On weekdays
the Morning Office shall be celebrated as follows.
Let Psalm 66 be said without an antiphon
and somewhat slowly,
as on Sunday,
in order that all may be in time for Psalm 50,
which is to be said with an antiphon.
After that let two other Psalms be said according to custom,
namely:
on Monday Psalms 5 and 35,
on Tuesday Psalms 42 and 56,
on Wednesday Psalms 63 and 64,
on Thursday Psalms 87 and 89,
on Friday Psalms 75 and 91,
and on Saturday Psalm 142 and the canticle from Deuteronomy,
which is to be divided into two sections
each terminated by a “Glory be to the Father.”
But on the other days let there be a canticle from the Prophets,
each on its own day as chanted by the Roman Church.
Next follow the Psalms of praise [148-50],
then a lesson of the Apostle to be recited from memory,
the responsory, the Ambrosian hymn [Te Deum], the verse,
the canticle from the Gospel book,
the litany, and so the end.
To adapt this to a family rule is a simple thing. On weekday mornings when we get up, we will Praise the Lord in song.
It’s a a lovely thing to awaken your children with praises on your lips.
For some practical application, you need to fit this to your on family’s style. I don’t think it’s important whether you wake them with a rousing C.D. version of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, or your own unaccompanied acapella rendition of this:
The morning praise is what matters.
The latter is what we did when our youngsters were small. When we got up in the morning we sang ‘This is the day that the Lord hath made.’
I also often had them listen to one of these in the morning as they did their chores:
Kidnapped on I-Land CD (Patch the Pirate)
Psalms set to music and sung acapella- we bought some from Crown and Covenant and downloaded others in chant form for free here.
During a different season of our lives, my husband woke the children before he left for work and brought them to our room where I was nursing their baby brother. There he would read from Psalms to us until he had to go to work. Sometimes we had coffee and/or hot cocoa, depending on the morning.
We also keep a hymnal in the kitchen on a small easel on the windowsill to facilitate hymn singing while working at the kitchen sink.
It also helps to have breakfast streamlined a bit. ( In my crockpot right now: a mix of buckwheat, amaranth, and oat groats, coconut oil, molasses, vanilla and spices. I might add diced apples in the morning. Breakfast is its own kind of sacramental reality, a praise as plain as bread and milk)
Do you incorporate praise into your mornings? Share in the comments.
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Conveniently, the only way to leave our house is on an east-bound road. So in the mornings I pile all the children into the car and we sing the Lord’s Prayer on our way to school/nursery/pre-school/work/wherever we happen to be going.
A bit like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6_AudIvBBE
only a bit faster, and not quite so beautifully!
Then, I read the prayer of the Optina Elders.
Grant unto me, O Lord, that with peace of mind I may face all that this new day is to bring.
Grant unto me to dedicate myself completely to Thy Holy Will.
For every hour of this day, instruct and support me in all things. Whatsoever tidings I may receive during the day, do Thou teach me to accept tranquilly, in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfill Thy Holy Will.
Govern Thou my thoughts and feelings in all I do and say. When things unforeseen occur, let me not forget that all cometh down from Thee.
Teach me to behave sincerely and rationally toward every member of my family, that I may bring confusion and sorrow to none. Bestow upon me, my Lord, strength to endure the fatigue of the day, and to bear my part in all its passing events.
Guide Thou my will and teach me to pray, to believe, to hope, to suffer, to forgive, and to love.
Amen
Then, in the evening, we pray a version of these prayers: http://www.antiochian.org/evening-prayers
My husband says a blessing over me each morning by reciting the great Shema before he leaves the house. What used to be done almost in jest has become a treasured part of my day. I don’t look at it as a “good luck charm”, but rather as a blessing of love sent from God in the words of a man who loves his wife very much and truly desires that “The Lord bless me and keep me, and make his face shine upon me…..”