Mater Dolorosa, ora pro nobis

Holy Mother, imprint deeply upon my heart the wounds of the Crucified.

Today was the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Traditionally, the whole month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

What are the seven sorrows?
1. Simeon's prophecy that Mary's own heart would be "pierced by a sword".
2. The Holy Family's flight into Egypt.
3. When the Holy Child was lost in the Temple in Jerusalem.
4. Meeting Jesus on the road to Calvary
5. Standing at the foot of the cross when Christ was crucified
6. Taking Jesus down from the cross
7. Jesus' burial

We talked about Mary's role in God's plan of salvation, and did the craft from Seton's Art 1 for Young Catholics. Michael glued his into his saints' main lesson book, but Katie Grace glued her on a ribbon length to hang in her room. There were more good ideas here.

Father,
as Your Son was raised on the cross,
His mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His sufferings.
May Your Church be united with Christ
in His suffering and death
and so come to share in His rising to new life,
where He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Charity, Pray for Us

One of my favorite Scripture readings (OK, one of everyone's favorite Scripture readings) is 1 Corinthians 13, also known as "The Love Chapter".

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It's actually our family's "mission statement." When there are questions about what to do, how to act, we go to this chapter. Are we being patient? Kind? Are we keeping a record of wrongs done to us? Are we acting in a loving way?

And it's always interested me that in the King James version, love was translated as charity.

Now, I'm sure there's a really logical reason for this, and I bet I could google it and find out, but I'm not going to. Because it the midst of an absolutely horrendous week that had me despairing of not only my ability to love but also to be loved, a thought popped into my head-- all love is an act of charity.

None of us can earn it.

None of us deserve it.

And when we give it away, it's still not anything we've done of our own power, but as an act of grace.

And so, not by my own power but solely by grace, I'm making a choice to be loving, to be charitable. I'm choosing to be patient and peaceful, to trust, to hope, and not to be angry.

For "charity suffereth long, and is kind."

Mother of Charity! We place ourselves under your mantle of protection. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus! To Him be the glory and the power now and forever. Amen.

Around the World with the Blessed Mother: Our Lady of La Leche

During Mary's month of May, we're studying geography with Jesus' Mama. I was inspired by this post over at First Heralds. I popped over to The Bookwork for resources and ideas as well.


We started out in Florida, with Nuestra Senora de la Leche y buen parto-- Our Lady of Plentiful Milk and Happy Delivery. Since we were waiting for a baby to be born, this seemed like a good place to start!

First stop was the website of the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. We talked a little about the history and found Florida on the map.

You Tube of all places had a video that showed the statue in detail and we prayed the Hail Mary.

Finally, we printed out the images and the prayer and made some cards for some new mamas and mamas-to-be. Nicholas glued the picture and prayer on a piece of shiny cardstock for me to put up on my dressed.

Prayer for Motherhood:

Lovely Lady of La Leche, most loving mother of the Child Jesus, and my mother, listen to my humble prayer. Your motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need. To you only, His spotless Virgin Mother, has your Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul. Yours was the sacred privilege of being the Mother of the Savior. Intercede with him now, my loving Mother, that, in accordance with His will, I may become the mother of other children of our heavenly Father. This I ask, O Lady of La Leche, in the Name of your Divine Son, My Lord and Redeemer. Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe and Getting Ready for Santa Lucia

Today we read the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The the two older children drew pictures in their main lesson books. I found this blog too late, but it has some awesome ideas. I can't wait until next year!

Tomorrow is Santa Lucia, and we spent a good chunk of the day making our Lucia buns.
Katie Grace kneaded the dough:

See those bangs? She cut them herself. Sigh.

Rolling the dough




The rolls are cut and ready to bake (OK, I admit it, we used a mix. But we still had to add yeast, knead the dough, etc. The only thing the mix did was premix the flour and stuff!)


And we have Lucia buns!


Nicholas helped clean up.


Katie Grace is very excited, although she has to do sans wreath. But I am trying hard not to let perfection be the enemy of the good.

Then, we put together our Advent nature table (finally). We are adding stars to the sky each night.


We also have a family altar, with an Advent wreath Katie Grace made at Advent Family Craft Night: