Blog 365 #1~ Happy Valentine's Day!

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Happy Valentine's Day!

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Till Next Time,

Monique

Wishing you a Joyous Feast of the Epiphany!

The Adoration of the Three Kings

Girolamo da Santacroce

1525

"Give me, therefore, I pray Thee, 

this gold, this incense, and this myrrh. 

Give me the gold of Thy holy love; 

give me the spirit of holy prayer, 

give me the desire and strength to mortify myself 

in everything that displeases Thee. 

I am resolved to obey Thee and to love Thee; 

but Thou knowest my weakness, 

oh, give me the grace to be faithful to Thee!"

~St Alphonsus Liguori

Till Next Time,

Monique

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All Soul's Day~ November 2

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Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood 

of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, 

in union with the masses said throughout the world today, 

for all the holy souls in purgatory, 

for sinners everywhere, 

for sinners in the universal church, 

those in my own home and within my family. 

Amen.

~ Saint Gertrude

Till Next Time,

Monique

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All Saint's Day~ November 1st

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All Saints Feast Day

November 1st

How shining and splendid are your gifts, O Lord

which you give us for our eternal well-beingYour glory shines radiantly in your saints, O GodIn the honour and noble victory of the martyrs.The white-robed company follow you,bright with their abundant faith;They scorned the wicked words of those with this world's power.For you they sustained fierce beatings, chains, and torments,they were drained by cruel punishments.They bore their holy witness to youwho were grounded deep within their hearts;they were sustained by patience and constancy.Endowed with your everlasting grace,may we rejoice foreverwith the martyrs in our bright fatherland.O Christ, in your goodness,grant to us the gracious heavenly realms of eternal life.

~Unknown, 10th Century 

Till Next Time,

Monique

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All Soul's Day

“Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. 

Amen.”

~Saint Gertrude the Great

Till Next Time,

Monique

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Happy Valentine's Day 2018

Wishing you all a wonderful Saint Valentine's Day!

I know it's a day early, but tomorrow is Ash Wednesday so we are celebrating a day early. Tomorrow will be a day for Mass, prayer, penance, and fasting!

Till Next Time,

Monique

All Soul's Day

All Soul's Day

Jakub Schikaneder

For all our departed brothers and sisters,

Merciful Father,

hear our prayer

and console us.

As we renew

our faith in your Son,

whom You raised from the dead,

strengthen our hope,

that all our departed brothers and sisters

will share in His resurrection,

who lives and reigns

with You and the Holy Spirit, 

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Till Next Time,

Monique

All Saint's Day

Angels, Archangels,

Thrones, Dominions,

Principalities, Powers,

heavenly Virtues,

Cherubim and Seraphim, 

all Saints of God,

holy men and women,

and especially my patrons:

intercede for me

that I may be worthy

to offer this sacrifice to almighty God,

to the praise and glory of His name,

for my own welfare,

and also that of all His holy Church.

Amen.

Till Next Time,

Monique

Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday is the final Sunday in Lent. It's the beginning of Holy Week and helps us remember the triumphant arrival of Jesus into the town of Jerusalem.


           


This Sunday, we will receive palms in Mass. Palms are a symbol of peace and victory. For moms with young children in Mass, the symbolism of the palms may be lost as we have to make sure no one gets poke in the eye or making sure no one is using them as a light saber. We always turn the palms into crosses. Of course, there are lots of fancier ways to display the palms too. Lacy at Catholic Icing has lots of beautiful ideas to display the palms. I love the Palm Roses.

        

As we head into this important week, I pray that we can reflect and draw closer to Jesus.  

Dearly Beloved, in Holy Week, when the most bitter sufferings of Jesus Christ, are put before us by the liturgy, the Church invites us to come to Calvary and follow in the blood stained footsteps of the Divine Redeemer, to carry the Cross willingly with Him, to reproduce in our hearts His spirit of expiation and atonement, and to die together in Him.

We ought to glory in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection.

Let Us Pray.

All powerful eternal God, You have chosen to give all mankind a model of humility. our Savoir took on our flesh, and subjected Himself to the Cross. Grant us the grace to preserve faithfully the lessons He has given us in His Passion and to have a share in His resurrection. This we ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son. 

Amen.

Till Next Time,

Monique

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

An Irish Prayer

May God give you, for every storm, a rainbow,

for every tear, a smile,

for every care, a promise,

and a blessing in each trial.

For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share,

for every sigh, a sweet song, 

and an answer for every prayer.

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. 

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All Saints Day

How shining and splendid are your gifts, O Lord

which you gave us for our eternal well being

Your glory shines radiantly in your saints, O God

in the honour and noble victory of the martyrs.

The white robed company will follow you,

bright with their abundant faith;

They scorned the wicked words of those with this world's power.

For you they sustained fierce beatings, chains, and torments,

they were drained by cruel punishments.

They bore their holy witness to you

who were grounded deep within their hearts;

they were sustained by patience and constancy.

Endowed with your everlasting grace,

may we rejoice forever

with the martyrs in our bright fatherland.

O Christ, in your goodness,

grant to us the gracious heavenly realms of eternal life.

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. 

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Happy Saint Valentine's Day

Wishing you all a wonderful Feast of Saint Valentine!

Saint Valentine, Oro Pro Nobis!

 

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The Feast of Saint Nicholas

Every year on December 6th, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Nicholas. This year, the kids were a little rushed with seeing what was left in their shoes since we had to get to Mass.

This year, the kids received some wonderful faith filled presents.

Michael's gifts from Saint Nicholas.....

A new Christmas book, Christmas From Heaven

Gold chocolate coins

A candy cane

A framed print of Saint Michael

Audubon Bird Call

A Crusader's brown scapular

Therese's gifts from Saint Nicholas.....

A new Christmas book, Roses in the Snow

Gold chocolate coins

A candy cane

American Girl Scrapbook Craft Kit

Our Lady of Lourdes brown scapular & prayer card

A framed print of Our Lady of Lourdes

Saint Nicholas had a little help from Beth and the Three Wisemen. 

Saint Nicholas, Ora Pro Nobis

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful feast day!

In honor of Saint Patrick's Feast day, we will be doing some fun things at home.

During our religion studies, we will read about Saint Patrick. 

We will do a craft about the Blessed Trinity.

You can find it over at Catholic Inspired.

Jennifer has tons of great crafts for kids of all ages!

She also has a new craft for Saint Patrick's Day. 

It's a mobile. 

You can find it here.

I did it with my CCD class this past Sunday and they LOVED it!

Every year, we watch the movie Patrick, Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle from CCC of America.

My kids are getting a little old for this, but we still enjoy it. Next year, I may have to find a "older" movie about Saint Patrick.

For fun, the kids will hunt for gold coins around the house. Not really related to Saint Patrick but it's still fun. It's like finding the gold at the end of the rainbow.

So what's for dinner?

Irish Beef Stew

Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread

and

Saint Patrick's Gluten Free Brownie Desert

Till next time, 

~Monique

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Happy Feast Day of Saint Nicholas

Wishing everyone a happy Saint Nicholas Day!

"The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic Him giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves."

~ Saint Nicholas of Myra

Gluten Free Grasshopper Pie

For St. Patrick's Day, we have a special dessert.

Gluten Free Grasshopper Pie.

I took a regular grasshopper pie recipe and modified it so that Princess P and myself could eat it too.

Ingredients

2 cups crumbled gluten free chocolate cookies (gluten free oreos)

3 cups of mini marshmallows

1/2 cup of milk

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 teaspoon of mint extract

1-2 drops of green food dye

chocolate shavings

chocolate coin

Instructions

Remove the icing from the cookies. Crumble the chocolate cookies.

In a pot, melt the marshmallows with the milk over low heat. When the marshmallows are all melted, chill the mixture. Stir it occasionally until the mixtures sets.

Once the marshmallow mixture has cooled and set, stir in the mint extract and green food dye. 

Set aside.

Using a mixer, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold the whipping cream into the marshmallow mixture. Leave a little bit for topping the treats.

Set aside for later.

Take your cookie crumbs and press firmly into the bottom of small glasses. 

Add the green marshmallow mixture onto the cookie crumbs.

Top each cup with a dollop of whipped cream.

Sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate shavings onto the whipped cream.

Place a chocolate coin into the whipped cream.

Chill for at least 2 hours.

Store in the fridge until ready to eat.

They can be made a day before.

Saint Patrick's Day Feast Day

Today in CCD, we talked about Saint Patrick since his feast day is tomorrow. While the kids were waiting for the other students to arrive and class to begin, they colored a coloring page of Saint Patrick.

Here are some wonderful coloring pages for Saint Patrick!

Catholic Inspired

The Church of the Good Shepherd

Saint John the Baptist Church ~ These coloring pages are taken from the stained glass windows from St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Fredericksburg, VA. They depict the life of Saint Patrick. They are wonderful coloring pages.


We watched a short film about Saint Patrick, called Patrick Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle.

The children really enjoyed this wonderful tale of how Saint Patrick found himself in Ireland.


I had a game from when we celebrated All Saints Day. Pin the Shamrock onto Saint Patrick!

We made a Trinity shamrock craft from Catholic Inspired. 

You can gain access to this fun craft if you subscribe to  Jennifer's blog!

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

On December 12, we celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
We read the the story Our Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola.


                                                          

After our story, we colored a coloring page of Our Lady.
Here is a beautiful coloring page from Catholic Playground.

After, the kids finished their coloring page, we made Mexican Wedding Cookies.
We actually made two batches. We made a "normal" batch for the boys and a gluten free batch for Princess P and myself.

gluten free versions

regular version

They look the same! They even tasted the same according to my dear hubby. He said the gluten free versions were a little drier.

Last year for the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Princess P created tissue paper roses.

You can see how we created them here.

A Visit from Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas came for a visit last night. 

The children placed their slippers out with great excitement. 

Lego Man received a Saint Nicholas figure, a stuffed black lab, chocolate gold coins, and a new book.

Princess P received an Angel figurine, a stuffed black lab, chocolate gold coins, and a new book.

Crowning of Mary

In the beginning of May, our homeschool group held our annual crowning of Mary celebration. The first communicants lead the processions and usually the tallest girl gets to crown Mary. Princess P got that honor this year. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day so I have no pictures of her crowning Mary.

I did get a picture of the crown during Princess P's First Holy Communion.

Here is am up close picture of the crown we made for the Mary statue that is inside the church.

Here are pictures of the crown we made for the smaller Mary statue that is outside.

The crown the church had used in the past had been thrown away when an older parishioner passed away. One of the members of the ladies group asked if they could keep the crowns at the church so that they would be able to use them again next year.

 I was honored!

 I was so worried while making them  that they weren't right, but everyone raved about how beautiful they were.

Princess P was extremely happy that our crowns would be used again and again to honor our Blessed Mother.