An Advent devotion that you really can have ready by Sunday

I recently got bombarded by requests for access to the Fine Art Jesse Tree ornament files (apparently, a server update had switched sharing off for all of them), so I thought I'd take the opportunity to reshare them, especially for those of you who might be looking for a good last-minute option. The back-to-back file can just be printed double-sided on sturdy paper and cut out, or, if you have a little more time and energy, you can laminate them, or print them out single-sided and glue to colored cardstock.

Ideas on how to use the ornaments in your family prayer time can be found at the original post.

All of the files can be found below:

• Back-to-back ornaments (for double-sided printing)
• Ornament fronts (art pieces) only
• Ornament backs only
• List of readings

Have a blessed Advent!

Sheltering in Place with Kindred Spirits!

Saint Martha's Guild has assembled a delightful collection of projects to keep your family focused on growing in holiness while introducing a variety of Catholic traditions and resources. 

Looking for directions to make your own scapular?  A pocket shrine?
A set of 40 eggs to tell the Resurrection story from Ash Wednesday on?

The narration is amusing and the variety of projects is impressive!  You'll be buying craft supplies before you know it.

Making a Paschal Candle

Go here or here to see how your parish version is made.

Or make your own for your family's prayer center using these simple directions:

1. Cut a piece of white tissue paper, approximately 8 x 10.5 and carefully tape it onto a piece of copier paper.  It will work best if it is all very flat.
2. Copy this image onto the tissue side.  (NB - there are enough images on this page for 3 candles (or one if you happen to make a mistake or two)
3. Cut the page in thirds along the width and, centering the image on your candle, hold the blank ends behind the candle, shielding your fingers from the heat during the next step.
4. Using a hair dryer on high heat simply melt the cross image onto the front of the candle.  Once it's tacked in place by the heat you can trim the tissue paper ends and continue to melt down the paper edges.
5. I use gold map pins for my "grains of incense."

Letters from Sts Peter and Paul

For several years, I have wanted to incorporate Mary Reed Newland's idea* of sending each member of the household a selection from an applicable Petrine Epistle on what was then the solemnity of St Peter (now extended to St Paul as well). Not having the faith in the delivery schedule of our rural post office, I opted to use my eldest son's toy mailbox instead, which both accentuated the fact that the Epistles are letters but also that it wasn't St Peter who directly sent him the missive.

Now, with a child who is an early reader, seemed a good time to start. For my newborn, I chose 1 Peter 2, 2-3; my preschooler 1 Peter 1, 14-16; my six year old 1 Peter 2, 17; for myself 1 Peter 4, 8-9; and my husband 1 Peter 5, 2-4. This led to a fruitful discussion about the parts of the Bible and specifically the New Testament.There's no reason that this practice couldn't be extended to the Conversion of St Paul (January 25) and the Chair of Peter (February 22).

*"Summer Saints," The Year and Our Children

Gearing up

for tomorrow's double header: the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the Vigil of the Nativity of St John the Baptist.

Some years ago my husband decided that we should adorn our image of the Sacred Heart with fresh flowers in honor of the feast day and ordered several stems in floral tubes from the local florist. It was on the pricey side the first go round because he didn't know one could purchase the tubes at craft stores. But I have reused the tubes every year since which has brought the cost down to about $1 per bloom. The flowers last about a week.

Our parish includes an oratory dedicated to St John the Baptist, the proto-parish of the area. In past years, there has been a special Mass and church supper held there, but due to expected heat, the event has been delayed until the fall. In the evening, we will host some friends for a dinner of pizza on the grill and toast marshmallows over the St John's Bonfire (in a fire pit). It's not too late to grow a culture of faith and start the tradition in your neighborhood!

Smores for St John the Baptist

Last year, I was grieving a miscarriage when the feast of John the Baptist rolled around. To distract ourselves from the reality at hand, my family decided to hold an impromptu neighborhood gathering. I sent my husband to the grocery store for s'mores ingredients and whipped up a pitcher of lemonade for general consumption and cocktails for the adults. While we weren't able to have a St John's bonfire, we made do with the flames of the grill while making the s'mores. The serendipitous evening requiring minimal effort has now become an annual event- now with bonfire!

Neighborhood waffle night for the Annunciation

Last year's Annunciation Day evening was snowy and blustery, but inside the mood was cheerful. Waffles were the star of our breakfast for dinner neighborhood party, rounded out with sausage and potatoes, quiche, and fruit salad. Why waffles, you ask? Because Our Lady didn't waffle in giving her fiat.

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Lk 1, 30-33)

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Building our own Epiphany traditions

Epiphany has long held a special place in my heart. A dear Belgian family friend would hold a glorious Epiphany tea every January 6.   In my married life, especially as my children get older, Epiphany has become the Christmas of our domestic church.

We are fortunate to have so much of our extended family living within a day's drive and celebrate from Christmas Eve thru New Year's Day with them. Although Epiphany Sunday was celebrated on January 3, my husband and I opted to hold our celebration on the 6th because we got back in town late Saturday night and were exhausted/not prepared/waiting for packages to arrive. 






Last night (January 5, the vigil), we held a procession through the house with censer, candles, and bells, chalking the exterior doors 20+C+M+B+16 on our route.

Most of the Christmas decorations save the Nativity set and the tree have gradually been making their way back to the attic. I found this great image of the Adoration of the Magi in an old calendar and taped on our front door (we do have a storm door, so it's holding up well).

Tonight's celebration will start with Lessons and Carols, assisted by a set of discarded Worship hymnals. I developed this order of service based on this template. Then we will exchange gifts within our nuclear family- three for each of something you want, something you need, and something to read.















I find inspiration for my Epiphany menu in that the Magi came from the East. Some years, we have ordered Chinese take-out, but this year I am trying out slow cooker biryani- an Indian rice pilaf. Friends from the neighborhood will be joining us. I'll round out the meal with a winter vegetable slaw, and cheater's Buche de Noel- a chocolate rehrucken cake with a plastic baby Jesus hidden inside, plus chai and any leftover Christmas chocolates.

Happy Epiphany, from our family to yours!

Image source: Juan Reixach, Adoration of the Magi, 1450-90
Image source: Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Twelfth Night, c.1619

St Nicholas Day preparations

This afternoon, we got things ready for St Nicholas Day.

The stockings were hung from the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

(Since I have never been home on Christmas Day since my marriage, we use our stockings instead of shoes.)

It's amazing what you can find with a $5 limit per person. Candy canes for all, a thrift store sweater for Mom, an intriguing bottle from the clearance table for Dad, and Christmas tree ornaments for the kids (that they will take with them for their own tree when they leave home).

A Thanksgiving guest brought a package of spekulatius, a traditional cookie for St Nicholas Day, saving me from baking my own. Some years I have made gingerbread instead. We'll have these with tea before Vespers at the Abbey tomorrow afternoon.

"St Nicholas" and I also put together some care packages for neighbors, which we will deliver before Mass tomorrow. 

2016 Patron Saints

Happy New Liturgical Year!  As has been our custom, the Church Ladies have compiled a list of patron saints for 2016, based on the Holy Father's Jubilee Year for Mercy.  You'll see some well known saints, but also saints from around the world and across history.  To use with your family or church group, simply print the image above and cut into slips for selection.  We wish you the best for the upcoming year, and regret that due to other obligations on our time, we can no longer draw saints for individuals.

On the first of January a new calendar year begins. On the first Sunday of Advent the new year of the Church begins. Therefore, the Saturday preceding the first Advent Sunday has something of the character of a New Year's Eve. One of the old customs is to choose a patron saint for the new year of the Church... We always choose them according to a special theme. One year, for instance, we had all the different Church Fathers; another year we chose only martyrs; then again, only saints of the new world....During the war we chose one saint of every country at war. 

  

After our first gathering around the Advent light, and the singing of the first Advent hymn, an air of expectancy spreads over the family group; now comes the moment when the mother goes around with a bowl in which are the little cards with the names of the new saints. Everybody draws a card... This saint will be invoked every morning after morning prayer. Everyone is supposed to look up and study the life story of his new friend, and some time during the coming year he will tell the family all about it...But the custom has become very dear to us, and every year it seems as if the family circle were enlarged by all those new brothers and sisters entering in and becoming known and loved by all.

 

(Maria Trapp, Around the Year with the Trapp Family)

Make it: Mini Saint-of-the-Day Shrine

I'm slowly becoming resigned to the fact that I'm probably never going to be the mom who has the perfect dessert for every big feast day. (Plenty of people are, including some of my co-bloggers, and more power to them.) I still wanted this to be the year that I upped my liturgical game, though. So, having been inspired by this Facebook photo of unknown origin, I set out to create a shrine for our home altar that could be a home for our saint of the day.

Materials:

• dollhouse room box (I'm having trouble finding anything similar online, but these are from the dollhouse furniture section at Michael's)
• gold acrylic paint
• fancy scrapbook paper
• miniature egg-and-dart trim (found in the craft wood section of Michael's)
• small crucifix, about 1½" or less (ours are from broken rosaries)
• medium-sized wooden bead, or gold polymer clay (to hold the crucifix)

Tools:

• paintbrush
• small hand saw, sandpaper, and wood glue (for trim. The wood is soft, so I imagine a utility or craft knife could be made to work in a pinch)
• spray glue or rubber cement

Michael's sells the dollhouse boxes in two sizes. On the left is the small size with, from left-to-right, a saint block from AlmondRod Toys, a standard craft store peg doll*, and a larger peg doll (3 5/8"). The same dolls are shown in the larger-sized box on the right.

Cut the trim to just a hair longer than the width of the box (to allow for sanding), and sand the ends smooth. Attach with wood glue so that the top of the trim is even with the top of the shelf, and let dry.

Paint the box and trim with the gold paint, leaving the back surface white. This took more coats than I'd expected (5-6), but the paint dries quickly, so you really only need to give it five minutes or so between coats.

Cut the scrapbooking paper to fit (centering the motif, if necessary). The boxes weren't quite square, so we cut them just a tad big, and shaved off little bits until they fit. Glue to the back with rubber cement or spray glue.

We used wooden beads with holes large enough to accommodate the crucifix, painting them gold to match the shrine. (Something like this might also work, but I haven't tried it myself.) If you can't find something similar, you can mold a base out of polymer clay, using the crucifix to make the hole in it before baking.** Whichever you use, use a tiny bit of hot glue to secure the crucifix if necessary, then use hot glue or wood glue to place it on the top shelf of the shrine.

The glue is dry, you are ready to display your saint of the day! If you don't have figurines, I've found that the larger-size box is just right for propping up a standard holy card.

Other ideas:

• A paper banner, reading "Saint of the Day," or "Ora pro nobis," instead of the trim.
• Tiny silk flowers in a vase made from a large fancy bead or a wooden candle cup.
• Tiny votive candles (just for decoration, of course!)

*Sorry, I don't have the dimensions. Maybe when Margaret Mary is back from Philly, she can help me out.
**I was really hoping these would work, but sadly, they're just a tiny bit too big!)

PSA: Save those onion skins!

So, in my post on making stock from vegetable scraps, I said that the only part of the onion I don't save are the very dried, papery layers of skin. Well, it turns out that, this time of year, there's a good reason to save those, too.

It's a Greek tradition to dye Easter eggs blood-red, to represent the Blood of Christ, and believe it or not, this color can be acheived with just the skins of a dozen or so yellow onions and a bit of vinegar. Sounds like a good excuse for French Onion Soup to me.

Get the details here.

Jesse Tree: The Word Made Flesh

Apse Mosaic, San Clemente, Rome. 1130.

John 1:1–18

O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum. Alleluia.

O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia!

Music: O Magnum Mysterium, Victoria.

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Nativity

Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452), Nativity.

Luke 2:1–20

Music: O Come, All Ye Faithful

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Visitation

Jacques Daret. The Visitation, from Altarpiece of the Virgin. 1434-1435.

Luke 1:39–56

Music: O Emmanuel

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Annunciation

Sandro Botticelli, Cestello Annunciation. 1490.

Luke 1:26–38

Music: O Rex Gentium

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Birth of John Foretold

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo,The Baptism of Christ. c.1655.

Luke 1:5–25

Music: O Oriens

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Rebuilding of Jerusalem

Piero della Francesca, Finding of the True Cross (detail). 1452–1466.

Nehemiah 1:1–2:8, 6:15–16

Music: O Clavis David

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Exile

Rembrandt, Jeremiah Lamenting the

Destruction of Jerusalem. 1630.

Lamentations 1:1-5, 5:16-22

Music: O Radix Iesse

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.

Jesse Tree: The Messiah Foretold

Van Gogh, Sower With Setting Sun. 1888.

Isaiah 9:1–6 

Music: O Adonai

Jesse Tree Printable Ornaments here.