In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.[St Therese]
The motto of Milwaukee's diocesean seminary, St Francis, is "Vos estis sal terrae" (you are the salt of the earth). But the remainder of the Evangelist's exhortation bears heeding: "But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?" [Mt 5, 13]
What happens if we, as the Body of Christ, do not appreciate our priests, and through neglect and ingratitude let them lose the metaphorical power of salt- understanding the tremendous value of their vocation? The answer can be seen in too many parishes- a pastor who has no interest in the parish, dislikes administering the sacraments, and does little to inspire his congregation to follow God- because in his life, the sacrifices of the priesthood went unappreciated. [full post]
The Little Flower Project, aka Scarves for Priests is still going strong, and examples of this handiwork can be seen gracing the halls of St Francis Seminary, parishes of the archdiocese, and soon, Pontifical Universities.
To make a lightweight, yet warm scarf, I am using mercerized cotton yarn with #5 needles. I have been casting on 40 stitches, and knitting to a length of about 4'. The scarf ends each have a 6" fringe. Simple but successful- each scarf takes me about 15 hours.
There's a real honest-to-goodness project for this? That's wonderful! I'm just curious--what colors do your priests usually request? Mine all wanted red--all of them!
ReplyDeleteokay, so I guess my boyfriend (who is an episcopal priest) logged into my laptop before dinner. He is obviously not a church lady.
ReplyDeleteI on the other hand do hemming, knitting and what-not on both banks of the Tiber, though Rome will always be my home.
--Courtney
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteThose who appreciate the work of Church Ladies are always welcome here. We thank you both for your service to Christ!
Project might be a bit lofty term, but I am hoping to spread interest among my fellow Church Ladies for their own dioceses.
ReplyDeleteAll of my recipients have adamantly requested black scarves, but I plan on shifting direction briefly to make a brown scarf for my pastor, a Franciscan priest.
What a charming idea. I would use a machine washable wool (wool treated to prevent shrinking/fulling)rather than cotton because it is lighter and warmer. If cotton becomes damp it loses its ability to insulate, damp wool does not.
ReplyDeleteSadly, this Church Lady is horribly allergic to wool. I can't wear or knit with it.
ReplyDeleteThese particular seminarians and priests have been wearing the scarves under their coats, where the scarves stay pretty dry.
There's always acrylic: not as great as natural fibers, but warm, machine washable and non-allergy inducing. I used Lion's Brand Homespun in a bright red they picked out (a year later, I'm still in shock that all 4 flocked to the same color).
ReplyDelete