Catholic Mother Goose ~ Jack and Jill, Sing a Song of Sixpence, The Rats are in the Monastery, etc.
Join me as we read some delightful poems from Catholic Mother Goose….highlighting the beautiful traditions of our Faith. The Children will be reminded of such things as the sacramentals, the timeless truths of the Catholic Religion, the Works of Mercy, etc.
What a fun and easy way to turn those little minds to what is most important in their lives….their Catholic Faith!
Today, I’d like to offer you a Spring Giveaway!!
The winner will receive this lovely, fully lined Apron made by Gin!
Aprons tell a beautiful story…..a story of love and sacrifice….of baking bread and mopping floors, of planting seeds and household chores. Sadly, many women have tossed the aprons aside and donned their business attire. Wear your apron with joy….it is a symbol of Femininity….”Finer” Femininity! 🌺 💗
Just leave a comment here, and your name will be added! It is always so great to hear from you. 🙂
I will announce the winner next Thursday, June 26th!
To see more of Gin’s aprons for sale visit our Etsy Shop here.
“Let not your imperfections discourage you; your God does not despise you because you are imperfect and infirm; on the contrary, He loves you because you desire to cure your ills. He will come to your assistance and make you more perfect than you would have dared to hope, and adorned by His own hand, your beauty will be unequaled, like His own goodness.” Divine Intimacy
Beautiful Our Lady Wire Wrapped Rosaries! Lovely, Durable. Each link is handmade and wrapped around itself to ensure quality. Available here.
Here is a complete guide to mature, responsible, even noble behavior in our complex modern society. Written in the 1930s by a wise Jesuit priest and steeped in the wisdom of the ages, these pages teach the timeless principles that have led countless souls to true success and lasting happiness.
Without condescension, Fr. Garesché shows how to maintain a healthy mind, resist temptations, grow temperate, practice fortitude, think kindly of others, and choose worthwhile amusements. He even explains how to accept criticism graciously and how to develop the kind of confidence that is not rooted in pride, but is the necessary foundation for any life that will be productive and holy. Once you assimilate the wisdom here, you’ll know how to find genuine success the success that transcends money, fame, and pleasure.
Fr. Garesché shows you how to become an apostle for Christ in myriad ways, not only at home among your family and friends, but even at work. Youll learn how to talk about religion with your friends as naturally as you discuss sports or current events. He even gives you tips on how you can bear witness to your faith in Jesus Christ not just in what you say, but in what you do.
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
The winner will receive this lovely book to add to your book collection!
Raising Your Children
Confusion prevails about the job of bringing up children. Integrity magazine, a post-WWII journal by lay Catholics for living an integral Catholic life, has been sifted for insightful articles on every aspect of raising children:
Teaching Children to Pray
Purity and the Young Child
Creative Activity
The Dating System
Crisis of Faith in Youth
The Vocation of Parents
Marriage for Keeps
and MUCH more all in short easy to read article-chapters.
Beautiful Lacy Veil
This “Sheer Rose” Veil can be worn as a chapel veil or as a lacy scarf! What a beautiful color for Easter and spring! 🌺🌺🌷🌷
Just leave a comment here, and your name will be added! It is always great to hear from you.I will announce the winner next Tuesday, April 11th!
Quotable Quotes
Teach your children to show great respect to the clergy. Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us. (Picture of Pope Pius XII)
“Religious have no need of particular friendships, but those living in the world need them as a mutual strength and aid in the many difficult passages that have to be crossed.
For those who live in the midst of the world and yet strive for true virtue, it is necessary to ally themselves to one another by a holy and sacred friendship through which they stimulate, assist and encourage each other toward good.Those who walk on level ground do not need to hold hands, but those who climb steep and slippery roads need to hold on to each other in order to progress more securely.” -St. Francis de Sales, Friendship http://amzn.to/2oamBi4 (afflink)
“In establishing your home, adopt the characteristics of the holy house of Nazareth. In proportion as you do so, you will have fashioned for yourselves a replica of the happiest home that ever was on earth.” -Fr. Lovasik, Catholic Family Handbook http://amzn.to/2pUoQE9 (afflink)
“At the hour of death the Holy Masses you have heard devoutly will be your greatest consolation.”
(Illustration: Angelo von Courten,1848 – 1925)
“The very presence of a woman who knows how to combine an enlightened piety with mildness, tact, and thoughtful sympathy, is a constant sermon; she speaks by her very silence, she instills convictions without argument, she attracts souls without wounding susceptibilities; and both in her own house and in her dealings with men and things, which must necessarily be often rude and painful, she plays the part of the soft cotton wool we put between precious but fragile vases to prevent their mutually injuring each other.” – Monseigneur Landriot, Archbishop of Rheims, 1872 -Loreto Publications http://www.loretopubs.org/sins-of-the-tongue-or-jealousy-in-womans-life.html
“Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself…do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.”
― St. Francis de Sales
“This art of housekeeping is not learned in a day; those of us who have been engaged in it for years are constantly finding out how little we know, and how far we are, after all, from perfection. It requires a clever woman to keep house; and as I said before there is ample scope, even within the four walls of a house (a sphere which some affect to despise), for the exercise of originality, organizing power, administrative ability. And to the majority of women I would fain believe it is the most interesting and satisfactory of all feminine occupations.” -Annie S. Swan http://amzn.to/2mSz6gA Courtship and Marriage And the Gentle Art of Home-Making (afflink)
“Modern mothers have been relying on psychology books to interpret child behavior for so long now that if all the psychology books were burned to a crisp, few mothers could relax with the conviction that God’s love, the maternal instinct, and divine grace could take their place. What we all — little or big — want is God; if we do not realize it, however, we choose many ignoble things in His place. And if we want to teach children to be good with a goodness that’s lasting, we must teach them to be good for the love of God.”
Mary Reed Newland, How to Raise Good Catholic Children, 1954 http://amzn.to/2qCq6Md (afflink)
At any rate, she has by nature the power, the art, and the disposition to please, to soothe, to charm, and to captivate. It is a wonderful power; and we see daily women exerting it in a wonderful way. Why will not women who are truly good, or who sincerely strive to be so, not make it the chief study of their lives to find out and acquire the sovereign art of making their influence as healthful, as cheering, as blissful as the sunlight and the warmth are to their homes? – Rev Bernard O’Reilly, True Womanhood, 1894 http://amzn.to/2mPm81e (afflink)
“Boys and girls must be taught as tiny tots to love modesty. Even though they are too young to sin, they can and ought to be impressed with the beauty of modesty. Training in modesty is pre-eminently the function of the home, to be begun from earliest childhood.” -Archbishop Meyer of Milwaukee, Dressing With Dignity, Colleen Hammond http://amzn.to/2qpQB6H (afflink)
One who, in order to please God, perseveres in prayer although he finds no consolation in it, but rather repugnance, gives Him a beautiful proof of true love. –Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy
Package Special! The Catholic Boy’s and Girl’s Traditional 30-Day Journals! Let’s keep our youth engaged in the Faith! Let’s teach them how to be organized, how to prioritize, how to keep on top of, first, the Spiritual things in their lives, and then the other daily duties that God requires of them… Available here.
This booklet contains practical advice on the subjects of dating and choosing a spouse from the Catholic theological viewpoint. Father Lovasik points out clearly what one’s moral obligations are in this area, providing an invaluable aid to youthful readers. Additionally, he demonstrates that Catholic marriage is different from secular marriage and why it is important to choose a partner who is of the Catholic Faith if one would insure his or her personal happiness in marriage. With the rampant dangers to impurity today, with the lax moral standards of a large segment of our society, with divorce at epidemic levels, Clean Love in Courtship will be a welcome source of light and guidance to Catholics serious about their faith.
A Frank, Yet Reverent Instruction on the Intimate Matters of Personal Life for Young Men. To our dear and noble Catholic youths who have preserved, or want to recover, their purity of heart, and are minded to retain it throughout life. For various reasons many good fathers of themselves are not able to give their sons this enlightenment on the mysteries of life properly and sufficiently. They may find this book helpful in the discharge of their parental responsibilities in so delicate a matter.
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
Today, I’d like to offer you a Pre-Lenten Giveaway!!
The winner will receive these lovely books to add to your book collection!
You will get…
~Motherhood and Family…Gleaned from the INTEGRITY magazine series in the 1950’s, the 16 chapters of Motherhood and Family can be summarized in the following lines.
Get out of the way while God sanctifies your child through danger and suffering. Avoid the discouragement of reforming your husband according to your ideas of (feminine) holiness. Multiply the spiritual goods coming from homebirth and breastfeeding. Debunk worldly notions of love and romance for your growing girls. Use the watchwords of common sense and courage to help your family. Invite poverty to be a necessary part of your Family Rule. Serve the Church, family, and parish as a single woman. Understand the similarities between marriage and consecrated religious life which advance holiness. Prepare for the end of active motherhood and the beginning of a gracious old age.
Motherhood and Family is the book for girls, young ladies, and women of all ages who look to enjoy the privilege of being a woman, or who are prayerfully desiring to discover it or to recover it.
Lent is that special season wherein we teach our children the value of sacrifice and of discipline. This journal will lay out some simple activities in which your children will be doing their sacrifices and will have a tangible means of “counting” them for Jesus. You, Mom, will have a place to put a check mark if that the activity is remembered and completed for the day.
This journal also includes a place for you to check off whether you are fulfilling your own personal resolutions…your Spiritual Reading, your Family Rosary, etc. It makes it more palpable if you can check it off at the end of the day….there’s just something about putting pen to paper when an accomplishment has been fulfilled! My hope is that this journal may help you stay focused on making this Lent fruitful for your own soul and the souls of those little people entrusted to your care!
Just leave a comment here, and your name will be added! It is always great to hear from you.I will announce the winner next Friday, February 25th!
It IS interesting, isn’t it, how, in the last decades, women are made to feel as if they are being “losers”, “nobodys” if they are dedicated to the home..They are not using their talents if they aren’t out working in the world.
Truly, I find that illogical. How many talents does it make to run a pleasant home, raise good children, have a healthy relationship with someone you rub shoulders with night and day? That, in itself, is a full-time job…not to mention if some are homeschooling, seeking out healthy alternatives, helping with their parish life, etc., etc.
No, it takes a brave, committed, responsible, hard-working adult to do what it takes to raise a Godly family in today’s society. -Finer Femininity, Painting by Alfred Rodriguez www.finerfem.com
Oh Queen, my Mother, I give you my whole self. And to show my devotion to you, I offer to you my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being. Wherefore, as I am your own, keep me, defend me, as your property and possession. By holding your hand, you lead me to your Son, and I have the surest and easiest path to heaven.
If we could get people to work together without jealousy, it would help God’s work immensely. . . .
Are there any against whom I feel tempted to bear a grudge? Any of whose misfortunes I feel a little pleasure in hearing? Why am I willing to listen to conversation disparaging to someone else? Can I cleanse my soul of touchiness and jealousy? How can I become more and more unselfish, and efface myself?
Let me put aside considerations of my own satisfaction. . . . Ask Our Lord in Holy Communion to free you from touchiness and jealousy. -Fr. Daniel Considine, 1950’s
Home is the place where a man should appear at his best. He who is bearish at home and polite only abroad is no true gentleman; indeed, he who can not be considerate to those of his own household will never really be courteous to strangers. There is no better training for healthy and pleasant intercourse with the outer world than a bright and cheerful demeanor at home. It is in a man’s home that his real character is seen; as he appears there, so he is really elsewhere, however skillfully he may for the time conceal his true nature. -Fr. Lovasik, Painting by Alfredo Rodriguez
“The very presence of a woman who knows how to combine an enlightened piety with mildness, tact, and thoughtful sympathy, is a constant sermon; she speaks by her very silence, she instills convictions without argument, she attracts souls without wounding susceptibilities; and both in her own house and in her dealings with men and things, which must necessarily be often rude and painful, she plays the part of the soft cotton wool we put between precious but fragile vases to prevent their mutually injuring each other.” – Monseigneur Landriot, Archbishop of Rheims, 1872 -Loreto Publications
In a happy home, parents often hold firm against other allurements which tempt them to put the needs of their children in an inferior place. Such allurements include the desire for an overly active social life, the constant pursuit of pleasure in the form of commercial entertainment and the exclusive choice of hobbies (golf, cards, dancing clubs, etc.) from which children are excluded. -Fr. George Kelly, 1950’s
“The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors.” – Pope Pius XI
In happy families, father and mother occupy a position of equality, but there is no misunderstanding that he is the head. The importance of the mother is an accepted fact. She is the heart of the family–the custodian of love and warmth, the first comforter and educator of the children. In according her a just status, however, we must not weaken the father’s traditional position. -Fr. George Kelly, 1950’s
“If the wife makes the first effort at reconciliation, her humility will make it difficult for the husband to nurse his pride. Pride cannot face up to humility. It is shamed out of existence. – Fr. Leo Kinsella http://amzn.to/2iF5UJR (afflink)
Alice von Hildebrand – “St. Francis de Sales tells us that pious women should be well-dressed, but this doesn’t mean they must become slaves of fashion. There’s a way of dressing which is attractive, even elegant, but at the same time modest and simple. More importantly, attractiveness shouldn’t be reserved for guests and those you meet outside the home, while you ‘let yourself go’ when you’re at home. The moment a couple marries, they should begin to try always to be at their best for each other, physically (and above all) spiritually.” The Privilege of Being a Woman, http://amzn.to/2p2Oyrr (afflink)
“A mother holds her baby in her arms, looks up to God, and knows that she, by months of suffering and patience, has co-operated with Him in making and bringing into the world a little body housing a priceless soul. A father stands above his new-born son resting in the arms of his wife, and knows as he picks him up and weighs him tenderly that he has shared with God the Father His very fatherhood; for this mite of humanity, immortal in destiny, is truly his son. Mother and father together have co-operated with God in the astonishing creation of a human being.” -Fr. Daniel A. Lord, 1950’s
If you really want to be a penitent soul –both penitent and cheerful – you must above all stick to your daily periods of prayer, which should be fervent, generous and not cut short. And you must make sure that those minutes of prayer are not done only when you feel the need, but at fixed times, whenever it is possible. Don’t neglect these details. If you subject yourself to this daily worship of God, I can assure you that you will always be happy. -St. Josemaria
Make a statement with one of these lovely and graceful handcrafted apron….fully lined….made with care.
Aprons tell a beautiful story…..a story of love and sacrifice….of baking bread and mopping floors, of planting seeds and household chores. Sadly, many women have tossed the aprons aside and donned their business attire.
Wear your apron with joy….it is a symbol of Femininity….”Finer” Femininity! 🌺 💗 Available here.
The role of fatherhood — Catholic fatherhood — has been diminished in three ways. First, it has become smaller. Fewer things are defined as a father’s distinctive work. Secondly, fatherhood has been devalued. Third, and most important, fatherhood has been decultured – stripped of any authoritative social content or definition.
The question is, “What do fathers do?” The tragedy of our society is that it can’t answer the question and neither can most Catholics. Forward – thinking Integrity Magazine gives answers:
• Men, Mary, and Manliness • The Family Has Lost Its Head • Economics of the Catholic Family • Afraid to Marry? • Glorifying the Daily Grind • The Heroism of the Big Family • Bringing the Church into Work • Forward to the Land. • Holiness for Men • The Confirmed Hero • What Is a Grown-up? • The Father in the Home • A Man’s Work • Our Work Can Help Us to Pray • Money, Money, Money! • The State, Our Common Good
Archbishop Sheen knew that no matter what our circumstances may be, the deadliest enemy we face is armed not with a gun but with temptation. In dangerous, uncertain times like ours, the Devil lures us quickly into lust, anger, hatred, and despair. Fulton Sheens Wartime Prayer Book will help keep you from these vices so that you, too, can put on the armor of God and triumph over evil in our day.
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
I meant to get this out yesterday but, well…busy time of the year!!
Thank you all for your lovely and encouraging words on the Giveaway post. May the rest of your Advent be filled with preparation, trust and hope!!
The Winner of the Finer Femininity Christmas Giveaway is…
Congratulations Josephine! I have been having some issues with my email program which means I can’t find your email. Could you please send me your address? Thank you!
vinceandleane@earthlink.net
Would you be so kind as to say a prayer? It is for my husband, Vincent, who is suffering from spinal stenosis (as I have mentioned in previous posts), which in turn is pressing on his sciatic nerve. He is in pain each day and for one who detests taking any kind of drug…well, he is on a steady diet and has been for weeks!
We are going in for a consultation on plans for a MISS (Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery) but you have to be a candidate for this type of surgery…in other words the damage has to be where this type of surgery will work.
He has not been able to work for weeks…(though he does plenty around here)! But there are many things he cannot do so going out to work is not possible. He definitely can’t drive! He is young, 58, so we are hoping that something will work for him.
Anyway, prayers are much appreciated!
As an aside, I pray for all of you. If you have any particular prayer request that you would like to share here as a comment, it will be taken with me as an intention to each daily Mass this coming 4th Week of Advent!
“It is difficult for a child to be better than his home environment or for a nation to be superior to the level of its home life. In fulfilling its double purpose – the generation and formation of children – the home becomes a little world in itself, self-sufficient even in its youngest years. It is vital that you, as a mother or father, make of your home a training ground in character-building for your children, who will inherit the world’s problems. Home is a place in which the young grow in harmony with all that is good and noble, where hardship, happiness, and work are shared.” – Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, Catholic Family Handbook http://amzn.to/2sDb6hw (afflink)
I’m grateful for your frankness. It makes my duties as your godmother easier to fulfill.
You say that although the analogy of the stained-glass windows is very moving, nonetheless true lovers are concerned with “great things, beautiful things” and should not let themselves be troubled by small things.
Roy wouldn’t agree.
He and my friend Evelyn have been married thirty-five years. She’s sloppy and he’s meticulous. During their honeymoon, Roy noticed that she always left the toothpaste tube open. He asked Evelyn to put the cap on, but she laughed at him, claiming he had the habits of an old maid.
Time and again, Roy has asked her to change. Nothing doing! After thirty-five years, the cap still remains off and Roy has resigned himself to it.
Compare this to my own husband’s attitude. Early in our marriage, I noticed he would always leave the soap swimming in a small pool of water. It would slowly disintegrate into an unattractive, slimy goo – something I found unappealing. I drew it to his attention.
From that day on, he made a point of drying the soap after each use – to such an extent that I couldn’t tell from the “soap testimony” whether he had washed himself or not. (Moreover – and this is typical of him – he too developed a strong dislike for sticky soap.)
I was so moved by this, that to this day I feel a wave of loving gratitude for this small but significant gesture of love.
My husband was a great lover. And because he was one, he managed to relate the smallest things to love and was willing to change to please his beloved in all legitimate things. This characteristic is typical of great love.
I’m sure that as your love grows deeper, you, too, will come to see how the greater the love, the more it permeates even the smallest aspects of life.
With love,
Lily
“Every effort we make to forget self, to leave self behind us, and to devote ourselves to the labor of making every person with whom we are bound to live, happy, is rewarded by interior satisfaction and joy. The supreme effort of goodness is,—not alone to do good to others; that is its first and lower effect,—but to make others good.” Rev. Bernard O’Reilly The Mirror of True Womanhood, 1893 (afflink)
And now….
A Giveaway!
Today, I’d like to offer you a Christmas Giveaway!!
The winner will receive this lovely package of the Theresa’s 3 Christmas Soaps (Christmas Forest, Candy Cane, Frankincense and Myrrh) and a lovely handcrafted Christmas Necklace Set…
Just leave a comment here, and your name will be added! It is always great to hear from you. 🙂
I will announce the winner next Friday, December 17th!
Our attitude changes our life…it’s that simple. Our good attitude greatly affects those that we love, making our homes a more cheerier and peaceful dwelling! To have this control…to be able to turn around our attitude is a tremendous thing to think about! This Gratitude Journal is here to help you focus on the good, the beautiful, the praiseworthy. “For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8 – Douay Rheims). Yes, we need to be thinking of these things throughout the day! You will be disciplined, the next 30 days, to write positive, thankful thoughts down in this journal. You will be thinking about good memories, special moments, things and people you are grateful for, lovely and thought-provoking Catholic quotes, thoughts before bedtime, etc. Saying it, reading it, writing it, all helps to ingrain thankfulness into our hearts…and Our Lord so loves gratefulness! It makes us happier, too!
There’s nothing complicated or magical about learning to be kinder; it just takes greater attention to the things that you do and how you do them. The Hidden Power of Kindness shows you how to become more aware of even your most offhand daily actions. You’ll find simple, step-by-step, and spiritually crucial directions for how to overcome the habitual unkindnesses that creep undetected into the behavior of even the most careful souls.
From the thousands of personal letters by St. Francis de Sales comes this short, practical guide that will develop in you the soul-nourishing habits that lead to sanctity. This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
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 and puts it in his missal. 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 sometime during the coming year he will tell the family all about it.
As there are so many of us, we come to know about different saints every year. Sometimes this calls for considerable research on the part of the unfortunate one who has drawn St. Eustachius, for instance, or St. Bibiana.
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.
And then comes another exciting moment. Once more the mother appears with the bowl, which she passes around. This time the pieces of paper contain the names of the members of the family and are neatly rolled up, because the drawing has to be done in great secrecy.
The person whose name one has drawn is now in one’s special care. From this day until Christmas, one has to do as many little favors for him or her as one can. One has to provide at least one surprise every single day—but without ever being found out.
This creates a wonderful atmosphere of joyful suspense, kindness, and thoughtfulness.
Perhaps you will find that somebody has made your bed or shined your shoes or has informed you, in a disguised handwriting on a holy card, that “a rosary has been said for you today” or a number of sacrifices have been offered up.
This new relationship is called “Christkindl” (Christ Child) in the old country, where children believe that the Christmas tree and the gifts under it are brought down by the Christ Child himself.
The beautiful thing about this particular custom is that the relationship is a reciprocal one. The person whose name I have drawn and who is under my care becomes for me the helpless little Christ Child in the manger; and as I am performing these many little acts of love and consideration for someone in the family I am really doing them for the Infant of Bethlehem, according to the word, “And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.”
That is why this particular person turns into “my Christkindl.” At the same time I am the “Christkindl” also for the one I am caring for because I want to imitate the Holy Child and render all those little services in the same spirit as He did in that small house of Nazareth, when as a child He served His Mother and His foster father with a similar love and devotion.
Many times throughout these weeks can be heard such exclamations as, “I have a wonderful Christkindl this year!” or, “Goodness, I forgot to do something for my Christkindl and it is already suppertime!”
It is a delightful custom, which creates much of the true Christmas spirit and ought to be spread far and wide.
And there is still one very important thing to do for Advent. According to Austrian custom, every member of the family writes a letter to the Holy Child mentioning his resolutions for the weeks of Advent and listing all his wishes for gifts. This “Christkindl Brief” (letter to the Holy Child) is put on the window sill, from whence the Guardian Angel will take it up to heaven to read it aloud to the Holy Child.
To make small children (and older ones, too) aware of the happy expectancy of Advent, there is a special Advent calendar which clever hands can make at home.
It might be a house with windows for each day of Advent; every morning the child opens another window, behind which appears a star, an angel, or some other picture appropriate to the season.
On the 23rd, all windows are open, but the big entrance door still is closed. That is opened on Christmas Eve, when it reveals the Holy Child in the manger, or a Christmas tree.
All kinds of variations on this theme are possible, such as the Jacob’s Ladder shown on our illustration, which leads step by step to the day of Christ’s birth. All such little aids make Christmas more wonderful and “special” to a child, and preparing them adds to our own Christmas joy.
{Advent Calendar: Take piece of cardboard; cut out clouds, leaving them attached at one point so that they can fold out. Cut spaces in ladder as on insert so that they can fold down. Take transparent paper same size as cardboard. Paint and draw pictures of stars, angels, toys, etc. on spots behind clouds and ladder steps. For top cloud, put Christmas tree or Christ Child in crib. Paste this on back of calendar. Each day another cloud or ladder step should be opened, until Christmas Eve is reached on top of ladder.}
“Where on earth shall we find Jesus but in the arms of Mary! Was it not she who gave us the Eucharist? It was her consent to the Incarnation of the Word that inaugurated the great mystery of reparation to God and union with us which Jesus accomplished during His mortal life, and that he continues in the Eucharist.” -St. Peter Julian Eymard,
Advent Journal Printable~Daily Checklist~Spiritual Christmas Crib~St. Andrew Novena~Advent Wreath Prayers~Blessing of Christmas Tree & More!
Review: (Thank you Annamaria!)
Love the Advent Journal. A wonderful way to keep my heart, soul and mind on the way toward Christmas …. In fact I am always looking at all the journals put together by Meadows of Grace. Unfortunately I never thought I would be able to purchase this because for Australian customers the postage costs more than than the journal!!!! So I am so grateful and delighted that Leane offers a printable version, so very happy to join with so many others following the journey toward Christmas. God bless you abundantly Leane😘❤️
Author Mary Reed Newland here draws on her own experiences as the mother of seven to show how the classic Christian principles of sanctity can be translated into terms easily applied to children even to the very young.
Because it’s rooted in experience, not in theory, nothing that Mrs. Newland suggests is impossible or extraordinary. In fact, as you reflect on your experiences with your own children, you’ll quickly agree that hers is an excellent commonsense approach to raising good Catholic children.
Delicious Christmas teas…. I love this brand of tea! What a great Christmas gift idea!
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
Disclaimer: I think it is important to clarify that if a parent is abusive, even though the principle of respecting their position applies, one needs to seek guidance from a reliable outside source. Keeping abuse “to yourself” is never a good thing!
When God Curses
The earthly blessing which God promises to dutiful children is converted into a proportionate curse, however, for those children who ignore, disregard and ruthlessly transgress the fourth commandment, and refuse to honor, love and obey their parents. For their hostile attitude to His representatives God will pursue these unnatural children with His wrath, which will overtake them sooner or later, even in this life.
Usually God’s punishment is after the manner of the transgression, and when these ingrate children once become parents them-selves, provided God vouchsafes parenthood to them, their filial ingratitude will be avenged by the coldness and heartlessness of their own children towards them.
God will not be mocked. The inimical position unloving children take to their parents of itself renders their life unpleasant and miserable, and creates a spirit of mutual aversion, distrust and antagonism that depresses the soul, gnaws at the heart, impairs the health, and consequently embitters and shortens the days of life. There’s no escaping the inspired words “He is cursed of God that angereth his mother” (Ecclus., 3, 18)
“He that afflicted’ his father, and chaseth away his mother, is infamous and unhappy” (Prov., 19, 26).
The Depth and Width and Length of God’s Curse
The Bible, which is the word of God Himself, gives a number of striking examples to illustrate, as by means of eloquent object lessons, the terrible and far-reaching curse of God that pursues the delinquent son or daughter and, respectively, the great blessings that are heaped upon the dutiful and obsequious child.
Shortly after the human race got its second start, as it were, when the waters of the deluge had receded, and after God had blessed Noe and his sons profusely, the patriarch one day fell a victim to drunkenness. When he was in this condition his son Cham used the occasion to dishonor and ridicule his father, whilst the two other sons treated him with touching reverence and thoughtful regard.
Awaking from the wine, and learning what had occurred, Noe cursed Changan, the son of Cham, whilst he blessed Sem and Japheth. And both his curse and his blessing were ratified by God, and affected not only the addressees but also their descendants from generation to generation.
It is observable, that Cham was Noe’s youngest son. In early youth there is the greatest danger of yielding to an impulse of flippancy, freshness and impertinence to the disregard of the honor that is due to parents. Cham no doubt thought he was pert, smart and cute in treating his father as he did.
His cuteness and his pretendedly wise remarks brought down a tremendous curse from God. Nor was there any allowance made for his immaturity and impulsiveness. He had not only the promptings of nature but also the good example of his elder brothers to guide him and to warn him against the misdemeanor he perpetrated.
This was not his first offense. No son treats his father with contumely and ridicule at one bound; but he advances towards this grossness gradually by lighter breaches of honor and respect, in thought, word and deed, towards his parent.
No doubt he had previously spoken to his father disrespectfully and rudely; he had laughed at and made fun of certain things his father said or did; he had given him back talk and contradicted him, or given him no answer at all: they were all preparatory stages leading to the final insult that was visited by the awful curse of his father, which was immediately sanctioned and executed by God.
God Allows No Excuse Against His Rights
Neither did it avail Cham as an excuse or a palliation of his guilt, that his father had exposed himself to discredit and ignominy by his conduct. The curse was inflicted just the same.
No matter how a parent demeans himself, the fact alone that he is a parent entitles him to the honor of his children on all occasions. Whatever he may do or have done cannot erase or cancel his claim upon their respect. As was mentioned above, whoever and however he may be, since God used him to bestow the gift of existence upon them, he will always stand before them as God’s representative, challenging their reverence and gratitude.
This, of course, applies to the mother as well as to the father. For this reason the fourth commandment does not say : “Honor thy father and thy mother as long as they are good and virtuous,” but it simply insists that father and mother must be honored, meaning always and under all conditions, just because they are father and mother, even though any other claim to honor may be wanting in them.
This ought to be borne in mind by children who are tempted to be ashamed of their parents because of their poverty, or lack of good manners, language, culture, or what not. Whatever the parents’ real or imaginary deficiencies may be, these ought to disappear entirely in the eyes of children when contrasted with their claim on the children’s gratefulness and affectionate consideration.
When they themselves get more sense and acquire a truer appraisal of things in general, children will often blush when they remember their weakness in being ashamed of their parents for this reason or for that.
Not All Parents Are Saints
No one says that parents are never bad and vicious; or that their sins should be construed as virtuous deeds, and that children should be proud of, and glory in, their parents’ transgressions. Nothing of the kind.
All that is demanded is, that in spite of whatever failings, sins and vices the parents may be guilty of, the children, in view of their very parenthood, never cease honoring and respecting them.
Far from divulging and parading their parents’ faults before others unnecessarily, or even making them the objects of their own private conversations among themselves, they will do what they can, after the example of Sem and Japheth, to cover and hide as much as possible the weaknesses and excesses of their parents, and to bury them in charitable oblivion.
Nothing draws the blessing of God more forcibly and copiously upon a child than this generous filial behavior. This especially counts for the observation, that bad parents not infrequently have good and prosperous children.
The explanation is simple. Because the children bear with, overlook and cover up the infirmities of their parents, God showers His graces upon them richly and effectively.
The great St. Bernard wrote in his rule that whenever the monastic bell rang, the monks were to drop what they were doing and go to whatever they were being called to.
In our homes, our monastic bell is all the many things beckoning at us throughout the day…the diapers to be changed, the dishes that need doing, the laundry that needs to be done, etc.
We respond to these things right away, even though we many not want to, remembering that these duties are the very things that will make us holy.
What happens after we die? What should we expect? Fr speaks on the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas for this..
Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments on the Advent Giveaway Post! May God bless you…you are in my prayers, please pray for us!
And now…the Advent Giveaway!
Congratulations Marie Kelly! I have sent you an email!
Beginning with the first day of Advent and continuing through the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, these selections from the immortal pen of Fulton J. Sheen encourage readers to explore the essence and promise of the season. Those looking to grow in their prayer life and become more attuned to the joy of Advent and Christmas will find a wonderful guide in this spiritual companion….
You are about to make the season of Advent more meaningful than you ever have! This Advent journal is for busy moms who need a little help making this season special within the home. It will help you stay on track and be consistent with the customs you have decided to incorporate within your four walls. I have broken it down into bite-sized tidbits that, when laid out for you, will be easy to accomplish. As you check each item off you will get a sense of fulfillment knowing you are getting done what is truly important in this expectant season! The other things will get done….but first things first! At midnight, on Christmas Eve, when Baby Jesus arrives, you and your family will look back upon your Advent and sigh with satisfaction, knowing you truly have celebrated with the Church, that you have put your best foot forward in making this a spiritual, enchanting, holy time for all! The first few pages of this book will have a run-down of the special Advent customs and activities that will be on your checklist each day. They are simple, they are doable. I hope this Advent is more special than ever as we walk hand-in-hand making the Liturgy come alive in our homes!
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
The winner will receive this lovely package of the Giving Manger and an Advent Journal…
Just leave a comment here, and your name will be added! It is always great to hear from you. 🙂
I will announce the winner next Monday, November 15th!
You will receive…
The Giving Manger!
I was able to get this last year after Christmas so I could gift it to you this Advent. I have never used one but it looked like it could be helpful to someone!
An Overview:
The Giving Manger helps families shift the focus of Christmas back to giving. A piece of straw is placed in the manger for each kind deed or act of service performed. On Christmas Day, the Baby is placed in the manger filled with service and love. As your family works together to give gifts of service you will find your hearts and home filled with more joy during the holiday season than ever before.
Each Box Set Includes:
The Giving Manger Picture Book: a heartwarming story with beautiful cut-paper illustrations that presents the tradition and will get kids excited about participating.
Wooden Manger: to be placed in a visible spot in the home, waiting to be filled
Bundle of Straw: pieces of straw to be placed in the manger after each act of service
Baby Jesus: to be placed in the manger on Christmas day
Each item in the box is built to last so your family can keep the tradition going year after year.
The Giveaway will also include:
Advent Journal
Advent is such a special season! And you are about to make it more meaningful than you ever have!
This Advent journal is for busy moms who need a little help making this season special within the home. It will help you stay on track and be consistent with the customs you have decided to incorporate within your four walls.
I have broken it down into bite-sized tidbits that, when laid out for you, will be easy to accomplish. As you check each item off you will get a sense of fulfillment knowing you are getting done what is truly important in this expectant season! The other things will get done….but first things first!
At midnight, on Christmas Eve, when Baby Jesus arrives, you and your family will look back upon your Advent and sigh with satisfaction, knowing you truly have celebrated with the Church, that you have put your best foot forward in making this a spiritual, enchanting, holy time for all!
The first few pages of this book will have a run-down of the special Advent customs and activities that will be on your checklist each day. They are simple, they are doable.
I hope this Advent is more special than ever as we walk hand-in-hand making the Liturgy come alive in our homes!
One time in 1949 Padre Pio was talking with a certain doctor who was very close to him. They were discussing prayers for the dead. Padre Pio said to him, “Maybe you don’t know that even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather!” But the doctor remarked that he has been dead for many, many years. Then Padre Pio explained, “For the Lord the past does not exist. Everything is an eternal present. These prayers had already been taken into account. And so I repeat that even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather!”
Let these journals help you along on your Catholic journey!
The Catholic Boy’s and Girl’s Traditional 30-Day Journals! Let’s keep our youth engaged in the Faith! Let’s teach them how to be organized, how to prioritize, how to keep on top of, first, the Spiritual things in their lives, and then the other daily duties that God requires of them… Available here.
Beginning with the first day of Advent and continuing through the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, these selections from the immortal pen of Fulton J. Sheen encourage readers to explore the essence and promise of the season. Those looking to grow in their prayer life and become more attuned to the joy of Advent and Christmas will find a wonderful guide in this spiritual companion….
You are about to make the season of Advent more meaningful than you ever have! This Advent journal is for busy moms who need a little help making this season special within the home. It will help you stay on track and be consistent with the customs you have decided to incorporate within your four walls. I have broken it down into bite-sized tidbits that, when laid out for you, will be easy to accomplish. As you check each item off you will get a sense of fulfillment knowing you are getting done what is truly important in this expectant season! The other things will get done….but first things first! At midnight, on Christmas Eve, when Baby Jesus arrives, you and your family will look back upon your Advent and sigh with satisfaction, knowing you truly have celebrated with the Church, that you have put your best foot forward in making this a spiritual, enchanting, holy time for all! The first few pages of this book will have a run-down of the special Advent customs and activities that will be on your checklist each day. They are simple, they are doable. I hope this Advent is more special than ever as we walk hand-in-hand making the Liturgy come alive in our homes!
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments on the Giveaway Post! May God bless you…you are in my prayers, please pray for us!
And now…the soap Giveaway!
Congratulations Angela! I have sent you an email!
A new Podcast to listen to!
“Sooner or later a man’s habitual thoughts come out in his life and character….” by Father Lasance, 1934, Holiness & Happiness
At any rate, she has by nature the power, the art, and the disposition to please, to soothe, to charm, and to captivate. It is a wonderful power; and we see daily women exerting it in a wonderful way. Why will not women who are truly good, or who sincerely strive to be so, not make it the chief study of their lives to find out and acquire the sovereign art of making their influence as healthful, as cheering, as blissful as the sunlight and the warmth are to their homes? – Rev Bernard O’Reilly, True Womanhood, 1894 http://amzn.to/2mPm81e (afflink)
The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors.~Pope Pius XI
Every minute counts! Let Saint Joseph remind you of the time with this beautiful Saint Joseph pocket watch. Available here.
Losing your peace of soul over the state of the world and the Church? Don’t! Consider the following books…..
We live in an age characterized by agitation and lack of peace. This tendency manifests itself in our spiritual as well as our secular life. In our search for God and holiness, in our service to our neighbor, a kind of restlessness and anxiety take the place of the confidence and peace which ought to be ours. What must we do to overcome the moments of fear and distress which assail us? How can we learn to place all our confidence in God and abandon ourselves into his loving care? This is what is taught in this simple, yet profound little treatise on peace of heart. Taking concrete examples from our everyday life, the author invites us to respond in a Gospel fashion to the upsetting situations we must all confront. Since peace of heart is a pure gift of God, it is something we should seek, pursue and ask him for without cease. This book is here to help us in that pursuit.
Reverend Irala here addresses ways to promote mental and emotional well-being to help increase one’s health, efficiency and happiness. He speaks on topics such as how to rest, think, use the will, control feelings, train the sexual instinct, be happy, and choose an ideal. Included are also many practical instructions on dealing with mental struggles of all kinds. This book is most useful in our present times of worldly confusion.
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
The winner will receive this lovely Autumn Soap Package!
The bars are: Orange Clove, Pumpkin Spice, Spiced Cider, Honey and Oats and Activated Charcoal Tea Tree…All Natural Ingredients!
Just leave a comment here, and your name will be added! It is always great to hear from you. 🙂
I will announce the winner next Friday, September 30th!
Reviews:
These soaps are beautiful!! I purchased the six pack recently. Very gentle, creamy and they smell lovely. My husband even commented on how soft my skin was and how wonderful I smelled after I used them! I even have one on my dresser and our bedroom smells lovely! It’s a gentle scent but it lingers the way you’d like it to. They all smell wonderful – citrus, lemongrass and lavender are my favorites but peppermint and orange patchouli will be wonderful to have for the fall and Christmas seasons!
These soaps are amazing! My family and I have extremely sensitive skin and even struggle with eczema and allergic rashes from many products. These beautiful and gentle soaps actually calm our skin and the eczema on my hands started improving right away! The scents are beautiful as well; the extra soaps we have on display and every time we walk in our bathroom, there is a gentle yet not overpowering beautiful scent. Very feminine and lovely! Thank you for making these!
“It is difficult for a child to be better than his home environment or for a nation to be superior to the level of its home life. In fulfilling its double purpose – the generation and formation of children – the home becomes a little world in itself, self-sufficient even in its youngest years. It is vital that you, as a mother or father, make of your home a training ground in character-building for your children, who will inherit the world’s problems. Home is a place in which the young grow in harmony with all that is good and noble, where hardship, happiness, and work are shared.” – Father Lawrence G. Lovasik
Blessed Mother Graceful Religious Pendant and Earring Sets…Wire-Wrapped, Handcrafted
This graceful necklace can be worn every day as a reminder of your devotion to the Blessed Mother. Get it blessed and you can use it also as a sacramental.
Chosen by God for the incomparable vocation of spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ; St. Joseph received magnificent divine graces and favors not granted even to the Old Testament Patriarchs. Known as the most humble of men; St. Joseph received from Almighty God the authority to command both Our Lady and the Son of God Himself; and in Heaven he continues to have great intercessory power with God.
The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph shows how this greatest of the Patriarchs is the patron of all Christians and how wonderfully he answers prayers; plus; it gives many of the ways of honoring him and many prayers to request his intercession. One of the finest books on St. Joseph; it will surely inspire the reader with a profound devotion to this great “Patron of the Universal Church.” Impr. 176 pgs;
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
Congratulations Josephine! I have been having some issues with my email program which means I can’t find your email. Could you please send me your address? Thank you!
“It is difficult for a child to be better than his home environment or for a nation to be superior to the level of its home life. In fulfilling its double purpose – the generation and formation of children – the home becomes a little world in itself, self-sufficient even in its youngest years. It is vital that you, as a mother or father, make of your home a training ground in character-building for your children, who will inherit the world’s problems. Home is a place in which the young grow in harmony with all that is good and noble, where hardship, happiness, and work are shared.” – Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, Catholic Family Handbook 
“Every effort we make to forget self, to leave self behind us, and to devote ourselves to the labor of making every person with whom we are bound to live, happy, is rewarded by interior satisfaction and joy. The supreme effort of goodness is,—not alone to do good to others; that is its first and lower effect,—but to make others good.” Rev. Bernard O’Reilly The Mirror of True Womanhood, 1893 (afflink)
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