Pysanky Time

For the past seven or more years, my children and I have been doing Pysanky.  The local Anglican church has a group of ladies that learned Pysanky from the priests wife.  The priest and his wife had lived in New York City and learned from some Ukrainian women while living there.  When this priest and his wife moved to this area, she chose to pass on this skill to her parishioners.  I was lucky to be invited to join in the fun.  They now offer classes each Lent. It is such a delightful time to learn this art of dying and waxing.  Each year means more eggs for our family and it's great fun to compare the ones from years past.




















And it's so colorful to use them for decorating.  I love the symbolism found in the using flowers, fish and crosses.  Doesn't it just lift your heart and mind?


 

Have you had a chance to try your hand {and patience} at Pysanky?

Praying on pilgrimage

2691 The church, the house of God, is the proper place for the liturgical prayer of the parish community. It is also the privileged place for adoration of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The choice of a favorable place is not a matter of indifference for true prayer. 

- For personal prayer, this can be a "prayer corner" with the Sacred Scriptures and icons, in order to be there, in secret, before our Father. In a Christian family, this kind of little oratory fosters prayer in common. 

- In regions where monasteries exist, the vocation of these communities is to further the participation of the faithful in the Liturgy of the Hours and to provide necessary solitude for more intense personal prayer.

- Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer. For pilgrims seeking living water, shrines are special places for living the forms of Christian prayer "in Church."  Catechism of the Catholic Church

It was very easy to pray here.  

Finding Silence

Okay more than 10 days ago, I was asked how I practice silence when I live in a home with four rambunctious children. So I began to respond and then realized I needed more time....and more time....and more silence. Which I haven't gotten...

But now I have a quick moment.

Up very early. My first key is to get up in the mornings before the kids wake up. Does this happen much in reality? Not much. There is at least one child that hears me creep downstairs. I do find it easier to read and pray with only one child up. I deny myself the time on the computer or with a book if the house is quiet. I like to pray the Divine Office or the Psalter. Sometimes I read the readings for the Daily Mass. I sneak away to Adoration once a week again early (6:45am).

Home atmosphere. Another thing I try to do is remember that my house is my monastery. It is both my husbands and my goal to make this house a home that is full of peace. We are constantly striving to find the paths to the 'Rule' of our home. This 'rule' is one that has been given room to grow and change. In some ways it is spoken, in other ways its is hidden.

Desert. As I have been on an irregular routine of spiritual direction due to to difficulty in finding consistent directors...I have one regular thing... a monthly desert afternoon. The idea is that Jesus spent time in the desert. 40 days. And he also asked the disciples to spend one hour in prayer with him the night he was betrayed. Are we really too busy to spend some time with him? To find the desert in which to be empty of everything? The local monastery mother superior recommended to me that I find silence there. It is open to all visitors. I make it to Mass and then have the afternoon of just me and Jesus. It isn't easy to pull myself away from my daily duties. But I return refreshed and the children are so happy to see me.

Silence within the midst of noise. Last year (or maybe it was the winter before) I found a great quote and typed it out to place above my sink.

Reminds me of John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you. my peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give you." It's God that gives us peace...nothing here on earth can make our hearts truly peaceful.

So I'm not even close to having peace in my soul when my children are disagreeing about who should set the napkins on the table, but I do find at times I can let them work out their peace and not have to be the conflict fixer. I can call gently up the stairs "do you need my help or can you work it out on your own?" I do have other little quotes posted up all over the house. Things like "works of love are works of peace-Mother Teresa", "simple acts of adoration", and loads of ideas here for more quotes on peace.

So as we head into this last week of Advent for 2009, I am wishing you a peaceful week. One in which you can find the moments to welcome the Christ child into your heart in a new way. Maybe there won't be actual quiet in the midst of the parties and socializing, but there can be a true Christ's peace in the depths of your heart.