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

Assumption Party

We had an Assumption Party with some of our homeschool friends- what fun!

We painted little wiggly wooden snakes to represent the power Mary has over Satan. We had a little catechesis on the protoevangelium found in Genesis 3:15. Everyone dressed in blue for Mary. We prayed the Litany of Loreto, which is so beautiful and really draws you into the reality of Mary.

Painting the snakes

In a potluck style, we brought various dishes based on the titles and stories of Mary. Pictures and brief description of those are below.
All the beautiful children eating their yummy "Mary dinner" Can you believe they are all sitting down at the same time...! Nothing like a little healthy peer pressure!

All of the dishes, with title and pictures below:
Rosemary Chicken
Mother of Christ the Bread of Life Garlic Bread
Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb fruit dish
Virgin of Virgins Olive Oil Pasta
The New Eve garden salad
Assumpta Salad (Salad based on fruits named for Mary)

Mary Blue Assumption punch
Miracle of Cana wine
Queen of Martyrs Rice Krispies Crown
Queen of the Holy Rosary cupcakes
Roses for Mary
Vessel of True Devotion, Mirror of Justice, Mystical Rose table centerpiece

Blue candles with Mary stickers
Another table display

I had pictures of the Blessed Mother framed next to each dish, with a name card to describe the significance of the dish to the particular title of Mary. We of course used blue paper goods.

Pictures to correspond with each dish
Labels for each dish. I included a picture and a brief synopsis of the theology behind the dish.
Blue everything for Mama Mary

I also created a neat CD of Marian hymns and chants to play as background music.

Link to shutterfly:
http://stannehomeeducation.shutterfly.com/234

May Crowning Party

We celebrated our Mother Mary with a May Crowning. We hope to make it an annual event here in Pearland! I'll list here some of the dishes that we served. We used the awesome website called Catholic Cuisine for reference. The dishes were based on the titles of Mary, as found in the Litany of Loreto. We prayed the Litany as a group, and the children caught on quickly to the response of "pray for us!" That gave me goosebumps to hear all those children in unison!

Morning Star Sandwiches

Tower of Ivory; House of Gold









Mary Blue Punch, to symbolize Mary being assumed into Heaven












Assumpta Salad, a salad based on the herbs and fruits named for Mary












Twelve Apostles fruit salad












and the children especially liked the crown cupcakes that symbolized Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth and Queen of Apostles, Saints, and Martyrs!








Everybody brought flowers to give to Mama Mary. And we all dressed in blue to honor Our Lady, too!












We then crowned the Virgin of Guadalupe.












The children painted picture frames to remember the day and also had some nice coloring sheets of Mary pictured as our Mother.













Mary, help of Christians, and our Mother in Heaven, pray for us!