I did not grow up with liturgical living. Liturgical living is not even something I was aware of until the past couple of years. That is when I heard other traditional Catholic families discussing their reasons for wanting to homeschool their children.
What is Liturgical Living?
Liturgical living is a way to bring in excitement and beauty into your home and daily life according to the rhythms of the Catholic liturgical year. Many people do this via the food they eat, traditional prayers said or by making arts and crafts to celebrate the seasons. At first, the idea of making changes to my daily schedule with young children intimidated me greatly. However, since I have been embracing my Catholic faith deeper, I am becoming more open to this way of living and adding in more traditions. I take my job seriously as the mother of my children to help them learn their faith!
Around The Year With the Von Trapp Family
I first heard about Around the Year With the Von Trapp Family from a fellow Catholic friend. Although this book was written many decades ago, it has been republished within the past few years. Then, as I was deciding which curriculum to use for my preschool age daughter, I saw it was recommended to use for one of my favorite curriculums.
Book Relevance
I am finding after reading this book that the information in it is very relevant today. Maria Von Trapp talks about how people are constantly looking for more conveniences to make their lives easier with the newest gadget. She laments that the very things that are supposed to make their lives easier are taking time away from them. I would especially agree that is true this day and age. We are glued to our phones so frequently now that we are barely noticing what is happening around us and even ignoring our kids. I can sadly admit to doing this. Although, this has improved greatly since I left social media.
Seasons
I adore how Maria Von Trapp takes the reader through the seasons of the year with her own family traditions. Maria did not just advocate for liturgical living, but she lived it in her daily life. She divides her book into the liturgical seasons of the year – Advent, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Candlemas, Carnival, Lent and Paschaltide. Included are her own family traditions of recipes made during certain feasts and days of the year, songs and hymns sung, prayers prayed and arts and crafts made.
Reason for Liturgical Living
The thing I love the most is this is something she fully embraces with her entire heart. She does not see these traditions as an annoyance or something to be intimidated about (like myself). Maria simply sees liturgical living as the way to live and she does not know any other way to live her life. Her attitude is inspiring to me and I am striving to make our daily lives more filled with Catholicism. She explains this is the way things were traditionally in the Church and that we as Catholics have moved away from it, especially in America. Keep in mind that this book was written originally back in 1955. We as American Catholics have strayed even farther away from these traditions. I will say that I believe liturgical living is making a revival back in Catholic homes.
Ways to Implement
If you are like me, you may be intimidated to even start living liturgically. One easy way you can begin these liturgical traditions is you can be creative with your ingredients. Some people add blue foods during Marian feast days. If it is a Marian feast day, add blueberries or some other blue food to your cooking. It is that simple!
I highly recommend getting a Catholic calendar. Most churches offer this to their parishioners at the beginning of the year for free. Another way is to begin looking up feast days or the saint of the day as I do and try to remember that saint or feast in some way during your day. An example of this would be on August 23rd, the feast day of St. Rose of Lima, add some ingredients into your cooking found in Peruvian food – quinoa, yuca, lime juice or chili peppers to name a few. This website has some great Peruvian recipes. One other way to get started is when you are looking up feast days or the saint of the day, look up traditional prayers. I really want to remember to add in the O Antiphons this year during Advent.
I hope you will consider reading Around the Year With the Von Trapp Family. The book is filled with rich content and I believe it can truly enrich your life. Let me know if you have read it and what your favorite liturgical living books are in the comments!
