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KatieMae
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| Posted: Oct 22 2010 at 3:30pm | IP Logged
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I think this is going to be my favorite part of this forum b/c I have no idea where to begin wrt doing liturgical things in our home. I'm a convert (from a Protestant faith, nine years ago) and my husband's family, while all Catholic, has very little religiosity and few traditions in their homes. We want to do better for our children, but this is an area where I have so little personal experience or knowledge.
I've often seen books about the lives of the saints that I'd like to have, but then... what do I do with it? Just read a story to them? Always pair it with a craft? Talk about any random saint, or the one whose Feast Day it is? Read the daily scriptures, or progressively go through Bible stories? We have such a benefit in the structure & tradition of the church, but it's also a little intimidating when deciding how to use that to my advantage with teaching them.
As it is now, I usually freeze and do nothing on the subject  My two oldest (7yo & 6yo) have prayers to learn for Rel Ed, so we're practicing those daily, but beyond that, I'm at a loss! What is your suggestion on how to begin?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 22 2010 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
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I wish I could remember enough of the thread to do a search for it. But basically the suggestion when starting out is to follow the priorities given to different celebration in the church.. so not putting a lot of effort into the lower levels while not having things for the higher levels.
For myself, as a convert with much the same situation, I started where we did have traditions.. Christmas and Easter.. and shifted and adapted so that the traditions reflect a more Catholic view than secular. and then I stepped out from that to Advent and Lent.. so that I felt like I was building on things we already had instead of randomly trying to add things in.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Maggie
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| Posted: Oct 22 2010 at 4:51pm | IP Logged
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Jodie has great advice there.
If I were you, I would focus on All Saints Day (Nov. 1st) for starters, since it is the next major Feast Day of the Church.
From there, I would focus on Advent and Christmas and Epiphany. For us Catholics, Christmas does not end with Christmas.  Woohoo!
You will find many beautiful traditions here on the website...from Advent Calendars and Advent Story Books (this is our current favorite and tradition the last couple years) to picking one or two feast days in Advent to focus on.
What I love about the Advent Story book is that it is easy...and beautiful. Dad reads at night, and we all gather around. It is really very picturesque. Our children love it...and it is easy. Did I say that already?
Nothing has to be big and blown out. Sometimes, I will simply pair a coloring sheet with a story for a Feast Day...or even read a story from online if a book is not on hand.
If you can only do All Saints and Christmas/Epiphany--and do them well--you would have accomplished much in the areas of catechesis and tradition.
Enjoy enjoy enjoy! This is such a beautiful time of year.
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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Erin
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KatieMae wrote:
I've often seen books about the lives of the saints that I'd like to have, but then... what do I do with it? Just read a story to them? Always pair it with a craft? Talk about any random saint, or the one whose Feast Day it is? Read the daily scriptures, or progressively go through Bible stories? We have such a benefit in the structure & tradition of the church, but it's also a little intimidating when deciding how to use that to my advantage with teaching them.
..... My two oldest (7yo & 6yo) have prayers to learn for Rel Ed, so we're practicing those daily, but beyond that, I'm at a loss! What is your suggestion on how to begin? |
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Katie,
It is so hard, we want the best but where to start. 
You've started with prayers, that is a great place to start  Gather the children together of a morning and pray, a few prayers to start with, add more if/when you are ready. We add a hymn to this prayer time. When you are in a comfortable rhythm you could read the Saint of the Day. That can be it! Certainly do not add a craft each time, my you would burn out! Alternatively at times we read the readings of the day, I tried to do both saint reading and Mass readings but I just couldn't manage.
In our Faith times we alternate different terms(10 weeks) as to our focus, the last two terms we read our way through a children's Bible set, this term we are focusing on saint stories, we read a chapter a day for Faith, it is amazing how much we cover over time.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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Mimip
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| Posted: Oct 23 2010 at 10:30am | IP Logged
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I just wanted to add that your kids might like all the coloring pages for the saints that are out there.
Sorry I don't have time to link but search for "coloring pages" in this forum and you'll find a bunch.
Good Luck!
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In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Grateful in VA
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| Posted: Oct 23 2010 at 11:50am | IP Logged
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Katie,
It sounds like you and I are in pretty similar boats. I came back to the church after being away for about 20 years. I think my family was pretty similar to your husbands. I'm learning a lot while trying to teach my kiddo's.
I recently bought Loyola Kids Book of Saints and Book of Heroes in preparation for All Saints Day. Both are written by Amy Welborn. My oldest (ages 7 and 5) have enjoyed learning about the Saints so far. Our parish has an all Saints party so it was easy to get them interested in learning about the Saints so they could choose one to dress up as.
I just purchased my first ever Advent wreath. I am so excited to add this to our family tradtion.
I am thinking about making a Jesse tree this year too.
I look forward to following this thread for more inspiration too.
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Servant2theKing
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The beauty of our Faith is that the grace of the sacraments, along with the gifts & fruits of the Holy Spirit, can gently lead us in our spiritual growth in the Faith. Our experience has been that prayer, celebration of feasts, creating a Domestic Church, have all progressed naturally, gradually becoming the very fiber of our lives, right along with our growth in family life and homeschooling. I love that Holy Mother Church does not set forth set expectations regarding how we celebrate the Church's litugical feasts within the home...rather we are given a beautiful array of treasures from which we are blessed to choose whatever best suits our individual family! Simply praying together as a family is the greatest foundation to build upon. Through prayer and sacramental grace, trust that the Holy Spirit will slowly, and effortlessly, guide you as you guide your dear children in the Faith.
I'll probably be seen as a traitor or a complete failure by sharing this...we rarely include crafts or special feastday activities in our celebration of feasts, etc....I've tried to do such things and often felt crippled by all the extra work it involved...after many years we have arrived at the point of simply incorporating prayers, perhaps special images, into our normal prayer times (as life permits). On rare occasions we might display a statue or image for feasts, perhaps set a nicer table or prepare a nicer meal than usual (usually a dessert, since those are less common at our daily table). My point in sharing this is that celebrating the liturgical year should not be burdensome, but should progress naturally, in a way that enhances whatever we normally do to practice the Faith within our home and family. I love reading all the inspiring things others are able to do, but I have to humbly accept my own inadequacy to do such things and content myself with whatever God has guided our family toward in this regard. Be gentle in your expectations of yourself and your family.
In our own family life, we began very, very slowly and gradually, literally taking baby steps...
~first hanging a simple crucifix in our home (inspired by a good priest's homily, where he asked whether others entering our home would even recognize that we were Catholic)...
~very gradually accumulating various Catholic books; often through the generosity of others, who knew of our desire to grow in the Faith, or by way of used book sales, etc.
~going on a spiritual pilgrimage to a local shrine and praying for our homeschooling (eventually other pilgrimages followed, but I believe that very first one sowed seeds in our lives that are still bearing fruit today)...
~consecrating our family and home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (then re-dedicating our home and family to the Sacred Heart during some very difficult seasons in our family life)...
~praying the Rosary (we are still not always consistent in praying it daily as a family, but are truly blessed when we do)...
~praying together as a family (again, we sometimes find life throwing a curve into our best laid plans, but we keep trying)
~obtaining and using various sacramentals...
~very slowly filling our home with Catholic images and statues to inspire us....
Over the course of 35 years of marriage and 20 years of homeschooling God has very graciously, ever so gently, guided us toward creating a Domestic Church that is ever growing, ever changing, ever new!
May our Lord bless and guide your family on your own spiritual journey, giving you a sense of peace and confidence that you are not alone in raising your dear children in the Faith....you have our Lord and a whole host of angels and saints accompanying you along the Way! Welcome to 4Real and a much belated welcome to the Church! At only nine years as a Catholic you are far ahead of many who have been Catholic all our lives! May God richly and abundantly bless your heart's desire to grow in your experience and knowledge of the Faith!
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All for Christ, our Saviour and King, servant
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 23 2010 at 1:46pm | IP Logged
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I found this discussion from last year
There's some misunderstandings in it.. but there's so much good information I hope you can wade through it. It talks about which celebrations take priority over which and some great ideas on celebrating Sundays. Just lots of good information.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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JennGM
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KatieMae wrote:
| I think this is going to be my favorite part of this forum b/c I have no idea where to begin wrt doing liturgical things in our home. I'm a convert (from a Protestant faith, nine years ago) and my husband's family, while all Catholic, has very little religiosity and few traditions in their homes. We want to do better for our children, but this is an area where I have so little personal experience or knowledge. |
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Welcome, KatieMae! I'm glad you are looking for ideas. Truly, the faith starts at home, and it starts with you. What you do, reading, praying, living -- it's all seen by the children and is the first and foremost way your children will learn. So much of this weighs on us and our good and sincer example.
KatieMae wrote:
| I've often seen books about the lives of the saints that I'd like to have, but then... what do I do with it? Just read a story to them? Always pair it with a craft? Talk about any random saint, or the one whose Feast Day it is? Read the daily scriptures, or progressively go through Bible stories? We have such a benefit in the structure & tradition of the church, but it's also a little intimidating when deciding how to use that to my advantage with teaching them. |
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Although I love to research and have great ideas, I'm a minimalist at home in the Church Year department. I also use crafts minimally in my saints and feast days.
Where to start is a tough question. I'd go through the calendar and pick only a few days and liturgical seasons. Solemnities are the highest, and next feasts. There are less than 50 total for the year, 17 Solemnities, 26 Feasts. I always aim for that "minimum" for a basic focus. Then other days I'll mention "Today is the feast of such and such, and perhaps provide minimal info."
I do like to read the saint of the day, particularly if the saints are patron saints or a big feast day. If I have a picture book or a story that's "living style" we read that.
I usually let the book stand alone to plant the seed. I'm open to questions and discussion, but I usually don't lead it, unless some clarifications. My children read about the saints for inspiration; they can recognize these people as real heroes to pray to and ask for help in imitating.
For feast days or saint days, it's so helpful to follow the Church's readings of the day to get a "theme" for imitation or meditation. While the children are older it isn't necessary to read aloud, but you can incorporate it yourself. But later on, if you can't get to Mass of the day, reading aloud the readings together would be a great tool.
Being a convert, this all will be gradual. But the Church's year is a repeating cycle, so next year it will repeat and you can delve deeper into the mysteries. Each year looks the same, and yet is a little different (or should be) in our hearts.
I would look at it just like when we get married and we're acclimating to living with a person and getting used to his ways, and also learning his family's traditions and special dates. As newlyweds we might not know all the intimate details or special places or dates, but over time those special stories of dh's parents' honeymoon, hardships, where they moved, etc. and then dh's own special favorites it will become OUR family, and not dh's family anymore.
KatieMae wrote:
| As it is now, I usually freeze and do nothing on the subject My two oldest (7yo & 6yo) have prayers to learn for Rel Ed, so we're practicing those daily, but beyond that, I'm at a loss! What is your suggestion on how to begin? |
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There is another thread Liturgy as the Basis of Our Lives, and also the FAQ Liturgical Year Resources Sticky are more ideas.
I also gave a talk to young moms last year, and I'd be happy to send a copy of the written speech if you PM your email address to me.
Basically, don't worry. Baby steps are all we do every day, even though I've been at this much longer.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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MamaFence
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| Posted: Oct 27 2010 at 1:05am | IP Logged
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Hi, friend! You've gotten a lot of good advice so far. I'd suggest to remember how the year is broken into liturgical seasons, and they are easy to celebrate at home. Ordinary time ends soon, to give you enough time to prep for Advent! Advent is so exciting to me, but in the last several years I haven't had the energy to do much (imagine that). ;) I'm really looking forward to celebrating it more with our family this year, and will probably gather ideas from here and the stickies. ;)
Start small and simple, so it's not too overwhelming. Find out what is most exciting to your family to help them celebrate. For us, it's food.  We have lots of food-related celebrations all year. And decorations...so for Advent we'll learn a lot as we decorate, why we decorate, etc. Finding those things that help your children connect and understand will be a huge help.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: No experience with this
