Showing posts with label Rosary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rosary. Show all posts
Monday, October 7, 2013
Simple Celebrations :: Our Lady of the Rosary
Monday, September 30, 2013
Month of the Holy Rosary :: Weekly Family Rosary
For all of you who admired the St. Michael statue that was pictured here yesterday, here is where you can find it {affiliate link}. It's more expensive now than it was in 2010. There are some others {affiliate link} to choose from too. The Professor has specifically requested a statue of St. Michael that looked more masculine than the other ones he had seen. This one definitely looks the part!
This morning, a conversation on FB got me thinking about October coming up but it still felt off in the distance until I read Fr. Jerabek's post for today. Surprise! October is tomorrow! Where did September go?
Anyway, I wanted to link to Father's post because a) he totally gets me when it comes to praying the Rosary:
I left a comment on his post that I wanted to share here too. I know I've mentioned it before, but I thought I would mention it again for anyone who might have missed it. The way we introduced our children to the family rosary was by doing what we called the "Weekly Family Rosary". When my oldest three were a lot smaller than they are now (3 under 3 and then 4 under 6) and praying a whole rosary seemed like a battle more than peaceful prayer time, we started praying the rosary this way. On Sunday, we’d pray the opening prayers. The first mystery and first decade were prayed on Monday followed by the second on Tuesday and on and on until we reached the fifth mystery and fifth decade on Friday and then Saturday night we recited the Hail Holy Queen and the other closing prayers. It was a great way to introduce the kids to the entire rosary but not make them feel like we were overwhelming them with a full rosary every night (which is sometimes very hard for the 3, 2 and not yet 1 crowd to handle). It was also a great way to teach them to learn the individual mysteries and not just memorize them in a list. Anyway, it’s just a suggestion for those who might be in that same season of life with lots of little ones. We still sometimes pray this way because Miss Cupcake is very impatient when it comes to night time prayers.
Also, here is a link to the Catholic Cuisine Edible Rosary link-up from a few years ago and a link to my coloring page for Our Lady of the Rosary.
Do you have any special plans this month?
This morning, a conversation on FB got me thinking about October coming up but it still felt off in the distance until I read Fr. Jerabek's post for today. Surprise! October is tomorrow! Where did September go?
Anyway, I wanted to link to Father's post because a) he totally gets me when it comes to praying the Rosary:
The rosary is not an easy prayer – for some (like me), at least. For some of us it takes a lot of practice, and even then, we regularly find ourselves distracted and thinking of other things. “Hail Mary, full of grace….Gosh, I’ve got to clip my fingernails….the Lord is with thee….Oh look! Something shiny!….Blessed art though among women….Look at all that dust on that shelf. Someone should really clean that….and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus….Oh, what mystery is this? I was distracted again!…..”And b) he's got some great information linked in there. Go click around. He's such an awesome priest!
I left a comment on his post that I wanted to share here too. I know I've mentioned it before, but I thought I would mention it again for anyone who might have missed it. The way we introduced our children to the family rosary was by doing what we called the "Weekly Family Rosary". When my oldest three were a lot smaller than they are now (3 under 3 and then 4 under 6) and praying a whole rosary seemed like a battle more than peaceful prayer time, we started praying the rosary this way. On Sunday, we’d pray the opening prayers. The first mystery and first decade were prayed on Monday followed by the second on Tuesday and on and on until we reached the fifth mystery and fifth decade on Friday and then Saturday night we recited the Hail Holy Queen and the other closing prayers. It was a great way to introduce the kids to the entire rosary but not make them feel like we were overwhelming them with a full rosary every night (which is sometimes very hard for the 3, 2 and not yet 1 crowd to handle). It was also a great way to teach them to learn the individual mysteries and not just memorize them in a list. Anyway, it’s just a suggestion for those who might be in that same season of life with lots of little ones. We still sometimes pray this way because Miss Cupcake is very impatient when it comes to night time prayers.
Also, here is a link to the Catholic Cuisine Edible Rosary link-up from a few years ago and a link to my coloring page for Our Lady of the Rosary.
Do you have any special plans this month?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Edible Rosary Link-up a la Tennessee Williams
The girls have been doing some candy molding and when we saw Jessica's edible Rosary link-up over at Catholic Cuisine, we got the idea to use some of their creations to make an edible candy rosary.
They chose purple roses for the Paters and light blue roses for the Aves. We used plain milk chocolate for the cross.
Now, I wasn't going to show you this, but I figure it's such a huge perfectionism smackdown that I have to. This rosary sat unfinished on my counter for two days, taking up precious counter real estate all because I kept saying, "We need more light blue to make one more decade!" Finally, I looked at my sweet girls who were anxious to complete their creation and said, "Oh just pick another color. I'll take the picture so you can't see it." Well, that's not a good lesson in humility to pass on to them. Boy, this parenting thing sure makes you try to be a better person. Crazy how God planned that! So here it is...
In all it's imperfect glory!
In this month of her Most Holy Rosary, here is our sweet tribute to Mary (and Tennessee Williams). You know you're a drama geek if you get that.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Mary's Month
I Pray the Rosary. (I took the embedded file out because it didn't fit.)
HT:Burning the Candle at Both Ends
HT:Burning the Candle at Both Ends
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Paper Bead Tenners
These little paper beads are cute and somewhat addictive once you get started (maybe that's just the fumes from the glue) but they are awfully hard on the fingertips. I guess I need to build up some calluses there. So, the prospect of making 59 of these little things for one rosary made us rethink our game plan. This sweet Australian friend introduced me to the nickname "Tenner" for a single decade rosary. Tenners were more our speed. Here are the ones the children made. They had a hard time grasping the "tightly rolled" concept but I kind of like the chunkier look.
From left to right...The Professor's, Sunshine's, Shortcake's (who opted for a St. Francis medal), and BigBoy's (yeah, I helped).
This is mine. Husband gets to pick out his colors tonight. We found that since grownups have bigger hands, we needed spacers in between the beads.
This one is a treat for you. Inspired by Barbara's generosity and to celebrate the halfway point of 40 Days for Life which is coming up on October 13th (if my math is correct which it probably isn't but oh well!), I would like to give this tenner away to a good home. Just leave me a comment in this post if you would like it or know of someone who might and I will draw a name at random on Friday. I am hoping to get it in the mail to the winner in time for them to have it on the 13th. Have a great Wednesday!
From left to right...The Professor's, Sunshine's, Shortcake's (who opted for a St. Francis medal), and BigBoy's (yeah, I helped).
This is mine. Husband gets to pick out his colors tonight. We found that since grownups have bigger hands, we needed spacers in between the beads.
This one is a treat for you. Inspired by Barbara's generosity and to celebrate the halfway point of 40 Days for Life which is coming up on October 13th (if my math is correct which it probably isn't but oh well!), I would like to give this tenner away to a good home. Just leave me a comment in this post if you would like it or know of someone who might and I will draw a name at random on Friday. I am hoping to get it in the mail to the winner in time for them to have it on the 13th. Have a great Wednesday!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Paper Rosary Beads
Today, on this beautiful Fall day to honor Our Lady of the Rosary, we are coloring and making paper beads to turn into rosaries. I was at Curves a few weeks ago and saw (which was a miracle since my eyes were barely open at the hour) a display in the middle of the room that had these gorgeous pieces of beaded jewelry made out of paper. One of my morning exercise buddies said to me, "We made those in an art class once." She mentioned something about a process, but my ears were not in the present as much as my eyes however, the magic of the internet saved the day. Now, don't go searching for "how to make paper beads" or you will waste precious time. Some of those people are as intense about paper beads as others are about quill pens. You're a mommy and I am a mommy and you don't have the precious time to waste, plus... I already did it for you. But if you really want to, you can peruse these two sites. I found them most helpful. Also, this page has some really beautiful ones but uses a very different, much more involved process.
OK. That's enough clicking. Let's make some!!!!
Cover the back side of one strip with glue. I used a blue glue stick just so you could see that when you cover the back side with glue, you want to leave about an inch to an inch and a half unglued at the widest end.
Using a toothpick, start rolling the paper up from the widest to the narrowest end.
Here it is all rolled up. Now, you should know that some of the glue will squeeze out and get all over your fingers and the bead. That's OK as long as it dries clear. Use the damp rag to wipe off your fingers in between EACH BEAD. The more glue on your fingers, the harder the next bead is to make. Trust me. Also, the paper will slide around after it is rolled up, so just slide the bead along the toothpick to make sure it didn't get glued to the stick and then slide your rolled paper back to the center of the bead if it happens to get lopsided in the process.
I am using this empty egg carton to stick the toothpicks in until the beads are dry. Shouldn't take more than about an hour. Now, those other intense sites give you all kinds of instructions about using a sealer like Modge Podge or a mixture of glue and water and dipping 6-8 times with ten minutes of drying time in between or embossing powder blah blah blah. Don't listen to them. This is a craft, not a family heirloom. Use a coat of clear nail polish and be done. Or if you want to get a little fancy, the one on the left that is a little out of focus got a coat of translucent pearl that I had left over from back when I used to do my nails (French manicure anyone? Actually, I preferred the American version).
Now go have fun!
OK. That's enough clicking. Let's make some!!!!
Here are my supplies:
Strips of paper cut into "pointed" shapes (scrapbook. magazine, catalog, etc...)
glue stick
toothpicks (for little ones, a bamboo skewer might work better)
clear nail polish
damp rag (not pictured)
egg carton or styrofoam
Strips of paper cut into "pointed" shapes (scrapbook. magazine, catalog, etc...)
glue stick
toothpicks (for little ones, a bamboo skewer might work better)
clear nail polish
damp rag (not pictured)
egg carton or styrofoam
Cover the back side of one strip with glue. I used a blue glue stick just so you could see that when you cover the back side with glue, you want to leave about an inch to an inch and a half unglued at the widest end.
Using a toothpick, start rolling the paper up from the widest to the narrowest end.
Here it is all rolled up. Now, you should know that some of the glue will squeeze out and get all over your fingers and the bead. That's OK as long as it dries clear. Use the damp rag to wipe off your fingers in between EACH BEAD. The more glue on your fingers, the harder the next bead is to make. Trust me. Also, the paper will slide around after it is rolled up, so just slide the bead along the toothpick to make sure it didn't get glued to the stick and then slide your rolled paper back to the center of the bead if it happens to get lopsided in the process.
I am using this empty egg carton to stick the toothpicks in until the beads are dry. Shouldn't take more than about an hour. Now, those other intense sites give you all kinds of instructions about using a sealer like Modge Podge or a mixture of glue and water and dipping 6-8 times with ten minutes of drying time in between or embossing powder blah blah blah. Don't listen to them. This is a craft, not a family heirloom. Use a coat of clear nail polish and be done. Or if you want to get a little fancy, the one on the left that is a little out of focus got a coat of translucent pearl that I had left over from back when I used to do my nails (French manicure anyone? Actually, I preferred the American version).Now go have fun!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Post Mortem Post
I strive for honesty here in my ballroom, so I warn you this is going to be a nitty-gritty, beads-glued-under-your-fingernails type of post. Well, maybe not.
So the book club went. Well, I think...
Wait, let me try that again. (Once more with feeling...)
So the Book Club went well, I think. I was a wreck... wound up, nervous, so silly! Everyone seemed to enjoy the stories and the crafts. The older kids behaved like typical middle school aged kids when it came to a strange teacher person asking them questions about a book they had read maybe once before. (Why didn't I bring those dental pliers?)
My favorite question they responded to was "which character did you identify with and why". The most honest answer was the 10 year old boy who admitted to getting angry a lot just like Gregory and the cutest answer was the 11 year old girl who (while sitting next to her 12 yr. old sister) said she identified with the younger sister Janet who was often forced to do things she didn't want to do. Don't worry. I assured the older sister that I understood the pressures of being the oldest myself. (Sometimes we just really do know better!)
Seriously though, they had some very interesting things to say and I hope I inspired them to take another look at the books they read for fun. I wanted to introduce them to the idea that an author has a theme and that theme is like a secret message they have to figure out. The Professor said he enjoyed it, but he's my kid, you know... not sure if I can trust him since he also witnessed my meltdown 40 minutes prior! :)
The children were intrigued by all of the pictures (thank you again!) of Kitchen Madonnas as they all said they had never seen one before. They went on to share descriptions of things they have in their homes (just maybe not the kitchen) to help them turn their hearts and minds to Heaven amidst the pencils and Legos.
Regarding the craft...
I am a fairly crafty person but it has been about 11 years since I have had to instruct a group of children more numerous than my own in how to do one. There were a few things I could have done better.
I had precut the foam board and opted for the self adhesive variety because I thought it would save on time. Unfortunately, it took twice as long to peel the paper covering off than if we had just spread the glue onto the 8x10 chunk! I had also pre-cut the faces and hands of the Madonna and Child in order to save time, but didn't think to provide more than two templates for the clothing. In reality... I should have had 1 set for every two children.
Things felt a little rushed, but everyone did manage to finish decorating theirs by the time we started cleaning up except for The Professor (yeah, I know... the shoemaker's son!). He was a great sport about it and understood that he would have the opportunity to finish at home with all of the supplies unlike the other kids.
So that is what we did yesterday to celebrate the Queenship of Mary. I had enough pieces for the girls to make and decorate a Madonna and Child and decorate they did!
Wow! Faberge who?
The Professor also had the opportunity to finish his and for some reason, I am just now noticing that his looks a little Picasso inspired. Either he is a typical 9 year old boy or we need to head back to the opthamologist.
We had a pudding pie for dessert and said our nightly decade. It was a fun, simple day but one filled with joy which has been hard for me lately but that is another post for another day as this one has already grown way out of control.
Bye!
So the book club went. Well, I think...
Wait, let me try that again. (Once more with feeling...)
So the Book Club went well, I think. I was a wreck... wound up, nervous, so silly! Everyone seemed to enjoy the stories and the crafts. The older kids behaved like typical middle school aged kids when it came to a strange teacher person asking them questions about a book they had read maybe once before. (Why didn't I bring those dental pliers?)
My favorite question they responded to was "which character did you identify with and why". The most honest answer was the 10 year old boy who admitted to getting angry a lot just like Gregory and the cutest answer was the 11 year old girl who (while sitting next to her 12 yr. old sister) said she identified with the younger sister Janet who was often forced to do things she didn't want to do. Don't worry. I assured the older sister that I understood the pressures of being the oldest myself. (Sometimes we just really do know better!)
Seriously though, they had some very interesting things to say and I hope I inspired them to take another look at the books they read for fun. I wanted to introduce them to the idea that an author has a theme and that theme is like a secret message they have to figure out. The Professor said he enjoyed it, but he's my kid, you know... not sure if I can trust him since he also witnessed my meltdown 40 minutes prior! :)
The children were intrigued by all of the pictures (thank you again!) of Kitchen Madonnas as they all said they had never seen one before. They went on to share descriptions of things they have in their homes (just maybe not the kitchen) to help them turn their hearts and minds to Heaven amidst the pencils and Legos.
Regarding the craft...
I am a fairly crafty person but it has been about 11 years since I have had to instruct a group of children more numerous than my own in how to do one. There were a few things I could have done better.
I had precut the foam board and opted for the self adhesive variety because I thought it would save on time. Unfortunately, it took twice as long to peel the paper covering off than if we had just spread the glue onto the 8x10 chunk! I had also pre-cut the faces and hands of the Madonna and Child in order to save time, but didn't think to provide more than two templates for the clothing. In reality... I should have had 1 set for every two children.
Things felt a little rushed, but everyone did manage to finish decorating theirs by the time we started cleaning up except for The Professor (yeah, I know... the shoemaker's son!). He was a great sport about it and understood that he would have the opportunity to finish at home with all of the supplies unlike the other kids.
So that is what we did yesterday to celebrate the Queenship of Mary. I had enough pieces for the girls to make and decorate a Madonna and Child and decorate they did!
Wow! Faberge who?
The Professor also had the opportunity to finish his and for some reason, I am just now noticing that his looks a little Picasso inspired. Either he is a typical 9 year old boy or we need to head back to the opthamologist.We had a pudding pie for dessert and said our nightly decade. It was a fun, simple day but one filled with joy which has been hard for me lately but that is another post for another day as this one has already grown way out of control.
Bye!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Rosaries in June
I have admitted in other forums that I have had a hard time developing a love for saying the rosary. I don't think I have a problem with devotions in general, in fact, the Divine Mercy Chaplet is my "go to guy" when I feel my prayer life is in need of a pick-me-up.So many wonderful saints (and people striving to be saints) stress the importance of saying the rosary and the spiritual benefits of this devotion; how Heaven's gate is virtually propped open with a silver filigreed, rose scented doorstop to those who honor this devotion.
To be perfectly honest... that guilt doesn't help!
But in a homily I heard, not too long ago, this amazing priest was relating a talk given by another amazing priest (what are the odds?) about the Holy Spirit. He explained how the Holy Spirit, the perfect spouse, will rush into any place where he finds the Blessed Virgin, just to be with her. So by creating a space of honor and nurturing a love for the Blessed Virgin, you are also creating room where the Holy Spirit will want to dwell to be with His beloved.
Now, a few years ago, when I was going through a very difficult time, a trusted confessor advised me to learn more about the Holy Spirit and encouraged me to pray for specific gifts and and increase of certain fruits. He recommended a book called Swift Victory.
The book was very enlightening but this homily I was hearing second hand captivated my attention! I was determined to try--- for myself and for my kids.
Since May ended, and our lovely basket full of Mary's titles and our special intentions had been put away, we started June with a bedtime prayer to the the Sacred Heart and one decade of the rosary. It takes us one week to get through a whole set of mysteries but hey... baby steps!
We usually start off the decade by asking the children if they know the next mystery. I should be embarrassed to admit this, but Husband and I get a little chuckle at what they come up with. (Moses isn't in the rosary? How 'bout Noah?)
Each child has a special rosary; sentimental ones that we don't let them have full access to all the time. Except BigBoy, who is still using the chunky wooden kind, but knows exactly which drawer it is kept in and insists on retrieving it himself! They have enjoyed getting to use these treasures and we have enjoyed sharing with them these mysteries and seeing this devotion through the eyes of children. The oooohs, the aaahs and the sleepy little yawns have already inspired some stirrings in my heart... I hope in theirs too.
What ways have you encouraged your children's appreciation for the Rosary?
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