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For Christmas

BY HARRIET MONROE

The child wants a teddy-bear and tracks and engines that light up and go; the youth wants a lettered sweater or a million dollars or a sweetheart; Mr. Mussolini wants the earth; the poet wants the moon; the saint wants God. Here we all are, wanting something—and usually the unattainable.

One may measure a man or a civilization by the quality of his-its-wants, and his-its-miracle-power of transmuting them into forms of approximate reality. In other words, one’s measure is the imagination both static and militant, the dream that cannot stop with a vision, an idea, but must be on the way toward some kind of fulfilment, whether in action or the arts.

Nearly two thousand years ago a great creative spirit gave the world a vision of truth and righteousness which stimulated the want-instinct of western nations into more activity than any earlier teacher had been able to arouse. Through all these twenty centuries this want-instinct has persisted. Though often dulled almost to obliteration by narrow interpretations, by vicious violations, by passionate persecutions, it is still a shining goal far ahead of the race, something beautiful and unattainable which illuminates and perpetually attracts man’s slow and halting footsteps. Its persistence is a proof of its vitality; the fire once lighted refuses to go out. We flatter ourselves that the race has advanced a little during these twenty centuries toward the elusive splendor, but probably another two thousand years will find our successors but little nearer to that ultimate infinite illumination.

Christmas, as we know it, is a symbol, a recognition, a flower on the altar, a bow in passing. It says a tiny yes to the dream, it sings a little song. In lighting our small red candles, in giving our paltry gifts, we pay a slight tribute, not only to the infinite spirit of love typified by the great hero whose birth we celebrate, but to all the lesser heroes who have been strongly inspired by the beauty of his life and the triumphant tragedy of his death. We turn from our familiar paths to pause a moment at a shrine heaped with noble treasures; a shrine where, to the end of time, the spirit of man will receive and carry away a richer treasure than anything he can bring.

Originally Published: November 28, 2005 in Poetry –celebrating 100 years.

Gregory the Great Academy Promo

Gregory the Great Promotional Video from Matt Williams on Vimeo.

Please support Gregory the Great Academy. Visit https://www.gregorythegreatacademy.org for more information or to make a donation.

Support GGA!

Dear friends and comrades,

     SGA Alumni are undergoing a large-scale fundraising drive for Gregory the Great Academy for the upcoming school year 2013-2014.  The Clairvaux Institute has setup a task force to look for a temporary location for next year.  They are entering into negotiations with 2 potential properties in Scranton.  We need your support right now!  Depending on how much the Academy has in “Monthly Donations” they will be able to negotiate a better lease agreement.  Please consider a monthly donation to an extraordinary cause: the manly education of Catholic gentlemen in the Liberal Arts.

To donate, please visit this link.

The best kind of contribution is a monthly donation (no matter how small, any amount helps!); if you cannot count on a monthly donation, please consider a one time donation.  Again, no amount is too small.  Your donation is tax deductible, and because the organization backing Gregory the Great Academy, The Clairvaux Institute, is a religious organization your donation counts toward your tithing duty.

Will you consider donating $30.00/month?  That’s a dollar a day!  Store up treasure in heaven!

Please pray for the cause.  Prayers are more important than money.  Please contact me with any questions or to pass on any contact info of potential donors.

In Christ and St. Gregory the Great,

Peter Hilaire Bloch

PS – Read up on the history of SGA/GGA and the vision for the future

A History and Vision of Gregory the Great Academy
After existing for nearly two decades under the sponsorship of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) as St. Gregory’s Academy, a group of teachers and alumni are in the process of re-founding the Academy in order to continue the good things it has provided its students. St. Gregory’s Academy, now to be calledGregory the Great Academy, has its roots in the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas (KU). The philosophy of the IHP provided the overall form within which a variety of other influences flourished.
The Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas began in 1970 and ran until the University shut it down in 1979. There were at that time a number of attempts to reinvigorate the Liberal Arts in the face of the institution decadence of the 1960s, but the IHP’s tone and vision were exceptional. Staffed by three professors, each with strong, yet complementary, personalities—John Senior, Dennis Quinn, and Frank Nelick—the program sought not so much to return students to the basics of a time past, as to reawaken them to the ever-present wonders of reality. The motto of the program sums this up well: Nascantur in admiratione, let them be born in wonder.
Clairvaux Institute Launches Development Committee for the Future Home of Gregory the Great Academy
Thanks to the generosity of alumni and benefactors of St. Gregory’s Academy, the Clairvaux Institute is pleased to announce the launch of a development committee dedicated to the purpose of finding a permanent home for Gregory the Great Academy.
Mr. Howard Clark is the committee director, assisted by Mr. Sean Fitzpatrick and Mr. Paul Prezzia. In recent weeks, Mr. Clark and Mr. Fitzpatrick they have been scouting properties, communicating with diocesan officials, canon lawyers, and insurance agents, working with realtors, and gleaning information on founding schools. Mr. Prezzia has been lending his aid in the many clerical tasks that this project requires, such as researching and filing initial paperwork for a private independent institution. Together, they are enthusiastic and absolutely committed to this project, working hard to overcome the many inherent and inescapable challenges.
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