the true. the good. the beautiful. week 3.

“That his creatures should share

in his truth, goodness, and beauty --

this is the glory for which God created them.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 319

On cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty in our home
one week at a time.

The True: Feeding the Intellect
Saint Nicholas

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Nicholas. Every year the kids get some great chocolate coins and a new book. I found four great books this year on the real Saint Nicholas, including a board book for The Baby. I was so excited! Unfortunately, not one of the books was delivered on time for tomorrow. (I'm guessing they will arrive tomorrow afternoon! Ugh!) So I had to run to Barnes and Noble this evening for Plan B -- four different non-St. Nicholas books. Again, ugh! These books are all good stories, but really I was quite upset about not getting the first set. See, this year is a special year for Miss Rose and Miss Sunshine. This is the year we tell them the truth about Saint Nicholas and allow them to share in the joy of being Santa Claus for their younger brother and sister (hopefully). I remember the year my mom told me ... I was in third grade ... I cried. hard. I am a little apprehensive about how it will go with the girls tomorrow. I have a feeling Miss Rose is going to respond as I did. And I have a feeling Miss Sunshine is going to say, "I thought so." I'm not quite sure how to approach the whole thing. Truthfully, I was hoping one of the books that was supposed to arrive would help me out. Say a little prayer for us, please. And, if you have any helpful hints .... We got a babysitter for the two younger ones and we plan on taking the girls out for a talk and a special treat after dinner tomorrow night.

(As a side, I have mixed feelings about the whole Santa Claus thing. Sometimes I wish we wouldn't have made it such a big deal. But I wasn't where I am now nine years ago when we starting celebrating Christmas with our own children.)

The Good: Forming the Will
Serving our Parish Community

This Sunday was our family's first time serving as hospitality ministers at our parish. It is a great way for the kids to get involved. They passed out hymnals before Mass to people entering the church and they collected hymnals after Mass and handed out the weekly bulletin. There were many opportunities for good lessons: lessons in serving, lessons in greeting people -- "Good morning!" before Mass and "Have a good day!" after -- lessons in making eye contact and having conversations with strangers. And the kids loved being involved (and having special name tags to wear!). The girls also stayed after morning Mass on Friday to help clean the church -- another great lesson in service to our parish community.

The Beautiful: Inspiring the Affections

A Christmas Concert and Opera

This afternoon we attended Christmas at Mary -- the University of Mary's annual Christmas concert. The concert included performances by the concert choir and a brass ensemble, and a performance of Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act. It is about an impoverished woman and her crippled son, Amahl, at whose home the three kings stop to rest on their journey following the star to find the Christ Child.

(Link up in the comments if you'd like to share what you're doing to bring the true, the good, and the beautiful to your home.)

the true. the good. the beautiful. week 2.

“That his creatures should share

in his truth, goodness, and beauty --
this is the glory for which God created them.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 319

As I noted last week, lately I have felt an increasing need to be more intentional about cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty in our home. To that end, I want to share with you what we are doing to bring that about, in the hopes that you might share with me the same.

The True: Feeding the Intellect
It is Advent (!)

It is becoming alarming to me how difficult it is to teach my children the difference between Advent and Christmas. Since the beginning of November, the malls have been decorated. Christmas music is playing. Christmas commercials are running. Cards and gifts are arriving. We are invited to Christmas parties. Come the 26th of December, the decorations will come down, the music will stop, discarded trees will be thrown to the curb. But the season of Christmas will just be beginning! I have been pounding it into the kids' heads that, despite what they see and hear all around them (except in church), IT IS NOT CHRISTMASTIME!!! IT IS ADVENT! A season of preparation. A season of waiting. A season of expectation.

We do everything we can to make Advent a distinct season in our home. We put a tree up on the first Sunday of Advent, but it is decorated with pink and purple lights and ribbon. We add our Jesse tree ornaments, one or two a day, after reading the appropriate Scripture story. On Christmas Eve, we take the Advent decorations off and put on multi-colored lights and Christmas ornaments. It is a lot of work, yes, but it makes the two seasons very distinct. In like manner, I refrain from putting out other Christmas decorations until Christmas Eve. We decorate with snowmen and snowflakes and, on December 6, add our stockings and Saint Nicholas decorations, but the red and green "Merry Christmas" stuff doesn't come out until the end. And it stays out until Epiphany. Our stable is out, but Mary, Joseph, and Jesus remain out of sight. There is no star on our tree. We try and keep Christmas music to a minimum. Then during the Christmas season, we play our Christmas music. We stretch out our gift giving -- the children receive a gift on each of the twelve days of Christmas. They always get a new pair of pajamas and an ornament and a magazine subscription. Sometimes the gift is one for all four of them, like a game or a movie.

We are trying to teach the children the truth that Christmas is the season starting Christmas Day and lasting until the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.

The Good: Forming the Will
Sacrifices and Good Deeds

During Advent, we have a tradition of lining a manger with a piece of hay to represent each sacrifice offered, each good deed done, to prepare a place for the Baby Jesus on Christmas Day. I am always pleasantly surprised by how the children get into this tradition. Just today, they were exceptionally good at Mass, even reminding each other quietly to fold their hands or keep their rears off the pew when kneeling. They cleaned their room together and offered to clear one another's dishes. They volunteered to be last instead of first. And our manger already has a nice thin layer of hay.

The Beautiful: Inspiring the Affections
A Real Tree

Despite the fact we were unable to cut down our own tree this year, we were still able to pick out a live one from a nearby nursery. There is nothing like the fragrance of a real evergreen in our home!

(Link up in the comments if you'd like to join me.)

the true. the good. the beautiful. week 1.

“That his creatures should share
in his truth, goodness, and beauty --
this is the glory for which God created them.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 319

Ours has been called a culture of death.

Indeed.

As a parent, especially, I have become increasingly aware of this. Because I have to choose daily to combat it. I have to correct the lies our culture feeds my children. I have to explain the bad choices people make and the consequences of those choices. I have to shield what is ugly from their eyes and ears. We are inundated with what is false and what is bad and what is ugly.

And I ask myself: How do I teach my children Truth in a world that values relativism? How do I teach them Good in a world that delights in personal happiness, individual freedom and license? How do I teach them Beauty when every time we leave our home or turn on our television or radio some billboard or commercial or news headline bombards them with what is ugly?

Before my husband and I ever had children, we discussed what we wanted our home to be like for them. We talked of filling our home with the true, the good, and the beautiful. And we talked about how we would do this: how we would stimulate their intellects with Truth, how we would provide opportunities for their wills to choose the Good, how we would inspire their affections with Beauty.

Lately I have felt an increasing need to be more intentional about cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty in our home. To that end, I want to share with you what we are doing to bring that about, in the hopes that you might share with me the same. In teaching our children what is True, what is Good, and what is Beautiful, we can build a culture of life. one family at a time.

I'll start.

The True: Feeding the Intellect
Reading the Lives of the Saints

This past week we have been using a great study series to learn about the life of Blessed Imelda Lambertini, patron saint of first communicants. As part of our study, we've also had opportunity to talk about two other child saints: Saint Tarsicius and Saint Agnes. Better than fairy tales, these true stories have captured my childrens' hearts and imaginations and inspired in them a feeling that even they can do great things for God.

The Good: Forming the Will
Table Manners

Inspired by our studies of the Little House series, and frustrated by the noise level in our home, especially at meal time, we have begun to focus on having one conversation at a time at the dinner table. This means, practically speaking, that the children will not speak unless spoken to, at least to begin with. It sounds drastic, I know, but training in restraint in speech and learning to listen to others is already beginning to bear fruit. In addition, we are practicing our table manners. To this end, I purchased a cloth napkin for each person in the family -- each person has his or her own color, so I only have to wash the napkins when they get REALLY dirty.

The Beautiful: Inspiring the Affections
Candles

With the cold winter air howling outside (it's six BELOW zero with the wind chill as I write this!) and the stale closed up house, we brought beauty to our schoolroom this past week with a candle. It was a simple way to create a cozy atmosphere. The kids enjoyed both the smell (Cabin Scents is my favorite) and the flickering flame and asked to light it every morning as school began and in the afternoon when classes resumed.

(Link up in the comments if you'd like to join me.)