The Rhythm of Prayer

When I first starting reconsidering Rhythm and Beauty, I began to make notes about how I wanted to incorporate the rhythm of the Lord into every moment of our day. It seemed at once overwhelming and simple to infuse our days with God's rhythm. After all, our God is a God of order and our Church has its own daily rhythm. But, I am not a monk and often my monastery bells are of the childish variety.This post is nearly six months in the writing.
    The Church's rhythm is the Liturgy of the Hours. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that , "The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole people of God." Even mothers with houses full of little children:-). John Paul II had great faith in the ability of the laity to prayer the Divine Office. He used his Wednesday audience to teach on the Psalms and he began his teaching with these words:

In the Apolostolic Letter Novo Millenio Ieunte, I expressed the hope the the Church would become more and more distinguished in the "art of Prayer" learning it ever anew from the lips of the divine master. This effort must be expressed above all in the liturgy, the source and summit of ecclesial life. Consequently, it is important to devote greater pastoral care to promoting the Liturgy of the Hours as a prayer of the whole people of God...If, in fact, priests have a precise mandate to celebrate it, it is also warmly recommended to lay people.

If John Paul II warmly recommended it, that works for me. There was no caveat against mothers praying the Hours or no warning that it is not intended for households with children under three. Just a warm recommendation. Like pretty much everything else worthwhile in a homeschooling mom's life, this endeavor required organization. It took a good deal of time to learn about how the Divine Office is prayed and for what all those different ribbons were sewn into Christian Prayer. The Unversalis site is an excellent source. If you don't mind sitting in front of your computer, you can almost pray the entire office from the site. It's a good way to become familiar with the different components as I fumble with all those ribbons.I've linked the site at the top of the righthand sidebar.  I learned that the Office is flexible enough to work in my household, provided that I'm disciplined enough to make it happen.
     Morning Prayer is meant to be said first thing in the morning. First, I pray the Invitatory Psalm (the Church's introduction to her gifts for the day).After that, Lauds consists of a hymn, two psalms , an Old Testament canticle, a short reading, and prayers of intercession. These prayers are ideally followed by Mass. Morning Prayer is fairly simple for me to pray on a regular basis. I am a morning person and this is what I do first thing. Ideally, I follow my morning prayer with the Office of Readings. This is the flexible part. It can be said at any time of day at all. Usually, I fix Nicholas a cup of tea and set him up with the sports page after Morning Prayer. Then, I can do the Office of Readings. If Kari awakens, she'll nurse while I pray. Anyone else can wait for me. This is my time to truly immerse myself in the Word and to listen to God. It's a good time to take notes and make resolutions. It's also a time to consult Divine Intimacy, for Carmelite inspiration. If, for some reason (and I can think of eight or nine), I am interrupted, I can move the Office of Readings to naptime. If worse comes to worst, I can take it with me and go early to pick up at ballet or soccer and pray it in the car while I wait.
    The Office of Readings contains much food for thought and prayer. There is a sizable Scripture reading, followed by a second reading, taken from the early Church or old homilies or from the writings or biographies of the saints. Truly, our faith is so beautifully revealed in the Office of Readings that I'm astounded that it's such a well-kept secret! This is the good stuff--the stuff that will sustain us and make us holy. This is the Word of God and the living faith of His people. It's all here. And it's so organized. Perfect, perfect rhythm (and those who know me, know I never, ever say "perfect").
    I do like to pick out the collect for the day and a brief biography of the saint to share with the children before we begin lessons.Usually, I find these at Catholic Culture.We also pray a decade of the rosary and a morning offering and consecration prayer. I love the Patmos rosary book for the joyful mysteries and I do hope that there are more coming soon. The daytime prayers--Terce, Sext, and None--are to be said separately at about nine, noon and three or I can choose to say one single daytime prayer, depending on the time it's said. Usually, it's simple enough to say this one with the children at noon, before lunch.
    Vespers is tricky. Frankly, my life is pretty crazy and entirely lacking in rhythm at this hour of day. Every day is different and it even differs from day to day and week to week. I'm told that this hour is supposed to take me from the bustle of the day to the calm of the evening. I find that I need to put it off until I'm nursing the baby to sleep.And, truthfully, this is where I start to fade. So it takes real effort for me to focus and stay awake during Vespers.
    The Compline is the Church's night prayers.These are fairly easy to say in community--my community is my family. The Compline can be combined with Vespers and as my children get older, I'd like to see that happen. For now, I use The Night Prayerbook with the children and we say the Compline together.This is also our time for any seasonal novena.The exception is Sunday Vespers. Patmos has done a beautiful job of making Sunday Vespers accessible for family prayer and so,we get to that as often as possible.I've found it helps to light a candle and make it quiet, holy and apart from the rushabout routine. I'm slowly working on ideas for special candles. We have very much enjoyed using my "JOY" luminaria since Gaudete Sunday. So I'm brainstorming for what to light during ordinary time.It also helps to pray at the same time every night, as much as possible.
    I fall asleep saying the rosary. If I don't finish (and I often don't), I ask my guardian angel to finish for me. I am also a huge, huge fan of a rosary CD in the car and the iPod so that I can hear the rosary while driving or while pushing a stroller around the block. I sneak a decade in when nursing or washing dishes. I'm still pretty much addicted to the rosary.
    This sounds like so much!And it is. But it's not. It's one of those things that, once you do it, you wonder how you ever functioned without it. Truthfully, tell me, if someone told you fifteen years ago that you'd be spending the time you do sitting in front of a computer screen, wouldn't you have been amazed? How would you find that kind of time? But you made that time, didn't you? And in many ways you are a better person for the things you've discovered during that time. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours comes with no caveats. The time you found for the computer has been good time and it's been wasted time. Really.
The time you spend with God? It's all good.

A Day of Grace

On Holy Days, Mike works for EWTN, directing the televised Mass from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Our family makes the pilgrimage to the Shrine early, well before Mass, because Mike needs the pre-production time to work. This leaves us hours to wander in the most beautiful church I know. I am so grateful that these regular pilgrimages are a part of our family culture and that my children have an intimate relationship with both the place and the people of Mary's Shrine.
    Yesterday, it was very, very crowded. There were over 3.000 Haitians there to advance the cause for sainthood of Mother Mary Lange. They made for a very festive atmosphere. It was also a bit more overwhelming than usual.
    We began with confession. The confessional is located right next to the Crypt Church on the lower level. There was a Mass being celebrated while we waited. My children love to go to confession at the Basilica--the confessionals themselves are "cool" but it's the priests who really win their hearts. We were there a long time, as the priests gave each of us extended time and attention. We traded off with Karoline, who found herself in the Basilica for the first time since learning to walk and was determined to show us all the places she wanted to go!
    After confession, we went down to the bookstore and giftshop. Since the medals I had intended for the boys for St. Nicholas Day never arrived, I was eager to see if I could purchase them there. And I could! I also found a couple of Christmas gifts and thoroughly enjoyed poking through the display of Advent reading. The Advent devotional I had ordered for myself (which didn't arrive when the medals didn't arrive) was there as well. All the frustrations of the bad day were rapidly dissolving in the good one.
    We went to the Great Upper Church and stopped at each little chapel to pray. The children chose one chapel in which to light their vigil candles.And Katie found her way to her favorite chapel where she threw pennies in the water and made new friends with other children.
    Finally, it was time for Mass. As soon as the first strains of music began, Karoline started to scream. Honestly, I think she thought she was singing. But it was so high-pitched and so distinctive that the benevolant man running the television production, who was outside in the TV truck, winced when it hit his headset. And then, he turned to his colleagues and said, "I'm pretty sure that's my child." Thankfully, I had positioned us right by a stairway. I left the children and spirited Karoline back down to the lower church. I had plans to sit in front of the statue of St. Joseph and beg on behalf of a friend was moving yesterday and one who would dearly love to move very soon.  But those prayers were said while in pursuit of a toddler who would have nothing of sitting anywhere.
    In the center of the lower church, just next to the large crowd of  disciples of Mother Mary Lange, was a very  impressive exhibit of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century (note: the link says that there's an entrance fee; there is not). It took me a minute or two to absorb what this display was and then, honestly, I giggled. I drew the attention of an Easter Orthodox priest who looked up from a relic of St. John Maximovich and smiled at me. I pointed out to him that we were standing in front of a beautiful display of relics of saints of the Orthodox church which were being displayed in a Catholic shrine named for the Immaculate Conception and that the Immaculate Conception was a bit of a point of difference between the two churches. I asked how that display came to find itself there. He told me that the Basilica was the only place in DC that was large enough and open and friendly towards the display.We had a nice chat while I stood swaying Karoline. As soon as she was asleep,I took a few minutes in front of St. John Maximovich's hat to pray particularly for a family dear to that saint and then I crept back up to the church to join my children.
    After Mass, I had hoped the Upper Church would clear out as it usually does. I had visions of having the Miraculous Medal Chapel to ourselves for a few moments. That was not to be. The mass for Mother Mary Lange was scheduled next and the great crowd from downstairs stampeded upstairs. Fortunately, Mike was finished and he found us at the Blessed Sacrament chapel. We gathered the troops and went back downstairs, truly just searching for any quiet , sort of private place a this point. We found the chapel of Our Lady of Brezje. There, our family made the consecration to the Blessed Mother and we gave the children their medals. Since I'm quite sure that it was providential to be in this particular chapel (there was no place else to go), I plan to learn a little more about Our Lady of Brezje this week. I do know that these words, quoted on the righthand wall, will provide much food for meditation: This is all I desire: to be where God wants me to be.
    We left the Shrine and went to Chinatown for lunch. Mike's office is in the nearby neighborhood and he took us to a restaurant he knew well. He ordered an amazing feast and the children ate very, very well. Karoline charmed all the dear Chinese ladies and they kept bringing her little treats to eat. This provided just the diversion to allow us to catch up with Michael a bit.
    After Chinatown, we wandered over to the National Christmas Tree. This momentous occasion marked the first time Karoline rode in what we now affectionately call "The New AAA Stroller," named for the trash company and not the automotive company, though both visited on that fateful day.  We watched the trains and visited the nativity and saw each of the individual state trees. Mike and I ran into a friend from high school and caught up a bit. Patrick and Mary Beth are sure they saw Mr. Mitchell there but by the time they were able to interrupt me and see if they could go talk to him, they couldn't find him. Since I know he was in town this weekend,  I guess it's possible that is indeed who they saw.It's a very small world.  We stayed at the tree as the sun was setting and waited until it was lit. We walked past the White House and the children discussed what it would be like to play soccer on that lawn. Then we piled back into the van, picked up the other car, and took Michael back to school.
    After leaving Michael, Mike surprised us with a stop at Dairy Queen. I am a huge fan of peppermint ice cream. I pretty much save all my ice cream eating for those few weeks of the year when there is peppermint ice cream to be had. And I am here to tell you that last night I learned that a Peppermint Chip Blizzard at Dairy Queen is the most amazing peppermint ice cream on the planet. I promise.
    We arrived home just in time to plop in front of the television and learn that a homeschooler won the Heismann Trophy. We said our evening prayers, revealed the wee Babe in the candle, and went to bed. I told Mike it was one of the best days I can remember. To ice the cake, Karoline slept through the night for the first time ever. Takes a lot out of a baby to go on a pilgrimage:-)

On the Big Feast of the Little Flower

I had so many plans for this day that I was up before dawn to begin to prepare. I was most excited about these  very small picture frames (intended to be placecard holders) I found at a bridal store. They are trimmed with tiny roses. They weren't expensive at all, so I got one for each child. I've been going through my St. Therese quote book and choosing a quote for each of my children. I wanted today to feel like a holiday.  I  planned special food and I even had  a special candle I'd saved for this day. Honestly, though, I woke up exhausted.  I couldn't find the candle. I asked Katie (whose "real" name is Kirsten Therese) what she wanted for dinner and she told me pizza and buffalo wings. Since it's her name day, she's picks. Blech.  I made sugared roses. They browned and withered. I made molded candy roses. They looked weird. I despaired a bit about the cake. How to make it a rose cake without roses? Christian suggested we use the daisy cake pan. That works. Therese once wrote, "In the world of souls, the living garden of the Lord, it pleases Him to create great Saints, who may be compared to the lilies or the rose; but He also created little ones, who must be content to be daisies or violets." I rather like daisies; they're hardy and cheerful. I found the candle. Pizza and wings made perfect sense since it's a Monday Night Football night.

I love this saint. I don't always understand her, but I love her very much. And I am devoted to her. Whenever I start to feel as if my faith is floundering or my joy is in jeopardy, I look to her. And she always, always brings me to God. I began a novena nine days ago for intentions I hold close in my heart. The dear Little Flower brought those intentions to our Lord on my behalf. I know this because I've seen God's answers to some of those requests already. And I know this because of the rose. When the child named for Therese of the Child Jesus goes out to the garden and picks a perfect
Our Lady of Guadalupe rose for me just as I was wondering about the center of the cake, I am sure I've received a message of love.

I'm off to watch until halftime and then to pray the rosary with St. Therese. Many blessings to you on this beautiful feast!

St. Michael Defend Us in Battle

Here's one for today.

Preparing to Celebrate the Feasts of the Fall

If I am lucky, I can be outdoors on a rare late summermorning and I can feel just a little hint of autumn in the air. And it will make me smile. I’m not doing the jig the lady did the other day in the supermarket when she was asked how excited she was to send her children back to school. My children don’t go to school. But I am thrilled to be settling at last into the rhythm of the autumn.

 These are days that are filled with light and warmth. As the academic year gets underway, we return to our early morning rising and our comfortable routines. We get in an after breakfast walk and notice the change of seasons around us. We settle into our new stories and projects. We begin a new handcraft. The summer menu plan is replaced by an autumn one and we greet once again the sweet potato crop and the fall apples at our co-op.

 The Church is practically a perpetual feast in the early autumn. We go from one great saint to another, celebrating who they were and who they are in our lives. This year, right after school begins, our afternoon tea celebration will include Indian sweetbread and spiced chai tea. We will read and talk about Blessed Teresa of Calcutta on her feast September 5^th. On September 8^th, we will have cupcakes with blue sprinkles to celebrate the Blessed Mother’s birthday.

 The following week, we’ll celebrate the Triumph of the Cross on September 14^th with a cross shaped cake at tea time and a simple stained glass cross craft. Then, we kick it into high gear and celebrate nearly every day (or at least it seems like it to me).

 My second son is named for St. Matthew. Gold chocolate coins are sure to figure into our celebration on September 21st .

St. Michael and the archangels are celebrated on September 29^th, which happens to be my son Michael’s birthday. Devil’s Food cake served with tiny cocktail swords and cinnamon hot chocolate are standard St. Michael’s fare at our house.

 Katie’s birthday is September 30^th, the feast of St. Jerome. We’ll read St. Jerome and the Lion by Margaret Hodges and make a crafty lion. Birthday cake will dominate the tea menu. After Katie’s birthday, it’s her feast day because her “real” name is Kirsten Therese.

 St. Therese is a patron of our family and I am careful to plan ahead so that her day does not get lost amidst the “birthday week” we celebrate here. Michael is Katie's godfather and he always brings her sweetheart roses ("little flowers"). We bake a white cake and decorate it with edible sugared roses. We serve some sort of herbal tea with rose hips. We pray the rose novena. This year, my Our Lady of Guadalupe roses have been amazing. I've been drying them to make sachets on October 1 and I’ve got some small ones to sugar and freeze for the cake.

On the evening of this feast, I'm halfway through birthday week.  And I am so looking forward to a long soak in the tub with this soap and this lotion and this candle (St. Therese Scent). These were gifts from a very kind person who might have heard my six-year-old mention (sort of loudly) that Saintly Soaps were the raffle prize I wanted most at the conference. Oh my! These are truly heavenly. Honestly, I'm not much on cake and sweets, but I have a weakness for nice soap and this might just be the nicest soap I've ever used--worthy of a feast day of my favorite saint of all. If St. Therese has a smell, this is it. When i use it to wash my baby's hair, every time I kiss her sweet head, it reminds me why we named her Karoline Rose.

 
Honestly, by October 2, we’re beginning to tire of cake. But cake again it is, because Patrick was born on the Feast of the Guardian angels. We have angel food cake, topped with chocolate mousse because Paddy loves chocolate mousse. I think we’ll try our hand at making wool fleece angels that day and hang them over the children's beds.

Finally, the end of birthday week brings a new twist to our family celebrations. Last year, the Feast of St. Francis on October 4^th took on a new significance. Karoline was born that day. We are going to celebrate with an animal themed birthday (thanks to Matilda for the idea). Kara loves dogs, so the children have decided she’ll have a cake decorated with a dog theme. They are excited about painting faces with animal characters. Nicholas was a bit skeptical as we brainstormed, though. He’s wary of St. Francis. “No one will have to get naked on the town green, right?” he asked, looking for assurance. Nope. Not this year.

 I’m planning and putting aside provision for the feasts and, honestly, I’m tired just thinking about it. But the celebration of birthdays, intertwined with name days and feast days is a part of our family culture. This is not back-to-school time, it’s party-hearty time. And in the process, we learn a little more each year about the saints and angels, we try a few new crafts, and we eat way too much cake.

 It's not usually so busy around here, but I have grown to love the way that the feasts of the Church are intertwined with the feasts of our family. After busy birthday brouhahas, we'll settle again into a quiet rhythm of one teatime a week set aside for liturgical celebrations. As you think about how the autumn will look in your domestic church, remember the planning conversation continues here and here. These ladies are full of good ideas!