Holy Week can be a stressful time. It’s not meant to be—its meant to be peaceful, quiet waiting, with the joyful hope of a people that knows the Lord is on his way and making waves as he comes. But as a mother with four young children, I’ll be honest. It’s not usually peaceful.
Back in college, Holy Thursday was my favorite Mass. I loved the joyful ringing of the bells during the Alleluia, the washing of the feet, the quiet reverence as the lights are turned off and everyone processes with a handheld candles as the host is processed to the Altar of Repose. Those were my favorite moments of Holy Week….until the thought of the handheld candles in the hands of a three year old made me break out into a cold sweat. Not only the fear of small children with flames, but also the lateness of the Mass. A 7pm Mass is dangerously close to a 7:30 pm bedtime. And don’t get me started on the Easter Vigil. I love all these aspects of Holy Week, but as a mom who is cognizant of also not wanting my children to hate having to sit still for hours on end, I’ve come to grips with our Triddum now looks different.
While I don’t always get to Holy Thursday Mass (sometimes mom can sneak to this or to a Good Friday service), we have begun to enter the season more and more at home. Here are a few tips on how to make your Holy Week with kids a reverent time of prayer, with the least effort.
Decorate Your Home
On Ash Wednesday we get out our twine wreaths. While not actually crowns of thorns, they symbolize the bleakness of the season. We also add some fake twigs and cacti and river stones to remind us of our time “in the desert.” We use these as a centerpiece on our table and on the mantel of the fireplace. On Easter morning these items go away to be replaced with a simple wooden decoration of the empty tomb!
Resurrection Eggs
Resurrection Eggs are a fun toy that not only give small children the joy of cracking open eggs, it will take them through the whole story of the Resurrections. Some small parts are included, so this is best suited to bigger small children (about 4 years+).
Outdoor Stations
As I write this, we are being battered with a late season blizzard in Wisconsin, dropping over 30 inches of snow, but I am happily thinking back to last year when we took the kids to a local parish with outdoor stations. The kids colored their own booklets to follow along (we love this one) and being outside was a great change of pace—no need to contain the noise or the fidgeting! If you can’t get outside, reading through the stations at home is a great option too!
Wash Your Own Feet
Celebrate Holy Thursday at home by washing each other’s feet! All you need is a bucket, a wash cloth and a towel and you can serve each other by washing the other’s feet. This is especially a joy for very young children, who are often washed by their parents, to wash their parents feet!
Cover Your Crucifixes
On Good Friday, I have the kids help me gather all our crucifixes and process them to the kitchen table. Years ago I purchased a remnant of purple velvet at a local craft store and we use pieces of this to cover the corpus on all of our Crucifixes. We hang the crucifixes back where they belong and then, on Sunday, we take off the coverings to see the sacrifice of our Lord!
Quiet Time
We are NOT a screen free family. But we ARE screen free from 12-3pm on Good Friday and try our best to be through all of Holy Saturday as we quietly await the coming of our Lord! We read books about Easter and Eucharistic miracles, we get outside, we pray for our deceased loved ones. And probably snack on some resurrection rolls.