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striving to radiate Him always

Ruth & Naomi ~ Friendliness ~ Blue Phox

by Filed Under: Friendliness, Little Flowers, Ruth and Naomi

Be polite, amiable and friendly to
every one; but be all this in reality. A young
woman who behaves with great friendliness toward
any person she secretly detests and talks about in
an unkind manner, plays the part of a hypocrite.
In the Garden of Olives, Judas greeted and kissed
the Redeemer, at the very time when he was
treating Him with shameful ingratitude and dis-
graceful treachery. ~ Father Lasance, Catholic Girl’s Guide

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We met in October for our second meeting of the 2011-2012 session.  Ruth & Naomi were the saints chosen for the month.

We had 30 girls in attendance.  Two new girls joined us.  We are now at a grand total of 37.

As always, we started with Mass.  The girls are working on showing their Love of God by reverently entering the Church, participating in Mass, and exiting the Church.  We had a small hiccup on the exiting.  It required us to make another attempt and shorten our snack/social time.  All for!

We recapped what we learned last month, Mary-Mother of God and cheerfulness.  A few girls volunteered to recite the designated memory verse.

We then discussed the lives of Ruth & Naomi.  I retold their story from this recap.  The girls were drawn into Ruth’s selflessness and devotion to her mother-in-law and friend, Naomi.  The girls further discussed the virtue of friendliness.  As always, the girls enjoyed sharing their ways to show friendliness.

Father L was able to make a visit this month.  Father spoke about the Holy Rosary, Guardian Angels, and he offered a Q&A session.  The girls were allowed to ask Father anything that their heart desired.  They were delighted to learn more about Father L.  He closed his session with a blessing.

Friendship Rosary

I chose a craft that tied in friends and the Rosary (since it was the month of Our Lady of the Rosary),a single decade friendship rosary.  I had plenty of help from moms. 

I divided the girls into groups of six.  The cord was pre-cut and knotted so that the girls could begin their beading.  One girl would take her rosary cord around the table.  Her fellow Little Flowers would place a bead of their choice onto the cord.  Once all the ten beads were threaded, the mom helper would tie another knot and assist the LF with the remainder of her decade rosary.  This process was repeated for each LF at the table.

~~~

Handouts: (in order)

Resources:

"Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” ~Ruth 1:16

Little Flowers Housekeeping

by Filed Under: Little Flowers

The Little Flowers group that I lead is up to 36 members.  Praise God!  This is, by far, the most girls that I have been blessed with in my five years of leading LF.

Currently, my LF group is open to 5-8 year old girls.  In the past, I did not have an age requirement.  Another mom and I started a group for fellow homeschooling families.  It was a Little Flower co-op of sorts.

Elexa at Little Flowers Ice Cream Social 5.2.07Rose at the LF Tea May 2007

            LF Ice cream social.   My youngest LF, Sweetie at 2. – LF May Tea. My oldest LF, Rose at 14.

I have posted some forms and ideas I use to help keep things organized and parents informed.

Please feel free to download and print any of the forms that may be of use to you.

~~~

I host a private blog and Yahoo email loop for my Little Flowers.  Both sources allow me to better communicate with the families. 

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Registration Form – each family must complete this form prior to their first meeting

LF Registration

Info Sheet – includes gen info, schedule, contact info, agenda, meeting checklist and fee info.

11-12 LF Info Sheet

Snack & Volunteer Sign-up – these forms are used for ea. family to sign up to help.  This is not a requirement for participation in Little Flowers. **

2011-12 Snack Sign Up2011-12 Volunteer Sign Up

Order Form – spreadsheet used to record orders for ea year.**

LF Order Form

 

** I delegate these tasks to moms.  I would not be able to do what I do without the help of dedicated moms.

~~~

Additional LF Forms:

(I’ll be certain to add more forms here as I stumble across them in my archives or create them.)

Mary, Mother of God ~ Cheerfulness

by Filed Under: 01 January Saints, Little Flowers, Marian, Mary's Birthday, Wreath III

SS Little Flowers 2011-12

We kicked off a new year of Little Flowers on the First Saturday.  We now have 35 Little Flowers!  Praise God!

We are on Wreath III and I decided to focus on Mary, Mother of God and Cheerfulness for the first meeting.  We had a Marian Birthday Party.

Happy Birthday Mama

The girls were delighted to come together for such a glorious celebration shared with Mass and friends.

Marian Birthday

Marian Birthday Menu: inspiration was found at Catholic Cuisine

  • Bake Blueberry French Toast
  • Cream cheese Lily Rolls
  • Marian Snack Mix
  • Fruit
  • Mary’s Prayer – Blue Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
  • Dried Blueberries
  • Mary Cookies
  • Cheer Sticks – Veggie Straws
  • Blue Drinks

Mary, Mother of God

I invited the girls to share what they knew about the Blessed Virgin.  We honed in on her cheerfulness in all situations.

We spoke of times when the girls have been cheerful and times when their cheerfulness was lacking. Then we identified what a non-cheerful “Yes” sounds like vs. a cheerful “Yes.”  The girls enjoyed proclaiming a “Yes” like Mary.

The girls also generated a list of words or phrases that could be said to cheer someone else up.

  • Cheer up!
  • Be happy!
  • I Love You!
  • Smile!
  • Be Joyful!
  • Jesus Loves You!

Cheer Card for a FriendA friend gave Sparkles this cheer card.

The talk on cheerfulness led us to our crafts.  The girls created Cheer Cards, cards that they could give to someone else in need of a smile.

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The girls also created a Mary, Mother of God journal.  I encouraged them to use their journal to record their cheerfulness, pray intentions, post their holy cards, and other spiritual practices.Mary Mother of God journal

We closed the meeting with the Rosary.  Unfortunately, we were a bit short on time and could only pray an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.  We prayed for an increase in cheerfulness and and the intentions of the Blessed Mother.cupcake rosary

The girls brought up their flower for Mary and ate a Hail Mary cupcake.

May we be cheerful like Our Blessed Mother.

~~~

Mary, Mother of God

January 1

Ave - Holy Mary Mother of God

~~~

Handouts: (in order)

Resources:

 

 

Mater Dei, ora pro nobis.

Little Flowers Retreat ~ All for Jesus, through Mary!

by Filed Under: Little Flowers, Retreat, Summer

2011-06-22

This is the Little Flowers room, ready for the 2011 Retreat.  Details on the first half of the meeting can be seen here.

We attended Mass at noon.

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We ate lunch and had some free time while the workers set up the next station, tie-dye. 

Each girl brought a white shirt from home.  I had white handkerchiefs on hand for those who forgot their shirt.  Rose and I prepared the shirts while the girls ate lunch.

The girls were eager to create a masterpiece for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  They worked in two groups of 3-4.  My two helpers each ran their own station.  My remaining mom helper conducted story time in the room for all the girls in waiting.

LittLL

Next, was an outdoor rotation — bubbles.  I had planned the second half of the retreat to consist of a rotation between outdoor activities and indoor crafts.

  My plan was not His plan!

Father and the seminarians were passing by and I invited them to give the girls a bubble demonstration.  They jumped on the invitation and were delighted to share in some recreation.  The girls were thrilled to have the clerics as playmates.

Fr. M, Mr. M, and Mr. O became bubble pros.

2011-06-222

The gracefilled bubbles were such a hit with the clerics that I invited them to give another demonstration for the girls.  Fr. M volunteered to hold the sand bucket before I could announce the object of the game. 

The seminarians were beyond excited to have their shot at Father. 

Too bad the water wasn’t more refreshing.  It was poured into the buckets at the beginning of the day and the 90+ degree temp.  brought the buckets of water to a near boil.  The clerics never grumbled about the water temp.  I made the discovery on my own when I went to re-fill a bucket.

Small things for Jesus!

2011-06-223

Father had to leave to attend to his duties as Pastor.  He managed to sneak a water fight in prior to his farewell.

Father picked on Mr. O and Mr. M showed no mercy to Father.

2011-06-227

Father directed the seminarians to stay with the Little Flowers.

It was a blessing for the girls to see the clerics at play.

The girls got in on the water fun.  They even attacked the seminarians, just as Father did, after their competition.

2011-06-224

Mr. O graciously played along with the girls as they drenched him and Mr. M with water.  However, Mr. O couldn’t leave on that note.  He went for the water hose.  I gave him a little help.

I distracted the girls with a game of Simon-Says while Mr. O set his plan of attack.  The last call was, “Simon-says to turn around.”  Mr. O took his queue and blasted the girls. 

It was just the refreshment that they needed.2011-06-225

The girls were exhausted and in need of a break.  They thanked Mr. O and Mr. M and excused themselves.

They were served a snack outdoors.  Then we discussed the Glorious Mysteries and prayed one decade of the Rosary.  The girls were to focus in on the most important part of the Hail Mary, the name of Jesus.  They practiced showing reverence and bowed when they heard the name of Jesus.

JOYfilledfamily

The girls were allowed free-time once they cleaned up.  The girls decided to take their free-time in doors.  We did not have enough time for my structured crafts that I had planned but the girls were given full reign of limited craft supplies.  The littlest Little Flower came up with craft that all the girls loved, pipe cleaner jewelry.  The girls used bright colored pipe cleaners and pony beads.  The big-sis helpers supervised and joined in on the crafting fun.

It was a blessed day for all.

I pray that the girls grow in virtue and seek to do all things For Jesus through Mary!

——

I received a beautiful consolation that same evening of the retreat.  My kids were all in bed and I sat downstairs with my feet up, ready to pass out, as I prayed and shared my day with Dad.   I got a call from a parent.  She had other business to discuss with me.  Just as we were about to say good-bye, she offered me a sweet story.  She said, “Before I go, I wanted to share with you what my LF did on the way home…She began to sing, “If you want to get to heaven be obedient.  If you want to get to heaven be obedient.” She song this line over and over.  She sang it to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It.” 

I could hear the LF voice singing those sweet words in my head.  They were not my exact words from the retreat.  They were her inspired words, from her heart.  They filled me with thanksgiving and I gave praise to God. 

The work I do is ALL FOR HIM.  The fruits that are made are ALL HIS.  The blessings I receive are returned to Our Blessed Mother, for her disposal.  Always, ALL FOR JESUS THROUGH MARY!

St. Joan of Arc ~ Obedience ~ Carnation

by Filed Under: 05 May, 05 May Saints, Little Flowers, St. Joan of Arc, Wreath I 1 Comment

"Since God had commanded it, it was right to do it."  ~ St. Joan of Arc 

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I held the last Little Flowers meeting of the 2010-2011 Session.  I organized a day retreat.  The first half of the retreat was for the traditional Little Flowers meeting.  The second half of the retreat was for some faithfilled games and crafts.

I couldn’t have pulled off such a meeting without the help and support of the Little Flower community. The snacks and supplies were provided by LF families. I had two mom helpers and two sister helpers. Praise God!

Here was the schedule for the retreat.

9:00am – Arrival, prayer, intro

9:25am – Wreath I Saint game

9:50am – Saint & Virtue Study – St. Joan of Arc~Obedience, visit from Fr. L

10:20am – Snack

10:40am – Saint & Virtue Craft – ribbon/carnation bracelet

11:05am – LF housekeeping – pass out handouts and update binders

11:30am – clean up, set lunch, get ready for Mass, Angelus

12:15pm – Mass

1:15pm – Lunch followed by free-time

1:50pm – Tie-Dye

2:45pm – Crafts and Outdoor Rotation

3:45pm – Clean up

4:10pm – Free play and crafts (finish projects)

4:30pm – Rosary

5:00pm – Depart

We followed the schedule, for the first half of the meeting.  The second half is another story.  I’ll safe the details for another post.

~~~

“My God must be first served.”  ~St. Joan of Arc’s Motto

St.Joan of Arc3St. Joan of Arc

Traditional ~ May 31 – New ~ May 30

The life of Joan of Arc, who was born into a prosperous peasant family, took place in the context of the conflict between France and England known as the Hundred Years War. At the age of thirteen, "through the ‘voice’ of St. Michael the Archangel, Joan felt herself called by the Lord to intensify her Christian life and to act personally to free her people".
  She made a vow of virginity and redoubled her prayers, participating in sacramental life with renewed energy. "This young French peasant girl’s compassion and commitment in the face of her people’s suffering were made even more intense through her mystical relationship with God. One of the most original aspects of her sanctity was this bond between mystical experience and political mission". said Benedict XVI.
  Joan’s passion began on 23 May 1430 when she fell into the hands of her enemies at Compiegne and was taken to the city of Rouen. There a long and dramatic trial was held which concluded with her being condemned to death on 30 May 1431.
  Joan died at the stake on 30 May 1431, holding a crucifix in her hands and invoking the name of Jesus. 
  "Joan saw in Jesus all the reality of the Church, the ‘Church triumphant’ in heaven and the ‘Church militant’ on earth. In her own words, ‘Our Lord and the Church are one’… "With her shining witness St. Joan of Arc invites us to the highest degree of Christian life, making prayer the motif of our days, having complete trust in achieving the will of God whatever it may be, living in charity without favouritisms or limitations, and finding in the Love of Jesus, as she did, a profound love for His Church".

~ Taken from VIS – JOAN OF ARC: BRINGING THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL INTO HISTORY, based on Benedict XVI General Audience Address January 26, 2011.

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joanstilkevoicesPatron: captives, France, imprisoned people, martyrs, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, rape victims, soldiers, Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service WEAVES, Women’s Army Corps WACs

Symbols: bareheaded girl in armor with sword, lance or banner

~ Saints.SQPN.com

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"I have been commanded to do two things on the part of the King of Heaven: one, to raise the siege of Orleans; the other, to conduct the King to Reims for his sacrament and his coronation." ~ St. Joan of Arc

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Fleur di Lis

The Fleur di Lis was also introduced to the girls.  A Little Flower brought the banner that she created from the kit that she won from here.

Here are some of what the Fleur di Lis represents:

  • Joan of Arc carried a white banner that showed God blessing the French royal emblem, the fleur-de-lis, when she led French troops to victory over the English in support of the Dauphin, Charles VII, in his quest for the French throne.
  • The Roman Catholic Church ascribed the lily as the special emblem of the Virgin Mary.
  • Due to its three "petals," the fleur-de-lis has also been used to represent the Holy Trinity.

~~~

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We were blessed by a visit from Fr. L.  He gave a brief talk on the Pope. He encouraged the girls to pray for Pope Benedict XVI on a daily basis but especially on the special anniversary of his priestly ordination. 

~~~

Obedience

Painting by Howard Pyle of Joan of Arc titled:

Prayer for the Virtue of Obedience

Jesus, Almighty King of kings, You Who obeyed Your Father to the end, Teach me the meaning of obedience. My soul burns to comply to Your Will, Striving to charm Your Divinity. While my worldly nature seeks one way, My spiritual nature seeks another. Bless me with the strength to obey, That my soul may subdue both natures, Blending them as a fair aromatic bloom. I always seek favour in Your eyes, To always obey You until my last breath!

~~~

Fr. Lasance, Catholic Girl’s Guide

…Teach Obedience, dearest Jesus,
Such as was Thy daily food
In Thy toilsome earthly journey
From the cradle to the rood.
Teach Thy Heart, to me, dear Jesus,
Is my fervent, final prayer,
For all beauties and perfections
Are in full perfection there.

…Do you, dear child, remain always a docile, obedient daughter of your father and mother. Your fulfillment of the fourth commandment will be as a sweet odor before the Lord, and wall make you one day a partaker in the bliss of heaven.

We discussed the virtue of obedience. The virtue that was exemplified by St. Joan of Arc’s following of God’s will.

Here are some additional reflections that were shared with the girls. They come from Fr. Lasance Catholic Girl’s Guide.

At Nazareth a mirror bright

Stands before the Christian’s sight;

Look therein and you will see

How obedient you should be.

– To whom do you owe obedience? To your parents before everyone else, according to His example of whom we read: “He was subject to them.” Your parents are for you the representatives of God on earth. Therefore always pay heed to their exhortation, never grumble or make a pert answer. I have already said a great deal as to what your conduct to your parents should be, when I spoke about the fourth commandment.

– But mark this well: do not regard obedience as a painful necessity; consider it rather to be Christian virtue. Obedience of this nature has its root in humility; faith sanctifies it, and love renders it sweet. For it is only Christian obedience, the obedience which springs from lobe of God, that will remain with you through life, whatever may be your circumstances. On the other hand, obedience which arises from compulsion, human respect, or a desire to please, is merely external, and therefore of no value. Obedience of this nature will never last long, and will not bring you true peace of mind.

– What is obedience? It consists in subjecting our own will to the will of another. This most precious virtue is termed by St. Augustine “the mother and root of all virtues.” St. Bonaventure calls it “a ship, in which one sails to heaven.” Hence we learn that obedience is a virtue, indispensably necessary for everyone, but especially for children and young people; for obedience is order and order must prevail in every place where God is and where He reigns. Disobedience, the offspring of pride, kindled the flames of hell, and peoples its dread abode. In regard to this St. Bernard says; “Abolish disobedience, and you will abolish hell.” Obedience is, according to St. Francis of Sales a sweet virtue. He says: “He who rightly obeys will live aright; he will live sweetly, as does the child in the arms of its mother, free from anxiety and care.”

~~~

Craft

We made ribbon bracelets. We followed the directions posted here. We used pastel grosgrain ribbon and embellished the bracelet with a faux carnation flower (the flower that represents obedience).

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joan of arc in battle"In God’s name, the soldiers will fight and God will give the victory" "En nom De, les gens d’armes batailleront et Dieu donnera victoire" ~ St. Joan of Arc

~~~

banner

"I had a banner of which the field was sprinkled with lilies; the world was painted there, with an angel at each side; it was white of the white cloth called boccassin; there was written above it, I believe, ‘JHESUS MARIA;’ it was fringed with silk." ~St. Joan of Arc

~~~

Resources

Handouts: (in order)obedience craft page

Resources:

SAINT

VIRTUE

joanmonvelvoicesPainting by Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel in 1911 of Joan of Arc kneeling before her Voices
Titled "The Vision and Inspiration"

~~~

PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

Composed by Louis, Bishop of Saint Dié

God, Who has given to Joan of Domremy to be valiant in the humble work of the house and the fields and generously faithful to all Your calls.

Grant to us, by her intercession, to accomplish with faith all the works of our lives and to serve You courageously in our labors on the land, that we may earn a place with Joan and all the saints of France, in the Kingdom of heaven. We ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

St. Joan of Arc, ora pro nobis

 

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