Showing posts with label Living Liturgically. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Living Liturgically. Show all posts

Monday, September 29, 2014

Updated October Feast Days

Posted by The Cotter Family
I've added several new links to my October Feast Days Post for 2014! Happy Celebrating!


 Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Friday, August 29, 2014

Ideas for September Feast Days

Posted by The Cotter Family
Here are some of our favorite traditions for the month of September. This is by no means an exhaustive list, rather it's my way of creating a resource that I plan to revisit each year for myself! I hope you can find it beneficial as well!

Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Other Ideas
September 5th: Bl. Mother Teresa

Other Ideas
*I'm thinking about doing a 5 finger gospel craft (listen to the glory story if you don't know what I'm talking about). Trace the kids' hands and write "You did it to me" the fingers? Shouldn't be hard. I'll post a pic later.

 Other Ideas
  • Prayer: Hail Mary, Memorare, Hail Holy Queen, the rosary...
  • Craft: Make a rosary
  • Food: Make a birthday cake for Mary!
  • Decorations: Blue balloons, streamer, etc. 
  • Radio Show: CAT Chat: Mary Leads me Closer to Jesus
September 14th: Exaltation of the Holy Cross


Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (2010) (My 2nd post ever! Wow, I've come a long way :)

Just to clarify:
The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrates two historical events: the discovery of the True Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 320 under the temple of Venus in Jerusalem, and the dedication in 335 of the basilica and shrine built on Calvary by Constantine, which mark the site of the Crucifixion.

However the feast, more than anything else, is a celebration and commemoration of God's greatest work: his salvific death on the Cross and His Resurrection, through which death was defeated and the doors to Heaven opened. Excerpt taken from CNA

Other Ideas
September 15th: Our Lady of Sorrows

See ideas at the beginning of this post.
September 29th: Feast of the Archangels



Other Ideas
  • Prayer: St. Michael the Archangel
  • Crafts: 
    • Draw and Tell Saints (Click on the "Look Inside" feature. How to draw an Archangel is the free preview :)
  • Coloring Pages: Waltzing Matilda
  • Activity Book: The Great Battle for Heaven
  • Food: (um, the amount of food traditions for this feast is a bit out of control)
    • Angel food cake
    • Devil food cake - with St. Michael defeating it (see above)
    • Deviled eggs
    • Gnocchi (traditional in Italy): Catholic Cuisine
    • Blackberries (tradition holds that they are no good after this feast day because the devil spat on them on his way from heaven to hell)
    • Roast Goose (Polish tradition)
    • Gaufres (St. Michael's Waffles - French tradition)
    • St. Michael Bannok: Catholic Culture
  • Radio Show: CAT Chat: Amazing Angels and Saints
Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Sunday, August 17, 2014

Assumption 2014

Posted by The Cotter Family
I've always enjoyed the Solemnity of the Assumption. The event itself must have been so peaceful. I've always imagined Mother Mary, surrounded by those who love her Son, laying peacefully in her bed and then, much to everyones wonder, rising into heaven. What an incredibly joyous celebration must have followed there. There might have been balloons, but I can't say for sure. 

A ballon launch for Mary's Assumption. More on that later.
I decided that it was about time for Baby Peanut to get more involved in liturgical events, seeing as she is 9 months and has been slacking in this department with her lack of fine motor skills. So we made her a cloud to play with for the Assumption.


It was love at first squish.



Later in the kitchen we made more clouds for the Assumption party were headed to that evening. Ours aren't nearly as pretty as the ones at Catholic Cuisine, but they were made with 8 year old love!


I also snuck in a favorite tradition of incorporating fruit and herbs on this Solemnity because it's a traditional day for blessing your fruit and herb harvest. Having no homegrown fruit or herbs to claim as my own, I bought raspberry lemonade and threw some mint into it.


That evening we headed to some friends' house for an Assumption party! I am extremely thankful for our liturgical nerd friends. Without them our children would know we are odd. (Thank you to 39 week pregnant Sarah for hosting! I can't wait to light my birth blessing candle for you!)


The pentacle of the party was the Assumption balloon launch, which reminded us of Mary's rising into heaven.


At first there were oohs and ahhs as they watched the balloons drift off.



Then there were tears from the little ones when they realized that their balloons weren't coming back.


I imagine it was the same way for Jesus' disciples. They probably marveled at Mary being assumed and then cried tears as they realized that their time with her on earth had come to and end.

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Monday, August 11, 2014

Feast of St. Clare Movie Night

Posted by The Cotter Family
St. Clare is the patroness of the media therefore, we had a family movie night to celebrate her Feast Day!


The kids really outdid themselves by turning our living room into a theater.


Tickets were even purchased with homemade money. (Special guests Grammy and Pop Pop were able to join us!)


And in the middle of the movie we took an intermission to get refreshments at the concession stand.



I think we just started another fun feast day tradition!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Thursday, July 24, 2014

Ideas for August Feast Days

Posted by The Cotter Family
Here are some of our favorite traditions for the month of August. This is by no means an exhaustive list, rather it's my way of creating a resource that I plan to revisit each year for myself! I hope you can find it beneficial as well!

Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary


Other Ideas
August 6th: Transfiguration
Jesus was transfigured on a mountain top. Take a hike up a mountain today!
Take a hike: Feast of the Transfiguration (2013)

Other Ideas

August 11th: St. Clare


St. Clare Chicken Pot Pie. I formed the crust to look like a monstrance.

 Other Ideas
August 14th: St. Maximilian Kolbe

Other Ideas
August 15th: Assumption


Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary (2011)


Solemnity of the Assumption (2013)

Other Ideas
August 22th: Queenship of Mary

Other Ideas
August 23th: St. Rose of Lima

Other Ideas
August 27th: St. Monica

Other Ideas
August 28th: St. Augustine

Other Ideas
Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Ideas for July Feast Days and Celebrations

Posted by The Cotter Family
Here are some of our favorite traditions for the month of July. This is by no means an exhaustive list, rather it's my way of creating a resource that I plan to revisit each year for myself! I hope you can find it beneficial as well!

Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

Other Ideas:
July 1st: Bl. Junipero Serra

Other Ideas:
July 4th: Independence Day


Craft: Declaration of Independence: DLTK-kids

Other Ideas:
  • Decorations:
July 11th: St. Benedict

Other Ideas:
July 14th: St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Other Ideas:

July 26th: Joachim and Anne


(Red and green are St. Anne's colors.)

Other Ideas:
Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party: Week 7

Posted by The Cotter Family
Inspired by Jessica and Charlotte we have an Easter tradition in our home of celebrating the entire Easter season with the Garden of the Good Shepherd. The program consists of a daily prayer time in which you add a scripture inspired sticker to your garden. By the end of Easter season your scene is filled with reminders of Jesus, the good shepherd, and heaven.

This is our 3rd year having a weekly garden party at the end of each themed week. For dinner on Saturday we incorporate each sticker into our meal and talk about what we've learned from our nightly prayer time. It's a favorite tradition in our home and one that keeps the season of Easter alive.

Week 7: The Heavenly Zoo

This is it! Our final garden party for 2014. It's probably the most random of the parties, but hey, what can you expect when the theme includes four inedible birds?


Day 43: The Water


Perhaps the easiest symbol of all. There is water in there. We drank it. Check.

Day 44: The Deer


As a side dish, if you'll let me call pretzels a side dish, we had deer antler pretzels. 

Day 45: The Lion


For our main dish I made a lion pizza with pepperonis.

You can also buy lion bars! I picked some up at World Market to go with our other chocolate dessert.

Day 46: The Beehive


My beehive drink dispenser made a perfect holder for the water and served as the symbol for the beehive.

Day 47: The Peacock


I can't remember where I found these peacock feathers, but we used them to decorate the table. You could also make a cute peacock fruit platter!

Day 48: The Pelican


Our pelican was represented by a picture of a pelican, because I couldn't think of any food that could be used for the pelican. We placed him next to the phoenix tail shrimp so he could snack on them.

Day 49: The Phoenix


And here's the phoenix tail shrimp... sort of. Really I should have deep fat fried raw shrimp in a batter, but I didn't, because I want to see my children's children.

Day 50: The Dove


And to finish it all off, Dove dark chocolate. Look at how the wrappers are the liturgically correct color of red for Pentecost! I think Nestle had that in mind when they chose red for dark chocolate.

50 days, 50 prayer services, 50 symbols. It's sad to see Easter season pass, but what a memorable one we had!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party: Week 6

Posted by The Cotter Family
Inspired by Jessica and Charlotte we have an Easter tradition in our home of celebrating the entire Easter season with the Garden of the Good Shepherd. The program consists of a daily prayer time in which you add a scripture inspired sticker to your garden. By the end of Easter season your scene is filled with reminders of Jesus, the good shepherd, and heaven.

This is our 3rd year having a weekly garden party at the end of each themed week. For dinner on Saturday we incorporate each sticker into our meal and talk about what we've learned from our nightly prayer time. It's a favorite tradition in our home and one that keeps the season of Easter alive.

Week 6: Oh! What a Beautiful City


Day 36: The City's Gates


For the city gates I had Bean put together some grape gates by putting three grapes on several toothpicks and then forming them into arched gates. It would have been cool to make 12 gates, like described in Revelations!

Day 37: The Temple
 

Shirley Temples made for a perfect fun drink to go with our dinner.

The kids asked why the drink is called a Shirley Temple, so I showed them a video of On the Good Ship Lollypop after dinner. They had many questions, such as "Wait, is this a scary movie?", "Is the plane going to crash", "Is it really safe for her to be walking around the plane?" I guess I should have just stuck with "She was a child actress". :)

Day 38: Hallelujah

 
Musical entertainment was provided by Handel Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus. 

Day 39: The Thrones
 

And decorations consisted of embellished thrones for all. (Courtesy of Bean.)

Days 40 and 41: The Bride and The Groom

 
I made bride and groom chocolate covered strawberries for our dessert. They are always a fan favorite.

Day 42: The Crowns
 

Finally, for our main dish I made a chicken pot pie to represent the crowns. I had hopes that the crust would hold it's shape like below, but it fell flat in the oven. Chicken pot pie is Bean's favorite meal, so no one complained and it's still round like a crown.


Only one more week to go!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Solemnity of the Ascension

Posted by The Cotter Family
For the Solemnity of the Ascension today we had a picnic, which is a long standing tradition in many parts of Europe.


It's also a bonus if you can have that picnic atop a mountain, because Christ ascended from a mountain.


We have a lot of those around here, so that wasn't hard to do.


(He's either pretending to be Lewis Meriwether or looking for Christ in the clouds, you choose.)

For our meal I pulled out some traditional and symbolic fare.


During the middle ages it was traditional for people to eat birds on Ascension Day because Christ flew to heaven. Rather than cook a whole bird, we had chicken sandwiches. In Italy it is traditional to eat grapes because Christ is the first fruit of all men.  So, we ate grapes. And for dessert we had vanilla pudding, which represented the white clouds that Jesus ascended into.

And now we interrupt this blog post for a cute photo of a baby.


After dinner we ventured out for a little "adventure hiking" as Pal calls it.


Everyone was throughly exhausted by the end of the day, and that's how we know we had a successful outing.


Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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