Part One: Chapter VI, Feasts in a Family Summary and Analysis

After Christmas, Maria settles into married life. The house is the same, but the circumstance is different. She wonders if, given the chance to do it again, would she? The children are now hers. It is daunting to be a second wife and mother, she explains.

Maria outlines family routines, one of which is gathering around a fireplace after supper. She reads literature aloud while the girls knit and the boys and Georg carve wood. After hours of reading, they gather close to sing rounds. Maria describes singing rounds as schooling for the ear, which results in polyphonic music. She tells how after the first World War, the Catholic Youth Movement did wonders for the spread of music. Young folks, bored with the glee club style, searched...