He who sings…
Prays twice. ~ St. Augustine
Singing hymns while working helps to pass the time, and reminds us that our work is also a prayer. Try adding a hymn like “Litany of Saints” by J. Becker to your morning work with your children. This particular hymn is quite simple to learn by even the smallest of children. All they need to do is to learn the responses. Older children can be enlisted to help the younger ones learn the responses. Older children will learn the responses as well to cantor the names of the saints. By making them teachers of their younger siblings, awkwardness can be overcome more easily. You will have planted a seed by making the recitation of the litany a daily practice. In later years, your children will likely be moved to recite this same hymn during their daily routines, focusing their hearts on prayerful work, and gratitude to God.
Far from something that can be left until later in favour of ‘more important’ tasks like book studies and other devotions, daily chores are a humble gift; a gift that holds the opportunity for santification. In making our worktime a prayer, we can elevate chores to the level of a spiritual practice. Stewardship of our treasure in the form of daily maintenance tasks can sanctify us, and is as important as any other prayer in our faith formation. Our Church teaches that there is dignity in hard work, and that every human person needs to have meaningful work to do. Plan to do your chores first, praying together in song, being mindful of the gifts you have been given, and of the blessing of service to each other.
A note on the Litany of Saints - You could very easily add a section containing your children’s name saints and family patrons. I also added a section to the hymn that lists the names of our departed loved ones, responding with “Pray For Us”. And rather than “All you holy men and women, pray for us”, we sing “All you dear departed loved ones, pray for us”
