Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Ignatius of Loyola: Feast Day July 31st

To celebrate the feast day of the saint who founded the Jesuit order, we made cannonball paper ornaments that we will hang on our Christmas tree, and attached the "Prayer of Saint Ignatius" on the back. My husband has also been teaching our daughter this prayer before bedtime. He will say a few words and then we will repeat them. We also made toffee walnuts as a treat because our family agreed that Saint Ignatius must have been "nuts" to want to break his leg again when he didn't like how it had healed after being struck by a cannonball during his days as a soldier.

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Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila: Feast Day October 15th (My rendition of François Gérard’s painting “Teresa of Ávila” 1827) "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God, you will want for nothing. God alone suffices.” It's been a while since I've written a blog post, and as I reflect upon the words of Saint Teresa of Avila's "Serenity Prayer" above, I cannot help but find comfort in them. Living in a time when everything in the world seems to be turned upside down, and logic and truth abandoned, the wisdom of Saint Teresa offers hope, consolation, and peace. Teresa of Avila lived in a time similar to our own. Born in the 16th century, she witnessed a world that contained globalism, political conflicts, and religious tensions following the Protestant Reformation. Yet during this turmoil, she trusted in God. She lived a life of contemplation, excelled in writing and p...

Saint Margaret Mary

Saint Margaret Mary: Feast Day October 16th “Look upon yourself as a tree planted beside water, which bears its fruit in due season; the more it is shaken by the wind, the deeper it strikes its roots into the ground.” ~ Saint Margaret Mary ~ Faith is a gift—an undeserved and valuable grace granted by the Holy Spirit. Each of us has the capacity to seek The Way, The Truth, and The Life, for this longing has been inscribed within our hearts. Yet, in our free will, we have the choice and ability to ignore and turn from this divine call. Like the image of the tree Saint Margaret Mary describes above, if we seek Jesus and are rooted in our faith, nothing can shake us. Our water is the Church, and Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist, is who makes our roots deep and strong enabling us to withstand the winds of the world and produce good fruit in His name. Jesus offers us so many opportunities to find Him, and so many ways to live with Him in Heaven. In the 1600s, He appeared to Saint Mar...

Saint Wenceslaus

Saint Wenceslaus: Feast Day Sept. 28 I’ve heard the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslaus” practically every Christmas and played the song on the piano too, but I never knew he was a saint until recently. When I looked Saint Wenceslaus up and read about him, I learned he was from Bohemia and was a duke and not a king. He was declared a king after his death and proclaimed a saint soon after as tales of his virtue, piety, and care for the poor spread. Today as my family celebrated “Good King Wenceslaus’s” feast day, we took a Christmas theme approach, since, the lyrics of his Christmas carol mention him looking out the window on the Feast of Saint Stephen (The first Christian martyr whose feast day is December 26th). Craft: While listening to the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslaus,” we made paper snowflake patters . There are a variety of printable templates at this link that are easy to use. I then discussed with my kids that each snowflake is different and un...

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