Saint Rose of Lima

We celebrated with our moms/ homeschool group.

Date:
August 23

Activities:
Colored her picture.
Read stories from a few books.
Made a garden collage with her picture, using picked grass blades, dirt, hay, etc.
Planted grass seeds.

Food:
Anything Hispanic! We also had some yummy chocolate rose covered pretzels made by one of our mothers!

Information:
Patron saint of gardeners.

Prayer:

A Prayer of St. Rose
Help me to remember what is really important:
that I am Your child
You are my Father
You love me for who I am and how I live
not what I look like or what I own.
Let me praise You Who sees into my heart,
Who is always with me
and Who eases my suffering.

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1143

Saint Helen of the Cross

Date:
August 18

Activities:
Painted wooden crosses to honor the True Cross and Saint Helen's discovery!

Information:
Saint Helen was the mother of Constantine and wanted to find the True Cross of Jesus from the Holy Land. She went on a mission and found the True Cross, which had been preserved for a few hundred years!

Prayer:

Holy and blessed Saint Helena, with the anguish and devotion with which you sought the Cross of Christ, I plead that you give me God's grace to suffer in patience the labors of this life, so that through them and through your intercession and protection, I will be able to seek and carry the Cross, which God has placed upon me, so that I can serve Him in this life and enjoy His Glory ever after. Amen.

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1142

Our Lady of Lourdes

Date:
February 11

Activities:
Read Father Lovasik book.
Coloring page of Mary or Saint Bernadette.

Food:
Made impromptu cupcake to mirror the description of Mary by Saint Bernadette: white icing for her white gown, yellow roses that were at her feet, yellow nerds to represent her rosary, blue pipe cleaner for the blue sash around her waist.

Information:
Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette in Lourdes.

Prayer:

Pope John Paul II's prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes
Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.

Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.

Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.

Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.

Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Amen.

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/118

Saint Joseph

We celebrated with our moms/ homeschool group.

Date:
March 19

Activities:
We did carpenter work by building a birdhouse for our backyards.
We had coloring sheets, too!

Food:
Anything Italian, as they have a most honored tradition of a Saint Joseph's altar.

Information:
Step father of Jesus, carpenter, awesomest saint there ever was!

Prayer:

One of my most favorite novenas ever, from EWTN.
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/joseph.htm

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1090

Saint Athanasius

We celebrated with our moms/ homeschool group.

Date:
May 1

Activities:
We made Bishops' hats.
We also made Trinity Shields.

Food:
Anything Greek

Information:
A Greek Bishop and an early Church Father, he is a Doctor. He was the great defender of the Blessed Trinity.

Prayer:

O God, the Rewarder of faithful souls, grant that by the prayers of blessed Athanasius, Thy confessor and bishop, whose venerable festival we celebrate, we may obtain pardon. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1075

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

We celebrated with our moms/ homeschool group.

Date:
August 14

Activities:
Made crowns for the kiddos to wear. (A red crown with a white crown on it as well!)
Coloring pages for the kids.
Listened to Glory Stories cd of Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Food:
made Saint Max candy from Catholic Cuisine (no pictures taken)

Information:
Maximilian Kolbe had a vision of Mary appearing to him, offering him a white crown of purity or the a red crown of martydom. He told Our Lady that he would take both! Our craft was a crown with both colors to represent his loving sacrifice at a Jewish concentration camp during the Nazi regime.

Prayer:

O Lord Jesus Christ who said, "greater love than this no man has that a man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose life illustrated such love, we beseech You to grant us our petitions .....(mention them here).

Through the Knights of the Immaculata movement, which Maximilian founded, he spread a fervent devotion to Our Lady throughout the world. He gave up his life for a total stranger and loved his persecutors, giving us all an example of unselfish love for all men --- a love which was inspired by true devotion to Mary.

Grant O Lord Jesus, that we too may give ourselves entirely without reserve to the love and service of our Heavenly Queen in order to better love and serve our fellowman in imitation of your humble servant, Maximilian. Amen.

(Say 3 Hail Marys and a Glory be....)

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1139

Saint Clare of Assisi

Date:
August 11

Activities:
Coloring page of Saint Clare.

Food:
Monstrance cheese and pretzel snacks.
Monstrance and Tao cupcakes for dessert.

Information:
Saint Clare is important in our home: a namesake! She is pictured with a monstrance in her hands because of the Eucharistic Miracle she performed at the convent in San Damiano.

Prayer:
God of Mercy, You inspired Saint Clare with the love of poverty. By the help
of her prayers, may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit and come
to the joyful vision of your glory in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this
through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1135

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Date:
Month of June

Activities:
We made stained glass sacred, immaculate, and our own pure hearts, each fitting inside the other with tissue paper, contact paper, and stickers.
Sacred Heart bags filled with prayers and coloring sheets and colored images.

Food:
Sacred Heart sandwiches

Information:
The entire month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart!

Prayer:
All for the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. All through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. All in union with Saint Joseph. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we love you. Save souls." (Adapted from Catholic Familyland!)

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1055

Saint Anthony Padua

We celebrated with our moms/ homeschool group.

Date:
June 13

Activities:
Celebrated actual feast day on the beach!
I made a coloring page for the kids to color.

Food:
goldfish and whales
chocolate tonsures, based on chocolate crown of thorns

Information:
Anthony was a Franciscan priest. Two famous stories about him: He was tired of preaching and not being heard, so he turned to the fish in the water to preach to them. To everyone's surprise, all kinds of fish came out of the water. Secondly, there is a story that he insisted that even a hungry horse would know the True Presence.

Prayer:
Unfailing Prayer to Saint Anthony
O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and Charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me (request). O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

Link to my Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1069

Saint Mary Magdalene

We celebrated the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene a bit early with our moms/ homeschool group.

Date:
July 22

Activities:
I made a coloring page to color.
We colored miniature wooden eggs.
We played with leftover confetti eggs from Easter.
I wanted to make real madelines as found on Catholic Cuisine and Fisheaters, but I didn't have the time and I really didn't want to buy a special pan. Instead, I made homemade shell shaped chocolate candies. I just bought a candy mold with shells on it at Hobby Lobby and voila! shell shaped candy!

Food:
Shell shaped chocolate candies

Information:
Mary Magdalene is often pictured with an egg in her hand. This is a reminder of her presence at the empty tomb on Easter Sunday.

Prayer:
http://feastofsaints.com/anselmmarymag.htm (Prayer of Saint Anselm)
OR
Intercessory Prayer to Saint Mary Magdalene

Saint Mary Magdalene,
woman of many sins,
who by conversion
became the beloved of Jesus,
thank you for your witness
that Jesus forgives
through the miracle of love.
You, who already possess eternal happiness
in His glorious presence,
please intercede for me,
so that some day
I may share in the same everlasting joy.
Amen.

Link to Shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/1130