GIVEAWAY ALERT: Immaculate Heart of Mary Felt Saint Softie Doll from SaintlySilver

Etsy shop SaintlySilver has generously hand-sewn one of her dolls to giveaway to a lucky reader. 

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post. Tell me how Mary's Immaculate Heart has influenced your life. Winners will drawn randomly. 

Last month, I was in search of something religious, unique, and long-lasting to give to my niece on her birthday. 

I was thrilled to find this precious Immaculate Heart of Mary Felt Saint Softie Doll from SaintlySilver on Etsy, 100% hand-sewn and made with love. Much to my delight, I realized after opening it, it was even more beautiful and intricate than what was shown on the pictures. 

This design also contains Eco-Fi felt. A felt made from recycled plastic bottles. Constructed with felt, thread, and poly-fill materials made in the USA and Germany. A Big Bonus... a cloth label on the back with Immaculate Heart of Mary prayer!

SaintlySilver also specializes in an amazing array of other hand-sewn Catholic saints and has been featured in the NY Times!

Please leave your email address if you don't have a blogger account. 

This giveaway ends Thursday, January 31 2013 at midnight CT. 

5 Ways to Celebrate St. Lucia Day~ December 13th

St. Lucia Day, December 13th is a day that renders close to my heart~ for it is my daughter's name. St. Lucia, a martyr born in Sicily, brought food to Christians who practiced their faith in dark tunnels to avoid persecution. In order to see in the dark tunnels, she wore a wreath of candles on her head. On her feast day, we celebrate by dressing in white (with a red sash around the waist), wearing a wreath on our head, and making a feast of bread. 

Here are 5 ways to commemorate her feast day and make the day unforgettable for your children.

1. Make a Saint Lucia Crown to wear on her feast day. Here is a super easy tutorial on my website on how to make a authentic looking St. Lucia crown.


2. Role play with St. Lucia Paper Dolls. Available from Paper Dali. Show your children how Lucia brought food to Christians so that they may better understand the act of charity. 

3. Dress as Saint Lucia and make braided bread. There is a wonderful braided bread recipe from Catholic Cuisine. 

4. Pray the Saint Lucia Prayer together. Prayer from Family-Prayer.org. Say this beautiful prayer before eating your braided bread that morning. 

5. Read about the life of Saint Lucy. 
There is an array of books available on this martyr's holy life. Click on the book for more information. 





Our family partook in these activities last year, and it was an unforgettable day! May God Bless

~Jenny

Our Saint Nicholas Celebration 2012 :)

           Setting out our shoes the night before. I wonder if he'll leave something in the baby's?

   The kids must have been good :)

                       He did leave something for the baby...too bad he doesn't have any teeth yet :)

                                            Can you see the excitement??? :)

            Thank you Catholicinspired.com for these super cute hats :)

                                                    & Very easy to assemble :)

      Craft Time! Our Saint Nicholas mask turned out fairly well :)

 This one is my 2-year-old's....can you tell? She loves gluing :)

          St. Nicholas books before nap time....what a great day so far :)

So why do you commemorate the saints?

"So why do you commemorate the saints?" is a tried and true statement that I receive from many that believe it's a form of idolatry. How do you respond to such a curious question? First, I pray for God's grace to answer with knowledge and wisdom so that I may guide others to the Catholic faith. And then, I tell them that we, as mere "human beings" on earth can never reach God's infinite perfection. 

We can strive to be like Christ, but we will never reach that perfection. A saint is more of a realistic expectation for us as "mere" human beings on earth to replicate. They are role models for my children instead of a "famous baseball player" or a "modern singer." They help my children reach their main goal in life; to be with God in heaven...not to achieve earthly desires. We will never stop praying to God first because he is our main focus and number 1, but we will also pray to the saints afterwards...because they are our earthly role models. Their stories of their life and faith give my children hope in a world of evil and selfishness. They help my children remember that our time here on earth is but a short flick of an eyelid and to keep God true to their hearts. 

May God Bless you all this election day 2012 :)

All Saints Day Matching Game

With All Saints Day around the corner, I thought it would be fun to make a Saint's matching game for either your child or your All Saint's Day celebration :) Enjoy :)

5 Ways to Commemorate the Feast of St. Therese of the Little Flower

1. St. Therese Little Flower doll and book set available through the website Catholic Child. Book is 32 pages long and is appropriate for ages 3-8.

2. St. Therese Coloring Page/Paper Doll available through the website Paper Dali. This is so neat because you can also download the paper doll's accessories through the website. Accessories include a crucifix and a bouquet of roses.

http://paperdali.blogspot.com/search/label/Saint%20Therese%20of%20Lisieux

3. My Catholic Family: St. Therese of Lisieux DVD available through the website Catholic Child. 30 minutes. Ages 3-9

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4. Pin the Habit on St. Therese Game available through the website Under Her Starry Mantle. 

                         http://starrymantle.blogspot.com/2009/10/pin-game-for-all-saints-party.html

5. St. Therese DVD available from www.amazon.com. Click on picture below. This is a well made movie, but more for adults. 

                           

                                           

Feast Day of St. Wenceslaus

Today we recognize the saintly life of Good King Wenceslas. He was a duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia. He died on September 28th, 935. He gained the thrown at age eighteen and was known to be a "virtuous" and "righteous" king...his demeanor was thought to be pious and carried a princely vigor. He gave generously to the poor and practiced his faith strictly as a "Good King" should.

To commemorate his feast day, we read the book "Good King Wenceslas," by John M. Neale

St. Wenceslas Pray for Us