My Daybook ~ 2nd Week of Advent

For Today ~ Monday, December, 7th 2009.

Outside my window ~ Cloudly. The snow has melted. The kids were soooo excited to see it on the ground Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time it snowed here in Alabama in early December!

I'm thinking of ~ How wonderful life is when you live the liturgical year. There's Always something to look forward to. Always something to help you grow to be the person God has created you to be. We are definitely back to staying "Busy With Our Blessings!" Thank you Jesus for that!

~Liturgical Year Living ~

Sunday Dec 6th - The Second Sunday of Advent and The Feast of St. Nicholas.

The kids slippers were still like new from last year so I had them put them outside their bedroom doors before bed. The "spirit" of St. Nick was in the house last night leaving coins and goodies in their slippers. Just like St. Nicholas used to do to help those in need. His coins were real - ours were chocolate :) Each child also had a book placed under their shoes :

I just LOVE this book that we use in the atrium! I'm so glad to have added a copy of it to our library. Buck likes his "Battle for Heaven" book and we all enjoyed the new Veggie Tales DVD. We had a little family movie time watching it and Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa. Another of our favorites. The Housecat and Snuggle Bug got these beautiful books I found at Dollar Tree with these beautiful Christian notepads.

Monday Dec 7 ~ Saint Ambrose ~

St. Ambrose is also known as the "Honey-Tongued Doctor," a pun on the saint's
name (the word for honey in Latin is ambrosia); his preaching was said to be
mellifluous, as sweet as flowing honey. Also according to legend, when Ambrose
was a baby, a swarm of bees settled on his mouth, an omen that he would be a
great orator. St. Ambrose is the patron of bee keepers, bees, candlemakers,
domestic animals, learning, Milan Italy, and students. He is often depicted with
a beehive or bees in his iconography, symbols which also indicate wisdom. (Taken from Catholic Culture)

We'll read the story from Once upon a time Saints about Saint Ambrose. You could also make ambrosia fruit salad today. My mom made some for Thanksgiving and it was so yummy :)

Many people make a Christ Candle today. Jessica has a great post on this. You could also try your hand at candle making.

I haven't gotten our Christmas Candle yet. There are soooo many things to learn about living the liturgical year! I don't mind though - I love to learn. I hope I'm instilling this in our children as well.

Tuesday Dec 8 ~ Feast of The Immaculate Conception ~

We celebrate the sublime privilege by which Mary, alone among all human beings
and in virtue of the future merits of Christ, was preserved at the very first
moment of conception from the stain of original sin. It is true, of course, that
in origin and in principle this great feast does not have any relationship with
the time of Advent. It was fixed on December 8 in order to separate the feast by
nine months from the date of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on September 8.
However, in celebrating this feast we may easily enter into the spirit of
Christmastide, for the feast is like the dawn of the Sun of Christmas. Mary is
our hope, guide, and mother along the path of salvation. (Catholic Culture)

Cover your Christ Candle with a blue cloth today. Leave it covered until Christmas Eve. Go to Mass if not on the vigil.

Wednesday, Dec. 9 ~ Saint Juan Diego ~

I'll pull out these tilmas the kids made last year and we'll watch this video about him. I also hope to start making a pinata to have for our mexican celebration on Saturday.

Thursday, Dec. 10 ~ Our Lady of Loreto~

Sweet were the days the Blessed Virgin Mary spent with Saint
Joseph and the Holy Child in their modest little home. Their life within the
clay walls was affluent with poverty, resonant with silence, and illustrious in
humility. "Her actual life, both at Nazareth and later, must have been a very
ordinary one..." said Saint Therése, the Little Flower of Jesus, who once
visited the Holy House. "She should be shown to us as someone who can be
imitated, someone who lived a life of hidden virtue, and who lived by faith as
we must." This beautiful and much needed lesson of extraordinary sanctity in
very ordinary circumstances, is precisely what the humble and Holy House of
Loreto bespeaks to us.

A Year With God has a wonderful activity to accompany The Litany of Loreto.

Saturday, Dec.12 ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe~

How about a fiesta? Enchiladas, tacos, Mexican wedding cookies (a fav.of my honey) and a pinata for the kids. One day I hope to see Saint Juan Diego's tilma.

Sunday Dec.13 ~Third Sunday of Advent and Saint Lucy ~

Make St. Lucia crowns. Here's a picture from Shower of Roses celebration. If time permits Saturday, we'll try making this beautiful braided bread crown for Sunday breakfast. Maybe we'll even wake the troops with the candlelight:)

We are reading ~ Lots of great books from Christmas Mosaic. Also, The House Cat, Snuggle Bug and I are reading Beautiful Girlhood together. We are thankful to have been asked to be a part of this bible study. We met yesterday and had a wonderful time! I was surprised and blesssed by the girls sharing.

May we all be blessed abundantly as we live the week for God!

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