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St. Margaret of Scotland ~ Initiative ~ Black Eyed Susan

by Filed Under: 06 June, 06 June Saints, Lent, Little Flowers, St. Margaret of Scotland, Wreath III

Here’s a quick recap of my sixth meeting of the year for Little Flowers.

The meeting was held on the First Saturday of February.  We took up three pews at Mass.  Thirty-four girls were in attendance.  This included some new members and the girls preparing for First Holy Communion with Father L.

We did the normal routine; grace, snack and social time, reviewed last month’s saint and virtue, introduced the saint and virtue of the month, studied the coordinating flower, listened to a talk from Father L, received a blessing, worked on a related craft/project,  updated LF binders, and closed with a prayer.

~~~

saint-margaret-of-scotland-nov-16

SAINT MARGARET
QUEEN OF SCOTLAND
Widow

Old ~ Feast Day – June 10 – New ~ Feast Day – November 16

The granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside of England, Margaret (c. 1050-93) married King Malcolm III of Scotland. Malcolm perceived that Christ dwelt in the heart of his queen and he was always ready to follow her advice. The royal couple’s chief aims in life were to serve the Church, to maintain justice and to make their subjects happy. Queen Margaret was known as the mother of orphans and the treasurer of the poor of Jesus Christ. Her private life was most austere, and she carefully educated her eight children in the fear and love of God.

~~~

11_16_margaret2

Patron: Death of children; large families; learning; queens; Scotland; widows.

Symbols: Black cross; sceptre and book; hospital.
Often portrayed as: queen, often carrying a black cross, dispensing gifts to the poor.

~~~

The lesson of St. Margaret of Scotland and the virtue of initiative extended into the craft/project time.  I opted out of a traditional craft.  Instead, I coordinated a Lenten Donation Drive. 

lenten dontation drive

Father L and I thought this would be a fruitful way to celebrate St. Margaret of Scotland’s charity.  It was also an act of initiative for the girls to begin their preparation for Lent.

 JOYfilledfamily

Lenten Donation Drive handout pic

lf initiative

The girls decorated fliers to post around the parish and to distribute to family, friends, neighbors, and etc…

lenten collage

All items collected, from now until the end of Lent, will be donated to the local St. Vincent de Paul.  This corporal work of mercy will be a beautiful gift to Jesus from all the girls and their families. 

lf blessing 
~~~

The girls showed more initiative by preparing something special for Fr. L, Fr. S, and Fr. M, in honor of St. Valentine.  The girls had to complete the following sentence, “I love my Priests because____________.”  I recorded each response on a pink doily.  Each girl signed her love note. 

initiative donation

I took the love notes home to create a banner.  I had initially planned to hang the banner in the parish office but soon realized that the banner was far too big, and wonderful, for the closed quarters. 

love banner

I displayed the banner in the gym on Sunday morning (two days before the feast of St. Valentine) for all to see.  It was the perfect place and time since the Rosa Mystica Girls Society was holding their annual bake salwe love our priestse.  I only hope that the Little Flowers’ Valentine lasted and was on display for the intended recipients.  (I shall find out on Sat.)

banner

St. Margaret of Scotland ~ ora pro nobis

~~~

 
Handouts:

Resources:

 

Curtain Aprons

by Filed Under: Crafts, Gifts, Little Flowers

I held my fourth Little Flowers meeting in early December.  The girls made a simple Curtain Apron for their craft.  It was a lovely craft edition for the meeting since St. Martha is a patron saint of homemakers.  The apron was intended to be gifted for Christmas.

LF finished curtain apron

Curtain Apron

this is an up-cycle craft

Supplies:

  • valance style curtain (I purchased 18 valances from my local thrift store to create aprons for 36 girls)
  • ribbon (I used a min of 1.5 yards of ribbon for ea. apron)
  • scissors
  • safety pin

Approximate cost of ea. apron (if items need to be purchased) – $2

Approximate cost of ea. apron (if items are on hand) – FREE

LF curtain aprons

Directions:

  1. cut the valance vertically at a place that will yield enough coverage for your desired homemaker.
  2. optional:  hem the cut side of the valance.
  3. cut ribbon to the desired length.  long enough to tie around the waist of the intended homemaker.
  4. attached safety pin to the end of the ribbon.
  5. thread the ribbon, safety pin first, into the top portion of the valance that was indented for a curtain rod.
  6. remove the safety pin and prepare the Curtain Apron for presentation.

~~~

lf threading ribbon

creating aprons

lf sparkles apron

preparing creations for presentation/wrapping

lf wrapping apron

finalizing packages

St. Martha and Mary ~ Eutrapelia ~ Dandelion

by Filed Under: Eutrapelia, Little Flowers, Marth and Mary, Wreath III

A reading from a sermon by St. Augustine (Sermo 103, 1-2, 6: PL 38, 613, 615) for the Feast of Saint Martha sister of Mary and Lazarus on July 29.  Here Augustine reflects on that famous incident, recorded in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10, when the Lord comes to the home of Martha and Mary.  Mary sits at the Lord’s feet while Martha busies herself with the details of hospitality, anxious and troubled about many things.  In the Catholic tradition, Mary is seen here to represent the contemplative life while Martha represents the active vocation and the battle we all face against the many distractions inherent in our everyday responsibilities.
Christ_in_the_House_of_Martha_and_Mary_1628_Jan_Bruegel2_and_Rubens
~~~
We met on the first Saturday of December, This was our last meeting for 2011.  Our total head count is now at 36.  We had 33 in attendance this month.
This month we learned about Martha & Mary and Eutrapelia.  The meeting went as follows:
  • Mass
    • We took up four pews!  This was a beautiful gift for God.
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  • Roll
  • Prayer
  • Snack
    • I gave the girls more time than usual to relax and settle in.
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  • Recap of last month’s saint and virtue
    • The girls had no problem recalling St. Felictiy and Her Seven Sons.  St. Felicity has definitely became a favorite among the girls.
  • Lesson
    • Introduction
      • I introduced the girls to Eutrapelia with a simple definition.
Eutrapelia – good cheer, which disposes to moderation in sports, games, and jests, in accordance with the dictates of reason, taking into consideration the circumstance of person, season, and place.
      • I asked the girls to share what they knew about Martha and Mary.St Martha mosaic001 (3)St Mary of Bethany mosaic001 (2)
          • sisters of Lazerus of Bethany (Dec. 17)
    • Skit – Jesus is coming!  (I adapted the script that I found here.)
      • Mrs. F, Mrs. B , Mrs. R, and Miss. C volunteered to act out the skit.  Miss. C frantically prepared her house for her special guest, Jesus.  He phoned to tell Miss. C that He would be over later.  As she prepared her house the anxiety grew.  It didn’t help that she was constantly being interrupted.  First, Mrs. F came by to ask for help with her car.  She pleaded with Miss. C to help her out.  Miss. C quickly turned her away.  Jesus was coming and she didn’t have time to waste.  Then another vistor came to the door.  This time it was Mrs. R seeking donations for St. Vincent de Paul Society.  Mrs. Rwas clearly disappointed to be hurried off by the preoccupied Miss C.  Miss. C scurried off to the kitchen in a frenzy.  She was in complete disarray trying to get her home just right for her special guest.  Just then, another door bell rang.  It was Mrs. B seeking some fellowship.  Her voice quivered with nerves.  It must had taken all her courage to venture out, in a new neighborhood with no friends.  I could only imagine what heartache she felt when Miss. C denied her request for conversation.  Miss C was completely oblivious to the feelings of those who were set in her path.  In fact, I doubt she could have even recalled one thing about her unexpected visitors.  She continued to busy herself with housework.  The phone rang.  It was Jesus.  Miss. C asked we He was.  He replied, “I already came by.”  In disbelief, Miss. C questioned Jesus some more.  To which, Jesus replied, “I came three times.)  Miss. C dropped the phone, in shock.
      • The girls identified the times when Jesus came to Miss. C’s house.  He came as the person in need of help, as the charity seeking aid, and in the person in need of personal connection.  We then discussed how we should always be looking for Jesus.  This lead us into the saint lesson for the month.
      • Mary and Martha Bible reading – Luke 10:38-42 in the Catholic Children’s Bible
      • Dandelion explanation.
        • We discussed the weed that is often seen as a flower, the dandelion.
dandelion color pic
  • Discussion
      • Putting God first – jar with 3 toys
        • I used a simple visual activity to display to the calls the importance of putting God first.
          • First, I put three pieces of sidewalk chalk into a mason jar.  Then, I filled the jar with sugar.  The sugar represented everything fun that we could think of.  The girls counted out loud, the number of cups of sugar that it took to fill the mason jar.  The magic number was 7 cups.  The girls observed that the lid fit nicely once the jar was filled.  Finally, I emptied the jar to repeat the process.  Only, this time, I put the 7 cups of fun (sugar) in the mason jar, first.  Then, I attempted to put the three pieces of chalk into the jar so that the lid could close.  It was not possible.  The girls were amazed.  I had the girls imagine that the three pieces of chalk represented the Holy Trinity – GOD.  I then explained that we must put God first in all we do.  When we are right-ordered there is room for everything else.  However, when we put other things first (such as fun and play) we leave no room for God.  They were receptive to the message and began to share ways of how they could put God first.
            • prayer, Adoration, and finding Jesus in those around us.
  • Visit from Father L
    • Father spoke about Advent & Christmas.  He discussed the Birth of Christ.  He closed with a Q & A and blessing.  He’s birthday is this month.  Please pray for Fr. L.
lf fr l
    • Father M stopped by for a quick visit.
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  • Craft
    • I wanted the girls to make something that tied into the saints for the month and that could be given as a gift for Christmas.  I don’t want to ruin any surprises so I’ll share more, after Christmas.
lf decorating bags
  • Time to practice Eutrapelia (social time)
    • The girls were given a small break for the restroom.  It was beautiful how they took advantage of this time for fellowship and play.  They chatted and played at the chalk-board.
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  • Dismissal
    • We closed with a prayer to St. Martha & Mary.  The girls repeated after me.
Martha’s sister Mary, pray for us.   As you spent your time at Jesus’ feet, unlike your busy sister Martha, help us to love our Lord as Thee and practice eutrapelia.
Mary, Martha, and St. Therese – The Little Flower, pray for us!
~~~
tLuk1041Dore_JesusAtTheHouseOfMarthaAndMary

Handouts: (in order)

Resources:

Saint:
Virtue:
~~~
Little Flowers Girls Club Linky – Shower of Roses

***UPDATE***


here is the link to this month’s craft – Curtain Aprons

In His JOY,

St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons ~ Self Control

by Filed Under: 11 November, 11 November Saints, Little Flowers, St. Felicity 2 Comments

41_00199107~martyrdom-of-st--felicity-and-her-seven-sons

  Saint Felicitas was a widow. She was tried with her seven boys before the Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Rome. She encouraged every one of her sons to shed his blood for the Catholic Faith. She stood by and watched each one of them as he suffered and died. Four months later, on November 23, she was herself beheaded. But it is beautiful to put her in commemoration along with her seven sons on July 10, in the month of the Precious Blood of Jesus.

~~~

We did not meet on our regular date, First Saturday, for our third meeting.  I had severe allergies and was on a tight timeframe to move.  Praise God that my move is complete and I was able to meet the second Saturday of November.

There were twenty girls in attendance.  We focused on St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons ~ Self-control.

Each girl received a piece of candy before the start of the meeting.  They were instructed to not touch the piece of candy.  It sat in front of the girls throughout snack time and lesson time.

LESSON:

That blessed woman Felicity, whose Birth-feast we are keeping today, had as much dread of leaving her seven sons living after her in the flesh, as have carnal minded mothers of seeing them go dead before them.  When she was taken in the strong pains of persecution, she braced up the hearts of  her children by bidding them cleave to the Fatherland above, and became their mother for the spiritual, as she had aforetime been for the fleshly life, bringing them forth for God by her exhortation, as she had brought them forth for the world by her body.  And shall I not call this woman a Martyr?  Nay, more than Martyr.  The seven whom she trusted to God were seven children sent before her to death.  She suffered first and triumphed last.  ~Breviary

I introduced the girls to St. Felicity and Her Seven Sons.

“My sons will live forever if, like me, they scorn the idols and die for their God.”  ~St. Felicity

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Felicitas Seven Sons (all of whom were martyred)

  1. Alexander
  2. Vitalis
  3. Martial
  4. Januarius
  5. Felix
  6. Phillip
  7. Silvanus

Patronage – against the death of children, against sterility, martyrs, to have male children, widows

Representation – woman in widow‘s weeds holding a palm of martyrdom, woman with a palm, book, and children at her feet, woman with Saint Andrew the Apostle, woman with seven sons

~ SPQN

Learn how meritorious it is to die for the King (Christ). This woman (St. Felicity) feared not the sword, but perished with her sons. She confessed Christ and merited an eternal renown. ~Ihm, Damasi Epigrammata (Leipzig, 1895)

We honed in on the love of God and self control that St. Felicity and her sons demonstrated.  C volunteered to share her definition of self control.  Before she gave her definition of self control, I called for others to raise their hands if they new what self control meant.  Few girls raised their hands.  I invited them all to raise their hands since they had already demonstrated their understanding of self control.

Self-control: The act, power, or habit of having one’s desires under the control of the will, enlightened by right reason and faith.  ~ Fr. John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary

According to C, self control is not doing something that you really want to do.  The girls wanted to eat the candy before them but they exercised their self control by not touching the candy placed before them.  The girls shared other ways that they have exercised self control.  They always enjoy this time of sharing.

CRAFT:

I worked my way into the craft of the month by asking what the girls do each morning upon waking.  There were numerous answers before I pinned, the morning offering.  I encouraged each girl to exercise self control this month by saying their morning offering upon rising in the morning.  Even before, they use the restroom, eat breakfast, go to mom’s room, etc…

I created an iron-on image of a Morning Offering and holy image (found at Holy Reflections).  The girls (with the help of a mom) ironed their selected image onto their pillowcase.

LF pillow cases

We had three stations for ironing so all the girls could complete their craft before the close of the meeting.  Rose assisted to prep the binders as girls crafted.  I also took the opportunity to paly another self-control game.  The girls played two rounds of a staring contest with their neighbor.  Then I selected one LF to go before the entire group to attempt to make the group laugh.  She had full reign to be silly and the audience had strict instructions not to laugh.  A good time was had by all.  Upon completion of this round, the girls discussed their strategy to exercise self-control so they did not laugh despite the silly antics.

We held one more round.  This time the silly girl could not get her audience to laugh.  We discussed the reason for this outcome, was it because A was not funny or was it because it becomes easier to exercise self control after time of practice?

The meeting ended and the girls were rewarded their candy and sent off to exercise self-control.

St. Felicity & Her Seven Sons ~ orate pro nobis

~~~

Handouts:inp134

Resources:

Morning Offering Pillow Case

by Filed Under: Crafts, Little Flowers, Morning Offering

morning offering pillow case v2
Here is a simple and quick craft that I had my Little Flowers group complete for the virtue of self-control.  My hope was that they exercise self-control by saying their Morning Offering daily, upon rising.   The Morning Offering Pillow Case is to serve as a reminder to the girls. 
It would also make a great gift on any occasion.
Supplies:

  1. Pillow case
  2. Iron-on transfer paper
  3. Printer
  4. Iron
  5. Iron board
  6. Scissors
  7. Image to print
I found the beautiful images at Holy Reflections.  You may click on the image to print.
Mary with Child Jesus - Morning Offering Pillow Case ImageChild making an offering to Jesus - Morning Offering Pillow Case imageImmaculate Heart of Mary & Sacred Heart of Jesus - Morning Offering Pillow Case imageImmaculate Heart of Mary & Sacred Heart of Jesus with blue - Morning Offering Pillow Case imageSt. Therese's Morning Offering - Morning Offering Pillow Case image

Directions:

  1. Print the image (be sure to print the mirror image if the image is not already set)
  2. Trim the image
  3. Apply the image to your desired item.  Be sure to follow the directions of your transfer paper.  
~~~

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