Faith Wednesdays

The schedule we follow for homeschooling has some subjects that are daily (Latin, math, composition, history, Logic for The Young Adult), and subjects that we highlight once a week. Mondays are Literature days, Tuesdays are US Geography, Wednesdays are faith, and Thursdays are science.

So, today is Wednesday! Faith day! We are using Memoria Press's Christian Studies I (which they say takes one year to complete, but it takes us 2 years every time I do it!). In addition to that, I plan on crafting a faith program for us to use.

So, every Wednesday, we will learn

• a new prayer
• a saint
• something special about our faith
• our Christian Studies lesson

Prayer of the Week : The Angelus

The Angelus, by Millet

This is a beautiful older prayer that helps us to remember that God became man and dwelt among us. It praises the sweet "yes" of Mary at the moment the angel Gabriel came to announce she would be the mother of the Messiah. It ends with a prayer that reads like poetry, asking for grace  from the God of the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection to be united with him one day.

This prayer was traditionally recited at 6am, noon, and 6pm. The ringing of the Angelus bells called the faithful to stop and pray. The Angelus bell can be rung a total of nine times, in three sets of three, with a pause between each set.

Leader: The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary
All: and she conceived by the Holy Spirit
All: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinner, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Leader: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord
All:  Be it done unto me according to Thy word
All: Hail Mary, full of grace....

(bow or genuflect, as a sign of respect for the moment of Incarnation during the following lines)
Leader: And the Word was made flesh
All: And dwelt among us.
All: Hail Mary, full of grace...


Leader: Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God
All: That we made be made worthy of the promises of Christ

All: Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts;
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel,
may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Ressurection, through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.


 Saint of the Week:  
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata)

Right now is a wonderful time to celebrate the life of this extraordinary servant of God. Thursday, August 26 would have been the 100th birthday of Mother Teresa. September 5 will be the 13th anniversary of her heavenly birth.

Mother Teresa was both a simple woman and a complex person. Her faith was deep, but so childlike. To her, the will of God was all there was. As God called her to serve "the poorest of the poor", that is exactly what she did. Mother Teresa is remembered for her passionate defense of life - each and every life in every state no matter what. This tiny dynamo had no problems admonishing the so-called great of this world to defend life and care for each person in their reach. Yet she also tenderly loved the ill, the sick, the dying, the abandoned, the ones who needed love the most.

As I prepared this part of the lesson, it amazed me to think that none of my children were born when Mother Teresa was alive. True, I was a few months from giving birth to The Young Adult as I sat watching Mother's funeral. Still, they are familiar with her name.

There are so many resources for learning about Blessed Mother Teresa. 

Available now is an absolutely stunning special edition of Time magazine, featuring Blessed Mother Teresa (see the picture above). I was making an emergency stop at CVS last week when I saw it, and despite it being $12, I had to buy it. The photographs are gorgeous. The stories are moving. Every one of the boys, not to mention ArtGuy and myself, have been reading and re-reading through this magazine.

We also used a beautiful book by Demi, simply called Mother Teresa. The illustrations are lush and colorful. The story of Mother's life is told simply enough.

Netflix has one video, "Great Souls: Mother Teresa" on demand. It is not really suitable for young children, but older children and adults might enjoy it. It uses a lot of authentic footage, so it is interesting to get a glimpse into India in general. But there is a really creepy section on the riots early in Mother's residency in India.
Netflix has several other choices via mail.

I have different books of Mother Teresa, her words, her quotes. I never fail to come away happier and more inspired from even a brief reading.

"It is not how much we do but how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful for God." - Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

EWTN is running a show called "A Day with Mother Teresa" on Aug 26 at 2am and 5:30pm Central time! They also have a great commemorative site for Mother Teresa!