Lena {JOYfilledfamily}

St. Frances de Chantal

February 7, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: 08 August Saints, Little Flowers, Love of Our Neighbor, St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Jane Frances Fremiot, Baroness de Chantal, the foundress and first Mother Superior of the Order of the Visitation, is honored by the Church for the holiness of her youth, of her married life, of her widowhood, and of her life in religion.

"One thing alone is necessary: it is to have God. In short, then, no matter what is going on, we must hold both our attention and our love on God, not wasting our time in studying what is happening to ourselves or what its cause is. Our Lord asks this of us." ~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal, (56) Wings to the Lord: Thoughts on Prayer by St. Jane Frances de Chantal

SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL
Widow

1572 – 1641

August 21st in the Traditional Calendar ~ August 18 New Calendar (USA)

Born of noble parents at Dijon in Burgundy, Jane Frances Frémiot de Chantal lost her mother while she was still a girl, and commended herself to the care of the Virgin Mother of God. Her father gave her in marriage to the Baron de Chantal, and she showed herself to be a valiant woman above all others, making herself all things to all persons. When her husband was killed while hunting, she made a vow of continence, and she so mastered herself that she did not hesitate to act as godmother to the son of the man who killed her husband. Lest later on she should be moved from her determination to observe chastity, she renewed her vow and inscribed the most holy Name of Jesus on her breast with a hot iron. With St. Francis de Sales as her spiritual director, who taught her the divine will, she laid the foundations of the religious Institute of the Visitation of Holy Mary, which she spread fare and wide. Finally she bound herself by a vow always to do what she understood to be most perfect. Full of merits, she went to the Lord on the 13th day of December, 1641, at Moulins, and was enrolled among the Saints by Clement XIII.

"Often pray spontaneously to God, whenever you can, and in whatever setting, always seeing God in your heart and your heart in God." ~ St. Francis de Chantal

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At the age of twenty-one Jane married the young Baron de Chantal,

Jane in her widow’s veil.

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"Love! love! love! my daughters; I know nothing else." ~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal

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Jane receiving the Constitutions for her community from Francis.

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”You have sent me the leaves of the tree: send me some of its fruits, in order that I may judge of them; I set little value on simple leaves. All I can say at present is that the fruits of a good heart that God nourishes are total oblivion of self, an unbounded love of humiliations, and a limitless joy for all that is done to advance God’s glory." ~ Saint Frances de Chantal

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RESOURCES:

St. Agnes Love of God Info Page – inspiration found here by Jessica
St. Frances de Chantal Bio – EWTN
St. Frances de Chantal Bio – Catholic
St. Jane Frances de Chantal – Catholic Culture
Patron Saint of Girls – The Life of St. Frances de Chantal
St. Jane Frances de Chantal – A Biographical Sketch
St. Frances de Chantal Thoughts on Prayer
Novena to St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Video on the Visitation Order – Founded by St. Francis de Sales & St. Jane Frances de Chantal

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"If we patiently accept through love all that God allows to happen, then we will begin to taste even here on earth something of the delights the saints experience in heaven. But for this we must serve God willingly and lovingly, seeking to obey the Divine Will rather than to follow our own inclinations and desires. For the perfection of love demands that we desire for ourselves only whatever God wills. Let us implore the good God unceasingly to grant us this grace!"

~St. Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Valentine’s Clips

February 3, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Crafts, St. Valentine's Day

My girls are out growing my bows. I think I may have burnt them out. I couldn’t resist, they had a head full of hair since birth.

They both are fond of a decorative clip. I made a version of a decorative felt clip for 4th of July and decided to recreate the clip for St. Valentine’s Day.

The girls can now make their own decorative clips. They will be making the basic heart clips as an early St. Valentine’s treat for their friends. Their friends will be able to take the clips home to embellish on their own, in time for St. Valentine’s Day.

~~~

Supplies:

felt
clip
scissors
paper template
hot glue gun
embellishments (decorative scissors, embroidery thread and needle, saint medals, stickers….)

Directions:

Create a heart template out of cardstock.

Cut your felt to the desired sizes. I fold my heart and felt in half when cutting.

Tack the hearts together using a hot glue gun.

Embellish!

Hot glue the heart onto the clip.

~~~

Sparkles chose a glitter-puff sticker of Christ the King for her heart clip. I reinforced the sticker with hot glue. The clip can be put everywhere.

Sweetie chose to adhere heart to a headband. It can also be clipped to a shirt.

I clipped it to the ribbon that was attached to this basket.

ALL FOR JESUS TROUGH MARY!

Candlemas Candles

February 3, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Candlemas, Crafts, Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I hadn’t planned a craft for any of the feast days this week since I’m prepping for my next Little Flowers meeting. I was delighted to find Tiffany’s ~ Family at the Foot of the Cross post on the Presentation of the Lord. She shared a simple and inexpensive craft, Crafty Paper Candles.

I couldn’t pass it up. I had everything on hand.

Tiffany gives a complete tutorial and prayer. Check it out here.

Candlemas Candles

apply glue to the tp roll.

adhere the paper towel to the glued tp roll. tuck in the top and bottom edges.

cut your picture decal. we used images from printed images and old catalogs.

glue the image to the candle.

create the flame.

layer a red, yellow and orange piece of paper. cut out a flame from the layered papers. cut out the middle of the red flame. cut out the middle of the orange flame.

glue the layers together.

glue the flame to a popsicle stick (wick). fold back the edges and glue and on the reverse side of the popsicle stick. (I used a hot glue gun for a quick set)

crumble a half sheet of paper towel.

snip the center of the paper towel.

insert the popsicle stick w/ flame into the paper towel.

insert the paper towel and popsicle stick w/flame into the tp roll.

let dry.

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papi’s bedroom altar

the children placed their candles on their bedroom altars.

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O Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light who enlightenest every man that cometh into this world: pour forth Thy blessing † upon these candles, and sanctify † them with the light of Thy grace, and mercifully grant, that as these lights enkindled with visible fire dispel the darkness of night, so our hearts illumined by invisible fire, that is, by the splendor of the Holy Spirit, may be free from the blindness of all vice, that the eye of our mind being cleansed, we may be able to discern what is pleasing to Thee and profitable to our salvation; so that after the perilous darkness of this life we may deserve to attain to neverfailing light: through Thee, O Christ Jesus, Savior of the world, who in the perfect Trinity, livest and reignest, God, world without end. Amen.

January Recap

February 3, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: GFG, Picture Recap

JAN 2011

christmas 2010 recap. baby’s 1st christmas.

1.1 – new year’s coloring fun.

1.4 – sparkles’ battle wound from a round of play fighting – chip in her permanent front tooth. she had to wait a day for repairs.

1.5 – my first boy’s haircut. i’m going to have to learn how to cut his hair fast. he does not like the cut hair on his body.

1.7 - dad’s soccer debut. dad was invited to play with parish young men, dads and father. his first time playing a game of soccer and he scored two goals. i was the ultimate winner since dad finally admitted (after 15+ years) that soccer is the most physically demanding sport that he has played (b-ball, football, and baseball). that’s right, more demanding than his beloved basketball.

1.8 – papa’s birthday that was postponed due to sick kids.

1.11 – dragonfly helping me cook chicken enchiladas, after my workout.

1.14 – homemade cinnamon rolls. 1 batch made 60 rolls. thankfully, we made the batch with friends.

1.15 – rose and i before our 8 mile run. my feet after my first barefoot 8 miler. i haven’t worn shoes since. i now have 45+miles logged.

1.28 – free-cycle rocker re-do. it only took me 3 years to start this project. it took me 5 hours to finish it. according to sweetie, “it took ALL day!”

.1.29 – semi-homemade dessert. strawberry lemonade cupcakes. rose’s new favorite.

1.30 – dad’s b-ball game. he was invited last min. by father o after sun Mass. it was a fundraiser bball tournament for the parish school. dad’s team was called father and sons. his team won! (i’m sure it helped that dad plays bball with father on a weekly basis.)

ALL FOR!

Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt, O Virgo, super omnia benedicta. ~ St. Louis de Montfort

I am all yours, and all that is mine is yours, O Virgin, blessed above all. ~ St. Louis de Montfort

A Day of Purification,Renewal, and Hope

February 2, 2011 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: 02 February Saints, Candlemas, Chruching of Women, Marian, Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Candlemas) The Feast of Candlemas, which derives its origin from the local observance of Jerusalem, marks the end of the Feasts included in the Christmas cycle of the liturgy. It is perhaps the most ancient festival of Our Lady. It commemorates, however, not only the obedience of the Blessed Virgin to the Mosaic Law in going to Jersualem forty days after the birth of her Child and making the accustomed offerings, but also the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, and the meeting of the Infant Jesus with the old man Simeon — the Occursus Domini, as the Feast was originally termed. This is the principal theme of the liturgy on this day: Jesus is taken into the Temple "to present Him to the Lord." So the Lord comes to His own Temple, and is met by the aged Simeon with joy and recognition.
The procession on this day is one of the most picturesque features of the Western liturgy. The blessing and distribution of candles, to be carried lighted in procession, preceded the Mass today — a symbolic presentation of the truth proclaimed in the Canticle of Simeon: Our Lord is the "Light for the revelation of the Gentiles." The anthems sung during this procession, eastern in origin, well express the joy and gladness of this happy festival, and the honor and praise we give to our Blessed Lady and her Divine Son by this devout observance.

Lumen ad revelationem gentium: et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
A light for the revelation of the Gentiles: and for the glory of Thy people Israel.

Today we are celebrating the Purification of The Blessed Virgin Mary – Candlemas(Extraordinary form). We are reflecting on the day of purification, renewal, and hope.

Today is the end of the Christmas season in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. We will be taking down our Christmas Tree and Nativities.

We were blessed to be able to attend morning Mass at a local Novus Ordo parish, as a family but are sad that we will not be able to attend the evening High Mass (in the Extraordinary Form) at our Parish. I posted a video below of a Candlemas Procession. It is a beautiful tradition (that we will miss today).

Anthem sung During the Procession

Adorn thy bridal-chamber, O Sion, and welcome Christ the King: with loving embrace greet Mary who is the very gate of heaven; for she bringeth to thee the glorious King of the new light: remaining ever a Virgin yet she bearest in her arms the Son begotten before the day-star: even the Child, whom Simeon taking into his arms, declared to the peoples to be the Lord of life and death, and the Savior of the world.

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On this day, I’m are also giving special thanks for the blessed custom of Churching of Women.

Churching of Women is imitative of the day, which we commemorate on 2 February (Candlemas), that Mary underwent her "purification” (ceremonially speaking and in obedience to the Old Law) and presented her Son in the Temple to Simeon. ~ Fisheaters

June 4, 2010

Churching of Women Ritual ~ Baptism of Dragonfly

Churching of Women:

Churching is the woman’s way of giving thanksgiving to God for the birth of her child, and predisposes her, through the priestly blessing that is a part of the ritual, to receive the graces necessary to raise her child in a manner pleasing to God.

The Ritual

The woman will make arrangements with her priest (ideally, the priest should know the women of his parish and make the offer to her).

At the appointed time, she will kneel in the Narthex, holding a lighted candle. The priest, wearing a white stole, will bless her with holy water, and say:

V. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
R. Who made Heaven and Earth.

ANT. She shall receive.

Psalm 23 ¹

The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and all they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in His holy place? The innocent in hands and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of them that seek Him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? the Lord Who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? the Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Glory be to the Father.

ANT. She shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God her Savior: for this is the generation of them that seek the Lord.

The priest places the end of his stole in the woman’s hand and leads her into the church while saying:

Enter into the temple of God, adore the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, who gave you fruitfullness of offspring.

Outside the sanctuary, the mother kneels before the Altar and prays, thanking God for her child.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. (Now the Our Father is said silently)

V. And lead us not into temptation.
R. But deliver us from evil.
V. Save your handmaid, Lord.
R. Who hopes in Thee, my God.
V. Send her help, Lord, from the sanctuary.
R. And defend her out of Sion.
V. Let not the enemy prevail against her.
R. Nor the son of iniquity approach to hurt her.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to Thee.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Let us pray.

Almighty, everlasting God, through the delivery of the blessed Virgin Mary, Thou hast turned into joy the pains of the faithful in childbirth; look mercifully upon this Thy handmaid, coming in gladness to Thy temple to offer up her thanks: and grant that after this life, by the merits and intercession of the same blessed Mary, she may merit to arrive, together with her offspring, at the joys of everlasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

The priest sprinkles the mother with holy water in the shape of a Cross.

The peace and blessing of God almighty, the Father + and the Son and the Holy Spirit, descend upon you and remain forever.

R. Amen.

~~~

1572 – 1641

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