Music, Stories and Movies for Holy Week

Here are a few of our family favorites - please share your own as well! We don't get to all of them every year...

Music:

I've found that my children love the beautiful, solemn hymns of Holy Week as well as the joyous bouncy ones for Easter. (I distinctly remember shopping at Walmart a number of years ago with all my kids stuffed in the cart happily singing Jesus Christ is Risen Today at the top of their lungs)...

(Links include words and - usually - an audio file to give you a sense of the tune - many of these files aren't particularly beautiful to listen to in their own right)

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
O Sacred Head Surrounded
Stabat Mater (At the Cross Her Station Keeping)
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord
When Jesus Wept (this is a beautiful and surprisingly simple round)

There are many, many beautiful Blessed Sacrament hymns that are especially appropriate for Holy Thursday. Here are a few...

Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All
O Jesus We Adore Thee (I couldn't find the lyrics to this song online, just the music)
Adoro Te Devote
Tantum Ergo
O Salutaris

And to listen to...

Handel's Messiah
Voices of the Ascension: Beyond Chant
Faith of Our Fathers
Motets et Chansons: Josquin de Prez

Stories and Books:

The Gospels of course (I just love hearing the Passion read at Palm Sunday Mass)
My Path to Heaven by Geoffrey Bliss, S.J. (we make coloring books out of the illustrations - the publisher - Sophia Institute Press - is o.k. with that)
The Good Master by Kate Seredy (neat Easter traditions from Hungary)
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (Jewish traditions for the Passover)

Movies:

Jesus of Nazareth
The Robe
The Ten Commandments
Ben Hur
Prince of Egypt

We will be watching the new Ten Commandments on ABC tonight and tomorrow night.

By the way, Danielle Bean has some terrific Holy Week links in her sidebar.