What is Lyceum?
Lyceum at the Academy exists to cultivate a culture of faithful Christian presence in and around the school through prayer, practice, and conversation, in the hallway, in the classroom, and in the sanctuary. Through the praying of the hours, through schedules of unhurried and ponderous discussion, through practices tied to the rhythms of the Church year, and through invited guests, we are re-formed as faithful members of and witnesses to the truth of God’s presence and activity in the world and in our hearts.
Prayer forms the foundation of all we do at The Academy on both Core Days (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and Lyceum Days (Tuesday and Thursday). We thus begin each day in prayer, shaping and aiming students’ hearts toward the One through whom all things hold together. Lyceum Days afford us time to further this commitment to the rule of prayer (lex orandi) taking time out of the day, between Matins and Evensong, to pray Terce, Sext and None according to the ancient church’s practice of praying the Hours. We include prayers from the past, present, and all corners of the Christian world. These times of prayer and thanksgiving encourage a rich spiritual life deeply rooted in the wisdom of the Great Tradition of the Church.
Lyceum Days (Tuesday and Thursday) serve our students by continuing instruction from teachers, as well as a variety of exclusive opportunities including outside lectures and speakers. Material introduced on Core Days is reviewed and applied on Lyceum Days. This manner of instruction occurs in all good classrooms. New material is introduced and students are then invited to explore its depths and implications on subsequent days. For learning to be rooted in wonder and contemplation, students need to be given the time and space to meditate on and immerse themselves in material—whether an elegant mathematical formula or a work of beautiful poetics or a deeper theological truth—before building on it. Lyceum Days afford just such time, the occasion for deeper interaction with and reflection on the material gleaned throughout the week.
The kingdom orientation of The Academy compels us to seek an outward expression of the Truth, Beauty, and Goodness learned within our curriculum; in other words, our curriculum is not exhausted by what may be expressed in our classrooms. We thus envision Lyceum Days as offering students the opportunity to see God’s good work outside the walls of the school and to participate in the wider Oklahoma City community, which participation helps students avoid becoming insular and missing opportunities to love their neighbors well. We accomplish this with visiting speakers from around the city (and nation) and having faculty conversations about those questions and convictions that unify and integrate our curriculum together in the pursuit of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. The Academy’s Lyceum is a unique (but not new) offering and an adventure into deep and meaningful engagement and understanding of God’s truth. We offer Lyceum Days in the hopes that these days provide further opportunity to love the True, the Good, and the Beautiful for the benefit of man and the Glory of Jesus Christ.