“Morning Time” is a concept many homeschoolers have embraced for whole-family learning. Regina Mater is offering this curriculum for the first time to our families in 2021-2022. The lessons revolve around the liturgical calendar, faith formation, and Christian civilization.
In week one our focus is “Our Lady of Good Studies.” From ancient times Our Mother has been recognized as the Seat of Wisdom, the one whose mind has been raised to perfect contemplation of the Triune God. For this reason Western artists often portray the Annunciation with Sacred Scripture in Mary’s hands. She glances up from contemplation of the Word only to hear the Word being proclaimed and formed in her.
Fra Angelico presents this scene with a gripping austerity:
Botticelli gives us a warmer imagination of what the relationship between the Mother of God and her Divine Son must have been like. She is quite literally the Seat of Wisdom as the Christ Child sits on her lap. The title of the work is Madonna Teaching Her Child to Read. What do we learn from the directions of their gazes, the gentle motions of their hands? She, dutiful mother, opens up the human act of reading to her child; yet their hearts are bound in an understanding stretching beyond nature.
These paintings form the Picture Study mini-lessons of the week. We ask the children to study the paintings (one at a time) for no more than a few minutes. Then we remove the picture and ask them to describe what they remember. Over time, these gentle observations lead to deeper art appreciation, as well as build memory and language skills.
Parents might enjoy these two podcasts as they teach this week. First is Fr. Andrew Hofer on the Mariology of St. Thomas, along with a discussion of Fra Angelico: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/aquinas-and-our-lady-fr-andrew-hofer-op
The second is from Zena Hitz, discussing Mary in Western iconography: https://thomisticinstitute.org/podcasts/2fn9we8f8bjvypgzcbku6lvc1sy2lq
We hope that a wider audience will accompany us as we unpack the treasures of our Catholic heritage this year.