Immediately following the Solemnity of Pentecost last Sunday, we are officially launched into Ordinary Time! This longer of the two periods of Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Calendar takes us through the whole summer and fall and ends on the Feast of Christ the King; the last Sunday before Advent and the new Liturgical Calendar begins.
Equipping Catholic Families for FEBRUARY Saints, Monthly Devotion and Ordinary Time!
January 30, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Equipping Catholic Families for February Saints!
Welcome to our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar. As our kids get older, our activities and commitment to Catholic crafts has changed and adjusted (at least for our tween, teen and young adult kids)! While we haven’t exactly been adding a lot of Catholic crafts around here, we do enjoy pulling out the crafts and programs we’ve developed over the years, sometimes sharing them with younger families in our parish!
Recycling Votive Candles
January 15, 2018 by 2 Comments
Do you have a few too many tired/well-used/burnt votive candles lying around the house? We did…and we decided to try recycling votive candles! We gave them new life with leftover wax and stubby candles…along with our favorite watercolored Kelly Saints from this craft kit. After having just released our new Lock Screen Prayer Prompts, I think I might need to recycle a couple more votives and adhere these images with Kelly Saints and Prayer Prompts: which is your favorite here?
Equipping Catholic Families…for January 2018
December 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Equipping Catholic Families for January Saints!
Welcome to our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar.
- Feast of the Holy Family (December 31)
Key Feast Days in January:
- Solemnity of Mary (January 1) Mary Crafts, In the Arms of Mary
- World Day of Peace (January 1)
- St. Basil the Great (January 2)
- St. Gregory Nazianzen (January 2)
- Most Holy Name of Jesus (January 3)
- St. Genevieve (January 3)
- St. Elizabeth Seton (January 4)
- St. John Neumann (January 5)
- St. Andre Bessette (January 6)
- Epiphany of the Lord (January 7) Felt Kings Tutorial
- St. Raymond of Penysfort (January 7)
- Baptism of the Lord (January 8)
- St. Hilary (January 13)
- St. Anthony of Egypt (January 17)
- St. Sebastian (January 20)
- St. Agnes (January 21)
- Day of Prayer for the Unborn (January 23)
- St. Francis de Sales (January 24)
- Conversion of St. Paul (January 25)
- St. Timothy and St. Titus (January 26)
- St. Angela Merici (January 27)
- St. Thomas Aquinas (January 28)
- St. John Bosco (January 31)
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Christmas!
- 12 Days of Christmas ends January 5th
- Sock Baby Jesus
- Nativities
New Year Resolutions and
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Ordinary Time!
Get organized with 2018 Planners and Calendars! Convert your family calendar to be Catholic with the Calendar Saint Stickies Craft Kit ($15 PDF download with permission to copy for home use!)
Equipping Catholic Families for August
August 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
NEW FEATURE: Equipping Catholic Families for August!
We will be posting a monthly summary of crafts and family traditions each month related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar. We hope to give you a little more notice next time…launching the summary post a week or two before the start of the month.
Make Ordinary Time ‘Extraordinary’!
August 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Check out my latest article at Seton Homeschool: Living the Liturgical Year: Make Ordinary Time; ‘Extraordinary’
1. Bringing Catechism to Life
2. Inspiring Prayer in Kids
3. Get Enthused by the Saints!
Extraordinary Ideas for Summer Time Ordinary Time
June 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The last couple weeks have been a BLUR! With Pentecost, Trinity Sunday (Father’s Day), Corpus Christi, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul…we’re finally ready to sink into the SUMMER weeks of Ordinary Time!
But…Ordinary Time need not be ORDINARY!
Ordinary Time is intended to remind us that Jesus is with us throughout all of our daily trials and triumphs. We should be striving to reflect Jesus’ Teaching with our actions every day.
I like to think of Ordinary Time as a time to focus on Faith and family…brushing up on Catechism, building our repertoire of prayers, delving into Scripture and forming habits that can carry us through all the Seasons! We’ve got some Cathletics Craft Kits for that!
what do YOU ask of your Guardian Angel?
October 2, 2012 by 2 Comments
Send Me Your Guardian Angel is an awesome book that will change your impression of your Guardian Angel….and perhaps escalate your demands and expectations for your angelic friend.
Consider…
Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel was a companion to him from the time he was a small boy.
Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel was a friend; one who teased and was teased by Padre Pio but also provided counsel when needed.
Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel was a consoler, sometimes travelling great distances to help troubled souls at their request or Padre Pio’s.
Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel was a messenger, delivering messages to his “spiritual children” who received guidance and direction from Padre Pio.
Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel was a translator of letters and confessions (and absolution), when language would otherwise be a barrier.
Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel was a reliable alarm clock, awakening Padre Pio’s helper from deep sleep when Padre Pio was in need of assistance.
St Therese’s Good Deed Beads
October 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
Happy St Thérèse Feast Day!
St Thérèse is such a beloved saint for her child-like Faith and for doing small things with great love. She was known to carry a string of beads to keep track of her continuous prayers, sacrifices and good deeds. We have been making these little Good Deed Beads for years through Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families. We currently have them available by special order only* Sometimes we need a little extra time to fill orders…we’ve even been known to enlist some of our kids to help us compile the kits! *email for special order The neat thing about these strings of beads is that the beads slide and stay in place. You will find an excellent tutorial at Little Ways to make the Good Deed Beads or Sacrifice Beads.
Our original kits offered the supplies to create one string of Good Deed Beads on a keychain, and eventually we found little plastic crosses to make additional colorful sets.
a Treasure Chest in a Book: a Family Tradition
January 25, 2012 by 1 Comment
Build your own Family Culture and Traditions…and start during Ordinary Time!
Collect family artifacts and treasures: keep a collection of family documents, classic photos, newspaper articles, certificates, letters from the toothfairy or letters to Santa, programs from funeral Masses, graduations, wedding invitations, birthday invitations, letters of acceptance, report cards…even if they are photocopies of the real thing! This is what we created our Family Treasure Chest for! These and other family-centric activities, crafts and traditions can be found in A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families. Altered Collage Books: a Treasure Chest in a Book! Years ago, I was fascinated by the books Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence. “Thus begins the strange and intriguing correspondence of Griffin and Sabine. It is a story that is partly a romance, partly a mystery, and completely a work of art. Each page contains a new card or letter…the complete correspondence tells an extraordinary story in an extraordinary way.” The whole book is packed with stamped letters and postcards, with striking images and artwork. =&3=& Intrigued by the Griffin and Sabine books, I began my own altered collage books: one for each child, in a story book that reminded me of them! Click this link at www.littlebit.com for some resources to make your own altered collage books !I decided to use “Enchantment in the Garden”, adding pictures from “The Fairy Tale Catalogue”.
I was enthused by the illustrations in the books. In this one, I cut a window in one page, to show the illustration in the next. I glued the pages together and added gesso to make it a little dream-like.
