Cottage Blessings

For the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

When I was in sixth grade, Father Higuero, one of our parish priests, would come once a week to give our class a special catechism lesson.  Father  did not grade or test, but, on the first day of class in September, he gave one simple assignment: Prepare an oral report on the life of a saint and be ready to speak in front of the class whenever called upon. We students knew it would take the entire school year for each one of us to have a turn.

Now if I had been given a girl saint or perhaps a martyr, this would have been right up my alley, but instead of St. Bernadette, Joan of Arc, or valiant St. Laurence, there fell to my lot St. Thomas Aquinas — priest, philosopher, theologian, doctor of the Church. To say that he did not capture my imagination would be putting it mildly.

By the time Father Higuero returned for our second session, I had forgotten about St. Thomas — and the assignment itself for that matter. As he began scanning the rows of children to choose that week’s speakers, I ducked my head behind the girl in front of me, praying, “Dear St. Thomas Aquinas, please do not let him call on me.” To my great relief, two other children were chosen, and I resolved to be prepared the next time. Week after week this went on, with me always forgetting and my prayers to St. Thomas growing ever more fervent.

One morning late in the school year, Sister Kathy announced, “Father Higuero is coming for the last time today and will arrive in a few minutes. In the meanwhile, please read these magazines quietly to yourselves.” My heart sank to hear her words, for of course this meant there would be no more postponing the inevitable. Miserable, I said one last prayer, “Dear St. Thomas, I know I should have learned about your life and didn’t, but won’t you please help me?” The girl in front of me passed back the stack of religious magazines Sister had mentioned. Imagine my delight and wonder when I caught sight of the headline on the back cover: “The Life of St. Thomas Aquinas.” “Thank you, St. Thomas, thank you!” I whispered so low that none but the saint himself could hear and began reading with the greatest interest imaginable.

Half an hour later, Father Higuero nodded approvingly upon hearing a young girl’s enthusiastic account of the life of St. Thomas Aquinas. Although Father never would learn the truth about what a spur-of-the-moment effort it had been, my guess is that he would have been forgiving and perhaps even a bit pleased. After all, thanks to his priestly guidance and teaching, I had managed to learn something about the life of a great saint. Far more important than that, I came to believe for the rest of my life that St. Thomas Aquinas was my friend.

At this very moment, my eldest daughter is taking two SAT subject tests.  When I realized today was the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, I smiled knowing she was in good hands.

 

A post long overdue and not as well done as I'd like it

I have written this post in my head about a dozen times these past few weeks. It is difficult to say why I am having such trouble sitting down to write it. Maybe my problem is that it feels almost as if I have reached a last chance to share something so big, so miraculous, with anyone.

Not so very long ago, I was going through a sorrowful time. The dream and hope of another baby was gnawing away at me, dominating all my thoughts. Month after month passed, and I began to realize that, at age 40, the new-baby-phase of our lives might very well be over. (Hope this isn't sounding selfish or silly--it probably does, so please forgive me.)

One day, I was tidying the dining room--shifting clutter from one place to the other as usual--when I found a bag of religious articles purchased months ago. I smiled to see a handful of round flat coins depicting the Holy Family, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Joseph, and others, remembering they had been meant for use in our miniature wayside shrine craft. Long forgotten, the pretty round coins had been left on the windowseat, awaiting a future "sort and rescue."

Among the coins was one image that interested me in particular. I could not remember it at all, though it did not surprise me that I would have purchased it. It was St. Padre Pio, smiling and holding the Christ Child on a little pillow. Having spent a great deal of time praying for a new baby through the intercession of St. Pio, this was significant to me. I had never before seen him shown with the Christ Child (St. Anthony, yes, but St. Pio, no), and I began musing to myself that it was as if he was presenting me with a baby on a pillow. Flipping the coin around, I read his familiar words of advice, "Pray, hope and don't worry!" It gave me such a warm feeling inside, a little gleam of hope and lightness.

Still clutching the coin in one hand, I moved into the kitchen. A great deal of noise was coming from the den, and I could hear Margaret calling to me, "Mom! Marie knocked your picture off the top of the cabinet!" Nothing about this was unusual--stuff is always being batted around in our house. I wouldn't have paid much attention to the report, except that Margaret charged into the kitchen with Marie at her heels to hand me the fallen picture. It was a small image of Padre Pio, his hands clasped in prayer. At this point I laughed outright, much to the confusion of Margaret and Marie. I offered a silent prayer to St. Padre Pio, once again asking his intercession for a new baby.

Now I know to some, these two nearly simultaneous occurrences might seem like a coincidence--and a minor coincidence at that--but they dispelled some of the gloom of my mood that afternoon, reminding me that there is always hope.

About two weeks later, we found out to our great joy and gratitude that we are indeed expecting our eighth child, a gift it would be impossible to describe in words. The first day I was able to test was May 25th:

St. Padre Pio's birthday.

So that is my news--we have a new baby on the way! Sorry it has taken so long to tell. Thank you to all the friends who were praying for us. [I was at the top of the list to the left for quite some time.] God is good!

A Grace Given

I recently read A Grace Given, a phenomenal book by writer and father Kent Gilges. The book chronicles the illness of Kent's little daughter and his own journey towards the Catholic faith.

If you have a moment, please take a look at my review for this week's edition of The Long Island Catholic: When grace comes stamped.

Confirmation in the Latin Rite

On June 15, 2008, our daughters, Agnes and Theresa, were confirmed in St. Agnes Cathedral by Bishop William Murphy in the first Latin Rite Confirmation to be held in our diocese in forty years. It was one of the most beautiful, grace-filled ceremonies I have ever attended, despite the fact that I spent a good portion of it pacing the back with our two-year old!

This first photo shows Theresa and the dogwood before we left home. The girls' friend Hope made their special confirmation dresses:

So eager were we for the ceremony that we were the first ones to the church. Agnes and Theresa wait in the Cathedral of St. Agnes parish center:

Donning white robes, along with traditional beanies:

The beautiful confirmandi:

Before the ceremony, eight girls (all very good friends who sing in choir together) performed an impromptu, but lovely, rendition of Ecce Panis Angelorum [The right of the film is cut off below, to see the complete view, please click here. Theresa is third from the left, and Agnes is far right in the unclipped video]:

Lining up:

Our beloved bishop:

The bishop speaks to the children:

I managed to film the actual confirmation, so stirring in Latin. Here you will see Agnes and her sponsor (godmother Eileen) followed by Theresa and her sponsor (godmother Patty) [For a view that is not partially clipped by the blog borders, please click here]:

Photo op, rear view:

Agnes and her sponsor, godmother Eileen:

Theresa and her sponsor, godmother Patty, along with Patty's brother, Msgr. Robert Brennan:

A proud moment with our bishop:

How my little girls have grown since this photo with the bishop, taken after a special Mass he offered for homeschoolers six years ago:

Many beautiful Gunther family members—grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins—were in attendance. I wish I'd managed to get more photos of them, but the sun was blazing, and we rushed to our car. I did manage to get this shot:

St. Jude, Agnes's patron, pray for us!
St. Gianna Molla, Theresa's patron, pray for us!

Here is The Long Island Catholic's beautiful coverage of the event.

From the Scrapbook: Sacred and Immaculate Heart Dolls

Recently, I stumbled upon these pictures of a craft I prepared for the girls and their friends back in May of 2002. Wooden "Sacred and Immaculate Heart dolls" are easy to make. Begin with wooden cutouts of gingerbread girl shapes, small wooden hearts, glue, paint, and—for the Blessed Mother dolls—blue squares of felt.

June is the month of the Sacred Heart, and these dolls would make a pleasant craft to celebrate the beginning of summer!

Our daughter Theresa and friend Emily O'Neill—then aged six—display their dolls:

Works in progress:

Our friends, Mary Beth and Mary Rose, looked pleased with their projects. [In the background, you will see tissue paper Sacred Hearts, another very easy project. The tissue is lovely against a window, because the sun streams through to give the effect of a suncatcher]:

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

A day in May

A day in May begins with Twelfth Night practice.

Our director gave notes to the cast:

in the shade of a large oak:

A sword fight broke out (and, no, this was not part of the play):

We observed the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a small altar (can you find it?):

Here is a closer view:

And here it is again after the younger ones (the brothers and sisters of cast members) spent the day adding flowers to it!

A birthday was celebrated:

Make that two birthdays:

And a good time was had by all!

[From left to right: Maria, Feste, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek conspire against Malvolio.]

Bouguereau on Blue and White

Last year's summer in California continues to inspire us!

One of the things we remember well, particularly in Mission Carmel, was the wide variety of blue and white tiles featuring devotional scenes.

The Holy Family:

Our Lady of Mount Carmel:

We also admired the Pieta by Adolphe-William Bouguereau, a larger-than-life painting standing floor to ceiling against a wall of the Legion of Honor Art Museum in San Francisco.

These images and memories formed the inspiration for a simple springtime project--"Blue and White Tiles for Our Lady."

We began with a wooden plaque, holy card, container of tiles, tile glue, and a gold-leafing pen.

It only took about two minutes to gild the edges.

After planning the location of the tiles, a special glue was brushed on the wooden surface and the back of each tile square.

Gluing the tiles did not take long at all.

Here you have it, a partially finished product. It is incomplete because, being a novice at tile work, I thought the mosaic glue would also act as grout. No such luck. I will need to return to the craft store some time soon--or make my own grout from a mixture of white sand and glue. (This photo was taken before the glue dried so you can still see a bit of it round the edges.)

Knowing it might take a month or more before we return to the craft store, I decided to post the project as is, because it is quite pretty already. I am thinking about turning it into a holy water font eventually or putting it on the front door.

Whether or not I ever get around to putting grout in all those cracks!

Beauty lies in many eyes,

particularly those of the children of our homeschooling group.

Here are perhaps a little more than half the children who attended our annual May Crowning yesterday. By the time this group shot was taken, most of the others had already skipped off to the swings, scooters, and snack tables. As usual, blue was the color of the day.

Before the guests arrived, I stockpiled a basket full of medals, cards and books for the children.

The ribbons and medals were part of a simple craft planned for the children--beribboned medals to wear to the crowning. Browsing the craft store, I found favor ties meant for weddings and thought they would be perfect for making wearable pins, particularly because the lilies, white flowers and bells (reminding me of the Bell's of St. Mary's) are so perfect for Our Lady. When crafting for a crowd, it helps to save precious time, and favor ties meant less cutting and measuring of ribbon.

Here is one of the gorgeous little rosary books I picked up for the children--small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but featuring full color illustrations of all four mysteries (yes, even the Luminous). These books will need to wait a bit though--in the hustle and bustle of the day's events, I forgot to give them out!

The simplest, quickest Marian activity in the world, step-by-step:

The children worked on the pins as they arrived:

My girls love to add their own stamp of creativity to any idea, so here are a few samples they made in the morning:

[Cost per project: about 75 to 99 cents, except for larger medals.]

We began the Crowning with a procession led by the first communicants, followed by all the children. Our music--including Queen of the Holy Rosary, Regina Coeli, Bring Flow'rs of the Fairest, Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above and others were led by the girls from Our Lady of the Angels Choir under the direction of Miss Lynn Wilson. (I am proud to say that Agnes and Theresa are members.) We said the rosary according to the method of St. Louis de Montfort. [From the appendix of True Devotion to Mary, Montfort Publications.] I had originally hoped to fill a basket with the petitions of all our group members, but this is another of those things that was lost in the shuffle of a busy day.

As you can see, our festive Marian Lanterns made a fitting backdrop for the occasion:

The sight of first communicants in May makes my heart sing--how well I remember being among the joyful first communicants processing into the school yard of St. Mary's School many, many years ago. We too sang "Bring Flowers of the Fairest." The Catholic Faith is the stuff of beautiful memories.

The crowning moment:

And how much do you love this picture of our gorgeous first communicants with Heather's daughter Lily smiling directly at the face of Our Blessed Mother?! I have no doubt Our Lady is smiling right back!

May the grace of the mystery of the Coronation of the Blessed Mother, Queen of Heaven and Earth, come down into our hearts.

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May Crowning trivia: Our three first communicants banner image was taken during last year's crowning.

Crafting for a Crowd: Marian Lanterns

In the memoir of her life, Sister Lucia of Fatima looks back upon how she and her cousins, Blessed Francisco and Jacinta liked to call the moon "Our Lady's Lantern." This is perfect imagery because the moon gets it light from the sun, or, in Our Lady's case, from the Son. In honor of this recollection--with the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima right around the corner--we shared these "Marian lanterns" with the children of our local group.

Paper lanterns are readily available at the craft or party store and come in a wide array of colors. [Ours looked something like this, but they were only $1.49 each at Michael's Craft Store. SEE UPDATE BELOW.] Holy pictures, glitter, ribbon and silk flowers were all we needed to create a festive display for our upcoming May Crowning. The pictures tell the tale:

And now, some notes from the "Live and Learn" files:

1. Laminated holy cards are difficult to glue onto round surfaces, particularly without a glue gun.

2. Big round lanterns roll, presenting something of a difficulty for very young children. They were all so excited about this craft though that they did not let this daunt them for long!

3. If you decide to change the date of your May Crowning, make sure the friends who live furthest away and have the most children hear about it before they travel hours to be there. If you do make a mistake of this magnitude, hope that the victim has a heart of gold and will forgive you immediately.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . .

Over the weekend, with the assistance of a glue gun, the older girls and I made a few more beauties to decorate the family room for May:

Fatima Lantern

The holy card image shows the vision Sister Lucia had just before leaving Fatima to begin her life as a nun. She sees grace and mercy flowing from Our Lord on the cross.

We added a pretty watering can to remind us of the showers of grace available to all who seek them.

Mount Carmel Lantern

[You will note that this is a beautiful and reverent use for an old scapular we had been keeping in a drawer. We attached it so that it would still be usable in the future.]

Holy Name of Mary Lantern (work in progress)

Queen of Peace Lantern

May Our Lady shed her light into our hearts, during this month of May and always!

Warning: Although these paper lanterns are designed for use with an actual lightbulb, once decorated, this becomes a fire hazard. (Candles would not be safe for these lanterns either.)

Variations on a theme

If you will not have time to complete a project like this during May, how about saving the idea for All Saints Day on November 1st? Collect holy cards to create a range of saints' lanterns with your family or homeschooling group. These would make a festive decoration if placed outside the house for All Hallows Eve or at the center of your group's All Saints Day party. Liturgical colors, such as red for martyrs, would add to the beauty and symbolism.

If you can't find paper lanterns, there are many ways to improvise. Decorate colored bags, large paper mache or styrofoam balls, discarded Christmas ornaments or bright coffee cans.

Cost per project: $1.49 for each lantern, plus embellishments. Figure at least $2 to $3 each.

[UPDATE: We used 8 inch lanterns made by a company called Darice. I could not find them online, but managed to find these reasonably priced substitutes in a wide array of colors.]

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Coming Soon

Some of my local friends may be wondering why I did not post last week's project: "Spiritual Ships." The story will be appearing in the first issue of the new magazine, mater et magistra (formerly Heart and Mind).

Crafting for a Crowd: Holy Water Fonts

With Our Lady's month of May just around the corner, this seemed a perfect time to revisit a project that has been a hit with our local group for almost ten years: holy water fonts. We have made them many different ways, but this method was the first and favorite. Plain wooden plaques from the craft store in a variety of appealing shapes, sturdy plastic shot glasses from the party store, beads, snow white crucifixes, and holy cards make up these simple crafts, perfect for a crowd of all ages. Paints would add a great deal to the look of the project, but I decided to spare the children's clothes in an effort to maintain my friendship with the local moms.

When preparing a craft for a large group of children, it helps to do a bit of prep work. I hot-glued the shot glasses to the plaques in advance:

Patrick wants you to know that this is the one he glued on for Mommy. (Thank you, Pat!)

Thanks to this beautiful group of crafters (not to mention another table full) . . .

. . . those plain plaques were transformed into something glorious and well worth cherishing:

The best projects for a crowd are the ones that all look unique in the end!

Another way to use these would be by putting fresh flowers in the cups with a bit of water.

"Queen of Cute" Kelli B. shows her creation:

An afternoon of crafting works up a thirst, as you can see. Maureen's "crocs" come in handy as she goes full toe to reach the water fountain.

And a good time was had by all!

Holy water fonts, cost per project: under $2 (99 cents for plaques, plus decorations and cups; shot glasses come in packages of 50 for about $3.50, but consider improvising with film canisters, deep bottle caps, or plastic Easter egg halves)