In the ancient Roman religion, which our Lord Jesus conquered by bringing us the the Truth of the Triune God, the goddess Vesta was the goddess of the hearth & home. In those days, there was the belief that a sacred fire was meant to keep burning in honor of the goddess. If the fire went out then the city would fall, or calamity was believed to be imminent. This seems to have come from the mountains around Rome, in an area today called Albano, when King Numa (2nd King of Rome) established religious practices in early Rome.
At any rate, I was thinking about this story this morning as my wife and I prepare to go to the Rocky Mountain Catholic Home Educators Conference this afternoon. Unfortunately, in our day, there are many schools who have begun to implode morally and some even academically. In fact, you may be aware that in California just a few days ago the governor approved the forced instruction of students about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people. Moreover, you might also know about the scandal in Atlanta where teachers, of all people, were caught cheating on the reporting of standardized testing. This alleged crime caused these teachers and administrators to receive bonuses and honors that they did not deserve to receive. These same standardized tests are used throughout the entire nation, and it has renewed debate about pay for public school teachers, and standardized testing.
The point? Well, education, as we have come to know it is often symbolized with a lamp of learning:
This lamp comes from the annals of history and the philosopher Diogenes of Sinope. It is said that Diogenes would go around with a lamp in mid-day. When he was asked why, he said it was because he was looking for an honest man. Presumably, he wanted somebody to tell him how dumb he was for carrying a lit lamp! Diogenes was known more popularly as a "cynic" philosopher. This, in my opinion, speaks to what much of modern American public (read government funded and directed) education has become. It would not be inappropriate to suggest that the "fire" of the lamp of learning has become "the fire of cynicism." That is, children are taught that belief in anything Catholic is useless or just not that important, depending on the curriculum.
Thankfully, schools like Notre Dame and other Catholics Schools are integral to fighting the Secular Humanism that has become prevalent in the running of government-run schools. Not that all teachers are willfully teaching secular humanism, but the fact that public school teachers must be weary of speaking about their Catholic faith is itself a demonstration of the removal and non-equality of the Catholic Faith with other teachings in public schools.
That being said, even beyond Catholic schools, there is a small growing minority (though not as small as many would think!) of parents who have turned to homeschooling their children as a way to educate their children and integrate their Catholic faith into their education. While homeschooling is not for everyone, I think, as Americans, we should appreciate the freedom to teach our children as we see fit. It is not the place of the government to be the primary instructor (<--see #3 of that Declaration of Vatican II) of any child. Taken to an extreme, some places have even outlawed parents teaching their children!!! You think I am kidding? In Germany it is illegal for parents to teach their children! Consider this story. If we don't appreciate our liberties in this country, then we may find that we too will one day lose them.
While I am at work, my wife is at home busily helping our children to learn to read, to count, to explore the world. As a family, we are evangelizing our children to know our Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord of History and the Lord of Life. Again, homeschooling may not be for everyone, but it is a serious and tenable way of teaching children to enjoy their faith. True, homeschooling takes a lot of sacrifice. But with children, as I like to repeat to people, "No greater sacrifice, no greater joy."
The thing it seems that most people don't realize who flatly reject homeschool as an option is that every parent teaches their children already at home, only it is not formalized. Sadly, some children learn that their faith is just short of useless from their parents, but some children learn that it is integral but equal to other subjects they study. While still other children learn from their parents that the Catholic Faith is the most important thing they will ever learn. There are, of course, a great spectrum of these realities, but homeschooling is a great catalyst for this final mode of education.
The fire that kept burning in the city of Rome, and other places, dedicated to the goddess Vesta was meant to never go out. To tend to it, the high priest of Vesta chose certain virgin girls at around the age of 10 years old, yes 10! They were to live almost the rest of their lives tending to the fire (among other duties): 10 years to learn their duties, 10 to live their duties, and 10 training a younger Vestal virgin. If they were to be found to no longer be a virgin, then they were to be buried alive - killed, essentially.
In a similar manner, if our children do not learn to fully appreciate their Catholic Faith then the fire of the Holy Spirit may be extinguished in our family. This, I believe, is partially what we can understand St. Paul to mean when he exhorted St. Timothy, "stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you (2Tim 1:6)." Many of the Catholic Church's traditions were borrowed from pagan practices, and purified by being given a Catholic sense. In this way, it demonstrated to people what Christ desires from us and for us: to be transformed by grace. It seems to me that we Catholic parents can not neglect the idea behind the Vestal Virgins if we hope to keep our Catholic culture alive. Though, thanks be to Jesus, we get to do it in the Sacrament of Marriage!
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