10 Favorite Faith Activities

May is a time of year when I reflect on what our family has been doing in life and learning for the past nine months or so and how we might best place our focus for the summer and following fall.

As part a part of that process, I always ask my children about things like they have liked, not liked, want to continue, want to pause, want to try out... I also, sometimes, ask them specific questions.

One I asked this year was, "Which faith-related activities, resources, traditions, or activities did you like the best this year?"

My children's responses surprised me.

I expected to hear about favorite Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas traditions, myriad saint day celebrations, go-to books, videos, and audios, and the like.

Instead, my children said:

1. Mass: "I get to serve and it's really fun." 


Seriously?  I NEVER thought I would hear my oldest call Mass fun! He is the child that was the toughest child at Mass for many, many years and who was my reason for prayer, trust, and reaching out.  

I am so grateful to the former pastor of our church who took a chance on allowing our son to become an altar boy when he still struggled at times with even being at Mass, and I am even more grateful for the grace, mercy, and blessings God has bestowed on us. Serving has made such a difference in my son's life.

If you have a child that is a handful at Mass, be encouraged. He may one day cause your jaw to drop by stating Mass among his top three favorite faith-connected practices.

2. Confession: "I feel like I don't have to worry that I am going to go to h-e-double-hockey-sticks... I feel happy that God has mercy on me."

Again, I was surprised (and delighted!) by another of my oldest's answers to my question.

I did not relish the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a child and did not return regularly to the Sacrament until after I became a mother.

Wanting my children to be steadier in faith than I was, I actively sought out resources to use in teaching each of my children about the Sacrament of Reconciliation before their first Reconciliations and have continued to look for age-appropriate reinforcements about this Sacrament.

I have also, of course, prioritized regular Reconciliation time.

I am so grateful for this Sacrament and the graces it brings, and, now, am grateful for affirmation that my child appreciates it, too.

If you are reluctant to take your children to Reconciliation regularly, please just try it. Then, try it again.  Make a habit of it and, I bet, you'll see a difference in your life.

3. Savoring the Sweetness of Jesus: "I like that it tastes good!"

Hmmm... it would appear that the way to a teen boy's heart - and soul - may not just be through the Sacraments, but through his stomach.We have a tradition in our home of enjoying a sweet treat or snack after Mass as a symbol of "savoring the sweetness of Jesus".  So, of course, my 13-year-old said this was one of his favorite faith-connected things this year. 

4. Altar Serving: "It's fun."

Although my youngest was super-excited to serve at Mass as soon as he'd received his First Communion and was, thus, able to train and serve, he does not - as his big brother sometimes does - ask to serve at Mass when he is not scheduled to do so.  Thus, I have sometimes wondered lately if he truly likes serving or if he does so out of a sense of duty.

I now have my answer, and I could not be happier.

I often pray when my boys are serving at Mass that if they are called to be priests, they will clearly hear and understand their call, and God will guide me in best supporting them.

I also pray that if they are called to other vocations - like marriage - God will make that clear, too, and, if marriage is to be their vocation, that God is already preparing their spouses hearts for them.

Whatever their vocations are to be, I have no doubt that serving Our Lord through serving at Mass is a wonderful way to prepare their hearts for their futures.

5. Saint Day Celebrations: "I usually like the food and hearing stories of saints, especially knights and soldiers!"

I love that my youngest enjoys our saint day celebrations and am not surprised that he particularly likes when we celebrate faith through food, for he does love eating!

If you'd like ideas for celebrating saints, too, we've shared plenty of liturgical living ideas through the years.

6. Our Saint Joseph's Table: "I get to pretend to be baby Jesus and we eat honey-glazed pasta."

We have so enjoyed our St. Joseph's Day feasts through the years, with traditions of enacting the Holy Family, sharing special foods, and praying and playing with friends.

If you've been thinking of trying to start a tradition of faith-connected feasting with friends, I encourage you to mark next St. Joseph's day on your calendar and to plan an easy feast table.

7. Mary Gardens: "We haven't done that this year, though. Can we? (I like it, because) it is not only about faith, but we get to bring home a garden and it blooms around Mary."

My girl knows it Mary's month and reminded me that we have yet to plant a mini-Mary garden. There's still time to do so!  Maybe you'd like to plant one, too.

8. Volunteering at My Brother's Keeper: "We are doing one of the Works of Mercy and it's fun.  I really like going to My Brother's Keeper!"

My Brother's Keeper is such a fabulous organization and my children LOVE living our Works of Mercy by being "Santa's helpers" there each year during Advent.

If you are local to southeastern Massachusetts, do check out My Brother's Keeper as a fantastic charity to support. If you're not, maybe there is a similar place nearby.

9. Going to Events at the Fr. Peyton Place: "I like the the big Rosary walks and stuff there."

We are blessed to live relatively close to Holy Cross Family Ministries and to participate in events there.

The children were excited when Fr. Peyton was named venerable, and I am looking forward to the opening of the new Museum of Family Prayer that will be happening in September.

10. Going to See Relics: "It was really cool when the priests started singing all together and I like going to the relics."

Recently, we went to the St. Jean Vianney Relic Pilgrimage, participating in a beautiful Mass and veneration and being treated to hear a host of priests singing together as they venerated the relic.

St. Jean Vianney's Relic is still on tour, so look at the schedule to see if it will be coming to your area soon.

St. Maximilian Kolbe's relics, the Relics of the Passion, and the Treasures of the Church also made great impressions on my children in the past.

I admit, I never understood anything about relics when I was young and thought they were rather weird and creepy when I first came to now about them. However, I am glad I got over that, because learning about the saints and venerating relics has brought more depth to my children and my understanding of our faith.

If you'd like to know more about venerating relics, both CNA and EWTN provide brief, understandable explanations.

My heart is warmed by my children's answers to my question about which faith-related activities, resources, traditions, or activities they liked best this year since they testify to my children growing in understanding and appreciation of our faith.
I pray that they continue to grow in faith. I pray you and yours to as well.

I also encourage you to ask your children what they've most been enjoying and appreciating when it comes to faith-focused life and learning. Their answers - like those of my children - might come as a pleasant surprise and can also help direct where you put your focus in future months.

10 Ideas for Celebrating the Chair of St. Peter with Children

My youngest son has taken, recently, to looking at our calendar to read what holidays and holy days are coming up. This week, he noticed that February 22 is the feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle. When I asked him what he thought that day is about, my daughter popped up saying, "because St. Peter was the first pope and the chair's a holy relic." My youngest then added that "St. Peter was given God's authority", and popes might have "big power" on the chair.

To a degree, both my daughter and son are right. St. Peter was, indeed, the first pope, and St. Peter's Chair has become a holy relic, which symbolizes, as His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus said, "the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ’s flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity." 

Further, when any pope speaks ex cathedra, which is Latin for "from the chair", his pronouncements are considered to be infallible. That is, indeed, a pretty powerful thing.  

However, "the power" is not really the pope's. It is God's, and the infallible pronouncements of the pope need not to be made when sitting on the actual physical Chair or St. Peter (or when seated at all for that matter.) Rather, when a pope speaks "from the chair", it is a figurative thing, which means that the pope is drawing on the fullness of authority granted him as a successor to St. Peter in offering teachings made about particular matters pertaining to faith and morals. So, not everything  the pope says is infallible and that which is given as infallible need not be proclaimed when seated on the chair.

That means that on January 22, when we celebrate the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, we are not so much celebrating a physical chair as we are recognizing the specialness -or primacy, of Peter and his successors - and recalling the authority God granted them in their mission to shepherd us - the Church - with their pastoral power. 

As we think about the symbolism of the Chair of St. Peter, we reflect upon the love, presence, and protection of Christ for us - the Church - as demonstrated in the special role Christ gave to St. Peter and his successors.

So How Do We Celebrate the Chair of St. Peter with Children?

1.  Look at the Chair of St. Peter and chat about its symbolism.
Take children on a virtual tour of the Chair of St. Peter by looking at various images of the actual piece of furniture encased in an ornate sculpture by Bernini located in the apse of St. Peter’s Basilica, and, then, discuss how this monumental physical object represents an even more stupendous spiritual authority.

2.  Have fun with measurements. 
Refer to the Catholic Encyclopedia, which states that the original seat:

"...is about one foot ten inches above the ground, and two feet eleven and seven-eighths inches wide; the sides are two feet one and one-half inches deep; the height of the back up to the tympanum is three feet five and one-third inches; the entire height of the chair is four feet seven and one-eighth inches. According to the examination then made by Padre Garucci and Giovanni Battista de Rossi, the oldest portion ... is a perfectly plain oaken arm-chair with four legs connected by cross-bars. The wood is much worm-eaten, and pieces have been cut from various spots at different times, evidently for relics. To the right and left of the seat four strong iron rings, intended for carrying-poles, are set into the legs..."

Then, get out measuring tools and - perhaps cardboard boxes - and measure out the dimensions of the original chair after taking a peak at what the chair looked like.

3.  Try an instant challenge.  It could also be fun to give children various materials such as popsicle sticks, toilet paper tubes, address labels, etc. and to see if they can create four-legged arm chairs with cross bars within a specified amount of time and, then, with further supplies, make it more grand and ornate during a second session of time. (We did a similar thing once making "Sabbath Chairs" as a design challenge.)

4.  Make edible chairs!
Alternately, you could provide cookies, crackers, nut butters, and more and challenge children to design edible chairs, much like Tracy at A Slice of Smith Life does annually. Alternately, you could make healthier fruit salad chairs like the ones on Catholic Cuisine.

While making chairs or enjoying some nibbles, chat about the successors to St. Peter, thinking about what Fr. Steve Grunrow says in "Why in the World Do Catholics Celebrate a Chair":

"Many men have been seated in the “chair” of Saint Peter over the centuries.  Some were saints, others scoundrels, and many more barely left any impression on the Church at all.

In the end, what is important about the papacy is not the individuals who have served as successors of St. Peter, great or infamous as they might be, but the enduring testimony to the Lord Jesus that the mission and ministry of the popes represent: 'And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.'"

5.  Discuss St. Peter as the Rock on which the church was built.
You might view the following talk about this and, then, chat about it:





While discussing Peter as the rock, and, then, his successors, it might also be lovely to pause and pray for the pope and his intentions.

{Disclosure: Some of the links which follow are affiliate ones. Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

6.  Cuddle up with a picture book.  There are plenty of quality picture books about St. Peter out there.  One of my favorites during this time of year is Follow Me: Peter Lays Down His Net (which is currently 57% off at Amazon).  

It does not tell of St. Peter as the first pope, but, rather uses beautiful illustrations and child-friendly text to retell the Gospel stories about Jesus' death and resurrection as framed by the relationship between Jesus and Peter.  In the book, we witness how Peter willingly followed Jesus, then denied Christ, but, ultimately, was forgiven and, then, chose to fully embrace Christ's love and to carry on in Jesus' footsteps by telling others about Him and serving in His name.

The story is an affirming one which reminds us that Jesus loves and forgives each of us and wants us to be with Him forever.

7.  Draw a rooster. 
When retelling the story of Peter and Jesus' relationship, we hear of how Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed. We also hear of how he affirmed his love for Christ three times upon Christ's resurrection. You may wish to chat about this while drawing roosters, reminding children that, like Peter, we all deny Jesus through our words, actions, and failings at times, but, also, like Peter, we can all make amends and affirm our love for Jesus, basking in Christ's mercy and love. 

We did just this very thing last week as a part of our AMP club activities and it went beautifully.

You can connect the chat even more with this feast day by discussing how Peter went from being a fisherman to a fisher or men, to denying, to reaffirming, and, finally, to being Christ's successor here on earth, sitting in the Chair of Peter spreading God's Word and sharing His love.

8.  Eat chicken or rockfish.Along the same lines, you could also serve any sort of chicken dish. 

For my meat eaters, I was thinking of serving chicken sandwiches cut into heart shapes to remind us of Peter's denial followed by forgiveness and love.  Or, you could go with rockfish (as suggested at Catholic Cuisine) since St. Peter was a fisherman and the rock on which the church was built.

Remember, today is not so much about the Chair of St. Peter itself but of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to keep Jesus' flock united in faith and charity.

9.  Make some keys.
A common symbol of St. Peter is keys - the keys to the kingdom.  So, another activity might be crafting simple keys for costuming as my son did last All Saints Day or, better yet, because children love faith through food, making keys out of cookie dough, pancake batter, or bread dough.

10.  Play Commissioned.  If you have children that like games, Commissioned by Chara games includes St. Peter in it and is a game my children enjoy and recommend.

Or, let your children's interests take the lead, tailoring activities and edibles to their preferences and using what you do as a fun way to connect and share meaningful conversation and teaching about the significance Chair of St. Peter.

I'd love to hear how you celebrate the day, so, if you have a chance, pop on over to the Training Happy Hearts Facebook page or leave a comment here to share. Thanks!

Walking Down Memory Lane with St. Nina, "Mother of Georgia"

Tonight, I've been taking a walk down memory lane, looking back at how we've observed St. Nina's feast day since our family re-committed to celebrating each of our Name Days and enjoyed our first St. Nina family feast in 2013. 

That year, our annual celebrations kicked off in a rather smoky kitchen, because, sometimes, new recipes don't cook up quite the way you expect them to do so.

Still, we enjoyed learning more about St. Nina and tasting dishes inspired by the cuisine of the Republic of Georgia.

Since, then, we've continued to mark St. Nina's feast day with prayers, food, and celebration each year.

In 2014, we did so as a family.

First, though, the children practiced practical life skills, climbing up to the kitchen sink...

...to work as a team, freeing delicious pomegranate seeds.

One also concentrated on slicing cucumbers...

.... to make a traditional Georgian salad,

... while another sliced and dicde mushrooms...

.... for a Georgian-inspired dish.

Still, a third happily chopped walnuts...

...to candy and enjoy.

Then, they all helped prepare traditional corn bread...

...bean dishes, and more,

which all resulted in a full spread Georgian-inspired dishes to enjoy together...

...after prayer, finding where St. Nina may have been born and where she traveled to...

... and giving our own Nina her very own homemade "book" about St. Nina, because she had been asking why we don't have any books about her name saint. 

{Disclosure: Some of the links that follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}

We have since found two published children's books for our girl:

Saints Lives and Illuminations contains a St. Nina page...

...and The Life of Saint Nina is an entire rhyming children's book about her!

In 2015, we had a lot going on right before St. Nina's feast day and could not do much preparation, but that did not keep us from celebrating our girl's beloved name saint.

We just had to get a little creative about food choices, which resulted in us making a makeshift "St. Nina Cross" our of gluten-free toast...

... to eat with preserves (popular in Georgia) and sides of grapes (because St. Nina had a grapevine cross) and salad with walnuts and pomegranates (because both of these are common in Georgian cuisine).

A simple meal served on special dishes made everyone happy!

In 2016, we again found ourselves scrambling, trying to fit a feast day celebration in between pre-scheduled commitments, so we went even simpler - and delectably sweet!

You can never go wrong with sundaes made with blue and red berries (since St. Nina is often depicted in these colors) and walnuts (since St. Nina is considered the "mother of Georgia", having converted many there to Christianity, and walnuts are popular in Georgian cuisine.)

Yes, our sundaes were a hit!

Then, last year, in 2017, we had to go even simpler for St Nina's Day.

Nana was quite ill, so we traveled to see her one last time, and, thus, our typically festive St. Nina Day observances were put on hold.  Basically, we recalled the day, with a simple, "It's your Name Day," and prayer with our girl and allowed her to indulge in a rare treat of potato chips (because salty fried potatoes are common in the Republic of Georgia) as a happy "high" on an otherwise mostly low day when we were making prayerful and emotional goodbyes to our Nana.  

Nana passed but a week later  -  God rest her soul - and we would appreciate continued prayers as the first anniversary of her passing nears.  Thank you.

We also invite you to join us in praying for the intercession of St. Nina:

St. Nina, like you, 

may we endure hardships with faith, 

be a healing balm to others, spiritually and physically,

and glorify God in all we do and say,

growing in holiness.

Also like you, may we have a transforming effect on others through our witness. 
St. Nina, please intercede for us 

that God may save our souls.

If you would like to know more about St. Nina, visit our St. Nina Name Day post from 2013, where you'll find more information and links and, also, view this brief video, which offers a summary of St. Nina's life:

We'd love to hear your favorite prayers, resources, recipes, and traditions related to St. Nina and wish you a blessed ad beautiful St. Nina feast day.

St. Nina, pray for us.

Epiphany - Traditions and Transformation

Happy Epiphany!

Today, our home is a mess, we're still buried in snow, and the rest of life seems perfectly imperfect, too.  However, that did not prevent us from celebrating the Epiphany!  In fact, our traditions carried us through all the imperfection to embrace this wonderful feast day.

Mass

Our morning, of course, started with Mass, where we were blessed to hear a meaningful homily that reminded us that "God sees our sacrifices - big or small - as gifts" and also that "every good gift God gives us us given o us for a reason - to share."  We are "given a healing balm to give one another" and are encouraged to "take what we receive and go out to give it to others."  Mercy.  Grace.  Consolation.  Dignity. Joy.  All this is given.  All this is meant to be shared.

Symbolic Eats

I would love to make beautiful, tasty, elaborate feast day meals as some families do, but between life's busyness and all of our different dietary needs and preferences here, most traditional recipes just don't work for us.  So, we've developed our own repertoire of symbolic simple eats for feast days, and, today that meant our now-traditional simple "donut stable", gifts from the Magi, and star.

This year our gold was eggs; our frankincense was cashews with cinnamon (thus aromatic and reminding us of the sweet smell of incense); and our myrrh was baby kale (which we know is not a healing oil, but which is good for the body!)

Our star this year was made with defrosted blueberries and pineapple pieces.

We also had rich ruby kingly juice for the kids and golden mango-honey smoothies for Mom and Dad.

Before the meal, of course, we prayed, then, we used the food and decor to prompt a chat about the story and significance of the Magi visiting Baby Jesus to pay homage.

Books, Books, Books (and Figurine Puppets)

{Disclosure: Some of the links that follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at not extra cost to you.}

No feast day here ever seems to pass without some reading, and, today, we had a stack of books to choose from and, thus, as he children ate second and third portions of our symbolic eats, we began a mini-marathon with picture books.

First came The Christmas Baby which takes a few liberties with the nativity story, but also has a sweet message at its end about smiling back with God's own smile.  I read this to the children as my pick because it reminded me of the homily we had heard and how no matter what we have been gifted with - even something as small as a smile - it can bring great joy to share it.

Then, we moved onto one of the children's favorites, Humphrey's First Christmas.  Oh, how I love to hear my children laugh at the story and illustrations as the camel Humphrey attempts to get what he wants at the beginning of this story - a blanket.  And, oh, how I love the quiet beauty that descends when we read how Humphrey ends up finding finding true warmth as he gives his blanket to Baby Jesus.  Plus, the book ties in so nicely with the just-passed feast day for he Holy Name of Jesus.

After that, the children asked for "the one we always read": Three Wise Kings.  We just LOVE this classic story which we now own in the Joy to the World collection.

  

  

Next up, we browsed They Followed a Bright Star and The Third Gift, which we'd read earlier in the week, recalling how the former title helped us think of people Jesus would come into contact with later in his life (even as it made us question why anyone would wait to encounter Jesus) and how the latter one helped us imagine what it was like for a boy who collects myrrh and how myrrh was once used.

By then, the children were done eating and ready to gather more closely around beautiful images, so we inspected the Giotto fresco of the Adoration of the Magi and read the accompanying text in The Glorious Impossible.

... and did the same in The Life of Jesus.

We then revisited The Little Boy's Christmas Gift, which has become a perennial favorite for us, with beautiful illustrations and a reminder that we each have something we can offer, and, sometimes, even the bits and bobs others take no notice of, can become wonderful gifts we share to make Jesus smile.

Finally, we enjoyed the illustrations of We Three Kings while singing the carol in the book.

During some of these readings, the children also began acting out stories using our figurines as puppets - with reminders to be careful!

Procession

After story time, it was time for the children to process, singing, to place our Magi figures in our nativity sets. 

Each of them was eager to do this, and it made me smile, savoring the moment as I snapped a few pictures, wondering if a time will come when they will feel too big for such traditions.

Luckily, that time has not yet come.

Dramatization

Also, o my amusement, they are not too old to enjoy other little traditions of ours, it seems.  For, before I knew it, one child had upturned a stool, gotten a baby doll and other props and called to siblings to enact the Magi coming to give Jesus tribute.

As they knelt in character, I asked them each to step out of character and to share a gift they have that they might offer others this year.  

They had their own ideas for gifting forward, of course.  

My Mama's heart, though, thought, Your smiles.  Your joy.  Those alone are such a gift when shared.

Priceless!

Pause

Magi near Jesus.

Baby Jesus gifted with even a blanket from a camel.

Action stopped for a short period of quiet and reflection (and, okay, some watching of football for dad and he boys!)

Chalking the Doors

Then, finally, it was time to take the chalk we'd asked our priest to bless after Mass, some printouts from Rosary Bay (meant for a priest to lead, but adapted for home use), and Holy Water to bless our home.

Of course, doing just the front door was not enough for my children.  One wanted to do every door and even swung on a trapeze to complete her work.

And, so it was, we celebrated this Epiphany and now move forward, knowing, as our priest reminded us this morning, that "the work of Christmas begins when the 12 Days of Christmas end."  It is time to be transformed by our encounter with Christ and to live in relationship with Him, loving Him and one another by gifting forward. How might we choose, moment by moment, thought by thought, word by word, action by action, to live like those who have been in the presence of Our Lord?

Praying your Epiphany was filled with blessings and delight and that you are ready to go out into the world, transformed by your encounter with Christ.