Today is Our Lady of Sorrows Feast Day, so I’m be sharing a little special something I did with the kids, to learn a bit about it, and acknowledge it. Over the weekend, we decided to look around in The Christmas Tree Shops. If you don’t have one of those near you, I feel bad for you.  It’s such a great, affordable place, and I always come out with more than I planned on getting. So I try not to go in often. : )  But this time we all went in – and being the season to sell autumn decorations and goods, I had to control myself with every turn.  However…..we did let the kids each choose a mini loaf ceramic pan, with the intention of letting them bake some mini loaves on Sunday.

Sunday got away in terms of baking.  So then it got pushed to Monday…which is today. This morning, somehow we went way off track of our usual school morning routine.  We got into helping the kids put finishing touches on some paper crafts they had started yesterday ( I’ll be blogging about that soon), and then we had to clean up the mess made in a flurry of creativity. By the time we were done, we realized we really needed to get the kids to their schoolwork, so we decided to move family devotion to the afternoon (usually done first in the day). Since we were going to do that, and it was the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we decided to whip up some Quick Bread first and let the mini loaves bake while we did our school work, and plan on having an afternoon ‘tea’ together, and discuss the Feast Day, after school and lunch.

Boy did the house smell good while school work was getting done. Banana bread – one of our favorites.  Soon the timer went off, and  it was time for them to come out of the oven and cool for a bit.

The kids we so excited to have their own loaf (not to be eaten ALL at once) that they ate lunch a bit faster.

So we gathered in the sun room for Devotion, and discussion of the Feast Day while having a ‘tea’. We have had a ‘tea’ time a time or 2 before, but it was hot cocoa or something for them in the past.  We just called it tea, for the sake of a tea time.  But this time they tried some real tea.  It was apple cinnamon decaf, and the little ones were pretty excited to try it – even though {A} tried to let them know they may not care for it, since she had tried it before.  But she too was willing to try it again.  Turns out, she still didn’t like it, 2 others didn’t think they did either. and the last thought it was ‘ok he guessed’.  They sipped here and there as we chatted about the Blessed Mother, but not quite like they do hot cocoa. Their own little banana bread loaves, however, they were really enjoying.

For our discussion, first, we asked the kids how many times they could think of off the top of their head, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, might have experienced deep sorrow.  Naturally, they all guessed his crucifixion, and death on the cross. {A} also named the time when Mary searched for three days in Jerusalem for her son, who was missing, and later found Him in the temple, teaching. Once they were done throwing out their thoughts, we taught them the 7 times Mary experienced great suffering in her life. We talked quite a bit about it, and how hard many of those times must have been.  We can only try and imagine.  (And as a mother, I don’t even want to. But I must, to truly begin to appreciate her sacrifice, and reasoning for it.)

It was a lovely tea time, even if the tea itself wasn’t the hit they hoped.  There will be others, no doubt.  Probably many in the coming cold season.  We just leave the table with a warmer feeling inside.  Perhaps it’s the tea.  Perhaps it’s feeling a bit more in touch with our faith than when we sat.  Or maybe it’s just the time together. In any case, we find tea time is good for the soul.

On a somewhat unrelated note, we might mention how Sunday ‘got away’.  At some point, either while we were at mass, or picking up lumber at Home Depot, our little friend ‘Webington Ringaling’ broke free in the house…and we still haven’t found him.