We're going to spend the day doing what our dear Paddy loves best--playing soccer. It should be 27 degrees at match time.I have a hunch that post-game Irish coffee for the fans will be more appreciated this year than ever before. Please pray for safe travels and more goals for our side than theirs:-)
The Holy Father is exhorting us and so we listen. Truth be told, I haven't made it through all of Sacramentum Caritatis. I'm still working on it. But this stands out to me:
Similarly, the better-known prayers of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung.
It's no secret that we have a bit of a "start and stop" relationship with Latin around here. The same tow-headed boy who groaned on the way to Fr. M's Latin class when he was twelve, has now informed us that he desires a Classical Curriculum in college. Alrighty then. And the only thing he'd change about his home education? More grammar. Who knew?
Alas, God, the Pope, and Michael are telling me it's right and good to learn Latin (and Greek, but that's a different post). And we will. But I'm putting away the Latin books until next fall. Then, someone else can help me teach.
In the meantime, and most urgently, in light of the above quote, I'm going to buckle down and learn these prayers with my children. I am so blessed to be a parishioner at a church which has been working towards this for eight years.
The Latin curriculum for the foreseeable future in this house is A Guide to Gregorian Chant by Rosemary Renninger. This CD comes with a very complete liner with the entire texts of 25 common chants used throughout the liturgical year. Prayers are spoken and then sung using Roman liturgical pronunciation. The spoken tracks are clear and lyrical which aids memorization. Truthfully, it isn't my children's favorite CD, but I'm counting on them thanking me later!
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I took a sneak peek at Danielle's new book last fall. Here's what I said then (and I'm sticking with it;-)!
I read Danielle Bean's new book, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, while in the hospital after the birth of my eighth child. It was like having a chat over a backyard fence with an experienced mother who exudes an infectious joy. Danielle believes in vocation and loves the life to which God has called her. I wanted to jump up and give a copy to every new mother in the Birth Center that day!
It's March Gladness my friends! There was much scrambling and bickering debating late last night and early this morning as everyone filled out their brackets and picked their picks. Daddy set a deadline for noon sharp. The only one who didn't finish in time? Me! Shhh...I think I'm being extended a grace period. Glad to hear we were in good company while we played hooky. Now, Georgetown or Ohio State?
O Lord and Ruler of Life, take from me the spirit of idleness, despair, cupidity, and empty talking. Yea, O Lord grant that I may see my own sins and not judge my brother. For thou art blessed forever and ever. Amen.
This ancient Lenten prayer has been posted around my house this year. I’ve found it to be a good one over the long haul. At first, I read it and thought it a nice prayer, easy to memorize and entirely usable for Lent. Then, it began to seep into me.
Take from me the spirit of idleness, despair, cupidity, and empty talking. Idleness? Dear Lord, I have eight children who still live at home and are all still homeschooled (except for the infant who is attached to me twenty-four hours a day). How in the world can I be idle? Ah, but I can and I am. When I sit at the computer and mindlessly click away while I nurse the baby, I am idling my brain and, more importantly, my spirit. After a few weeks of praying this prayer, I have found myself whitttling my Bloglines down to only what I could manage in a fifteen minute sitting first thing in the morning. I promised myself I would not go back and check during the day. I lived without blogs entirely just a short year ago. I'm sure this own't kill me.
I'm spending that nursing time with one of the spiritual books I chose just for Lent (linked on the sidebar) or in the quiet of my room, rocking with a rosary, or next to a couple of children on the couch, reading them a good book. Yes, please, take from me the idleness. Take it and don’t let it creep back in.
What about despair? Honestly, I don’t often feel very despairing. But I’ve noticed it in my household. The spirit is here. This prayer is for my children—particularly my teenagers—who are all too often held captive by feelings of despair.
Cupidity is a desire, usually for things. For me, the Lenten discipline is to take good care of the things I have, to be very careful with home maintenance. I don’t desire things but I also don’t outwardly appreciate what I have the way I should. This is a great big house, with lots of people in it and lots of people have lots of “stuff.” There is no excuse for it to be poorly tended. I have been given much and much is expected. I do not desire more; I desire to do more with what I have. I had a very honest talk with a dear friend yesterday. We went step by step through the realities of my day to try to find time to ensure that my home is good witness for this lifestyle. I will not desire more, but I will desire to do well with the abundance I have.
And empty talking. This really is why I was drawn to this particular prayer. There was a time when women at home were drawn to chatting away over the backyard fence or meeting each other for coffee in a restaurant or wiling away the hours attached to a telephone with an extra long cord. These are not my temptations. I have no fence, I no longer drink coffee and I’m not all that fond of the phone. No, my temptation is captured in a screen. Lord, save me from email and message boards. Save me from hours and hours of philosophical and theological conversations that actually draw me away from You and lead me outside your will.
I cannot live my vocation if my time is taken with idleness and empty talking. Even talking about motherhood, homemaking, and God himself can be empty talking if I talk (or write) about it and I neglect to do it. Time on earth is finite. The days of childhood are numbered. Distracted mothers are a curse to their children.
There is a place for online support and fellowship. It serves a purpose and can be a blessing. I love friends I have made online and I count them among my blessings and my joys. Online conversations and blogs can inspire us to lives of holiness. They often do just that; they show us how to be better wives, better mothers, better teachers, better Christians.
But I also think that the devil drives the information superhighway. He claps with glee when moms log on. Lent is a time of discipline. Ascetism is about growing in self-discipline. This prayer helps me to see how I must order my time and my attention. Quiet stillness is a good thing. Idleness is not. Concern is a good thing. Despair is not. A home to grow in is a good thing. Chaos in that home is not. Encouragement and support in my vocation is a good thing. Empty talking is not.
Layer by layer, we peel away the things that stand between ourselves and godliness. We make more time for and pay more attention to the good things. And we leave behind those things that are not.
I'm Elizabeth. I'm a happy wife and the mother of nine children. I grab grace with both hands and write to encourage myself and others to seize and nurture the joy of every day. I blog here with my daughter, Mary Beth, a wholehearted young lady on the brink of adulthood.
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