1st Pontifical High Mass at the Throne
I still can hardly believe that Archbishop Sample is our Archbishop! He gives me such hope for our liberal state and diocese. Deo Gratias!
This beautiful and inspiring sermon was given by His Excellency Archbishop Sample at the Pontifical Mass he celebrated in the Extraordinary Form on March 1, 2014 at the Brigittine Monastery in Amity, Oregon.
The Mass was the crowning celebration of a 3-day conference on Gregorian Chant and the role of sacred music in the liturgy. I had wanted to surprise my husband with a trip to attend as an early birthday gift, but due to the flu it wasn’t a possibility this year… Instead he will be receiving a 12×18 print of the above photo and hopefully he will be able to attend the next conference. 🙂
Gail Girón Design {Sponsored Review & Giveaway}
The Lenten Season In Our Catholic Home
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with Thee to mourn our sins,
And close by Thee to stay…
The Lenten Season In Our Catholic Home
Over the years our family has adopted and established many Lenten traditions with our children. I spent a little time this afternoon finalizing our plans for this Lenten season and have compiled them here to share, including links to the original sources of our inspiration. May you all have a blessed and fruitful Lenten season! (Note: This post contains affiliate links.)
Shrove Tuesday
- All past Shove Tuesday posts
- Plan a time for our family to go to Confession
Shrove Tuesday is a day of preparation for Lent. The name “shrove” comes from the word “shrive” which means “to confess.” The Church recommends that we receive the Sacrament of Penance frequently and once a year at the every least. Our family will be going again soon so that we can begin Lent with clear consciences and clean souls.
- Bury the Alleluia until Easter Sunday!
I am not sure where this tradition originated, but I have read that “In medieval times, in order to signify that the Alleluia was no longer to be sung at Mass from Ash Wednesday to the great Vigil of Easter, people developed the ceremony of “burying the Alleluia”. It typically consisted of putting a scroll with the word “Alleluia” on it inside a coffin and actually digging up a grave in the church lot and throwing it in, where it would rest until retrieved in another ceremony on Easter.” Instead of a scroll our family has always used wooden letters (painted gold by the some of the children when they were younger) inspired by Elizabeth Foss. We pack bury them in a box for Lent and they will be unpacked unburied and placed on our mantle Easter morning.
Ash Wednesday (Day of Fast and Abstinence)
- Attend Mass
- Fast and Abstinence
- Recipes for Ash Wednesday Beans and Fasting Bread can be found at Catholic Cuisine.
Daily During Lent: Pray • Fast • Give Alms
- Morning Prayers and Devotions
- Lunchtime Jesus Tree Bible Stories and Coloring Pages
- Afternoon Lenten Reading and Saint Stories
- Listen to Lent at Ephesus
- Dinnertime Read-Aloud: Saint of the Day, short Meditations for Lent, and Sunday Sermons
- Evening Family Rosary
UPDATE: A Lenten Calendar for Catholic Children {revised}
- Our Jesus Tree (using our Felt and Wooden Ornaments)
We have always loved using the Jesus Tree as a Lenten bible study for our children. Each day during Lent we read a story about an event or teaching during Jesus’ life and add a corresponding ornament to the tree. At first, the dead branch (tree) symbolizes the barren and lifeless feeling of the Lenten season as we reflect on our own sinfulness and the crucifixion of our Lord. As the season climaxes with Easter, we see the gift Christ gave us through His death and Resurrection. The beauty of that new life is reflected in the way the dead branch has “blossomed” with all the symbols of Christ’s life and teachings.
NOTE: I’m working on compiling a booklet with the list of coordinating readings I came up with years ago using our New Catholic Picture Bible. You can find the current list in full here, though many of the coloring page links no longer work. I’m currently working on updating those links as well. I’ll be sure to update this post with the links to any new/updated posts once they are completed.
- Lenten Sacrifice Beans
This tradition of ours is inspired by Mary Reed Newland in her book The Year and Our Children. She says, “It is hard to keep track of this treasure that is laid in Heaven if you are quite small and six weeks drag out like six years. We have made this part of the effort visible for the children so that they might see that they were accomplishing something. On or about Ash Wednesday, we dye lima beans purple to be used as counters in a jar. Beans, because they are seeds which, if put in the ground, appear to die only to spring forth with new life. This is what Our Lord said we must do if we would have life in Him. He that seems to lose his life shall gain it. The beans remind us that daily death to self in one self-denial after another is the dying which will find for us new life in Him.” On Easter Sunday the children wake up to discover that all the Lenten Sacrifice Beans have been replaced with Jelly Beans!
Update: You can see our jar filled with Jelly Beans on Easter Sunday here.
- Lenten Crown of Thorns
A great motivating tool during Lent is the Lenten Crown of Thorns. Create a Crown of Thorns as a Lenten centerpiece for your table using a grapevine wreath (crown) and inserting toothpicks (thorns) to represent the many pains and sufferings Our Lord endured for our salvation. Both children and adults will be encouraged to persevere with their Lenten penances as they remove a thorn for each good deed and sacrifice offered. This tradition was inspired by Waltzing Matilda.
Additional Lenten Activities
- Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure
- Create Lent Lap Books (In the past we have used the Lent Lap Book from Faith Folders for Catholics with some of our own modifications.)
- Assemble a Last Supper Puzzle
- Craft a new Paschal Candle for Easter
Sometime during Lent we will create a Paschal Candle for Easter Morning. You can purchase a Paschal Candle Kit from Illuminated Ink (like the one we made here). Or create your own using the directions found here: Paschal Candle for Easter. Place the candle in the center of your Crown of Thorns centerpiece (see Daily During Lent), replacing all the thorns with flowers!
Fridays During Lent
- Simple Meatless Meals
- Attend Stations of the Cross or Pray at Home
- (Scroll through all past posts labeled Stations of the Cross.)
Crafting our Stations of the Cross – kit from Illuminated Ink (also available at Amazon)
Some excellent resources for praying the Stations of the Cross at Home with Children include The Stations of the Cross for Children (Glory Stories), The Way of the Cross for Children DVD, and Praying the Way of the Cross (featuring Liam Neeson). We also have an assortment of books and coloring books for the children as well. Jesse Tree Treasures also carries a lovely set of Stations of the Cross Ornaments.
Spring Cleaning
- De-clutter, simplify, organize and clean!
Past posts include: Spring Cleaning ~ The Goal (2008), Lenten Cleaning (2009), 40 Bags of Stuff (2009), 40 Bags in 40 Days and Update (2010) and Shaking off the Bonds of Stuff :: A 40-Day Plan for Lent (2012).
Laetare Sunday (4th Sunday of Lent)
- Serve a special treat after Mass, possibly Laetare Sundaes
- All past Laetare Sunday posts
Passion Sunday (5th Sunday of Lent)
- Move Good Friday Tea to this weekend (scroll through past Passion/Good Friday Lenten Teas)
- Cover Statues with Purple Cloth
Note: Now that our children our getting older, the Holy Thursday and Good Friday Teas (originally inspired by Alice Gunther) are a little too much “fun” for our family for Holy Week which is one of the reasons we omitted them last year. We have loved doing them in the past so I’ve decided to move them to the two Sundays prior to Holy Week – Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday – that way we can use them as a teaching tool for the rest of our little ones and I can still spend as little time as possible in the kitchen (and hopefully more time at Church) during Holy Week. UPDATE: We ended up leaving our Lenten Dinners during Holy Week this year after all.
Palm Sunday (6th Sunday of Lent)
- Move Holy Thursday Tea to this Sunday (scroll through past Palm Sunday/Holy Thursday Lenten Teas)
- Palm of Palms Craft
- All past Palm Sunday posts
Palm Sunday is also known as “Fig Sunday” due to the tradition that Christ ate figs following his entry into Jerusalem. Celebrate Our Lord’s glorious entrance into Jerusalem by enjoying some fresh figs or Fig Newtons today. Another option is to serve Palm Sundaes (Ice Cream Sundaes topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and shredded coconut – since coconuts grow on Palm Trees) for dessert.
Holy Thursday
- Attend Mass
- Bake Hot Cross Buns and/or Fasting Bread for Tomorrow
- All past Holy Thursday posts
Look at His adorable face. Look at His glazed and sunken eyes. Look at His wounds. Look Jesus in the Face. There, you will see how He loves us. ~ St. Therese of Lisieux
Good Friday (Day of Fast and Abstinence)
- Fast and Abstinence
- Hot Cross Buns (Recipe can be found here)
- Stations of the Cross
- Veneration of the Cross
- All past Good Friday posts
Holy Saturday
- Resurrection Cookies and/or Resurrection Rolls are full of symbolism and makes a great hands-on way to tell the story of Christ’s Resurrection to children.
- Dye Easter Eggs
- Bake Bread for Easter
- All past Holy Saturday posts
- Prepare for Easter Sunday!
Other Past Posts of the Lenten Season in our Catholic Home
- Preparing for Lent :: Our Lenten Journey (2011)
- A Few of Our Lenten Activities (2010)
- The Ten Commandments Lap Book {Catechism Craft with Free Printables}
- Our Lent and Easter Book Baskets
- Playmobil: Way of the Cross
- The Easter Story {LEGO Edition} (2015 addition)
To suffer lovingly is to suffer no longer. To flee from the cross is to be crushed beneath its weight. We should pray for a love of the cross – then it will become sweet. ~ St John Vianney
A Lenten Calendar for Catholic Children
Update: You can find my revised 2015 Lenten Calendar here.
I’ve been making variations of this Lenten Calendar since our oldest was only 3 year old (for 11 years now!) inspired by an idea I found back then in a little book titled: Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler. (affiliate link) I first posted about it here back in 2008 and have shared some of our more recent calendars as well. I just finished creating this year’s calendar and thought I’d update the old post and share it again, along with my documents for anyone else who might want to create one as well.
If you are looking for something smaller, quicker, and easier, head on over to Pondered In My Heart or Waltzing Matilda. They both have beautiful printable calendars, which I just finished printing for my older children! 🙂
SUPPLIES:
- 1 – 22″x28″ White Posterboard
- Purple Marker
- Yard Stick
- Printed Images and Text (Free Download Here)
- Scissors and Glue Stick
- Purple Card Stock or Construction Paper
DIRECTIONS:
Create seven rows of 3 1/8″ x 3 1/8″ squares for the 40 days of Lent plus all of the Sundays, with an 1/8″ border on each side of the poster board.
Label the Days of the week Monday through Sunday.
Each day of the week has a special prayer intention for which we pray and fast.:
- Monday – For an End to Abortion
- Tuesday – For Conversions to the True Faith
- Wednesday – For our Holy Father and all Priests
- Thursday – For our Family, Godparents & Godchildren
- Friday – For Forgiveness of Sins in our World
- Saturday – For our Deceased Relatives
- Sunday – In Thanksgiving for God’s Blessings
Title the top of the calendar with LENT: Pray, Fast, Give Alms.
Through prayer, fasting and alms giving, we bring Jesus into our lives, and commit ourselves to being united with him in His suffering, death and resurrection. Through this we also love and serve Him as we love and serve our neighbor.
Cut out, place, and glue all the images for Ash Wednesday, the various feast days, all the Sundays of Lent, and Holy Week.
Our calendar has a square for each day, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Special Feasts and Holy days during that period are decorated to represent that day. For example, we have a picture of St. Patrick on March 17th and St. Joseph on March 19th. These special feasts help break up the long Lenten Season.
Add a Fish Symbol to each Friday representing the days of abstinence.
Hang somewhere it can easily be seen (and reached) by the children.
PRAY
- Each Morning for the Special Intention of the Day
- Daily Family Rosary
- Stations of the Cross on Friday
- Adoration Hour
- Daily Mass
When the older children were little I made or purchased stickers of rosaries, stations of the cross, churches, etc for them to add to each day we prayed the rosary, stations, or attended Mass. I’ll have to see what I can find for this year!
FAST
- Take one item from the pantry each day for the poor
- Simple Meatless Meals on Fridays
- Personal Sacrifices I’m Offering Up for Lent
Toddlers don’t always understand the concept of giving something up for Lent. Instead of having our youngest children give something up we have them focus on giving away. I stock the bottom shelves of the pantry with appropriate food items that can be donated, and everyday the little ones choose something to place in a box to be donated to a needy person or organization. I fit this extra food into our grocery budget by serving simple meals throughout lent, especially on Fridays.
We are also choosing some things to offer up individually and as a family. I’ve left it generic on our calendar as “Personal Sacrifices I’m Offering Up for Lent.”
GIVE ALMS
- Count the items listed for each Day
- Put corresponding Number of Pennies in the Rice Bowl
In Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler (affiliate link) the author says, “Playing with pennies is fun, and so is putting them in a piggy bank. So try combining the two… Almost every church has Rice Bowls for lent… Think of items in your home that you can count. Select something different for every day of lent and put this on your calendar. For example, after deciding to count all the doors in your house, take the child and count all the doors. For each item counted, give him a penny to put in the Rice Bowl. There can be forty or forty-five pennies each day. It can add up, especially if you have more than one child! After Easter, bring the Rice Bowl to your church and have your child give it to your priest. Explain that this money will be used to buy food and clothes for people who do not have enough money to buy their own.”
Some examples of things that could be counted include: shoes, beds, windows, chairs, tables, pictures on the walls, trees in the yard, rooms, light fixtures, books on the shelf, silverware, stairs, toys, dolls, etc… You can be creative! This is a great opportunity to teach the children to be grateful for all they own. It is also a perfect time to work on filling those 40 bags with items to pass along to someone in need.
In the past I would usually write down something for the children to count in each square at the beginning of Lent (see Give Alms above). However, I’ve found it easiest to just assign them each morning, that way I can easily incorporate specific areas that I want to work on decluttering. 😉
This year I created squares with a cross on one side (printed on purple card stock) to cover each calendar square, instead of the cut out crosses we’ve used in the past. My plan for this year is to write on the back of each square the assignments for the day – what/where we will be praying, a reminder to fast/take an item from the pantry for the poor, and something to count for the younger children’s “Give Alms.”
At the end of each day – after we complete our prayers, fasting, and alms giving for the day – we will place the purple cross over the square of that particular date on the calendar as we count down the days until Easter Sunday!
Feasts & Seasons :: Our March Book Basket
At the beginning of each month I fill a basket with books featuring the the various saints whose feast days will be celebrated during the month and place it in the living room. Throughout the month I will find the children curled up on the couch reading books they have chosen from the basket, either on their own or to their younger siblings. I also choose books from the basket for some of our afternoon family read-alouds. Our collection started very small and we have continued adding additional books over the years which we have either purchased or have been given as gifts. Some are picture books, some are chapter books, and some are collections of saint stories. This post is a work in progress and I will continue adding links as I sort through our collection.
- David of Wales (Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
March 3rd, St. Katherine Drexel (New):
- St. Katharine Drexel (Saints and Angels) by Claire Llewellyn
- Saint Katharine Drexel (More Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
- St. Katharine Drexel, Friend of the Oppressed (Vision) by Ellen Tarry
- Treasure in Heaven: The Story of Saint Katharine Drexel (Glory Stories: Volume III)
March 5th, St. Ciarán (Hist.)
- Saint Ciaran: The Tale of a Saint of Ireland by Gary D. Schmidt
March 6th, St. Colette:
- St. Colette: Reformer of the Poor Clares (The Book of Saints & Heroes) by Andrew Lang
March 7th, St. Thomas Aquinas (Trad.) (New – Jan. 28th):
- Thomas Aquinas (Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
- St. Thomas Aquinas (Saints and Angels) by Claire Llewellyn
- St. Thomas Aquinas (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- Saint Thomas Aquinas (More Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
- St. Thomas Aquinas by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
- St. Thomas Aquinas and the Preaching Beggars (Vision) by Brendan Larnen, OP and Milton
- The Quiet Light: A Novel about St. Thomas Aquinas by Louis de Wohl (Note: This is not a children’s book, but I have really enjoyed reading the saint novels by Louis de Wohl.)
March 8th, St. John of God (New, Trad.):
- St. John of God (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- St. John of God: Servant of the Poor (The Book of Saints & Heroes) by Andrew Lang
March 8th, St. Senan:
- St. Senan (The Book of Saints & Heroes) by Andrew Lang
March 9th, St. Frances of Rome (New, Trad.):
- Frances of Rome (Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
March 9th, St. Dominic Savio (Hist.):
- Saint Dominic Savio (Saints for Boys) by Alma Savage (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
- St. John Bosco and Saint Dominic Savio (Vision) by Catherine Beebe
- Dominic Savio: Teenage Saint by Peter Lappin
- Ahead of the Crowd: The Story of Dominic Savio
- Dominic Did Nothing Out of the Ordinary (Golden Legend of Young Saints)
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| Saints for Boys: A First Book for Little Catholic Boys |
March 10th, St. Macarius (Hist.):
- Saint Macarius and the Hyena (Legends of Saints and Beasts) by Ann Marie Jauss
March 12th, St. Gregory the Great (Trad.) (New – Sept. 3rd):
- Saint Gregory the Great (Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
- G- St. Gregory the Great (An Alphabet of Saints) by Robert Hugh Benson (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
March 14th, St. Matilda (St. Maud) (Hist.):
- Saint Maud (Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
March 15th, St. Longinus (Hist.):
- Longinus (More Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
March 15th, St. Louise de Marillac (Hist.):
- St. Louise de Marillac (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- Saint Louise de Marillac (More Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
March 17th, St. Patrick (New, Trad.):
- Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert
- Saint Patrick and the Peddler by Margaret Hodges
- St. Patrick by Father Lovasik
- Patrick: Saint of Ireland by Joyce Denham
- St. Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons
- St. Patrick’s Summer: A Children’s Adventure Catechism by Marigold Hunt
- Patrick (Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
- St. Patrick (Saints and Angels) by Claire Llewellyn
- St. Patrick (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- Saint Patrick (Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
- Saint Patrick (Saints for Boys) by Alma Savage (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
- Saint Patrick: Apostle of Ireland
- A Story of St. Patrick
- Torch of Fire – St. Patrick (Audio Drama from Regina Martyrum Productions)
- Twenty Tales of Irish Saints by Alice Curtayne
- Tales of Old Ireland with CDs
- A Child’s Book of Celtic Prayers
- St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting
- Crafts for St. Patrick’s Day by Kathy Ross
- St. Patrick’s Day Alphabet by Beverly Barras Vidrine
- S is for Shamrock: An Ireland Alphabet
- The Secret of the Shamrock (Chime Travelers)
- The Wolf and the Shield: An Adventure with Saint Patrick
- Patrick and the Fire: A Legend about Saint Patrick
- Paddy and the Wolves: A Story about Saint Patrick When He Was a Boy (coloring book also available)
March 17th, St. Joseph of Arimathea (Hist.):
- Joseph of Arimathea (More Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
March 19th, St. Joseph (New. Trad.):
- A Story of St. Joseph by Brother Ernest
- Good Saint Joseph by Father Lovasik
- Mary and Joseph: Models of Faith and Love by Barbara Yoffie
- Joseph (Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
- St. Joseph (Saints and Angels) by Claire Llewellyn
- Joseph (Lives and Legends of Saints) by Carole Armstrong
- St. Joseph (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- Saint Joseph (Saints for Boys) by Alma Savage (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
- Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi (study guide in Catholic Mosaic)
- From an Angel in a Dream: The Story of St. Joseph (Glory Stories: Volume III)
- The Month of St. Joseph: Exercises for Each Day of the Month of March (Also available directly from St. Augustine Academy Press)
March 20th, St. Cuthbert:
- St. Cuthbert: Apostle of Northumbria (The Book of Saints & Heroes) by Andrew Lang
- The Ravens of Farne: A Tale of St. Cuthbert (pictured here)
March 21st, St. Benedict (New) (Trad. – July 11th):
- St. Benedict (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- Saint Scholastica & Saint Benedict (Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
- Saint Benedict (Saints for Boys) by Alma Savage (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
- B – St. Benedict (An Alphabet of Saints) by Robert Hugh Benson (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
- St. Benedict, Hero of the Hills (Vision) by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
- St. Benedict: The Story of the Father of the Western Monks by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (Also available from TAN)
- Citadel of God: A Novel about Saint Benedict by Louis de Wohl (Note: This is not a children’s book, but I have really enjoyed reading the saint novels by Louis de Wohl.)
- The Life of St. Benedict by Br. John McKenzie, O.S.B
- A Story of St. Benedict
March 24th, St. Gabriel, Archangels (Trad.) (New – Sep. 29th):
- The Heavenly Helpers (Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints) by Ethel Pochocki
- Saint Gabriel the Archangel (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
- Michael and All Angels (Lives and Legends of Saints) by Carole Armstrong
- Archangel Gabriel (Saints and Angels) by Claire Llewellyn
- Archangel Gabriel (Saints for Boys) by Alma Savage (Neumann Press – also available from TAN)
- The Angels: God’s Messengers and Our Helpers by Fr. Lovasik
March 25th, The Annunciation (New, Trad.):
- Mary of Nazareth (Tapestries: Stories of Women in the Bible) by Ruth Sanderson (Note: Tore out one of the pages in this book.)
- The Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary CD
- There is also a lovely chapter titled “Holy Mother of God” about the Annunciation in Jesus of Nazareth: The Story of His Life Written for Children by Mother Mary Loyola
- We have many other books about Our Lady that will are listed in May.
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| Tapestries: Stories of Women in the Bible (Note: Tore out one of the pages in this book.) |
St. Luke’s Brush {Sponsored Review & Giveaway}
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| Our five dolls from St. Luke’s Brush include: St. Clare, St. Therese, St. Andrew, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Sylvia |
St. Luke’s Brush specializes in hand-painted Catholic Saint Dolls, religious education play sets and religious art and gifts. These are high quality, one of a kind toys and gifts guaranteed to inspire a greater love and understanding of the Catholic Faith. Garry and his wife Amy opened the shop in September of 2010 with the hope of bringing handmade Catholic toys to small hands.
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| St. Andrew was discovered in Bud’s 2012 Easter Basket – scroll through all past Easter Baskets here The Medieval Castle can be found here (affiliate link) |
More than three years later the art of St. Luke’s Brush has delighted children and adults alike. “One of the things we realized along the way is truly what a small number of saints and religious figures are represented in Catholic statuary. So in addition to providing patron saints as toys for children, adults were finding they could obtain a three dimensional representation of any saint they wanted.”
In addition to creating atrium materials for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, St. Luke’s Brush also offers a great selection of gifts, perfect for Christmas, Feast Days, Easter (including the painted eggs above!), Sacrament Gifts and other special occasions. Custom orders are welcome!
Rainbow Connection: A Baby Shower for Kristin
I’ve been participating in the 7 posts in 7 days challenge, but just wasn’t able to put a post together last night. Thursdays are always a really full day for us each week, with the tutor here from 12-5. We are still recovering from the stomach flu we came down with last weekend, and Ranger (who we thought was the only one of the nine of us to escape it) came down with it last night… Overall, if you count all those State-by-State posts at the beginning of the week individually, this is post #9 for the week so I’ve completed the challenge, right? 😉 I am working on putting together a list of our saint books for March which I will try and post tonight or tomorrow, and I’ll also be back sometime this weekend with a giveaway from St. Luke’s Brush! (P.S. If you haven’t entered the Sew Sweet Booties giveaway, today is the last day!)
Veiling :: A Lenten Sacrifice I Grew to Love
Ten years ago, in the spring of 2004, I decided to start wearing veils as a lenten sacrifice.
It was something I had felt called to do for a couple years, but my vanity and pride had prevented me from taking the first step.
I was so afraid of what people were thinking of me. I didn’t want others to think I was wearing a veil to “try and look holy” or to draw extra attention to myself. I didn’t want to be an additional distraction during Mass.
The first temptation, my brethren, which the devil prepares for those who have begun to be more zealous in the service of God, is the fear of man. They are afraid to show themselves. They shun those persons whose society they formerly frequented. If they are told that they have changed very much, they are ashamed! The question, “What will be said of me?” haunts them so, that they have no more courage to do good before the world.
I have grown to love wearing a veil for Mass, and whenever I am in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The veil has such inspiring symbolism and is a beautiful way to give glory to God. I pray that all women who feel drawn to begin veiling are given the courage and graces they need to do so.
The Big Purse Dump
State-by-State Baking :: Texas Cookies
a big and important word.
Texas has been victorious –
freedom has been assured.
Bud ended up sharing his stomach virus with the rest of us… Since Friday everyone has gotten sick at some point, except for Ranger. This is the first stomach flu we’ve had since that traumatic trip to Nebraska, and the first ever for the two youngest. I’ve been so careful to stay home and away from all the germs, but I guess with all that running around last week we were bound to catch something. It has made for a very long and exhausting few days and nights.
Anyways, I guess I was feeling a little optimistic on Saturday (Bud was feeling a little better and no one else had gotten sick, yet) and went and signed myself up for Jen’s 7 posts in 7 days again this year! I can still do it, right? I did manage to find a little computer time this afternoon and finally finished up all the State-by-State posts that had been stacking up (just like that fun app!) in my drafts folder. I have this one last post for you and I promise I will move on to another topic tomorrow!
For the state of Texas, the 28th state in our State-by-State Study, the girls baked Texas and Star Sugar Cookies, using a Texas shaped cookie cutter from our favorite Texans, after reading L is for Lone Star: A Texas Alphabet and completing their Texas Notebook Pages.
- Sugar Cookie Dough (we used this recipe)
- Texas Shaped Cookie Cutter
- Star Shaped Cookie Cutter
- Texas Outline (optional)
- Red and Blue Food Coloring
- Powdered Sugar mixed with a few drops of water for a thin glaze
- Red, White, and Blue Sugar Sprinkles
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