The Reason for Rote

This is a little scrap of conversation from The Daisy Chain, by Charlotte Yonge, a truly delightful book, full of gems and thoughts on church tradition and classical education.

Shocked and saddened by the “Ladies’ Committee” decision to “leave off reading the Prayer-book prayers morning and evening!” at the neighborhood school, Ethel, the awkward but deep-thinking heroine, laments:

“And it is much to be expected that next they will attack all learning by heart…If they don’t learn them (the Psalms – the Gospels – these ties—these links to the church) by rote when they have strong memories…they will not know them well enough to understand them when they are old enough!…memory and association come before comprehension, so that one ought to know all good things…with familiarity before one can understand, because understanding does not make one love. Oh! One does that before, and when the first little gleam, little bit of a sparklet of the meaning does come, then it is so valuable and so delightful.”

Her wise and theologically astute older brother, Richard, agrees with her,

“…these lessons and holy words were to be impressed on us here from infancy on earth, that we might be always unraveling their meaning, and learn it fully at last…”

I can only say…Amen!