JOYfilledfamily BLOG

Memorial of St. John Chrysostom

September 13, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Devotions, Patron Saint, St. John Chrysostom

DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

Feast: September 13

We will be silently reflecting on the life and works of St. John Chrysostom.

His intercession has been faithfully sought since the moment that he was given to us as our family’s patron saint for the year 2010.

He is also a patron saint of education. God knew I would be in need of this particular intercession this year as I have faced many struggles. I trust St. John Chrysostom has been with my family through it all.

St. John Chrysostom, Ora pro nobis.

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"…Everything is carried out joyfully and one can educate their children to virtue. When the first child is born, this is “like a bridge; the three become one flesh, so that the child links the two parts (Homily 12:5 “On the Letter to the Colossians”), and the three make up “one family, a little Church” ~ Chrysostom (Homily 20:6 “On the Letter to the Ephesians”).

"From the tenderest age, arm children with spiritual weapons and teach them to make the Sign of the Cross on their forehead with their hand" ~ Chrysostom (Homily, 12, 7 on First Corinthians).

"This is the principle of our social life… not to be solely concerned with ourselves!" ~ Chrysostom (Homily 9, 2 on Genesis).

“Do you fast? Prove it by doing good works. If you see someone in need, take pity on them. If you see a friend being honored, don’t get jealous of him. For a true fast, you cannot fast only with your mouth. You must fast with your eye, your ear, your feet, your hands, and all parts of your body.” ~ St. John Chrysostom

“You can call happy those who saw Him. But, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.” ~ St. John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom instructed women of all times about dress (modesty) when in the fourth century he declared: "You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. … When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul. And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride." ~ St. John Chrysostom

“What the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.” – St. John Chrysostom

RESOURCES:

Office of Readings for the Memorial of John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor

EWTN Bio

Life of St. John Chrysostom

Audio – St. Anthony’s Saint of the Day

Coloring page (insert into a word document and resize for coloring)

(turn off music at the bottom of screen before playing)

Glory to God for all things.

~ St. John Chrysostom

Prayer of St. John Chrysostom According to the Hours of the Day and Night

1. O Lord, deprive me not of Thy heavenly blessings;

2. O Lord, deliver me from eternal torment;

3. O Lord, if I have sinned in my mind or thought, in word deed, forgive me.

4. O Lord, deliver me from every ignorance and heedlessness, from pettiness of the soul and stony hardness of heart;

5. O Lord, deliver me from every temptation;

6. O Lord, enlighten my heart darkened by evil desires;

7. O Lord, I, being a human being, have sinned; do Thou, being God, forgive me in Thy lovingkindness, for Thou knowest the weakness of my soul.

8. O Lord, send down Thy grace to help me, that I may glorify Thy holy Name;

9. O Lord Jesus Christ, inscribe me, Thy servant, in the Book of Life, and grant me a blessed end;

10. O Lord my God, even if I have done nothing good in Thy sight, yet grant me, according to Thy grace, that I may make a start in doing good.

11. O Lord, sprinkle on my heart the dew of Thy grace;

12. O Lord of heaven and earth, remember me, Thy sinful servant, cold of heart and impure, in Thy Kingdom.

13. O Lord, receive me in repentance;

14. O Lord, leave me not;

15. O Lord, save me from temptation;

16. O Lord, grant me pure thoughts;

17. O Lord, grant me tears of repentance, remembrance of death, and the sense of peace;

18. O Lord, grant me mindfulness to confess my sins;

19. O Lord, grant me humility, charity, and obedience;

20. O Lord, grant me tolerance, magnanimity, and gentleness;

21. O Lord, implant in me the root of all blessings: the fear of Thee in my heart;

22. O Lord, vouchsafe that I may love Thee with all my heart and soul, and that I may obey in all things Thy will;

23. O Lord, shield me from evil persons and devils and passions and all other lawless matters;

24. O Lord, Who knowest Thy creation and that which Thou hast willed for it; may Thy will also be fulfilled in me, a sinner, for Thou art blessed forevermore. Amen.

St. Catherine of Siena ~ Faith

September 13, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Faith, Little Flowers, St. Catherine of Siena

I held my first Little Flowers meeting for the 2010-2011 year on Saturday, Sept, 11. My parish’s Little Flowers groups has doubled. I now have 27 girls, 23 of which were present.

I have decided to complete Wreath I this year. Our first meeting was on St. Catherine of Siena & Faith. As always, we attended mass prior to our meeting.

This is a virtue memory page. My inspiration was taken from Jessica.

The meeting started with some social time and snack. They ate their sunflower seeds as we discussed the significance of the sunflower.

“Our faith may be compared to this flower, since its gaze is ever fixed above, and turned towards the glorious sun of divine truth.” ~ Fr. Lasance – Catholic Girl’s Guide

St. Catherine of Siena was then introduced. She was the last one standing. That is , she had the most siblings out of all the Little Flowers present, 24. CP was a close second with 11 siblings. The girls were amazed with this little fact about St. Catherine of Siena.

Saint Catherine of Sienna Exchanging Her Heart with Christ ” by Giovanni di Paolo, part of a three part altar panel, hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

We covered; St. Catherine of Siena’s early call to serve God at age 6; her joyful demeanor and willingness to please; her nick name – Joy; her parents’ wish for her to marry; her hair cutting episode in response to her parents constant desire for her to marry*; St. Catherine’s private visions; the ring that was placed on her hand by Mary and Jesus which was invisible to all; her call to inform the Pope to move back to Rome; and the stigmata that did not become visible until the time of her death at age 33.

Father L visited the girls. He spoke of the LF’s patron saint, St. Therese and St. Catherine of Siena. He clarified a concern that one of the Little Flowers had regarding St. Catherine cutting her hair to show her parents that she was not going to marry. The Little Flower questioned if this act was disobedient.* Father explained that we are all to follow God’s call and that parents are supposed to lead us to God’s will. Parents are not supposed to force their children into a vocation. He of course, put it much more eloquently.

Father gave the girls a special blessing (that extends to their family) before departing. We are blessed to have devoted shepherds. Please continue to keep Father L and all the FSSP priests in your prayers.

Before moving on to our craft we played a a nice game of musical chairs. We used the Little Flowers Memory Verse CD as music. MB, AA, Sweetie and EH were the winners (displaced from their chairs first). They were awarded the privilege of taking the craft supplies to their table.

I chose a simple craft to start with, Key Tag Necklace. The girls did a great job assembling their necklaces and were pleased with their creations.

Each new member received their Little Flowers binder. This binder is to be used for their entire stay as a LF. All members were given the handouts for Faith. They are to work on the activity sheet as mom sees fit. If participating, each girl will report back to me once their mom/father deems them worthy of having earned the badge for the virtue of Faith.

The binder is an Avery Durable 1.5 inch binder. I purchase the binders at Wal-Mart once the school items go on clearance. I do not pay more than $2.50 per binder. I’m able to find them there every year in a variety of colors.

The meeting was wrapped up with a treat, sunflower cupcakes. They speak for themselves…..YUMMY! (Just ask EH! She loved them so much that she wanted to eat the paper.)

The meeting was a success!

I give all thanks and praise to GOD.

Handouts (in order)

St. Therese Prayer
Divider Page
Virtue Activity Sheet
Memory Verse
Act of Faith
Coloring Page

Bio

EWTN
Catholic Culture
Holy Spirit Interactive For Kids
New Advent
St. Catherine of Siena’s life in pictures

MISC.

Other St. Catherine of Sienna items (books, medals, etc…)

Additional Sunflower Activities:

~~~

Patron: Against fire; bodily ills; Europe; fire prevention; firefighters; illness; Italy; miscarriages; nurses; nursing services; people ridiculed for their piety; sick people; sickness; Siena, Italy; temptations.

Symbols: Cross; heart; lily; ring; stigmata.

St. Catherine of Siena, Ora pro nobis.

Faith Necklace

September 13, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Crafts, Little Flowers, St. Catherine of Siena

My Little Flowers group has started their 2010-2011. There are 27 girls ranging in ages from 5 to 8. My returning girls are skilled crafters. However, I wanted to gauge the skill level of the new LF girls. This was the perfect craft, key tag necklaces. I found my inspiration from another blog.

Craft Level: 1-2 (1 being the easiest)

Majority of the prep is done by the parent ahead of time.

Cost per craft*: $.80/necklace $21/30 necklaces

*this does not include the crafting tools

SUPPLIES

1 in circle punch

hole puncher

Xyron sticker maker or glue

Key Tags (Avery 11025) - $8/50 tags $0.16/tag

Sunflower pictures (represents the virtue of faith)

Faith Sheet on decorative yellow paper

Bright Yellow Ribbon (represents the virtue of faith) – $0.50/10 yards $0.05/necklace

St. Catherine of Siena medal – $0.60/medal

STEPS:

1. Print sunflower sheet

1.a. Cut out 1 in circles of your desired sunflower clip

2. Print Faith Sheet on decorative yellow paper

2.a. Cut out 1 in circles around “faith”

3. Create stickers of the cutouts from steps 1.a. and 2.a. I used the Xyron create a sticker tool.

4. Adhere the stickers to the key tag. Faith on one side and the sunflowers on the other.

5. Punch a hole in the top of stickers where the original key tag hole is located

6. String a pre-cut yellow ribbon through the St. Catherine of Siena medal and the created key tag.

7. Tie a knot at the end of the ribbon, fit-to-size.

“Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

Faith Cupcake

September 13, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Little Flowers, Recipe, St. Catherine of Siena

I decided to make this cupcake for Little Flowers Wreath I ~ St. Catherine of Siena and the virtue of faith. I found the idea at Skip To My Lou.

SUPPLIES:

yellow cake mix
buttercream frosting
chocolate frosting
chocolate puff cereal
cupcake liners
Golden Yellow gel icing color
star tip for icing

DIRECTIONS:

Bake cupcakes as desired. I used a box mix of yellow cake.

Frost the middle of the cake with chocolate frosting.

Dip the frosted cupcake into chocolate puff cereal. Save this step for later if you plan to refrigerate the cupcake. If not, the cereal will loose it’s crunch and become stale.

Using a star tip, frost around the chocolate top of the cupcake with buttercream frosting that has been dyed yellow using Golden Yellow gel icing color.

Here is a great buttercream frosting recipe. 1 batch is enough for approximately 36 cupcakes.

Family Retreat

September 9, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Labor Day, Vacation

We spent our Labor Day weekend at Lake Tahoe with Godparents and Godchildren.

ice cold water * 30 ft jumps * row boat * sand castles * bubbles in the wind * hikes * paddle boarding * river rocks * family * relaxation * late bedtimes * picnics * fishing * canoe rides * birthday * sand * dinner co-op * Mother Teresa’s feast day * 18 children * 6 adults * family prayer nights * morning offerings * blessings

Make A Wish!

August 31, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Birthday, GFG, Papi

Sweetie turned 5 the day after Papi turned 3. They both opted out of our birthday tradition, to have a date with mom and dad. They wanted to continue their yearly pool party. We have scaled back tremendously over the years – trying to simplify.

Papi and Sweetie hardly got out of the water. Although, Papi is the only toddler I saw get out to use the restroom. I lost count after the 4th visit to the bathroom. I couldn’t believe it, this from a boy who makes his mark on the carpet in our home.

Sweetie swam till her eyes were burning. She didn’t even care to open her presents (at the pool).

They both opened their presents at home. They were delighted with their new treasures. Sweetie received a lovely costume jewelry necklace that she was so pleased with. However, she did not know where she was going to “put it.” Sparkles immediately offered, “you can put in my jewelry box. You can have it. It’s your present.” My heart leaped. Sparkles ability to be detached and give at anytime always proves to be a great witness to us all.

I give thanks for our children (GFG) and each day You grant us. I pray that all of our GFG walk in Your light and be filled with Your JOY.

100th In Review

August 31, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Blessed Mother Teresa, Crafts, Mother Teresa of Calcutta

We celebrated Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday with great JOY & simplicity.

Indian Fried Bread – Catholic Cuisine

Mother Teresa Embroidery Pattern – Waltzing Matilda

Mother Teresa Novena

3rd Day

“I Thirst”

“Follow His footsteps in search of souls. Carry Him and His light into the homes of the poor, especially to the souls most in need. Spread the charity of His Heart wherever you go and so satiate His thirst for souls.”

~ Mother Teresa

4th day

Our Lady Will Help You

“If we stand with Our Lady, she will give us her spirit of loving trust, total surrender and cheerfulness.”

~ Mother Teresa

God Speaks In Silence

August 27, 2010 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Blessed Mother Teresa, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Novena

“In the silence of our hearts, God speaks of His love; with our silence, we allow Jesus to love us.” ~ Mother Teresa

We are starting a novena to Bl. Teresa of Calcutta today, Aug. 27. It will end on September 5, her feast day.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta
(August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997)

Beatification – October 19, 2003
Optional Memorial
September 5th

NOVENA TO BLESSED TERESA OF CALCUTTA

Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Prayed each day of the Novena

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta,

you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you,

and so became the light of His love to all.

Obtain from the Heart of Jesus (here make your request).

Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too,

may radiate His light and love to others.

Amen.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for me.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for me.

“Jesus is my All in All”

~~~

Complete meditations for this novena can be found here.

The bolded quotes are Mother Teresa’s words.

~~~

First Day – Know the Living Jesus

Thought for the day:

“Don’t search for Jesus in far lands; He is not there. He is close to you; He is in you.”

Ask for the grace of an intimate knowledge of Jesus.