Ideas to celebrate the Liturgical Year of the Roman Catholic Church as a family and build your Domestic Church.
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The Annunciation of the Lord
The Annunciation of the Lord: March 25th
Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Pure and lowly, humble and holy, delight in the Father's eyes. For the son she was chosen, the world waited frozen, as from her lips came her reply. "Yes," was her answer; no better word was spoken, for death would now be broken, by the Son she would bear and raise. Sing, let your heart ring, with praise for His mother, dear Mary, who's full of grace!
(Poem and oil pastel created by me)
"Hail, full of Grace! The Lord is with you." These were the words that the angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as he shared God's plan for her to become the mother of God's son, and waited for her reply. With Mary's beautiful "yes," the fate and history of mankind was changed! No longer would death prevail. Jesus, God's only begotten Son— the Lamb of God— was to become the paschal sacrifice, establishing the New Covenant between God and humanity. "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and Blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." Thank you, dear Mother, for your wonderful "yes" to God's beautiful plan. As you and your family spend today celebrating, ponder upon these questions. When is a time that you've said "yes" to God? is there something he's asking you today and waiting for you to reply with a faith-filled "yes?" Below are the beautiful songs, "Gabriel's Message," by Matt Maher, and "Behold," by David Kauffman," that you and your family can listen to; to help you reflect on the beauty of today's feast day, our spiritual mother, and what God might be saying to you in your life. I hope you and your family have a blessed day celebrating our spiritual mother and God's amazing plan for salvation!
("Gabriels Message" by Matt Maher)
("Behold," by David Kauffman)
Celebrating Through Food:
To celebrate the Annunciation, my family makes cinnamon-sugar cookies using this delicious recipe from "Food.com." Since we make these on several Marian feast days, we've fondly dubbed them, "Mary Cookies." Making something sweet, smelling the sugared aroma wafting through the house, while the cookies bake, and then tasting the delicious confection, helps us reflect on the sweetness of our spiritual mother, and the love and beauty that radiates forth from her immaculate heart. When I make these cookies, I like to carve a cross on top of them with a toothpick or knife before I bake them.
For dinner, you can make "Mary Manicotti" (or in my case, stuffed jumbo shells, since I can never find manicotti shells at the grocery store), served with Texas toast and salad. I use the manicotti, or jumbo shells, stuffed with ricotta cheese, to represent that Mary was filled with grace, the Holy Spirit, and baby Jesus. The white color of the ricotta also symbolizes the Blessed Mother's purity. I use this yummy recipe from "Taste of Home."
Celebrating with a Prayer and Craft:
Pray the "Magnificat" together as a family and write or print it on white paper. Glue the paper with the prayer on construction paper of your choice and then decorate the boarder around the prayer with pictures related to Mary. You can draw the angel Gabriel, roses, symbolizing Mary's title: "The Mystical Rose," stars, symbolizing Mary's title: "Stella Maris—Star of the Sea," (Stella Maris is my favorite Marian title,) or any other pictures associate with Mary. Your children can then set their prayer cards on their nightstands and you can say the Magnificat together as a family before going to bed.
The Magnificat:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feast Day: Nov. 17th Saint Elizabeth of Hungary has always held a special place in my heart since she is my confirmation saint. If I'm being honest, when I was reading about saints back in the eighth grade, trying to choose which saint I wanted to take as my patron, my requirements were as follows: (1) She couldn't die a horrible death, (2) She was married with kids, (3) and her life was pretty good allowing her to serve God and others through the blessings she'd been given. In hindsight, my list of "requirements" was probably a little superficial, but now as an adult I focus more on the virtues and saintly qualities of Saint Elizabeth, and find inspiration in how she lived. She was humble, a kind and loving wife and mother, and very generous to the poor. She also made plenty of time to pray and grow in her relationship with the Lord. On her wedding day, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a princess, did not wear a crown. Instead she s...
Saint John Neumann: Feast Day Jan. 5th Saint John Neumann, the first American Bishop to be canonized and Patron Saint of Catholic Education, has a special place in my heart. My late grandfather’s name was John Neumann, and when my brother was confirmed, he selected our grandfather to be his sponsor and chose Saint John Neumann as his patron. I like to reflect on the reality that as our grandfather, John Neumann, stood beside him as his sponsor, Saint John Neumann prayed in Heaven for my brother at his Confirmation. Aside from this neat family name connection with a Saint, as a former teacher I also find Saint John Neumann to be inspiring, since he helped increase the number of Catholic schools while he was Bishop of Philadelphia and brought numerous religious sisters into the schools to teach. Faith instruction of children and young people was definitely important to Saint John Neumann. If you are interested in reading more about Saint John Neumann, check out this article from Francis...
Study the Saints: As I write this post, four days into the New Year, I’m called to reflect upon what New Year’s Resolution I can make that will be the most beneficial for my family and myself. A word that’s inspiring and that comes to mind is “Saints.” Celebrating the Saints on their feast days is wonderful and has been a blessing to my family. My children have learned about various holy men, women, and children from all places of the world and times in history, and they have been able to try foods from various cultures. I love how the Catholic Church is universal! Matthew Kelly wrote a book entitled Rediscover the Saints that I read last year, and I believe it has been part of a catalyst that has taken me to the next level of learning about the Saints. Celebrating saintly feast days is wonderful, but taking the time to read the actual writings of the Saints can be an even bigger game changer and blessing in your life and the lives of your family members. To date, I’ve only read the D...
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