The Angelus

25 March 2014

We certainly are only scratching at the surface of liturgical living around here. Here's some daily bread for you:

Jake: Is it Lent or is it Easter?
Me: It's Lent.
Jake: (cries)

Catechesis? Check.

Neither Jacob nor I grew up Catholic. So this life of feasts and fasts doesn't feel very organic. The culture at large helps with the big ones like Christmas and Easter, but the lesser known ones - like today's Feast of the Annunciation - don't feel natural to me. At least not yet. They sneak up on me, and I encounter them via some social media outlet, and I fumble out a celebration like a person who missed the joke. I want to fill my children's lives with all the loveliness of the Church's traditions, and I want those traditions to feel as if they'd grown right up out of the earth, but so far my efforts have looked more like a mom directing a stilted pageant of hot cross buns.

I guess I want our family faith life to feel like this:

I made this for Jacob one Christmas because, in addition to the Angelus being a favorite prayer of his, this is one of his favorite paintings. Side by side this couple labors, and together they interrupt their ordinary and set aside their tools, he takes off his hat, she clasps her hands, and they speak Mary's blessed words anew.

This morning I conquered my distaste for leaving the house alone, and I trucked me and the littles to Goodwill so I could score some makeshift planters for my succulents, the succulents that I bought last week so we could finally get some Lenten desert up in our house. Up until this morning they were sitting in a clump on our kitchen table, still in their black plastic cups.




 Instead of letting yet another feast day pass us by - instead of losing yet another opportunity in the fuss of "what shall we do?" and "how can it be perfect?" - today we did something beautiful.

Today we said yes to something beautiful.





I also said yes to a second cup of coffee when my toddler skipped his nap this afternoon. That was a good idea too.

20 comments :

  1. Kate, I really like your blog and I thought I should stop skulking in the corner and come out and just say it. Happy solemnity! :)

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  2. I'm new to the faith and also struggle with the liturgical celebrations. I love that you threw pinterest perfection to the wind, and found beauty in saying yes. There could not have been a more perfect way to celebrate the Annunciation. Great job!!

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  3. Love this post!! The way you did the Angelus painting is beautiful! The succulents are so pretty too - what a wonderful day! Also, I grew up Catholic and we never celebrated so many feast days, so don't you worry! You can do what's best for you and your family!

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  4. A young friend was buried yesterday on this beautiful Feast day, and that is what the priest said "As a true witness to her Catholic Faith, Lauren also said "yes" as Our Blessed Mother did"! xxx
    You are doing a fabulous job Kate, never give up not matter how hard!
    Liv xox
    ps how did you transfer that image onto board???

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    1. I know some other people who were friends with Lauren. My heart goes out to you and her family and larger community.

      I did the image transfer with an acrylic gel medium. I can send you the link to a tutorial if you shoot me an e-mail.

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  5. I am totally with you on this one! I did not realize yesterday was the Feast of the Annunciation until I saw a post about it on Facebook yesterday morning! I scrambled to figure a way to celebrate it with my girls, and then I realized we are talking about the letter "Y" in our homeschool right now, so we just focused on "Yes" too. I love how you did it.

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  6. Hi! I'm new to your blog, and I was wondering if you've written anything about becoming Catholic? I'd love to read your journey there since so many of the Catholic bloggers I've read were born into it. I'm not Catholic, but I'm very curious about it and love reading different perspectives on being Catholic/converting to Catholicism.

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    1. Not yet...I've thought about it, but it feels like such a mammoth of a story to post up next to diaper cream DIYs ;) One of these days though...

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  7. I have a hard time with feast day celebrations too. I feel like I barely have my act together on regular days, never mind putting something together for that! And I echo Rachel - any blog posts on your conversion? And Jacob's?

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  8. Millet's "The Angelus" is my mom's favorite and hangs in her house, too. Beautiful post :)

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  9. Wonderful post!! Hey now, I'm a cradle Catholic and I grew up in a good Catholic family with a decent church. We actually said the Angelus every night at dinner! However, there is SO much I don't know or was taught improperly. I'm 45 and my sister is 54 and we are always talking about these things. "What?! You mean we are supposed to either give up meat OR make some other sort of sacrifice on EVERY Friday of the year," or "Sundays aren't actually technically days of lent." Actually, it's really hard when you learned it all wrong and have to relearn it. I home school my children and my kids surpassed me years ago in what they know about the Faith. Seriously, I have to ask them questions about it all. (Well, the older ones at least.)

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  10. p.s. I LOVE your conversation with Jake! Too cute! I feel like that some days with lent...a lot actually!

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  11. p.p.s. I can't believe I forgot my question marks. Actually, I can..

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  12. May I ask how you made that wooden Angelus painting?

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    1. I looked at several tutorials on line, but here was the most helpful:

      http://whollykao.com/2011/12/30/the-photo-to-wood-transfer/

      I've done enough of them now that I'm thinking I might put together my own tutorial, so stay tuned, and I'll try to get one up with my tips and snazzy tricks in a few weeks!

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  13. Those are gorgeous!

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  14. Kate, this was such a lovely post. I just want to say, as the wife of a recent convert, that you shouldn't worry or feel stressed out if you can't remember or celebrate all the feast days in the calendar. I mean, there are a LOT of them. I grew up in a very devout Catholic family, and as an adult, I am kind of dumbstruck at the lengths other families go to in celebrating all these different little feasts. My parents made a big deal for Christmas and Easter, we did the Advent wreath, and we got cake and sometimes a small gift on each of our individual saint's days (because we're Hispanic so saint's days are a big deal). That's it, beyond going to Mass on Holy Days of Obligation. It's kind of like this article says: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristen-howerton/can-we-bring-the-holidays_b_2903040.html. You don't need to do a huge song and dance for every feast day. Pick the ones that are important to YOU and YOUR family, celebrate those, and let the others pass you by without worrying about them.

    Also, on a side note, I forgot it was the feast of the Annunciation until I went on Facebook that day. Whoops. :p

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