it. Thestudents, after reading the script, were par-ticularly fascinated by how to portrayMacBeth and Lady MacBeth as real humanbeings, tragically overwhelmed by evil.

The night before graduation, May 30, theseniors will be performing Moliere’s TheLearned Ladies. Moliere is known not only forhis comedy and wit, but also for his unmask-ing of hypocrisy. This play is a gentle com-edy about a bluestocking woman who re-duces life to learning and the trials she im-poses on her husband and daughters.

!Trivium students did exceptionally well

on the National Latin Exam. Forty-five stu-dents in Latin I-IV took the exam. 84% re-ceived awards and 21 students won gold

Mary Bisbee(’08) deliversher seniorthesis.

medals. AdamReiley (’09) andJohn Pastrone(’10) received per-fect scores. In Mr.Muir’s and Mr.Schmitt’s Latinclasses, all of thestudents receivedawards! Con-gratulations!

!Mary Bisbee

(’08) was recog-nized as a NationalMerit Scholar. Three other seniors, MauraMcCluskey, Isaiah Prever, and JosephSwope, were Commended Students in the2008 National Merit Program. Congratula-tions!

!Trivium’s Commencement will be on Sat-

urday, May 31. The Most Reverend RobertMcManus, Bishop of Worcester, will be the

celebrant of theC o m m e n c e m e n tMass. FrancescoCesareo, President ofAssumption Col-lege, will be the Com-mencement Speaker.

Bishop McManuswas ordained to thepriesthood in 1978.Following ordina-tion, he served in a

number of parishes and as the director ofthe diocesan Office of Ministerial Forma-tion. He was named rector of Our Lady ofProvidence Seminary in 1998.

Pope John Paul II named BishopMcManus as the Fifth Bishop of Worcesterand he was installed on May 14, 2004.

Dr. Cesareo is the newly appointed Presi-dent at Assumption. He graduated fromCathedral College of the Immaculate Con-ception in Douglaston, NY, and earned hisM.A. and Ph.D. in Late Medieval/Early Mod-ern European history from Fordham Uni-versity. He and his wife, Filomena, are theparents of three young children.

TRIVIUM SCHOOLP.O. Box 597

S. Lancaster, MA 01561

April 25 Spring Dance

May 1, Thursday School Holiday:

Feast of the Ascension

May 15 Junior Play, 7:00 P.M. MacBeth

May 26, Monday Memorial Day

May 27- 29 Final Examinations

May 28, Wednesday Senior/Tutor Dinner

May 30, Friday Senior Play, 7:00 P.M.

Moliere’s The Learned Ladies

at Nashoba Regional H.S.

May 31, Saturday Commencement