Mr. Joseph Diaz
Classical Languages

Depending upon how one counts, between 45 and 60% of all English words are derived from Latin while that figure rises to more than 95% regarding scientific, technological, or legal terminology. Our alphabet is directly derived from Latin and five major modern languages likewise are based in Latin, the "Romance" languages of French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. Latin is of course the official language of the Catholic Church and most of our faith's most beautiful prayers and hymns were created from that ancient language. Latin was one of the bedrocks of Western civilization as it was the language of the Roman Empire, and once the empire was conquered by Christianity it became the language of the Christian faith in the West. Thus, through Latin (along with Greek) much of the heritage of classical antiquity and Christendom is transmitted through the Latin language. While the vernacular grew over time through the Middle Ages, Latin was the scholarly language for almost 1500 years, and indeed many of our Founding Fathers' education was grounded in Latin study with figures like Adams, Madison, and Jefferson being able to speak and read the language so they could get access to classical Roman civilization from which came many of the ideas for our own government. The Founding Fathers certainly looked to the great figures of Roman history to inspire and inform them in their revolutionary project to found a new nation.

At SJL Academy, we follow in this same tradition of education. Students will receive formal instruction in Latin twice a week while our music program will also feature the traditional Latin hymns of our faith. And we are blessed to have found a teacher who is just as enthusiastic to share his love of this foundational language with our students.

“Flooded with all these intellectual lights, our mind – like a house of God – is inhabited by the divine Wisdom. It is made to be a daughter of God, a spouse and friend”(Itinerarium mentis in Deum 4.8). As Mr. Diaz explains, "the Seraphic Doctor’s (St. Bonaventure) words paint a path of learning that is available to all of humanity. The path is not easily found today as our society so often discards the principles and means to attain our telos in God. Yet, how fortunate are the students and faculty at St. James the Less Academy who find a place where this path is still tracked!"

Growing up in Wisconsin as a Lutheran in a non-classical school setting, Mr. Diaz, in his own reflection, was deprived of the holistic formation that classical education provides. He relates, "It was only during my bachelor’s degree in theological languages that I was first exposed to the treasures of classical education. There I was exposed to the rich heritage of Western Civilization in the humanities and arts. After my conversion to the Catholic Church and while studying for my Master of Arts in theology at Marquette, did I truly grasp how the theology, spirituality, and life of the Catholic faith is the nexus that invigorates classical education." He continues, "In short, Catholic theology, spirituality, and life produces the most meaningful and most cherished form of education that could exist. From the Catholic faith flows the treasure house of “intellectual lights” that fosters the mind to grow holistically for the world and the Church."

While continuing his studies at Marquette for a doctorate in religious studies, he is grateful for the opportunity to teach Latin at St. James the Less Academy. Mr. Diaz enumerates the many benefits of Latin: "its ability to train the young mind to logical and grammatical acuity, its ability to bridge and connect the modern mind to a rich heritage of Western primary texts in theology, philosophy, law, and literature, and finally to its capacity to produce a receptivity to the Logos in creation." Mr. Diaz seeks to provide all these benefits to his students so that, as he says, "both they and I might continue our quest for knowledge that ends in the reward of eternal life in God."

To paraphrase Mr. Diaz's contributing vision to St James the Less Academy, students are endowed with the aforementioned benefits, Latin, the Catholic faith, the rich heritage of the West, etc. The faculty dedicate themselves to guiding young minds down the same path of the greatest minds and saints that Western Civilization has produced. At the Academy, students are geared and orientated to learn skills that not only help their future temporal stations in life, but, far more importantly, craft their minds to be receptive to the God who created, redeemed, and who is saving them. Mr. Diaz concludes, "A student who studies at St James the Less Academy will be taught and trained to persevere through sensible and intellectual trials so that they may reach the state that St. Bonaventure so affectionately describes, “It [the mind of the Christian] is made into the temple of the Holy Spirit, grounded in faith, elevated in hope and dedicated to God through holiness of mind and body” (Itinerarium mentis in Deum 4.8).