Essential Question
How did the Catholic Church renew herself from within and carry the faith to the ends of the earth?
This week the student sees the Catholic Church's vigorous response to the Reformation: the reforming Council of Trent (1545-1563), the new religious orders (especially the Jesuits under St. Ignatius of Loyola), the Carmelite mystical reform of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, and the explosion of worldwide missions reaching Asia and the Americas. The student learns that the Church did not merely react against Protestantism but renewed herself from within and carried the faith to the ends of the earth. A multi-week research project launches.
Liturgical note: Lent — the Church's season of conversion and renewal. This week's theme of the Church reforming herself mirrors the Lenten call to personal conversion. The Carmelite mystics and the Jesuit Spiritual Exercises model the interior renewal Lent invites.
Threads at a Glance
The Council of Trent and Catholic renewal; new orders (the Jesuits and St. Ignatius); the Carmelite reform (Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross); worldwide missions (Francis Xavier in Asia)
Secession and the War Begins
St. Ignatius of Loyola
The global reach of Catholic missions; draw the mission fields — Asia (Xavier), the Americas, and the sea routes
Mannerism into the early Baroque — El Greco; how the Council of Trent shaped sacred art
Counter-Reformation sacred music — Tomas Luis de Victoria and the Roman school; Palestrina revisited
St. Teresa of Avila (mystic, reformer, and Doctor of the Church)
Penance and Conversion (the heart of Lent)
YOUCAT — the 7th, 8th, and 10th Commandments: justice, truth, and detachment
Common usage errors II — pronoun-antecedent agreement; who vs. whom
RESEARCH PROJECT launch — choose a topic, form a question, gather sources (multi-week)
Weekly Writing Assignment
Begin a multi-week research project (continuing in Weeks 23 and 24) on a person, event, or development from the unit 'Renaissance, Exploration & Reformation' (Weeks 17-24). For example: the Council of Trent, St. Ignatius and the Jesuits, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier's mission, the Catholic missions of New Spain, or the Galileo affair (Week 24). THIS WEEK: (1) choose and narrow your topic, (2) write a single focused research question, (3) find and record at least FOUR reliable sources with full citations, evaluating each for reliability.
The Week
Close the Week
Add each date to your running timeline notebook — one color for World History, another for US History.
Unit Reading · Renaissance, Exploration & Reformation
by E. L. Konigsburg
A witty, surprising novel that imagines the friendship between Leonardo da Vinci, his mischievous servant boy Salai, and the duchess Beatrice — and the mystery behind the Mona Lisa's smile.
by Robert Bolt
The acclaimed play about St. Thomas More, who would not betray his conscience even when the king demanded it — and paid with his life. A gripping portrait of integrity in the storm of the Reformation.
by Louis de Wohl
A sweeping novel of St. Francis Xavier, the friend of St. Ignatius who carried the Gospel across the seas to India and Japan during the Catholic Reformation. Adventure and holiness on a global stage.
by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's most famous play: two teenagers from feuding families fall headlong in love, with tragic results. The classic introduction to Shakespeare for ninth graders, full of dazzling language about love, family, and rash choices. (Mature themes — young love and the lovers' suicides — make for rich discussion with a parent.)
by Miguel de Cervantes
An old gentleman reads so many tales of chivalry that he sets off to be a knight himself — tilting at windmills with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. The first modern novel: hilarious, tender, and wise. Best met in a good abridgment at this age. On the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
The true-life story of Juan de Pareja, an enslaved man in the household of the great Spanish painter Velázquez, who secretly learns to paint and eventually wins his freedom and friendship. A quiet, beautiful novel about art, dignity, and faith. Listed on the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.