Hideaways in History Week 7

The Christian Catacombs

This week our 'Hideaway' was found in a dark, secret place, away from the eyes and ears of the ruthless Romans who sought out to expose and extinguish all Christians: the Christian catacombs (aka the master bedroom closet!)

We read the amazing and inspiring stories of some of our brothers and sisters in the early Church who received the glorious crown of martyrdom during this time period, such as Sts. Felicity and Perpetua, and Saint Dorothy. We also learned of Saint Felix, rather Pope Felix, who was hunted by the Roman police but never caught, praise be to God. (At the time, it was a crime against the country to be a Christian, and it meant certain death to any Christian caught.) Pope Felix was not a coward and would have bravely died a martyr's death for our Lord, but he also realized that "a leader in hiding would be better than no leader at all." (p. 68 of "Once Upon a Time Saints" by E. Pochocki) Rather, he wore the clothing of a ragged pilgrim, shuffling through the Roman streets with a thorn stick; he eventually sought refuge in a hole in a cracked wall, in which a spider miraculously spun a thick glossy web over, which 'hid' Pope Felix from the eyes of the soldiers that sought him out. (He named the spider 'Fidelis', or 'Faithful one", due to the providential way it saved his life). Felix did find another hiding place, but he never forgot his friend, Fidelis, and the beautiful web he created to save his life that one day. In fact, he said that spider webs reminded him of "God's light caught in a willing heart." (p. 71) 


We held out secret meetings in our 'catacomb', where Father Liam said Mass and encouraged us all in our faith. We even saw many new Christians baptized! Amazing how The Faith flourishes in times of persecution!! We quietly sang hymns and recited prayers together, then quietly went about our way, knowing that any moment we may meet our Lord again if He willed it. Our catacomb was a reminder to us of the cloud of witnesses that we are always surrounded by- signs and symbols on the walls around us.

We realized how blessed we are to have religious freedom today, the freedom to worship our Lord without fear, without persecution; but also that even in times of persecution, we are not alone!

Father Liam

Maia, an early Christian, praying in the catacombs

Some inscriptions in one of the catacombs

Saints Felicity and Perpetua, pray for us.

(Not sure what this one was....!)

Symbol of the 'oran'- the traditional praying stance

A secret meeting of the early Christians held in the Catacombs

The baptism of some new Christians!

ShaeLaurel

We had the privilege of getting together with our favorite music group, ShaeLaurel, while they were last visiting our area. We had met them a year ago, when M's violin group had a workshop with them, and then played on stage with them for an evening violin concert. It was the most inspiring, wonderful concert, and the kids talked nonstop about ShaeLaurel for weeks on end after that experience. In fact, M was so starstruck with one of the members, Kathryn, that she started wearing her hair up in a ponytail so she could 'swing it around and around like Kathryn'! Talk about a great motivation for practicing, too! I don't recall even having to remind her to practice her violin for at least a month after that!

ShaeLaurel is truly a unique group. For one, they're a family- Mom, Dad, and 'kids' (not so little anymore, though)! But even beyond that, they've been touring for over nine years, after deciding to sell everything and hit the road, living in an RV and touring all around the country. An incredibly talented group of musicians, what impressed Bren and I the most, though, was their values, faith, and obvious love for one another. Truly an awesome bunch of people that we are so blessed to now know!

So, after seeing them in concert again recently, we surprised the kids the next day with Sunday brunch guests- ShaeLaurel! M could barely contain her excitement (good thing I didn't tell her any sooner than I did!!) After Mass that morning, she came home and sat by the front door windows, counting up to sixty at least 15 times and ticking off the minutes on her fingers! L was excited, especially since they had let him try out a bunch of their instruments on stage at their concert the night before (his personal favorite instrument? The Drums! Yes, a mother's dream!) When they pulled up to our house in their huge RV, you would have thought it was Elvis back from the dead coming to lunch at our house!! The kids were jumping up and down, so excited to have their new friends coming over 'to play'! And play they did- not only did they have fun building and making things in the house, but they even got out their instruments and played music together with us in our living room! So much fun. I wondered if they might be tired of playing music after constantly touring and performing, but not this crew- they put as much heart into our little living room 'concert' as they did while performing on stage for a crowd! B and I so enjoyed talking with 'Mom' and 'Dad', covering a wide range of topics- everything from homeschooling (technically, I guess they 'bus-school'!) to juicing, parenting, college, and future dreams. What a delight it was. I only regret that we didn't get more time with their precious family. Our children gobbled up every second with them, and I wish I, too, would have had more time to rap with Jessica, Kathryn, and Christian. 'Twas a dynamic, uplifting, inspiring afternoon with a wonderful family that we are now thrilled to call our friends. Thanks, ShaeLaurel.
Love your Ocala fans,
the Irwin crew

A few pictures from our fun time with ShaeLaurel:
(**And by the way, to learn more about them/their family musical adventures, check out their website:

ShaeLaurel website )

Maia, trying to dance like Kathryn, swingin' around her ponytail

Gettin' down!

"Rocky Top Tennessee!"

Trying out some if their instruments after the show

Testing their skills on the drums

Kat and Jessica fiddlin' away for us

The concert begins...in our very own living room!

Getting some tips from the pros

Maia's got a secret to share with Kathryn

Family sing-a-long, led by "Dad" Andrew

Some children's songs, some Christmas carols, some Irish reels...
a little bit of everything

Chiara with her new pals

Some of their adoring Ocala fans

Loved having them pull up into our neighborhood in their big RV!
We had to find them a special parking spot

ShaeLaurel and the Irwin

Um...sorry guys...you can't go with them!!!

(Great) Grandparents!

We are so blessed to have several of our Grandparents- our children's Great-Grandparents- still living. I still have all four of my grandparents still in MN, and B has one still living, Nana, in Buffalo, NY.  We have been fortunate to be able to visit all of them this past year, and have had such special times spending time with them and letting our children get to know them better. We were in MN back in October and enjoyed time with both my mom's parents and my dad's parents while we were there.  Then for Thanksgiving we traveled to Buffalo and stayed with Nana, getting lots of time with her, too. I am so thankful to know our grandparents well and to have special memories of our children spending time with all of them. I pray the Lord will give them all good health and long lives, and that we may be given the gift of many more opportunities to see them and spend much more time with them all.
Thanks be to God for our Grandparents!

Here are some fond memories from our time spent with our Grandparents this winter....

Hideaways in History Week 6

THE ROMANS

Who said "Rome wasn't built in a day" ?
Well, we built the Colosseum in a day!! And in our own living room, too!
Then we became gladiators and emperors, martrys and bards!
Yes, another week of hands-on history. This week we traveled back to the times of the Romans and learned a great deal, in particular, about the Colosseum, the fighting tactics the Romans used in war, the Roman baths, Roman numerals, the fantastic architects the Romans were, and so much more.  We read about Sts. Perpetua and Felicity last week, when we learned about the Christian catacombs. We gained a much deeper appreciation for these martyrs and many others like them, who endured brutal deaths in the Colosseum out of love for Christ. Maia decided that Saints Perpetua and Felicity are now some of her new 'favorite saints' and most definitely some of her 'top heroes'. Incredible stories, to say the least.
Papa got involved in the gladiator fights, as he was the Emperor. At the end of any fight, if a contender was still alive, the Emperor held the power to either allow the prisoner to live (giving the signal of a thumb up) or declaring his execution (with a thumb down). The audience, very crude and rowdy and blood-thirsty, loved to voice their opinions at this time, and one common phrase they used was "Habet Hoc Habet", which was basically equivalent to shouting "Let him have it!" Or, if they felt someone had fought especially well and was 'worthy' in their minds of getting a second change, they might yell "Mitte" (meaning "Let him live"). Back in Roman times the Emperor himself sometimes even got into the arena and fought, too!  So, Papa obliged, as our own Emperor, and got into the arena to fight the valiant Gladiator Maximus. There were wild beasts fought off by Maximus, too (had to find a role for T-Rex again, you know!)
We learned about the many types of gladiators, as well- did you know they got to choose their own weapons and armor? They then trained and prepared to fight with their weapons of choice. Many men saw being a gladiator as a high honor, while others began as slaves with no choice, and thus it became necessary for them to work hard to become good fighters, as their work literally meant life or death. In some cases, if these men were successful fighters, they could even 'earn' their freedom.
A fascinating time, though not the most pleasant, especially for Christians.
Here's a peak at some of our fun from the week...

Trying out some Roman architecture tricks of the trade!

Aha!!! We did it!

Everybody come to Liam, the Architect, Best Builder in Rome
6 miles ahead!

Beautiful mosaics by Craftman Maia
7 miles ahead, Look for the Mosaic shop with this Design

Rambunctious Roman!!

One side of the Colosseum- looking into the wild beasts' den

A better look at the outside of our Colosseum

One entrance to the Colosseum

The Colosseum, Begun in 69 AD by order of the Emperor Vespasian
Completed in 96 AD by his sons
Let the games begin!
(Seating: 50,000)

Habet, Hoc Habet!
(He's had it! Let him have it!)

Mitte!!
(Let him go!)

Maximus and the Emperor before the games begin

They must be pals

Chiara, the Rambunctious Roman!

Just one of the Wild Beasts in the arena, ready to take on the Gladiators

No problem for Gladiator Maximus!

Maximus fights another opponent! It's Lydia the Lithe!

Quite the fight!

Habet, Hoc Habet!!! The Emperor declares, "Let him have it!"

Watch out! Emperor Tiberius is enters the arena, ready for a fight!

He fights his pal, Maximus! What a fight!

Alas! Maximus remains undefeated!

Maximus! Maximus!

Mitte! (Let him live!)

Habet, Hoc Habet! The Empress decides the fate of some unfortunate soul.

Sound the horn to signal the end of today's fights.