Adoration for Children

Bright and early at 8:30 a.m., five couples and a total of ten children (plus two in utero! no, God has not blessed us so yet) met at the Adoration Chapel of Belmont Abbey. (Sweet John excitedly dug through his bureau drawer and asked me if he could wear his "special, new tie!")

I have recently begun participating in a group called Mothering with Grace, created by a Catholic mother who is also a La Leche League leader. She loves LLL and many of its mothering philosophies, but wanted something specifically Catholic, so she created her own group that meets monthly for discussion. Another mother from Mothering with Grace decided to create her own group that will meet monthly to teach our little children about Eucharistic Adoration and generally how to behave in church and how to pray.

Today was our first meeting and I considered it a wonderful success. We all arrived at the chapel. Mrs. M--- led six two- and three-year-olds to the front pew. She showed them how to genuflect and make the sign of the cross. Then she talked about the crucifix, monstrance ("can you say 'monstrance'?"), and host. She showed pictures and pointed to the items in real life a few feet away. She had cut out a white circle of paper to look like a host and she passed it around, along with photos of Jesus, as she talked. Mrs. M--- explained the Real Presence at a two-year-old's level of understanding. For every point she made, she had something tangible for the children and I could tell that holding something physical was really captivating for John.

Mrs. M--- read a story about the Mass, showing pictures and describing in very broad, basic terms what happens at the Mass. Then she talked about how to pray to God and how nice it is to pray about things for which we are thankful. She would give an example of what we could thank God for, show a tangible item, and let one child carry that item up to a chair near the altar. Children thanked God for food (an apple, a box of macaroni and cheese), priests (photo of a priest), family (photo of a mom, dad, and child), toys (a teddy bear, a truck), their homes (photo of a home), among other things. Truly, I was in tears, it was so precious.

Then Mrs. M--- talked about saints. She read a book about the twin saints, Scholastica and Benedict. She talked about becoming saintly and how we can pray to saints for their intercession. They practiced, "St. Peter, pray for us. St. Monica, pray for us," etc.

The children were then each asked in turn if they wanted to pray for anyone or anything before we left; I think I overheard John thank God for his mama and daddy. Then the adults prayed one Our Father and one Hail Mary with the children listening along because none of them have those memorized yet. The children were shown how to genuflect and make the sign of the cross as they left.

The teaching event was absolutely beautiful, I was tearful at the gift being given these little ones, and I look forward to participating next month.

Mary crawled around the floor of the chapel with the various little ones under two years old.

After Adoration, the whole gang drove five minutes to a neighborhood park with a great playground for children this young.

Of course, a big hit was this giant "mountain" of leftover wood chips from recently refreshing the playground . . .

. . . and this hapless turtle who caught the children's attention. Truly, I have never seen a turtle crawl so quickly as when there were half a dozen preschoolers following it, petting it, and picking it up!

I gave Mary her first try sitting in a baby swing. She adored it, laughing wildly (unlike her sweet brother who still dislikes and won't tolerate swinging motions).

After we took the children home, I took my second time ever away from Mary to visit a nearby salon for my first hair cut in nine months--good atmosphere, surprisingly modestly dressed staff, great conversation with both the hairdresser and esthetician. Then I stopped by a local coffee shop for half an hour to read and drink an iced mocha. It was really enjoyable except that ultimately I was driven out of the coffee shop early because reading St. Francis de Sales' "Introduction to the Devout Life" (probably my take-one-book-to-a-desert-island book) while trying to tune out raunchy rock music was too difficult for me.