Pondered In My Heart

Art for Our Lady: Marian ATC Swap 2012

Friends, it's that time once again when we honor Our Lady during her month of May by hosting an Artist Trading Card swap of Marian artwork. This will be our third Marian ATC swap!

(Our Lady of Mount Carmel by Anna)

Artist trading cards are miniature pieces of artwork created for the purpose of trading with others. An ATC is  precisely 2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 x 8.89 cm) in size - you can buy readymade cards at a craft or art supply store or cut your own from larger pieces of paper. Something like card stock or heavy watercolor paper is good. We usually cut ours from watercolor paper - a 9x12" sheet will give you ten cards.

Artist Trading Cards can be made using any art medium such as colored pencils, graphite, watercolor, acrylic, marker, pen and ink - whatever your preference is for artistic pursuits.

The swap is open to artists of all ages and abilities - we are always delighted to have artists from the littlest youngsters all the way through to one of my favorite swappers who is a great grandmother. This is a great project for the whole family to work on together, and busy moms are especially encouraged to sit down and take some time for creativity.

  

(Mary Spinning Thread by Mary Rose, Mother and Child by Lydia, and Mary with Roses by Kateri - love the little angel in flight!)

The small size of an ATC makes it fun and non-intimidating, but the diminutive results can be so very lovely.

(Our Lady of Sorrows, oil by Josiah)

Some possibilities for inspiration: titles of Our Lady (see the Litany of Loreto), mysteries of the rosary, devotions and apparitions, hymns, prayers, antiphons, symbols, traditional images or paintings.You can see some of the cards from our precious Marian ATC Swaps here: Our Marian ATC's.

The swap will work the same as the previous ones. Here are the details:

• Each participant will create five ATC's to mail out and will receive five different cards in return.
• Everyone will send their cards to me. We will sort them out roughly by age group/ability of the creator and then mail the cards back out to their new recipients. When you mail your cards to me, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope that I can use to send your new cards to you.
• International swappers are most welcome! It's always extra fun to receive cards from a faraway place. 
• The swap is open to all ages.
• Each card should be labeled on the back with the creator's name and however much info you'd like to share - age (for the kids), date, title of the piece, media used, and location if you like. Some participants look to connect with others for possible pen pals and the like, so you are welcome to include more personal info if you wish, but it is not required.
• If you are interested in participating please leave a comment or send me an email at kimberlee (at) beadsofmercy (dot) com, and put ATC swap in the subject, and I will send you further information. Anyone can join in and definitely the more the merrier.
• Please mail your cards to me postmarked by Wednesday, May 30th.
• If you have a blog, please feel free to spread the word. Here's an image you can use if you like:

(thank you, Anna Ruth!)

Enjoy creating lovely artwork to honor Our Blessed Mother!

For All the Saints Artist Trading Card Swap 2011

On this All Hallows' Eve I am pleased to announce we will once again be hosting an Artist Trading Card swap with the theme: For All the Saints! 

One of our greatest joys as parents is teaching our children about the saints who came before us - from the earliest history to modern times, rich and poor, young and old, from all walks of life, who fought the good fight and finished the course and are enjoying their eternity with God in heaven. We share their lives and their stories and we teach our children to make friends with the saints and call upon their intercession to assist us on our own journey towards salvation.

Everyone is invited to make ATC's of their favorite saints as we celebrate the Church Triumphant.

Artist Trading Cards are tiny pieces of original artwork created for the purpose of trading with others. This will be the fourth trading card swap we are hosting here on the blog (we also swap cards of Marian artwork in May).  We have had hundreds of families participate, with artists young and old.

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus by Lydia (at age 15), pen

An ATC is precisely 2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 x 8.89 cm) in size - you can buy ready made cards at a craft or art supply store or cut your own from larger pieces of paper. Card stock, heavy watercolor paper or any sturdy paper is good. We usually cut ours from watercolor paper or bristol - a 9x12" sheet will give you ten cards. Their small size makes them fun and non-intimidating to work with.

St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes by Anna Ruth (at age 13), pen and watercolor

Artwork can be of any media or combination thereof -watercolors, acrylics, pen and ink, colored pencil, calligraphy - whatever you like.

St. Peter and St. Paul by Mary Rose (at age 10), pen and watercolor

Once again, we welcome participants of all ages in the swap, from the littlest budding artists - 

St. Therese by Kateri (at age four), pen and watercolor (oh, that spelling!)

all the way through to adults.  One of the greatest pleasures for me was seeing so many other busy moms taking time for their own creative endeavors and to see their individuality reflected in their artwork. Some participants expressed their artistic talent drawing or painting while others demonstrated their creativity through various scrapboook and papercrafting techniques. Last swap I was particularly delighted to receive lovely cards from a great grandmother learning to paint later in life.

 Parents, children, adults, teens - everyone is invited to participate. We look forward to having the repeat swappers who have traded in all of our previous swaps as well as new folks joining for the first time!

 

 watercolor by Lydia (at age 15)

The swap will work the same way as we did it previous times. Here are the details:

• Each participant will create five ATC's to mail out and will receive five different cards from five different artists in return.
• Everyone will send their cards to me. I will sort them out roughly by age group of the creator, and then mail the cards back out to their new recipients. When you mail your cards to me, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope that I can use to send your new cards to you.
• International swappers are most welcome! It's always extra fun to receive cards from a far away place. 
• The swap is open to all ages. This is the perfect opportunity to sit down and create some lovely artwork alongside your children.
• Each card should be labeled on the back with the creator's name and however much info you'd like to share - age (for the kids), date, title of the piece, media used, location, email etc. Last time some participants were looking to connect with others for possible pen pals and the like, so you are welcome to include more info if you like.
• If you are interested in participating please send me an email at kimberlee (at) beadsofmercy (dot) com, and put ATC swap in the subject, and I will send you further information. Anyone can join in and definitely the more the merrier.
• Please mail your cards to me postmarked by Friday, November 18th.

If you have a blog, please feel free to spread the word and you can grab this button if you like:

  

You can see some of last year's saint cards here: Saint Swap 2010

Please note: Trading ATC''s makes a wonderful project for a class or group, but may I suggest large classes swap amongst the members rather than sending the cards to me. I aim to have each artist receive cards from five different people. I learned in a previous swap that if I have large classes participating it can be impossible to do the trading so that people get cards back from five people who are not in their own class, so I recommend you just swap within the class rather than going through the trouble of mailing them. Thank you for your understanding.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy drawing and painting For All the Saints!

Gift

You know how sometimes life gets messy and the little challenges seem to pile up into a big dreadful heap and you need a reminder that He really does hold the whole universe in His hand.

And you know how the Lord sends along a little boost right when we need it most and expect it least-

Last Friday, the on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, I had errands to run and various lists of items to pick up at a number of stores. I stopped in at the thrift store just because it's so close to the hardware store where I was getting paint. As I quickly walked around I thought to myself, Why did I come here? I was already in here twice this week... I picked up a few clothing items and then zipped through the rest of the store, passing quickly by the long aisle of a junky mish mash of 'brick', then past all the dishes and kitchen items - all the dented aluminum and faded plastic cookware you could ever (not) want. As I rounded the corner I glanced at the floor where they haphazardly assemble assorted bulky items like dilapidated old suitcases and shoe racks - my eyes fell and mentally rolled at the huge tacky plastic bride and groom still sitting there that I saw the other day. Then I did a double take as my brain realized there was something new sitting there on the floor as well. A large, lovely old treasure obscurely resting amongst the junk.

I knew as I picked up the Infant that He was there just for me, and a flood of peace and reassurance came over me.  I kissed Him and cradled Him close to me, keeping one hand on His head lest His crown fall off and break. I held on tight as I checked out and showed the cashier His little pink price sticker. 'Where did you find that?' she asked. 'Over there, on the floor.'  'He shouldn't have been on the floor- He should have been in the case. But it doesn't matter now.'  Indeed, it didn't matter, because now He was safe in my arms.

He needs fingers and a cross on top of His sphere, but Josiah has experience with both. This will be the third time Josiah has worked on the hands of an Infant of Prague.  He restored the hands of a large Infant that a friend of mine rescued from a thrift shop, and she in turn gave it to a community of cloistered Carmelites. He also made a sphere for an Infant belonging to that bride, married on Our Lady's feast day. Often is devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Brown Scapular tied to the Infant of Prague!

 

Now we are overjoyed to have a beautiful old Infant for our very own. And I've snatched on to a bit more peace.

 "Have pity on me, and I will have pity on you. Give me my hands, and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you."

Art for Our Lady: Marian Artist Trading Card Swap 2011

 

To honor Our Lady during her month of May we will once again be hosting an Artist Trading Card swap of Marian artwork.

Artist Trading Cards are tiny pieces of original artwork created for the purpose of trading with others.

This will be the second Marian ATC swap - last May 575 Marian cards were traded. We also hosted an All Saints Swap in the fall which had even more participants. You can see some of the 1,460 saint cards traded here. You can also see some of last May's Marian cards here.

 

An ATC is  precisely 2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 x 8.89 cm) in size - you can buy ready made cards at a craft or art supply store or cut your own from larger pieces of paper. Something like card stock or heavy watercolor paper is good. We usually cut ours from watercolor paper - a 9x12" sheet will give you ten cards.

Their small size makes them fun and non-intimidating to work with.
 

Artwork can be of any media or combination thereof -watercolors, acrylics, pen and ink, colored pencil, calligraphy, whatever.

 

The purpose of the swap is to share and encourage love of Our Lady, so all of the cards should reflect a Marian theme. Some suggestions to consider for inspiration: titles of Our Lady, mysteries of the rosary, apparitions, hymns, prayers, antiphons, symbols, traditional images or paintings. The possibilities are as limitless as Our Lady herself. 
 

watercolor by Mary Rose, age 9

Once again, we welcome participants of all ages in the swap, but each should be encouraged to do his or her best for  Blessed Mother. In the previous swaps we've had the littlest budding artists all the way through to teens and adults. We've had many mothers participate and I am always happy to see other busy moms taking time for their own creative endeavors and to see their individuality reflected in their artwork. Some ladies expressed their artistic talent drawing or painting while others demonstrated their creativity through various scrapboook and papercrafting techniques. Anyone who would like to honor Our Lady through artwork is invited to join!

Blessed Mother by Kateri, age 4

The swap will work the same as the previous ones. Here are the details:

• Each participant will create five ATC's to mail out and will receive five different cards in return.
• Everyone will send their cards to me. We will sort them out roughly by age group of the creator and then mail the cards back out to their new recipients. When you mail your cards to me, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope that I can use to send your new cards to you.
• International swappers are most welcome! It's always extra fun to receive cards from a far away place. 
• The swap is open to all ages.
• Each card should be labeled on the back with the creator's name and however much info you'd like to share - age (for the kids), date, title of the piece, media used and location if you like. Last time some participants were looking to connect with others for possible pen pals and the like, so you are welcome to include more personal info if you want, but it is not required.
• If you are interested in participating please leave a comment or send me an email at kimberlee (at) beadsofmercy (dot) com, and put ATC swap in the subject, and I will send you further details. Anyone can join in and definitely the more the merrier.
• Please mail your cards to me postmarked by Saturday, May 28th.
• If you have a blog, please feel free to spread the word. Here is a button you can post (thanks Lydia):    
   

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you! Have fun and Ave Maria!

Edited to add: Trading ATC''s makes a wonderful project for a class or group, but may I suggest classes swap amongst the members rather than sending the cards to me. I aim to have each artist receive cards from five different people. I learned in the last swap that if I have classes participating it can be impossible to do the trading so that people get cards back from five people who are not in their own class, so I recommend you just swap within the class rather than going through the trouble of mailing them. Thank you for your understanding.

Oh, How I Love Jesus (a meme for Lent)

The always-inspiring Karen Edmisten tagged me for this Lenten meme.

The rules: Those tagged will share 5 things they love about Jesus/why they love Jesus. Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers and will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.

1. The Eucharist. Our Lord comes to us every day that we are willing to go and receive Him! His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity are mine just for the asking - Jesus comes and feeds my soul with His very Self and I receive grace and nourishment for this journey of life on earth. I have been going to daily Mass for years and I don't believe I could have any hope of even trying to pursue any bit of holiness without daily Eucharist. I love that Our Lord comes and feeds me every day. I need Him.

2. The Incarnation. Of course Our Lord brought us the Eucharist through the Incarnation. I love that He came and was born as a baby and grew and lived and walked this earth as a human being to show us how it is He wants us to live.  I love that He does not ask anything of us that He Himself did not already give.

3. The Cross. He came and suffered His Passion for our salvation. He showed us how to suffer, He showed us that suffering has a purpose, and He allows our sufferings to be united to His own. Pain and sorrow are a part of everyone's life, and Our Lord showed us that suffering is meaningful and useful and redemptive when united to Him. I love that pain is never useless with my Jesus.

4. His mercy.  Our Lord revealed to St. Faustina that His Heart is 'an ocean of mercy'. Scripture tells us His mercies are new every morning, that His mercy has no end. Sometimes His mercies are new every hour in my day. Sometimes I need to call upon His mercy every minute. Sometimes His mercy comes to me in the Confessional and sometimes I need it right there in the kitchen. I love that His mercy covers all.

 5.His Mother. At the very same time Our Lord was hanging on the Cross and dying for our sins He did another tremendous thing for us and He gave us His Mother. He gave us His very Self and remains with us in the Eucharist, yet knowing how difficult this life can be He also saw fit to give us His Blessed Mother to be our own. I am so thankful for His Mother and I love that He thought to share her with us. There is nothing else on earth like a Mother, and sometimes she is what we need most to bring us to Him.

6. His Church. Through the Church, Our Lord has left us with the Faith that is perfect for us, body and soul, heart and mind, intellect and will. I love that while He was here on earth Our Lord did not eschew the stuff of this world. I love that He used things like water and dirt and spit and cloth and bread and wine to accomplish His will. I love that my Catholic faith indulges my senses as well as my spirit, engages my body as well as my soul, satisfies the musings of my mind and the longings of my heart, that it all fits together. And I love that even the likes of dirt and spit in my own life can be used for His glory.

7. His Name. I love that His Name is the Name that is above all other names, and that in the end every knee shall bow to the sound of it. I love that just to say His holy Name is a prayer, and I know that whenever I call upon Him, He hears me and is there.

I guess I'd better stop - apparently I count to 'five' just like Karen does. This was a good list to contemplate. If you'd like to participate, leave a comment so we can find yours. I will also try to tag five other bloggers, but as you can see I'm not so good at the rules...

Candlemas

 
O Holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, who hast created all things out of nothing, and by Thy command hast caused this liquid to become perfect wax by the labor of bees:  and who, on this day didst fulfill the petition of the righteous man Simeon:  we humbly entreat Thee, that by the invocation of Thy most holy Name and through the intercession of Blessed Mary ever Virgin whose feast is today devoutly observed, and by the prayers of all Thy Saints, Thou wouldst vouchsafe to bless + and sactify + these candles for the service of men and for the health of their bodies and souls, whether on land or on sea:  and that Thou wouldst hear from Thy holy heaven, and from the throne of Thy Majesty the voices of this Thy people, who desire to carry them in their hands with honor, and to praise Thee with hymns; and wouldst be propitious to all that call upon Thee, whom Thou hast redeemed with the precious Blood of Thy Son; Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.  Amen. (from the blessing of the candles)

Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace. A light to the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel.

 Because mine eyes have seen Thy salvation. A light to the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel.

Which Thou hast prepared, before the face of all peoples. A light to the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. A light to the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. A light to the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel. (Canticle of Simeon)

Missal Musings (and a homemade prayer booklet)

You have probably noticed that I am quite fond of my 1962 Roman English-Latin Missal. When we first started attending the Traditional Latin Mass a few years I was amazed to discover not only an entirely different form of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but also what seemed to me like a completely different approach to prayer unlike anything to which I was accustomed. (The way I feel about it is similar to this very succinct piece on Why do we need a new translation of the Mass, anyway? <smile> )

Besides of course the canon and propers of the TLM itself, I found myself enamoured with so very many of the prayers found in my missal, and felt that I had discovered great treasures that I had somehow been missing all of my life. I have posted before some of these such as this prayer of St. Bonaventure or these of St. Ambrose. So after we had invested in our own missals I found myself turning to these older prayers for much of my daily personal prayer.

However, I also like to keep my missal in the car so I always have it for daily Mass. In trying to get all of us out the door in the morning, most often moving sleeping little girls swiftly and quietly into the car, I can't be looking for my missal as well.  I wanted to have some of my daily prayers available for morning and evening, so I made this little booklet of the prayers. I printed them out on a nice cream cardstock, adding an extra blank piece to act as the 'endpapers', and then stitched the pages together on the sewing machine using a heavy duty (denim) needle. This is just eight pages of text and for morning includes the Acts of Adoration, Faith, Hope and Charity, Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, Morning Offering and St. Ambrose's Morning Hymn. For the evening there is also the Confiteor, Act of Contrition, Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, prayers for the faithful departed, for a happy death, protection during the night, and Psalm 129.

For the cover, I cut a piece of pretty double-sided card stock just a little larger than the text pages. Then I glued the blank endpages to the inside of my cover. I rounded all the corners for a finished look, and now I have my own personal little prayer booklet that I keep at my bedside. This is a simple little project that you could do with your own favorite prayers to make your own personalized booklet. Mine is half page size, but you could also do it quarter size to easily fit in a pocket of purse.

I was so pleased with my finished booklet that I made a few extras to share. If you'd like one just send me an email with your address and I'd be delighted to send you one. 

 I also have the pdf of the prayers if you'd like: Download MORNING PRAYERS booklet print form 3 It's meant to be printed double-sided in booklet form (on my printer I did the front pages first, then had to feed them back in and printed the back pages). It's just two pages of printed cardstock, half size pages printed on both sides. Hope that makes sense!

ETA: I discovered some slight errors in the pdf I posted of the prayers - things so slight I didn't notice them as I used my booklet - so I uploaded a new (corrected) version (it has a 3 in the title now).

Another useful missal tidbit I finally accomplished was to make an elastic band to fit on the cover to hold my holy cards in place like so (my children think this is quite silly, but I haven't had my holy cards spilling all over the floor since I put it on):

One last little missal project is this pair of bookmarks I asked Lydia to make for me. I wanted to have a place to write down prayer intentions because while some are always on my mind and heart, there are others that slip my sieve-like brain. So I had Lydia make me this bookmark on which to list the dear departed I wish to remember, and I will keep it in my missal right at the commemoration of the dead.

Then I have this one I will keep at the commemoration of the living, with sweet little forget-me-nots Lydia added for background. 
 
 
 As Josiah would say, thus endeth my post about my missal. Hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Sunday!

ETA I fixed the link to the Catholic Culture article.

Some Favorite Gifts

 Now that it's three weeks past Christmas I thought I'd get around to posting some of the favourite gifts as Bridget suggested. Since I'm so late I can be sure they are really favorites, see?

Like Bridget, we tend to get practical gifts and I figure that the gifts the kids make each other are the fun stuff. I try to get in some fun stuff too of course, but I can't really compete with their cleverness and creativity and ability to delight and amuse each other. I do almost all of the shopping online and just about everything came from Amazon (books!), Sierra Trading (basics like wool socks) and Dick Blick (art supplies!).

The books are listed in my sidebar on the left and I think they have all been read by now. The color fairy books were a big hit - we've since added The Yellow and The Pink Fairy Books, purchased with Christmas gift money. Definitely a favorite genre around here. I was delighted when I finished writing that post with the fairy books in it I clicked over and saw that Auntie Leila (now Grandma Leila) had just written about the importance of fairy stories. Alas, she has taken the post down for now, but not before I saw her recommendation for some of George MacDonald's fairy stories. We have long been fond of The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie and The Light Princess, but somehow these other books had somehow escaped my radar. You know how it's always so exciting to discover new books by a favorite author - I quickly ordered up The Wise Woman,  The Gray Wolf, The Golden Key and The Light Princess. They are really lovely volumes with beautiful type and pleasing covers.  I have started reading The Wise Woman aloud to the whole family in the evenings and from the very first sentence it is simply delicious. We are enjoying it immensely.

Mary Rose also bought the BBC Narnia movies with her Christmas money. I realize many people despise these, but we watched them recently for the first time and were very amused. I think after seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the theater we were all delightfully surprised to find Narnia movies that actually follow the stories in the books, and we found them quite entertaining. (Josiah reviews them here.) The Silver Chair is particularly nicely done and Puddleglum is as charming a marshwiggle as you can get on screen. And that eel stew is something to behold. Ew. (It's like the complete opposite of Eowyn's soup.)

I got everyone stainless steel water bottles from Sierra and these have all been in use daily. Jonathan especially likes to have a water bottle when he goes off to college or off to sing in church and he is happy to stop using the crinkly plastic kind. I got mini bottles for the little girls and also one for my purse.

I made these wool covers for the bottles to make them more pleasing to hold and so we could tell whose is whose. Don't laugh at my primitive needlefelting skills - Lydia makes it look so easy (did you see her barn owl?)  I thought I would give it a try. ahem. The boys just have their initials (in elvish). (you can't see Mary Rose's apple tree - I had to add apples to the 'tree' because it looked like a haystack...)

.

Another practical gift is these hankies I made for the girls. They each got half a dozen in these cheery cherry prints - I just chose some clearance fabrics in thin soft cotton and edged them on the machine. Naturally these are a big hit and in use every day.

Eliza's had to get some new music of course and I was happy to give her Cake for Dinner. I first heard of Scythian on Alice's blog, and then I was delighted to learn that their mother Mrs. Fedoryka (may her soul rest in peace) was a friend of Bridget's, and then I found out that our favorite local musicians have performed with them as well. I love how the internet lets you discover little connections like that. Anyhoo, the little girls absolutely love it and I enjoy the Eastern European flavor to much of the music (being just a bit akin to a gypsy myself).  In our quieter moments we are also enjoying Mary Kate's new CD of mostly solo harp, Mirabilis.

And finally, another small sized gift that has been a big hit is the little book of meditations, My Daily Bread. I first learned about this gem from Christine. I started out with two copies that we were sharing, but some children asked for personal copies so I was happy to get two more. The book is arranged into brief but powerful daily reflections, and I find it's just perfect for mid-afternoon when I need a bit of targeted meditation to re-focus. It is very blunt and straightforward and we like it. Example (in the voice of Our Lord):

 Knowing all things, I know your most important needs. I want you to gain the perfect and unending joy of Heaven. For this reason I will place you at times in a spiritual darkness of doubts and confusion. Then again I will let you enjoy the light of My truth and joy. One day I will console you, and on the next day you may find life hard and sorrowful. But through all these changing conditions, remember that My hand is leading you on toward Heaven.

Follow My Will in all things. Be just as ready to experience suffering as to have joy, just as glad to be poor and needy as to be well off. If you prefer My Will in all these things, you will be preferring the Perfect Wisdom and the Highest Good.

God made me for the perfect life of Heaven. Whatever He sends me is sent with this goal in view. Some things I can remedy and improve in my daily life, while other things are beyond my control. After I have done my best, I should accept the results as God's Will for me. Be it hard or easy, pleasant or disagreeable, I can always be sure that God knows, wants and permits what is good for my soul.

Goodness, methinks that's quite enough linkiful rambling for one Friday night - from the mundane to the meditative!

Leaped Down from Heaven

 
While all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her course, Thine almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven from Thy royal throne. Ps. 92:1 The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded Himself. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

- Introit (Wisdom 18:14-15), Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord

And our hearts are filled with great gladness! Blessed Christmastide to you and yours as we celebrate this most joyous season!

For All the Saints ATC Swap - Fait Accompli!

Hear ye! Hear ye! All of the All Saints artist trading cards were mailed out to their new recipients on Monday!

We spent our Thanksgiving break sorting and swapping and packaging up all the cards. We finally finished on Saturday at 5 o'clock, and as I prepared to dash out the door with them all, my dear husband informed me the post office closed at 4. So Monday was the big day!

Are you ready for the number? We had a grand total of 1, 460 cards! That's a lot of artwork! That's a lot of saints! That's lots and lots of artist who love our dear friends in heaven, the Church Triumphant, the Saints!

So while it was an arduous task sorting them all out, we were all so very blessed and encouraged and privileged to see all of the cards made by so very many creative hands!

We had cards from the littlest two year old artists-

to the four year olds - I think this little artist is definitely a kindred spirit of Kateri-(that's our beloved St. Elizabeth of Hungary in case you can't read four-year-old-ese)

to the dear little boys who love to draw ever so many St. Sebastians and St. Georges and St. Martins. Any every single sword, arrow and dragon laden card so precious and unique from all the others.

To the beautiful cards lovingly drawn by young girls, such as this artist who chose to draw five different Saints Theresa.
 

To the more than forty adult artists who did such beautiful, inspiring work - you could just see the love and devotion and Faith portrayed in the artwork. It was so edifying to contemplate all of the artists and their relationships to their dear favorite saints.

As I already explained, we received many pieces of mail placed under the guidance of good St. Anthony -

We actually had quite a few envelopes arrive ripped or damaged in some way, including one that sadly had all of its contents lost. When reluctantly I wrote to tell the mother that her family's cards were lost she replied that 'perhaps the cards were meant to go to a mail carrier or some other person'. Isn't that a most beautiful thought?! Those precious saint cards drawn by young hands bearing witness somewhere -exactly where God wanted them to be. (and don't worry - we sent the family some new cards anyways)

So we thought we should entrust all of our outgoing mail to the care and guidance of dear St. Anthony,

and we stamped every one of the 174 envelopes before they went on their way.
 

 Josiah was tickled to get some 'fan mail' -
 
 
 
and I was delighted to read all of the many kind notes sent along from the mothers. We had cards from all across the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany and Norway. As one mother put it, she said it made her feel like she was part of a cross country homeschool group.

Here are the cards we made - Josiah's:

Eliza's St. Agnes, St. Therese, St. Peter, St.Helen and St. George:

Kateri's:

 

Anna's:

Mary Rose's:
 
 
and Lydia's: 
 
 Here are the cards we received:

Josiah got St.Francis de Sales with St. Jane de Chantal, St. Edmond Campion, St. Pierre Julian Eymard, St. Barbara  and St. Maximillian Kolbe, his patron.

Lydia received Sy. Maximillian as well, St. Lucy, St. Maria Goretti, St. Agnes, and our beloved St. Anthony.

Anna received St. Katherine Drexel, St. Lucy, Our Lady of the Brown Scapular, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, and St. Francis of Assisi.

Mary Rose  got St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. St. Cecilia, another St. Anthony, St. Gregory the Great, and Our Lady, Queen of all Saints.

Eliza received Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Brigid, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Therese and St. Rose of Lima.

Kateri got St.Elizabeth of Hungary, Holy Mary, St. Gianna, St. Nicholas, and St Brendan.
 

I ended up with just two cards but I love them so - St. Rose of Lima and a quote from St. Francis de Sales.
 
And here is a Mr. Linky so you can post links to your own cards if you post about them. Thank you so much once again to everyone who made this swap such a grand success, and also to my family for all their help in sorting and swapping and my children who made a couple dozen extra cards to help out in celebrating All Saints!

 

Advent, St. Andrew, and Alternate Realities

We humbly entreat Thy majesty, O Lord: that as the blessed Apostle Andrew was once a teacher and ruler of Thy Church: so he may be a constant advocate for us before Thee. (Collect, Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle)

 

(statue of St. Andrew made by Josiah)

Today is the feast of St. Andrew, and the day to start praying the St. Andrew Christmas novena prayer. This prayer is traditionally said fifteen times a day from November 30 to Christmas.

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
In which the Son of God was born
of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight,
in Bethlehem,
in piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, O my God!
to hear my prayer and grant my desires,
through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

We've gotten out my little purple prayer cards. You can read more about them in this old post - Simply Advent.

Our single star is shining in the darkness.

We have started our simple but lovely evening Advent prayer time. We light our Advent wreath candle. We read our Scripture passage of the day and put our ornament on our Jesse tree. We sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Creator Alme Siderum, and finish up with Alma Redemptoris Mater.
 

We are slowly easing into this season of expectation.We have yet to change out the home altar and I am still working on a banner I am making. That's okay. We are in no rush in this season of waiting and preparing. As November draws to a close we still linger over the thoughts and images and prayers of the previous month. The purple and penance of Advent is not such a surprise because we have just assisted at so many requiems and offered sacrifices for the souls of the dearly departed. 

Our 'Black Friday' was apparent in the priest's vestments as he offered one of November's last votive Masses for the dead.

 

Our Advent began in the presence of Our Lord as our good bishop answered the call of the Holy Father and lead a cathedral full of people in prayer for the unborn. We prayed the rosary, sang vespers, and participated in Benediction.

 

We are used to quietly waiting and preparing for the good and holy things to come. We are not uncomfortable resisting the glitter and glitz and glare of the holly jolly world around us. We are happy to wait. And yet we do not harbor grudges against the revelers around us. As Father gently reminded us on Sunday, we do not need to beat anyone over the head with Advent Advent Advent as with a club. (!)

We take our time entering in. As Sunday's collect, Excita, implored the Lord to Stir up Thy power we take this time to stir up our own hearts and prepare them for the coming of the Savior. We are glad to do this.

For we wait in joyful hope.

Saint ATC Swap Update

Just a little update on the For All the Saints artist trading card swap. I've extended the deadline a bit as some folks just found out about the swap and would like to participate. So if you've been thinking about joining you still have a little time - just shoot me an email if you are interested. My children don't like me to show the cards they plan on trading, but here's one Anna made for her dad, just to whet your appetite- 

Piles of cards have been landing in our mailbox everyday - it's very exciting! My girls love to run out to fetch the day's arrivals, although we won't open any of them until we get them all.

But yesterday we received this envelope that apparently got stuck in the postal machine and ripped. I was quite concerned about it as the envelope was rather shredded and almost torn in half - little ATC's could easily slip out through the large gap.  I thought of our friend Anthony, who told my girls they should always write 'S.A.G.' on their mail, short for St. Anthony Guide, so that through his intercession their mail would always arrive safely and not get lost. But alas, this envelope had no 'S.A.G.' on the back, and I feared the worst.

 

However, I was delightfully surprised as I pulled out the cards from the remains of the envelope to find all twenty five were there! I thought this was amazing, as I also found a letter inside the envelope from the mom, and that too was torn almost entirely in half:

So you can imagine how big the grin was on my face when I opened the letter and found this: 
 

Thank you, St. Anthony!

All Souls Day

 

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful: grant to the souls of Thy servants and handmaidens the remission of all their sins: that through pious supplications, they may obtain that pardon, which they have always desired - Collect, the First Mass All Souls Day

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit: deliver them from the lion's mouth, that hell swallow them not up, that they fall not into darkness, but let the standard-bearer holy Michael lead them into that holy light; which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed. We offer to Thee, O Lord, sacrifices and prayers: do Thou receive them in behalf of those souls of whom we make memorial this day. Grant them, O Lord, to pass from death to that life; which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed. - Offertory, the First Mass All Souls Day

We had the extraordinary opportunity to attend three Masses this morning for the commemoration of All Souls Day. Priests are permitted to say three Masses on this day and we were blessed to be able to pray for the Poor Souls in this way with a visiting priest saying his private Masses. Praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy and there is no higher or more efficacious form of prayer than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

We also attended the parish Mass this evening, which included the presence of the symbolic empty casket called a catafalque. As Father pointed out, this gives us the opportunity to reflect on our own mortality as we pray the Requiem Mass without the emotional strain of it being an actual funeral for a dearly departed soul. The black vestments and solemn sung propers, including the beautiful Dies Irae sequence, make it a most unique liturgy.

As my missal explains it: The practice of recommending to God the souls of the departed in that we may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to God and most profitable to us. For those blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and they are most grateful to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. Hence, when they shall enter into heaven, they will certainly not forget those who prayed for them. It is a pious belief that God manifests to them our prayers for them, that they also may pray for us. Let us recommend to Jesus Christ, and to His holy Mother, all the souls in Purgatory, but especially those of our relatives, benefactors, friends, and enemies, and, still more particularly, the souls of those for whom we are bound to pray; and let us consider the great pains which these holy spouses of Jesus Christ endure, and offer to God for their relief the Masses of this day.

We remember and pray for All Souls throughout the month of November. More about All Souls Day can be found at the Catholic Culture article, including suggestions for other pious activities such as praying at a cemetery or making a display of all the faithful departed of the family.

In addition to at Mass, a simple way to frequently pray for the Poor Souls is to include their intentions along with our other regular prayers - the Eternal Rest prayer is easily said at the end of the Angelus and grace before meals. Or simply, May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. In this way we remember the departed in prayer at least three times a day, as well as reminding ourselves of our own mortality (and I frequently tell my family they had best pray for me when I am gone!).

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. (IIMaccabees 12:46)

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Fall Artist Trading Card Swap - For All the Saints!

 

 November is fast approaching and I will once again be hosting an Artist Trading Card swap with the theme: For All the Saints! 

One of our greatest joys as parents is teaching our children about the saints who came before us - from the earliest history to modern times, rich and poor, young and old, from all walks of life, who fought the good fight and finished the course and are enjoying their eternity with God in heaven. We share their lives and their stories and we teach our children to make friends with the saints and call upon their intercession to assist us on our own journey towards salvation.

Everyone is invited to make ATC's of their favorite saints as we prepare to celebrate the Church Triumphant.

Artist Trading Cards are tiny pieces of original artwork created for the purpose of trading with others. In May I hosted a similar swap here on the blog and we received 575 pieces of Marian artwork made by artists of all ages. We had so much fun making and trading the cards, and I know lots of you greatly enjoyed it as well.

St. Joseph and the Child Jesus by Lydia, pen

An ATC is precisely 2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 x 8.89 cm) in size - you can buy ready made cards at a craft or art supply store or cut your own from larger pieces of paper. Card stock, heavy watercolor paper or any sturdy paper is good. We usually cut ours from watercolor paper - a 9x12" sheet will give you ten cards. Their small size makes them fun and non-intimidating to work with.

St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes by Anna Ruth, pen and watercolor

Artwork can be of any media or combination thereof -watercolors, acrylics, pen and ink, colored pencil, calligraphy - whatever you like.

St. Peter and St. Paul by Mary Rose, pen and watercolor

Once again, we welcome participants of all ages in the swap, from the littlest budding artists - 

St. Therese by Kateri (age four), pen and watercolor (oh, that spelling!)

all the way through to adults. We had many mothers participate in the last swap - one of the greatest pleasures for me was seeing so many other busy moms taking time for their own creative endeavors and to see their individuality reflected in their artwork. Some mothers expressed their artistic talent drawing or painting while others demonstrated their creativity through various scrapboook and papercrafting techniques.

 watercolor by Lydia

The swap will work the same way as we did it last time. Here are the details:

• Each participant will create five ATC's to mail out and will receive five different cards in return.
• Everyone will send their cards to me. I will sort them out roughly by age group of the creator, and then mail the cards back out to their new recipients. When you mail your cards to me, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope that I can use to send your new cards to you.
• International swappers are most welcome! It's always extra fun to receive cards from a far away place. 
• The swap is open to all ages. This is the perfect opportunity to sit down and create some lovely artwork alongside your children, so I would like to encourage moms (or dads) to participate as well!
• Each card should be labeled on the back with the creator's name and however much info you'd like to share - age (for the kids), date, title of the piece, media used, location, email etc. Last time some participants were looking to connect with others for possible pen pals and the like, so you are welcome to include more info if you like.
• If you are interested in participating please send me an email at kimberlee (at) beadsofmercy (dot) com, and put ATC swap in the subject. Anyone can join in and definitely the more the merrier.
• Please mail your cards to me postmarked by Friday, November 5th.

11/3 Edited to add the following update: We have had a great response to the swap! Many more adults are participating this time as well, which is fantastic! As some folks are just finding out about it, and also people have been very busy with All Saints Day activities,  I am happy to extend  the deadline a bit. If you can't get your cards mailed until next week that  is fine. And I definitely hope to make this an annual swap, as well as the Marian swap in May. Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word!

If you have a blog, please feel free to spread the word and you can grab this button if you like:

 

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy drawing and painting For All the Saints!

Sewing Tutorial: How to Make a Lace Chapel Veil

I made new mantillas for Lydia and Anna as gifts for their Confirmation.  As you can see, this is a medium length style that gently graces the top of the shoulders for a lovely, feminine look:

For the body of the veil I used bff white lace which I found at my local Hancocks. This is a reasonably priced lace with a soft hand and a nice drape. To figure out how much lace I needed I measured the distance from shoulder to shoulder, going over the top of the head; this measurement was approximately 36".

This lace is scalloped along the selvages (side edges) so I decided to leave the scallop intact and use that part for the front edge. The lace is 54" wide, so one yard of lace was just enough for two mantillas. I cut my yard of lace in half to make two pieces, each 36 x 27". For the trim I used a 'white daisy bow'edging, also from Hancock's, though I don't see it at their online site. I purchased 3 1/2 yards, and I used it all to make the two mantillas.

I decided it would be easier to sew the trim onto the lace first, before cutting the shape out, in order to keep things smooth and even and seeing as I didn't have a pattern. I laid out each piece of lace, right side up, on a table. Then I positioned its piece of lace trim, right side up, on top of it in an arched shape like so:

To do this I started by lining up the edges of the trim with the sides of the lace and pinning them in place. Then I lined up the center of the trim with the center of the piece of lace fabric and pinned it as well. Then I shaped the trim into a nice rounded arch and played with the positioning until it looked symmetrical. I just did this by eye until it looked right. When I was happy with the shape I pinned all of the trim in place:

 
As I said, I did not cut out the shape at this point - I just pinned the trim on top of the lace fabric in the proper shape. My trim is such that I just carefully cut the end between daisy motifs for a clean finish - it did not need to have the edges turned under or anything. I left everything laid flat out on the table to do the sewing so I could be sure everything stayed nice and smooth without any wrinkles or bunching. Starting at one edge, I hand stitched the trim onto the lace:

I worked on the right side, just taking very tiny overcast stitches all along the edge of my trim like so:

I kept everything on the table and just lifted up the outer edge with my left hand so I could do the sewing. It took about an hour of hand stitching to get the trim on one mantilla. When the sewing was finished I turned the piece over to trim the lace fabric. Leaving about a half inch seam allowance I carefully cut out the mantilla along the trim line. I left the veil spread out on the table so I could clearly see what I was doing as I cut it out.
 
 I cut very slowly and carefully! 
 
 

And that's it!

  
I also made them pouches to go along with the veils. It's very nice to have something to put the mantillas in for transport to Mass and afterwards to keep them fresh and clean. I based the pouches on the tissue pouch tutorial found here. ( I don't bother with a template or interfacing. You can also see other similar pouches I made in various sizes for my purse in this old post.) When sewing the final edges together, I just position the flaps so they overlap like an envelope rather than butting up against each other as in the directions. My finished pouches are approximately 5 1/2" x 9".

My original pieces were probably about 9 1/2" x 13" or so. I cut the pieces of outer fabric from a fat quarter I had. I like to use a satin fabric for the inside layer so the lace veil slides into the pouch easily:

And incidentally the scraps of the lace fabric - the little triangles from the corners - are just the right size to make petite tie on veils for little girls. I just trim the two sides with lace and then add a long piece of satiny seam binding along the front edge leaving long tails to use as ties. So sweet!

A special thank you to Josiah for taking the pictures for me while I was sewing. If you have any questions or anything doesn't make sense, just ask.

Updated to add: Several people commented on the little girl veil so I will show you how I made ours. They are just triangles approximately 16" on the short sides and 24" on the long side. I trimmed the two sides with an inexpensive ruffly lace as seen below - I just zig zagged it on by machine. For the front edge, I used one long piece of satiny seam binding/ribbon type stuff - about 50". I folded it in half lengthwise, pressing it with an iron. Then I zig zagged along, using the center section of the ribbon as a binding for the long edge of the lace. The lace gets encased in the fold of the ribbon - it helps to baste it onto the lace first before the machine stitching. The picture of Kateri shows one I made a few years ago - they went together very quickly and were just inexpensive lace and trim. From the looks of this close-up (stretched out, grubby) veil picture I see my littlest girls could use some new ones. (ahem)

Veni Sancte Spiritus

We were very blessed to have Lydia and Anna receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form yesterday. Josiah was also serving at the altar.

Lydia Grace took the name of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Anna Ruth took St. Bernadette as her patroness.
 
 Here they are in front of Our Lady's altar, with our friend Mrs. F. who graciously sponsored them both.

 

Here is the whole family afterwards; Jonathan served as organist/schola director, hence the happy smile of relief. Oh, the heavenly smell of chrism!

This video clip features the schola chanting the very ancient Veni Creator Spiritus. This prayer is attributed to Rabanus Maurus (776-856) and is used when the Holy Ghost is solemnly invoked.

Veni, creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia,
quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas
et spiritalis unctio.

Tu septiformis munere,
digitus paternae dexterae
tu rite promissum Patris
sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus,
infunde amorem cordibus,
infirma nostri corporis,
virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius
pacemque dones protinus;
ductore sic te praevio
vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus da Patrem
noscamus atque Filium,
te utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
in saeculorum saecula.
Amen.

English version:   
Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.    
O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.    
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God's hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father,
Thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue.    
Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o'erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.   
Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.     
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit blest.    
Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen

Sunday Prayer

O God of sanctity, who am I, that Thou shouldst come to me? "The heavens are not pure in Thy sight", and wilt Thou dwell in my heart? "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof". The consciousness of my unworthiness would prompt me to exclaim: "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner." But oh, the wonderful condescension of Thy love! Thy pressing invitation encourages me, and dispels my fears. "Here I am, for Thou didst call me." Come then, O Jesus, take possession of a heart that wishes to belong to Thee. "Behold, they that go far from Thee shall perish." But, O my God, this house of my heart is too narrow for Thee: do Thou enlarge it; it is falling to ruin; do Thou repair it; it had been defiled by sin: do Thou cleanse and purify it. "Look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me. Oh, heal my soul for I have sinned against Thee! Let Thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live! Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof; say but the word, and my soul shall be healed."

Devotions for Holy Communion - An Act of Humility, from The Roman Missal

At Sunday Mass, when little ones are squirmy during the longer liturgy and concentration can get challenging, I love that I can just open my Missal and find the most beautiful, meaningful prayers right there for me to pray. I do so love the prayers in my Missal.

Of the Cross

With Christ I am nailed to the cross: but I live, now not I: but Christ liveth in me: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself for me, alleluia, alleluia. Introit (Galatians 2:19-10)

If you partake of the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that when His glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. Alleluia. Communion (1Peter 4:13)

I went to Mass this evening with the intention of praying for the grieving mothers who are right now mourning the loss of their dear wee babes whom they will never get to meet here on this earth, and found these words of today's propers for the feast of St. Paul of the Cross most fitting. May they feel Our Lady's comfort where she is so often found, at the foot of the Cross.

Of Weeds and Sin

I spent the day Saturday working in the flower beds cleaning up debris and pulling weeds. I have a lot of beds and there are lots of weeds thriving out there. Whenever I spend any length of time pulling and digging and wrestling and cultivating to get rid of weeds I can't help thinking of how they are so like sin. As I pull and dig and wrestle and cultivate I ruminate on how all the different types of weeds are like so many different ways sin penetrates our lives.

The first comparison is obvious - pulling weeds is like rooting out sin; we must get to the very bottom of things in order to triumph. As I always tell my garden helpers, it does no good to just pull off the top of the weed -we must use our 'poker' and dig down deep to get all the root out in order to be able to hope the offender is gone, never to return.

Some weeds have one main tap root, strong and slender and steep, but when you've dug far enough and pulled hard enough you get it all out, and it shouldn't come back.

Other weeds have myriad clusters of branching roots; the leafy green growth above ground is nothing compared to the far reaching labyrinth of roots underneath. How can one weed have such far reaching intricate root systems branching out in so many directions? Even after pulling out the weed, and a fair bit of the main root system, you still find root clumps here and there. Broken off bits of leftovers from the main, still mixed in the good earth.

Some weeds are menacing just to look at, and their prickly spikes leave no doubt they are nasty weeds and must go.

 

And then there are other weeds that do a wonderful job of looking like something else, pretending to be something benign or even desirable. 

  
 
We can be tricked by their likeness to good things, but looking very closely we can see they are only fakes. Sometimes it takes a while to spot the difference. We can spend a long time trying to figure it out, waiting for the good fruit or flower that never comes.

But when we do, and the true nature of the imposters is known, then they too must go.
 

Then there are the plants that started out as something nice. We may have even planted them on purpose, charmed by their sweet flowers or pleasing scents. But then they take over and become invasive, reaching and penetrating and reproducing where they don't belong, choking out all else, and what started as a good thing has become despised by its very tenacity. And now it's a weed, and it's got to go. And we start to dig and we are astounded at how pervasive it has become, spreading further and further where it was never intended to be.

Some plants send out impossibly long underground runners and then new shoots form all along the hidden invaders. Innumerable little bitty replicas of the original, everywhere. It's so hard to dig out every last one, and it can seem hopeless we'll ever get them all. Some sin can seem to 'travel underground', reaching far and surfacing now and again when and where we least expect it.

  
 
Then there are the weeds that are so much more difficult to remove after they've been ignored. They grow and blossom and then bear seeds that are dispersed into so many areas far and wide. It would have been much easier and wiser to 'nip it in the bud', but laziness and procrastination and even denial work together to let them flourish and multiply. 
 

And when those weed seeds sprout, they may seem so tiny and insignificant, but there are oh so many of them and they seem to spring up everywhere. It's quite a job to grasp at all their little offspring that came forth from the one parent weed. If we let but one sin go unattended, we can be left dealing with its repercussions for a long, long time.

When gardening, I think of how I work and work removing all the weeds in one area and then I sit back at look at what I thought was all clear. But having removed the big weeds, I can now see clearer and all the little weeds I missed are visible, just as Confession clears the soul so we can more clearly see the faults within.

It's hard work weeding. Unused muscles ache, arms get prickled and scratched and dirt gets under the fingernails. It can tire a person out. We can get excited by our progress and the next minute get discouraged by how very much more work there is to do.

And weeding is of course only part of tending the garden. Establishing lovely flowers and useful fruits and vegetables crowd out the weeds and keep them from taking over. The more the garden is filled with the good and the beautiful, the less of a chance the undesirables have to ever take hold.

 

These are the things I ponder as I work in my garden beds.
 

Epiphany

O God, who on this day didst manifest Thine only-begotten Son to the Gentiles by the guidance of a star: graciously grant, that we, who know Thee now by faith, may be let even to contemplate the beauty of Thy majesty - Collect, The Epiphany of Our Lord

 
Hope you all enjoyed a Blessed Feast of the Epiphany today! And as you can see, if you peek in the window here it is still definitely Christmas around here. We are easing back into regular work and routines, but I whole heartedly agree with what she said - we are not quite ready to 'let go' of Christmas and Holy Mother Church tells us it's not quite time to. I still need and want more time to gaze into the manger and see Him lying there.

O my Jesus, while I beg You to reveal Yourself to the world, I also beseech You to reveal Yourself more and more to my poor soul. Let Your star shine for me today, and point out to me the road which leads directly to You! May this day be a real Epiphany for me, a new manifestation to my mind and heart of Your great Majesty. He who knows You more, loves You more, O Lord; and I want to know You solely in order to love You, to give myself to You with ever greater generosity. - Divine Intimacy - The Epiphany of Our Lord

In Nómine Jesu Omne Genu Flectátur

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on the traditional calendar.

In the Name of Jesus let every knee bow, of those that are in Heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth: and let every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. O Lord our Lord: how admirable is Thy Name in the whole earth! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.  - Introit, Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Philippians 2:10-11, Psalm 8:2)

O God, who didst constitute Thine only-begotten Son the Saviour of mankind, and didst bid Him to be called Jesus: mercifully grant, that we who venerate His holy Name on earth, may fully enjoy also the vision of Him in heaven. - Collect,  Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

The Holy Name is unlike any other name on earth. It is itself a prayer, ofttimes repeated continuously by those who seek to pray without ceasing. It is the first utterance that comes to the heart and mind and lips when we are in grave distress - our soul instinctively cries out to the Name that is above all others. It is the Name by which we are saved. It is the Name by which we live and breathe and have our being. This feast day, and this month of January dedicated to the Holy Name, is a perfect time to increase our love and practice devotion to the Holy Name. We can make a prayer card with Philippians 2:9-11 on it, and give it a prominent position in our homes. We can take the time to memorize these verses this month if they are not already known. We can teach our children the custom of bowing our heads whenever we hear His Holy Name. We can encourage older children to pray the litany of the Holy Name as part of their daily prayers. And we can instruct our children to make reparation for sins against the Holy Name. Whenever we hear the Lord's Name taken in vain we silently pray the first few lines of the Divine Praises (or as much of the Praises as can be recited given the circumstances).

Blessed be God.

Blessed be His Holy Name.

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

Blessed be the name of Jesus.

Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.

Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.

Blessed be her glorious Assumption.

Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.

Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.

Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints.

(Optional) May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.

 At Mass today Father began his sermon with the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

"The Name of Jesus is Light, and Food, and Medicine. It is Light, when it is preached to us; it is Food, when we think upon it; it is the Medicine that soothes our pains when we invoke it. Let us say a word on each of these. Tell me, whence came there, into the whole world, so bright and sudden a light, if not from the preaching of the Name of Jesus? Was it not by the light of this Name that God called us unto [H]is admirable Light? Wherewith being enlightened, and in this light, seeing the Light, we take these words of Paul as truly addressed to ourselves; Heretofore, you were darkness; but now, light in the Lord." (do read the rest of St. Bernard's words here)

Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. 
Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us .
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Splendor of the Father, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Brightness of eternal Light, have mercy on us.
Jesus, King of Glory, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Sun of Justice, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Son of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on us.
Jesus, most lovable, have mercy on us.
Jesus, most admirable, have mercy on us.
Jesus, mighty God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Father of the world to come, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Angel of great counsel, have mercy on us.
Jesus, most powerful, have mercy on us.
Jesus, most patient, have mercy on us.
Jesus, most obedient, have mercy on us.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Lover of chastity, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Lover of us, have mercy on us .
Jesus, God of peace, have mercy on us .
Jesus, Author of life, have mercy on us .
Jesus, example of virtues, have mercy on us .
Jesus, zealous lover of souls, have mercy on us .
Jesus, our God, have mercy on us .
Jesus, our Refuge, have mercy on us .
Jesus, Father of the poor, have mercy on us .
Jesus, Treasure of the faithful, have mercy on us .
Jesus, Good Shepherd, have mercy on us .
Jesus, true light, have mercy on us .
Jesus, eternal wisdom, have mercy on us .
Jesus, infinite goodness, have mercy on us .
Jesus, our Way and our Life, have mercy on us .
Jesus, joy of Angels, have mercy on us .
Jesus, king of Patriarchs, have mercy on us .
Jesus, master of Apostles, have mercy on us .
Jesus, teacher of Evangelists, have mercy on us .
Jesus, strength of Martyrs, have mercy on us .
Jesus, light of Confessors, have mercy on us .
Jesus, purity of Virgins, have mercy on us .
Jesus, crown of all Saints, have mercy on us .

Be merciful unto us, spare us, O Jesus!
Be merciful unto us, graciously hear us, O Jesus!

From all evil, Jesus deliver us.
From all sin, Jesus deliver us.
From Thy wrath, Jesus deliver us. 
From the snares of the devil, Jesus deliver us.
From the spirit of uncleanness Jesus deliver us.
From everlasting death, Jesus deliver us.
From the neglect of Thy inspirations, Jesus deliver us.
Through the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy Nativity, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thine Infancy, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy most divine Life, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy labors, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thine agony and passion, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy Cross and dereliction, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy faintness and weariness, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy death and burial, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy Resurrection, Jesus deliver us. 
Through Thine Ascension, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thine Institution of the Most Holy Eucharist, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy Joys, Jesus deliver us.
Through Thy Glory, Jesus deliver us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord Jesus!
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord Jesus!
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord Jesus!

Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.

Let us pray. -

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast said, "Ask and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you"; grant, we beseech Thee, to us who ask, the gift of Thy most divine love, that with all our heart, words, and works, we may love Thee, and never cease to praise Thee.

Make us, O Lord, to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy Holy Name; for Thou never failest to govern those whom Thou dost solidly establish in Thy love. Who livest and reignest for ever. Amen.

Feast of St. Ambrose

Today is the Feast of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church. He was a great orator and preached to oppose the heretical teachings of Arianism, which denied the true nature of the Trinity. He is also considered the father of Western hymnody. Though he died in 397, he is an important part of my daily prayer life.

I love to start my day with this Morning Hymn in my missal, which so succinctly and poetically summarizes my hope for every day -

Jam lucis orto sidere... (Breviary Hymn of St. Ambrose.)

Now that the star of light has risen, let us to God most humbly pray,

To save us from all hurtful things in all our actions of the day.

To bridle and restrain our tongue, that wordy war may not resound,

To cover and protect our sight,  from dangerous follies all around.

To drive iniquity away, and purify our inmost soul,

And by spare use of meat and drink, our rebel passions to control.

That, when the day has sped away, and He again the night shall bring,

We may through holy abstinence, with purity His glory sing.

All glory to the Father be; all praise, eternal Son to Thee;

All honour as is ever meet to God the holy Paraclete. Amen.

And this beautiful prayer of his is said in preparation for Holy Mass and reception of the Holy Eucharist-

Prayer of St. Ambrose

O loving Lord Jesus Christ, I a sinner, presuming not on my own merits, but trusting in Thy mercy and goodness, with fear and trembling approach the table of Thy most sacred banquet. For I have defiled both my heart and body with many sins, and have not kept a strict guard over my mind and my tongue. Wherefore, O gracious God, O awful Majesty, I, a wretched creature, entangled in difficulties, have recourse to Thee, the font of mercy; to Thee do I fly that I may be healed, and take refuge under Thy protection. And I ardently desire to have Him as my Savior, Whom I am unable to withstand as my Judge.

To Thee, O lord, I show my wounds, to Thee I lay bare my shame. I know that my sins are many and great, on account of which I am filled with fear. But I trust in Thy mercy, of which there is no end. Look down upon me, therefore, with the eyes of Thy mercy on me, who am full of misery and sin, Thou Who wilt never cease to let flow the fountain of mercy.

Hail, Victim of salvation, offered for me and for all mankind on the tree of the Cross. Hail, noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, O Lord, Thy creature, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Blood. I am grieved because I have sinned, I desire to make amends for what I have done.

Take away from me, therefore, O most merciful Father, all my iniquities and sins, that, being purified both in soul, and body, I may worthily partake of the Holy of Holies. And grant that this holy oblation of Thy Body and Blood, of which, though unworthy, I purpose to partake, may be to me the remission of my sins, the perfect cleansing of my offenses, the means of driving away all evil thoughts and of renewing all holy desires, the accomplishment of works pleasing to Thee, as well as the strongest defense for soul and body against the snares of my enemies. Amen.

It can be hard sometimes early in the morning when my brain is still sleepy, or at Holy Mass when so many potential distractions abound, to try to formulate words into meaningful prayers. I am so thankful I can rely on the words of this great saint who so beautifully expresses with words the inner longings of our hearts.

St. Ambrose, pray for us!

On the Old Mass and New Germs

The topic of hygiene precautions at Mass during flu season has been popping up all over the internet. The threat of flu is heightened this year with the prevalence of H1N1 in many areas, and people are understandably even more concerned than usual about disease prevention. Our local bishops have implemented the guidelines of suspending the distribution of the Precious Blood, and the refraining from physical contact during the Sign of Peace. I found it very interesting that neither of these directives affect us, as we attend a Traditional Latin Mass community. We know that Christ is fully present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist and that it is not necessary to receive Him twice under two separate 'Forms' at Mass, and so the Precious Blood is never distributed to the people. The kiss of peace or 'Pax tecum' is exchanged only between the priests and deacons and altar servers at High Mass, and there is no physical contact between the hands - the priest kisses the altar and then symbolically passes on the peace of Christ by greeting the others with a bow.

There are other practices within the Extraordinary Form of the Mass which incidentally also provide for stellar 'health precautions'. The priest washes his hands as part of the ritual prayers and preparation before Mass. Just before the Consecration the priest washes his hands again at the lavabo, and the priest joins his thumb and forefinger after consecrating the Host, and out of reverence for Our Lord he does not disjoin them again until after he has finished distributing the Holy Eucharist. That is why at the 'kiss of peace' shaking hands with someone would be unthinkable.

It is also noteworthy to consider the distribution of the Holy Eucharist at the Extraordinary Form which is so very different from an Ordinary Form Mass. Some have questioned the reception of communion on the tongue in regards to flu precautions, and some parishes have taken to disruptive and irreverent practices in the name of disease prevention (for example, placing hand sanitizer on the altar). In the EF the Eucharist is always received on the tongue while the communicant is kneeling, and it really cannot be compared to receiving on the tongue at an OF Mass. During a OF Mass communicants must process in a line to receive, stop in the right spot, bow the head, say Amen, and then prepare to receive. This is very complicated! The precise timing involved in all these steps can be difficult to master for both communicant and priest, particularly those not accustomed to distributing on the tongue. There is also the issue of height differences that makes distributing on the tongue tricky for some, as the communicant is standing. So indeed, for reasons of timing and logistics the 'touching of the tongue' that horrifies some during flu season does occur frequently. (I have been a daily communicant for many years - I'm speaking from experience.)

In contrast, at the EF the Holy Eucharist is received while the communicant is kneeling and ready and prayerfully waiting to receive Our Lord - there is nothing to do, no walking or head nodding or speaking to distract. The priest distributes the Holy Eucharist while saying Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen. to each communicant which is considerably more lengthy than 'Body of Christ'. Consequently, everything is slow and reverent, and the priest stands above the communicant, able to easily place the Host on the tongue without any touching at all.

I just find it very interesting that the Novus Ordo Mass, which implemented so very many changes to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, now must incorporate more changes to accommodate health hazards and disease prevention. The Extraordinary Form of the Mass protects us from even extraordinary pathogens such as H1N1.

Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat!

The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity and wisdom and strength and honour; to Him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Give to the King, O God, Thy justice, and to the King's Son Thy judgment. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.  - Introit, Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of everlasting glory, behold I desire to come to Thee this day, and to receive Thy Body and Blood in this heavenly Sacrament, for Thy honour and glory, and the good of my soul. I desire to receive Thee, because it is Thy desire, and Thou hast so ordained: blessed be Thy Name for ever. I desire to come to Thee like Magdalen, that I may be delivered from all my evils, and embrace Thee, my only Good. I desire to come to Thee, that I may be happily united to Thee, and Thou in me; and that nothing in life or death may ever separate me from Thee.    - Prayer Before Communion

We have received the food of immortality and beg, Lord, that we who are proud to fight under the banner of Christ our King, may reign with Him for ever in His realm above: Who with Thee liveth and reigneth. - Postcommunion, Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Rosary Rally

On Saturday we participated in a local rosary rally, one of over 4,300 rallies of people gathering to pray the rosary in public, begging Our Lady's intercession for our country. I thought I'd share a few pictures as today is October 13, the anniversary of Our Lady's final apparition at Fatima, Portugal and the miracle of the sun witnessed by thousands of people in 1917.

 

 

We were honored to have Josiah serve as cross bearer for the procession.

 

However we couldn't find Jonathan during the rally, despite the fact that we all went together. We were slightly concerned, as we were in the city, and he just sort of disappeared. But he eventually turned up (way up).

 

He was asked at the last minute to play the organ for Benediction after the rosary. Just like something out of one of his bad schola dreams, he had to play in his socks, poor guy, and spent the rosary time scrambling to find all of the appropriate music and figure out the registrations of an organ he's only played on once. (He keeps his organ shoes and music in his car all the time, but that doesn't help when he goes someplace with us.)  But he sounded just glorious on those great pipes as we processed into church singing Immaculate Mary. It was a splendid moment.

Even more amazing was when he started to play a postlude - I recognized it from his repertoire but I was rather incredulous as to how he was able to play the piece. He had 'just happened' to find the music for the Prelude from the Suite Medievale by Jean L'Anglaise lying out on the organ.  :-)

 

America really does need the message of Fatima, as our country has strayed so very far from God and daily distances herself farther and farther from the Christian principles upon which she was founded. We need the intercession of an ever patient and merciful Mother to plead God's mercy upon us. You can read more about the apparitions and the message of Fatima given to the little shepherd children here.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Roses, Roses, Roses

Hello! We've had a super busy weekend here but I didn't forget about the drawing and the roses. Thank you to everyone who entered and for all of the kind comments (if I were a hip and trendy craft blogger I would say 'thank you for all the crocheted rose love'). We put all of the entries in a basket and stirred them up good,

  

and Eliza picked one out,

 

and the winner is-

 

Renee! Congratulations, and I hope your grandchildren enjoy them! Please send an email with your mailing address.

There were about 45 entrants for the giveaway and that's a lot of little people left without roses, so I've been trying to think of other ways to obtain roses. Lydia did once make a set for one of my rosary customers who wanted to purchase some, but we are really too busy with school to make a whole lot of roses. One option of course would be to find someone local who crochets. There are many people who love to crochet and are very fast and prolific in their creations and are often looking for new things to make and a purpose to make them. Perhaps you could locate some avid 'crochet ladies' at your local church or in your neighborhood and commission some roses. You might even be able to barter for them, perhaps with a cake or home cooked meal, or some leaf raking or the like. Look for ladies wearing crocheted hats or scarves and approach them with a proposition. :-) If you find them in church I would think they'd be delighted to crochet roses for Our Lady. 

Another option would be to look on Etsy where many people offer handmade goods for sale. Search under 'crochet rose embellishments' and you will find many, many crocheted flower offerings. There is a wide variety of styles and sizes and colors available. The prices also vary greatly as well, but some are quite reasonable and you might even get a bargain by ordering a set of eleven. Many Etsy sellers welcome custom orders as well so you can get what you like.

And finally, I wanted to try to make a different kind of rose that doesn't involve crochet and I came up with this simple felt rose. I used a piece of felted wool cut from a thrifted wool sweater. (You can read about how I felt wool here in this post.) I just cut a circle about six inches in diameter, and then cut it in a free form spiral pattern. You can cut as wavy or as smooth as you like. (That pointy nose part where I started cutting is not intentional - I just snipped off that part.)

 

Then I rolled up the spiral beginning with the center part, and stitched along on the bottom as I went around to hold the layers together like so -

 

I just kept rolling and stitching round and round up to the end of the spiral. 

  

I also cut two leaves out of green wool. I applied tacky glue to the bottom of the rose for added durability and then stitched the leaves on, covering up the glue and stitching. My finished felt rose is about three inches diameter, while my crocheted ones are about three and a half inches.

I think it turned out rather pretty.

 

Thank you again to all my rosy readers!

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival day in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on whose solemnity the Angels rejoice and give praise to the Son of God. (From the Introit)

We enjoyed a lovely feast day today, breaking our fast to indulge in sweet treats, painting pictures of Our Lady in the afternoon, listening to the beautiful voices of our schola singing at Holy Mass this evening, and praying the rosary at the clinic by candlelight after Mass. Well, a bit of candlelight - it was a remarkably windy night! It was good to be praying there on this feast day, which was established in 1571 in commemoration of the Christians’ unlikely victory at the Battle of Lepanto, and the feast was originally called Our Lady of Victory. We pray for victory in the battle for Life, and we beg Our Lady's intercession for our cause. (Josiah has posted a report he did on the Battle of Lepanto on his blog.) St. Padre Pio reminds us that the 'rosary is the weapon' against the evils of the world today. Let us wield it well and often!

In honor of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary I would like to give away a set of my crocheted roses that can be used by little ones to count the prayers while saying the rosary.

 

I originally posted about this idea here: Praying the Rosary with Little Ones and I find it's still making its way around the internet, particularly during this month dedicated to the rosary. It certainly blesses me to think that so many little ones are learning to love Our Lady and her 'weapon' at such a young age!

 

Just leave a comment on this post before noon (EST) on Saturday and we will draw a name at random to select the winner.

Chant Pilgrimage to the National Shrine

As you might have guessed from that first picture in my last post, Jonathan had more important things to do in Washington while the rest of us were off exploring. We went to Washington to take Jonathan to the Chant Pilgrimage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Jonathan spent two days attending rehearsals and talks, the culmination of which was a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Saturday in the Crypt Church.

We took a tour of the Shrine on Saturday before the Mass. The Basilica is the largest Catholic church in North America, and its beauty and grandeur are unsurpassed.

The Shrine is a combination of Romanesque and Byzantine architecture, and the main style of artwork is mosaics.

The Shrine contains many chapels along the sides and more are located in the lower level as well, and each chapel manifests a particular devotion. Here is an Eastern rite chapel:

And here is the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows where I prayed and lit a candle for all sorrowing mothers.

This is the organ in the Crypt Church:

 

The highlight of the weekend of course was the most beautiful Solemn High Mass. There were 160 participants in the chant pilgrimage, and they sang the ordinary parts of the Mass together. There was an additional small schola that sang the propers, as well as another choir that sang motets.

And here is some video that Josiah took from the Mass. It gives you a feel for the music as it was experienced in the Crypt Church - the Introit, Kyrie, Salve Regina and a bit of the organ postlude.

 

All of the music files from the Mass are available for download at this site: Gregorian Chant and Polyphony This is a wonderful blessing, to be able to hear this beautiful music again and again and we have been enjoying waking up to it playing throughout the house. The downloads are free and it's nice as the music is all free of copyright restrictions, so go enjoy!

You can read more about the pilgrimage here - Chant Pilgrimage: A Report

Here's a bit of video from the rehearsals - What is a rehearsal with Turkington like? and Solfege, Divine Office Style (you may recall Josiah blogged a bit about the solfege symbols)

There is also a file of the most excellent sermon on beauty, though it's a bit hard to understand. I need to get a copy of the text.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

O God, who this day dost gladden us by the yearly feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: grant we beseech Thee, that we who on earth acknowledge the Mystery of Redemption wrought upon it, may be worthy to enjoy the rewards of that same Redemption in heaven. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

(from the Collect)

Christ became obedient for us unto death: even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above every name. Alleluia, alleluia. Sweet the wood, sweet the nails, sweet the load that hangs on thee: thou only wast worthy to bear the King and Lord of heaven. Alleluia.

(from the Gradual)

In this morning's sermon the priest said Our Lord took a thing of horror and made it into a thing of love. On this day Mary Ellen graciously shares a bit of what it's like to partake of both the horror and the love. Do go read her beautiful words.

On the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I've been talking with Jonathan and trying to come up with ways he can encourage his fellow Catholic students in their faith. He commutes to a Christian college and the percentage of Catholic students there is quite tiny. There's an occasional Newman Club meeting and the students are driven to Sunday Mass at a local church, but that's not a lot of support in the day to day living of our Faith. I suggested perhaps just getting together to pray a rosary once a week with other students might be well received. I imagined a small group of young people gathering on some nice green quad somewhere with a statue of Our Lady in their midst, praying the rosary where the rosary has likely never been prayed in public before.

Jonathan thought it sounded doable, and he planned on suggesting it at the first Newman meeting. We mentioned this idea out loud recently and Michael said something to the effect of, But what are you going to do for a statue? How about Jonathan starts this rosary thing after we find a statue.

Now, every little bit of me wanted to protest this declaration. Loudly. Why do we have to have a prerequisite? Why can't he do it without a statue? Why can't he just take one of ours? Where are we ever going to find a statue? Don't you like my great idea? Shouldn't he do this sooner rather than later?...

But I didn't. Through some amazing grace arriving just in time I was able to exercise an enormous amount of restraint and I actually Kept My Mouth Shut. And we just left it at that.

So tonight as some of us were browsing briefly in the thrift shop before heading to the grocery I was quite startled to find Our Lady sitting on a shelf. I've never found such a treasure in a thrift shop and I certainly wasn't looking for her there. I actually walked right past her but as I paused and turned back to say something to Lydia my gaze turned up and I caught sight of her in the corner of my eye. I said, Here she is! It's Jonathan's rosary group! And I watched my children's eyes grow big as they figured out what I meant and Lydia grinned and Josiah smiled and Mary and Anna giggled. And so I kissed her and wished her Happy Birthday and brought her home to our blue frosted cupcakes.

 

She needs to spend a little time with Josiah before she's ready for campus, but that's okay.

As we sat on the couch staying up too late and chatting for too long I said to Jonathan, See! She really wants to be on campus. And he immediately replied, We already knew that.

I do love that boy. And I love how Our Mother cares for us and knows when we really, really need a little boost.

At the time of Mary's birth the whole world was plunged in darkness. The heathen nations were steeped in vice and pride. The Jews, beloved of God, had strayed from Him. Everywhere there was sin and gloom, no bright spot on the face of the earth. But when Mary was born a light arose amid the darkness: the dawn of the glorious day that was to usher in the Redeemer. So, too, the darkness of the sinner's soul is dispersed by Mary's holy influence. Where the love of her is born in the soul, all becomes full of light, and Jesus comes to make His habitation there. Mary, in the first hour of her life, brought more glory to God than all the Saints of the Old Testament. In her were made perfect the obedience of Abraham, the chastity of Joseph, the patience of Job, the meekness of Moses, the prudence of Josue. It is because she is the model and pattern of these and all other virtues that she can communicate them to us. (from the Roman missal)

Bestow upon They servants, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the gift of Thy heavenly grace: that as the childbearing of the Blessed Virgin was the beginning of our salvation, so the solemn feast of her Visitation may bring us an increase of peace. (from the Collect)

Missal Bags and Prayer Books

 

I made these little tote bags for my little girls to carry their missals and prayer books to church. The little ones like having missals at Mass so they can be like everyone else - I got Kateri an old second hand missal and Eliza just has a Sunday missal, but they are both very pleased with them. Kateri has just started trying to follow along with the Mass, sitting next to her sister and comparing pictures to see if she is on the right page.

 

I had made myself this big tote bag for my 'stuff' using the One Yard, One Hour Tote Bag Pattern at Lazy Girl Designs. I really like this pattern; there's something very appealing about having the bag and lining all one piece and also using an even yard of fabric - makes it all seem neat and tidy like to me. I also appreciate how the handles are added last and so it's impossible to mess them up or put them on wrong, unlike some other bags (you don't have to ask me how I know, but it involves making tote bags  for my daughters one Christmas at like three in the morning). 

 

I made two mini versions of the bag for my girls, following the same technique, with a finished size of about 7 1/2" x 11".  I added rick rack to sweeten them up and also the crocheted flowers so they could tell them apart. Kateri picked out the fabric from the Easter clearance items and it seemed quite appropriate for a church bag.

 

Each girl has her own missal and prayer books in her bag, along with a treasured holy card or two. Our two long time favorite prayer books for the littlest ones are My Prayer Book, sized just right for little hands, and My Jesus and I.

 

The sweet illustrations with their soft hues are so lovely and each one is a lesson in itself. I don't know how many copies of these we have worn to shreds over the years, they are so well-loved. They are also quite inexpensive and nice to keep on hand for little baby gifts, and so presently my little girls each have their own brand new copies.  We read through the books and talk about the pictures at home so they can learn from these beautiful books and then enjoy looking at the pictures quietly at Mass.

Another idea for prayer books is to mount various holy cards and pictures onto colored paper and then slip them into those mini photo albums. Little ones can use these for learning the family's favorite saints, adding 'pray for us' after each one for a little litany. It's also fun for older children to help the younger ones make these books - they can do the writing and assist the little ones with stickers and other embellishments.

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

Helen has a lovely post up today for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart with some meditations and activities for children. She suggests having the children cut out 33 red hearts and write prayers on them, following St. Margaret Mary who was asked by Our Lord to adore Him 33 times upon the cross.

 Helen also mentions the 'Jesus meek and humble' prayer, and I immediately thought of combining the two. You already know how I love to put little prayer cards around the house for Lent and Advent as frequent, visual reminders to stop and pray many times throughout the day. So using supplies I had on hand we made 33 red heart prayer cards. (Call me predictable, but my need for incessant prayer is quite constant.) We are midway through June but they would be nice to have out for July as well, the month of the Precious Blood.

 

Here is a pdf of the prayer cards if you would like to make them: Download Meek Hearts The text is in red, as at first I thought I'd like to use a light colored paper. If you want to print on red paper as I did, just change to black and white before you print.

 

We cut the hearts out and glued them onto patterned scrapbook paper. I was tempted to stop at the craft store for cross stickers, but ended up sticking with things we had on hand. We cut crucifixes out of catalogs and glued them on top, reminiscent of the Sacred Heart image. We are reminded of Our Lord's meekness and humility even as He suffered His passion, and it is through His sacrifice that we beg the graces to become like Him always.

 

 

 

Thank you, Helen, for your inspiration, as always. And if there is anyone out there who doesn't already subscribe to Helen's daily Mary Vitamin, today would be a wonderful day to sign up!

Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine!

(Edited to add: I can't figure out why the heart pictures are coming up blurry and I have no more time to fiddle with them. If you click on them to enlarge you can see them clearly. Sorry!)

Solemnity of Corpus Christi

 

Today we celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. The Church has ordered the feast days following Easter - after we celebrate the Resurrection, the Ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, we have Corpus Christi. As the Lord ascended He declared He would be with us always, even to the end of the age, and the Eucharist is how He remains with us. Our Lord Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. At every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass He keeps His promise to stay with us always. As the Holy Father said in his address today, the Eucharist is proof that God is love. The simple explanation I have for why we attend daily Mass is this:  if Our Lord Jesus is willing to come to us every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, how can we not go and receive Him?

We had a beautiful Eucharistic procession after Mass today - traffic halted, passersby stopped to watch, people came out of doorways, and rose petals were strewn on the pathway as Our Lord was carried through the streets, followed by the faithful. Josiah has put up a lovely video compilation of highlights of the procession on his blog.

O God, who under a wonderful sacrament hast left us a memorial of Thy passion, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within us the fruit of Thy redemption.

(From the Collect)

Wordless Wednesday: Always Kiss Me Goodnight

 

 

 

(I do know it's really Thursday, but I took the pictures last night.)

A Few More Alleluias

As the Easter season is drawing to a close with Pentecost just a week away, I thought I'd share Eliza leading the Regina Coeli. She's quite a spirited prayer leader. ;-)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Regina Coeli is prayed three times a day, replacing the Angelus during Eastertide.

Queen of Heaven, rejoice, Alleluia!

The Son whom you merited to bear, Alleluia!

Has risen as He said, Alleluia!

Pray to God for us Alleluia!

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia!

For the Lord has truly risen, Alleluia!

Let us pray: O God, by the resurrection of Your Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, You have deigned to make glad the whole world. Grant we beseech Thee, that through His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Eliza follows this with the table blessing:

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

And she concludes with:

May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Lovely Ladies Dressed in Blue

 

Dark blue, light blue, and gentlemen too-

Wearing blue on Saturdays is a very simple, yet memorable, way to honor Our Lady on her special day. We've long had this little family tradition, but if it's new to you May is a lovely time to give it a try!

Tis the Month of Our Mother

Tis the month of Our Mother

The blessed and beautiful days,

When our lips and our spirits,

Are glowing with love and with praise.

May Altar-

We just found this beautiful wooden book holder at a thrift sale on Saturday, and one of my children keeps a missal there opened to the propers of the day.

May Crowning-

All the excitement and anticipation! The May Crowning was also the occasion for a 'baby shower' and a celebration of the lives of the babies the children have spiritually adopted. For the procession the girls all carried up baby gifts which will be donated to various local crisis pregnancy centers. My dear daughters donated ten baby hats and a dozen hat and bootie sets that they crocheted.

Hail holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria

Hail Mother of mercy and of love, O Maria

Triumph all ye cherubim, Sing with us ye seraphim

Heaven and earth resound the hymn:

Salve, salve, salve, Regina!

First Friday in May-

Our group made Marian May Baskets as popularized by dear Alice some years ago.

 

Simple supplies such as stickers, catalogs of religious goods, construction paper and bits of ribbon and glue are all that's needed for the children to create an endless array of bookmarks and holy cards to put in the baskets.

 I also provided plain sugar cookies for them to decorate with colored frostings and such to add, and a few candy treats. My girls later made additional baskets for various friends and godparents, including some homemade fudge. (Cute little templates for homemade boxes can be found here: Mirkwood Designs.)

 

 May Music-

Actually it's August music- the Introit from the Feast of the Assumption. Jonathan wrote this music for his composition class, and it was performed by four of his fellow students the other night. I think they did a lovely job, and I trust Our Lady was pleased.

Signum magnum aparuit in coelo: mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus ejus, et in capite ejus corona stellarum duodecim. Cantate Domino canticum novum: quia mirabilia fecit. Gloria Patri, et Fillio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

A great sign appeared in the heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because He hath done wonderful things. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Blessed May to all of you, and may Our Lady rain down her love and care to all who seek to honor her during this most special month.

Full of Easter Joy

The most blessed, joyous Octave of Easter has come to an end. The celebration of Our Lord's Resurrection has left me feeling buoyed by constant waves of joy flowing over a deep underlying sense of unending gratitude. We began our Eastertide at the Vigil, starting at 10pm on Saturday night, followed by Mass at midnight. It was our first time attending the Vigil in the Extraordinary Form, and we were all overcome with the beauty of this glorious Mass.

If you haven't already, please do click over to Josiah's blog to see the video he compiled of the Vigil and Mass. He worked very hard putting it together and it turned out very beautiful.

I was especially thrilled and honored to be a sponsor for a young lady entering the Church with her family.  

The services were several hours long and Kateri fell blissfully asleep, but Eliza wasn't about to miss anything so glorious.

Truly one of the most beautiful moments of the Mass is when the Gloria is sung and the beloved, sacred images which have been shrouded in violet throughout Passiontide are uncovered. As Eliza watched them revealing the familiar, holy sights she happily and knowingly declared, It's Easter! As the priest and schola intone the threefold Alleluias it is Easter, indeed.

Throughout all of the Vigil and Mass whenever I tried to pray I couldn't muster anything other than a never-ending stream of Deo Gratias.

We've spent a lovely Easter week basking in the joy and the ever-present Alleluias. The little ones have quickly caught on to the Regina Caeli and Alleluia-saturated Night Prayer and proclaim the constant Alleluia! with glee. As the Church directs us with these prayers infused with praise and rejoicing, so we too fill our days with the same.

We've been fairly soaking in joy, and the Divine Mercy celebration today was a beautiful conclusion to this most jubilant week. As we continue on with our fifty day celebration of Easter we are all too happy to follow the command to Rejoice!

Let the angelic choirs of Heaven now rejoice; let the divine Mysteries rejoice; and let the trumpet of salvation sound forth the victory of so great a King. Let the earth also rejoice, made radiant by such splendor; and, enlightened with the brightness of the eternal King, let it know that the darkness of the whole world is scattered. Let out mother the Church also rejoice, adorned with the brightness of so great a light; and let this temple resound with the loud acclamations of the people.

(from the Exsultet)

Alleluia!

Praying the Rosary with Little Ones

Eliza loves to pray our family rosary. She has come a long way in learning all the prayers since I wrote this post about her earlier prayer attempts, but just like when we pray the Angelus, she does like to be the leader. However she can't possibly keep count and pray at the same time. A while ago Michael got out our rosary with giant wooden beads, but even that is too difficult because as anyone who has tried to teach a little person to use a rosary knows - if you let go of the beads you've lost your place. So the other night as I watched Eliza I thought to myself, there has to be an easier way. I thought if she had counters that she could move from one place to another, she wouldn't lose count. I tried getting out some milk caps but she wasn't really interested in them, as she associates milk caps with letters and spelling, not praying. I thought she should have something lovely and pleasant to count with, and something unique just for praying the rosary. I thought about it just a bit more and realized it had to be roses for Our Lady!

So the next day I crocheted a set of roses, ten red for the Hail Mary's and one white rose for the Our Father's. I found two similar sized handle baskets, as little ones love to carry things around, and arranged the roses in the basket. The idea is very simple - they start with all of the roses in one basket and as each prayer is said a rose is moved to the other basket. When the next decade is started the roses get moved back to the first basket and so on.

I also printed out a set of cards with pictures of the mysteries, and laminated them for durability. I put numbers on each of the cards using little squares of paper in symbolic colors:  pink for joyful, purple for sorrowful, white for glorious and yellow for luminous. I think these will help the little girls to learn the mysteries, as they hold the proper card for each mystery we pray.

I thought this was a nice idea, but still I was surprised and delighted at how much the little girls love praying with these roses. Kateri is so pleased to be in charge of moving the roses from basket to basket, carefully arranging them with each decade. With something to keep her hands occupied and her mind focused, this bouncy two year old was happy to sit still for the entire rosary, and so proud to have such an important job.

 She is thrilled to have the cards to hold as well, and she shows everyone the picture as each new mystery is announced. Now when someone says it's time for the rosary, the little girls gleefully run for the basket of roses for Our Lady. I trust Our Dear Blessed Mother is pleased with her bouquet from these sweet little ones who are learning to love her and to pray always for her intercession.

 

Resources:

The rosary cards are found here: Rosary Cards pdf generously provided by The Bookworm.

The pattern I used for the roses can be found here: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/chs-rosettes.html?noImages= I believe you have to register at the Lion Brand site to use it, but it's free. I used Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn - about 5 ounces of red for the ten. I used an I hook (5.5mm) and started with a chain of 35 stitches.

If you don't crochet or know anyone who does, you could purchase faux roses from the craft store. 

A Tale of Our Lady

Our statue of the Blessed Mother (that's her in my right sidebar) has a special place right in front of our house. She has a spotlight on her so she can be seen by all day and night, and in summer she is flanked by roses as well as lilies that have been collected over many an Easter. I've blogged before about how Eliza loved to hug her while she lived in the garage during her restoration. And you can see in the sidebar the nice job Josiah did on her new paint.

We have had her for years and we remember when she was new and blue. Back at our old house we had built a small grotto for her along with a little flower bed:

 

And here she is with Mary Rose in one of my most favorite pictures of all time:

 

But old or new, we have loved her dearly. She stands as a witness to our Catholic Faith and her presence is a constant comforting reminder of Our Lady's love and care. So you can imagine my shock and utter dismay when I walked outside yesterday afternoon and found she was missing!

Where's the Blessed Mother? Somebody took the Blessed Mother! Everyone came rushing outside to stare blankly at her empty spot. To have her just vanish seemed incomprehensible. And to discover such a loss on Our Lady's feast day only made it seem worse. We were all so sad to have our dear statue gone, disturbed to think of thieves in the neighborhood, and greatly troubled to think of what the vandals could have possibly done with her. Michael and the children went driving all around the neighborhood and Josiah traipsed through the nearby woods to see if they could find any trace of her. We emailed everyone in the development to inquire if anyone had seen her to no avail. It was with sad hearts that we attended Mass last evening for the feast of the Annunciation. To see the spotlight shining on the empty space in front of our house was most disheartening.

I couldn't help but mention our loss to a couple of ladies at church. One of them told me how she once had a bicycle stolen and she prayed to St. Theresa and it was brought back to her right away. I inquired, 'Which St. Theresa? ' 'The Little Flower,' she replied. So St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, it was. I told everyone in the car on the way home what Mrs. B. had said. Michael declared we would pray the joyful mysteries and ask St. Therese to bring Our Lady back. I also asked Kateri Therese to ask St. Therese to bring her back, and she earnestly complied in her sweet little two year old voice. I thought to myself, St. Therese this is ridiculous. I have no idea how you can possibly bring our Blessed Mother back but I know that you can. And for once I didn't try to think about it and figure it all out and make suggestions to my intercessors, I just prayed. 

I went outside this morning to see if she was back and of course she wasn't. I felt a little funny about it but I dutifully called the police to report the theft, and then sure enough they sent a patrolman out to my house to take the information and see the 'scene of the crime'.  I admit I spent a great deal of the last twenty four hours mentally reminiscing about our statue - how our priest had kindly come out to the house to bless our grotto and got stung by a yellowjacket, how the girls used to have tea parties with their dollies next to her, how we used to gather on lawn chairs with friends to pray the rosary in front of her, how we used to have May crownings, sometimes even with singing and a procession, how little ones always love to stop and give her a friendly hug whenever they walk by her...

And then the phone rang this afternoon. It was the police officer calling to tell me they had a number of recovered stolen items including a statue of the Blessed Mother and would I like to come and see if she was mine! (Josiah recalls I was bouncing up and down on his bed as I relayed this information to him.) An hour later we went to meet the policeman and there she was, lying forlornly on the gravel in the rain behind a chain link fence with all sorts of other stolen items. She had been deposited by the thieves on the roadside way on the other side of town. I was incredulous and overjoyed and overcome with gratitude all at the same time. My children tell me I even jumped up and down, but not to worry, the police officer didn't see me. :-) 

It was with great joy and relief and affection that we brought her home and restored her to her rightful spot.  She is made entirely of stone and weighs around sixty pounds, but amazingly she just has a few chips and nicks. If you ask Kateri where we got the Blessed Mother she says quite matter-of-factly, 'From St. Therese!'

Of course.

I asked Michael to stop and pick up a rose to welcome Our Lady home, and he brought her three beauties:

 

We are still so amazed and practically giddy. I said at dinner, Would we be this happy if the Blessed Mother hadn't been stolen? Could we be so very happy if we hadn't been so very sad yesterday? What a powerful lesson for Lent.

So, Blessed Mother, we thank you. St. Therese, we thank you. And when Our Lady was back in place Kateri summed it all up so well declaring simply, I love her.

 

I do too, Kateri. I do too. 

Stations of the Cross for Littles

We had our First Friday homeschool gathering at my house last week and our theme was the Stations of the Cross. For the younger children I wanted to use the 'Stations of the Cross Box' idea - presenting tangible symbols for each of the stations. This seemed like a wonderful way to help little ones learn the fourteen stations and also give them something to hold and think about as they 'meditate' on the Way of the Cross. This is not my idea but one I came across as seen here in this blog post at Growing With My Girls. In the comments there is a link to another post which gives credit to the original creators of this idea, and The Bookworm also has a link there for beautiful cards of the Stations that you can print out. 

Since I had over a dozen little people to provide for I adapted the idea somewhat. Instead of the large picture cards I printed out a fold-out booklet of the stations for each child to color.

These can be found here: Catholicartworks. Scroll down to the images of the fold out booklet - I used the black and white images. Click on the image to bring up a printable pdf. I used card stock to make them sturdy. Print one page and then the other on the back of it. Be sure you have the pages lined up so that stations 3 & 4 are right on the reverse of stations 11 & 12. Then cut the cardstock in half lengthwise. Fold each piece in half twice to make the page folds. Place the two pieces next to each other and secure with scotch tape; flip it over and tape the seam on the other side as well. You should have stations 1 - 7 on the front side -

 

and 8 - 14 on the reverse. These are very nice little booklets and I printed out extras for some of the older children who like to color (and even one of the moms).

For something less expensive than boxes I purchased paper bags in purple at the craft store. I made labels for the bags that say 'My Stations of the Cross Bag' and the prayer: We adore You O Christ and we praise You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world. (I actually just modified the prayer card printouts from this post.)

I spoke to the children a little bit about the stations, showing them each item that went with each station. My items are similar to those the other moms used with a few simplifications as this was for a group:

1. Jesus is condemned to death - a piece of rough twine. I talked about how the rope used on Jesus was much thicker and how it must have cut His precious hands.
2. Jesus takes up His cross - wooden cross
3. Jesus falls the first time - bandaid How Our Lord must have hurt falling under that weight>
4. Jesus meets his Mother - blue ribbon for Our Lady's mantle
5. Simon helps to carry the cross - wooden heart
6. Veronica wipes the Face of Jesus - Holy Face sketched in pencil on scrap of white fabric
7. Jesus falls the second time - bandaid
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem - tissue for the weeping women
9. Jesus falls the third time - bandaid
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments - piece of purple felt for His purple cloak
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross - nail Oh, how big their eyes got when I talked about much bigger nails.
12. Jesus dies on the cross - plastic crucifix A good time to remind them of the devotion of  kissing a crucifix.
13. Jesus is taken down from the cross - a picture of the Pieta We talked about Our Lady's sorrow.
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb - a rock Spoke about the big stone and how it was rolled away on Easter morn.

 The cross and heart pieces can of course be painted, but again I was keeping it simple. As the children finished coloring I gave them the items for their bags.

 

 Kateri just loves her bag and is always looking for someone to help her 'learn my stations'. The handle bags are just right for little ones who love to carry things around, and she loves that it is her very own. She is learning to match up the items with the stations, and is also working on what comes next.  She talks about 'Jesus' boo boos'  and the 'Blessed Mother's blue ribbon'. She can't possibly understand the enormity of Our Lord's suffering but she is taking little steps in learning our traditions and our beautiful Faith. 

 

We also have a set of colored station prints inserted into a small photo album that she likes to use as well.

All of the little children seemed to enjoy this activity, and I hope their parents find it meaningful to use with them at home. (Obviously these items should be kept away from littles who still put things in their mouths.) I hope to post next about what the older children made for their craft...

Settling into Lent

The time of penance has come, the time to atone for our sins and to seek our salvation. (from today's midmorning prayer)

The first week of Lent is always something of a time of transition - it seems to take me a little while to get acclimated to the spirit of continual penance. On Ash Wednesday our priest spoke about the joys of fasting and how it can't help but draw us closer to God, how our empty stomachs facilitate a longing for intimacy with Our Lord. On the way home in the car I told Michael I wasn't doing very well spiritually - the only thing fasting made me long for was the day to be over. Those first cups of sugarless tea, those first rumblings of hunger left ignored always come as a bit of a shock to my coddled, indulgent, fleshy self. And so it takes a few days to progress beyond the flesh's resentment to the 'spiritual sugar that takes away the bitterness of mortification' that St. Francis de Sales describes.

So we've been gradually settling in to the rhythms that we will follow for the forty day journey. The festive decorations of last month have been replaced with our 'Lenten decor'.

I am a very visual person and I like to have lots of observable reminders of the season around the house. I really like the little prayer cards I place all around for Advent with the St. Andrew prayer on them, and I wanted to do something similar for Lent. I love the way the cards just stop me in my tracks, both literally and figuratively in my thought patterns as I pause for a brief prayer and to remember. So today I made these little prayer cards for Lent with the prayer, 'We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.'

I printed them out on a piece of scrapbook paper, ten to a page, and then glued those onto brown cardstock. The children all wanted brown to better call to mind the cross and to be different from the purple ones of Advent. We added a sticker of a cross or a picture of Our Lord to each one, and then stuck them all over the house in all sorts of mundane places. Very simple.

Today we started the Jesus Tree Scripture study that Jessica shared on her blog. We will be making the felt symbols each day as we go along, and we plan to hang them on a tree branch rather than a banner. Here is Lydia's drawing of the Presentation and two turtle doves. We don't have the kit that Jessica has so we're just winging it (pun intended, hee):

We are also using the cross visual as a way to encourage works of mercy and other sacrifices. See this old post for more on this idea. It's really precious to read some of the sacrifices.

And on our purple draped altar we have this simple wreath with a card of Ecce Homo that one of my customers kindly sent me. Isn't it beautiful?

 I put the Universalis link as a sticky post up top as a visual reminder as well. Although to be honest I prefer the translations used at ebreviary as they are the same as in my prayer book, but ebreviary does not have all of the prayers for free on their site like Universalis does. They do have night prayer for every day, and in a nice format to print out. As night prayer is mostly a weekly cycle it would be easy to print out a week's worth of booklets to be able to use these beautiful prayers with the whole family. I try to pray morning and night prayer every day, and add extra hours if I am able to fit them in during the day.

And finally I've been encouraging less frivolous reading and more substantial, appropriate Lenten fare.

 

So far, people are taking the bait of this round of blatantly 'strewed' books.

Just look at this dear one-

So I'd say we are all finally settling in to the ways and means of Lent in our family. :-)

Edited to add: Here's a pdf of the prayer cards: Download We adore You

The Divine Office

This will be a sticky post for Lent - link to the Liturgy of the Hours prayers for the day:

 

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Just around the corner -
 

is Lent. That means for now it is-

 

Septuagesima!

Yes, the priest is already wearing purple during this season that is sometimes called 'pre-Lent'. It is unfortunate that Septuagesima was eliminated in the new calendar because it is such a logical, practical season. Lent is so very important that we need time to prepare for it so it doesn't catch us unawares. I am thankful for this time to think and prepare and pray about what sacrifices and spiritual practices my family and I will undertake during this holy season of Lent. I am finding it most helpful to ask the Holy Spirit to show me what I should do this Lent, and to spend this time praying for the grace to be able to accomplish it.

2. With thoughts of Lent, I will try to get more recipes posted on my neglected cooking blog. There are currently a number of soups and pastas and such which you may find helpful, and it's all meatless. ;-) And as Bridget requested, I will try to get up my recipes from the other night's menu.

3. Just for the record, I did not get my menu or my recipe from Fr. Z! Eggplant parmesan has long been a standard 'company dish' of ours.  We were highly amused when we got home from the store the other morning with our eggplants, (Not Zucchinis!) and found the good Father's post. (Don't you think those two ought to stop fighting for Lent? Or maybe they'll just have the duel before then?)

4. If Charlotte tweaked your interest in the Ranger's Apprentice series, Josiah has a bit of a review over on his blog.

5.  Thank you all so much for your kind comments on my Valentine post! I am truly delighted to know so many of you found my ideas helpful, and I hope you are having a lovely time crafting with your little loves.

6. Do you count? Don't forget this is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count! Visit the site for more information and directions - anyone can count and you can count all the birds you see, not just at your home site. You know we love birds around here, especially Lydia, so we will be making our counts count like last year.

7. That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'll come up with something else after I hit save.

From Death to Life

The depth of despair that comes from not believing, not understanding, not knowing in the very depths of your being who you are and what you are here for and where you are going can only be truly understood by one who's been there in that deepest of pits. The restless soul, the empty void that, when allowed, cries out to be filled with the Knowledge and Light and Truth of one's Maker has an intimacy both with despair and peace and joy that we who have had the Faith since infancy cannot fully appreciate. But Jen gives us a beautiful picture of it, and her post is not to be missed.

That crushing despair I experienced when I would absorb the implications of my worldview was the feeling of a precious, eternal soul railing against the injustice of being denied...

Read the rest here.

That soul, precious indeed, is now free and at peace. Deo Gratias!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

  Je suis l'Immaculee Conception - vintage medal from Lourdes, where Our Lady revealed herself to St. Bernadette as the Immaculate Conception

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. From the moment of her conception Our Lady was preserved from the stain of original sin. So in a way it is also a feast of St. Anne, as we celebrate the wondrous miracle that occurred in her womb. Many people do not understand this tenet of our Catholic faith, mistakenly thinking we try to elevate our Blessed Mother to some sort of 'goddess' status by saying she was without sin. But we believe that she was preserved from the stain of sin by the grace of God, not be her own merits, so that she would be fit to be the Mother of Our Redeemer. Our Lord came to save us from the pit of sin that we have fallen into but Mary was saved by being spared the falling in.

The readings at Mass today invite us to compare Our Blessed Mother to Eve, our first mother, and indeed the New Eve is one of Our Lady's titles. By giving her fiat, her yes to the angel Gabriel, she agreed to be the Mother of Our Savior. In his sermon Monsignor posited, where would we all be if Mary had said no. I tend to think of such a thing as impossible; after all she was without sin so how could she have possibly said no. But Monsignor reminded us that Adam and Eve were created without sin, meant to live forever in Paradise. But they clearly said no - no to God's will because it contradicted their own. Mary was created the same as Adam and Eve, yet their responses to God led Adam and Eve to bring sin into the world and Mary to bring redemption.

Mary lived in a world tainted by the stain of sin with sinful people all around her, yet she was able to do what Adam and Eve would not. How often I try to blame my own sin on the sin of those around me. Mary resisted the temptation of sin throughout her whole life, always choosing God's will over her own. We know that freedom from sin does not equal freedom from temptation, as even Our Lord was tempted by the devil himself. But Mary's most famous Fiat, her yes given to Gabriel's request, was just her most famous, her most significant yes. Her whole life was one constant series of yes-es, every moment of every day her will was submitted to that of the Father. From the time she was a little child and capable of choosing evil to the time when she was an old woman, having suffered the loss of her Son, her life was one long never quavering series of moments saying yes.

We have much to rejoice in and much to learn from this great teaching about Mary. Though we are not full of grace as she is, we can and should avail ourselves of as much grace as possible through frequent reception of the sacraments. We can call upon her intercession constantly and she will come to our assistance. All throughout our days we can ask her to help us say yes - the big hard yes-es and the endless string of tiny yes-es, which may actually be more difficult. We know that Mary's sinless nature did not spare her from many sorrows in her life, and we can turn to her for comfort in our afflictions, to walk with us through them. It is interesting to note that Our Lord did not choose His sinless Mother to be the rock upon which to build His church; Our Lord chose Peter with his many apparent sins to be the first pope. Instead He gave us His Mother to be our Blessed Mother, Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and Earth. She gave us her Son and she can lead us to Him - to know, love and serve Him on this earth and to be with Him for all eternity in Heaven.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Prayer of St. Ambrose

Yesterday, December 7th, was the memorial of St. Ambrose. His prayer as found in my missal is a most beautiful preparation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and I truly love to say it every morning.

Prayer of St. Ambrose

O loving Lord Jesus Christ, I a sinner, presuming not on my own merits, but trusting in Thy mercy and goodness, with fear and trembling approach the table of Thy most sacred banquet. For I have defiled both my heart and body with many sins, and have not kept a strict guard over my mind and my tongue. Wherefore, O gracious God, O awful Majesty, I, a wretched creature, entangled in difficulties, have recourse to Thee, the font of mercy; to Thee do I fly that I may be healed, and take refuge under Thy protection. And I ardently desire to have Him as my Savior, Whom I am unable to withstand as my Judge.

To Thee, O lord, I show my wounds, to Thee I lay bare my shame. I know that my sins are many and great, on account of which I am filled with fear. But I trust in Thy mercy, of which there is no end. Look down upon me, therefore, with the eyes of Thy mercy on me, who am full of misery and sin, Thou Who wilt never cease to let flow the fountain of mercy.

Hail, Victim of salvation, offered for me and for all mankind on the tree of the Cross. Hail, noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, O Lord, Thy creature, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Blood. I am grieved because I have sinned, I desire to make amends for what I have done.

Take away from me, therefore, O most merciful Father, all my iniquities and sins, that, being purified both in soul, and body, I may worthily partake of the Holy of Holies. And grant that this holy oblation of Thy Body and Blood, of which, though unworthy, I purpose to partake, may be to me the remission of my sins, the perfect cleansing of my offenses, the means of driving away all evil thoughts and of renewing all holy desires, the accomplishment of works pleasing to Thee, as well as the strongest defense for soul and body against the snares of my enemies. Amen.

For Heaven's Sake

This is so awesome! If you haven't already, go and read about one inspired woman's response to the secular humanists' anti-Christmas ad campaign. It is such a wonderful manifestation of Romans 12:21, Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Be sure to click through to see the advertisement (the link is on the right sidebar) - it's just stunning. It's so very simple it's catechism question number one. And starting at the very beginning is a very good place to start to understand the beauty that is the Truth of our Christian faith, and what Christmas is all about.

May God bless JoEllen Murphy and reward her richly for her willingness to listen to His nudge, that during this holy Christmas season many will come to believe and know and love their Savior.

For you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 

John 8:3

Jesus, I Trust in You

Even when it's really, really hard.

Litany of Our Lady of Victory

Like so many other families, we are praying a novena for the cause of life in the election. We are using the beautiful and comforting Litany of Our Lady of Victory. I find it comforting because it is reminder of so many of Our Lady's triumphs, and we should not fear or fret, but pray and fast, hope and trust.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven,

Have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the World,

Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost,

Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God,

Have mercy on us.

Our Lady of Victory,

Pray for us.

Triumphant Daughter of the Father,

Pray for us.

Triumphant Mother of the Son,

Pray for us.

Triumphant Spouse of the Holy Ghost,

Pray for us.

Triumphant Choice of the Most Holy Trinity,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Immaculate Conception,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Crushing the Head of the Serpent,

Pray for us.

Triumphant Over All the Children of Adam

Pray for us.

Triumphant Over All Our Enemies,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Embassy of the Angel Gabriel,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Espousal to St. Joseph,

Pray for us.

Triumphant at the Scene of Bethlehem,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Flight Into Egypt,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Exile,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Humble Dwelling at Nazareth,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Finding Thy Divine Child in the Temple,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Earthly Life of Our Lord,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in His Passion and Death,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Resurrection,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Ascension,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Descent of the Holy Ghost,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Sorrows,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Joys,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy Entrance into the Heavenly Jerusalem,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Angels Who Remained Faithful,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Felicity of the Blessed,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Graces of the Just,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Announcement of the Prophets,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Desires of the Patriarchs,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Zeal of the Apostles,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Light of the Evangelists,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Wisdom of the Doctors,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Crowns of the Confessors,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Purity of the Numerous Bands of Virgins,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in the Triumph of the Martyrs,

Pray for us.

Triumphant in Thy All-Powerful Intercession,

Pray for us.

Triumphant under Thy Many Titles,

Pray for us.

Triumphant at the Hour of Our Death,

Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world,

Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world,

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us, Lord.

V. Pray for us, O Blessed Lady of Victory!

R.

 That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

O Victorious Lady! Thou who has ever such powerful influence with

Thy Divine Son, in conquering the hardest of hearts, intercede for those

for whom we pray, that their hearts being softened by the rays of Divine

Grace, they may return to the unity of the true Faith, through Christ, our

Lord. Amen.