1- Adoration
2 – high school sweet heart, best friend, spiritual advisor, …..husband
3- sleeping baby so i can take care of my sick papi
4- pictures that help me remember just how precious time is
5- the air we breathe. I’m finding a new-found appreciation for the outdoors despite my severe allergies
6- saints whose feast days we love to celebrate. orate pro nobis!
7- parents that help where help is needed
8- faithful priests that speak truths for love of God not mammon
9- a working vehicle that gets us to Mass
10- gracefilled Sacraments
11- forgiveness
Candy Rosary
We prayed our rosary today at 12 pm for the intentions of the unborn and innocent. We decided to use Sweethearts candies for the Hail Mary’s. Each child placed a candy in their dish upon the completion of a prayer.(sweetie and sparkles dressed themselves for school.)
WARNING: This candy rosary is not intended for children 3 and under.
Papi had a meltdown several meltdowns.
The children only received a candy when they were actively prayed. They were not allowed to eat the candies until the completion of the rosary. Papi did not think the rules were just. He did eventually recover. Praise be to God!
St. Valentine’s Day Vigil & Prayer Intentions
Thank you Melody for sharing a prayer request and call to to action.
"Vigils for Victims" of underage sex trafficking are being organized outside Planned Parenthood offices coast-to-coast on Monday, February 14, from Noon to 1 PM in each U.S. Time Zone …
More info at Expose Planned Parenthood.
~~~
We are unable to attend a Planned Parenthood for vigil since my boys are sick but we will be praying a rosary at noon for the innocent victims.
JOIN IN PRAYER!
~~~
St. Valentine’s Day
JESUS IS MY ONLY LOVE!
Got Wheels?
February 7, 2011
Papi finally decided to ride his big boy bike.
It’s official Sweetie rides a two wheeler. Sparkles has gifted her bike to Sweetie.
We celebrated with nature walk.
Rose and I had a craft flop. I don’t think we’ll give it another shot. Especially, since I read that this craft creates toxins. It was a darling idea but NO THANKS!
St. Jane Frances de Chantal ~ Love of Our Neighbor
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18
I held my 6th Little Flowers meeting on the First Saturday of February. My group was invited to a Tea Party with the older girls’ group, RMGS – Rosa Mystica Girls Society. The girls eagerly arrived with their tea cups in hand. About 15 Little Flowers attended Mass as group. The remaining girls attended with their families.
We were scheduled to study St. Francis Xavier Cabrini and the virtue of industry but I decided to go with St. Jane Frances de Chantal and Love of Our Neighbor. I thought it was most fitting since we would be sharing fellowship with other young ladies “neighbors” and St. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.
The children didn’t mind but I did cause a thorn for the mom who signed up for snacks. She lovingly planned a special treat that was to coordinate with industry and the daffodil. She graciously accepted the news that the saint had been moved to another month.
There were 28 girls in attendance. Five of which joined us after their Communion lessons. The parish gym was transformed into a lovely tea room.
Father L also made an appearance. I, however, failed to have the girls stop their activities to greet Father. It was hectic and I didn’t think I could pull it off and by the time I made the resolution to have the girls properly greet father, he was gone. I regret not making an effort immediately when he entered the tea room.
The girls were served tea and invited to be first to the treat table.
My mom-team and I were diligently working with girls on using manners and proper etiquette.
As expected, the girls got wrapped up in the novelty of tea. They enjoyed pouring the milk and plunking their sugar cubes into their tea. They even took delight in smelling their tea and touching their cups for the warmth. They did not, however, care for the tea itself. Thank goodness my snack mom had the forethought to bring juice boxes.
The girls washed their tea cups and the mom-team labeled the cups with their names so they would be certain to make it home.
Then the girls were briefly excused from their tables for some wiggle time. They met in the corner of the tea room. This gave us a chance to clear the tables and prep them for our craft.
Each table received a pack of gold heart frames, a selection of (unused) cards to repurpose, red craft papers, an assortment of heart foam stickers and art supplies. The girls were given little instruction. They were encouraged to create wonderful masterpieces of love. I visited each table while the girls were crafting. I shared the story of St. Jane Frances de Chantal.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal grew up in a devout home and married a man whom she loved. Together, they had 6 children, 2 of which died. Her husband was killed by his friend in a tragic hunting accident. Before his death he offered his friend forgiveness. St. Frances de Chantal could not bring herself to forgive the man that killed her husband. It took her many years to open herself up to God’s grace and be able to forgive. She eventually forgave the man and became close friends with his family. She even became his son’s Godmother. St. Jane Frances de Chantal lived a holy life and sought direction from St. Francis de Sales. She was eventually directed (by St. Francis de Sales) to start her own order. She served her destitute neighbors with great love.
The children were asked to brainstorm who their neighbors were. They were able to list five different examples before coming to the realization that we are all neighbors, including their family members. The girls shared ideas how they could show their love for their neighbors, each other.
It was lovely to see and hear their excitement of sharing their created cards with their neighbors. Some of the girls even shared their cards with friends at the tea party.The girls were encouraged to find ways to love their neighbors. I think that I may coordinate a parish project for the girls. It would be a great way to show their love of neighbor, their parish community.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Ora Pro Nobis
+++
“My dear daughters, let us not have illusions; it is necessary that for our affection, to be blessed by God, it has to be equal and uniform for all, for our Savior has not ordered us to love some more than others, but He has said: Love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal
HANDOUTS:
-
Activity Sheet
-
St. Jane Frances de Chantal Bio for Kids – Holy Spirit Interactive
-
Love of Our Neighbor Memory Verse
- Coloring Page – St. Frances de Chantal from Waltzing Matilda
- Love of Our Neighbor Info Page – Inspired by Jessica at Shower of Roses
+++
“The motive behind the love you profess for your sisters should only come from the womb of God; if it is outside of it, then it is worth nothing . . . . When this union with our sisters is more pure, more general and more complete, only then will our union with God be greater.” ~ St. Jane Frances de Chantal
~~~
Me with an exhausted Dragonfly.
Thank you to my mom-team who lent a helping hand. I couldn’t do it without you!
” I am the Immaculate Conception”
“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” ~ Revelations 12:1
THE APPARITION OF THE IMMACULATE VIRGIN MARY AT LOURDES
February 11
Traditional Calendar ~ Apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes
New Calendar ~ Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
During the year 1858 our Blessed Lady appeared eighteen times from February 11 to July 16 to Bernadette Soubirous, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a destitute day laborer of Lourdes in France. Through this humble child, the Mother of God announced to the world her sublime title of the Immaculate Conception and a special message of penance and love.
Mary of the Immaculate Conception is the national patron of the Church in the United States of America, and so we should develop a special interest in helping to fill the treasury of graces that our compassionate Mother distributes so freely for the conversion of sinners to God.
Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary
It it truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: and that we should praise and bless, and proclaim Thee, in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin: Who also conceived Thine only-begotten Son by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, and the glory of her virginity still abiding, gave forth to the world the everlasting Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, and the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:…
Resources:
- “The Many Faces of Mary, a Love Story”
- In the Footsteps of St. Bernadette
- Placing your Petition at the Grotto of Lourdes
- TV Lourdes
- Apparitions of St. Bernadette
- Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes
- Lourdes – EWTN. BIBLE AND LOURDES ROSARY AND LOURDES MARY: APPARITIONS IN LOURDES – BERNADETTE OF LOURDES – IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND LOURDES – LOURDES AND THE FIFTEEN MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY – THE NEARLY UNKNOWN MESSAGE OF LOURDES
- Our Lady of Lourdes Gallery
Crafts, Activities, Food and more:
- Our Lady of Lourdes Printable Prayer Card – Holy Reflections
- Simple Food Ideas for Our Lady of Lourdes – Last year’s post
- Our Lady of Lourdes Feasts – Catholic Cuisine
- Our Lady of Lourdes “Grotto Globe” – Family at the Foot of the Cross
- Rice Krispie Treat Grotto – Catholic Icing
- Immaculate Conception Coloring Page – Waltzing Matilda
- Hail Mary Coloring Page – WFF
Saint Tiles
Here’s a simple and inexpensive craft that I use to help celebrate the liturgical year. It’s much more affordable for us to make these than purchase numerous statues of the saints. These tiles are also much easier to store. They are long lasting.
SUPPLIES:
- tile (I was gifted a FREE box of tiles that were left over from a home project.)
- image (I like to recycle calendars for this craft)
- scissors
- mod podge
- foam brush
- nail file
Love Notebooks
I made these notebooks to give away for St. Valentine’s Day. The notebooks are small composition books. I use the books for my Daily Examen, an Ignatian Exercise that I adopted back in 2009.
Rose uses the small notebooks for sermon notes. Sweetie and Sparkles just enjoy the beauty of the notebooks and have multipurposes for them.
~~~
SUPPLIES:
-
notebook
-
image (we used the images found here. note that inkjet printed images will bleed.)
-
scissors
-
foam brush
-
nail file
-
embellishments
trim image to desired size
spread mod podge to surface of the notebook. i placed waxed paper between the front cover and additional pages to avoid gluing the pages together.
place image on notebook
let set.
spread additional layers of mod podge onto of the image. let set. repeat
repeat the above steps for the back cover.
do not place the image completely over the spine as in the image on the right. this will break the spine. leave the spine free as shown in the image on the left.
add embellishments. i added glitter.
let dry.
place decorated notebooks under some weights (I used 2 phonebooks). this will set the notebooks back to their original shape.
Beautiful Images for Free
We’ve been making many craft items and holy cards with the beautiful images found at Holy Reflections. I found this resource during Christmas and have been hooked ever since. Holy Reflections is a true treasure and gift of love.
There is a beautiful collection of Love items for Valentines that can be printed for free.
There are many images that would be nice for St. Valentine’s Cards. Here are a couple of examples.
ALL FOR JESUS!
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- …
- 123
- Next Page »