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Angela F
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| Posted: March 14 2005 at 5:28pm | IP Logged
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Hi all,
New to posting here...And I hope I'm not jumping the gun, but trying to think ahead...The Easter season is a long one too. How do you keep your focus on Easter until Pentecost?
We do pretty well for several weeks - "Happy Easter" greetings each morning, lots of singing our favorite Easter songs, and more, but I'd like to hear from you all some other ideas.
Thanks!
God bless,
Angela
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Mom to 7 blessings - welcome to Hanna Clare 1/19/10
"‘Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little’ duties of each moment."
St. Josemaria Escriva
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 14 2005 at 8:47pm | IP Logged
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Ugh, my computer ate my first reply.
First of all, during the Octave of Easter, the Church considers every day another Easter, so I would go to Mass each day. Liturgy of Easter Sunday and the Octave of Eastershows the additions in the Mass that you should see throughout the Octave.
Key in on the five senses: visual aids, like decorations and books, music for the ears, Easter projects for the hands and Easter foods and drink for the tastebuds and nose!
Sight: Keep visual reminders around. Don't put away the Easter decorations until Pentecost! Have religious pictures of the Resurrection present, study different masterpieces of different stories of the Resurrection. Present different books (see under "Picture Book Discoveries: Holy Week and Easter Books" for some good ideas) throughout the season. The books fit under sight and sound, of course.
Touch: Don't do all the Easter crafts before Easter. In another thread (Easter Egg Traditions) Janette mentioned that she planned on teaching her sons about Ukrainian eggs after Easter. I find myself decorating or doing projects after the actual feast day because I'm in the Easter (or Christmas) mood, but not in the rush mode. There's so much preparation and busyness that goes on before the feast day, that doing projects after the feast is calmer and more productive, not hastily done, or incomplete!
Sound: The music, as background or foreground, like you mentioned is also key. Such beautiful Easter hymns, Gregorian Chant, etc. are in the treasures of the Church.
A Polish and Slavic custom is to greet each other with the Easter greeting:
V. Christ is risen, Alleluia!
R. He is risen indeed, Alleluia
Of course, this is just a rough translation, as the original is in their native tongue. But it keeps the Easter focus in mind.
For the Octave of Easter, the greeting and response should be from the Alleluia verse:
V. This is the day the Lord has made, Alleluia!
R. Let us rejoice and be glad, Alleluia!
Taste and Smell: And I find foods and drink to be inseparable. There are so many different recipes, especially Easter breads and desserts from a variety of countries that you could test and taste. www.catholicculture.org has quite a variety, for starters. Try a recipe a week, for the Sunday meal.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 14 2005 at 11:26pm | IP Logged
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I forgot to mention these ideas, which should have been first on my list: use your Bible and daily readings from the Mass. If you can go to extra daily Masses, even better. But every few days or each week present and discuss the different Resurrection accounts: the women meeting the angel at the tomb; Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus in the garden; John and Peter rushing to the tomb; Jesus appearing to the Apostles in the Upper Room, both with and without Thomas; Jesus on the shore and the fishermen; and of course, Emmaus.
Emmaus should be a special focus in this Year of the Eucharist. The Pope puts a special emphasis on the story of Emmaus, even naming his Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscus, Domine (Stay with us, Lord).
During the entire Easter season we read from the Acts of the Apostles for the first reading. It strikes me that the way the Apostles and disciples of Jesus act is pure Easter joy...something we should emulate.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 15 2005 at 9:53am | IP Logged
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I'll continue my monologue...  I have some more ideas:
I bought this great sticker "calendar" The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the 50 Days of Easter by Peter Mazar and illustrated by Tomie de Paola.
Another little book that has some good ideas is Before and After Easter: Activities and Ideas for Lent to Pentecost by Debbie Trafton O'Neal.
As we were talking about Easter hymns, I realized my collection of Easter music cds is woefully inadequate. I'd love to hear some suggestions for good recordings of Easter music.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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amiefriedl
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Not that this is a big deal, but I'm actually very excited about surprising my kids...
We have a new one-woman bakery in town and I asked the lady if she could make small a two-tiered cake with Christian Easter symbols and flowers on it for Easter Sunday. I can hardly wait to unviel it to my little ones on Easter! (And the really amazing part is she is only charging me $15!)
We usually bake our own cakes at home and have lots of fun doing it, but I know my kids are going to squeal with delight when they see this one. After we eat it I think we'll have lots of pictures drawn and painted of the cake and it will be fun having them decorate their 'cakes' with Easter symbols.
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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JennGM
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amiefriedl wrote:
| We have a new one-woman bakery in town and I asked the lady if she could make small a two-tiered cake with Christian Easter symbols and flowers on it for Easter Sunday. ....We usually bake our own cakes at home and have lots of fun doing it, but I know my kids are going to squeal with delight when they see this one. |
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 So where's the emoticon for squeals of delight??? There are some coming from me just thinking about how wonderful this would be. I would LOVE to pay someone $15..or $50 to do some Easter baking for me. We have allergy issues (and Mommy too stressed and tired besides) that I don't like playing around with wheat, eggs or milk around my son, so my husband gets left out. I wonder....
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Jennifer G. Miller
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cathhomeschool
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Great ideas, Jenn!
The only thing I can add is that I'm going to decorate the house with eggs -- an egg tree as the centerpiece on our dining room table, egg window clings, egg "picks" (sp?) in our small table top plants, etc. This will go along with our Ukrainian Egg theme (even though the eggs aren't all Ukrainian looking) and will remind us of Christ's Resurrection and our opportunity for rebirth too.
Decorating with Easter Lilies is another idea that we might try this year if they aren't too expensive.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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JennGM
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cathhomeschool wrote:
The only thing I can add is that I'm going to decorate the house with eggs
....Decorating with Easter Lilies is another idea... |
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Never can be enough eggs! I put a basket in the middle of my table full of my Ukrainian and faux Ukrainian eggs. I also have White House eggs, ceramic eggs, and now some wooden eggs I painted. Then there's the plastic eggs for ds...
I have two tablecloths in a pale pink...not exactly liturgical Easter, but they are my Easter cloths because they look "Eastery" to me, but I also have some gorgeous white linens that were family pieces from dh side that I love to use. I have some nice kitchen towels that had Easter eggs as decoration, that I bought on a whim last year.
But the flowers...that is key. The scents from hyacinths and tulips and lilies are just EASTER! I should have emphasized that in a "Smell" section. Is it kosher to edit an existing post?  I have my little 17 month son trying to say daffodil, hyacinth, tulip, lily...it's so cute. I use the My First Easter by Tomie DePaola and then some flower and garden catalogs to show him the flowers. He's so proud of himself saying these big words!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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teachingmom
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When I first met my husband, he was a member of a Melkite Greek Catholic church. Although we both practice in the Latin rite now, we have continued an Eastern rite practice related to the Easter season. For the weeks following Easter, we all continue to greet one another with "Christ is risen!" And the response given each time is "Indeed, He is risen!"
There is also a traditional song/chant that we sing after our evening prayers. We repeat it again and again, getting louder each time. The kids really enjoy it. A google search might yield the tune. Here are the words:
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death
And on those in the graves
Bestowing life!
After the final round, dh shouts "Christ is risen!" And we all respond as above with "Indeed, He is risen!"
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: March 16 2005 at 8:04am | IP Logged
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Irene, what a wonderful tradition! Is this the correct tune?
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Angela F
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| Posted: March 17 2005 at 3:10pm | IP Logged
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Thanks all for the wonderful thoughts and ideas! I think I'm going to get that calendar. And I've always wished I could smell the Easter Lily smell longer than just at church...Maybe I'll buy one for home!
Another thing we do that I forgot to mention is that we switch to the Regine Coeli at noon instead of the Angelus for the Easter Season. Helps remind us in the middle of the day what season it is..
Thanks again for all the food for thought!
God bless,
Angela
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Mom to 7 blessings - welcome to Hanna Clare 1/19/10
"‘Great’ holiness consists in carrying out the ‘little’ duties of each moment."
St. Josemaria Escriva
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teachingmom
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| Posted: March 17 2005 at 3:37pm | IP Logged
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cathhomeschool wrote:
| Irene, what a wonderful tradition! Is this the correct tune? |
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Hi Janette,
No, I'm afraid that's not it. But your question led me on a prolonged search late last night. I kind of get obsessive with Google . . . "The answer must be out there . . . I'll just check the next page or two of Google results . . . Now I'll just refine my search words . . ." You get the picture. Before I know it, an hour has gone by and I still don't have my answer! What I did learn, however, is that there are many different ways to sing the different Eastern liturgical chants. After my online search, I checked a CD we have of chant and found yet another version of the Easter "Christ is Risen" chant. Oh well.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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cathhomeschool
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Well, though I'd love to personally hear your version, it's comforting at least to know that there are several versions, and "some" version is better than none!
I know what you mean about getting obsessive with searches...I'm definitely like that. I'm very sorry I inadvertently dragged you into it, but thanks for searching! 
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Living the Easter Season
