Since I last wrote at the end of January, classes have picked up, we had a day of recollection, and Confirmation classes are more than halfway complete. The weather has begun to indicate that Spring is on the way with 50-degree days and the snow melting down, making lots of ice on the sidewalks and roads with freezing temperatures overnight despite the daytime highs.
We are placing a greater emphasis on music in the liturgies this semester with the Postulants taking turns planning and leading music each week. We are also working on our individual musical talents, which means that Steve is helping out on piano more and I am working on my vocal technique while also studying Church teaching on sacred music. I am very glad to be able to cultivate my musical abilities (as is Sr. Teresa!).
Latin is becoming more and more useful as we learn more tenses and grammatical structures; though all the morphology is confusing and can become overwhelming at times, it feels good to be able to understand more directly the parts of the Mass and various documents of the Church and the Fathers of the Church, which we encounter in our various classes and individual inquiries. The other instructors are also good at incorporating the Latin grammar directly when giving the name of some teaching in Latin. An example of this is from Ethics: the finis operis (the end of the work) and the finis operantis (the end of the one working) are considered in whether and to what extent an act is imputable, that is, the one who committed the act can be "blamed" for its commission and effects. The difference in the Latin is that in the former, operis means "of the work," as a noun (opera) in the genitive, and operantis is the present participle of the related verb (operare) in the genitive case, used as a substantive adjective.
If you have not had a look yet, please check out the new promotional video for the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, On Fire With the Love of God, which features scenes from our daily community life, various Oblates talking about our life, and reenactments of scenes in the life of our founder, Father Pio Bruno Lanteri. I had the privilege to act in some of the reenactment scenes, and I am also featured in sections on our community life. Here is the trailer; the full version will premier next Wednesday, February 23, 2011.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
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