The Creative Cloister

Exploring the artistic roots of our Catholic Faith While ‘Sheltering in place’

God has a soft spot in His heart for the art of the Domestic Church. We can make our spaces beautiful, or we can enlist the intercession and help of Blessed Mother and her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, and make our spaces supernaturally beautiful.

Case Study #1 The Secret Garden

Problem: We had a fantastic Moms' group that met every week, but it was only for couple of hours and we needed more time to really connect. Meeting at a restaurant was expensive, and noisy, not really a chill setting. God supplied really amazing stuff to create a Secret Garden for my friends to meet together and get better connected. We've been having these parties for 20 years or so each spring and fall. This one hits all of the senses!

We have a Secret Garden playlist on Spotify. I crank it through 40 year old stereo speakers from the back porch so it doesn't drown out the conversation. It has almost 10 hours of music. We have reached the end of it before.

The crackle of two fire places is pretty great

The Secret Garden party is a beautiful sight. Lace draping over all of the chairs and tables, crystal, twining vines and flowers everywhere, a psychotic number of candles, big fire places, extraordinary hardscape pieces that just seemed to show up.

And a beautiful collection of beautiful women.

This is a pot luck event. Lots of terrific food shows up. Traditionally there is hot spiced cider in the autumn and fresh squeezed lemonade in the May party

Case Study #2 The Family Rosary

Problem: Seven young children. Nobody is paying attention. Boys are wrestling. Mom is distracted by the messy parts of the house and the tasks of the day.

Solution: Change the setting of this prayer time.

There will always be a bit of chaos when young children are part of the equation. It is best to start with reasonable expectations and to relax into reality. It can get ugly fast when one tries to force conformity to an unrealistic vision.

That being said, there are always things that can be done to noodle this prayer time. Again start by enlisting the intercession of Blessed Mother and her spouse, the Holy Spirit. Each family will have their own tailored package.

What worked for us:

Rosary prayers were at night before bedtime, or early morning. A statue of Blessed Mother, or a nice standing crucifix became a point of focus. Candlelight made the prayer time feel more special, provided an echo of the liturgy, and beautifully lit the statue. A dim room was helpful, to both ease distractions, and maximize the beautiful candlelight.

We have Spotify playlists for each set of mysteries to provide a soundtrack to the unfolding drama. Our JBL speaker provides extraordinary sound.

Each child would lead one of the mysteries - their beautiful, young voices were lovely to listen to.

We prayed either in our large bedroom (which was always tidy), or the living room. Both had comfortable couches and chairs, and the king size bed always became a mosh pit.

Also, we began to make our own rosaries using semi-precious gemstones (not as expensive as it sounds). These pieces of rock were made by God. They have a nice weight to them and come in beautiful colors.

Usually our candles are scented. It’s pure Mom entertainment when you take young kids shopping for these – all of those little noses... We also have a small thurible. A few grains of incense (the Cantian blend is particularly nice) bring you right into the liturgy. Sometimes during Advent we will light yule log incense.

We often had a snack after prayers. It just added a little celebration element to the family time.

What are the spiritual, and soul benefits of this adjusted prayer time?

It is easier to focus when the lighting is lower, when you have a beautiful visual center, and when the soundtrack invites meditation.

Making this daily event a thing of beauty fosters that love for prayer that we all need. I want their early encounters to be lovely memories.

Having a good, dignified rosary makes me want to use it more often. The materials feel more connected to the creating hands of God than plastic manufactured in China. Also making them together was really a great family project.

Rebellious children might lose out on the post prayer time snack if they were particularly annoying during prayers. This gentle reprimand usually produced better behavior.

Other nice versions of the family prayer time:

• A seasonal favorite is to lie on your back with your head under the Christmas tree looking up into the branches and lights.

•James (my youngest at 18) and I regularly pray an evening rosary together in the Secret Garden with a nice campfire going in the fireplace.

Case Study #3 Home Shrine

Case Study #4 Cooking

The Problem: These people keep eating. So much work to make all of this food and they polish it off in 10 minutes

Solution: Teach your people to cook. Make the kitchen a joyous, creative hotspot.

Look at cooking as an art form and a chance for socialization

Teach the children to cook well.

Start with Tea Time. Teaches them to enjoy food and making it. Enhance the meal/snack times by adding read-alouds. My father read books to us up through high school. Wonderful memories.

Eventually they make dinner.

Taking food to others. Make carrot stars for their soup.

Baking bread does so much for a home environment.

Start an herb garden. Ground sage makes soup turn gray. The plants are beautiful.

Take God's beautiful fruit out of the ugly bags and make them into a still life of beauty.

International cooking once a week.