Last week, I posted about the beautiful Catholic tradition of May Crowning and my quest to find out how to either acquire or make a small “crown” for my backyard Mary Statue. As it turns out, the miniature floral crown that I ordered was WAY too mini! So, instead, I went to Michaels and found resources to make my own which I placed on Mary on Mother’s Day! I’m just a regular Martha Stewart! […]
Here in Chicago, we endured a lot of April showers in order to enjoy the May flowers—which, of course, means that it’s that time of the year for May Crownings! I posted a couple of years ago about May Crownings and encourage you to go back and take a look at that, but I also have a few new details to share with catechists. In particular, I’ve recently been wondering where and how you go about […]
On this Feast Day of St. Joseph, my patron saint, let’s take a moment to reflect on his quiet nature and how fitting that is for the Lenten season! Here is my post from a couple of years ago on St. Joseph along with an activity from my 40 Ideas for 40 Days of Lent. Happy Feast Day to all the Joe’s out there!
Here’s the final installment of a summary of this past Monday’s session on Abraham and God’s plan for salvation. After completing the Bible activity on Abraham, we still had time to pray a decade of the Rosary in order to mark October as the Month of the Holy Rosary and most of the kids had brought one in as requested…I had extras for the few that didn’t. We dedicated our prayer to the people in […]
I remember as a kid being thrilled with the Feast of St. Blaise, because it meant that I wouldn’t get any more sore throats during the remaining weeks of the cruel Chicago winter. So much of my piety back then was bordering (if not totally over the edge!) on superstition. Why? I was never really taught otherwise. I was taught that the blessing of St. Blaise would keep me not only from getting a sore […]
July 31 is the Feast of St. Ignatius! This date has personal significance for me since I attended St. Ignatius College Prep and Loyola University of Chicago (undergrad and graduate degrees) and work for Loyola Press! That’s a lot of Ignatian influence! Of course, we are all blessed to have been influenced in some way, shape, or form by this great man. With that in mind, I’d like to share a couple of ways to […]
To begin Monday’s session, we did an All Saints Day procession. I talked a little bit about what a procession is, comparing it to a parade and how parades usually celebrate victory and the hoisting of a trophy – such as the Stanley Cup here in Chicago! 🙂 We talked about how the Cross of Jesus is a symbol of victory: God’s victory over sin and death. I had my aide, Daneen, lead the procession, […]
We catechists are always thinking and planning ahead, right? I recently received a comment from Joyce asking for ideas for a children’s liturgy for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I’m wondering if some of you have some suggestions! Hi Joe… do you have any ideas for celebrating a Mass with children on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception? Looking for something new… we’ve done the Gospel drama for years, but hoping for something new… […]
With All Saints Day just around the corner, now is a good opportunity to look at ideas for additional resources for teaching about the saints. Loyola Press has just put together four Saints Retreats for children, done in the style of the well-known and much loved 3-Minute Retreats. Each brief saints retreat is an opportunity to learn more about a particular saint, learn about that saint’s relationship with God, reflect on discussion questions about the […]
Last year, I posted about May Crownings during the month of May and it was a very popular post with lots of feedback. I invite you to take a look and, if you have some new comments, insights, or thoughts to share on the topic of May Crownings, leave them here on this post. Likewise, here’s a link to a post from last year about May Crowning from a blogger named Mary G. in Virginia!
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