Get These 8 Books Ready for the 2nd Week of Advent

Happy first day of Advent!

I pray it's been a wonderfully blessed day for you.

Here, we did not partake in all of our Happy New Liturgical Year family traditions, but we did enjoy some of them.

Early this morning, I found our Works of Mercy Wisemen, our Jesse Tree ornaments, and some favorite Advent books and palced them in a corner of the living room where they will be ready for bedtime reading and ornament hanging by the Advent wreath tonight.

Then, before Mass, my youngest pulled down the first link of our Advent chain and, together, our family focused on what it suggested.

After Mass, we partook in the extra blessings of meeting our new pastor and spending hours chatting, eating, and playing with fellow parishioners.

Thenm, as day turned to night, my children and I also went on our first day (okay, early evening) of Advent nature walk to pick out a branch for our Jesse tree and some greenery for our Advent wreath.

Around the aforementioned activities, instead of coming together for a Happy New Liturgical Year meal, game, and celebration as a family, we each naturally retreated to different quiet spots for personal downtime. (There's been a lot of busyness and some bumps in life lately, and so some quiet personal time seemed best today.)

During part of my quiet time, I decided which picture books I want to have on the ready for our second week of Advent Works of Mercy Wisemen tradition and - hoping they will come in on time - ordered the ones we do not have in our personal collection from our library website.

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If you'd like to do the same, here's my list:

December 5

2nd Sunday of Advent 
(a day we try to fit cookie making into)

The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale

Have we been stingy with our gifts? What Work of Mercy might we act upon today while being generous with our gifts?

or

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus' Birth

Is there a way we might instruct the ignorant, feed the hungry, or both, much like the characters in this book?

December 6

Feast of St. Nicholas

(a day we typically go in a field trip to do charitable works for the poor)

The Miracle of Saint Nicholas

What a beautiful story of people coming together to give what they have so that love, joy, and devotion may prevail. How might you come together with others today to live a Work of Mercy?

December 7

Feast of St. Ambrose

The Christmas Candle

"If we will see things as they truly are, we will find that all, from great to small, belong to one family. And this truth, known from the beginning of time, is perhaps seen best in the joyous illumination of Christmas." Is there someone who could use your help?

December 8

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(and a birthday here)

The Donkey's Dream

There are so many beautiful and symbolic images connected to Our Lady. Which one speaks to you?Is there someone who could use a little extra grace and intercession today? Perhaps we could pray to Our Lady for that person.

December 9

Feast of St. Juan Diego

Talking Eagle and the Lady of Roses: The Story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe

St. Juan Diego - a man of simplicity, humility, obedience, and love of others - can act as an example to us. As you read his story, who or what came to mind? Is there a person you feel prompted to reach out to? An issue you sense needs attention? What can you do about that today?

December 10

The Gift of Saint Nicholas

Sometimes the greatest gift we can give someone is company. Other times, it is lending a hand? Who might need encouragement, a visit, or a hand?

December 11

 

An Orange for Frankie

Is there a family member or stranger that could use your help? What might you sacrifice today for the good of another?

I'd love to hear what seasonal picture books and Advent activities you've been enjoying.

May you continue to live this liturgical season in joyful anticipation.

***

Find book and audio selections for all four weeks of Advent by clicking throgh each image below

7+ Books to Share in the First Week of Advent

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I love Christmas-themed books and have read oodles of them to my children through the years, highlighting a number of them in recent years with our Works of Mercy Wisemen tradition.

As I think ahead to which books I will pull out, purchase, or order from the library this year, I asked each of my children to name a favorite. 

Their shortlist was:

Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey

Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect

So, I will be making sure to include all of these in our Advent this year. In fact, one of the books will kick off our Works of Mercy Wisemen adventures this year.

On each day of Advent - or the days I manage to help the Wise Men journey - our Wise Men figurines stand in tableau with a book and, sometimes, a prompt and other times for my children to find.

This year, I am trying to decide books and prompts ahead of time and thought I'd share my first week's choices in case they inspire you.

I'd love to hear which books will be in your Advent book basket, too!

November 28

First Day of Advent
(and the day we typically go for a nature walk to find a branch for our Jesse tree and greenery for our Advent wreath)

Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent

Today, we begin reading about Jotham and his friends once more as we gather around our Advent wreath and hang our Jesse Tree ornaments. With each ornament, let's pray for the living by pausing to pray for the family that made the ornament for us.

November 29
(a birthday here)

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

Sacrifice, hope, determination, and love. All of these qualities are exemplified by the characters in this story. They are also exemplified by Daddy. Today, might we pray for the living and the dead by offering a special prayer for Daddy? Or, might we complete a secret service for him or in some other way encourage or honor him?

November 30

Feast of St. Andrew
(and a day when we start the St. Andrew Novena)

Lighthouse Christmas

Today is the feast of St. Andrew - a fisherman and fisher of men. He was the apostle who let Jesus know about the boy with five barley loaves and two fish before Jesus fed the multitudes through a miracle. In today's story, the lighthouse family receives a miracle of sorts through the Flying Santa. is there a "miracle" you could be a part of today? Perhaps one which would feed the hungry?

December 1

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey

Jonathon Toomey, a lonely man, was transformed through his interaction with the boy and his mom. Is there someone especially lonely that we know?Might we visit the imprisoned (by loneliness) of comfort the afflicted in some way?

December 2
Feast Day of St. Bibiana

The Little Match Girl

Today is St. Bibiana's feast day. Consider how she lost everything except for her faith. Think about the little matchstick girl. Do we know anyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one, job, home, or health? Might we comfort the afflicted by writing an encouraging note? Or, could we clothe the naked by putting such things as hand warmers, gloves, hats, warm socks, etc. together to keep in the car to hand out to homeless people?

December 3
Feast of St. Francis Xavier

Tree of Cranes

Today is the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, "Apostle of the Indies" and "Apostle of Japan", and this story shows someone giving selflessly without expectation of a return gift. Might we feed the hungry by making a Japanese- or Indian-inspired meal to share with someone who could use a lift?

December 4

Feast of St.John Damascus

Christmas Story: Told Through Paintings

Today is the feast day of John of Damascus or Damascene, who, among other things, eloquently defended the practice of venerating Christian images and, therefore, became known as the "Doctor of Christian Art." After browsing the images in today's beautiful book, might we use some beautiful Christian artwork in a craft project which can be part of a Work of Mercy? What and how?

We shall see if I am able to keep thinking ahead and shall also see how these prompts go over with my kids. In the meantime, I would love to hear what books are in your Advent book basket.

***

Find book and audio selections for all four weeks of Advent by clicking throgh each image below

Combine Picture Study, Paragraph Writing and Saint Stories for St. Clement's Feast Day

November 23rd is the Optional Memorial of St. Clement 1, Pope and Martyr. It can also be a wonderful day for coming together as a family for art appreciation, writing, and saint stories.

We did just that last year.

St. Clement Picture Study and Art History /Appreciation

I gathered my children together and presented them with these two images:

 

I asked them to study the images for a full minute without speaking, and, then, hid the images and asked each to share some recalled details.

Then, I showed the images again and asked my children to notice any similarities and differences in them, which, of course, had them noting that the main figure in both paintings is similar.

This led to me explaining that both paintings were created by the same artist - Bernardino Fungai, an Italian painter.

I, then, asked my children if they could guess when the artist lived based on the style of the painting.

We noted that the painting had rather flat figures, lacked naturalistic depth and volume, but had some semblance of a realistic nature and a definite background (rather than, say, gold leaf).

With this in mind, we determined the paintings must have been done after the Medieval art period - when figures were painted quite flat and stiff without much background - and before or just entering into the Renaissance period, when human figures were painted with realism and backgrounds were highly detailed. Thus, the painting must be from the Gothic era, bordering on the Renaissance. (The painter lived 1460- c.1516.)

I, then, asked my children what purpose they thought they painter had had in creating the paintings.

We decided it was to tell a story.

I asked if anyone could think of another word for telling stories and we got to the word narrations.

Types of Paragraphs Mini-Lesson

I bridged to the idea that storytelling, or narration, is also done with writing, of course, and that one type of paragraph is a narrative paragraph - or one that tells about an event or series of events, usually in chronological order.

I, then, asked the children if they could recall the other three main types of paragraphs:

• descriptive - describes a person, an object, or a scene in detail, often using many sensory detail

• expository - often lists facts, gives directions, or explains ideas; sometimes defines terms, makes comparisons, and/or shows cause and effect and typically uses logical order

• persuasive - shares an opinion about a particular subject and tries to convince readers to agree with the opinions and to take action; often uses order of importance

We, then, discussed that just as painters rarely arbitrarily select the figures, colors, and more for their artwork, writers often select types of paragraphs with specific purposes in mind.

If writers seek to entertain readers or express themselves, they typically use narration or description.

If they seek to inform, they often use exposition - and sometimes narration.

If they wish to influence people, they use persuasion.

Thus, several paragraphs written about the same subject might be very different, depending on why a writer wrote them.

With this in mind, we chatted about other things we know about paragraphs, including going over the fact that we divide a larger body of writing into paragraphs to give a readers’ eyes a rest and to indicate switches to new main ideas.

We also talked about starting a new paragraph when:

• expressing a new or different main idea
• explaining another part of your subject or step in a process
• providing another kind of support for your opinion 
• changing the time or location
• changing speakers

Writing Challenge

All that discussed, I set a timer and challenged each of us to choose ONE type of paragraph and to write something inspired by the paintings in paragraph form.

After that, we shared our paragraph's and guessed what type of writing - narrative, descriptive, expository, or persuasive - each of us was going for. (We had all chosen narrative!)

I then revealed the names of the paintings: St. Clement Striking the Rock and Martyrdom of St. Clement and asked if anyone could recall anything about St. Clement.

St. Clement Study

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Our own stories shared, I then read the St. Clement story from Once Upon a Time Saints, which we chatted about briefly.

Finally, as a sort of invitation to creativity, I showed my children this St. Clement video from Youtube:

My hope was that the video might inspire my children to learning more about this saint and other saints through questioning and/or perhaps decide to make some videos/film shorts inspired by this one.

That did not happen that day, but the seeds were planted for another...

And the creative writing that came out of the day was entertaining enough to share - which I will do in a moment.

First, though, I would just like to say that the paintings, mini-lesson, writing, and reading became a worthwhile cross-ages, cross-curricula study, and I pray that by sharing about it here, you are inspired to enjoy art, writing, and the saints with your own children.

Stories to Share

In the first narrative piece, the writer married elements of Biblical writing with humor, with his own personal style, combining inspiration from both Fungai paintings - as well as from the characteristic style of Gothic paintings - into the story.

The Bishop hit a rock and said, "Let there be water." And water gushed from the rock. 
Now, there happened to be a dancing lamb on the rock, and he got swept away away into the ocean where he got hit by an anchor that the same bishop that hit the rock threw.  Yes, he can bilocate at any given time. Also, he can grow giant whenever he wants. Shrinking stuff for him is as easy as breathing for us mere humans.

The next story told took inspiration from the Martyrdom of St. Clement, and then began to use ideas from the other painting, Some paragraphs are move narrative and others more descriptive All work to tell a story with strong imagery, vivid verbs, and specific nouns.

It has been six weeks since we set anchor in this foreboding place. 

When we arrived, the land had seemed cheerful and welcoming because land does not roar and pitch poor vessels into the sky only to crash them back down with the snapping of timber. And land does not swallow ships whole in the belly of a wave. 

But, we soon learned and had its issues as well. 

Now, as we travel through this land, I long to hear the trickle of water in this desert.

The third story was only loosely inspired by the paintings, taking the figure in the armor-like head covering and the "gush" as inspiration for a dramatic, action-packed, and gruesome narrative.

The tall man wrenched his weapon from the dead guard and headbutted his next attacker.

Thane had seen enough. He threw himself at the scythe-wielding reaper of men, thrusting forward his spear. The pointed shaft penetrated the muscle of the man and pierced his heart, showering those nearby with blood as it skewered him.

Thane dropped his spear and drew his arming sword. Before him, northern raiders pillages the town, plundering its wealth, setting its building ablaze, and slaughtering or enslaving its people. 

A gaunt prisoner barely covered with threadbare strips of cloth, plodded away from the stone quarry. His throat ached with dryness.

As he paused his weary steps, closing his yes and drawing in a weak breath, heavenly vision of thirst-quenching water played in his mind's eye. 

Drip. Drip, Drop. The prisoner thought he could hear the soothing water in his imagination. Then, the gentle dropping sound turned to a full on splash that taunted him so strongly that his eyes flew open.

"What?" he croaked incredulously.

In front of him stood that crazy Clement who called himself and exiled Christian, and, in front of Clement stood an incredible flow of water - real, sweet water.

I hope you have enjoyed this look into our eclectic study of St. Clement and can enjoy your own inspired lessons with your children.

St. Clement, pray for us.