Gladdest Hours

A Wonderful End to the Choir Year at St. James Cathedral

 

This year, the three older girls were in the St. James Cathedral Youth Music Choir Program.  It was an amazing experience and all three girls loved it and received wonderful beginning choral and music training.  All my expectations were exceeded, and I'm so glad we decided to commit to this for the year.  (Thank you, LeeAnn!)  It was a lot of effort.....schlepping five kids downtown Seattle once a week.....3-4 hours door-door, sometimes longer depending on traffic.  But, I wasn't pregnant and I didn't have a newborn, so I figured it was a good time to spread-our-wings a bit.

Many of my logistical concerns worked out, and we soon found ourselves at the Cathedral where I used to attend Mass with my girlfriends before I got married.  Now, I was here with five offspring in tow!  

Believe it or not, there were always large enough spaces for our mammoth van, thanks to the reserved Cathedral spots at O'Dea High School!  Otherwise????  Forget it!  That would've been IT for us!  LOL! 

The choir program made an extra room available for those of us with small children....a contained area with a TV when we got desperate :-)   And, I couldn't think of two more wonderful ladies to spend 90 minutes with than LeeAnn and Lauris!

The music selection for these young children is superb and lovely!  They are exposed to and learning the music of our beautiful Catholic Faith!  I have been brought to tears by much of the music that they sang during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 

There are three youth choirs that practiced on Thursday afternoons:

• St. Gregory Choir, 6-7 year olds.   4:30-6:00 pm.  Erika & Dorothy Jo were in this choir.
• St. Cecilia Choir, 8-9 year olds.  Mrs. Newhall was the director this year, and she was greatly loved by Madeleine.  4:30-6:00 pm.
• Schola Cantorum, 10-13 year olds.  Practiced weekly from 4:30-6:30. Ms. Sunde-director.  Madeleine has dreams of singing with this choir and can't WAIT to be 10!

These three choirs sang once a month at the First Sunday Youth Mass as well as at the Vigil Mass at Christmas, the Epiphany of the Lord, the Palm Sunday Procession,and the truly beautiful Great Music for Great Cathedrals. 

Today was the amazing Corpus Christi Procession to finish off the year! 

Here are our little choristers in their robes for the last time~

The girls met lots of new friends....one in particular :-)   Hello, Helena!  And, Caroline and Jacqueline talk about their new friend, Ewen, constantly!

We are so blessed to have participated in this program this year, and I'm very grateful to all the directors, organizers and parents who made it happen. 

Erika's First Holy Communion

Erika made her First Holy Communion on May 2 of this year! It was a beautiful Mass!

 

Recessing out after the children received their scapulars (Erika is in front of Father):

 

Group Photo:

 

Godparents, Mr. and Mrs. Volpone:

 

The cake, beautifully decorated by her friend, Gemma:

"My favorite part was going up to Communion. When Father Harris put Jesus on my tongue, I was so happy. I smiled. I have now received the Eucharist about five times."

Jesus, we trust in Your mercy and love.  Keep Erika's hope strong always.  We thank You very much for coming into her soul through this glorious Sacrament.  May she love You always!

Praying for Erika's First Communion

Tomorrow Erika receives her First Holy Communion!  

We found this wonderful Novena Booklet that is just so beautiful.  Erika has been praying these prayers in preparation for tomorrow.  Here is the one from today~

Oh Jesus, soon I will receive You in Holy Communion.  I have waited for this day for a long time.  I am so excited to receive the Body and Blood of my dear Redeemer.  I have tried to prepare for this day by offering little sacrifices to You to prepare my soul for Your coming.  I will ask my dear Mother Mary to come into my soul so that she can receive You with the perfect love which can only make You more pleased to be in my soul.  I will never forget this day which brings me so much happiness.  I bring to You today, a bouquet of flowers to present to Mary, as a symbol of my love for You.  I thank my Lady for bringing You, Jesus, to me.  Never let me be parted from You.  May I never receive You unworthily.  Inflame my heart with love.  Keep my faith strong and secure.  I trust in Your mercy and love.  Keep my hope strong always.  I thank You very much for coming into my soul.  I will love You always.  Amen. 

Preparing To Prepare

Let us change our garments for ashes and sackcloth: let us fast and lament before the Lord: for plenteous in mercy is our God to forgive sins.  Ash Wednesday Antiphon, Joel 2:13

The girls and I spent some time this weekend getting our little lenten feast table set up.

I made a new picture frame and am really happy with how it turned out!

It can be used for other seasons too, just rotate the background / pictures out and replace with other feast day pictures or liturgical season art.   Thanks Wildflowers & Marbles for the inspiration!

All together:

• Lent Picture Books & Holy Cards
• Prayer Aids
• Rosary Basket
• Stations of the Cross Box
• Fr. Birch in Violet Vestments
• Planning Books for Holy Week
• Lenten Path w/ Markers

And, linking this in case anyone hasn't seen this amazing compilation of resources:  Holy Week Resources. 

Wishing you all a blessed Ash Wednesday.

Advent Traditions: Our "O Antiphon House"

I first learned about the "O Antiphons" about twelve years ago, and was immediately drawn to them.  I was not yet married and life was quite a bit quieter in those days.  I remember lighting a candle in my cute, little apartment and saying the prayers from The Christmas Novena Brochure .   I remember praying for my future husband, wherever he may be, and for maybe......someday....a big family to light many candles during the month of December and join me in anticipation during the dark days of Advent. 

Well, here we are.....twelve years later.  There is "Husband" and there is "Big Family" (by Seattle-standards anyway).    But, Quiet?  Cute?  Little?   Not really words I use anymore to describe my life, but I still have the "O Antiphons!"    From the  Women for Faith and Family website:

On the evening of December 17 the final phase of preparation for Christmas begins with the first of the great "O Antiphons" of Advent. These prayers are seven jewels of liturgical song, one for each day until Christmas Eve. They seem to sum up all our Advent longing for the Savior.

The "O Antiphons" are intoned with special solemnity in monasteries at Vespers, before and after the Magnificat, Mary's prayer of praise and thanksgiving from the Gospel of Luke (2:42-55), which is sung every evening as the climax of this Hour of the Divine Office.

A vestige of the "Great Os" can be seen in verses of the familiar Advent hymn, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel".

Inspired by the Parade of "O Antiphon Houses" the past couple of years, my mom and I worked on this last January when she was here after Christmas.  She did SUCH A BEAUTIFUL job, and we are so excited to use our Antiphon House this year!  

Here are the seven blocks, with the date, the symbol, and the Latin title:

Then, for the House......we spray painted it purple, and put ERO CRAS at the top, as this is my FAVORITE part of the beauty and perfection of the "O Antiphons."

From this article:

"...........the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia - the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

The bottom left and right are images from Christmas cards.  On Dec. 17 when we begin the Antiphon House, those nativity images are slightly covered with the blocks and then are gradually revealed as we get closer to Dec. 25, as we pray them and move each block to its designated place:

Here is a close up of one day, with the Antiphon attached to the back:

  

I hope you enjoyed the tour through our new "house" that will appear in a mere nine weeks!  And, it is absolutely worth your time to tour the other O Antiphon Houses that I linked at the beginning of the post.  It's so amazing how others have incorporated these beautiful gems into their Advent traditions!

Family-Friendly Liturgy of the Hours

We started talking in the Keeping Sundays a Priority thread about modifying Compline or Vespers of The Liturgy of the Hours for use in our families, with children. 

At the beginning of this year, I borrowed  Evening Prayerbook: Sunday Vespers and Night Prayers from a friend, to get an idea of how to "make our own" as well as using Christian Prayer.      Part of the Evening Prayerbook is available to view online 

These are beautiful books, and I love them! But, they are quite pricey, and also, I wanted a bit of flexibility to change things if I needed to because of reading ability, family circumstances, and liturgical season. Also to get really specific in who is saying what, to take turns, etc. 

Disclaimer: I'm no expert on the Divine Office; I simply went from what I saw in Christian Prayer and the 2 Patmos Books and tried to keep it as "authenic" as possible. But, even that's not *necessary.* I do like the idea of my girls learning and hearing the prayers from the breviary, even if they aren't *exactly* said on the right day, etc. 

I think we used this starting after Christmas, a couple times a week, for night/before-bed prayer-time. Especially on Saturday nights, as part of our prep/anticipation for Sunday Mass. At the time, my girls were 8, 6.5, 5, 2.5, 1. The two older ones were at a reading level that they could participate, which they loved and made it very family-friendly. 

Details: 
::Keep it to one page - front and back to avoid rustling of pages 
::Bold and enlarge the #1, #2, Dad, etc......so they can see it clearly. 
::Use the "parts" so they learn the terminology of Liturgy of the Hours
::For the different Liturgical Seasons, you can change "something" to suit the season......the Antiphon, Psalm, Canticle or Reading. 
::Little ones can begin to memorize the lines that are said all the time to help them participate.  Also helping them make the sign-cross in that spot. 

Download Night Prayers Family

Father Birch - Liturgical Year Colors In Our Home

Last year, I set out to make something similar to Jennifer's  Wildflowers and Marbles' Father Oak.   Which actually means I convinced my poor mother and father to do it for me!  LOL!  We were all so thrilled with him!  So, after a year of having him as a regular part of our family, I'm finally getting around to blogging about him.  

We call him FATHER BIRCH, for obvious reasons *wink*.  He is quite mobile and moves around the house, sometimes resting on our Sacred Heart altar, sometimes on the children's area where we have various liturgical things set up, and sometimes as the centerpiece on the dining room table.  These are some pictures from previous posts in red for Palm Sunday and Pentecost: 

  

Here he is with all his vestments, made by the very willing and talented Grandma Charlotte: 

 

We keep all this in a shoe box that is accessible and the girls can change the vestments whenever they want or according to the feast day colors.  

The chasubles (violet, green, white, red and rose) are 17" long, 6.5" wide. They are made from a satin material, which was hard to work with, but that's what I found at the fabric store for practically nothing.  Felt would probably be the simplest to use.  We put gold ribbon around the outside on some just to make them more fancy, but not necessary.  

The blue stole is for Marian feast days and it is felt with gold ribbon attached.  The red stole is a ribbon with a material backing to make it a bit more stiff.  And, the white stole is white material (same as chasuble) with gold ribbon.   

Here he is on a Marian feast day: 

And, a close-up of the wooden underneath that my dad made: 

He is 9" tall and 7.5" wide. The pattern that we based him off of is at Wildflowers and Marbles that I linked above.  

We've been thrilled with Father Birch, and how it's incorporated the liturgical colors in our home.  And, as always I'm extremely grateful to my mom and dad for their hard work and putting up with my nonsense!

Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda is possibly coming up with a non-power-tool version, so stay tuned.

Pentecost - Happy Birthday to Our Glorious Church!

We celebrated the last day of Easter today with the Feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the church!!  We all dressed in some form of red, orange or yellow for Mass, which is a pretty big stretch for Pete, since he's kind of a blue/green kind of guy.  Here are the girls with their Holy Spirit Flames over their heads: 

Fear of the Lord and Counsel are missing.  Fear was taking the picture and Counsel was locking up the house.  *grin*

Pete thought I was a nutball a couple years ago when I laminated these flames.  Laugh away, dear husband....they actually get a lot of use! 

And, yes, that IS a construction zone in the background.  Pete is on vacation this week, and he is enjoying his "time off" by building a new and improved and much larger front deck.  

And, here are our Holy Spirit Cupcakes with the cute little strawberry flames. Thank you Catholic Cuisine!

 

And, the table, waiting for us after Mass: 

Seven cupcakes for the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, with 12 candles for the 12 apostles and 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit.  

Happy Feast of Pentecost!

Mondays with Mary

Hot off the press!   Meredith's new book, Mondays With Mary is here!  It is available on her blog on the right sidebar.  It debuted at the Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference  last weekend and IT IS GREAT!  So many of us have enjoyed her Marian feast day blog posts at Sweetness & Light the past couple of years, and now I'm thrilled to have her ideas, research, compilations, and yearning for the Blessed Mother to lead our families in ONE BOOK.

So many times I have decided to forgo the celebration of a feast day simply because the task of sitting at the computer and looking up "just a few ideas" or finding a prayer or song just didn't happen.  Mondays with Mary brings everything together in one place and is easy to use.  The book uses the Litany of Loreto as the framework for celebrating thirty-two Marian feast days throughout the liturgical year. 

Each Title/Feast Day has: 

• Bible verse or quote from the Catechism, spiritual works or other little gem
• Explanation and history of the feast day
• Teatime Chat ~ my absolute favorite part.  Ideas and special little ways of conversation to bring Our Lady to our little ones (and big ones too!)  
• Devotional Activity ~ perhaps a craft, book suggestion, or activity, along with a prayer or song applicable for the day.  
• Teatime Recipe Idea ~ most are very simple and very yummy with ingredients that I already have in my house.

From the Preface:  "Mondays With Mary represents a glimpse into the life and heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary for our children.  We as their parents are the windows to her world; we just need to open it for them.  Let us go to Jesus through Mary!"  (

Thank you, Meredith, for providing this wonderful little gem for our domestic church!

During the Octave of Easter.......

Panties Angelicus

Dorothy Jo (age 5):   "Mom, how come Madeleine and Erika keep singing a song about PANTIES? "  

Me:  "Panties?"  

Dorothy Jo:  "Yes, that song.  You know.   Panties-Angelicus."  

**Also known in more mature circles as Panis Angelicus.  

Alleluia!

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!       ~Exultet

Easter blessings from our family to yours!

Palm Sunday

"Come, and as we make our way up to the Mount of Olives, let us go out to meet Christ, who is returning  today from Bethany, and of his own will makes haste towards his most venerable and revered passion,whereby he will bring to fulfillment the mystery of the salvation of mankind."         ~St. Andrew of Crete

Palm Sunday in ART: 

And, in Palm Sunday in our HOME: 

Blessings to everyone as we enter into Holy Week.  

Another one for the "You Know You're Catholic When....." List

You know you're Catholic when your 7 year-old ask for the definition of "clement." 

"Mom, what does "CLEMENT" mean?"  

At first, I really didn't know what she was talking about.  I said, "You mean the oranges, "Clementines?"  

"No, not THAT!  You know....CLEMENT!"  

Oh yes.  Clement.  Of course.  Silly me.   

As in, "O clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary."  

clement

Adjective

1. (of the weather) mild

2. merciful [Latin clemens mild]

Ash Wednesday

Lenten Reading Plan

I'm cleaning off my bookshelves and book baskets, putting everything away except for my designated books for Lent.  The shelves and baskets will be sparse.  Otherwise, I get distracted and start "perusing" the million books at my bedside and then it's all downhill from there.  

I remember reading several years ago about selecting a reading plan for Lent to fall into 3 categories: Something for the Mind, for the Heart, and for the Soul.   

*****************************************

For the Mind (something about Church History, the Sacraments, ethics, dogma, scholarly life of Jesus, or encyclicals).   I'll be listening to the audiotape of Lord Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession, by Scott Hahn and making my way through Pope Benedict's Encyclical SPE SALVI . 

Here are a couple other titles that have been on my list.  Maybe for future years?   A couple of these would probably be more "soul." (maybe)

• Jesus of Nazareth 
• The Passion of Jesus and its Hidden Meaning 
• Sermons of Saint Francis de Sales for Lent 
•  The Foot of the Cross 
• Any books by   William Thomas Walsh  -One of these years, I really want to FINISH one of these. 

 

For the Heart (biographies of the saints or stories reflective of Lent) I will be reading: 

• Helena by Evelyn Waugh- I've wanted to read this for several years!!
• The Secret Diary of Elisabeth LeSeur - I pick this book up every other year or so, and find it's perfect for Lent.  

Here are some others that I would like to read some year during Lent, or have read: 

• Blessed Marie of the Presentation - new book by Tan that I really want to read.  Maybe next year.  
• Lent: An Uncommon Love Story - Would love to see this book, but haven't yet.  By the same author as a favorite picture book The Jesus Garden.
• Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light .  I read this last year, and it was a perfect Lenten read.
• Saint Monica 
• St. Rita of Cascia 
• The Life of Blessed Margaret Costello .  This is one of my favorite saint books.  I've read it several times during Lent over the past few years.  
•  Madame Royale by Elena Vidal - A magnificent historical novel about the daughter of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI.  The role of suffering in Marie-Therese-Charlotte's life makes this an amazing Lenten read.  

For the Soul (spiritual reading from works of the saints or saintly writers, prayer books, religious poetry, of the life of our Lord)

• The King, Crucified and Risen by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel
• Christians at the Cross  - I think one of the ladies at 4real recommended this, and my library has it.  
• In Conversation with God, Lent and Easter 
• Lent and Easter with Mary - I found this from the Paraclete Press website.   

Haven't read these, but they are going on my list for future years: 

• What Jesus Saw From the Cross 
• Small Surrenders
•  The School of Jesus Crucified 
• The Power of the Cross: Applying the Passion of Christ to Your Life 
• The Open Door: Entering the Sanctuary of Icons and Prayer 

• First Fruists of Prayer - A forty day journey through the Canon of St. Andrew.  Read this the past two years, and highly recommend it.   
•  Dolores Passion of Our Lord - have read parts of this, but never during Lent.  One of these years, Michelle will let me borrow her copy during Lent.  *hint*

  Other Prayer Books in my Basket: 

•  Ignatius Study Bible (Mark) 
•  Mother Love 
•  Praying with Saint Maria Faustina 
•   Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary, Sept & Nov (focusing on Detachment, Love of Cross, Suffering) 
•  The Aquinas Prayer Book
• Prayer: the great means of grace   
• Suffering Prayer Leaflet 

In my PURSE:  

•  The Agony of Jesus 
•  Thoughts of the Cure of Ars 
•  Blue Pieta prayerbook 
• Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother

Cookbook Reading: 

• From a Monastery Kitchen 

Listening to: 

• Tenebrae of Good Friday 
• Passiontide at St. Paul's 
• Rachmaninoff: Vespers 

Some Movies I like to watch during Lent:  

• Babette's Feast
• Shawshank Redemption
•  Joan of Arc 
•  Molokia: the story of Fr. Damien 
•  The Passion of Joan of Arc 
•   Under the Sun of Satan
•  The Tree of Wooden Clogs 
•  Au Revoir Les Enfants 
•  The Ninth Day 
•  Monsieur Vincent 
•  Teresa de Jesus 
•  St. Teresa of Avila 
• The Passion of the Christ 

Now.......for the booklist for the girls and family!

Feast of Our Lady of Altagracia

We had a little tea party today to celebrate the feast day of  Our Lady of Altagracia.  

The girls were excited to share one of our favorite Catholic Mosaic books,  The Gift of Gracias, with their friends!  We learned about the image with a little Trivia Game, and then cloved some oranges.   

We made Orange Muffins to go with our Tea (aka: hot chocolate).   

The girls did a great job honoring Our Lady with a prayer.  Download Altagracia Prayer - Trivia

The tea party pauses for a moment to smile for the camera: 

Hey.....who's the lady in turquoise?  Why, it's Grama Charlotte!  She came all the way from Minnesota for our tea party, which shows you how important Our Lady of Altagracia really is!  I had to reprimand her when she started answering all the Trivia questions!   Sheez....give the 5-year-olds a chance!  She's quite competitive. *wink*

Since I had my mom and Violet here helping, I got a little picture-crazy during the cloving of the oranges, but they are just so cute, I can't help but to post some of them: 

Agnes and Dorothy Jo~

Violet helping Caroline~

Grama Charlotte helping her grand-daughters (in between saying silly things and making everyone laugh):  

Finished Products~

Here are some other posts and families honoring Our Lady today: 

Ten Kids and a Dog

Sweetness and Light 

Cottage Blessings

Catholic Cuisine

Wildflowers and Marbles

Celebrating OL Altagracia - 4Real thread

Gift of Gracias - 4Real thread

Our Lady of Altagracia, Pray for us!

Tea for the Feast of Saint Therese

We celebrated the Feast of St. Therese yesterday, Oct. 1, with a Tea Party! 

The hosts of the tea party were very excited for their three special guests to arrive.  In the meantime, they busily prepared!   

Here is the welcome sign:  

The table: 

On the menu: 

• Tea
• Cream Puffs / Eclaires ~ Said to be Therese's favorite treat.  

Here is "The Little Flower" watching over us from the center of the table: 

And, the girls all looking very lovely, ready for tea!

 

There were Gemma and Isabel......sisters extraordinaire! All beautiful in their pretty dresses and curled hair!   

And, does anyone recognize the young lady holding Baby-Jacqueline?  Look closely.  It's Violet!  Yes, Violet!  Such fun to meet someone so famous!  We've been having so much fun with Meredith & Company!  We hope that they'll be staying in our neck-of-the-woods for....say....oh, the next TWENTY years!  

After tea time, the girls wrote one or two prayer intentions on the Rose Petals that were scattered on the table.  

St. Therese wrote: "I have given nothing but love to God and he will repay with love.  After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses." 

Everyone went outdoors to create their own shower of roses:

They did this for 20 minutes or so.   The person in the middle would say, "St. Therese" and then everyone else would say, "Pray for us!" and they would all toss the petals in the air.  Twenty minutes!  Who knew?

Thank you, St. Therese, for your graces showered down upon these sweet little girls this day!

Feast of the Archangels

We've been reading from a few of our Angel books the past few days, in preparation for Michaelmas:

 

While working on Matilda's beautiful coloring pages for this feast day. 

The girls decorated the table for dinner, complete with a few Michaelmas Daisies from our neighbor's yard: 

On the menu: 

• Oriental Chicken Wings 
• Angel Hair Pasta
• Broccoli 

And, for dessert, Devil's Food Cake, with St. Michael sitting atop and swords (also known as pick-up-sticks) stabbing the "Devil" : 

After dinner, Daddy gave everyone the "Archangel quiz" from CHC's A Year With God:

 

Visit Catholic Cuisine's  From Thy Bounty Fair ....all about Angels! 

A Prayer to Saint Michael
Saint Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

 We celebrated the  Exaltation of the Holy Cross today with a beautiful Mass and a few fun things at home.   

Helen at Castle of the Immaculate has a wonderful series of posts about preparing children for Sunday Mass.   We used her post: What is your cross? today, which seemed especially fitting for this feast day.  The girls each made and decorated a paper cross, and we wrote their "crosses" ( frustrations, concerns, etc.) on the back of the cross.     

Helen writes:      "Ask the child to identify his “Cross.” With his personal Cross in mind, have the child imagine himself holding a little wooden cross while he kneels before the altar. With his little Cross “in hand” he can join with the Lord’s big Cross. The child can participate and can have his difficulties shared by Christ. Remind the child to bring his "Cross" to Church."

The girls brought these to Mass today and we physically brought them to the foot of Jesus' cross after Mass and said a prayer.  

In anticipation of one of Catholic Cuisine's  Autumn From Thy Bounty Fairs, Mary posted a few fun food ideas for this feast day. 

Here are a couple of our appetizers:

Celery and peanut butter.  Cheez-it crackers with cream cheese.   Delicious, I know.  *grin*

I threw flour, butter, salt, water and yeast into the bread machine before leaving for Mass this morning.  Upon arriving home, my little bakers had fun making various cross designs out of their bread dough, while the other two future-bakers napped:

Here is the bread basket for this evening:  

 

Book for tomorrow:  The Tale of Three Trees.   

Be sure to visit all the great ideas, posts, and pictures at the From Thy Bounty Fair - Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.  

Through the mystery of your Cross and your Resurrection, save us O Lord! — Pope John Paul II -- Excerpts from homily September 14, 2003

The Concept of Time

The girls were talking with Pete about covered wagon trains during the westward expansion of the U.S.  

Pete: "Sometimes they traveled for SIX MONTHS on those wagons!"

Dorothy Jo (age 4.5): "Six months!  Whoa!  How many Masses is dat?" 

Madeleine (age 7):  "It's much longer than a Mass, Dorothy.  Six months is when Mom's belly starts to get really poofed out when she's pregnant." 

Mass and Pregnancy.  How long something takes is compared to the length of the holy sacrifice of the Mass or the stage of a pregnancy. 

Makes sense.  That's pretty much what we know around here. 

The Blessed Mother oversees Math Lessons

When the girls told me a couple weeks ago that they "loved" math time, I thought it was because they liked "Mr. Steve" from Math-U-See.  Now, I know it's because the Blessed Mother is in charge. 

The girls doing some Math-U-See under the watchful eye of Mother Mary. 

Mary watching over Madeleine's next problem.  Also noteworthy is the fact that Mary is sitting on a burp rag. 

Erika deciding what to do next.

She even serves as a pencil holder.

 

 

(I wish I would've brought my Mary statue to math classes when I went to school; I may have liked it better.)

Welcome Jesus!

Madeleine made her First Holy Communion today at Mass with about twenty other children.  It was a wonderful day! 

Godparents, Mr. and Mrs. Rodabaugh:

The four "Little Flowers," (Katherine, Gemma, Emily and Madeleine) who have been together for two years.  We are so grateful they were able to make their First Holy Communion together:

   

The families with first communicants from last year hosted a nice reception after Mass with delicious cakes!   Afterwards, we went out to lunch with a couple other families, came home and then opened presents.

The veil that Madeleine is wearing (and I hope all the other girls will wear too) is the same veil that Pete's sisters, Regina and Jenny, wore for their First Communion forty years ago!   Thank you, Oma for saving it and preserving it so well!  Now, let's hope I can do the same.   

First Holy Communion Notebook and Meeting

Madeleine had her "meeting" with the DRE at our parish this morning.  It went well, and she is eagerly awaiting April 27!!! 

Here she is with her First Holy Communion Notebook that has only a couple of pages left to complete.  She has done such a good job, and is so proud of it.  She did a lot of scrapbook-type decorating, and there are many verbose narrations.  Madeleine does not enjoy drawing pictures, but prefers to talk endlessly while I type.  So, TYPE I do! 

We used the ideas and outline that the wonderful ladies at 4Real mentioned in the thread above, and tweaked it a bit.  Here is the outline of what we ended up with:  Download FHC Notebook DOC.  I'm sure this will look different with each child.   

When we got home today, we made a little prayer/candle area, similar to what Dawn did last year.  And, gave her "Welcome Jesus ~ A First Communion Preparation" , a novena booklet for first communicants.  The prayers are very sweet. 

Sixteen more days! 

Blessed Imelda, pray for her and all first communicants!

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! 

Placentas are Neat

All the girls were present at Caroline's birth and hopefully, they'll see  this sister be born too. 

As my tummy gets larger and we start talking more about the nitty-gritty of another sister entering the world, some funny conversations are inevitably going to take place.    Such as this one between Madeleine (6) and me:

Madeleine: "Mom, too bad you didn't keep all of our placentas from when we were born.  After this baby, we'd have FIVE of them!  We could keep them in a jar, label them with our initials: M,E,D,C, and 'whatever this baby's name is' and we could compare them.  We could see which one was the thickest, the longest, the reddest, the heaviest.  All that.  Wouldn't that be GREAT? I wonder if the biggest baby had the biggest placenta?" 

Me: "Hmmmm, you're right.  That would be neat.  You know, the midwives ask us if we want to keep the placentas, but we have decided not to. 

Madeleine, in a very astonisted tone: "Really?  WHY NOT?"   

Me: "Well, I don't know.  Daddy wasn't really too excited about it, and......."

Madeleine: "He WASN'T????!!!!  Whoa!  Oh my gosh, he's CRAAAAZY! Placentas are SO NEAT!" 

I looked over where Pete was sitting.  He was shaking his head, burying it in his hands.  Later he commented, "Okay, this hands-on-science-real-life-experiences-thing is getting a bit out of control.  She's going to be a midwife by the time she's twelve." 

Poor guy.  First it was NFP, then natural childbirth and midwives, then breastfeeding, then home education.  Now, it's placentas.   

Tummy Pics & Car Seat Babblings

To my dad and brothers: Don't worry......there are no pictures with me in Angelina Jolie-style-maternity-clothing.  Or any pics resembling Demi Moore!  No need to "close your eyes." 

4 months, 5 months, and the current 6-month-picture from last weekend (red):

We're doing a lot of GROWING over here on this side of the country.  I wish my daughters OUT OF THE WOMB would get the growing bug.    Did you know that our 23-month-old BARELY tips the scale at 22 lbs?   The 1-year-old neighbor boy weighs 5 lbs. more than her!    And, Erika is five-and-a-half-years-old and is only 37 lbs.  She's not even out of a 5-point-harness yet.

Speaking of car seats, Pete and I are quite proud of ourselves.  We have figured out (theoretically anyway) how to get 5 car seats in our '99 Caravan.  We spent about 3 hours on this little exercise in logic and precise measuring over Christmas Vacation.   My brain ached.  But, I think we got it.  I'm ordering a few things this week and then we'll see how the best laid car seat plans of the Gallus Family pan out in real life instead of just on paper.   You should SEE that piece of paper, by the way.  It looks like a Russian spy code or something.  I almost took a picture of it to post, but decided that was a bit ridiculous.  I made a copy, though, and put it in our family binder.   The title is:   Proposed Car Seat Configuration 2008-2010.   Go ahead.....laugh!  I did. 

Is there a Patron Saint of Car Seats?  I think not.  Perhaps I should just stick with the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes.

Because You Can Never Have Too Many Pictures of Little Girls In Matching Ponchos and Hats

A beautiful Mass was celebrated for the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord!  We were all able to attend since the pink eye that has been running through the family seemed to be subsiding. 

Looking at the Cradle that was used for "Cradle-Rocking" at the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass:

At the Creche:

Going for a walk after Mass:

A bit of running after Mass, as they suddenly remember that there are DONUTS in the house:

Not exactly keeping up, but trying really hard:

 

"Wait!  Come back!   We have to take a picture with Grama Charlotte!"

My mom and I made these ponchos (4 of them: I have one too, of course.....LOL!) in August 2005, when the girls were 4, 3, and 2. So this is the third year we've worn them.  I just keep making a bigger one for Madeleine when another girl arrives, and they get passed on down the line.  Although, if she calls me FAT one more time, I'm considering discontinuing her family-poncho-wearing-privileges.  I bought some more red fleece yesterday to make yet another one for next year!

Christmas Eve Midnight Mass

We try to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  We find a Midnight Mass that is not actually at midnight, but a bit earlier.   This year there was one near us at 10 pm.  It was the parish where we are registered but simply for logistic reasons have not been attending recently.

Instead, we have been attending St. Mark, where the pastor celebrates absolutely beautiful feast day Masses.  Ten to fifteen older alter boys, all dressed as if they were servers in Rome.  Incense galore. Music that is beautiful and very sacred.   Note that this is quite unusual here in the Seattle area, unless, of course, you are at the Cathedral. 

Evidently we have become spoiled, because as we were at the non-St. Mark parish for Midnight Mass, Madeleine (6), who was sitting on the end of the pew, burst into tears during the procession.  I asked what was wrong.  She said, through sobs, "There are only three altar servers!!! And they aren't even dressed right!  Where are the rest?  And, there's no incense.  This is Christmas Eve!  No one cares!  Why did we come here?" Sob. Sob. Cry. Cry.  Good thing we were singing and no one else could hear her.  She was inconsolable.

Even a six-year-old knows that the birth of our Savior is one of the most special days of the year and there is ritual and tradition and beauty that should surround its celebration.  Yes, the church was nicely decorated, and of course, the Sacrifice of the Mass is truly miraculous no matter where or in what environ it is celebrated.   As someone who used to help with decorating, I'm very appreciative of any and all work that goes into decorating a church for Christmas and Easter and all other days of the liturgical year, because it IS lots of work! 

But, it saddened me.  And it also made me grateful that we are able to attend a parish with wonderful Masses, so my children are able to experience true splendor at the most important thing that we do each week.  Today, we went to St. Mark.  Thirteen altar servers.  Incense.  Candles.  Beautiful trees and poinsettias.  Extraordinary music.  A marvelous creche.  And even a life-sized, gorgeous cradle for baby Jesus to re-kindle the medieval German tradition of "Cradle-Rocking" on Christmas Eve.

Of course.  It is the Octave of Christmas. 

Upon arriving home, I pulled up the pictures of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at Assumption Grotto in Detroit, MI (HT: Bridget).  We all sat around the computer and swooned over these few pictures.  No words can even describe this.  It almost makes me want to move to Detroit.  LOL!  Compare that to the nonsense that we've been exposed to over the past 30 years, such as illustrated at the Ugliest Vestment Contest!! 

Diane, the author of Assumption's blog referenced the article in U.S. News and World Report, Return to Ritual, with commentary by Fr. Trugilio. 

It also made me think about these couple of blog entries a while back from Assumption Grotto's blog on the training of Altar Boys:

• Altar Boy Program - Part 1  All Male Program
• Altar Boy Program - Part 2 Masculinity of Discipline and Precision Required
• Altar Boy Program - Part 3  Headed by the Pastor

Bottom line?  As Michelle reminds me, "Pray for the return of reverence to the Sacrifice of the Mass."

On this Feast of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!

Be Ye Like Little Children

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  Mat 18:3

Yes.  This is true in so many ways.  This is one of the bible verses that enters so often into my mind when pride, anger, lack of faith, etc. rear their ugly heads. 

The other day, however, it entered into my mind for a different reason, and it made me laugh hysterically. 

Be Ye Like Little Children.  I wish I could become like a child, and it didn't bother me to have my tights falling down.  Look at her.  She's absolutely oblivious. 

First Confession

Madeleine made her first confession tonight.

It seems like only yesterday that I was reading Danielle Bean's "Resurrection Triumph: Gratitude for the Sacraments" from her first book, My Cup of Tea.  She reflects on the Sacrament of Penance after her oldest daughter made her first confession.  I remember saying to myself, "Oh, THAT's far off.......the Sacrament of Penance for my children."  I had to check the date on this book.....2005.  Two years ago.  How silly I was to think that was "so far off."  Two years has gone so quickly. 

I read this "chapter" again this morning to myself before beginning our last preparation for tonight.  I was in tears, of course. 

"Afterward, as she and I knelt together in the church, I thanked our Lord for his forgiveness as I always do after confession, but this time was different. I was thanking him not for the mercy he had shown me, but for the gift of forgiveness he had given to my daughter.  As I gazed upon the crucifix, I understood clearly, maybe for the first time, that Christ had suffered the pains of the crucifixion for the sake of my child.  Although intellectually I had always known that God loves my children more perfectly thatn I do, I had never really appreciated it in this way before.  My daughter's sins were forgiven through the sacrament of Penance, not because I loved her so well, but because God did.  It had nothing to do with me."

"....I am particularly grateful that it is not only for the love of me that Christ suffered, but for the love of all his children, including the ones he has lent to me.  He endured the scourging at the pillar to gain forgiveness of sins my children have yet to commit.  He suffered the crown of thorns so that my little ones might see heaven.  Even as the nails were driven into his hands and feet, he saw my children's faces and loved them.  He accepted death on the cross so that they might enjoy new life."        ~Danielle Bean, My Cup of Tea

Thank you, Jesus, for this wonderful Sacrament.  Help Madeleine stay close to you through it.

Have a Blessed St. Nicholas Feast Day!

This Dec. 6 is a bit more quiet than last year's celebration, but loads of fun, nonetheless.  We've been reading our collection of St. Nicholas day books, doing read-alouds from The Real Saint Nicholas: Tales of Hope and Generosity from Around the World and singing the St. Nicholas the Saintly song. 

We began making our Speculatius cookies on Sunday, mixing the dough.  We rolled them out on Tuesday, frosted them red on Wednesday (the 5th)  and we'll do the white part today.  We make them look like the cookies in The Baker's Dozen. 

Last night, the girls left their shoes out, and the holy bishop filled them with chocolate gold coins and a couple other little presents.   He also leaves a little letter each year, that gets saved for our family scrapbook.  This year St. Nicholas tried to print that letter on white paper, because he must have been exhausted at 10 pm.  But, one of the other saints, upon arriving back from the gym, said that wasn't acceptable.....it HAD to be on Christmas paper.   (Good grief!) 

We'll have a tea party this afternoon, gorging on our giant cookies and hot chocolate and then do a few St. Nicholas puzzles and have some on-line fun. For dinner we'll have the annual German sausage and roasted potatoes.   But, before that dinner.....we're off to see if #5 is a boy or girl! 

Tonight Pete dresses up as the loving patron saint of children and talks to the girls about how they can be "good."   They will also unwrap Uncle Ivan's gift as we'll need it for a trip later this month!  Thank you, Uncle Ivan!

St. Nicholas, pray for us!

Happy Birthday Erika!

Erika turned FIVE last week!   Just for fun, here are pictures from her 4th birthday.

Erika is our sweet little girl.   Never one for excess words or demanding attention.  She is a very meticulous helper and an independent and focused learner.  She is always thinking of others, even asking for chocolate frosting on HER birthday cake because she knows it's Daddy's favorite.  She has vivid recollections and decriptions of her dreams, a sense of order, numbers, nature, and patterns.   

We went to "Mrs. Christianson's house the other night for dinner.  Tracy told the girls to pick out one of her beautiful, framed portraits to take home.  Each of them chose a different image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  They are so beautiful! 

On this night, Erika came out of her room, after having been tucked in for over 30 minutes, with a rapturous smile on her face.  She quietly stood behind me and tapped softly on my shoulder. 

"Mom, look how I'm smiling.  I'm so happy because I'm lying next to my picture of Mary and she's just looking at me and I'm looking at her, even in the dark.  That's all we've been doing since you tucked us in.  Just looking at each other.  I was going to say a Hail Mary, but she told me to just be silent, so I did.  I'm so happy to just look at her. I'm going back to bed to be with her some more." 

Sigh.

Made me tear-up just a tad.   

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.

Busy Little Nuns

You have GOT to see these two posts from Margaret at In The Shade Of The Old Oaks:

• Feeding the Hungry
• Another Busy Day at the Convent

For some reason, there is just something so sweet, hysterical and loveable about 2 little Chinese sisters pretending to be nuns.

And, simply because it's so much fun to see these little girls in action, here is Little House in the Shade of the Oaks. 

Thanks, Margaret!  You only post occasionally, but when you do, they are marvelous!

Summer Reading

For once I'm going to blog about my reading, instead of all those crazy children's picture books that I get so excited about. 

I have been on a fiction-binge this year.  I attribute this to Elena, author of Trianon and Madame Royale, two masterpieces which I absolutely devoured and recommend whole-heartedly to EVERYONE.  Every Catholic should read these books!  Especially Madame Royale.  I am in the process of re-reading Madame Royale with my OWN COPY, so I can mark it up!  If you can't buy these books from Neumann Press, request them from Inter-Library Loan, if your library won't obtain its own copy (tsk, tsk).  They are definitely worth the search.  But, believe me, you will want to own your own copy.

Historical fiction has always been a favorite, especially about England, France and Russia.  Now I have someone RECOMMENDING good novelists, so it's no longer a guessing game like it used to be.  Elena gave me eight titles of her favorites, so that's what I'm reading this summer.  I finished The King's Pleasure, by Nora Lofts, about Henri VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon.  I'm almost done with The Royal Road to Fotheringay, by Jean Plaidy, the first book about Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots.  And, I have these two ready and poised for the Minnesota trip:

• Captive Queen of Scots, by Jean Plaidy.  The second of two books Plaidy wrote about the Queen of Scots, following the Road to Fotheringay. 
• Katherine, by Anya Seton, written in 1954 about Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Set in the14th century during the Plantagenet reign of Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II.

Next up will be Thomas Costain's Ride With Me and Rosemary Hawley Jarman's We Speak No Treason. 

Here are other books I've read in 2007 in no particular order:

• In This House of Brede, my new favorite work of fiction!  20 on a scale of 1 to 10!
• A Woman Clothed With The Sun - a marvelous compilation of several Marian apparitions.  Engaging and a fast read. Thanks Jenn!
• Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker
• Sharing Nature With Children
• Talking To Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon
• Anne of Green Gables
• The Cure of Ars
• The Cure of Ars: The Story of Saint John Vianney
• The Lost King of France  I didn't actually MEAN to read the whole book, but I started perusing and just couldn't put it down.
• Scarlet Pimpernel  I can't believe I was a French majorin college and I never read this book.  Shame! Shame!
• First Fruits of Prayer  Read during Lent.  Great.
• True Devotion to Mary

Works in progress:

• Charlotte Mason: Home Education Vol. 1
• Charlotte Mason: Philosophy of Education, Vol. 6
• Real Learning: Education in the heart of my home It's even better the second time!
• Gospel of Luke: Ignatius Catholic Bible Study
• Teaching Montessori In The Home
• Basic Montessori

The Baptism Box

I have intended to create a Baptism Box for about a year now.  Finally!  I did it on the first anniversary of Caroline's Baptism, May 21. 

I got tired of running around the house gathering the various items to prepare and clean up after celebrating Baptism Anniversaries.  So, this is my solution.  Nothing earth shattering, I know.  But I wonder why it's taken me so long to do this.  Hummph.  We'll never know.   

Here is what is in the box:

• 3-ring binder with four sections: each girl's Baptism scrapbook pages.   On the back of the binder is my "idea list" for celebrating Baptisms. Download baptism_anniversary.doc
• Baptism Gown with a hanger
• Baptism Bear
• Family Sacramental Tablecloth
• Angel Candelholders
• Bottle of Holy Water
• Shells for Table decorations at each place setting
• Baptism stickers
• A few leftover print-outs from Moira Farrell's Albums
• Baptism holy cards
• Today I was Baptized picture book
• Laminated recipe for our Baptism Cookies (Russian Tea Cakes)
• Baptism Prayers/Blessings
• White Blanket crocheted by Dorothy Jo's Godmother for Erika's Baptism
• Baptismal Candles
• Baptism Plate
• White Cloth Napkins

Everything miraculously fits in this container. 

OF COURSE, it has a label on the outside that says, "Baptism!"  And, it has it's own rightful spot in the basement.

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

ALTARation

Cela!  Il FAUT voir! 

As  Fr. John Zuhlsdorf wrote, "This is a 5:25 length video of the transformation of a typical modernistic free-standing altar into a very beautiful ad orientem altar.  The setting is a church in France where the FSSP are able to work.  The French text says the transformation took 15 minutes.  The video is accelerated.  This could be VERY instructive for priests in parishes.  VERY instructive. "

La métamorphose d'un autel
Uploaded by CHRIST-REDEMPTEUR

Here is the site where it originally appeared.  And, isn't the music heavenly? How about that oboe at the beginning?

HT: Life of the Party

First Holy Communion & Blessed Imelda

The girls have been talking about other children making their First Holy Communion and about Blessed Imelda.  We've been listening to the Glory Story about her, coloring in the  coloring book, and reading Patron Saint of First Communicants . 

This is our "First Holy Communion Area" that we made this morning.  There is the Blessed Imelda prayer, FHC and Eucharist Holy Cards, some copywork done by Madeleine and a picture colored by Erika.  The U.S. map has stickers with the  4Real Children who will be receiving their First Holy Communion this Spring, and we will pray for them! 

Blessed Imelda, You showed us by the miracle of your First Communion how much Jesus loves us, and your short life was an example of how we should love Him.  Look down on these children from heaven and pray that they will love Christ as joyfully as you!  Amen.

An Easter Wish

 

May the glad dawn

Of Easter morn

Bring joy to thee.

    ~~~~~

May the calm eve

Of Easter leave

A peace divine with thee.

    ~~~~~

May Easter night

On thine heart write,

O Christ, I live for thee.

      ~Annonymous

Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday, the first day in the Triduum, during Holy Week is one of my favorite days of the Liturgical Year.  It celebrates the Institution of the Eucharist and the Institution of the Priesthood .  I love Holy Thursday Mass.  To think that this was the very first celebration of the Eucharist.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all of our selfless priests.  And, then the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that follows.  The Candelabres that surround the Monstrance.  The silence and darkness is just so humbling.  At no other time do I feel the profound effect of my sins on the shoulders of Jesus.  At no other time do I have the profound desire to completely prostrate myself.  I sit and stare at that Monstrance and try to atone for my sins and the sins of the world, weighing so heavily on Jesus. 

This year, hopefully, Erika and Madeleine will go with me to Adoration for awhile late Thursday night.  We did not do much last year for Holy Week.  Lots of books on the couch, talking and prayers, but nothing that involved cleaning, props, activities, food or going anywhere.  Caroline was 6 weeks old, and I do believe we had sandwiches for Easter Dinner.  This year will be different.  And, next year? Well, only time will tell.  That's the wonderful thing about the Liturgical Year ; it keeps repeating itself every 365 days.

Perhaps it will be crazy to take a 5 and 6-year-old out at 9:00 pm.  They are usually sound asleep by that time. 

Perhaps not. 

Last week, while reading some books to prepare for Palm Sunday, Erika (age 4.5) was looking at the picture of Jesus riding the donkey into Jerusalem.  She said, "Mom, I think Jesus' donkey is taking teeny, weeny steps."  (Making her thumb and pointer finger a half-centimeter apart.)

I replied, "Yes.  Maybe.  Why do you think so?"

" Because Jesus is very heavy," she said.

"Yes, but donkeys are quiet strong. They are very good workers and can carry a lot," I reasoned.  I wasn't quite sure where we were going with this one.

She said, "Well, donkeys are strong, but not THAT strong.  He is definitely taking teeny weeny steps, because Jesus has all of our sins on his shoulders and that is just WAY too heavy for a donkey.  So, I'm sure the donkey is taking teeny weeeny steps, and he may fall down any minute.  Poor donkey.  (sigh) and Poor Jesus." 

Hmm.  Perhaps not such a crazy idea.

      

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

This will be a trip down memory lane for my Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters. 

Remember decorating Ukrainian Easter Eggs at the Jerkovics?  With Sam, Joan, Petra and Jess?   And didn't Mrs. Korsen (sp?) do them too? 

Jenn had a post about her interest in Psansky, which made me think about our family experience with them as a young girl. 

There was a recent thread on the 4real boards .  And another on Easter Egg Traditions .

Of course, you can NEVER have enough picture books about Ukrainian Easter Eggs.  The girls LOVE The Egg Tree and Rechenka's Egg .   I just put a copy of The Bird's Gift and Easter Eggs for Anya on hold at the library, per Jenn and Maggie's recommendation.  And, I'll be waiting for Mary's review about This Was The Day once she receives it.    

Let the Paschal Haircuts Begin

No, I have never had "training" in how to cut hair.  I have never even read a book about it. 

However, since I can remember, I watched my mom cut our hair.  Where did she learn? 

Nobody knows. 

She was out in the boondocks with five kids under the age of 10, on 100 acres of Minnesota swampland, 8 miles to the nearest town of 4,000 people.   Haircuts were NOT what she was going to do on her trip to town!  When I was about 13 or so, I took over her job.  I loved cutting my siblings hair.   When I went to college and lived in the dorms, I overheard a couple of the guys talking about how they didn't want to spend their money on haircuts and it was kind of far to walk anyway, just for a haircut.  Lazy bones.   

I said, "I can cut hair."   

"You can?"  they replied, eyes big with wonder as if I just said that I could do the Ironman Triathlon.   

Voila!  My hair cutting career continued!   Word got around in Sutherland Hall that I would cut hair in the east basement study area (or on the south lawn, weather permitting) on the first Saturday of the month from 2-3 pm.  I got $5/haircut.  It only took me 10-15 minutes per cut, and I usually had more than 4 customers and ended up there for longer than an hour.  In December, I cut hair for THREE HOURS!  Everyone wanted to look nice for Christmas vacation.

When I studied in France, I WOULD NOT go to a "coiffeur" to get my hair cut.  There was no way I was trusting a French woman that I didn't know, who was probably going to make fun of the way I spoke French, to actually try to understand how I wanted my hair cut.  Besides, I didn't know the words for "layer" and "angle" in French.  My French sisters and mother offered to go with me.  NO WAY!  Instead I did the sides myself and then had my poor French mother cut the back per my (probably) horrible instructions.

Anywhoo......(I can't believe I just wrote all that about cutting hair).  One down, three to go.  Caroline doesn't count; she hardly has any hair.

   

St. Patrick's Day

Getting ready to watch the Irish Dancing on Saturday at St. Alphonsus' Annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast:

The Authentic Catholic Woman

Elena at Tea at Trianon wrote a review of Genevieve Kineke's new book The Authentic Catholic Woman .   

Chez Ouiz (with whom I compare exceedingly funny notes about our college French curriculum and professors, among other things) also read this and posted about it. 

I am seeing this book all over the place.   Hmmm....it may have to move up a couple of notches on my reading list. 

Close, but not QUITE accurate

Madeleine was trying to recall the names of the 12 Apostles:

"Bartholomew, Thomas, James the Less, Simon, Peter, Andrew, James, John, Jacob.....(slight pause).....Jingle, Heimer, Schmidt."

My Sister ~ On Paper

I found these words written in "small girl writing" (small girl being Madeleine) on a sheet of paper the other day: 

• Lent
• Doll
• March
• Saint Cecilia (Little-Flower-Group's saint of the month)
• Piety (Little Flower Virtue of the month)
• The Lord is my light and my salvation (Psalm refrain for Sunday Mass)
• Senta Kay (as in "Auntie Senta," my sister)

Wow! Auntie Senta ranks right up there with her favorite toy, the Psalm Refrain, St. Cecilia, the liturgical season, the month and Piety. 

Tea at Trianon

This is one of my new favorite places to enjoy my cup of tea these days.

Tea at Trianon

Elena Maria Vidal is the author of Neumann Press'  books, Trianon and Madame Royale.  Both are books surrounding the French Revolution, which was actually one of my favorite subjects before cloth diapering, modesty, NFP, home birthing, home education, home improvement and children's literature and picture books entered the scene. 

This is from her "about me" profile:  Wife, mother, historian, etiquette instructor, and wedding planner. Author of the novels TRIANON and MADAME ROYALE. A member of the Secular Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel since 1986.

She combines Catholicism, the saints, beautiful art, French history/culture, politics, the liturgical year, fascinating literature, Catholic Films and so much more! 

Do pay her a visit.   

Waiting For the Kings

Over the frozen plain snow-white

The three kings will come to-night;

We shall know by the kettle-drums

Which way the procession comes.

They have come from very far,

Following fast behind a star,

In their shimmering robes of silk,

Riding horses white as milk.

They have heard of a wondrous thing,

That here is born a little King;

They bring treasures of great worth

To the Treasure of the earth.

~from “Waiting for the Kings” R.L. Gales