THE SHEMA: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 [RSVCE]

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord;[a] 5 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus—the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us...A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character...A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the Carpenter's Son, in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work. — Paul VI at Nazareth, January 5, 1964

Since the Holy Family observed the Jewish law in its perfection, we can deduce quite accurately what prayers they recited. The Psalms, of course, were the favorites. Three times a day Jesus, Mary, and Joseph said the Tephillah, "The Prayer," consisting of eighteen long invocations and blessings. Joseph (and later Jesus when He attained to manhood) was obliged to say the Shema, a sort of profession of faith in the one true God, twice daily.

A very interesting Jewish custom of prayer that must have been observed in the house at Nazareth was that of the Mezuzah, "the doorpost," and the "phylacteries," small square calfskin boxes with Scripture texts written on parchment inside them.

On the doorpost of the house at Nazareth was fastened a wooden tube containing a rolled parchment inscribed with the passage quoted above from the Book of Deuteronomy and another passage (11:13-21) citing the blessings of serving God. On entering and leaving the house the members of the Holy Family would piously touch this Mezuzah, saying, "May God keep my going out and coming in from now on and forevermore." All this was intended to show reverence for the word of God.

Such was the vocal and the more or less formal prayer which Jesus, Mary, and Joseph offered in their home at Nazareth. In their hearts, however, they prayed always. Just as the Heart of Jesus was constantly united with His divinity, so were the hearts of Mary and Joseph so closely bound to God that their every action was a prayer. — Excerpted from Reflections on the Life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Francis L. Filas, S.J.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASS SCHEDULE 

MON. - THURS.

8:00 AM - Mass & Morning Assembly

8:50 - 9:25 AM - Liturgy of the Hours morning prayer [Office of Readings & Lauds] 

Math Block

10:00 AM - Latin Dominican Rosary [1st & 2nd Decade]

10:10 am - Recess

10:40 - 10:55 AM - Liturgy of the Hours 3rd hour prayer [Terce] & Latin Dominican Rosary [3rd Decade]

Humanities I Block

12:00 PM - The Angelus, followed by Lunch

12:40 - 12:55 PM - Liturgy of the Hours 6th hour prayer [Sext] & Latin Dominican Rosary [4th Decade]

Natural Science Block

1:30 - PM - Latin Dominican Rosary [5th Decade] & Eucharistic Adoration

Humanities II Block

2:00 PM - Specials of the day: Performing/Visual Arts/Physical Education

FRIDAY: 

8:00 AM - Morning assembly

8:15 AM - Liturgy of the Hours morning prayer [Office of Readings & Lauds]

Math & Science Block

10:10 - 10:30 AM - Recess

10:30 - 10:40 AM - Liturgy of the Hours 3rd hour prayer [Terce] 

Humanities I Block

11:30 AM - The Divine Mercy Chaplet, Confession & Eucharistic adoration

12:00 PM -  Latin Novus Ordo Mass

12:35 PM - The Angelus, followed by lunch & school-wide nature hike

CLASS RESOURCE LINKS