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Mackfam
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Non Nobis
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| Posted: Sept 25 2008 at 2:44pm | IP Logged
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Waverley wrote:
| Thanks so much for the info on the book. I think I will put it on my wish list. If its not too personal, could you share some of things you do to make your home more of a holy place? |
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Well, I strive for it, but don't know if I accomplish it.
First, I accomplished a major de-clutter, a brutal de-clutter about 5 years ago. Each year during Lent, I brutally de-clutter again.
I try to keep furnishings simple and practical while looking for lines that are classic.
Each room has a crucifix in it. Every room has a piece of sacred art - like a Boticelli or a Raphael - hanging on the walls. Most rooms have multiple pieces of sacred art.
I placed holy cards in my laundry room - on the washer, the cupboards, the wall - to remind me that I am serving Jesus when I serve my family. Our Lady is hanging in the kitchen because I like looking at her and imagining her preparing meals for the Holy Family. There are guardian angel images in the children's rooms. I keep holy water out. I set blessed candles on the mantle and we burn them in times of spiritual attack, when praying for a special intention, and during thunderstorms.
The biggest thing I did was to set up a family altar about 10 years ago. We call it our Feast Table and we set out art, holy cards, statues, the creche, Jesse Tree, homemade gift boxes that the children enclose little sacrifices written on cards, whatever we have to call to mind the Feast of the Day or season. My husband cut out a figure of a priest using some oak wood and I made simple vestments in the liturgical colors - we call him Father Oak. The children change the vestments with the feast.
I took it a room at a time, Waverley or I would have been overwhelmed. My goal was to reveal beauty in images throughout every room of the home so that the family felt connected to their faith - connected to the beauty of God. I believe that "from the beginning" all of God's creation has sung praises glorifying His Name - I want my living room to sing, and my kitchen, and my front door.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Waverley
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Location: Minnesota
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| Posted: Sept 25 2008 at 9:04pm | IP Logged
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Thank you so much for sharing!! You have certainly given me a lot to think about and inspiration as well.
This afternoon I stood in the middle of my entrance way (that sounds very grand - its a 4' x 4' room between the front door and the living room) and just looked at it. After a few minutes of just looking, I asked myself several questions: "Does this room reflect my values?" "Does this room set the tone I want for a visitor entering my house?" "Does this room set the tone for my family?" Tomorrow I will look at it again with the suggestions you made above. I hope to go through each room in the house as the year progresses.
Thanks again!
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Mackfam
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Non Nobis
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| Posted: Sept 26 2008 at 8:37am | IP Logged
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You're very welcome, Waverley!!
I was thinking about this more last night, and I thought of a few other things I do...
I try to carve little niches out of tucked away places for small shrines. They don't have to be anything gigantic, but I find their placement is essential. For instance, at the end of the hall I have set up a small table with a lovely embroidered doily (did I spell that right?). We've set up a small shrine to Our Lady there. The children choose the statue of Our Lady to enshrine there based on the seasonal festivities. We try to keep fresh flowers there. And, occasionally, the children leave little love notes to Our Lady there - a small sacrifice offering wrapped up in a pretty bow. (I think they do this because when they are hesitant about offering something teeny-tiny to Jesus and feel discouraged, I always tell them to give it to Mary and she'll put their gift in a lovely box and wrap it up in her prettiest bow and hand it to her sweet Son. He'll love the gift inside no matter what - but let Mother Mary take care of wrapping it up and handing it to Him.) So, I took time to collect small gift boxes and wrapped them up in beautiful paper and made a lovely bow on top and set it out on the little tables and near the shrines for them. They will sometimes slip a tiny piece of paper in there. I sneak them out and keep them in my Bible. Treasures.
Anyway, sometimes my little shrines are tiny. I have a small shrine on my desk to St. Anne. It's a tiny statue of St. Anne holding our Lady, and I find she is a comfort to me and a necessary reminder to be a gentle, kind, soft-spoken mother when I struggle with my temper.
I'm on the lookout for a perfect St. Joseph statue because the children and I would like to set out a small shrine to St. Joseph in our living room for Daddy. It is there that the he does most of his relaxing. It is there that he leads the family in prayer. So, it makes sense that St. Joseph be there.
The mantle in our living room is set up as a shrine of sorts as well. I set a large mirror on the mantle, angled up so that it reflects the light from the recessed light above it and not our reflections. Hanging from the mirror is a glass crucifix my brother brought back from Florence. It is lovely and its image is striking against the mirror and with the light bouncing off it. Just under the glass crucifix is a statue of the Holy Family with the child Jesus holding His sweet Hand up in blessing. I chose this statue specifically for our living room because this is where we pray as a family and spend most of our relaxing time playing games. Flanking the Holy Family are statues of The Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Infant Prague of Jesus, both of whom I have a special devotion to. Occasionally, they come off the altar to be set out in a place of honor on the Feast Table during certain times of the year. I keep a blessed candle on the mantle and two small relics from my husband's ancestral home in Scotland. I did that because his family was overwhelmingly Catholic and even fought to remain faithful to the Catholic prince of Scotland (though they were tragically massacred during that battle), but sadly, they lost their Catholic faith through the years. Rob is the first Mackintosh to return to the Church. I find the story moving and grace-filled and so I set those ancestral stones out to remind us to thank God for re-connecting our family to the True Corner Stone.
To borrow a phrase from Elizabeth, it is all very "intentional".
I think you're off to a good start Waverley. I did exactly what you're doing - I stood in the space and just prayed and looked around. Sometimes, it took me months before I felt I had the right vision for the room, and it took time to accomplish that vision. Most things were gathered from the house or re-purposed from another room. Sometimes, I had to save and search for a statue or holy reminder that fit (like dear St. Joseph). I asked God to fill me with a sense of hospitality and charity as I planned the rooms. I wanted to connect our family to the Communion of Saints. I want that to be a reality to them, not a term they memorize or hear once or twice throughout the year. I asked Him to show me what these material blessings of His wanted to say. I asked Him to show me how to point to the supernatural that is veiled in the ordinariness of my home. AND!!! I asked Him to show me those material things that were making *noise* (visual or otherwise) and were obstructions to His Splendor.
Recently, I re-arranged the placement of furniture in our living room and removed a few pieces because things had slipped in there and just sort of stuck, and I couldn't figure out why the room felt unsettled. It was because too much had migrated in...so I helped it migrate out. :) All the children commented on how the room felt refreshed and that they love it when I do this rearranging. To me that was affirmation that environment does indeed affect them in ways they don't always know how to articulate. Now, I want to be clear that my house is quite lived in! There are messes on the floor, to be sure, and I love Cay's illustration of her hospitality in the original posts. I strive for that welcoming and embracing warmth in my home!
This has been such a lovely conversation, and I have really enjoyed going back in my thoughts and revisiting my initial prayers and intentions. It has been a blessing to me, so thank you for asking me to jog my memory cells, Waverley!
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Influence of Environment on Children
