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Some Texts
of Fr. Calmel
About Education
Various
Disciplines Must be Integrated
"The Catholic school does not consist in a class of Catholic
Doctrine, with an English class added on, plus a class of
mathematics, all topped with a history class and some physical
education, the whole thing interspersed with languages and
natural sciences. The Catholic school does not consist in the
presentation of subjects side by side, but in the presentation
of the same, entire, beautiful and coherent truth, which is the
constant nourishment of the teachers, and which they communicate
to the children with serene enthusiasm, through the diverse
disciplines, who different requirements are yet respected."
"At school, what forms children the most is contact with the
beautiful works (and in the older classes contact with
philosophical and theological doctrines). These works express
man in the use of his liberty, and not in his knowledge of
sensible nature. Consequently, the frequentation of authors,
sacred or profane, ancient and modern, is of first importance.
In this frequentation of authors we must be enlightened by the
Faith and armed with Christian philosophy. And natural sciences
are not excluded, but put in second place."
The Goal of
Education Must be the Acquisition of Wisdom
"It is obvious that men and women whose minds are dominated
by numbers, natural sciences and technology, are not truly
civilized. They are ignorant of the main part of what we are
meant to know, that is, our nature and the Lord God. They are in
danger of becoming technical or scientific robots. Without
changing, they cannot help to construct a human and Christian
civilization. And so, whatever be the type of curricula, the
dominating subject will never be scientific or technological.
What will determine the orientation and the spirit of the
school, what will put each subject in its place, will be
Christian wisdom."
"The natural sciences by themselves pose only chemical and
biological questions. By themselves, they do not pose the
supreme questions of liberty, society, love, sin, grace, these
vital questions that any literary work of value poses. We want
our children to use their minds, their heads, that is, we want
them to have knowledge about the world and about life, to
recognize good from evil, true good and true evil, the noble and
the vile. And this they will learn by frequenting great authors,
who knew what there is in man. The human must prevail over the
material. Literature must prevail over the natural sciences."
There Must be a
Hierarchy in the Subjects Taught
"We must take a stand, we must choose a course of action:
which one? The one in which not all subjects are put on the same
level; in which their unequal dignity is recognized and
respected; in which the child’s interest is not overly
captivated by the less important subjects. In practice, that
means we emphasize the study of authors. But authors, it is
said, form aesthetes
―affected fanatics of beauty,
―critical
and sterile minds, unrealistic erudites. No: because we teach
them in a climate of theology and spirituality, having ourselves
a Christian experience of man, enlightened by healthy doctrine;
because we teach authors in the context of the present era,
remaining open to the principles of modern science and
technology. But the sciences are taught by teachers who judge
them in relation to man’s true good
―an indispensable point of
view."
"We take a stand for Thomistic philosophy, and before the
senior year, a stand for English literature, as well as modern
and ancient languages, the languages being studied for their
culture more than for their usefulness."
Latin Must Have a
Place in the Curriculum
"Our humanization is not accomplished only horizontally,
through the knowledge of contemporary cultures and the study of
modern languages. Our humanization is accomplished also in
depth, by being rooted in our tradition. We shall not be
cultivated if we remain ignorant of our fathers. The authors of
the past attract us in that their works bear a message that is
still and always valid and worthwhile. They are authors of the
eternal, and so, in a certain way, authors of the present."
"It is not a question of short-sighted utilitarianism, of
short-sighted practical usefulness. It is a question of
humanization in the best meaning of the word."
The Study of
History Must Form the Judgment
"The cities of the world, the homelands and civilizations,
are never neutral. Whether they like it or not, they are under
the influence of the City of God, or of the City of Satan. Of
the City of God as Jesus made it forever, holy, immaculate,
invincible, destined to be configured to Him by the Cross and by
love, destined to carry the Cross as long as her pilgrimage
lasts, but also assured of the infallible victory by the Cross;
or of the City of Satan, her implacable enemy, with its false
doctrines and its great prestige, which has set itself against
the City of God, but whose attempts always end in failures."
Natural Science
Must Lead Children to Wonder at the Divine Order
"Through very attentive observation of nature and life, we
shall not be so interested in scientific laws as in teaching the
children to admire the work of the Creator, and to learn to use
it intelligently and religiously."
"Science as such is limited to what can be found out
sensibly, with the senses. As such, science does not know that
beings are creatures. Science textbooks do not know either that
beings are creatures. But the teacher is not substantialized
science; he is a man knowing deeper questions than scientific
ones. He knows that beings are creatures, through his
philosophic reason and his supernatural Faith. Science cannot
give truths, but it cannot contradict them either, because it
cannot positively demonstrate the contrary of what is true.
Science has only to accept these certainties." |