I've noted several times how quickly she catches on to things. She does whatever we do and does not miss anything! The first day she learned to dip her hand in the holy water and bless herself. In or out the church door, she doesn't let us forget to bless ourselves. We also taught her the first day to bow at the alter as we crossed in front of it to go to the upstairs kitchen. She was amazing and remembered this, too.
Once Father returned from Moscow on Saturday and we attended Mass on both the vigil (remember the 5 trips to the bathroom) and the Feast day on Sunday, Julianna really hasn't been the same. Not only does she think she owns this particular church, she has had the experience to carry the gifts to the front and join in the annual procession of the Blessed Mother on the Church's Feast Day.
She picked up a few other important symbols of our Church as well. By attending Mass on both days, she learned how to genuflect. So, she started bowing and genuflecting in front of the alter each time. She also observed some people (like Dom) bless themselves in front of the alter. You guessed it...she added the bow, genuflect, and blessing herself to show reverence in front of the alter. She also put her finger to her lips and said "sh" a couple of times to me when we were walking through the church. She gets that too...and lets hope she remembers at HNJ.
Julianna adores Sister Virginia. Tonight Sister gave her a set of white rosary beads and placed them around her neck. Sister pointed to the crucifix and kissed it, saying "Jesus" to Julianna. Needless to say, Julianna wore the rosary beads for the rest of the night and kissed the crucifix often saying, "Jesus." She even made Dom and I kissed the crucifix, too.
The last couple of trips by the alter, Julianna has incorporated the kissing of the crucifix into her numerous signs of reverence, even though I only bow; she does them all! She even asked to kiss the religious icon that was prominently displayed at the Mass and remained near the alter.
I told Sister Virginia that perhaps we have sparked a budding vocation. She smiled and said in broken English with some Russian, Polish, and Spanish mixed in, "Anything is possible with God."
So, yes, please tell Monsignor, b/c I know he doesn't do the blog thing, that we have been working diligently to help Julianna learn her faith. Hopefully the test won't be too hard when she returns. She says grace before meals (and has started to mumble along) and she prays before bedtime. I don't think, I know she is starting to understand what it is all about!