Goodbye to Alleluia

Taking down the Alleluia at church.

We desist from saying Alleluia, the song chanted by angels, because we have been excluded from the company of the angels on account of Adam's sin. In the Babylon of our earthly life we sit by the streams, weeping as we remember Sion. For as the children of Israel in an alien land hung their harps upon the willows, so we too must forget the Alleluia song in the season of sadness, of penance, and bitterness of heart.~Bishop William Duranti (1296)

I finally know what I'm doing for Lent.

In the past, I've always been of the opinion that if you're going to be miserable, you may as be miserable for a purpose. Lose some weight, drop a bad habit, pick up a good one in its stead. But after reading Sister Mary Martha, I've been convicted and now share her opinion that Lent is not for self-improvement. So instead, I've picked something that I know will make me absolutely miserable. Yay!

Seriously, and without going into too much detail, I may not be hanging out on the internet so much. On the other hand, my time online may end up being much more productive, as I'm hoping my Lenten discipline will make me more... um... disciplined. But again, being disciplined is not a pleasant thing for me. I don't even hold out hope it will benefit me beyond Lent. I'm doing it purely because I know it will make me miserable and will make God happy.

Today, we packed up the Valentine's day decorations. Tomorrow, we put ashes on our forehead, fast, pray, and make promises. We'll shroud the crosses and statues with purple and get out the Stations of the Cross. We'll begin our Lenten journey. The little ones will make Lenten Boxes and we'll hide the Alleluia until Easter.

And so, I wish you a blessed and holy Lent.

Daniel and his Sunday School friends, dancing goodbye to Alleluia.

Maundy Thursday

And the space between ourselves sometimes is more than the distance between the stars...

Monday

Yesterday for Christian Ed we talked about the Lenten season. We made a cross from push pins and Michael looped the string. Then we talked about different sins and put them on the cross. At Easter, I'll replace the sins with some beautiful flowers.

I found the idea here.

I've been trying something new--a scheduled routine. I'm not willing to call it a schedule. But I've found it keeps me intentional about seeing that everyone's needs are met. We even got to watercolor paint!

Cold and raw the north wind doth blow
Bleak in the morning early,
All the hills are covered with snow,
And winter's now come fairly.

A Week in Review

Three posts today, and no posts last week. It was a rough week, but we did get lots done.

Sunday was Michael's First Communion. Except it wasn't, because in the ELCA, children can technically receive Communion from the time their baptized, so Michael has been receiving since he was around a year old. This was a hard day for me actually, one of the hardest parts of raising Little Lutherans.

This is Michael and his buddy Lukey.


And cake! Everybody loves cake!


Monday was Rosa Parks birthday, and we talked about the life of this wonderful woman.

On Shrove Tuesday, we had pancakes for dinner.

Ash Wednesday was spent getting the house ready for Lent.

It was a rainy, dreary, cold day, and my four little ones and I went to Mater Delarosa to receive ashes at noon. When Father blessed Daniel, Daniel gave him the biggest baby grin, and both Father and Monsignor couldn't help but laugh out loud. By the time we got to the car, Daniel's ashes were pretty much gone. Michael said, "I guess Dust doesn't really stick to babies."

On Thursday, we changed out the Nature Table.

We'll definitely have fun adding more to King Winter's kingdom!

I also couldn't help but notice I had three matching children on Thursday, and I couldn't resist a picture.


On Friday, we traveled about three hours to stay with some college friends. They're also homeschoolers, as you may be able to tell by the great bookshelves. Here are their three girls with our crew.


We spent the night and made our way to our main destination on Saturday- the Benadum theater in Pittsburgh to see The Lion King. I'll blog a little about that separately, I think, but here are some pictures.

The opening curtain and beautiful stage.


And two happy children before the curtain went up. Daniel and Nicholas went with Daddy to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum.


And Katie Grace wanted me to take a picture of the chandelier, because it was pretty.

After the play, we stopped for dinner. A lady came up to us and said, "When I saw them seat a family with four little kids next to us, I almost cried. But your children are very well behaved!" I didn't quite know how to take that!

We left the restaurant around 7 and pulled up in front of our house at 11. We would have gotten home sooner, but we hit horrible fog. I prayed for the last hour of the trip!

The today, I caught Daniel doing this:


Time to dig out the baby gates!

Ash Wednesday

Today was the first day in our Lenten journey. We turned our family altar into a Lenten alter, with a purple base cloth, a bare wooden cross draped in purple, an unlit candle, a statue of Jesus DH's parents brought back from Israel, and a vase filled with bare branches. I want to also add a bowl-full of earth, but the yard is covered with sludgy snow and bare earth is a little hard to come by right now. We also made a paper chain with purple links for weekdays, golden links for Sundays, and a white link for Easter.

I was reading All Year Round by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton, and Marije Rowling and loved what it said about Ash Wednesday, Lent, and children:

Fasting and self-discipline have little relevance for young children, even though they attempt to "give up sweets for Lent." They will participate in such moral content more through the unobtrusive example of the parent or teacher, who leads them in this way through what is really an adult festival.

Easter is very much a morning festival--the women disciples came to the tomb "very early in the morning." To be properly awake to what the morning can bring, we need to have had a "good night." We need to have spent some time in our own quiet darkness away from outer stimulation, in that mysterious place which is yet familiar-- a space which is, above all, restorative.

This is what Lent could be for all of us, a time during which we gather the forces needed to meet the vital renewal of our daily lives. For young children, their pleasure in the fullness of Easter Day can only be greater if they have been prepared through the quiescent "night" mood of Lent. (pages 41-42)

The last bit reminded me of something Katie Grace said on Sunday when we talked about "putting away" Alleluia during Lent. She thought about it for a bit, and then said, "Oh, I know! Alleluia is a joyful word, and we save up all our joy during Lent for Easter morning!"

So, in our family, we celebrate Lent by...
...eating simple meals with no deserts (or fruit for the littles) except on Sundays and feast days
...the aforementioned paper chain
...reading a story from Bible Stories for the 40 Days each day
...paying special attention to the dawning of the day (if we're awake!) and the coming of night