Happy Feast of Saint Francis!

The prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

For more on Saint Francis read here and for a great project to do with the kids go here and here. Charlotte over at Waltzing Matilda is chalk full of wonderful and creative ways to celebrate the liturgical feasts with your kids. I was going to do the people cookies, but after a trip to the beach (by myself with the kids. there was a sand sculpture contest. i forgot my camera) and daddy working all weekend, I didn't get the cookie cutters. Sooo, we're going to have to settle with coloring a picture of St. Francis (Charlotte also draws coloring pages that she is willing to share with us) and some animal crackers and milk. Good enough for this year ;) Oh, and we are going to focus on the prayer as our evening prayer this month. Thanks for all the help Charlotte! I think you're pretty darn amazing (especially after seeing that pirate ship cake)! God bless ya! And have a very blessed and happy Feast of St. Francis! y'all!!

Happy Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux!

The rose project will have to wait because our little Luke is in and out of the doctor's office today with breathing treatments and a chest x-ray. He'll be OK, but he needs a little extra TLC. So, in the meantime, here's a quote from one of my favorite saints to ponder:

‎"Love consists in bearing w/ the faults of others, not being surprised at their weakness, in being edified by the smallest acts of virtue we see them practice" - St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese Novena

Five days ago I started praying this Novena for two special intentions. Before she died, St. Therese said, "My mission - to make God loved - will begin after my death, I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses." I've heard from others who have prayed this novena that they received a rose during or at the end of the Novena as a sign . I thought that I would receive something (even in the form of a drawing or a card), but I thought it would maybe be towards the end of the Novena or on her Feast Day, which is October 1st. Well, since I've been praying it, I have received roses twice! She is a beautiful saint in her "little way" and I look forward to celebrating her feast day with my kids on October 1st (not sure what we're going to do yet, maybe make roses and give them to others). If you would like to learn more about St. Therese, you can read about her here.