as cozy as spring

In God's Hands

Perfect Easter eggs in a Northern Cardinal nest.  Happy Easter friends!  (I miss you!)

The Gospel and the Oscars

"Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.  They do not work or spin.  But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them."  

None of those dresses could hold a candle to these.

Three

A very early morning tea (or hot chocolate depending)...

While killing time at the bookstore last night I found St. Francis and the Nativity.  It was really quite lovely and fitting as we put up our own Nativity set yesterday.  

I used this sopapilla recipe.  I do not fry anything well nor do I have any fondness for sopapillas, but these were amazing and they were eaten as fast as I could make them. We did add cinnamon and sugar and the children loved shaking them in the little paper bag.

 

 

Advent Tea: Week Two

This week it's gingerbread for tea time.  Activity and menu all in one!  I have a St.Nicholas cookie cutter which I found at the St. Nicholas Center (they shipped very quickly too).  We'll take our prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours and readings from Magnifikid.  We'll discuss the feast days coming up this next week: St. Nicholas and the Immaculate Conception.

Books for this week:

• The Miracle of St. Nicholas my number one most favorite picture book evereverever.  Everyone I know cries at the end of this book.  I am no exception.
• The Nativity: Mary Remembers
• Merry Christmas Strega Nona
• Country Angel Christmas

I'll add many more in, but these are specially chosen for this week.

We add different greenery to the wreath each week.  Last week it was holly and rosemary.  This week it's fir branches.  

Advent Tea: Week One

Friendly reader Kathy inquired about the Advent teas that have kind of evolved over the last few years.  It's down to a fairly good formula now but I still am having trouble gathering it all in one post.  These aren't elaborate celebrations.  We have a simple refreshment, perhaps a small activity, some liturgically appropriate music, we light the candle and pray together.  Advent is a hectic time of year for everyone, but with our ballet obligations it's become increasingly difficult and increasingly important for us to carve out just a few moments of peace together. That being said, I will try to post about our plans the week prior on Wednesday.  So here are our plans for week one:

Menu: Tea, shortbread, oranges.  The first Sunday usually falls very near the feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, hence the shortbread.  I make a pretty darn good shortbread myself, but my son prefers the Walkers Christmas shaped shortbread.  As it was one of the few cookies he could eat for the first 5 years of his life, we defer to him.  He looks forward to these all year.

Activity: Pomanders which simply require cloves and oranges (and maybe a thimble).  These adorn our Advent wreath. 

Little Treat: To emphasize the concept of watchful waiting, I package a single paper white bulb for each of my children to watch grow through Advent.  I also try to have the last batch of bulbs in the fridge by the first Sunday of Advent to plant on Epiphany and enjoy in February.

We will also read a selection or two from our Christmas books.  I just grabbed All for the Newborn Baby and A Medieval Christmas from the stack.  These will all be repeated several times through the month.

Litany of the Saints

A beautiful Litany of the Saints for today.  We're rushing off to Mass.

October 16, 1978

 

St. Francis de Sales on Anxiety - Again

"I recommend to you holy simplicity.  Look straight in front of you and not at those dangers you see in the distance.  As you say, to you they look like armies, but they are only willow branches; and while you are looking at them you may take a false step.  Let us be firmly resolved to serve God with our whole heart and life.  Beyond that, let us have no care about tomorrow.  Let us think only of living today well, and when tomorrow comes, it also will be today and we can think about it then.  In all this we must trust and be resigned to God's providence."

-From the Golden Counsels of St. Francis de Sales, a gift from my sister for which I am very grateful.  If only I could get this to sink in...

Faith in Art

I had the privilege of spending yesterday afternoon with a friend of my father's, Brother Martin of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. I was initially a bit nervous and intimidated, but the subject quickly turned to photography and how he uses his incredible artistic talent in his vocation.  He gave me permission to link to his gallery and even to share a few photos here*.  The subjects include a reenactment of the Stations of the Cross and gorgeous faith-filled faces he's encountered in his travels.  These are probably my two favorites, but they are all magnificent. 

I'm so grateful that he shared these with me and so happy I can share them with you!

*That's right.  My blog came up and he asked to read it. Can you imagine the dizziness I felt as I tried to recall the last goofy thing I wrote?  

St. Francis de Sales on Anxiety

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before but it's one I repeat to myself often as I'm prone to freak out over every little thing.  

Anxiety arises from an unregulated desire to be delivered from any pressing evil, or to obtain some hoped-for good. Nevertheless nothing tends so greatly to enchance the one or retard the other as over-eagerness and anxiety. Birds that are captured in nets and snares become inextricably entangled therein, because they flutter and struggle so much.

Therefore, whensoever you urgently desire to be delivered from any evil, or to attain some good thing, strive above all else to keep a calm, restful spirit,--steady your judgment and will, and then go quietly and easily after your object, taking all fitting means to attain thereto. By easily I do not mean carelessly, but without eagerness, disquietude or anxiety; otherwise, so far from bringing about what you wish, you will hinder it, and add more and more to your perplexities. "My soul is alway in my hand, yet do I not forget Thy Law," (1) David says.

Read the whole passage here.  I'm so happy to have these online.  I can't find my favorite book right now.