by Bridget Ruffing, ’22
This past Friday, granted a special holiday from classes, both students and professors sought shelter from the brisk autumnal breeze beneath an imposing tent which temporarily graced the lawn for this semester’s one and only Traditio day. The faculty chose to mark this formal beginning of the academic year with an exploration of the works of the school’s patron, the great Saint Thomas More.
The panel of professors taking residence at the head of the tent, composed of school President Dr. William Fahey, Academic Dean Jay Thompson, Dr. Amy Fahey and Mr. Joshua Lo, offered comments and insight into More’s Letter to William Gonell, his Letters to His Children, his Letter to Oxford University, and a bonus letter by Erasmus on More’s Approach to Education. Dr. Amy Fahey began the commentary with some thoughts on the saint’s writings to his children and their tutor, where she touched on his praise of Astronomy, providing her own Astrolabe to exhibit to the crowd and illustrate her points. During her discussion, she emphasized that one must “have an intellectual curiosity,” and drew attention to how “there’s a sweetness in More’s attitude toward his children” which shines through his writing and lends a deeper insight into the impressive man’s personal life and cares.
Professor Joshua Lo turned his thoughts to saint’s address to Oxford University, in which he expounds the virtues of and fights for the continued teaching of Greek and Latin at that renowned school. Mr. Lo seconded Thomas More’s support of the classical languages and argued that Latin in particular possesses a flamboyance that lends itself well to use in rhetorical speech.
Dean Thompson explored More’s allusions to the role of the liberal arts in the Christian life, and the emphasis he placed on the pursuit of both education and humility. “It is a matter of whether we live well or badly, how we approach the task of learning,” Mr. Thompson advised the students. Dr. Fahey joined Mr. Lo in his inquiry into the role of the classical languages, and noted that his comments had brought to his own mind a conversation he had engaged in with the Sophomores, regarding the relation between speech and thought, and how they depend upon each other.
After these brief treatises, the panel opened the floor to the audience for questions and comments. Here conversation flowed with vigor as the students and faculty engaged in the Socratic method of inquiry that they know all too well and hold most dear. The topic of language continued to spark the curiosity of all, as students picked up the thread of Dr. Fahey’s musings and mused over whether there exists a distinct order to language and thought: which comes first? From there, the persuasive power of Latin was brought up again by the college’s professor that language, Mr. Fred Fraser. This sparked a friendly debate with Dr. Amy Fahey over whether the ancient language truly had an advantage over our native tongue when it came to the art of persuasion.
While conversation could have continued long into the night, the president eventually had to draw the Traditio to a close. Dismissed, the participants walked away into the late afternoon sunshine, musing on the topics discussed, free to enjoy some leisure and thoughtful companionship before gathering once more beneath the tent to celebrate the sacrifice of the mass and the grand Convocation. These solemn events conveyed to the attendants a sense of the importance of their two-fold task at Thomas More College: the pursuit of Wisdom and Salvation. This emphasis is echoed by the wish of More for his children: “Onward then in that new and admirable science by which you ascend to the stars! But . . . raise your mind also to heaven, lest the soul look downwards to the earth, after the manner of the brutes, while the body is raised aloft.”
For further reading:
Contemplating Rembrandt: A Traditio Day with Dr. Michael Platt
