Recently when I pray Morning Prayer, I’ve started calling out one or two of the antiphons to Isabella, having her repeat it to me, and then I repeat it after each verse of the psalm and she echoes it back. She loves doing this, always smiles as she says the words of the prayer. And I love hearing her pray with me.
My favorite was the first time I did it. It was during the Easter season, I believe. She was being very chatty as I was trying to pray and so I started reading aloud very slowly so as to engage her. I said, “The cross of the Lord is the Tree of Life.” and she echoed back, “Cross is Tree of ‘ife!” and repeated it again and again with very little prompting from me.
I know fevers are scary, but I have learned that they are our body’s natural defense. The body cranks up the thermostat to get rid of the bacteria or virus. It could be that the fever lasted just long enough to burn off the yucky stuff. Glad she is feeling better!
The other possibility is a mild allergy attack. When I took my son to the doctor one spring because he was having intermittent fevers with few or no other symptoms (other than the bad feeling of the fever itself), I was surprised (and somewhat dubious) when the doctor told me to get him an over-the-counter allergy medicine. I was even more surprised when it worked! He is now seven, and still occasionally responds to a high mold count with nothing more than a temperature. Glad Bella is feeling better!
Glad to hear Bella is feeling better. It amazes me how quickly they bounce back.
So glad she’s chipper again! Amazing contrast, eh?
[…] Isabella and the Liturgy of the Hours A brief explanation of how I encourage 2 year-old Bella to pray with me. (6/26/08) […]