Family in Feast and Feria

We adore You, O Christ, and praise You.
Because by Your Cross You have redeemed the world. (from the Stations of the Cross)

This is the Wood of the Cross, on which hung the Savior of the World
Come, let us worship! (From the Good Friday Liturgy)

1 Cor 1:23: For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

September 14 is the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, also called "Exaltation of the Cross", and the following day is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. These are interconnected feast days.

As usual, I have lots of thoughts and ideas on how to celebrate the upcoming feast, but something else has come up and I have to trim away some extra plans. I'll do the bare-boned celebration this year, but I'm including all the ideas I have so I can remember for next year.

Today's feast is triumphant, as we celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death through his dying on the cross. We remember Good Friday. But that is a solemn day. Today is triumphant -- we rejoice that this instrument, the cross, brought our salvation. So thinking of the cross in all different forms is on our mind today.

And in thinking of the cross, of the crucifixion, we cannot separate the image of his mother standing there, watching her Son die. Then to take Him into her arms and bury Him. Although she rejoiced that He, as the Messiah, would open the Gates of Heaven for all men, it must have been very hard as a mother to endure the loss and separation, to witness the cruelty and ugliness of sin.

First stop, attending Mass. The Mass is the representation of Jesus at Calvary -- that's the whole point of this feast -- pointing back to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Then our picture book reading. Cay Gibson has included ideas for the Triumph of the Cross in her wonderful Catholic Mosaic. This is a must-have book for all Catholic moms. How wonderful to have a book, discussion questions, and activities for special feasts already compiled?

As per Cay's suggestions, we are reading The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale by Angela Elwell Hunt, illustrated by Tim Jonke.

The Jesus Garden: an Easter Legend by Antoinette Bosco, illustrated by Patricia Mattozzi. The book covers different legends associated with Christ's passion: the robin redbreast, bleeding hearts, morning glories and the dogwood. I do find some of the text a little wordy at spots to read to my young son, but the illustrations are gorgeous. Both books my 3 year old asks to read, and is deeply moved.

For Our Lady of Sorrows, the reading will be from Mary: The Mother of Jesus by Tomie de Paola. Not all seven sorrows are included in the stories, but enough to discuss.

There are also corresponding Bible stores and quotes to use to illustrate these sorrows:
1. The Prophecy of Simeon. Luke 2: 25-35.
2. The Flight into Egypt. Matthew 2: 13-15.
3. The Child Jesus Lost in the Temple. Luke 2: 41-50.
4. Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross. Luke 23: 27-29.
5. Mary at the foot of the cross. John 19: 25-30.
6. Mary receives the body of Jesus, the Pieta. Psalm 130.
7. Mary buries Jesus. Luke 23: 50-56.

Of final note, September 14 is also part of the Ember Days, one of the four set of days reserved in the Church year, September's focus on the harvest. This explanation is the most helpful. Since Vatican II, the ember days are celebrated only if the local bishop's conference chooses to do so. Since ember and rogation days are tied to the seasons, they are normall celebrated in more rural areas.

Two sites to not miss for information and inspiration:

Catholic Culture, Triumph of the Cross and Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Women for Faith and Family, Exaltation of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows.

And This thread from 4Real Learning has some fabulous ideas.

From these sites there are ideas about decorating or cooking with basil, learning about the finding of the true cross by St. Helen, and the history of the feasts themselves. The Golden Legend includes the Story of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Prayers today and tomorrow: As simple as it is, the Sign of the Cross will be our pivotal discussion for prayer. Discussing the symbolism, significance, demonstrating the correct form.

We will also be discussing and perhaps doing a few of the Stations of the Cross. We have a flip chart, easel style that have illustrations of the mysteries of the rosary on one side and the Stations on the other which help with the visuals. We also will pray as a family the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. Discuss and meditate on the seven sorrows of Mary.

Appropriate hymns: "Lift High the Cross" is a triumphal hymn perfect for the feast of the Cross. "Stabat Mater" or "At the Cross Her Station Keeping" is a prayer that is also set to music and used for the Stations and the most appropriate for Our Lady of Sorrows. This site compiled a list of 212 different versions of Stabat Mater!

Activities:
For food, I will be posting some simple ideas at my food blog for some ideas.

Art: Find different masterpieces depicting the Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows. Catholic Culture had some links for the 7 Sorrows that could be both an art and religious study. Michelangelo's Pieta is one that immediately comes to mind. Also discussing and drawing Mary's Immaculate heart pierced with seven swords.

The San Damiano Cross is one of my favorite versions of crosses. Actually, it would be considered a crucifix because Christ is painted on the cross. This would be a great day to discuss the symbolism. See San Damiano Cross for ideas.

There are all sorts of ideas for arts and crafts with crosses, besides the standby of coloring. I'm just mentioning one. On Good Friday my son painted wooden cross (scroll down). My sister picked up several plain crosses at the Dollar Store, spray painted them gold, and each cousin painted their own. I really liked the idea, and ds LOVED painting it. We also both like the finished product. It was easy, cheap and fun.