Gladdest Hours

He Has Risen, As He Said, ALLELUIA!

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!

We attended an absolutely beautiful Mass yesterday morning.  Our neighbors, John, Julee and Jemma attended and sat next to us, which resulted in all three older girls immediately moving to sit next to them, which left me......(gasp!) childless during Mass, since Caroline stays with Pete, as there is hardly any LAP left on me these days.  Needless to say, I was a complete puddle of joyful tears by the end of the procession and was never even able to sing one single note of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."  It's probably a good thing that I'm usually keeping tabs on little ones and am distracted, or Pete would never go to Mass with me if I bawled like that all the time! 

We had ten amazing altar servers, lots of incense, beautiful flowers, wonderful instruments and the beautiful choir singing the Mass of Sts. Peter and Paul.  The most glorious day in our liturgical year and it showed!   

We came home in the pouring rain, when Pete pronounced that "this is just drizzle."  So, we proceeded with the annual egg hunt in our yard.  Here is Caroline (2), Erika (5), Dorothy Jo (4), Jemma (6), and Madeleine (7):   

Obviously they could care less what the weather is like!    

Then we had brunch and the rest of the day whizzed right past.  We read some of our Easter books,  did our Resurrection presentation/play and ate some candy!  Oh yes, and I did lots of laundry from a couple of accidents the night before.   

If you have a few minutes and want to swoon, Diane is busy posting beautiful pictures from Assumption Grotto's (Detroit) Holy Week on Te Deum laudemus :

• Holy Week 2008
• Here are the posts from last year's Holy Week 2007

Happy Easter and Joyeuses Pâques!  May the Resurrection of Our Lord bring you much hope and joy during these fifty days of Easter! 

A New Way to Begin Mass

The Altar is prepared.  Dorothy Jo (3) and Erika (5) are in the hallway with the Candle and Crucifix waiting for the procession music.  Madeleine (6) is bopping around pretending to light the candles and setting up the CD.  (Because she is the oldest,  she can apparently be the Sacristan, Priest, Usher, Altar Server and Choir Director all at the same time.) 

She then moves over to "the other side" (where the choir supposedly would be) and says in a very loud voice, "Would everyone kindly silence their cell phones?   The opening hymn is number 516 in the Red Hymnal."  She then runs to the CD, turns it on, and runs to the Procession Line.

Yes, indeed. That's PRECISELY how it goes.

The Good Shepherd

Today we did The Good Shepherd presentation from Moira Farrell's Home Catechesis 3-5.  It's really a Lenten presentation, but since this is the Gospel reading for this Sunday, I thought we'd do it today.   

Yes, I know that's a cow and a goat, but we just PRETENDED.   Their names were Charlotte, Marie and Desiree. 

A Tupperware lid  and blocks make up the sheepfold. 

The Good Shepherd Statue was a gift for Dorothy Jo's Baptism from her Godparents, Mr. & Mrs. McIntyre. 

Felt pieces are used for the danger area, green pasture, and pool of water.   

 

The Good Shepherd going back for the lost sheep. 

They loved this Presentation, and so did I.  Later we did the Psalm refrain for Sunday for copywork.  "We are his people, the sheep of his flock." 

Jesus said:
"My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.
The Father and I are one."   ~John 10:27-30

Atrium Presentation - Altar Work IV

This morning we prepared for our Atrium Presentation by making Tabernacles.  The one we'll use for our Atrium is very rough....simply a box covered with gold wrapping paper, big enough to fit the ciborium. Not really very "Montessori!"  But, it will do! The girls made their own "home for Jesus" with paper cups covered with gold paper.  Thankfully, Caroline was napping during this activity.  Then we did the Altar IV presentation, which introduces the Ciborium, Eucharist, Tabernacle and Sanctuary Lamp. I don't have the set-up exactly as Moira describes in her album.  We do the actual presentations in our living room on the coffee table which is what is pictured here, for space reasons.  I found that when I did them at the "altar" area, it was just too crowded and we were tripping over each other. Not very conducive to a prayerful and peaceful presentation. As a result, there is no crucifix behind the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle is elevated on a basket.    When the girls want to "do altar work" they bring the materials out from the basket they are kept in and set up on 1 of 3 surface areas that I've explained to them (depending on who is sleeping and working  where)

Home Atrium

We have started a Home Atrium using Moira Farrell's Album 3-5. 

Definition of ATRIUM: a spiritual setting where the Montessori method of "self-teaching" is used in a classroom setting or, in the case of a home setting, as a prayer corner.  It is often referred to as "holy ground" and, in the words of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd foundress, Gianna Gobbi,  "creates the conditions for silence and reverence and helps children focus on and listen to God." 

We did the first presentation (Altar Work) about 6 weeks ago.  It went extremely well, the girls were mesmerized and completely fascinated with the items presented in the miniature mass kit.  The second presentation went equally well, and they were eager to do the “altar work” on their own a few times throughout the week.  By the third week, however, interest waned. Now, they are starting to fidget, argue, get antsy, and act disinterested.  I’m sticking with it, however, because there is just too much that everyone is learning!  It’s not perfect, and it IS frustrating at times….but THAT’s OK!

Originally, I found This link helpful when I began to consider this about 6 months ago. 

Here are some other links:

Catholic Montessori

Shepherd's Closet

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

I'm still in the process of getting the catechesis materials (figures, props, etc.) made....This link has some ideas that I'll be using, to make things affordable and not too time consuming.