My History of the Church class is, at times, quite amusing. Today it evoked a few smiles from the professor and students alike, especially from the international students. When you study ancient and medieval history of the Church (or regular old history, for that matter) in a country as young as the United States, the majority of the time is dedicated to events that happened in lands far, far, away. Sort of makes sense when, well, there wasn´t exactly an ancient or medieval period close to home. When you study it in Europe, however, it´s quite literally a different story.
Today our professor opened the class with a reading from the works of Saint Isidore (who, of course, was from Seville). See if the same smile crosses your face as did mine when you read it. Although to get the full effect, you would need to hear it in a Castilian accent…
“Of all the lands from the west to the Indies, you, Spain, O sacred and always fortunate mother of princes and peoples, are the most beautiful. Rightly are you now the queen of all provinces, from which not only the west, but also the east borrows its shining lights. You are the pride and the ornament of the world, the more illustrious part of the earth, in which the Getic people are gloriously prolific, rejoicing much and flourishing greatly.”
During the break, our professor decided to ask us Americans what we thought of the reading, which led to a highly interesting conversation about nationalism, patriotism, and things of that sort. I agree that Spain is beautiful—really beautiful. But no worries about us losing our American patriotism. Tori, a fellow American consecrated, had a great punch line regarding Saint Isidore´s excitement:
“They hadn´t discovered America yet.”
