Eileen on Him . . . at least, I try!

"You Need to See Where You Come From, So You'll Know Who You Are."

More words of wisdom from my mom.  The quote above is something she often said to me as I was growing up -- particularly when, Gert Loplitz-deficient thing that I am, I sulked  about having to go to a family reunion or wedding or family party.  (Yes; I really was dumb like that.)

Well:  It's looking pretty good for me right about now, because the people I come from are awesome.

They're a little hard to describe, if you don't already know them.  Scranton Irish, if that means anything to you.  They're absolutely unpretentious.  Funny -- even downright bawdy at times.  Maybe even half-crazy, I dunno!  And if you don't have people like this in your family, well:  Your loss.

My dear Aunt Winnie, wife to my mom's late brother Bill, passed away this week, and her funeral was today.  She'd been ill for awhile, and I don't even remember the last time I saw her (though I'm sure it was either for a recent wedding or baby shower!)  The older girls remember her dancing away at our wedding, a little over 11 years ago (she would've been 85 next month, so even in her mid-70s she was no slouch!)  She could Macarena and Chicken Dance and Electric Slide with the best of 'em!

I brought my young ones to the funeral home for prayers and family time before the funeral.  We were there before most of the crowds (the size of our extended family is the stuff of which legends are made), and I took the children right up to Aunt Winnie's casket for prayers.  "Look!" I said.  "She's wearing her charm bracelet!"  (It's comprised of dozens of little golden head-silhouettes, each inscribed with the name and birth date of one of her many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Despite its obvious heirloom value, she insisted on "taking it with her," for two reasons, I'm told:  (1) she didn't want her children fighting over it, and (2) she wanted to make sure Uncle Bill could hear her coming down the hall when she joined him in heaven!)  There was also a picture drawn by one of her grand-kids, several photos and hand-written notes, and a bag of Doritos (she could only taste salt and sugar near the end, so her kids gave her what she wanted -- all the Doritos and root beer she could eat!  My boys thought that certainly sounded like heaven.) :)  Of course, her face was serene, but that's not really the way I remember her.  "Her body looks beautiful, but I wish you could have known her when she was alive," I said, my voice beginning to break.  "She was always smiling, how her blue eyes twinkled!  And she had the most  gorgeous dimples!"

(That's when I began to question the wisdom of bothering with the mascara this morning, something I rarely wear anymore.)

Greeting each of my cousins was both a sublime treat -- oh, how I wish I saw them more often! -- and deeply sad, naturally.  In between the tears, there was a lot of laughter -- which of course, led to more tears ... and more laughter.  The funeral home was set up without a lot of chairs, because they wanted this to be a family gathering, not a solemn, quiet affair where people sat down quickly and shushed the children.  Not that anyone would've been too tempted to quiet reflection, anyway; not in this family.  It was everything a funeral should be -- a celebration of a loved one's life, profound sadness at our loss; love and laughter and tears among those left behind, and a renewed appreciation of how lucky we are to be able to call each other family.

The funeral procession was a delight -- I don't know how many cars made the police-escorted trip from the funeral parlour to her home parish at Our Lady of Victory Basilica (actually, past the Basilica and around the block, right past her house!), but I don't think 50 well-filled cars is too outlandish an estimate.  "I wonder if Aunt Winnie knew how important she was?" I wryly mused aloud to my children.  How many people get to stop traffic like that at busy intersection after busy intersection, not because they're famous, but because they're loved?

Really, if you don't have family like this ...

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.  And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

or, as my brother Jack said, "May the angels, and Uncle Bill, lead her to paradise!"

Just Popping In to Say "Hi!"

I am really starting to miss this oh-so-neglected space!

The reason I haven't been here of late is simply that, somewhere in the middle of everything else that was going on, it lost "priority."  That, and I made up my mind I wasn't going to move on in posting until I got my Advent/Christmas posts done.  But Christmas is so ... three months ago!  Who's thinking about Christmas now, except for those amazing people who get all their shopping for next year done by June (of which I am decidedly not one)?! 

Well!  When I make up my mind to stubbornly follow a certain path, I guess I stick to it, do or die!

(If only I could apply that to areas in my life where I could really use some self-discipline!!)

There's really nothing extraordinary going on around here; just life in all its usual busy glory.  This Lent, I decided what I needed to do most was make a commitment to getting to bed by 11:00 (yes; longtime blogwatchers may recall that I made that one of my 2008  New Year's resolutions.  Then, having failed miserably on that score, I apparently gave up on New Year's resolutions altogether.) :)  My husband and I have also begun praying Compline together every night after putting the children to bed.  Most nights, I sit down next to him to prepare to pray, say a few responses, and promptly fall asleep.  (Since we're new to this, we've been using the podcasts from divineoffice.org to help us along, and they play such pretty music ...)  He wakes me up sometime around 11:00, and helps me stumble off to bed.  (How did I manage to stay awake until 1 am or later every night before now?  Yikes, I've been exhausted.)

Thanks to everyone who's been commenting and sending me emails asking what happened to me.  I'm fine; I'm here ... and if you can indulge me a couple more Christmas posts (!), I may even get back to regularly-scheduled blogging soon.

Merry Christmas! ;)

Our St. Lucy Christmas Traditions

When we first started celebrating St. Lucy's day four years ago, Junie wore a paper wreath and served Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate to Daddy in bed.  The Chief had been out of town on business earlier in the month, and had missed Step 2's Christmas band concert, but the school was putting on a shorter version of the concert as a student assembly on the last day of school before Christmas break.  The Chief took off the day from work so he could at least attend that; and kicking off our Christmas week with St. Lucy had been so special that we knew we'd be doing it again!

Since then, St. Lucy has become one of our most cherished Christmastime celebrations.  We celebrate St. Lucy's breakfast, not on her feast day (December 13), but on the 4th Sunday of Advent.  Step 1 & Step 2 stay overnight the night before, and Junie B. dresses up and awakens the family, candle in hand, to invite them to a special breakfast of a sweet wreath of homemade braided bread, hot cocoa and sausage omelets.  The omelets are made by our family professional chef, Step 1, and one of the highlights is watching her awesome omelet-flipping skills!

Taz loves to be Step 1's Sous Chef -- he took it upon himself to set up all these individual omelet ingredients for her!

We don't neglect the actual feast of St. Lucy, however.  That, too, has a very special place in our Advent buildup toward Christmas.  Every year on December 13, we plant a large dish of winter wheat seeds -- which grows so fast you can almost watch it happen! -- and use the cuttings (about 8" tall, 10 days later) to line the front porch Creche in a special enthronement ceremony on "Christmas Eve-Eve" (December 23 -- that's the night Santa also comes to our house.)

This year, little Taz was excited to get in on the action, in his first appearance as "Star Boy!"  I made a cone-shaped hat for him using these directions.  We painted it blue and studded it with glitter (I don't really know why; it just seemed "right").  His special job was to carry our Tinkertoy Jesse Tree as he led "St. Lucy" to wake up the rest of the family.  (I don't care what the tradition is "supposed" to be; we do what we love!)

Every year, we've used a different recipe for St. Lucy's bread, none of them "authentic."  This year, we used the same recipe we'd used to make St. Nicholas bread figures from the St. Nicholas Center website --  except I added a half a cup or so of candied fruit to the dough (next time, I'd use more), shaped it in the traditional braid, and topped it with a simple glaze of confectioners' sugar and cream.  (This recipe is quick, easy even for the kids to handle, and very tasty!)  Finally, we sprinkled the glaze with finely-chopped almonds.  Mmmm!

Later in the day, we even made "Swedish Cookies" -- a special tradition from the Chief's family (via a Swedish tenant of his German grandmother's, way back when!), and a perfect extension to our Swedish-inspired celebrations.  (I'll have to add a separate post with some of our favorite cookie recipes -- this one definitely makes the cut!)  They are a simple cream wafer, rolled in granulated sugar with a special notched rolling pin before baking -- light, flaky and delicious!

(Note the St. Lucy Braids.) :)

When you add something new to your family's most cherished traditions, you don't know for sure if it will "take" -- especially when it involves waking up 18 and 21 year olds at the crack of dawn and putting them to work as part of the deal!  Step 1 sealed it for us this year, though, when, on her way out the door this year she said, "I love that we celebrate St. Lucy!"

Me, too.

Painfully Gorgeous Must-Read of the Day

from Mary Ellen at Tales from the Bonnie Blue House, a beautiful and deeply-felt reflection on the Triumph of the Cross.

Lost & Found

This has become my annual St. Anthony repost.  St. Anthony remains one of my all-time favorite saints, and this post contains a few personal stories that give a whisper of why he's come to mean so much.  Happy Feast of St. Anthony!

(Just some toadstools we found.  We call them "Squirrels' Tea Party.")

I just love St. Anthony.

Dear St. Anthony, please come around...
Something is lost, and cannot be found!

So when Meredith at Sweetness and Light challenged her readers--in an incredibly thoughtful post on Keeping the Company of the Saints--to take "Baby Steps" and immediately find some way to include the Saints in our every day lives, I knew just where I'd start.

I know some things about a lot of Saints, but there are very few that have touched my heart so deeply that I truly think of them as "friends." 

St. Anthony is definitely at the top of that list.

And yes, when I can't find something, St. Anthony is definitely my go-to guy.  And he has never, ever let me down.

OK, so there was that one time.  I think I may have left that file of amazing zoo photos and unparalleled zoo lesson plan ideas for my preschool class on top of the recycle bin just before it went to the curb--what was he supposed to do?   

(That was over 10 years and two houses ago. My confidence in him is so strong that every now and then I poke around old boxes, still expecting to find it.  When we someday meet face to face, I half expect him to pull it out from behind his back and say, "Gotcha!")

That St. Anthony!

Several months before The Chief and I were to be married, The Chief had offered to help me spruce up the yard at my house to ready it for the market, by assisting in the taming of what had become a massive hedge, and carting off the waste to his burn pile at what is now our home, 55 miles away.  (He's at the top of my list, too!)  I had on my left wrist a delicate gold bracelet my beloved had given me the previous Christmas, that I had never taken off.  At some point during the hedge trimming, raking, bagging and stuffing the truck, that bracelet fell off my wrist.

I was heartbroken!  Not because I loved wearing jewelry, of course, but because of what that one piece meant to me.  I noticed it was missing on the ride between our homes.  I had no idea where it could be, and I despaired of ever seeing it again.  We were already well into the hour-plus drive, and even if it were easy to go right back,  I had no idea where to begin looking!  The Chief (ok, so he was only the Captain then) assured me that, at least we could look for it as we dumped the brush into the burn pile.  It would be very much like looking for a needle in a haystack, though, and neither of us believed we'd have much luck.  I sighed deeply, and when we arrived at his house, we set to work.  Of course, we never saw the bracelet.  When we were finished, The Chief  and I looked at each other helplessly, and I said, "Well, we can ask St. Anthony."

No sooner had the words slipped from my lips but I looked down at the ground, and there, on the toe of my shoe, right where we had just dumped multiple loads of branches and leaves, was that bracelet.

I've always suspected St. Anthony himself put it there.

On another occasion, a coworker of mine was frantically looking for an important document she needed for a meeting she was heading for that afternoon.  As she shared her frustration with me, I smiled.  "You could ask St. Anthony to help you.  He always does me."  She looked at me blankly.  "I'm not Catholic," she stated flatly.

I smiled brighter still.  "That's OK!  He's not prejudiced!"  She rolled her eyes.  I asked for help.  She found the document.

What can I say?  He likes to do this stuff!

Sometimes I'd be tempted to think I was merely being a little superstitious.  I mentioned that to him, somewhat sheepishly once, as I made yet another mundane request.  "I know, I know, this is a dumb thing to ask, isn't it?"  I added.  I got an immediate impression of a response.  "Why don't you just let it increase your faith?"  came the reply.

The thought took my breath away.

I don't question it anymore.

Now, my children know that any time something is missing, we call on St. Anthony.  When the prayer is coming directly from them, I sometimes get a little nervous, and remind him that finding it will increase their faith, too.

He knows to be patient with me.

So today's Nature Monday was dedicated to our friend, St. Anthony.  We went on a nature walk back at the pond, looking for fungi, and for "evidence" that squirrels or raccoons had been there, toting corncobs stolen from the field next door.  Or for whatever other "evidence' St. Anthony wanted to share.

Oh, it was so fun!  We changed the couplet though, since we really hadn't lost anything:

Dear St. Anthony, please come around.
We know that with you, all good things can be found!

The children overturned old tree stumps.  They looked up into trees.  They gazed delightedly at the play of the wind on the grasses.  They found lots of toadstools.  And lots of corncobs, kernels and pieces of cob, and even a few corn shoots!  They found deer tracks, and tire tracks ("Evidence!  That Daddy was here!" said Junie B. joyfully.)  And they attributed all of it to the loving intervention of our friend, St. Anthony.

We read from Amy Welborn's   Book of Saints.  I was just so amazed at how appropriate is her lead-in to the chapter on St. Anthony, to exactly what I was hoping to accomplish.  She writes (p. 279),

Following Jesus isn't just for Sundays or special occasions.  It's for every day.  We don't have to follow all sorts of complicated rules to follow Jesus.  We can follow him in many simple, ordinary ways.

Saints know this, of course...They know that we only have the strength to take great big steps toward God when we've been taking lots of little steps all along.

Isn't that just what Meredith was talking about, too? 

But it's funny, when I immediately went to St. Anthony for a focus today, without much of a plan, mind you, I wasn't thinking of him as the Saint of the Ordinary.  I usually give that category over to another dear friend, St. Theresa the Little Flower.  So Amy Welborn's introduction to St. Anthony caught me totally off-guard, and as I read aloud to the children, I found I had to swallow hard to keep my voice steady.

Because I suddenly realized something.

Today, St. Anthony found me.

Originally published October 29, 2007.

Memorial Day 2009

Memorial Day is one of those times you gotta love living in a small town.

And our little village does it right:  Parade, service, speeches, artillery salute, and a moving rendition of Taps, using a three-trumpet echo across the waterfall in the center of town.  The high school band plays patriotic tunes, and selected students sing The National Anthem, a capella (the last few years, that group has included the vocally-gifted Step 2, and today was no exception!)  The local Vets place a wreath at the Veterans Memorial, and set a table for the soldiers who never made it home.  It never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

We truly do owe a debt of gratitude to those who have so honorably served in defense of this nation and its ideals.  Our calm, simple country lives would not be possible but for their sacrifices.

Be sure to thank a Vet today.  And any chance you get.

Three years ago we celebrated Memorial Day for the first time with our little Sunny Boy, too (he arrived at 1:00 in the morning on May 26, 2006).  Here's my all-time favorite Memorial Day photo, taken Memorial Day 2006:

(The Chief, of course, is the one with the baba.) :)

Just one more reason to be grateful.

Gingerbread for Breakfast

St. Joe's currency just went way up at our house.

(For the record, those are homemade fruit & yogurt smoothies in the cups.  Nutrition!) :)

"Hey, Daddy, wake up!  Look what we're having for breakfast!!"

(Poor Chief.  So much for sleeping in on his last day off from work after surgery!  But, as The Chief is fond of saying, "This is how I'm getting into Heaven...") :)

Aren't Feast Days just the best?  Happy Feast of St. Joseph the Worker!

Scenes of the Season: Mardi Gras to Easter Sunday, 2009

Mardi Gras, with parade (complete with office chair throne & laundry basket floats!), King Cupcake and King for a Day

 

First Flowers of Spring for the Feast of the Annunciation

SB gives a fistful of violets to Mary and Gabriel... 

...then, we pressed them!

Laetare Sunday:  A Little Break for Weary Little Souls

Just a little something to tide them over.  Halfway there!

Unexpected Snow Day in April

Well, I know three people who were happy about it!

Real, Live Easter Grass -- growing...

harvesting ...

... lining pretty baskets

Doesn't that real Easter Grass look spectacular as a backdrop for all those treats? (We put some plain tissue under the grass as a filler)

Sugar Cube Crosses:  A Good Friday/Holy Saturday Tradition

Last year, we held these together using white glue.  This year, sugar was held in higher regard (!), and the children used royal icing for the "glue" so that the crosses could eventually be used to sweeten their tea.

Decorating the Eggs

A collection so pretty, I wish I'd boiled more!

Holy Saturday:  Soup and Sandwiches for dinner

Step 2 loves sandwiches so much, she says this is what she'll serve at her wedding reception.  Not that she's making specific plans, of course. :)

Beautiful Easter Vigil

Finding the Easter Baskets, with custom-made clues that took 'til 3 AM to put together ...

Uh ... that didn't take long ...

Easter Egg Hunt

We actually forgot to do this on Easter.  Instead, our "hunt" was on Monday!  Taz found the silver egg.  Junie B. demands a rematch. :)

A Joyous Easter Season, to one and all!

Simple, Solemn ... and Fun!

Good Friday is eagerly awaited by my children, as the day of "that really fun dinner!" 

Their enthusiasm is contagious, and it's a good thing!

Me -- I was tired, headachy and Lent-weary.  That last big push with a day of fast (and, in our house, water-only to drink) is a tough one for me.  Plus, the poor Chief is having back trouble again.  He's not quite flat on his back this time, but he's in a lot of pain.  Happily, after two surgeries whose results have been temporary at best, we found a new doctor who is known for his conservative, surgery-as-a-last-resort-only approach.

He recommends surgery.

As soon as possible.

Since that won't be until next Thursday, the Chief is in fairly rough shape these days.  And our plans for attending the Easter Vigil together are now up in the air -- we'll have to see how the day goes. (Prayers are, of course, dearly welcomed.)

But I digress.  Dinner was actually wonderful.

We used paper plates and cups -- partly because, being somewhat under the weather I dreaded the clean-up; but it actually added to the "austere" nature of the day and the dinner. 

I liked it! 

The children were very excited to help prepare each of the little dishes -- snapping the green beans, putting rice krispie "thorns" on peanut butter Ritz crackers, rolling up the mini biscuits, that sort of thing.  Everything was timed well, and all the dishes were laid out on the counter, ready to be brought over at the appropriate Scriptural cue.

The Chief read each passage from the Bible between each course.  Junie B. enthusiastically volunteered to play the role of Hostess with the Mostest, eagerly bringing over each dish and clearing it away with finesse.  She even noted when the plates were a little "used" looking, and cleared them away, replacing them with fresh paper plates.  She also handled the inevitable spills from the tippy plastic water cups, and kept everyone's cup filled!  I was actually pretty impressed.

The first time we decided to have this special Tea as our Good Friday meal back in 2007, we made a few changes which, at the time, were mainly just "making do" with what we had on hand at the time.  These changes have mostly solidified into a tradition in our home, and we do it as close to the same way as possible, each time.

To see the original, visit Alice's beautiful Cottage Blessings site, for A Second Lenten Tea.

Here's our menu:

The King's Crown:  Mark 15:1-5.  Key verse:  "Pilate interrogated him:  'Are you the king of the Jews?'  'You are the one who is saying it,' Jesus replied." Mk 15:2, NAB

In our home, this is represented by a small shrimp cocktail, surrounded by homemade tortilla chips.  So important has this become to our special meal that anytime we have a dinner celebration connected to the Liturgical Year, Junie B. & Taz insist that this same crown be included!  (Works for me!)

Out of Envy:  Mark 15:6-15.  Key verse:  "He was aware, of course, that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over." Mk 15:10, NAB

Green being the color of envy, we use a few fresh green beans, steamed and served with a little bit of ranch dressing for a dip. (below, right)

Purple Cloak:  Mark 15:16-17a.  Key verse:  "They dressed him in royal purple[.]"  Mk 15:17a, NAB

The bowl of water, which is actually spiked with a little vingar for our purposes, recalls Pilate's washing his hands of responsibility for Jesus' death.  The red and blue food coloring are given to the children to squirt into the bowl, making the water a deep, royal purple.  At this time, we also place hard-boiled eggs in the colored water; see Golgotha, below.

Crown of Thorns:  Mark 15:17b-20.  Key verse:  "...then wove a crown of thorns and put it on him[.]" Mk 15:17b, NAB

A Ritz cracker, spread around the edges with peanut butter, then dipped in rice krispies, does the trick (see photo below "Out of Envy," lower left).

Golgotha:  Mark 15:21-23.  Key verse:  "[T]hey brought Jesus to the site of Golgotha (which means, 'Skull Place')[.]" Mk 15:22a, NAB

Alice's idea was to draw a skull & crossbones on hard-boiled eggs, which is also a hit at our house.  We go a step farther, drawing the image in white crayon or hot glue.  The eggs are placed in the purple water & vinegar solution, and soaked from that time until now; when they are pulled from the dye bath, they (if all goes well!) look something like this:

Seamless Garment:  Mark 15:24-27.  Key verse (taken from the gospel of John, where the fact the garment is seamless is mentioned):  Jn 19:23-24, "After the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and divided them four ways, one for each soldier.  There was also his tunic, but this tunic was woven in one piece from top to bottom and had no seam.  They said to each other, 'We should not tear it.  Let us throw dice to see who gets it.'" Jn 19:23-24, NAB

We used a gingerbread girl cutter to make cloak shapes out of plain flour tortillas (the same ones used to make the chips from the first reading.)  These were served with cheddar cheese cube "dice." (below, right)

Two Robbers:  Mark 15:27-32.  Key verse:  "With him they crucified two insurgents, one at his right and one at his left."  Mk 15:27, NAB

As Alice notes in her rendition of this tea, basil is traditionally associated with the crucifixion:  According to legend, basil grew up at the foot of the cross.  This is the one dish we've not really done exactly the same way each time.  The first two years, we sprinkled dried basil over a dish of vinegar, then, after the next reading, dipped a piece of bread into the mixture and tasted it.  Last time, for the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, we had a beautiful loaf of Onion-Basil Foccacia, and a glaze made of honey & balsamic vinegar (but that was a feast, not a day of fast!)  This time, I halved small-sized refrigerator biscuits, flattened them out, and rolled up a single leaf of fresh basil into each of five of them. Then they were pinched closed, shaped smartly into little balls, and baked; these were served alongside a small dish of plain white vinegar, and dipped into it before eating.  Even dipped in the vinegar, they were pretty tasty. Using balsamic vinegar could actually make them into quite a treat!  (above, left)

Vinegar to Drink:  Mark 15:33-37.  Key verse:  "Someone ran off, and soaking a sponge in sour wine, stuck it on a reed to try to make him drink.  The man said, 'Now let's see whether Elijah comes to take him down.'"  Mk 15:36, NAB

See above.  As we tasted the vinegar, the children were asked to think about what it might be like to be in so much pain as Jesus was, and thirsty besides -- and then be offered only vinegar to drink.

The Roman Centurion:  Mark 15:38-39.  Key verse: "The Centurion who stood guard over him, on seeing the manner of his death, declared, 'Clearly this man was the Son of God!'"  Mk 15:39, NAB

Black seedless grapes are a rare treat in our home, especially this time of year, so the children eagerly look forward to this part of the meal!  Since there are usually 5 of us participating in this dinner, everyone counts out 20 grapes; then we count by 20s to reach a full 100 (you'd be surprised how many grapes there are in a pound, even when they are large grapes like these!)  Of course, we do this to make the connection of the number 100 to the Centurion, who would have been responsible for 100 soldiers.  Twenty plump black grapes is actually a lot to eat, especially at this point in the meal; but just in case, we remind everyone to save at least one grape for the next Scripture reading.

Laid in the Tomb:  Mark 15:40-47.  Key verse:  "Then, having brought a linen shroud, Joseph took him down, wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of rock.  Finally, he rolled a stone across the entrance of the tomb."  Mk 15:46, NAB

The remaining biscuit dough rounds, from the Two Robbers section above, had all been halved, rolled into balls, and placed in lightly-sprayed mini muffin tins.  They only take about 7-9 minutes to bake, at 375 degrees.  Everyone pulls the top of the biscuit off and presses a grape into it (you can hollow it out first, as well), then replaces the top; this represents Jesus being laid in the tomb.  And it's a surprisingly tasty combination, too!

At this point, everyone is usually pretty full, but just in case, the extra biscuits, grapes and maybe some peanut butter or cheese cubes are available to complete the meal as needed.  With the paper plates & cups, cleanup is a snap, and the meal is done!

As I have noted before, this is my children's favorite, most talked-about meal, all year, and they greatly look forward to it.  It is a lovely and memorable way to commemorate Jesus' passion, and set a solemn tone appropriate to the day; yet it is enjoyable and "special" enough to carry everyone through to the Easter Vigil (after all, we know how this story ends!) :)

If you haven't given Alice's Liturgical Teas a try, I'd encourage you to head over to her site and peek at the many teas she's developed to go along with the Liturgical Year.  It's a wonderful and simple way to enhance your family's experience of important events and feast days all year long!  Who knows -- maybe you'll even be inspired to create one of your own.

Getting Ready for the Easter Vigil

All year, one of the ways I help my children prepare for Sunday Mass is to teach them the sung Psalm Response for that week.  (Our musician sings exactly what's in the book, so that makes my job easy! It's also a fun exercise for me in sight singing, and Junie B. practices identifying time signatures and clapping out note rhythms as part of her music lessons. She also copies the Psalm Response and posts it on the kitchen door so we can see it during meals.)  Whenever there is a reading that lends itself easily to it, we also may act out or do a flannel board story about it -- with the hope that the familiarity will increase the likelihood that they will pay attention a bit during Mass itself.

Of course, the Easter Vigil, with its gazillion readings and psalm responses, stretches us to the limit in this department!  I wish I had started at the beginning of Lent, perhaps focusing on a reading and  psalm response each week rather than cramming it all in during Holy Week (oh, well!  Next year!), but this week we're doing 0ur best to at least make the stories and psalm responses fresh and familiar ahead of time.

Junie B. and Taz actually love and are looking forward to the Easter Vigil, long and late as it is.  We've had to search far and wide to find a parish that actually "does it right" with all the majesty and music and emphasis on going from darkness to light, that together make the Easter Vigil the most awe-inspiring and beautiful liturgy of the entire Church year; and last year we actually found one!  (I'd been telling Step 1 & Step 2 since we first met about how beautiful the Easter Vigil liturgy can be, and last year they finally said, "Now I get it!")

(Of course, the little ones also love that we'll be stopping at Tim Horton's after Mass for a late-night snack of doughnuts and hot chocolate, ending their 6-week wilderness experience of life without sugar!) (And I'll be very excited to have a cuppa joe, extra-large, heavy on the cream, myself -- I don't even care if it keeps me awake all night!) :)

If I were as wonderful as Alice at Cottage Blessings (and no matter how hard I try, I have resigned myself to the reality that I will never be  :) ), I'd have  followed her beautiful path for preparing the children for the Easter Vigil that she completed with her older girls a few years back.  Especially memorable to me is the beauty of the children taking home the Easter Flame!  That Alice.  (Actually, I hope to do this at least with Junie B. next year, and maybe a simpler, but equally gentle, version of it with the little boys as well.)

Meanwhile, here's a peek at some of what we're doing this week to prepare for the Easter Vigil.

• Sung responses:  Instead of singing the Psalm Response at the end of grace before meals every day (as is our usual practice), we're singing, "Christ our light:  Thanks Be to God!"  Then, at the beginning of prayer and story times, we're singing "The Lord Be With You/Lift up your hearts" sequence in the Exsultet (I intone, they respond).  It's actually kinda fun!  (And it's very exciting for me to hear my children's little voices raised high during Mass itself!)  To make this little practice even easier, I've found an online recording of the Exsultet.  It's such a beautiful, almost mesmerizing chant.

• Psalm Responses:  Oh, there are so many to learn!  We're just taking the opportunity to generally familiarize ourselves with each of the Psalm Responses by praying one or two of them each day from start to finish.  Again, I wish I'd had the foresight to start earlier; but at least they won't be completely new when they hear them at Mass on Saturday night.

• Readings:  There are three OT readings that lend themselves to easy preparation:  The story of Creation, Abraham & Isaac, and the Parting of the Red Sea.  We are focusing on these three stories using the flannel board, paper bag puppet & figurine reenactments and role play (this is so much fun!  I don't think they'll ever forget last week's role play of  Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, starring Junie B. as the donkey, Taz as Jesus and SB and I laying blankets and throws along their path while we all sang our parish's version of "Holy, Holy, Holy!").  We'll also focus on the NT story of the women finding the empty tomb, and completing a few coloring pages and crafts, as well.  It doesn't have to be complicated to be memorable!

• Of course, we'll also be discussing the order of the service, with emphasis on the lighting of the Easter Flame and its gorgeous symbolism as that flame is passed like wildfire from person to person throughout the Church!  The triumphant ringing of the bells during the Gloria is inspiring and wonderful, too.  And it's also such a blessing to see RCIA candidates entering the Church at the Easter Vigil -- their presence always give me hope for the future of our Church, and it's something I am only too happy for our children to see.  The parish we'll be going to on Saturday night will surely have candidates; our parish almost never does.  (We really don't have to discuss too much more of the Liturgy than that; by this time it'll be close to 10:00, and certainly the boys, at least, will be drifting off to sleep!)

Imperfect though it may be, I'm confident that this bit of preparation will help Junie B. and Taz be joyful participants in this lovely Liturgy on Saturday.  It is an experience we are profoundly happy to share with them!