St Rose of Lime Biscuits/Cookies

Today I made some St Rose of Lima biscuits for her feastday tomorrow (not usually so organized!) pop over to Catholic Cuisine to see how I made them..

Feasts of St Augustine & St Monica

Today we celebrated with dear friends, the feast of St Augustine..no, the double feast of St Augustine and his mother, St Monica.

The highlight of the meal was this cake which focuses upon the famous words of St Ambrose the bishop who said to the distraught St Monica, "A son of so many tears cannot be lost."

The cakes represent the prayerful tears of St Monica, the St Augustine biscuit/cookie on top tells us that he was raised to a bishop and raised to a saint through those prayers and tears.

I have to say it was a YUMMIEST catechetical lesson ever!

Pop on over to Catholic Cuisine to see how I made it and then you may like to read my posting on St Monica, St Augustine and spiritual motherhood over at Spiritual Motherhood for Priests.

Happy Feast Day!

250th Anniversary of William Wilberforce's Birthday

William Wilberforce

Today is the 250th anniversary of William Wilberforce's birthday. William was a was a British Politian a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. His Christian beliefs and ideals underpinned his life and work for good.

I came to know of this heroic man in history through the movie, Amazing Grace. If you have not seen this move yet, bookmark it for an evening viewing in the home, you won't be disappointed! I think what struck me most was the very close parallels between the Abolition movement he led and the Pro-life movement of today.

Both movements believe in the innate dignity and rights of a group of people who in a certain time of history, who have lost both. The struggle to defeat the evil is also similar. Wilberforce believed in allowing people to see images of the suffering slaves and their horrendous, hellish conditions...

Medallion created as part of the anti-slavery campaign by Josiah Wedgwood, 1795

..but sadly the laws were not changed due to any enormous outpouring of sympathy for their plight. It took a law to be made that seemingly at face value, had nothing to do with the slave trade itself, to stop it ~ it took stealth and cunning on behalf of Wilberforce and his parlimentary comrades...it was only afterwards, when people were no longer making money out of the lives of others, that people were prepared to face the horror of it and give it their full condemnation.

Isn't the Pro-life movement like that? To show images of the sad reality of an abortion means you risk being attacked verbally and sometimes physically, it was as if you were the perperator of such evil.. To point out to people how it secretly (and often not so secretly) destroys the lives of the women, is to invite open and virilent scorn. People are not prepared to look at what needs to be done to change their own behaviours, or to look at what they could be doing to support others in need and so abortion continues to thrive...and abortionists continue to make BIG money out of it all.

And so on this 250th anniversary the great grandson of William Wilberforce, Fr Gerard Wilberforce, a Catholic priest in Exeter has written this letter below stating that if his greatgrandfather were alive today he would fight against abortion. HT: Lifesite News

"I am writing as the great great grandson of William Wilberforce, who campaigned vigorously for the ending of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, which ultimately paved the way for the abolition of slavery itself throughout the entire British Empire in 1833.

I am often asked what would be the campaigns Wilberforce would be fighting if he were alive in 21st century Britain. I believe that there would be a number of different issues among them human trafficking and the scourge of drugs. But almost certainly at the top of the list, would be the issue of abortion.

As the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill comes before Parliament over the next few weeks, the opportunity presents itself to amend the abortion Act. With the number of abortions having reached 200,000 per year in the UK alone, the time is right to tighten up the law that was designed to protect women by ending illegal abortion, but never to allow such a high degree of deprived life.

There are great similarities between the status of the foetus and the status of African slaves two centuries ago. Slaves were considered a commodity to do with whatever the vested interests of the day decided. Today, in our desire to play God in our embryology experimentation, with all its' unfulfilled promises of miracle cures, and our decision to abort unwanted children, we are no better that those slave traders who put their interests and world view higher than they placed the sanctity and value of human life.

Most people at the time didn't believe the evil of slavery could ever be defeated, as so much of the economy at the time was dependent on the trade. It's easy for us to think that is the case today with abortion, but I believe William Wilberforce would not take such a view.

Whilst our hearts go out to those who have chosen abortion, there should now be much greater emphasis on the alternatives that exist. Many of us would like to see far more support to those who have made such a significant and difficult decision but whilst we recognise the trauma many women have gone through, we also have a duty to 'Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves' (Proverbs 31).

The Psalmist says 'My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.'

With abortions in the UK reaching 600 a day, it seems to me that the 'secret place', is one of the most dangerous places to be in modern day Britain.

As with my great ancestor, the battle took many years, even decades. But now, with the passage of time we look back in horror at how we devalued human life. I truly believe we will look back in years to come, repent and ask forgiveness for what we let happen to the unborn child.

There is something deeply depressing about a society in which abortion is so easy, yet alternatives such as adoption are made to appear so difficult."

I think William would be comforted to know that he has decendants that recognise the evil in it's day and is prepared to state it for what it is and do something about it.

Dufflepudding around the Dawn Treader...

"The huge single foot of a Monopod acted as a natural raft or boat, and when Reepicheep had taught them how to cut rude paddles for themselves, they all paddled about the bay and round the Dawn Treader, looking for all the world like a fleet of little canoes..."

~ Chapter 11 The Dufflepuds Made Happy

Today the children and I were 'dufflepudding' around the Dawn Treader..our kayak looks like this...

...don't you think that looks like a big Dufflepud foot?

We went down at hightide which for around the Cleveland Point, for a few metres out, is only knee/thigh deep or so. We took in turns, two at a time to paddle around to this....

It would seem that the Dawn Treader is completed! And it looks....fabulous.

I enjoyed seeing the armour breast plate of the Dawn Treader now on, little starfish running up the side of her neck..

The Dawn Treader has now been swung around 180 degrees and now facing the opposite direction than before. She proudly struts over the point, looking out to Stradbroke Island.

We were able to paddle right next to her today, with no security men watching us carefully. It was a great experience to be on the water, feeling the movement of the sea underneath you and looking up at the Dawn Treader..thinking that you are travelling upon the water with her.

You almost expect Lucy to pop her head over the bulwark and mistake you for a sea girl..friends in an instant..(see Chapt 16 The Very End of the World..)

I noticed the helm and on the wheel there was a golden head of Aslan..the trouble is I brought my camera not realising it was not charged and so I missed a great opportunity to take some lovely closeups..my oldest son took these photos using our mobile phone.

The Queenship of Mary

Today is the Marian feast of The Queenship of Mary. We crowned Our Lady and enjoyed a lovely meal together. The Queenship of Mary is a particularly beautiful feast day and one that is fairly new:

"Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But Mary’s queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.

In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen” and Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship.

The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power."

What I notice in particular in that quote is this, "At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever." The throne of David and the Jewish Kings was not one with a married couple reigning as King and Queen, but it was the King's mother who was given the venerable title of Queen.

It was the mother of the King who would interceed on behalf of his subjects. Now if Jesus truly sits upon the throne of David as scripture tells us then Our Lady MUST be His Queen, the Queen who interceeds for us...

Here is our Crown for a Queen Cake from Catholic Cuisine. It was so visually delightful, such a splendid idea for this feast! Pop on over and download the template for the biscuit/cookie shape, it was all very easy to make. I used a white chocolate mud cake recipe for the cake.

I added a Fleur de Lys to the top of the cake as it is a Marian symbol that also represented royality.

We read from My Nameday: Come for Dessert the following beautiful meal prayer.

Father: Come, let us adore Mary's Son, alleluia.

All: O Virgin now our Queen, O'er all creation though dost tower,

And every form of loveliness, In rich abundance is thy dower.

Adorned with merits numberless, Give heed to us as now we sing,

And in thy gladness, pray, accept; The humble homage we would bring.

Father: From the encyclical of Pope Pius XII. From the monuments of Christian antiquity and prayers of the liturgy, in short, from all sides, we have gathered evidence affirming the pre-eminence of the Virgin Mother of God in her royal dignity. By our apostolic authority we have therefore decided to insitute a feast of Mary the Queen which is to be celebrated throughout the world each year on the thirty-first day of May.

All: Thanks be to God.

Before we cut the cake we sang the hymn, Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above, here is the lyrics.

Tonight we were also able to have Fr Pine with us for the first time in celebrating a feast! To see my posting of Fr Pine and his vestments, pop over to my recent thread with lots of photos.

Happy Feastday!

Father Pine

My friend Jennifer over at Wildflowers and Marbles kindly shared her Father Oak to place on her Feast Day Table. If you pop on over you can get the templates for Father Oak and the vestments, all the instructions for making it are there.

Fr Oak is a beautiful way to remember in the domestic church what is taking place inside the Church for Mass each day. The children will very quickly become aquainted with the liturgical seasons and feast days of the year and it is a wonderful opportunity to teach the children what each of the liturgical colours represent.

I've taken the explaination of those colours from this site here.

Jennifer had beautifully sewn her chasubles but since I don't sew I used craft glue and braids/laces to glue along the edges to stop them from fraying. Most of the material I bought was a curtain material with a backing that prevented easy fraying.

My Father is Father Pine, from the wood it was made from. I hope to stain it in the days to come.

Here is the blue chasuble.

I have put a symbol from the Miraculous Medal on the front of the chasuble.

Blue is not an approved liturgical colour except for certain Marian Shrines on marian feastdays. I have made this for the home though to highlight to the children very special Marian feastdays.

The Gold chasuble.

"Gold – Can at times replace red, green and white for added solemnity. Gold denotes majesty and splendor."

The Green chasuble.

"Green – The color of nature, denoting the hope of eternal life. Worn from the 14th of January to Septuagesima Sunday and following the first Sunday after Pentecost to the Saturday preceding Advent."

The Violet chasuble.

The material used with the Violet chasuble is very different from the rest, I wanted something that represented simplicity and austerity connected to preparedness, sacrifice and prayer.

"Violet – Symbolizes sorrow and penance. Violet is worn during Lent and Advent, certain Passion Masses, the blessing of ashes, ember days and other penitential occasions."

The Red chasuble.

"Red – Red is symbolic of blood and fire and is worn during feasts of His precious blood. It is also representative of the Holy Spirit hence it is worn during the week of Pentecost. Red is also worn for feasts of Martyrs, Evangelists and Apostles."

The Rose chasuble.

"Rose – Rose indicates joy and is sometimes worn to symbolize respite or to augment the austerity during penitential seasons on the 3rd Sunday of Advent and the 4th Sunday of Lent."

The White Chasuble.

"White – Sometimes replaced by gold, white symbolizes purity, innocence, rejoicing and light. White is employed during certain periods throughout Christmas and Easter seasons. Also worn on feasts of our Lord, feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, non-Martyred saints, conversion of Paul, Saints John the Apostle and Saint John the Baptist among others. Worn during certain ceremonies such as weddings, baptisms and the burial of children. Also worn during the consecration of churches, altars and bishops."

Below are the chasubles and stoles placed upon Father Pine.

*note, the stole is worn under the chasuble. Having the stole over the top in these photos is for the ladies to see the stole and how it hangs. Each day we would place the stole under the chasuble for the children in the home.

Thank you Jennifer for such a wonderful craft that can be used everyday in the years to come!