Saturday, December 31, 2011
Favorite Find: DIY Liturgical Year Calendar Bulletin Board
It's hard to believe it is already the last day of 2011! I'm thinking "calendars" today, and checking to see if everyone in the family has a calendar for 2012. While surfing, I ran across a wonderful DIY liturgical calendar on Sanctus Simplicitis. It helps families know saint feast days, which mystery of the rosary should be prayed on each day, and much more. Best of all, the files for the calendar can be downloaded for free! (Click here to see the calendar and get the downloadable files.) Thank you, Sanctus Simplicitis, for this wonderful New Year's gift!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
After Christmas Deals
I've been doing a bit of after-Christmas shopping with a couple of gift cards I received. Some of the deals are really great, so I thought I would pass them on to others!
If you are looking for deals on pretty religious statues, check out the Catholic Supply of St. Louis website. I was able to pick up these beautiful statues for half off! (Statues are usually so expensive, especially nice ones.)
Although it won't be here in time this year, I plan to use it this beautiful statue each year on our dinner table for the Feast of the Holy Family. I love the way Baby Jesus is nestled in Mary's arms!
Here's another one I found:
Both of these are created by Joseph's Studio. I have their La Posada statue, so these will be a nice complement to that. I love the muted colors and the facial details are very nice.
Catholic Supply has a number of other statues on sale, too, including complete Nativity sets, if you are looking to pick up a nice set. Their Heaven's Majesty statues (which include not only statues of the Holy Family, but also of Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Grace, St. Therese, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, plus more.)
Or, if you have always wanted to do the "straw in the manger" activity with your family, they have a couple of Baby Jesus in wood cribs for sale.
The 5.75" removable Baby Jesus with straw was $12.95, now $3.95. The 7.75" Baby Jesus was $19.95, now $6.95.
Their order form is a bit of a pain to use, since you must cut and copy then paste item numbers into the order form (you can't just click on an item to add it to your cart.) I usually open two windows--one with the order form and one with the page with the item I want to order, then cut and paste. But it's worth it to me, since it's not often you can find beautiful statues on sale!
These links are not affiliate links and I'm not receiving any compensation if you purchase something. I just wanted to pass on some exciting deals that I found!
If you are looking for deals on pretty religious statues, check out the Catholic Supply of St. Louis website. I was able to pick up these beautiful statues for half off! (Statues are usually so expensive, especially nice ones.)
 | ||
| Holy Family statue, regularly $59.95, now | $29.97 |
Here's another one I found:
 | ||||
| Flight Into Egypt statue, regularly $49.95, now $24.97 |
Catholic Supply has a number of other statues on sale, too, including complete Nativity sets, if you are looking to pick up a nice set. Their Heaven's Majesty statues (which include not only statues of the Holy Family, but also of Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Grace, St. Therese, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, plus more.)
Or, if you have always wanted to do the "straw in the manger" activity with your family, they have a couple of Baby Jesus in wood cribs for sale.
 | |||
Their order form is a bit of a pain to use, since you must cut and copy then paste item numbers into the order form (you can't just click on an item to add it to your cart.) I usually open two windows--one with the order form and one with the page with the item I want to order, then cut and paste. But it's worth it to me, since it's not often you can find beautiful statues on sale!
These links are not affiliate links and I'm not receiving any compensation if you purchase something. I just wanted to pass on some exciting deals that I found!
Friday, December 23, 2011
This Christmas: Pray for Bethlehem
But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
least among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
Every year as we near Christmas, I spend some time looking at Youtube videos about Bethlehem and its holy sites. And every year, I feel sadness and helplessness when I read about the diminishing Christian population in this sacred town. Phoebe Greenwood, a journalist with The Guardian newspaper out of Britain, has written an article about the situation. She quotes Father Ibrahim Shomali, pastor of Annunciation Church in Beit Jala (a hillside town adjacent to Bethlehem)
You can read the whole article here
This article suggests that the problem is caused by the Israelis. I've read other articles that say the problem is caused by the Palestinian leaders. Others say radical Muslims. I don't know; it is a very complicated situation where everyone feels that this relatively small piece of land should be theirs.
This year, for some reason, Isaiah 11:6-9 popped into my mind while reading the article:
6* Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.f
7The cow and the bear shall graze,
together their young shall lie down;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.g
8The baby shall play by the viper’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
9They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
And I pictured Edward Hick's painting Peaceable Kingdom:
This year, when you are at Mass on Christmas Eve, will you join me in prayer, asking Our Lord to bring peace to the "little" town of Bethlehem?
The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land sponsors a wide variety of projects and programs to help Christians living in Bethlehem. Some of their projects include a Child Sponsorship Program, a job placement program, affordable housing options, a university scholarship program, a vocational school program and social service programs for the elderly living in the area. You can find out more about the organization here.
This year, when you are at Mass on Christmas Eve, will you join me in prayer, asking Our Lord to bring peace to the "little" town of Bethlehem?
The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land sponsors a wide variety of projects and programs to help Christians living in Bethlehem. Some of their projects include a Child Sponsorship Program, a job placement program, affordable housing options, a university scholarship program, a vocational school program and social service programs for the elderly living in the area. You can find out more about the organization here.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Simple O Antiphons Project
This year, I really want to spend a bit more time praying (and teaching my kids to pray) the O Antiphons. My goal is to help them recognize the Latin words and their English equivalents, in addition to better understand each of the prayers.
I planned to make a paper O Antiphons house like the one suggested by Catholic Culture, or even better yet, the wooden house created by Alice, Elizabeth, Suzanne, Ruth, Kelly, Kimberly, and Jessica. But between teaching catechism at two churches and chauffeuring kids to basketball, soccer and dance practices, I found little time to craft. I figured that if I was going to make the house, I wanted to take the time to make it beautifully. So it didn't happen. Perhaps next year.
Yet I still wanted to do something, so I came up with this quick magnet board display:
I found a purple magnet board and wooden magnetic letters at Michael's craft store. The picture and symbols below the picture are from Jennifer Gregory Miller's O Antiphon Prayer Companion. It's a wonderful booklet filled with prayers, an explanation of the symbols associated with each Antiphon, and even some suggestions for corresponding food or meals that could be served on each day.
I put two electronic taper candles on each side of the display and lit them. They will remain lit for the whole week.
Each day the kids will change the wooden letters and symbols. Here is our display for today (O Adonai):
We will also listen to O Antiphons chant on the Fisheaters website.
I planned to make a paper O Antiphons house like the one suggested by Catholic Culture, or even better yet, the wooden house created by Alice, Elizabeth, Suzanne, Ruth, Kelly, Kimberly, and Jessica. But between teaching catechism at two churches and chauffeuring kids to basketball, soccer and dance practices, I found little time to craft. I figured that if I was going to make the house, I wanted to take the time to make it beautifully. So it didn't happen. Perhaps next year.
Yet I still wanted to do something, so I came up with this quick magnet board display:
I found a purple magnet board and wooden magnetic letters at Michael's craft store. The picture and symbols below the picture are from Jennifer Gregory Miller's O Antiphon Prayer Companion. It's a wonderful booklet filled with prayers, an explanation of the symbols associated with each Antiphon, and even some suggestions for corresponding food or meals that could be served on each day.
I put two electronic taper candles on each side of the display and lit them. They will remain lit for the whole week.
Each day the kids will change the wooden letters and symbols. Here is our display for today (O Adonai):
We will also listen to O Antiphons chant on the Fisheaters website.
It's okay to be less than perfect
Here it is, the last Sunday in Advent. Are you feeling tinges of guilt over all the projects and things you didn't get done during the season? Or is your list still rather long, hoping you can finish the baking, Christmas shopping, card writing, Christmas crafting and gift wrapping before next Saturday, Christmas Eve?
I know my list is too long, and I will need to rewrite it so it's more realistic and do-able. Also, I really need to focus on what's important--attending Mass each day, getting to confession, spending more time reading the Bible and meditating over the wonderful gift God gave to us in Jesus.
Check out Tsh Oxenreider's article: Plan Your Peaceful Christmas: Embrace Imperfection for inspiration on just letting go and being in the moment with Christ!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Favorite Free Find: Free Christmas Music Downloads
Did you know that Amazon is currently offering "25 Days of Free Holiday Music"? Each day, they upload a new holiday song from a variety of popular Christmas albums. You can download the MP3 file for free, to put on your smartphone or MP3 player. Some of the current free songs include Greensleeves by Mannheim Steamroller, Ave Maria by Celtic Women, O Holy Night by Leigh Nash and Adeste Fideles by Bing Crosby.
You can get the free downloads here
I think I'll surprise my husband by adding some holiday tunes to his Nano, which he listens to every day on the train as he commutes to work!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Advent Glass Block Decoration
I admit it--I'm on a mission to decorate my home for Advent this year! Usually, my only Advent decorations are our purple table cloth, a rather plain ring that serves as our Advent wreath, our Nativity set and a few statues or figurines depicting St. Nicholas and St. Lucia. I've felt the need to add more liturgical purple to our home.
So, after I made the Immaculate Conception glass block decoration described here,
I wondered how I could use the second glass block and the purple and pink mini lights to create a decoration for Advent. So I went back to the internet, searching for some sort of Advent picture--perhaps an Advent candle? Maybe symbols from the Jesse tree? No, nothing seemed quite right, until I found a silhouette image depicting Joseph and Mary's trip to Bethlehem. The phrase "waiting in joyful hope" immediately popped into my head. I copied the image into my desktop publishing program and played a bit with the text until I came up with an image that seemed to represent Advent to me. I then printed two copies of the image and attached it to the glass block using Mod Podge, like I did for the Immaculate Conception glass block project. (You can see a quick photo tutorial here.)
After the Mod Podge dried, I threaded a string of purple lights and a string of pink lights through the pre-drilled opening in the glass block. Since each string has its own "on" button, I'll turn on the purple lights on the first, second and fourth weeks of Advent, then turn on the pink lights for the third week of Advent.
Here are a couple of photos of the finished product. Unfortunately, my camera can't really capture the true purple color. But it will give you an idea of what the decoration looks like:
It really was a quick project; waiting for the Mod Podge to dry was the most time consuming part!
I still have one more set of pink and purple mini lights left. Now I'm waiting for some heavenly inspiration on how to use them, perhaps incorporating the O Antiphons!
I'm participating in Skip to My Lou's "Made by You Mondays" blog hop. There are tons of wonderful ideas over there; check it out if you have a moment:
So, after I made the Immaculate Conception glass block decoration described here,
I wondered how I could use the second glass block and the purple and pink mini lights to create a decoration for Advent. So I went back to the internet, searching for some sort of Advent picture--perhaps an Advent candle? Maybe symbols from the Jesse tree? No, nothing seemed quite right, until I found a silhouette image depicting Joseph and Mary's trip to Bethlehem. The phrase "waiting in joyful hope" immediately popped into my head. I copied the image into my desktop publishing program and played a bit with the text until I came up with an image that seemed to represent Advent to me. I then printed two copies of the image and attached it to the glass block using Mod Podge, like I did for the Immaculate Conception glass block project. (You can see a quick photo tutorial here.)
After the Mod Podge dried, I threaded a string of purple lights and a string of pink lights through the pre-drilled opening in the glass block. Since each string has its own "on" button, I'll turn on the purple lights on the first, second and fourth weeks of Advent, then turn on the pink lights for the third week of Advent.
Here are a couple of photos of the finished product. Unfortunately, my camera can't really capture the true purple color. But it will give you an idea of what the decoration looks like:
 | ||
| The "Waiting in Joyful Hope" image I created on my computer |
 | ||||
| Illuminated by the pink mini lights (unfortunately, the purple lights were too dark to photograph, although not too dark to illuminate the image.) |
It really was a quick project; waiting for the Mod Podge to dry was the most time consuming part!
I still have one more set of pink and purple mini lights left. Now I'm waiting for some heavenly inspiration on how to use them, perhaps incorporating the O Antiphons!
I'm participating in Skip to My Lou's "Made by You Mondays" blog hop. There are tons of wonderful ideas over there; check it out if you have a moment:
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