Cottage Blessings

Christmas Novena for the Feast of St. Andrew

Today is the day to begin the Christmas Novena from now until December 25th. Here is the prayer:

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, to hear my prayers and grant my desires. (Mention your intentions here) Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother.

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The faithful are encouraged to repeat this short, but beautiful, prayer 15 times a day.

In keeping with a tradition begun last year, I am about to put the prayer in my sidebar as an ongoing reminder. If at least fourteen others were to do this, we could remember to say the prayer when visiting each other's blogs. : ) : ) : )

Our project for today: digging out last year's Advent Cubes.

Gifts from the Cajun Cottage

Don't miss today's Book Walk at Cay's!

Wayside Shrines in Miniature

And oh, when the heart faints with longing,
He is there, though our eyes cannot see;
The Compassionate One, bending o'er us,
Stoops to hear the heart's sigh, "Pray for me!"

--from The Wayside Shrine by Martha Elvira Pettus

When I was a small child, I fell in love with the roadside shrines of Ireland. It makes me smile to think back upon one afternoon in particular: As my father cast a hopeful line over the River Blackwater in County Cork, I piled wildflowers at the foot of a shrine to Our Lady.

In hopes of recreating this sweet and simple memory, we spent the weekend fashioning miniature wayside shrines small enough to grace a pot of pansies, but so lovely they just might remain in my children's hearts forever.

Several months ago, I purchased these church-shaped wooden garden stakes at the craft store for fifty cents each:

We began by painting a base coat in acrylics:

We added moss, silk flowers, small statues and crucifixes, and other embellishments.

Here are a few of the shrines we made so far:

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (spring theme):

Roadside Crucifix (winter theme, complete with a touch of artificial snow):

St. Anthony (summer theme):

Agnes' St. Jude (Agnes is taking "Judith" for Confirmation this year):

Marie's St. Joseph (a gift for Grandma):

Margaret's Advent-themed Shrine (front):

Margaret's Shrine (back view, with Divine Mercy image taken from a broken bracelet):

Margaret's adaptation--Holy Water Font:

Holy Water Font (rear view, with Infant of Prague):

Theresa's Our Lady of Grace shrine:

Marie's Crucifix in the Rhododendrons:

Three-year-old Maureen's pink Sacred Heart shrine:

Here's a pretty mess--I couldn't resist this shot of some of the production crew hard at work behind the scenes. (Also, it occurs to me for the first time that the walls inside just about match the carpet of golden maple leaves outside.)

A small silk butterfly alights atop the spring-themed shrine to Our Lady of Mount Carmel:

Materials and Ways to Improvise

I found the wooden church stakes in A.C. Moore craft store. They were made by Nicole Crafts, reference number WOD 1204. It is often difficult to find specific craft items online, and your local store may not stock these. Any paintable wooden garden stake might be used or adapted (we used flat heart-shaped stakes to make an entire set of the Stations of the Cross years ago--we also made Sacred and Immaculate Heart shrines from heart-shaped stakes a while back). If you are unable to find stakes, small wooden churches or birdhouses would work quite well, as you can see from the rear view of last year's St. Francis birdhouse craft. I often challenge the children to figure out ways to bring ideas to life from natural materials found outside. These shrines would be beautiful created from pieces of wood, bark, moss, acorns and stones gathered in the backyard--or perhaps items you might otherwise discard, like clementine crates. Can you imagine a little shrine tucked away in the knot of a tree?

The possibilities for embellishment are endless, and religious images may be taken from paper holy cards, catalogues, broken bracelets, pins, or rosaries. DiscountCatholicStore.com sells mini-pocket saint statues (3/4 inch) for $1.55.

May the saints bless you on your way, now and always!

Prayers for a meeting tomorrow

Cottage Blessings has become, more than anything else, a place for me to make prayer requests! This is the season of my life right now, and I am so grateful for the kindness all of you have shown, particularly since my mother's stroke.

Would you please pray for my mother (and for me) as I get ready to go to a meeting at the rehabilitation facility tomorrow? My mother has been there about three weeks, and already it has been determined that she is not making sufficient progress in therapy. Without a certain amount of progress documented, Medicare will refuse to pay for any more treatment for her. She has other insurance policies, but they will not cover the kind of care she needs.

It's a sad situation on all fronts, and we would be so grateful for all your prayers.
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Updated, 9:12 pm

The meeting went pretty much as expected, although the good news is that I am at least beginning to understand and accept the situation. Thank you so much for the prayers--you have all been so incredibly helpful these past few weeks!

St. Philomena

My friend, Lorraine, sent this beautiful Novena to share with you:

Novena for Autistic Children

Please scroll down at the site to find an email address if you would like to add the name of an autistic child or adult to the list.

Predictable, yet surprising

because I didn't think I was answering the quiz in the obviously "Irish" way! Thanks to Margaret in Minnesota for passing along something fun.

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

HT: Minnesota Mom

Our Lady of the Finding

Please pray for Daffny Velder, a seventeen-year-old homeschooled girl who disappeared while walking her dog on November 10th.

Dear Blessed Mother, you knew the horror of losing your Son and the joy of finding Him again in the temple. We pray that Daffny will be returned to her distraught parents. We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

St. Joseph, protector of the Holy Family, pray for us!

Our Lady of the Finding in the Temple, pray for us!
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November 14, 2007: Updated to report that Daffny has been found! There haven't been many details circulated yet, but it's a relief to hear.

A prayer for Michele

It is 8:52 pm here in New York.

If you happen to read this post, would you please offer up a prayer for Michele Quigley? She has pleurisy and pneumonia and is in a lot of pain. The mothers from the Magnum Opus list are offering a Memorare for her at 9 pm, but any time would work well.

The Memorare

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help, or sought your intercession
was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee,
O virgin of virgins, my mother.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions,
but in your mercy, hear and answer them.

Amen.

I rarely post quizzes

but this one was fascinating.

Ht: Father Philip

Craft of the Week: Guadalupe Altars

Several months ago, I volunteered to provide the "Craft of the Week" for the week of November 5th. Normally, I would try to come up with something new and seasonal, but, unfortunately, my camera is broken and has yet to be replaced. Here are our Miniature May Altars from May of 2006, adapted now as "Guadalupe Altars" to prepare for the coming feast.

Many thanks to Sarah at Plainsong for organizing the Craft of the Week Club!

Guadalupe Altars

Materials:

Small wooden hangable shelves from the craft store
Assorted acrylic paints and paintbrushes
Optional: decoupage tissue, white glue, and a sponge brush

The children began by decorating inexpensive wooden shelves in pastel colors. Agnes chose to adorn hers with roses, lilies, an an "M" wreathed in twelve stars, before decoupaging a flower-flecked "altar cloth" on top. The decoupage was done simply, by applying watered-down white glue to tissue with a sponge brush. "Mod Podge" decoupage medium could have been used to add a glossy coat to the decoupage, but we opted for the simple approach.

This photo below shows what the girls' four projects looked like after painting. (Back row: Theresa (age 10), Margaret (age 8); Front row: Agnes (age 12), Marie (age 6))

The next group shows what each painted shelf looked like once adorned with a Marian statue, holy water bottle, crucifix, rosaries, and scapular (or, in Marie's case, a bouquet of flowers). These photos were taken in our dining room, but, each of the girls will have an altar mounted over her bed from now on. We usually say our family Rosary at night, so the beads will have a handy home, as will their scapulars. I am glad to think of my girls looking at the Crucifix and Our Lady of Guadalupe at eye level as they doze off to sleep, perhaps after a blessing of holy water from each individual bottle. It is difficult to make out from the picture, but each girl chose a distinct holy water bottle with images of the cross, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Grace, or Our Lady of Lourdes.

Agnes':

Theresa's:

Margaret's:

Marie's:

_____________

Cost per project: 97 cents without paint and other decorations; about $1.50 each with paint, brushes, glue, and special decoupage tissue. The adornments for the altar may be found around the house. If you do not have a small statue of Our Lady, a holy card mounted on cardboard would work every bit as well.

Other ways to improvise: If you do not have time to run to the craft store for small paintable shelves, use something on hand to create a similar effect. Even an upturned shoe box will look beautiful when covered with a piece of pretty fabric, statue, flowers, and a bowl of holy water. The main joy of the project for my girls seems to be that each one has an altar all her own right near her bed. Six-year-old Marie looks forward to keeping hers adorned with flowers, and, for a setting so small, an empty film canister would make the perfect little vase!

A Dance in the Rain

is appearing at Catholic Exchange today. This piece means more to me than ever now that my mother is so very, very sick.

Although my mother is confined to her bed, if she had her way, she would be dancing in the rain.

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While we are on the subject of the right to life, please take a look at Mary Ellen Barrett's heartfelt The World Needs Wildflowers.

Almost a year has passed

It has been almost a year since Loreto Cottage was begun, and we still have not come to the end of the novenas originally planned. Praying for and with all of you this past year has been a real gift.

At long last, here are the novenas for the last wave of that original group of mothers. These dear women have been waiting almost a year, but we trust in God's perfect timing:

Noreen in CT [Miraculous Medal Novena to Nov. 18 to 26]
Mary in Canada [Immaculate Conception Novena to Nov. 29 to Dec. 7]
Taffy (Living and Learning in the Canadian Prairies) [Holy Family Novena to Dec. 19 to 27]
Irene in VA [Mary, Mother of God Novena [December 24 to January 1]
Angela (Three Plus Two) [Holy Name Novena, Dec. 26 to Jan. 3]
Marilyn W [Novena for Church Unity, Jan. 18 to Jan. 25]
Chari in beautiful Mount Shasta, CA [Novena to St. John Bosco Jan. 23 to Jan. 31]
Marie C. in Ohio [Novena for Purification, Jan. 24 to Feb. 2]
Krisann (Isla de Esperanza) [Novena in honor of St. Blaise, Jan. 26 to Feb. 3]
Louise (A Time to Keep) [Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, Feb. 2 to Feb. 10]
KC in Texas (The Cabbage Patch) [Novena in Honor of the Most Holy Face of Jesus, Feb. 11 to Feb. 19]

[Rosary Novena for the Pope's Intentions, Feb. 14 to 22]

Sarah (Plainsong) [Miraculous Novena of Grace, Mar. 4 to 12]
Janette Smith [Novena to St. Joseph, Mar. 10 to Mar. 18]
Jennifer (Mari Hal-O-Jen) [Annunciation Novena, Mar. 17 to Mar. 25]
Mary Ann in PA [Easter Novena]
Becky in Michigan [Divine Mercy Novena]
Elizabeth (Frabjous Days) [Novena to St. Bernadette, Apr. 7 to Apr. 15]
Mary G. [Novena to St. Catherine of Siena, April 20 to April 28]
Lissa [Novena to St. Peregrine, April 26 to May 4]
Diane [Novena to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, May 5 to May 13]
Heather [Ascension Novena]
Tracy [Novena to St. Rita, May 14 to May 22]

If you have not had a novena scheduled for your family yet, please leave a note here. You do not need to be a member of the Loreto Cottage group to have a novena. Here is an explanation of the Novena reminder service.

An Advent before Advent

Earlier today,Lissa told me she is planning on preparing for a Monfortian Consecration to Jesus through Mary. Checking the calendar at the back of her copy of True Devotion to Mary, she was delighted to find the next preparation period begins tomorrow (November 5th) and continues until the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. Needless to say, I hopped on board with her, realizing this is the perfect lead in to Advent.

According to St. Louis de Montfort, the first twelve days "should be employed in casting off the spirit of the world, which is contrary to that of Jesus Christ."

I hope some of you will join us in prayer this month, asking God's blessings upon our homes and country and taking Mary into our hearts. Here are the exceptionally beautiful prayers to be said daily:

November 5th to 16th: Twelve Preliminary Days

November 17th to 23rd: First Week

November 24th to 30th: Second Week

December 1st to 7th: Third Week

December 8th: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Interestingly, I saw a box of 45 beautiful little Hanukah candles in the supermarket the other day. The white and blue tints and traditional Jewish pattern reminded me of the Blessed Mother, so I popped them into my cart, hoping to find some use for them in the weeks ahead. Now I am thinking about lighting one each night, illuminating the house more and more as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception approaches. After using 33 candles, there will be just enough left over for the 12 days of Christmas!

Online reading materials to assist with the preparation:

The USCCB Bible

Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin by St. Louis de Montfort

By the Lantern's Glow

Although our large Jack O'Lantern is past its prime--his cheery angled features now a portal for flitting fruit flies--I was determined to keep him around until the Feast of All Souls. The children are already familiar with the symbolism of the decaying pumpkin surrounding a burning flame--the body decays, but the soul never dies. Last night, I thought I would add something new to our tradition, placing the Jack O'Lantern at the feet of Our Lady to remind them that Our Blessed Mother is the comfort of the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

Saying the rosary in the blackened room, Jack's shining face, but not much else, could be seen with its burning smile. Within a Hail Mary or two, I smelt a bit of smoke and realized that the tall, fat candle within was beginning to singe the inside of the lid. Lifting the top off by the stem, the candlelight streamed upward, illuminating the Blessed Mother so beautifully that it made me sorry we could not keep our pumpkin beneath her always.

You may have noticed I have not been posting pictures to this blog lately, and that is because my camera is broken. (It spent a night in our diaper bag in the company of a leaky water bottle.) Sitting there in the dark room, with Our Lady's image glowing and the children gathered round with upturned faces, I longed to take a picture more than ever. Our rosary completed, I remembered that our laptop has a "photobooth" function. After some effort and maneuvering, I managed to take this picture of Maureen--it is a grainy image and the flash takes away something from the scene as it truly appeared, but I thought it worth sharing here anyway.

Yesterday afternoon, we visited my father's grave, sprinkling holy water on it and saying prayers. The children learned the importance of visiting the graves of our loved ones and praying for those who have gone before us. During the next few weeks, we will to try to visit my grandparents' and Daddy's grandparents' graves as well, never forgetting these good people who passed along the gift of Faith to our family.

Speaking of grandparents, today (November 3) would have been my father's birthday. Please keep Cornelius J. O'Brien in your prayers. I am praying for your loved ones as well.

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

EWTN's Father Ho Lung on Long Island

My very dear friend Rose told me about a wonderful event coming up on Long Island. I post this in case any of you are in the area and would like to support the efforts of Father Ho Lung and the Missionaries of the Poor:

The Diocese of Rockville Centre proudly presents, in celebration of its 50th ANNIVERSARY, Fr. Richard Ho Lung & Friends performing: “YES!” A Caribbean Musical Experience for the benefit of the work of the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP)

MOP is an international religious group of priests and brothers, founded by Fr. Ho Lung, who work tirelessly with the poor, homeless, sick and abandoned in Jamaica, Haiti, Philippines, India, Uganda and Kenya.

When: Saturday, November 10th at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, November 11th at 3:00 p.m.

Where: St. John Baptist H.S., 1170 Montauk Hwy., W. Islip

Tickets: $25 — Also available at the doors

For Tickets and Info Please Contact:

Annette Ferrarella 516-312-4646

Brenda Pistani 516-678-5800 ext. 519