Pondered In My Heart

Early Day, Late in May Daybook

 Outside my window...It's an overcast, misty, chilly morning. I can see Mrs. Killdeer scuttling about searching for breakfast, and a lonely tree swallow sitting atop the nest box post. It lost its mate a few weeks ago and is still in mourning. Soon the four geese will waddle up the road like they do every day for their morning stroll.

I am thankful for... Wednesday mornings. We started attending the TLM daily during Lent, so now on Wednesdays we go to Mass in the evening. I really enjoy having one day a week where we can start the day with a leisurely morning at home.

 

From the kitchen...A triple berry coffee cake is in the oven and the freezer is full of berry pops. Something about spring makes me want to eat berries, and that is what good little bunnies eat after all.

 

I am wearing...a floral skirt with mixed violet and lavender tones on black, a white tee topped with a lacey lavender cardigan, black Mary Janes.

 

I am creating...lots of rosary and chaplet special orders.

 

I am reading...Shakespeare. We just finished up As You Like It and have started the Merchant of Venice. Reading Merchant took me right back to high school and memorizing soliloquies, and I could vividly recall one of the girls in my glass (I can see her dark curly hair and glasses but, oh, what was her name?) giving her dramatic recitation of Shylock's speech, complete with costume, and my other friend telling our teacher a long a convoluted joke just to say 'The Koala tea of Mercy is not strained' as the punch line. Presently we are all enjoying the read alouds, and I follow up with a bit of Tales from Shakespeare every day to help Mary Rose follow things. Mary Rose has started writing a play of course -the heartless and blood thirsty Tropedes are about to invade the harbor!

 

I am hoping...That the newly hatched killdeer survived the cold rainy day yesterday. They spent the day in their 'nest' safely tucked under their mother, and we avoided disturbing them so they could stay warm. I also hope the hawks will stick to mice when they want a little tidbit and leave the fluffy little killdeer alone.

 

I am hearing...The mockingbird and a host of other bird songs, but Lydia is not awake to tell me what they are.

 

Living the Liturgical Year - Veni Sancte Spiritus!

 

A few plans for the rest of the week...I need to start working on portfolios in preparation for the end of the school year evaluations. Jonathan has been finished for a couple of weeks and everyone else is anxious for summer break as well.

 

A picture thought I am sharing... Lydia at this year's Fort Killdeer.

 

A Few More Alleluias

As the Easter season is drawing to a close with Pentecost just a week away, I thought I'd share Eliza leading the Regina Coeli. She's quite a spirited prayer leader. ;-)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Regina Coeli is prayed three times a day, replacing the Angelus during Eastertide.

Queen of Heaven, rejoice, Alleluia!

The Son whom you merited to bear, Alleluia!

Has risen as He said, Alleluia!

Pray to God for us Alleluia!

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia!

For the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia!

Let us pray: O God, by the resurrection of Your Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, You have deigned to make glad the whole world. Grant we beseech Thee, that through His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Eliza follows this with the table blessing:

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

And she concludes with:

May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Which Way to Dublin Town

 

You may remember my post about my friends' album of Christmas music called Eventide Lullaby. Well, Seasons is back with another just-released CD, this time with an Irish theme. Seasons is a group of three siblings - Mary-Kate Spring, Peter Winter, and Mary-Theresa Summer and no, I don't know if their parents had a band name in mind when they named them. They are joined by many of their fellow musical homeschooled cousins and friends -actually, a number of them are college students now, but once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler, right? Together they play a wonderful and varied happy melange of harp, hammered dulcimer, mandolin, Irish whistles and both a fiddle and a violin. There's also an ever changing array of vocals in collaborative and solo pieces alike.

The music of Which Way to Dublin Town is an eclectic mix as well. There are traditional Irish tunes like Planxty Hewlett and a rousing medley of Johnny Has Gone to France and Drowsy Maggie.  There's also King of the Faeries, a couple of jigs, and the spirited Glory in the Meetinghouse on mandolin and bongos to get you up and dancing, or at least your pencil tapping if you're stuck at your desk. Intermingled with the these energetic pieces are some that soften the mood like Speic Seoigheach and Caitlin Trail that really highlight the beauty of the harp and hammered dulcimer. 

Some of the songs have vocals as well, such as Farewell to Liverpool and Kateri's favorite (start 'em young on Yeats!) - the lovely Red is the Rose/Down by the Salley Gardens. The harmonies on Paidir Eireann, the traditional Irish blessing set to the tune of Come Thou Fount are particularly beautiful - I like to think it's because the love that this trio of brother, sister and their mother have for each other comes through on every note.

Mixed in with all of this tradition are two sets of original lyrics. Dalriada is a haunting ballad telling the story of St. Patrick and what he may have felt like being kidnapped as a young boy, concluding beautifully with words from the Lorica. And you'll have to forgive Eliza for being a little biased but her favorite seems to be The Helmsman, adapted from a portion of St. Fautina's Diary. She gets me every time she sings along, belting out Sail on, sail on, Sail on along, Fear not the storms or the evil one, For God will guide your hand. Sail on, sail on, Sail on along, Fix your course and remain strong, Sail on with all her heart. It is always a beautiful and efficacious thing to have the words of the saints set to music, making it so easy for their wisdom and encouragement to be continuously wafting through our minds, comforting our spirits and turning out hearts to God.

You can find out more about this very talented group of musicians at their website. You can listen to samples of their music and they have CD's available for purchase as well. If you decide to buy a CD, you can tell them Eliza sent you. :-)

Deo Gratias

 

Can you guess the occasion of this little celebration today?

 

Every year on this day we set out this little picture of St. Faustina, and we dig out the horse-who-looks-like-a-giraffe, and we make heart shaped cookies.

 

And we celebrate this very special little lively girl.

 

And we remember and relive so many moments of that incredible time.

 

And we marvel in wonder and we laugh and we cry.

 

Five years ago today Eliza had her open heart surgery. St. Faustina's picture was in the hospital bed with her. The nurse's liked to use the horse, which arrived in the mail as a gift the night before surgery, to help position her respirator tubes.

 

Someday soon I hope to write more about that amazing time in our lives.

 

But today is just for rejoicing and thanking God. All day.

Happy Mother's Day!

As Josiah put it, today is Tuesday of the First Week of Mother's Day Time so I can still say Happy Mother's Day to all of you dear mothers!

We had a very nice day and I received some lovely gifts. My handsome husband made me happy with a hibiscus-

 

There were sweet homemade cards-

Anna made me this charming brooch-

 

Lydia stitched up these beautiful goldfinches-

 

So now I have two-

Josiah carved this little shrine-

And Jonathan gave me chocolate, so all bases were covered. Flowers, birds, the Blessed Mother and chocolate. And lots of tea, of course.

After Mass and social time I spent most of the day setting out my hundreds of seedlings. I started planting last Thursday, getting all the vegetables in first. I had planned to post this as one of my 'Small Successes', but after all that hard work and fresh air I fell asleep on the couch. :-)  I had been working on the flowers here and there, and I was determined to finish them all on Sunday. So my dear family cooked and tidied and brought out cups of tea while I planted and planted and planted. Here is that looong bed-

And here is my first bloom of the year from one of my seedlings-

 

At the end of the day my dear husband sat down with me and our cups of tea. He asked me what I planted, and he very kindly and patiently sat while I told him not only what but how many of each. All the way from the nine bee balms and ten black eyed Susans and nineteen cosmos and ten daisies to the forty-two zinnias in three varieties. And he looked at pictures of the ones he didn't know as I pointed them out in my gardening book. True love. 

 

I hope that your Mother's Day was a blessed one, and that even though it's back to the laundry pile you are still basking in all the joys, large and small, of Mother's Day Time.

Lovely Ladies Dressed in Blue

 

Dark blue, light blue, and gentlemen too-

Wearing blue on Saturdays is a very simple, yet memorable, way to honor Our Lady on her special day. We've long had this little family tradition, but if it's new to you May is a lovely time to give it a try!

Tis the Month of Our Mother

Tis the month of Our Mother

The blessed and beautiful days,

When our lips and our spirits,

Are glowing with love and with praise.

May Altar-

We just found this beautiful wooden book holder at a thrift sale on Saturday, and one of my children keeps a missal there opened to the propers of the day.

May Crowning-

All the excitement and anticipation! The May Crowning was also the occasion for a 'baby shower' and a celebration of the lives of the babies the children have spiritually adopted. For the procession the girls all carried up baby gifts which will be donated to various local crisis pregnancy centers. My dear daughters donated ten baby hats and a dozen hat and bootie sets that they crocheted.

Hail holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria

Hail Mother of mercy and of love, O Maria

Triumph all ye cherubim, Sing with us ye seraphim

Heaven and earth resound the hymn:

Salve, salve, salve, Regina!

First Friday in May-

Our group made Marian May Baskets as popularized by dear Alice some years ago.

 

Simple supplies such as stickers, catalogs of religious goods, construction paper and bits of ribbon and glue are all that's needed for the children to create an endless array of bookmarks and holy cards to put in the baskets.

 I also provided plain sugar cookies for them to decorate with colored frostings and such to add, and a few candy treats. My girls later made additional baskets for various friends and godparents, including some homemade fudge. (Cute little templates for homemade boxes can be found here: Mirkwood Designs.)

 

 May Music-

Actually it's August music- the Introit from the Feast of the Assumption. Jonathan wrote this music for his composition class, and it was performed by four of his fellow students the other night. I think they did a lovely job, and I trust Our Lady was pleased.

Signum magnum aparuit in coelo: mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus ejus, et in capite ejus corona stellarum duodecim. Cantate Domino canticum novum: quia mirabilia fecit. Gloria Patri, et Fillio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

A great sign appeared in the heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because He hath done wonderful things. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Blessed May to all of you, and may Our Lady rain down her love and care to all who seek to honor her during this most special month.