Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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TracyQ
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Posted: Aug 18 2006 at 5:42pm | IP Logged Quote TracyQ

This is so wonderful, thanks for doing this! My favorite picture book is The Weight of a Mass! What a beautiful book it is!

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Posted: Aug 18 2006 at 9:17pm | IP Logged Quote KC in TX

Wow, that's great. Thank you. I'm looking forward to more.

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Posted: Aug 21 2006 at 12:42am | IP Logged Quote Kelly

Great idea, Erin.

Another book that hasn't been mentioned is an old CHC publication (I think) called "Know your Mass". It's spiral bound and graphic-style (like a comic book) and is based on the Latin Mass, but I have found it helpful for the Novus Ordo Mass as well.

Keep the great ideas coming.

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Posted: Aug 21 2006 at 8:15am | IP Logged Quote Erin

Thank you all for your kind words, it really helps to know they were of some use I wondered after I posted whether I should off.

So for this week: to be honest we didn't get as much done, Tuesday was the Feast of the Assumption and Friday we ran out of puff. However I'll update with our three days of work.

Day 6: Sacred Vestments

Using M Montessori's book once again we read about the various vestments and their symbolism. So fascinating, for example the Amice is a 'helemt of salvation' and the girdle is a symbol of chastity. We also read about liturgical colours and what they each symbolise.
Using a sheet from Sr MOnica's book the children pasted pictures of the vestments with descriptions. Once again I'm sure you could find pictures of these on the internet.

Day 7 Worksheets from 100 Activities based on the catechism of the Catholic Church suming up information learnt about the sacred vessels and vestments. This sheet was quite tricky, the children had to match the descriptions with the correct items. They had an extra sheet on the liturgical colours. The younger children had a sheet on what items Father would need for Mass and another in which they had to label some vessels.

Day 8 the Introductory and Penitential Rite
For this part I found it rather tricky as so much at the beginning of the Novus Ordo is very different from the Latin Mass. So I had to leave M. Montessoriu's book mostly and wing it. I used what I could from M.M's book and relied heavily on our Sunday Missals.

We discussed why we bless ourselves at the beginning of the Mass, reminding ourselves that it is only because Jesus died on the cross that we have the Perfect Sacrifice to offer. Quizzing the children as we went along on their powers of observance we then talked about the priset kissing the altar, how the altar reminds us of Christ becasue he offered Himself for us on the altar of the Cross.

For the Penitential Rite we read/ prayed the Confiteor, the Sanctus and the Gloria pondering on the words and their meanings. We particularly focused on the Confiteor and why we need to be penitent. How our souls need to be clean and beautiful because we are coming into the presence of God. That we need to be free from sin. That we are imploring our Heavenly mother and the saints ro pray for us. That we are meant to strike our breast when we say that we have sinned as if we would spank our hearts for being disloyal to God. I pointed out to the children that it is in their missal to do so even though we don't nor have we noticed anyone doing so.

We also noted the collect and talked about how it can change daily.

For notebooking they were to pick one of the three prayers and type or copy it out. They were to make their page attractive in some manner, they mostly chose suitable pictures and a nice layout.

I'm hoping to post pictures tomorrow



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Posted: Aug 21 2006 at 2:27pm | IP Logged Quote JennGM

Kelly wrote:
Great idea, Erin.

Another book that hasn't been mentioned is an old CHC publication (I think) called "Know your Mass". It's spiral bound and graphic-style (like a comic book) and is based on the Latin Mass, but I have found it helpful for the Novus Ordo Mass as well.


Oh, I didn't know this was being reprinted. I had just pulled out my old copy. My Dad saw my book a while back and got all excited. He had it growing up, and loved it.

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Posted: Aug 25 2006 at 6:19pm | IP Logged Quote fsuadamson

Erin,

First I want to say "thank you" for sharing your Mass unit study with us. This year we are going to be reading 'Exploring the Mass' from CHC with the older girls and you have inspired me to make this into a mini-unit study

Just this morning it hit me where I have heard the words Novus Ordo Mass. We do not have this type of Mass where I live. But last month we had a Catholic Family / Homeschool Conference and at the end Fr. Fessio (from Ave Marie University / Ignatius Press) led us in Novus Ordo Mass! Now I have never been to a Latin Mass so I can not compare the differences but in his homily he mentioned that this Mass has its findings from a book written by Pope Benedict XVI called "The Spirit of the Liturgy".

It goes into great detail on all the symbolism for this Mass. I don't know if it is one you are already familiar with or that you may be interested in but I thought I would mention it.   

My husband and I really really liked the Mass. I was a little frustrated not being able to understand all the Latin but everything else was BEAUTIFUL!! For those of you that have it on a regular basis -- what a blessing!!!

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Posted: Aug 29 2006 at 7:51am | IP Logged Quote Erin

Very pleased this week that I've allowed myself 4 weeks to complete this unit. So many interruptions A wonderful one Ds7 made his Sacrament of Penance.

Consequently we only accomplished two days worth.

Day 9 Liturgy of the Word
From here on I used the Missal as my base and fleshed it out with extra information where possible from the other sources. I found it a bit trickier using Maria Montessori and Sr Monica’s books here as the Mass is no longer quite the same.

We discussed the fact that the Church covers the entire Bible over a three year cycle. How the readings are divided into years A, B and C. The children noted that the First Reading is taken from the Old Testament, the second reading from the New and the Gospel is the Words of Christ himself. We talked about the fact that we stand for the Word of God as a sign of respect. That at the Gospel we sign ourselves on our forehead with a little cross so that we may understand the Word of God, our lips that we may be proud to tell our faith to everybody and our heart that we may keep the Word of God.

We read the Nicene Creed and talked about how it contains the main points (articles) of our Faith. I also spoke to the children about the council of Nicene, how it was a major council of the Early Church and where the Creed was defined. (a little spin off here on to councils)

I gave the children some suggestions here as to what they could record on their pages. I suggested writing out where the readings and Gospel are taken from in the Bible, write out their favourite Gospel, select a picture of Christ preaching or the Good Shepherd, type out the Creed.

Day 10 The Offertory

I learnt quite a bit myself about the offertory, it has far richer meaning than I realized.
We quickly remembered the work we had covered earlier on about sacrifices under the Old Testament and how under the new Rite only one sacrifice is offered, the Son of Man.

We read about how the bread and wine represent us, our joys and sufferings, we put our lives on the paten together to make one gift. This is our spiritual gift. Our gifts at the offertory show that our life belongs to God and we give it back to Him. But our gift is not yet perfect until it is Jesus in the consecrated Host.

There is also a material gift offered; in the days of the early Church the faithful would bring offerings to the altar for the poorer brethren. Today we give alms in the form of the collection. The children are aware of how the first and the second collection are allotted. We discussed how this is the Church community still looking after one another.

We talked about why the water is added to the wine. That the water stands for us, for our day offered to God’s glory. The water becomes the wine, as we become more like Jesus our gift becomes more united with Jesus. We also talked about how all of Jesus’ blood at Golgotha ran out till only water poured out.

We talked next how the chalice is lifted up and offered to God with us again giving ourselves to Him.
The priest then washes his hands as a sign that his heart and ours must be clean of all sin to offer a worthy gift to God. Then we ask that our gift may be received by Our Lord and that it may Honour the Blessed Virgin Mary and the angels and saints. We call upon them to help us offer the perfect sacrifice.

The Preface begins with the greeting: “The Lord be with you” we are alert and filled with joy, He is about to arrive! This is a thanksgiving prayer. We are united in giving Him thanks.

At the Sanctus we join our voices with the angels in singing glory; the Hosanna is the victory song of Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. I just touched on this with the children. To be honest they were glazing over by now they had had enough.

Dd12, chose to illustrate the offertory by photocopying prayers from her missal of the offering and placing them around a picture of the bread and wine. The other children chose pictures of the last Supper, and the crucifixion and wrote appropriate headings to accompany such as, ‘we offer our gifts’, ‘all that I have I give to you’. Ds7 narrated the main points that he learnt.

I haven't forgotten the photos, at the rate I'm going you may end up with them all at once.


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Posted: Sept 09 2006 at 5:19pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

Elizabeth wrote:
Erin,

I think this Child's Missal is going to be our "spine" for studying the Mass this year.I haven't received it yet, so I haven't seen it in person. But I've read about it several places and it really looks to be a gem.


Elizabeth or anyone else who has used this book -- is it worth $17.95? More importantly is it accurate and a good description of what happens at Mass?

Any advice and opinions would be great....

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Posted: Nov 03 2006 at 1:51pm | IP Logged Quote marihalojen

Mary G wrote:
Elizabeth wrote:
Erin,

I think this Child's Missal is going to be our "spine" for studying the Mass this year.I haven't received it yet, so I haven't seen it in person. But I've read about it several places and it really looks to be a gem.


Elizabeth or anyone else who has used this book -- is it worth $17.95? More importantly is it accurate and a good description of what happens at Mass?

Any advice and opinions would be great....


I'm curious too.

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Posted: Nov 03 2006 at 1:57pm | IP Logged Quote JennGM

marihalojen wrote:
Mary G wrote:
Elizabeth wrote:
Erin,

I think this Child's Missal is going to be our "spine" for studying the Mass this year.I haven't received it yet, so I haven't seen it in person. But I've read about it several places and it really looks to be a gem.


Elizabeth or anyone else who has used this book -- is it worth $17.95? More importantly is it accurate and a good description of what happens at Mass?

Any advice and opinions would be great....


I'm curious too.


I haven't bought it yet, but I have been going back and forth on buying this. Our Catholic Shop had this, and I got to look at it a few weeks ago. First of all, it's just plain gorgeous. Just absolutely wonderful, worth $20 or more. Hardback, gorgeous glossy color photos and drawings. The ONLY reason why I put it back on the shelf is that it covers the Tridentine Mass. I don't have a problem with the Tridentine Rite, but my son is young, and I am really looking for something that can match up with our N.O. But this week I'm regretting my decision. I need more money, thought!

After seeing this book, I wanted to buy any other books illustrated by this sister.

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Posted: Nov 03 2006 at 2:19pm | IP Logged Quote marihalojen

She does have some gorgeous looking books!
And Jenn, I too could use some more cash - I've spent way too long today adding up wish lists on various sites and catalogs - I feel from trying to make decisions! Shipping

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Posted: Nov 04 2006 at 8:12am | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

alicegunther wrote:
The children really loved going through it slowly and creating their own books to carry with us to church.


Oh, Alice, thank you for this reminder. I had done this with my two older girls when they were little, and they loved their homemade missalettes. It's time to do it with "Ramona."

Thank you for this thread!

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Posted: Nov 04 2006 at 11:32am | IP Logged Quote alicegunther

Karen E. wrote:
I had done this with my two older girls when they were little, and they loved their homemade missalettes. It's time to do it with "Ramona."

Thank you for this thread!


Yes, Karen, I think it is time for all of us to revisit this!

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Posted: Nov 04 2006 at 12:29pm | IP Logged Quote marihalojen

I was thinking how many times Marianna has reviewed fractions in her life already and how many times we've done a thorough study of the Mass...I think it is time for me to gather together materials for this unit study!

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Posted: Nov 07 2006 at 5:27pm | IP Logged Quote doris

This might be a really obvious/basic point, but how about getting the children to act out bits of the Mass? We did this when the children were learning about baptism and it *really* helped them remember all the different elements.

Elizabeth

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Posted: Jan 05 2007 at 7:20pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

JennGM wrote:

I haven't bought it yet, but I have been going back and forth on buying this. Our Catholic Shop had this, and I got to look at it a few weeks ago. First of all, it's just plain gorgeous. Just absolutely wonderful, worth $20 or more. Hardback, gorgeous glossy color photos and drawings. The ONLY reason why I put it back on the shelf is that it covers the Tridentine Mass. I don't have a problem with the Tridentine Rite, but my son is young, and I am really looking for something that can match up with our N.O. But this week I'm regretting my decision. I need more money, thought!

After seeing this book, I wanted to buy any other books illustrated by this sister.


JennGM -- or anyone else; do you have any suggestions for a really good missal that does the NO? That's what my kids are exposed to and giving them a missal from TR just won't help them at this stage. I'm doing FHC prep with Thomas and Maggie and I'd really like to get them a really good (but not pre-60s) Missal.....something that actually refers to the Mass they're hearing

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Posted: Jan 08 2007 at 9:25pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

alicegunther wrote:
In addition to all the great resources mentioned here, I would say that the best teaching tool we have found for the Mass is the missalette itself. The children really loved going through it slowly and creating their own books to carry with us to church.

As you follow this most important of all Rabbit Trails, you will also want to read "The Weight of a Mass" by Josephine Nobisso (who is, by the way, a Catholic homeschooling mother).

Alice,

Can you share a bit more info about how the kids did this -- did you use a sample missal and then they made their own or what????



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Posted: Jan 08 2007 at 9:34pm | IP Logged Quote alicegunther

Hi Mary!

I am about to re-write the plans for Marie's First Communion notebook Mass section (the whole notebook is mostly a way for her to follow along with the Mass). [I keep talking about doing this, but the time just hasn't bee there!] It is done exactly like the Easter Vigil Notebook project, except on a smaller scale for younger children and without the sections that are specific to the Easter Vigil.

Here is the thread on that to give you an idea: Easter Vigil Notebooks

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Posted: Jan 09 2007 at 5:46am | IP Logged Quote Dawn

alicegunther wrote:
It is done exactly like the Easter Vigil Notebook project, except on a smaller scale for younger children and without the sections that are specific to the Easter Vigil.


Alice, can you describe the kind of notebook you use for this project? Is it a binder or something else? I'm trying to envision it physically - the size and the materials.

My Crackerjack (who makes his FHC this May ) would like to have something to follow along with at Mass. I bought him a small children's missal (The Mass Book for Children), but I think something homemade would be so much more intimate and meaningful. I'm just trying to imagine how to make it light and managable for his hands ...

I haven't been to the Easter Vigil notebook thread in a while, and perhaps you address this there ... I'll go see!

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Posted: Jan 09 2007 at 6:55am | IP Logged Quote marihalojen

Dawn, regarding smaller, more managable notebooks have you seen the half-sized one inch binders that are 7x9 inches? Marianna actually really likes this size, I just cut sheets of normal paper in half generally, though I have found half size construction paper in the Grocery store of all places!

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