St. Catherine of Siena - Pray For Us!

Today is the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena.

Catherine of Siena was one of the greatest women that ever lived. When she was a
little girl, our dear Lord appeared to her. "Please give me your heart," he
asked. She gave it willingly. Jesus gave her His Sacred Heart in return. (Miniature Stories of the Saints by Rev. Daniel A. Lord, S.J.)

On Shrove Tuesday, 1366, while the citizens of Siena were
keeping carnival, and Catherine was praying in her room, a vision of Christ
appeared, accompanied by His mother and the heavenly host. Taking the girl's
hand, Our Lady held it up to Christ, who placed a ring upon it and espoused her
to Himself, bidding her to be of good courage, for now she was armed with a
faith that could overcome all temptations. To Catherine the ring was always
visible, though invisible to others. The years of solitude and preparation were
ended and soon afterwards she began to mix with her fellow men and learn to
serve them. Like other Dominican tertiaries, she volunteered to nurse the sick
in the city hospitals, choosing those afflicted with loathsome diseases—cases
from which others were apt to shrink. (Taken from Lives of Saints, Published by
John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.)

Today I ask her to pray for all the sick. Especially for Buck who started running fever last night, for my mama, who suffers with chronic pain, and for all of those we've promised to pray for.

Thank you Charlotte for another beautiful coloring sheet.

Saint Zita Pray For Us

Today is the feast of St. Zita, Virgin. It is said the sweetness and modesty of the young child charmed everyone who saw her. She spoke little, and was most assiduous at her work; but her business never seemed to interrupt her prayers.

She was brought up with the greatest care, in the fear of God, by her poor virtuous mother, whose early and constant attention to inspire the tender heart of her daughter with religious sentiments seemed to find no obstacles, either from private passions or the general corruption of nature, so easily were they prevented or overcome. Zita had no sooner attained the use of reason, and was capable of knowing and loving God, than her heart was no longer able to relish any other object, and she seemed never to lose sight of him in her actions. Her mother reduced all her instructions to two short heads, and never had occasion to use any further remonstrance to enforce her lessons than to say, "This is most pleasing to God; this is the divine will"; or, "That would displease God." (Butler's Lives of the Saints)

Proverbs 31:31
Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

This woman was orderly and did not waste.

Saint Zita, you loved the Lord your God

as a servant girl you worked and organized.

Through time people saw your saintliness,

help us through work to sanctify our lives.

Taken from Little Flowers Wreath 3

Celebrating with Lions

Hi. Just a quick post of a couple of fun things we're doing today in honor of St. Mark. He is sometimes pictured with a lion because his gospel begins with John the Baptist crying out in the desert, like a lion. He is the patron saint of Venice and his gospel is believed to be the first written. He traveled with Saint Peter and was very close to him. So, after confession today we'll decorate some lion cupcakes while dad grills some red meat....ROAR.... a lion's favorite. I'll also make some Risi e Bisi while the kids begin working on some of their geography sheets I printed from Enchanted Learning. I'll read aloud from our saint books and hopefully we'll start reading his gospel tonight with our night prayers. We'll probably take turns reading about a chapter a night. Have a blessed day :)

Tea, Scones, and Shakespeare

Today is the feast of Saint George, patron saint of England. It's also William Shakespeare's birthday. Therefore, we had an English tea this morning. The girls enjoyed setting the table, while Honeybee and Buck helped me prepare scones. As we enjoyed our tea and scones, Snuggle Bug shared some Emily Dickinson and House Cat read some of our favorite Shakespeare Sonnets.

The scones turned out delicious! This is the recipe we used.

Yummy jams and jellies.

Tea Time!

As the House Cat read Sonnet 116, Buck spoke up and said, "Hey that's from Sense and Sensibility!"
Once we were finished in the kitchen, we moved out front for Saint George and the Dragon. Buck was ready with his knights and horses. The dragon is still hiding from us, somewhere...
Oh, and here's a weapon he made while the scones were cooking. How's that for a catapult?
That mean old dragon better watch out!!! (Notice the ball of dough on the handle? It shoots pretty far :)
Saint George was believed to be born in Palestine and was a Roman soldier. He helped spread the Christian faith to modern day Iran. He visited Britain and is most well know for his legendary slaying of a dragon. In 1415 he was named patron saint of England. Crusaders adopted his red cross on a white background and is still part of the British flag today. Enchanted learning has a British flag to print and color with explanations of the colors and crosses used. I didn't realize the flag of the UK is a combination of the flags of England (the cross of St. George), Scotland (the cross of St. Andrew), and Ireland (the cross of St. Patrick). I should have paid better attention in history class :) Another wonderful benefit of homeschooling - learning things you should already know. I love it and my wonderful family! Thank you God.