…soon! We have not officially started our school year. We finished up in June and will start back up in September. However, we have begun our usual school readiness – where we gradually add a couple of “school items” to our daily routine. This is probably more for me than for the kids. They’re always ready to school and in fact, they do but they don’t consider it school unless all the new school items are in place. I on the other hand, need a gradual transition. The transition helps me to work out scheduling conflicts, rev up to an early rise time, train the littlest ones so that they’re somewhat used to a more structured day once school is completely in session, and lastly – I love schooling!
Really, I do! Once, when Rose was about 7 she asked me, “mom, what did you want to be when you were a kid?” I replied, “ a teacher. I was always playing school in my home. I would set up my bedroom for school and my stuffed animals were the students. I even had a school-like chalkboard/whiteboard that was on rollers. I loved pretending that I was a teacher.” She quickly chimed in, “Mom!!! Your dream came true…you are a teacher…you teach me at home!!!”
I had never put the two together like that before. It was a consolation that I needed at that time and one that I often need to reflect back on. God is good!
July 16 – Today is the principal feast day of the Carmelite Order. Through the efforts of the crusader Berthold, a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were organized into an Order after the traditional Western type about the year 1150. Oppressed by the Saracens, the monks slowly emigrated to Europe. During the night preceding the sixteenth of July, 1225, the Blessed Virgin is said to have commanded Pope Honorius III to approve the foundation. Since the Carmelites were still under constant harassment, the sixth General of the Order, St. Simon Stock, pleaded with the Blessed Virgin for some special sign of her protection. On July 16, 1251, she designated the scapular as the special mark of her maternal love. That is why the present feast is also known as the feast of the Scapular. The scapular, as part of the habit, is common to many religious Orders, but it is a special feature of the Carmelites. A smaller form of the scapular is given to lay persons in order that they may share in the great graces associated with it. Such a grace is the “Sabbatine privilege.” In the so-called Bulla Sabbatina John XXII affirmed that wearers of the scapular are soon freed from the flames of purgatory, at least by the Saturday after death. The confirmation of the Bulla Sabbatina was promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, July 4, 1908
