This month we celebrated the life of St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, formerly known as Edith Stein. Interestingly enough she was born and raised Jewish, at age 13 fell away from her faith, and then as an adult converted to Catholicism becoming a nun!
The virtue for this month is WISDOM.
Because Edith Stein was raised Jewish, and Rosh Hashanah was just a few days ago, I decided to focus on that interesting aspect. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish 'New Year', a remembrance of God's creation of the earth, and a time when we ask for forgiveness of our sins through God's mercy.
I couldnt help but to note that Edith Stein would have celebrated Rosh Hashanah with her family as a child, asking for God's merciful forgiveness, but then as a Catholic nun was able to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation as well. Christianity is certainly an offshoot of Judaism, and God's merciful forgiveness is key in both faiths.
This is how our evening looked:
First the girls made scrapbook pages for their folders. Another mom provided iris cutouts and silver embossing! That was really fun!
 |
| Scrapbook page for St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross and the virtue of Wisdom |
Then we all went out to the creek behind our house with a handful of pebbles. I told the girls about Rosh Hashanah, reminding them that Edith Stein grew up celebrating the Jewish festivals. We each attached a 'sin' to a small pebble and tossed it into the creek. We know that the creek leads to the Illinois River, and that to the Mighty Mississippi, and then through the New Orleans delta and out to the sea. The tradition of throwing one's sins into the waters that wash to the sea is an old one in the Hebrew culture and celebrated locally by the Jewish community in our town. Of course the girls loved being outside and playing with rocks and water.
It is explained: The Tashlikh
During the afternoon of the first day occurs the practice of tashlikh, in which prayers are recited near natural flowing water, and one's sins are symbolically cast into the water. Many also have the custom to throw bread or pebbles into the water, to symbolize the "casting off" of sins. O the prayer "Who is like unto you, O God...And You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea”
We learned to say "Shana tova!" to each other to wish each other a good year.
We returned inside and talked a bit more about Rosh Hashanah, and then read a traditional prayer.
This prayer is strikingly similar to Christain prayers like the Act of Contrition. We compared the two prayers, and discussed how Rosh Hashannah and the Sacrament of Reconcilliation are similar. We also talked about how lucky Edith Stein was to be able to celebrate both in her life.
Act of Contrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.
After a quick break, the girls considered how when someone becomes a religious (nun or priest) he or she will change his name. Each girl got to share what name she would take if she became a nun. Some ideas were Therese, Cecilia-Helen, Joan of Arc, Joan-Helen, and Lucy. We also recalled the different names of religious acquaintences. Then we said a Hail Mary and the Prayer for Vocations.
We discussed the virtue of WISDOM, which is also a Gift of the Holy Spirit. I read to them: With the gift of wisdom, we see God at work in our lives and in the world. The ups and downs of our lives take on deeper meaning. We discussed what ups and downs were, and then how they can have meaning in our life. And then we talked a bit about the gift of wisdom we receive upon baptism and how we can use that gift when we receive the sacrament of reconcilliation.
Then it was time to play some! I went to cut up apples for the traditional Rosh Hashannah treat of APPLES & HONEY! When asked if apples and honey was an 'up' or 'down' in life, the girls said UP! Then they decided that the meaning that this experience brought to their life was that life is sweet. :)
 |
| Apples and Honey! A traditional medieval Rosh Hashanah treat that reminds us LIFE IS SWEET! |
The girls then spent some time on a Montessori inspired timeline material that shows the unfolding of creation. Small items are placed on the timeline- items such as fossils, feathers, insect carapaces, coal, etc. Also, a cross was placed at the end for the parousia by one of the girls.
 |
| Deciding together how creation unfolds... |
 |
| What the girls ended up with. They had lots of fun picking what went where! |
And before leaving, each girl chose a card with a Gift of the Holy Spirit by which to set a burning candle. Quiet insight was shared, one girl recited the prayer and they returned home.
 |
| The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit |
No comments:
Post a Comment