All posts tagged: Lent

Getting started with Pysanky

Published by

Well, one more week until Holy Week, just enough time to consider whether you might like to try the traditional Easter art of pysanky!  Pysanky, or the creation of decorated Ukrainian Easter eggs, is a very old practice that originated in Eastern Europe.  Traditionally during Holy Week, and in some communitites throughout Lent, Ukrainian ladies would gather in the evenings to decorate these special Easter eggs to adorn the baskets that they would bring to be blessed Easter morning.  The baskets were a celebration of new life, often including things that had been given up during Lent, such as meat, eggs, and rich breads. Last year I was curious and decided to try this art for the first time.  My children joined me in learning, and we have all come to enjoy and value this quiet, simple, meditative activity.  Perhaps you might like to try it as well this year? The materials you will need are very simple and inexpensive: a kistka (writing tool) beeswax for pysanky a candle and holder matches eggs (you can …

Our Daily Bread

Published by

Yesterday, on Holy Wednesday, the children of our church gathered to make bread that will be used for our Maundy Thursday Holy Communion service (A post on that tomorrow!). We used the following recipe from Bethany Thomso of the food blog, A Spoon Full of Yum.  Bethany is wife to The Farmer, mother of four little ones who she home schools in Tennessee, and a former dietician with a lifelong interest in nutrition. Thank you, Bethany, for your recipe and reflection! In prayer, we express our dependence upon the Lord, drawing sustenance from Him, and, just so, the very act of eating bread should remind us of how utterly dependent we are upon Christ, the Bread of Life.  Jesus taught his disciples to pray that the Father would “give us this day our daily bread” (ESV).  Hearkening back to Proverbs 30:8, we may pray: “…Feed me with the food that is needful” (ESV).   No matter our level of education or socioeconomic status, we will never rise above our basic need for food.  This should …

Homely Moments: Children and Holy Week

Published by

We thought it would be fun to launch an inspirational blog link up this week at The Homely Hours.  If you would like to share pictures or ideas of your family celebrating Holy Week, please add your link below.  It will be fun to see how others celebrate!  Alternatively, tag your photos on Instagram or Facebook with #homelyworship.  The invitation to add your link is open through Easter Sunday.  Have a blessed Holy Week. The Triumphal Entry in godly play.  

Prayer Beads for Kids

Published by

One of my goals this Lent is to spend more time in prayer.  My husband gifted me a beautiful set of Anglican prayer beads for Christmas, and the practice of using the beads and ages old prayers, in a rhythmic, defined manner, has made prayer more accessible to me.  And so I am much more inclined to spend time doing it! As I’ve been keeping them around on my desk areas for use, my charming and curious children have asked me what they are for, and so I decided to make them some of their own.  I was somewhat surprised that they were interested, but we ran with it, and came up with these simple circlets for their use. These can be made out of anything, and would be a fun Lenten family activity, or perhaps a surprise in their Easter basket?  Use what you have on hand; plastic pony beads in two colors on a piece of yarn would work just fine. The important thing is to place your beads in this form: For …

A Simple Easter Garden

Published by

Have you ever heard of the tradition of creating an Easter Garden?  This has become a well-loved custom in our home, that begins on Palm Sunday, and we observe through the difficult Holy Week, to its climax on Easter. It is a lovely and symbolic way to mark the events of Holy Week for children, and the adults quite enjoy it too! Here are some simple steps to create your own Easter Garden: Gather your materials: You will need a container to hold your garden; it is helpful if this container can drain so your garden does not get water-logged.  And of course, a tray to catch the draining water.  Use what you have on hand; ours is a large take-out container with holes poked in the bottom and its plastic lid to catch the drainage. a small terra-cotta pot for the tomb.  This should be relative in size to your container, ours is the smallest size pot you can buy. a large rock to cover your tomb.  Send your children outside to find one! …

Devotional Art: A Lenten Reflection

Published by

Our priest’s wife, Sandy Mc Namara, is a teacher and art historian.  She offers this reflection for us in the midst of Lent. Dutch Baroque artist Rembrandt van Rijn over the course of his lifetime painted hundreds of images depicting many Old and New Testament historical events, stories, and parables. Rembrandt is considered a Baroque painter, not only because he lived and painted during the 17th century, but also because his style and technique reflect many major characteristics of that period. Baroque art emphasized the theatrical and dramatic through focused use of strong light/dark contrasts, emotion, and dramatic scenes. One scene of Christ’s earthly ministry that intrigued Rembrandt was the instant when the two disciples who walked the road to Emmaus with Jesus, first realized they were interacting with their Lord after having witnessed his execution and burial. Rembrandt was an artist of human experience who loved to capture the emotional reaction of his subjects at crisis moments. He studied the human face, and attempted to depict the instant of epiphany and realization. This Emmaus …

Children in Worship, or The Mortification of the Parents

Published by

It seems fitting during this penitential season to talk a bit about taking our children to worship.  There are no greater instruments of joy and humility in my life than our five charming and curious children.  More often than not over our 7 years of child rearing and church going, have I sat in the pew, translating references in the liturgy to “the flesh,” to, “the mortification of the flesh.” Oh, the embarrassment! Oh, the travails! (You mean your family doesn’t look just like this in church?) Our parish has a beautiful statement on our website about this: “Children are lovingly invited to our services to participate in the rhythms of the liturgy. In practice, this means that the sounds of children – ranging from laughter to cries – are viewed not as distractions, but reminders that we as a church are all called to be as little children. We do not consider our children future members in training, but rather full members in the present: embraced, accepted, and joyfully welcomed into our corporate worship. …

A Valentine for You, Mom and Dad

Published by

One thing I love about the prayer book is that it gives direction that is simple, precise, and Christ-focused to my thoughts and inward groanings.  This is the prayer that I say the most, under my breath, in desperation, at the end of a long day as I fall asleep: Almighty God, heavenly Father, who hast blessed us with the joy and care of children; Give us light and strength so to train them, that they may love whatsoever things are true and pure and lovely and of good report, following the example of their Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen. Click the image below to download a free printable of the  Parent’s Prayer  pdf from Esther Bley Designs.