Celebrating Easter Vigil at home 2020

In these interesting times of being at home and not able to get out to church, I thought it might be helpful for others to see how to conduct a Liturgy of Light in your home.  This is similar to what happens in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.  The Easter Vigil in many churches includes introducing a new candle at the evening service.  You can have your own home liturgy similar to that which happens in the Church.

You need to prepare a candle to use.  Find a pillar candle that you can paint.  Acrylic paints seem to be the best.  Consider how you would like to paint it.  The decorations need to be a cross.  Also you need to include the year "2020" and the symbols for Alpha and Omega.   Here are some pictures to see how we have done it in past years.

You can also look up #domesticeastercandle on Instagram for more photos.  

And please share your photos with this hashtag!  

The Liturgy is here.  You can print a copy for each family member, or read from your phone or computer.  Feel free to adapt to your needs!  I wish you a very happy Easter Triduum.

Remembering the Charlotte Mason Family Camp

Ten days ago I was leaving MennoHaven in Tiskilwa, Illinois with a full heart.  I had spent three nights and four days living with 13 other families and my own family.  We had shared space together.  We had learned together.  We had shared ideas.

The children were dirty.  The parents were tired, but happy.  It was, for many, a one-of-a-kind experience.  We all shared homeschooling as our mode, Christ as our model and Charlotte Mason as our educational philosophy.

Here are some of the words from the families who participated:
"I enjoyed the family connection time with other Charlotte Mason families."
"We appreciated the exposure to handicrafts, Swedish drill and folk dancing."
"What a beautiful, relaxing location.  The facility is clean and the food is really nice for camp food."
"I loved the afternoon pursuits as families."
"The most valuable part of of this Charlotte Mason Family Camp was evening prayers as a group."

"I felt the most valuable thing was the 3D vision of Mason in action."
"The informational sessions were inspirational and a joy to sit in!"
"The most helpful part of Family Camp was the organized activities and the abundant freedom to skip if we wanted."
"The most helpful part of Family Camp was getting wisdom from those ahead of us on this homeschooling journey."
"It was comfortable and easy to access with small kids."
"I loved having plenty of time to mingle and get to know other families with the same focus."
"As protestants, although prayer times were different for us, we appreciate that you made them lean towards a non-denominational approach."
"Art Middlekauff's last talk was awesome."
"The most valuable part of this experience was seeing how to help my wife homeschool with a more wide perspective of this philosophy."

Families at the Charlotte Mason Family Camp

Here's a great personal share of one family that joined us at Family Camp. 
Video of Family Camp 2018

Won't you join us next year?

Advent 2016

I've been working on some Advent Plans.  I'm sharing them in hopes that you too will focus more on being open to welcoming the baby in your hearts this Christmas.

It's a hard thing to slow down and be quiet during the weeks between American Halloween and Christmas Day.  But Christmas is to be celebrated for many days.  And we only prepare for a big celebration best by being quiet and open to making room for Jesus in our hearts.

Lent is a time for Alms, Fasting and Prayer.  Advent is a little Lent.  It's a time in which we have less time to do these things, but we can still prepare in a deep way to receive Jesus in the manger.





I recently spent some time pondering an icon I've kept near my sink for nearly 10 years.  It's Mary holding Jesus.  She's depicted as quick to hear.  I suppose that means she's slow to speak.  Hearing means observing.  Seeing what's going on in the home and knowing the best way to respond to those that need your helping hand.

Perhaps it's seeing the man outside the Starbucks wanting your change.  And then giving him more than he expected.  It's giving him a whole bag of things that you've sorted for those that are homeless or nearly homeless.  We did this not long ago as part of our focus on the year of mercy.  As part of the handicraft of the month, my Form 3 son made bags for those asking for money. It included hand warmers, socks, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, granola bars, shampoo, body wash, washcloths and beef jerky.

We will be making more of these this Advent.  It's such a heart tugging sight to see someone holding a sign asking for help at a stoplight.  How can I be quick to hear the cry of the poor in my own area?  This will be our extra focus on alms giving this Advent.

 
So I'm making basic plans to read alongside some Jesse Tree plans.  I've gotten out some great picture books to read to the youngest in our household (age 4 and 6).  We will read a picture book each day towards the great day of Christmas.  I've collected book for each person in the family tree of Jesus.

We are also focusing on a candle theme each week.  Here's a great simple song for the youngest in your family.  You can sing it each week as you add a new lighted candle to your advent wreath.
Advent Wreath Song
Each week we are going to focus on a prayer to clearly memorize.  Not all the children have memorized the Acts of Hope, Faith and Love so this seemed like a perfect time to do this.  This is our extra Advent prayers.  The Act of faith is a little longer so I've chosen to spend two weeks on it.

Fasting:  This is a special time to fast.  I've chosen to fast from Facebook during the week!  This will be a challenge for me.  I'm hoping that more time away from Facebook will allow me to fill it's space with being attentive to my children and my duties as a mother.  It won't be easy!

Other special days during Advent we will celebrate include St Andrew on Nov 30.  This is the patron saint of our school and we will have special foods this day.  Saint Nicholas Day will bring presents for the children.  This is Dec 6.

As a convert to a Liturgical life (aka Catholic), I've found the rhythm of living to be so refreshing.  We embrace the spring of the natural world, why not embrace the spring of the liturgical life?

How are you embracing Advent this year?

Making room

Are you too making room in your heart for the Lord this Advent?  The season can become so full of buying presents and making decorations that we forget to make time to empty our hearts.  Or is it just me?

I'm breathing a sigh of relief because we only have one Christmas concert this year.  I don't have lots of places to go and we've paired down our activities.  But how can I begin to make each moment a readying of the room of my heart?

As in years past, we are fasting during Advent.   There are so many things possible to fast from.  And it's so counter-cultural to limit in this time of excess.

I was surprised to see that it's been six (6!) years since I wrote about my plans to find more silence.  We've added two children and a grandparent to our household since this.  It's still a work in progress. I still have my goal to rise before the rest of the family to give my day to God in prayer.  I usually have a child who hears me and rises too.

So this year.  What will be different?  It won't be just adding more crafts or seeing more Christmas programs.  We will try to punctuate our day more fully with prayer.  We will make time to pray, visit the adoration chapel, and to living the Liturgy in our home and in the church.

Celebrating a month of souls

In November we have so many saints to celebrate.  And it's been a year of more deaths than I ever remember.  This is a year we choose to pray even more.  A year to meditate on the shortness of our lives and how blessed each moment is.

I took the kids to visit some graves of those who have gone before us.  We like to leave a small stone on each grave stone we visit.  This is a Jewish tradition.

I've been reflecting on the death of my grandmother and my father-in-law from this year.  I've also lost friends and spouses of friends.  This year.  This year it seems closer.  Today is the day I will remember those who touched deaths door and are here with us a little longer.  I will send notes and well wishes to those whom I care for who are fighting for another day of life.

And we think of those who are living in the presence of Christ.  Those who have gone before us and are wishing us to join them.

I hung four recipes in my kitchen this month.  Each one hand written by a woman in my life. My mother,  my two grandmothers and one great grandmother.  Their hands made many a meal for their children and grandchildren.  They reach out over the years and from the grave to share a meal with my family.  In my kitchen.

And so I'm thankful.  Grateful.  and pray for those souls that have gone before me.

Jubilee of Mercy: Living in the Family

Pope Francis released a letter to the world in April 2015 declaring his intention to have a YEAR OF MERCY for the whole world.  As Catholics, our practice of a Jubilee Year comes from our historical roots in Judaism.  When the twelve tribes of Israel lived the law as prescribed in Leviticus (25:10), they would all gather every 50 years to celebrate a year of jubilee.  It seems that this practice was lost or discontinued formally perhaps due to the requirement of the Jews living in Israel.

For many months I have been reading about the Jubilee Year and deciding how we might live it out in our own home.  I'm sure there will be things done in our diocese, but I wanted to bring it to the domestic church level as well.

Pope Francis says, in his opening paragraph, "The Father, rich in mercy,...gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, has never ceased to show in various ways throughout history, his divine nature".  In what ways as a mother and parent, might I help my children see God, the Father, this year in these attributes?  How can I help them contemplate the mystery of mercy?

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy will begin on December 8, 2015.  On December 8, Pope Francis will open wide a Jubilee Door at St. Peter's Bascilia in Rome.  My local bishop will do the same on our Cathedral.  Perhaps your local bishop will open a door in your diocese. 

In our domestic church, we will designate a door in our house to be our Jubilee of Mercy door.  We will open it wide to give Mercy in the coming year.   I will hang a Divine Mercy image on this door.  Pope Francis says the Door of Mercy will allow anyone who enters through it to experience the love of God who consoles, pardons and instils hope.


Things we might do:
Learn more about Faustina.  She's the Polish Nun that ultimately had the image of Divine Mercy created to spread around the world.  She lived in a time when there was much unrest in the world.  (sounds like the current times, right?)

Read her.  Faustina's Diary.   Read Fr Michaeal Gaitley's book about Divine Mercy throughout history.

Virtually visit the Shrine in Poland.  Visit the Shrine dedicated to Divine Mercy in the United States.

Learn more about Saint John Paul II the Great. Read books.
Lolek
A boy who became Pope
Pope John Paul II: Young Man of the Church
Watch a movie. Karol.

Read the Psalm of Mercy that the people of Israel would sing at liturgical feast days.  Psalm 136.  I will read this as part of our morning gathering/prayer time in our homeschool.  Perhaps after months of reading it, my children and I will have it memorized.

Live in the parables.  Pope Francis highlighted the parables that spoke of Mercy.  The Lost (found) Sheep, the lost (found) coin, the forgiving father and his two sons, the debtors are a few to read.  (Look up Luke 15 for these.)


Get to know the Mother of Mercy in a deeper way.  Consider a Marian Consecration.  Memorize the Memorarae.  

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,

implored your help, or sought your intercession,

was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence,

I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.

To you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions,

but in your mercy, hear and answer me.

Amen.

Study the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Matthew 25:35-40...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 

Consider ways to be merciful in your home.  Can you pardon offense more quickly?  

Including a simple rite of examination of conscience as part of evening family prayer time?  Praying the act of contrition together each evening?  Make a habit of going to confession together more often-perhaps once a month?

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
                  In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
                  I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things.
                  I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more,
                  and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.
                  Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.
                  In His name, my God, have mercy.
                  Amen.

Learn the Salve Regina together and sing in the evenings during prayer time.  

This Jubilee Year will conclude on November 20, 2016 so you have plenty of time to celebrate and experience.  "We live in a culture of death, but now the hour has come- God is pouring out grace and mercy needed to build up the culture of life and love."  We begin the culture in our own homes.  

How will you begin to focus on this special year?

Luke 6:36 Be merciful just as your heavenly Father is merciful.

A year of consecrated life

We continue to live the Year of Consecrated Life.  Last month we hosted two of the hospital sisters that work closely with my husband.  They run the largest hospital in our area as well as 10 other hospitals nearby.  

We've been connected to these sisters for more than 10 years.  We used to visit the sick sisters in the infirmary.  Unfortunately there are very few sick sisters that can welcome guests today.  But there are some very active ones that could come to us!

It had been some years since they had lived their Frances of Assisi life with the animals.  It was a joy to let them experience our animal life at the farm.  I think they left a little dirty compared to the hospital administration work they usually do.  

There was much joy spread around.  

Thinking Thursday

Time to think on these things again.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. - Phil 4:8

whatever is true... spring is here.  everything is blooming.

whatever is honorable...a son who tells the truth when he stole all the chocolate candy from everyone's Easter baskets

whatever is just...a father who takes the son to the store to purchase more chocolate for siblings baskets

whatever is pure...another daughter who has turned 13.  

whatever is lovely...flowers brought in from the yard and placed in a vase

whatever is gracious...boys that make cookies for the neighbors

if there is any excellence...finished school work of all kinds.   

if there is anything worthy of praise...Only a few more weeks and we will be finished with ALL school work.

think about these things.

Happy Easter. And Easter and Easter and Easter.

I celebrate Easter for the whole spanking 50 days.  Do you?

We began well.
A little sickness in the family.

A lot of chocolate stuck to the floor as the bunny crumbles...

And it's just the beginning.  So it's okay if it takes awhile to sink in.

Our dining room table on Easter Morning.

We grew the wheat grass again this year.  It always surprises me how it waits to grow in earnest until the days before Easter.  

I also trimmed the (with my son's help) peach tree and a branch bloomed inside.  lovely.

We pulled out our Easter Icon and it will be on the table for this WHOLE Easter celebration.

Lindt eggs and bunnies.   And a copy of the Kursk Root Icon that we have visited earlier in the year.  

I doubt the chocolate will make it until Pentecost.  But I'm happy to shop again.  

Lenten thots

Our Lenten journey 2015 began well.  This year my 12 year old and I created a water color "path" of sorts for us to follow through the 40 days.  

We are using a cut and dyed slice of Agate to mark the place where we are trotting.

Every three or four days I am changing up our chalkboard message.  We began with this one.  

I slipped away for many talks at a local monastery.  I specifically am continuing to dwell on hearing the voice of the Shepherd.  The retreat master said that Abraham was given only on word... "go".  I'm finding silence in my life to ponder what word God is giving me in this time of my life.  

The retreat master also said that Lent requires my distance from freedom and spontaneous desires (that's fasting), my making a sanctuary in my soul for God (that's prayer), and resisting the desire to possess anything (that's almsgiving).  

I adorned the front door, back door and mailbox with purple bows of the sort.  I'm hoping people know liturgical colors and my choice for these random fluffy things...And they look great covered in snow!  

It was sad to take down all the beautiful decorations we like in the house, but a simple Lenten meals for me starkness helps to clear the mind.

We pray the stations of the cross and the rosary together as a "school".  I appreciated the sorrowful mysteries this week and the reflections written by the priest, Fr. Philippe.

I'm happy to report that we are keeping a more consistent than ever evening prayer time.  It's been tricky with kids who have various schedules and daddies who work late and babies who sleep early and toddlers who create a ruckus....but finally we are praying compline with some beautiful regularity.  And reading a chapter book aloud.  AND hearing a little Catechism each night.  

{fingers crossed for habits that stick}

And our Lenten words continue...

Lent comes again...

This year will be the year in which Lent is looked square in the eye.  It's the year in which I'll be prepared by being empty.  It's the year I won't make grandiose plans to achieve my goals.  It's about time I let God do his work by getting out of the way.

In the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Levels 2 and 3 we talk about the "blank page" of today and tomorrow that God has in his Plan for us.   We are given the freedom to join Him in his plan.  We are also given the freedom to do it our own way.

So, yes, it's good to know how you might want to join God in his work this Lent, but it's also okay to just rest in his blank page.  Let's begin with a contrite heart asking for God's and those whom we have offended for forgiveness this weekend.

Forgiveness Vespers


Posts from the Past:
Prayer during Lent
Alms during Lent
Fasting during Lent

Fun with photos

I got a "fancy" phone more than a year ago and have enjoyed learning how to take lots of photos.  I'm now trying my hand at turning my photos into watercolors...with an app.  

Aren't these fun?

Lent is coming...

So I'll save you the work of looking for old posts.  You are welcome.

Lent as a pregnancy.

Personal reflection

On fasting

Forgiveness

Personal prayer

Prayer of St. Ephrem

Visuals in the home

Tonight my older children, my husband and I made note cards for ourselves of our Lenten hopes.  What shall we give up in way of fasting?
What sort of almsgiving can we do?
What prayer will be added to our days?

It was a great time of sharing our individual goals and family goals.

We will "bury the Alleluia" with the toddler and 1st grader on Wednesday.

Epiphany...

More than six weeks ago we had a snow storm.  It was Epiphany.  And we still had our annual Epiphany blessing by a priest.  We've had plenty of snow since then.

I wanted to post these "before"photos because we finally have ripped down all the wallpaper and painted.  But it was a glorious celebration.  And so many great shots!  (thanks honey for letting me get a "fancy" camera!)

Special epiphany water and chalk.

A special wine bottle cover from a friend. And a glimpse of the wainscoting and wallpaper that was to come down.

Beeswax candles.

Magi painting.

Incense.  Frankincense of course.

The priest.

And enough incense that you can't see the walls.  On the left was removed wallpaper and a first coat 

of paint.

Writing 20+C+M+B+14 over each doorway.

lots of sprinkling of water.

Here you can see ALL the wallpaper that we tried to hide under kids artwork and Christmas cards.  BUSY walls!

Front door. (see that wallpaper!)

3 year old couldn't stay awake anymore.

The Trinity icon that hangs in our dining room.

A child's penny doll house needed blessed too.  

And now all the kids eating dessert with the priest.  

little bits of Advent

We've done all sorts of things to prepare for Christ's birth in past years.

From a manger of hay for the baby Jesus...

to a Jesse Tree and Advent Wreath and St. Andrew prayers.


Here's a post from a few years ago.

This year I am intentionally pulling away from social party type gatherings.  Of course in honor of St. Nicholas we are doing a few things...We will have meat on Friday for sure.

Do your children give gifts in honor of St. Nicholas day?  I'm looking forward to seeing what they have thought up.

As we prepare for Advent, I've pulled out an icon of the incarnation.  It's sitting on our prayer table.  I like the emptiness of a simple purple cloth with an icon.

If you haven't pondered the Incarnation this Advent, visit this site to think more about the symbolism in the icon below.

I might be partial to the midwife in the lower right hand corner who attends Mary.