Tuesday, January 17

A Monk's Supper

We are beginning our medieval history unit and I'm loving it.  I'm particularly taken with learning about the saints as we watch how Christianity spreads through Europe.  I think it is because so many of the stories are new to me and yet, they make the stories of the Bible come alive for me in a new way.  We've been enjoying lots of books on the saints to supplement our curriculum and had a monks dinner a few nights ago.

Dinner was candlelit and was supposed to be entirely silent while scriptures were read throughout.  We were quiet while a couple chapters were read and, because I turned out the lights, dinner did have a more hushed quality.  We ate lentil soup, cut apples and pears, and crusty bread (with no butter or jam).  But, as Jonah pointed out, aside from the absence of butter it was a very normal meal for us.  But, they liked their monks dinner so much we've now had three meals by candle light with Bible reading at their request.  We'll see how long this lasts, but I'm loving it!


A few books on saints we've enjoyed in the past week...

5 comments:

Leslie said...

What a fabulous idea! I wish I'd had this when my children were young. Do you think I can pull this off with a 16 year old and a 13 year old. I'm not so sure... :) Thanks for sharing!

Elisa said...

Great idea. All during Christmas, we ate in the dining room at night because my mom was visiting and our tiny kitchen table seemed so cramped with the extra person. I lit our candelabra and turned out the other lights. It gave everything such a lovely soft glow. My 2nd old son loved it and asked everyday to eat at the "shiny" table :). My mom is back home now, but we still try to eat a few nights a few at the shiny table. Gives an air of festivity and solemnity at the same time. Really love your blog and ideas. Would love to learn more about Godly play.

EricaG said...

Love it! My boys would love a Monk's Supper.

Joanna said...

This is brilliant. I too wish I had thought of it before our children were practically all in their 20s! I shall just have to have some monk's suppers with my husband!

suewatkins said...

Great idea! I also love the photos - absolutely beautiful. They really communicated the feel of the dinner.