Pondered In My Heart

Simply Advent

Stir up Thy power, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and come: that from the threatening dangers of our sins we may deserve to be rescued by Thy protection, and to be saved by Thy deliverance: Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost God, world without end. Amen. - Collect, First Sunday of Advent

 

The new Liturgical Year has begun with the First Sunday of Advent. Our family altar is draped in purple and sparsely decorated. Our Advent devotions are typically a mix of long held family traditions and perhaps a few new elements here and there. The bare Jesse tree awaits the symbols that will tell the story of our salvation history. The Missal is replaced after its daily journey to Holy Mass, and left open to the propers of the day.

The empty manger awaits its most precious Guest; as we make sacrifices and practice penance we add pieces of straw to prepare a soft bed for the Holy Infant.

The Advent wreath marks the weeks for us as we light it in the evening when everyone is gathered home. We read the Bible story of the day and hang the corresponding symbol on our Jesse Tree and we pray together. We conclude by singing all the verses of O Come, O come Emmanuel, the words turning out hearts towards the final days leading up to the Nativity when we will pray the O Antiphons which the hymn is based upon.

  

We've started praying the St. Andrew Christmas novena, the beautiful prayer to be said fifteen times a day from St. Andrew's feast day on November 30th until Christmas.  There are many ways to do this - some families like to use chaplet beads and say the prayer all at once; a friend at church told me her family says the prayer together five times at each meal. This year we've decided to try saying it together five times at a mealtime or two, and the remainder independently. We are all fond of my practice of placing little prayer cards all around the house  as visual reminders to stop and pray and ponder throughout the day. Our old cards were getting rather shabby so we made some pretty new ones with various purple scrapbook paper bits I had.

Additionally, the little ones are enjoying the Advent Adventure videos available through the Holy Heroes website. After watching the video of the day we also read the Bible story again and use our Bible felts to illustrate the passage, and I encourage them to help with the retelling. As Eliza is especially enamored by all things video, this is a great resource for us.

For the 'big ones', we are hoping to work on some Scripture memorization during Advent; those of us who don't already know it are starting with the Last Gospel (John 1:1-14). We are continuing to learn the Angelus in Latin as a family, Josiah plans to teach us the Confiteor, and we'll see where we go from there. Jonathan hopes to teach us some Advent hymns such as Alma Redemptoris Mater (don't miss Jen's post at O Night Divine on Advent music), though he has his work cut out for him as we are not singers.

As for me personally, I am trying to read the day's meditations from Divine Intimacy twice a day with my morning and evening prayers. This is a new book for me. I happened to come across a stack of these books while I was at a party this summer, and while I never got a chance to ask the hostess about it I figured it must be really good if she had a well-worn dog-eared pile of them. So I ordered one right away, but when it arrived and I found the meditations go along with the Liturgical Year I decided to keep it for Advent. My anticipation grew as I came across others who know and treasure this book. I was in love after Day 1. Highly recommended.

And while the penitential season of Advent is not as austere as that of Lent, we do undertake fasting from sweets and treats. I admit I was not really looking forward to another period of fasting as it wasn't long ago that we finished fasting for the 40 Days for Life. But Meredith linked to this article reminding us if we are to feast then first we must fast, so we persevere in resisting the visions of sugarplums and gingerbreads and peppermints until Christmas. We always hold off on the tree and lights until just before Christmas as well. I am very thankful I took a few hints from some other bloggers (thanks Danielle and Susie) and got almost all of my gifts purchased before Advent, something I didn't ever really consider as possible. I have a couple of things to order online, but I shouldn't have to go into any stores and that is such a relief on so many levels. We also plan to wait on the Christmas music, and we are so pleased to be discovering rich treasures of the Church to listen to and (try to) sing instead.

And so we begin our twenty-six day journey towards Bethlehem. We pray for the strength to be faithful to our intentions and to keep our hearts fixed on the One Who is to come. As the world screams a very different message of the season we just need to look to the altar when we enter the church, and the purple speaks for itself. There are no flowers on the altar, and the organ lies silent. Quietly, patiently, simply, we prepare and ponder and wait, just like Mary did.

Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
Yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Thanksgiving Week Daybook

Outside my window - Darkness. (Should I have called this a Nightbook?)

I am hearing - The big kids having their bedtime ice cream. Jonathan is explaining that a 'Neapolitan' chord (you label it N6) is a major chord whose root is the lowered second scale degree, almost always in first inversion and usually in minor, and it functions as a predominant. Because they are having Neapolitan ice cream. And Beethoven uses Neapolitans. (Got that?) Now he is at the piano playing one...There's one in the Moonlight Sonata but I can't think of how it goes. He's temporarily abandoned his bowl of ice cream and I hear his slippered feet scuffling around in the music room, and now I hear the piano. When you're in minor like this, the Neapolitan goes like this... I also hear the clinking spoons of the other ice cream eaters who, having lost the entertaining company of their brother are eating in silence. And now I'm over the moon hearing Moonlight...

I am wearing - A taupe skirt with a chocolate brown viney pattern, beige wool sweater, brown boots, earrings of glass leaves.

I am thankful for - a week specifically dedicated to being thankful.

From the kitchen -  Apples, apples, apples. I bought 60 pounds of apples at the farmer's market on Saturday. They sell these bushel size boxes of seconds that they call 'deer and horse apples', and they sell them for $3.50 a box! They are really a beautiful assortment of many varieties, and the price is unbelievable. What else can I feed my family with for ten cents a pound?! They make wonderful applesauce, as a variety of apples makes for a more complex, delicious flavor. Sunday we had galettes and yesterday we made apple crisp, and when I put 'horse apples' in the oatmeal the girls tell me it's a fine 'hot bran mash', fit for any filly. Of course on Thursday they will go into apple pies, the first of the year. (They tell me you can't have real apple pie before Thanksgiving. They're tough.)

In the learning house - Things have wound down for a little Thanksgiving break.

Living the Liturgical Year - Getting ready for the Advent season and the beginning of a new liturgical year.

Around the house - Can you smell the Murphy's oil soap? We've been cleaning away like busy bees in preparation for the holiday. People seem happy to focus on cleaning, as it's our main task until Thursday when we cook all day.  It's usually so hard to squeeze in all of the housekeeping on Saturdays, so it is very pleasant to be able to work all day without any other obligations. Things are slowly looking fresh and tidy, room by room.

We are creating - Waxed leaves. I saw the idea in a waiting room magazine, and I knew I'd have to try it, leaf lover that I am. We didn't actually follow their directions as I didn't like the thought of wax anywhere near the stove, so we just worked at the counter spread with newspapers. We simply put some wax in a clean can, and then poured boiling water over it to melt it, filling the can almost to the top. Of course the smaller you cut your wax the faster it melts.

The wax floats on top of the water, so as you dip your leaves in the water and pull them out they get coated with a thin layer of wax. We also found it's best to just hold them until the wax is set - if you put them down on waxed paper as suggested they stick and it ruins the smooth wax coating. We had fun experimenting with various other natural specimens, my favorite being Josiah's waxed fern and someone's sprig of silver mist.

One of my favorite things - my children's creativity, and all of the unexpected, useful ways it manifests. We have a two story open foyer with a kind of wide shelf space above the closet doors. It's been empty since we moved in here, but I recently put a bunch of plants up there - geraniums and dangling ivies and such. However I wasn't looking forward to climbing a ladder every week to water them (and climbing down and moving the ladder and climbing up and ...). Josiah suggested using a looong piece of PVC pipe.

Of course he had a piece of PVC in the cellar. Of course the spout of the watering can fit perfectly into the lumen of the pipe. And of course it worked like a charm, and he didn't spill a drop.

But mostly it may have finally taught me to never say, Josiah, you can't do that!

 
 
 (Visit Peggy for more Daybooks here.)

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

O God, Who didst will that this day the ever blessed Virgin Mary, dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost, should be presented in the temple: grant, we beseech Thee, that through her intercession, we may be worthy to be presented in the temple of Thy glory. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.. - Collect, Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Happy Birthday, Kimberlee!!!

Happy Birthday, dear.  May your day be filled with tea and cake!

Love, Me xox
 

On the Old Mass and New Germs

The topic of hygiene precautions at Mass during flu season has been popping up all over the internet. The threat of flu is heightened this year with the prevalence of H1N1 in many areas, and people are understandably even more concerned than usual about disease prevention. Our local bishops have implemented the guidelines of suspending the distribution of the Precious Blood, and the refraining from physical contact during the Sign of Peace. I found it very interesting that neither of these directives affect us, as we attend a Traditional Latin Mass community. We know that Christ is fully present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist and that it is not necessary to receive Him twice under two separate 'Forms' at Mass, and so the Precious Blood is never distributed to the people. The kiss of peace or 'Pax tecum' is exchanged only between the priests and deacons and altar servers at High Mass, and there is no physical contact between the hands - the priest kisses the altar and then symbolically passes on the peace of Christ by greeting the others with a bow.

There are other practices within the Extraordinary Form of the Mass which incidentally also provide for stellar 'health precautions'. The priest washes his hands as part of the ritual prayers and preparation before Mass. Just before the Consecration the priest washes his hands again at the lavabo, and the priest joins his thumb and forefinger after consecrating the Host, and out of reverence for Our Lord he does not disjoin them again until after he has finished distributing the Holy Eucharist. That is why at the 'kiss of peace' shaking hands with someone would be unthinkable.

It is also noteworthy to consider the distribution of the Holy Eucharist at the Extraordinary Form which is so very different from an Ordinary Form Mass. Some have questioned the reception of communion on the tongue in regards to flu precautions, and some parishes have taken to disruptive and irreverent practices in the name of disease prevention (for example, placing hand sanitizer on the altar). In the EF the Eucharist is always received on the tongue while the communicant is kneeling, and it really cannot be compared to receiving on the tongue at an OF Mass. During a OF Mass communicants must process in a line to receive, stop in the right spot, bow the head, say Amen, and then prepare to receive. This is very complicated! The precise timing involved in all these steps can be difficult to master for both communicant and priest, particularly those not accustomed to distributing on the tongue. There is also the issue of height differences that makes distributing on the tongue tricky for some, as the communicant is standing. So indeed, for reasons of timing and logistics the 'touching of the tongue' that horrifies some during flu season does occur frequently. (I have been a daily communicant for many years - I'm speaking from experience.)

In contrast, at the EF the Holy Eucharist is received while the communicant is kneeling and ready and prayerfully waiting to receive Our Lord - there is nothing to do, no walking or head nodding or speaking to distract. The priest distributes the Holy Eucharist while saying Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen. to each communicant which is considerably more lengthy than 'Body of Christ'. Consequently, everything is slow and reverent, and the priest stands above the communicant, able to easily place the Host on the tongue without any touching at all.

I just find it very interesting that the Novus Ordo Mass, which implemented so very many changes to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, now must incorporate more changes to accommodate health hazards and disease prevention. The Extraordinary Form of the Mass protects us from even extraordinary pathogens such as H1N1.

I Forgot the I Spy

I seem to do this with every alphabet post - I forgot to include our I Spy Activities with my H and I weeks post. I is also for I Spy! We got out our many I Spy books and I Spy puzzle and played I Spy by looking for things around the room. My biggest girls had a lot of fun making these I Spy bottles for the little girls. We used pint sized bottles and bird seed. They enjoyed making the pictorial list of items in the bottle, and then I laminated the lists (you can click on the pictures to enlarge). Although some people seal the tops on with glue, I just used packing tape on the outside for easy re-opening and recycling of the contents if we choose. Even the bigger kids think these are fun to play with, and they insist you have to find the items in order. :-)

Happy H and Interesting I Weeks

Along the Alphabet Path the past couple of weeks, Kateri and Eliza have completed  H and I weeks.

Some of our favorite things start with the letter H, as H is for Horses! I have several Horse-loving girls, so there were oodles of horse books and model horses and beanie horses to choose from. We read some of the classic Billy and Blaze series, and the girls painted horses. Lydia gladly drew the outlines for them, and as you can see Kateri chose Blaze for a model-

While Eliza chose to copy a dappled gray-

Huzzah for the artists!

H is for Hedgehog!

We read several classics about Hedgie like The Hat and The Mitten. For our Hedgie craft the girls made these fuzzy Hedgehogs. I printed out these hedgehogs on brown paper from author Jan Brett's site, then glued them onto cardboard to make them sturdy.

We cut yarn into fuzzy snippets and covered Hedgie with his fur, dark brown for his back and a lighter brown for his belly.

Hurray for Hedgie!

H is for Harriet the Hamster!

We also enjoyed reading Harriet, a sweet tale about a mischievous but timid Hamster who escapes from her cage and has quite the nature walk out in the big wide world before finding her way back Home. I've always liked the charming watercolor illustrations in this book, so I decided to let my little learners watercolor some of their own. We did some quick sketches with a fine Sharpie,

and then let the artists at them with watercolors,

using the book for reference.

 

Both girls love to paint, and giving them outline pictures allows them to work on skills like copying the colors and staying in the lines.

Harriet is also a fun story for re-telling so we got out the beanies and acted out the story.

H is for Hazel!

I also have to mention another favorite 'H' picture book, Hazel's Amazing Mother, one of Rosemary Wells' best. The whole town is in the habit of pampering coddled little Hazel, but when she makes a wrong turn and ends up in an unfamiliar part of town she is confronted by a bunch of bona fide bullies. It's definitely not a sanitized children's book, as the meanies have their way with poor Hazel's doll, but Hazel's mother comes to the rescue and restores justice and order and peace and all is then right with the world. This has been a favorite read-aloud of both Michael's and mine for many years, and we have a grand time with all the assorted voices that call for one's best booming, roaring, rumbling and even an opportunity to laugh thunderously (bwah ha ha ha ha ha!). 'It's my mother!' is a favorite endearing line around here, as well as the perennially wonderful theme of the power of a mother's love.

And moving on to I Week-
 
  I is for Iguana!

I do love having resident artists who love to oblige my every need for pictures. You can find loads of coloring pictures of just about anything online, but you can't use watercolors with them as regular printer ink runs. Enter my dynamic drawing duo and their Incredible Indelible Ink!

These little students have it so good - hand drawn Iguanas to paint!
  
 

Indescribable!

I is for Insects!

We did thumb print drawings of Insects a la Ed Emberley, only I had them use paint instead of stamp pads for more colors and easy wash-up.

I is for Instructive Ice Cream!

I made this counting Ice cream activity out of colored construction paper for the girls. I cut out the cone and thirty scoops of ice cream with numbers on them.

 

I can set them out and they can practice number recognition and counting, or they can try placing the scoops themselves. They can also use them for counting down backwards, or flip the scoops over and just use the colors for patterning practice.  

There's a cherry to put on top when you get all the way to thirty!

Weekend in Pictures

On Saturday after Mass we visited a cemetery where our priest led prayers for the Poor Souls.

It was a crisp, clear day with a beautiful blue sky. This ancient-looking Madonna was atop a priest's grave from 1901. Josiah noted it was a good example of how pollution causes erosion of statues. It gave her quite an eerie look.

Everyone is happy to have Jonathan around on the weekends- moods are jolly and lightheartedness prevails throughout the house. Miss Chocolate Eyes lovin' on her big brother-

 

And today we took a drive to the hawk lookout for a last look at migrating raptors. The weather was exceptionally mild, the sky clear, and no wind.

I never get tired of the incredible view. To the north is this:

And to the south:

My children don't get tired of being up on the mountain either.

And I love seeing them all, being their regular selves, on a mountaintop. Josiah carrying on as Bellarius,

Jonathan studying Gregorian chant-

Little girls who love to paint-

We also caught a glimpse of the rare Rainbow Crested Elizabird-

 I thought of other moss-and-fungus-loving bloggers as I delighted in the sunlit sights-

 And I somehow squeezed in just a wee bit of watercolor journaling myself-

It was a very slow day raptor-wise with a very low count as there was little to no wind. But we did see a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks and Northern Harriers. We were really hoping to see Golden Eagles, as this is their migrating time here and we had never seen one before. The last bird of the day, the only eagle of the day, was a Golden. We were very pleased, and Lydia gets one more for her life list.

 

 Hope you had a grand weekend, too!

Autumn Daybook

Outside my window - Dusk is settling in earlier each day. My little girls keep running to look out the window at the Shake-o-speare scene happening below down on the patio. The Shakespeare Summer has stretched into Shakespeare Fall as my big kids still can't get enough of the Bard and 'doing Shakespeare' remains the leisure activity of choice. The three big girls and Josiah have memorized several scenes from Cymbeline, and they have ambitious plans to learn some As You Like It, A Midsummer's Night's Dream and Richard III. Josiah has a natural flair for acting, and they all have impressive memorization skills. They usually practice in the cellar, but occasionally we are treated to a kitchen performance. I love having teenagers whose favorite thing to do is practice Shakespeare. 

 

I am hearing - See above.

I am wearing - A rusty cinnamon colored viney skirt, one of my trademark vintage lacey off-white cardigans, fall colored olive and rust floral scarf, chocolate brown tights and brown Mary Janes, little topaz earrings.

I am thankful for - this awesome family and this wonderful counter-cultural Catholic homeschooling life we live

From the kitchen -  Cloten's head (a cauliflower) will be turned into tonight's soup. Lydia is making three more apple galettes. She made two last night and they were sooo scrumptious.  We've been buying a bushel of apples a week at the farmer's market and enjoying them in so many appley-fall-goodness ways.

Lydia makes the best pie crust/galette pastry in the whole wide world. But don't take her picture while she's cooking.

 
 
From the learning house - I tried to think of a good title for this section. We don't have a school room so I can't say 'from the schoolroom'. I was going to say 'in the learning department' but that makes me think of a department store like Macy's or something. 'Lifestyle of learning' is appropriate but a mouthful. I like 'from the learning house' as it makes me think of The Napping House, where everyone is napping, only in the learning house everyone is learning. Shakespeare and astronomy and birds and Churchill and letters and reading and patterns and counting and ancient Greece and watercoloring, oh my.

Living the Liturgical Year - Daily Masses for the Dead this week (still no Suburban but I get to go tonight and tomorrow night). On Saturday our priest will lead Solemn Cemetery Prayers for the Poor Souls after Mass. Tonight we also have our weekly candlelight rosary vigil at the clinic.

Around the house - After we voted last night Michael took me to the thrift shop just to 'get out'. I knew I would find good stuff as I didn't really want to go but I tried to keep quiet and not complain as it was his idea. :-) Sure enough, I found a set of dishes that match the ones we have, or I should say that match what's left of the ones we have. I have so wanted to find dishes so we can have a large set that actually matches.  I also found a double decker wooden dolly bed for the girls, a little table that's perfect for where I need it,  charming vintage artwork, a linen shirt for my ranger, and best of all this old picture:

It still has the price tag on it from the five and ten - it originally cost $1.59. I've already hung it in my upstairs hallway. I love it.

One of my favorite things - this face

The Yucky Thing

For the comic relief that's needed in life, it's hard to beat a three year old.

This girl just cracks me up. Here is Kateri doing her 'Yucky Thing practice.'

"I can go up and down the mountain like the Yucky Thing."

 

 For those of you who are not in the know, the 'Yucky Thing' is of course Gollum.