A letter to my non-homeschooling friends

Dear parent of a non-homeschooled child,

So, you have been reading about Charlotte Mason and are very interested, but don't feel prepared or ready at this time to make the plunge into homeschooling. Perhaps homeschooling seems impossible-- unreachable. Or perhaps homeschooling is not something you truly desire to do. Perhaps something in those Charlotte Mason quotes that keep popping up here and there on your twitter feed is calling to you and you want to do something about it, and yet you are happy to send your kids to school!

Friends, don't give up on her yet-- there is plenty of wisdom here to go around, and almost all of it can be used to give your children a successful start in life if you just begin to think like a home educator.

You see, homeschoolers, especially Charlotte Mason families, cannot really compartmentalize "school" and "home"-- for us they are one. Remember the first thing you read about her philosophy that resonated with you? "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."

So if you begin to think in these terms, you can provide your child with a beautiful Charlotte Mason-style education, and still retain those elements which you feel constrained to (or which work for your family- I'm certainly not one to say that homeschool is the only way!) This realization gave me so much hope, because my husband and I believe strongly that our "right" to homeschool our children is already under attack in this quickly disintegrating "free" country. As American politics progress, education usually comes under the lens, and it used to cause a terrible dread in me. Having thought out over and over which actions I might be inclined to take should public schooling become mandatory, I have a CMish plan of attack, and so I would like to share it with you today in the hopes that it might create in you a sense of peace that this educational idea is available to you, even if your kids are not schooled at home. Certainly, some of the methods will fall by the wayside, but the vision can continue, and with a plan and some purpose--- all will be well.

First: understand the vision. Charlotte hoped to obtain a rich liberal education for ALL. As parents, especially as Catholic parents, we understand that it is our duty as married persons both to welcome children as they come to us and to educate those children-- ALL children-- who come under our care. Sit on that for a while and the implications of it will shed fresh light in your daily struggles, it did mine. It should also show you the duty you have in your neighborhoods and community-- a duty to open up pathways towards the liberal arts for all people... even the little people who come to your door or who run through your lawn on the way to the school bus. Big people too. Who can you help educate today? How can you make an education available to the people you encounter?

Next, begin in infancy. During pregnancy, even. Buy yourself a good copy of Charlotte Mason's works on education and sit down every day to peruse them, highlighter in hand. Become familiar with Charlotte-- as with an old friend. Then, you will be ready to start home educating your child.

Begin with a foundation of good habits. Never, never, never stray from these habits.
Give your child plenty of fresh air and good, healthy food. Give your child good habits and teach him especially, in the beginning, to pay attention, to obey, and to tell the truth at all times.

When your child is still an infant, give him clean, breathable, cotton clothing and bedding. Air out his room. Take him often outdoors. (You might want to take a tip from the Scandinavians, here, who let their well-covered babies nap outdoors.)

Redecorate his room and make it clean and simple... give him a few beautiful things and teach him to take care of them.

Give him good food. Breastmilk, at first, if you can, and then pureed vegetables and fruits.

Create a culture of prayer, Bible reading, and Sabbath keeping in your home. Become accustomed to order and neatness and politeness. Give your child jobs, and expect him to learn them. Patiently enlist his will to do right.

Teach your child, even your infant, to play with a toy a little longer than he is inclined. Cultivate the habit of attention. Read, read, read to your child, but only when he is interested. Let him play, freely and with no direction from you. Give him ample time with his imagination.

Teach him to help you around the house, using real objects rather than plastic toys. Speak to your child, using no form of baby talk, but only polite and kind and carefully chosen words.

Unclutter your home, and get rid of everything but THE BEST -- nourish his mind with only the most beautiful books... the ones with the best pictures and the most literary quality. Nourish his imagination and sense of history and geography. Put beautiful paintings on the walls. Teach him to become friends with the animals around your home and the plants and insects in the garden.
Nourish his body with healthy, good food and water.

Bring your child to church, and cultivate devotion and duty in him. Do not put him in the nursery.
Love your child, and respect his person. Enlist his will, and train it, rather than smashing it. Do not nag him, but help him to remind himself. Use gentle words with him unless the situation calls for something stronger. Express disappointment, not anger. Allow natural consequences to take hold and point them out gently.

As your child nears school-age, and begins to show an interest in letters, words, and numbers, teach them these three things as if it were a game-- sing songy alphabets, fingers tracing letters in the sand, abacus counting games.
Laugh often.

At six, and not before, tell your child he is ready for formal lessons now. Teach him the alphabet, and then phonics and sight words simultaneously (more on that in other posts or scout the web for info about how CM taught reading.) Create in him the habit of perfect execution--- give him short lessons but ensure that he completes what he can complete perfectly.

If you must at this point send him to school, do so knowing you have provided a wonderful foundation for him.

Continue these habits throughout his education. Turn off the TV and video games. Read him excellent books. Since his "school education" will be taken care of for you, focus on the rich array of things he won't receive in school. Make sure that he is weekly exposed to picture study, music study, and shakespeare and plutarch.
Take him on nature study walks. Daily.
Read him poetry every day.

Make him a copybook and teach him to do beautiful copywork. Give him dictations. Make him a book of Centuries and together place entries in it as his schooling progresses. Read him living books relating to the course content of his history lessons, and science lessons. Give him a nature journal and set him loose in beautiful places. Take hikes together and learn the names of birds and stars.
Read him the Bible, and together, memorize scripture and the catechism.

Help him to find truth and beauty in all that is around him-- to be good, and to do good. At every opportunity remove dry facts from him and allow him instead to immerse himself in a subject, especially through hands-on experience or through excellent reading.

Keep him busy with good, hard work but give him ample free time as well. Teach him important lifeskills and model good citizenship.
Make sure he learns to use his voice, to play an instrument, and to paint or sculpt.
Make sure he learns to recite poetry, to read beautifully, to speak and understand French, Latin and Greek.
Give him a strong character building program (scouting style programs are wonderful for this!) and a moral foundation. Place before him heroes he can imitate who have done well before him.

These things are accessible to you as a non-homeschooling parent and will make all the difference in the life of your child.

As you begin to implement these changes, one at a time, notice how the atmosphere in the home begins to change. Notice how disciplined you are becoming. And yet-- notice how much more alive everything feels.
Now you're there-- that place between ideas and activities, between thinking and doing-- suspended, and ready for anything.
"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."
Now you, you also, are a home educator.

I'm praying for you,
Barbie

Farewell vain world, I'm going home!

Click here to hear it.


Farewell, vain world! I'm going home!

My savior smiles and bids me come,

And I don't care to stay here long!

Sweet angels beckon me away,

To sing God's praise in endless day,

And I don't care to stay here long!

(Chorus:)

Right up yonder, Christians, away up yonder,

O, yes my Lord, for I don't care to stay here long.


I'm glad that I am born to die,

From grief and woe my soul shall fly,

And I don't care to stay here long!

Bright angels shall convey me home,

Away to New Jerusalem,

And I don't care to stay here long!


(Chorus:)

Right up yonder, Christians, away up yonder,

O, yes my Lord, for I don't care to stay here long.


(Chorus:)

Right up yonder, Christians, away up yonder,

O, yes my Lord, for I don't care to stay here long.

Troubleshooting at home

LOVED this quote today from a Charlotte Mason themed blog on troubleshooting CM-style.


"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."


This past week, our CM reading group discussed the above, which is Charlotte Mason's fifth principle of her philosophy of education. She says we are limited to these three. That's it. There's nothing else, because she believed everything else was a form of manipulation, or it was preying upon the child's sinful tendencies. If we bribe them, we appeal to their greed; if we hold up prizes, we appeal to their avarice; if we threaten them, we appeal to their fears, and so on.

Stories for Children by Isaac Singer

Stories for Children by Isaac Bashevis Singer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We were given this book as a gift and I had never heard of it.
I had a peek and decided to use it in our homeschool- what a treat it turned out to be!
This is such a beautiful, interesting, and endlessly entertaining collection of short stories for children. We read it as a literature supplement and a read-aloud and the entire family enjoyed them  tremendously.
These tales are strongly moral, left us with interesting discussion points, and Singer is an amazing storyteller.
Many of the stories included made us giggle out loud, and best of all they were clear and understandable by even the youngest ones in our house.
Although they will be of special interest to Jewish children, they can be enjoyed by anyone.
Highly recommended!


View all my reviews

A winter nature study

It's term two and we are now into studying trees for nature study... here are some of today's activities.

Closer still.

Our Pope has resigned, effective Feb. 28th, and we awoke with heavy hearts.

The Pope who asked us, when he took office, to pray for him, lest he flee for fear of the wolves.

His resignation letter said:
"However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."

The world is so complex now. We can hardly breathe.

Yesterday, I felt compelled to speak to my friends on facebook as lent began, and to tell them that I am certain beyond all certainty that families are being tested and will continue to experience strong trials to strengthen them for the persecution ahead.
As Lent begins, I feel certain that God is doing a work in the laity and that Satan will try to steal the blessing God has intended for families who are willing to take the challenge. We must pray, and strive for holiness, against all odds. God will meet us here in this darkness and do a beautiful work.

In fact, when we arrived at our parish for mass, already decorated in heavy purple and black, we were quite surprised to find that our priest had something in mind for the families present:  he had us renew our marriage vows!! As we stood and spoke the words, hands clasped, all our children between us, we both cried.
Indeed, our marriage was in need of that strengthening and the renewal of our covenant. We are living in challenging times.

When I regrouped with my husband last night, he shared with me that he felt concerned that something was going to happen to the Holy Father.
He was right. When we awoke this morning, the news was racing through our minds--- what will happen next?

The Prophecy of St Malachy, of course, comes to mind.
Our next pope, according to the Prophecy:

In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit... Peter the Roman, who will Nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end.

What will happen next? No one knows, but we must pray. I, for one, am beyond thankful that when I woke up my husband with tears in my eyes to tell him the news, his response was to gather our whole family together into our bed, a bed which he made for me like Odysseus, tenderly building his own  for Penelope, and to lead us in the rosary, the prayer of prayers.
With our children gathered around us, we prayed the sorrowful mysteries, asking God to make us more like Christ. Christ who suffered the agony in the Garden. Christ who was scourged at the pillar. Christ who was crowned with thorns and mocked. Christ who carried his Cross. Christ who was crucified, but rose again in Glory. May God have mercy on us all.

For those struggling to understand, Scott Hahn's facebook page gives us some insight:

Back on April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI did something rather striking, but which went largely unnoticed.

He stopped off in Aquila, Italy, and visited the tomb of an obscure medieval Pope named St. Celestine V (1215-1296). After a brief prayer, he left his pallium, the symbol of his own episcopal authority as Bishop of Rome, on top of Celestine's tomb!

Fifteen months later, on July 4, 2010, Benedict went out of his way again, this time to visit and pray in the cathedral of Sulmona, near Rome, before the relics of this same saint, Celestine V.

Few people, however, noticed at the time.

Only now, we may be gaining a better understanding of what it meant. These actions were probably more than pious acts. More likely, they were profound and symbolic gestures of a very personal nature, which conveyed a message that a Pope can hardly deliver any other way.

In the year 1294, this man (Fr. Pietro Angelerio), known by all as a devout and holy priest, was elected Pope, somewhat against his will, shortly before his 80th birthday (Ratzinger was 78 when he was elected Pope in 2005). Just five months later, after issuing a formal decree allowing popes to resign (or abdicate, like other rulers), Pope Celestine V exercised that right. And now Pope Benedict XVI has chosen to follow in the footsteps of this venerable model.

For more information about Pope Benedict XVI and what he was doing with the Church during his reign, please read this book.

As you like it

Burgess Bird Book resources

Thoughts on habits and catechesis

We have really been enjoying using Neumann Press' "Our Holy Faith" series and I'm thankful for the opportunity to use it.
It dawned on me the other day, though, that unlike the Bible, a catechism series takes a little prep-work. I have to have a direction I'm going with it and not just read it aloud. There is a teacher's manual, but it wasn't helping me with what I was looking for. I wanted to get more out of those books-- to squeeze them for all the life they contained.

I have had, written in the margins of my notebooks, the words CM habits training under the "Catechesis" section of my kids curriculum from the beginning. And we do study habits. But it dawned on me the other day that we could do a better job of making them stick.

This led me to think about a defining moment in our family, some several years ago.
I was watching the Duggars when it first came out, and thinking what strong moral character all of their children seem to have. Pondering this I did some research and discovered their doctrinal connections to Bill Gothard and his Bible teachings. The Duggars study Bill's teachings on character quality and the 49 commands of Christ.
They also apply these principles as the foundation of their homeschool, using an elite Gothard-created curriculum called Advanced training institute. Now I don't know anything about Bill, and this isn't a statement for or against him, but I do think he has a knack for making principles--- biblical principles--- easy to understand. And so does Charlotte Mason.
The Catholic Church, however, has a very academic language in her documents, and therefore her teachings on practical life are not as easily accessible to ordinary people.They are also rare, because she is concerned with expressing the intricacies of theology and doctrine, but leaves practical life very open and free.

Often, lay people have turned to the saints or monastics for ideas about practical life. But practical life is really only explored in the context of discipleship-- and a celibate person cannot often offer to a married person with children the type of discipleship required for truly nurturing the systems of daily family life...So this is an area that is sorely lacking.
Now, we can turn many places for this information, and should! Wherever good, practical information about homemaking is to be found, information that is in line with Church teachings on doctrinal matters, we should be exploring it.

At the time, I studied how the Duggars taught these character qualities. They went through one each month, each day looking for opportunities to use them. They discussed them in family meetings and family devotional times. They discussed them in the context of lessons and historical characters they were meeting. They did service projects for each other relating to these.

Because we are a Charlotte Mason family, we naturally turn to Charlotte Mason herself for ideas about practical life. Her advice here is sound, and useful. And we know that she lived it herself, and was the better for it. "Habit is ten natures," she said... and she is absolutely correct!

When children are young, a complex study is not what they need. They have shortened attention spans and quickly evolving ideas. What we should be giving them are short, delightful snippets of practical information that assists them in laying foundations. Habits!

I am exploring some resources to help do this or help me do this better or more intentionally. In the meantime, I will keep plowing through Laying Down the Rails, a Charlotte Mason habits handbook, and working on character quality per month in conjunction with our catechism lessons, remembering that Charlotte taught three habits which must be paramount over all the others in our children: Obedience, Attention, and Truthfulness.

This is the work of catechesis, though, isn't it? That our lives be transformed.

The Cardinal Bird

The Cardinal Bird by William Davis Gallagher
A day and then a week passed by:
  The redbird hanging from the sill
Sang not; and all were wondering why
It was so still—
When one bright morning, loud and clear,
Its whistle smote my drowsy ear,
Ten times repeated, till the sound
Filled every echoing niche around;
And all things earliest loved by me,—
The bird, the brook, the flower, the tree,—
Came back again, as thus I heard
    The cardinal bird.

When maple orchards towered aloft,
  And spicewood bushes spread below,
Where skies were blue, and winds were soft,
I could but go—
For, opening through a wildering haze,
Appeared my restless childhood's days;
And truant feet and loitering mood
Soon found me in the same old wood
(Illusion's hour but seldom brings
So much the very form of things)
Where first I sought, and saw, and heard
    The cardinal bird.

Then came green meadows, broad and bright,
  Where dandelions, with wealth untold,
Gleamed on the young and eager sight
Like stars of gold;
And on the very meadow's edge,
Beneath the ragged blackberry hedge,
Mid mosses golden, gray and green,
The fresh young buttercups were seen,
And small spring-beauties, sent to be
The heralds of anemone:
All just as when I earliest heard
    The cardinal bird.

Upon the gray old forest's rim
  I snuffed the crab-tree's sweet perfume;
And farther, where the light was dim,
I saw the bloom
Of May-apples, beneath the tent
Of umbrel leaves above them bent;
Where oft was shifting light and shade
The blue-eyed ivy wildly strayed;
And Solomon's-seal, in graceful play,
Swung where the straggling sunlight lay:
The same as when I earliest heard
    The cardinal bird.

And on the slope, above the rill
  That wound among the sugar-trees,
I heard them at their labors still,
The murmuring bees:
Bold foragers! that come and go
Without permit of friend or foe;
In the tall tulip-trees o'erhead
On pollen greedily they fed,
And from low purple phlox, that grew
About my feet, sipped honey-dew:—
How like the scenes when first I heard
    The cardinal bird.

How like!—and yet . . . The spell grows weak:—
  Ah, but I miss the sunny brow—
The sparkling eye—the ruddy cheek!
Where, where are now
The three who then beside me stood
Like sunbeams in the dusky wood?
Alas, I am alone! Since then,
They've trod the weary ways of men:
One on the eve of manhood died;
Two in its flush of power and pride.
Their graves are green, where first we heard
    The cardinal bird.

The redbird, from the window hung,
  Not long my fancies thus beguiled:
Again in maple-groves it sung
Its wood-notes wild;
For, rousing with a tearful eye,
I gave it to the trees and sky!
I missed so much those brothers three,
Who walked youth's flowery ways with me,
I could not, dared not but believe
It too had brothers, that would grieve
Till in old haunts again 't was heard,—
The cardinal bird.

On evolution

Don't miss my husband's post on evolution, it is very helpful for those struggling to comprehend the issue and the connection between faith and reason.
http://stromatais.blogspot.com/2013/01/evolution-and-theory-of-evolution.html

A praying people

I read this article the other day.
At first I was annoyed-- typical "Catholic" drivel about how praying spontaneously is something WE do instead of something GOD does in us. I let my feathers ruffle as I thought about the damage that encouraging people NOT to pray spontaneously together would do.

But then something funny happened-- I started to realize there was some truth to it. It is not so much that it was encouraging people NOT to engage each other to pray spontaneously. Instead, it was encouraging wives to pray formal prayers with their husbands, which would act as gateways to Kingdom living in their homes.

I believe that husbands and wives should pray spontaneously together, and that it should come easily, frequently and naturally. That husbands and wives should take the time to pray spontaneously together every day.

The article challenged me:

This type of intimate, spousal prayer might sound beautiful to women. But to most guys--good, devout guys--not so much. It requires seat-of-the-pants verbal skills that many of them do not have. Not to mention a willingness to, at times, express emotions that are hard for a guy to discuss with his wife in an ordinary conversation, let alone talk to God about with his wife listening in. It's one more example of a woman finding it therapeutic to talk about her problems, and the man finding the same activity to be close to torture.

So wives who want to persuade their husbands to pray with them, but find them recalcitrant, would be well-advised to drop the hand-holding, spill- your- guts- to -God- together idea, and go for something that is more realistic. That is, utilizing the type of prayer that the Catholic tradition excels at. Namely, reciting formal prayers that were written by someone else! Or I should say, reciting formal prayers while investing them with your own will, intentions, feelings, etc.

My husband has been a Christian much longer than I have. And like many, many Christians walking around this earth.... he believes with all his heart but he has never had the experience that Charismatics, both Catholics and Christians, refer to as "baptism in the Holy Spirit."

He has never been "overtaken" by the Holy Spirit. Never spoken in tongues. Never had a word of knowledge for anyone. His experience of the Holy Spirit is much more calm and steady. It's less of a loud, passionate, vibrant love affair and more of a kingdom mentality.  He bows and worships. He trembles and fears. He loves, he obeys, and experiences the goodness of The King. He is moved and moves. His love for God is like the love of a couple who knows and trusts each other because they've been married for years and struggled to communicate for years. It's beautiful, but it is intimate. Above all... it is private.

It's not that he hasn't ASKED for Baptism in the Spirit. It's that he isn't one to do/say something that is contrived of his flesh. And because God Himself has not reached down and CHANGED the way my husband prays, he has not changed it. It's not that he doesn't exhibit the fruits of the Spirit-- he absolutely does. Rather, it's that he doesn't look like/act like a Charismatic Christian in his appearance, and for a long time, I wasn't OK with that.

I've been around Charismatics all my Christian life, and usually praying from a book pains me. I use books as a starting off point to get me going, and it's not uncommon for me to spend an hour at a time "lost" in a prayer-dance with God. I sing random songs. I get moved and say what I'm thinking. I feel inspired and speak God's Word back to Him. I sing, I laugh, I cry, I get on my knees, I stand up. I clap my hands and stomp my feet. I listen. I spend a lot of time listening.

My husband, on the other hand, usually stands very still, closes his eyes, and folds his hands in his lap during prayer. When he leads our family in prayer, it's often in familiar prayers... The Our Father. The Hail Mary. The Apostles Creed. The Glory Be. He likes to pray straight out of his Bible, or straight out of a prayer book. He and I met in Jewish services on post at Ft Jackson, and he and I have often prayed straight out of the Jewish prayer book together.

In the beginning of our marriage, I'd be bored to death and wondering why he wasn't more "spiritual." He, on the other hand, was content. And my kids who didn't always know "what to say" when they talked to God, were participating.

When he became a Catholic, one of the first things my husband really latched onto was the rosary. He prayed the rosary all the time, and was constantly reminding us to do the same. I prayed the rosary quite a bit. But I also prayed the Divine Office (the psalms with the Church) and preferred it.
That's what I prayed with the kids when he was gone.

It's not that I didn't like the rosary- I love it. But I have to be in the right frame of mind to pray the rosary, whereas praying the psalms, I find, puts me in the right frame of  mind. I love a rosary when I'm super frustrated and rocking a grumpy baby in the dark... but if I am standing free before my God, I pray a little differently.

I think that's just me... I'm a very biblically driven person and the biblical language is something that brings me to life and ignites my being. It has been the focal point of my spiritual life from the beginning, and it is how I work out my salvation.

So prayer in my family had always been kind of ... awkward. We know that it is only through daily prayer that we will truly live, so we do it. But it's a learning experience.
In the beginning, I prayed with the kids, and he prayed with me.

My prayer times with the kids were extravagant--- loud, worshipful, expressive.
My prayer times with him were quiet and formal.

Over time, I noticed that my oldest two children responded REALLY well to the prayers at mass. They absolutely love the rhythmic chanting, the eloquent language that speaks to them, and the distinct roles they have: now we stand. now we sit. now we bow. now we cross ourselves.
Their prayers were hung on these pegs and I noticed their prayers began to really improve and become intimate moments with God when that happened.

So I jumped in to praying formal prayers with my kids. We pray the liturgy of the hours together morning and evening, and there is a time for spontaneous prayer included, but because it has a format, it's comforting to all of us. When I did that, I noticed that each of my children developed their own prayer-habits.
My oldest became really invested in eucharistic adoration.... even spending time on her knees facing the nearest tabernacle each day. She is a little evangelist, and quite adept.
My second child is a bit prophetic. He speaks to inanimate objects and commands them. He famously will pray for up to an hour spontaneously and when the mood hits him-- often in the bathroom.  My third is a singer. She truly prays twice when she sings hymns.
And so it goes.

Another thing I noticed is that when  we began to pray formal prayers together as a family, my husband and I began to pray spontaneously together... something we hadn't done much up until then. And it wasn't until we ALL prayed formally together that this began to change. Suddenly, I would mention a difficult situation one of our friends was in, and instead of saying: "remember to pray for her," he would say to me: ""let's pray for her right now. Come here..."

My heart burst. THIS was the prayer life I believe a Christian family should have. And for the first time in my life, instead of it being artificial or me forcing it, it was natural and our natural leader, my husband, was leading it. Beautiful.

So it's been about a year that this change has taken place, and I am quite sure that we are well on the way to a meaningful family prayer life.

Last night, two of our dearest male friends were visiting. They came by to say goodbye as one of them was on the last leg of a trip. We caught up, we shared a glass of wine, we talked politics, and  they wrestled the kids. But then, instead of saying goodbye, as we were winding down,  one of them said: "Let's pray a rosary together before we leave."
Now, these are some of our dearest friends. And we have prayed together many times-- quick bursts of prayer at various times during holidays, during mass together, etc. But never a rosary. Never like this. I was... surprised, to say the least. Grateful, but surprised.

They asked my husband to lead the rosary  and sent my kids off to the family altar to gather rosaries for everyone.

I had a momentary panic.
.... but my kids aren't used to the rosary and will probably act up.
.... but my father in law hates the rosary and will probably be uncomfortable hearing us pray it.
.... but my husband says the rosary weird and will probably lead it funny
.... why can't we just PRAY??
We began. We chose the luminous mysteries (it was Thursday). My husband led us... and
it. was. PERFECT.

To sit in a room with three men, three husbands, three fathers, humbly praying the rosary... perfect.
Each man was holding a child and teaching them how to pray by holding their little fingers around the "right" beads, by explaining what each mystery means and what it revealed to us about God's character....perfect.
Each man reverently bringing his intentions, his family, and (because these men are men of influence in the community and therefore in the world) his nation before God and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed. Perfect.

I thank God for formal prayers. I thank God for the rosary---I thank God for the Liturgy of the Hours. I thank God for the Catholic Church who gave us these prayers, through which many parents, spouses, and friends truly become ONE VOICE united in prayer. Through them, progress in prayer is made. Through them charity and humility become the standard.

Through them three men joined powerfully in the Holy Spirit last night to change a devastated nation, starting with each other. Through formal prayers our family and friends have truly become a praying people.
Glory be to God always.

A must-read book by Fr. Elias Friedman, OCD.

This is the complete text of a must - read book for all Catholics entitled "Jewish identity," by Fr. Elias Friedman, OCD. Essentially, it deals with the idea that the Jewish identity was "phased out" as the Gentile presence became more important in the Church, and helps Hebrew Catholics find their place in the Church, which in turn helps the world more clearly understand the mission of the Church, and helps to reconcile painful histories between Jews and Christians.

Hebrew Catholics: Jewish Identity (the book) - Elias Friedman OCD (Complete version)