Friday, May 28, 2021

June novena plans!

 

Happy Friday friends! Just a short post this week to let you know that I have a few community novenas planned for June, and they are all linked in the new June Novenas page! By community novenas I simply mean that we can all pray for each other and our intentions, and use the opportunity to espy upcoming feast days. ;-) So for June, we have an overlapping novena situation, fun! The Sacred Heart of Jesus novena begins next Wednesday June 2nd, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary novena begins Thursday June 3rd. I simply couldn't pick one over the other, wouldn't you agree? :-) I look forward to praying along with all of you! If you'd like to leave prayer intentions in the comments, feel free! 

That's really the big news for this week. I will be announcing official Summer Book Club plans soon, perhaps as soon as next Friday, if I can get myself organized enough. I will of course leave plenty of time for people to acquire the book and begin reading before our discussion times will begin! I'm definitely looking forward to that this summer, I really got a lot out of our St. Catherine of Siena read -along for Lent. I pretty much credit her for my keeping up with 1-2 segments of the Liturgy of the Hours daily since Holy Week!

I've been doing a bit of crafting. I'm currently working on a cabled messenger style bag, and am about to finish up the body and graft it shut, I think I have maybe 5ish more rounds to go?

Sideways picture, because my phone insists it's better that way 🙄

This weekend I'm planning to cast on for the new National Parks hat (this month it's Big Bend!) and maybe start a pair of socks! Things are looking bright going into the summer. How are you all doing this last weekend of May? Don't forget to leave prayer intentions in the comments!

Friday, May 21, 2021

Confirmation saints and lots of tears...

Church of St. John the Evangelist (2014), Flickr, CC BY ND 2.0

Happy Friday everyone! I hope that this final week in the Easter season is treating you well. :) I've been keeping up with the Liturgy of the Hours for Morning and Evening Prayer, and I'm excited to move back to the Ordinary Time volume with lots of summer saint feasts coming out way!

Speaking of patron saints, my Henry is preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in June, and I cannot quite believe that this has happened so quickly. Our diocese administers confirmation in 10th grade, so it's like...😳 I still picture him with his blanket lovey, wanting to sleep in our room. Now...well, he doesn't want to do that anymore. :-0 And he's HUGE, the tallest person in the family! This all is the topic of my piece for Catholic Mom for May

*heart*

Emotions aside, I've been guiding him through selecting a patron saint name, and also selecting a sponsor. He has selected St. Maximilian Kolbe as his patron, who has always been one of his favorites. 

*explosion of hearts*

I remember reading his story to Henry countless times when he was little and we still did our saint story time. I'm so delighted that he selected St. Maximilian as his patron! And for his sponsor, there is a happy little anecdote...

Growing up, I was raised Catholic, despite only my mom being an active Catholic. My dad had been baptized in a Protestant church, but didn't attend church services of any kind. When I was in high school, he became interested in a parish that opened on indigenous land near us, as my dad's heritage is half Mohawk. We started going to Mass there, faithfully offered by a local Barnabite community, and a few years later, my dad decided to become Catholic. My dad is a real quiet, reserved kind of a guy, and the priest let him enter the Church in a private ceremony rather than with the larger group at the Easter vigil, becuase he knew that my dad would be more comfortable with this. At the Mass, I remember assuming that my dad had picked St. Andrew as his confirmation patron (and what a worthy one!), as that was his grandfather's name. So when Father announced that my dad had picked (at that time, Blessed) Kateri Tekakwitha as his patron, I felt both a rush of surprise, and also an immediate sense of: "YES, this is the perfect choice." My dad's Mohawk heritage is a very important part of his identity, and St. Kateri is the absolute ideal patron for him. I remember so vividly how powerfully emotional that Mass was to me, even as a teenager not so interested in matters of faith, and Father's tears of joy when he welcomed my dad into the Church.

And so when I approached Henry about selecting a confirmation sponsor, I asked if he had anyone in mind, and mentioned that they should be an adult who actively practices their Catholic faith. I suggested both of his Godparents, who are my younger sister and a good friend of ours who also teaches with Mike, and also my dad. Henry surprised me by picking my dad, and I once again experienced the immediate feeling of rightness. My dad is the *perfect* confirmation sponsor for Henry! Our confirmation saints continue to work blessings in our life all of these years later. 

I am feeling so lifted up by all of this lately. Henry will be confirmed on June 20th, and we're all looking forward to this so much! Finally, I continue to plan in the background for a low key Summer Book Club. What I'm thinking is that we'll have a post every 2-3 weeks rather than every single week, and we'll take the entire summer to move our way through. I can plan more once the book is officially picked and I know how long it is. We'll be reading one of Louis de Wohl's historical fiction books based on the lives of the saints, and so far we have 2 votes for St. Francis of Assisi, and 1 each for St. Helena or St. Joan of Arc. Feel free to comment with your pick! I'll announce the title after Memorial Day weekend. :)

Friday, May 14, 2021

Crafty updates, and book club voting still open!

 Hi all! So, last Saturday, I was wrapping up the online fitness class I take on those mornings, shutting down my laptop, when suddenly I had a thought...

"What day is it?! Wait, I just did body sculpt, it's Saturday. Did I post on the blog yesterday? Was yesterday Friday?! Yes, I *think* it was Friday. But...NO I DID NOT POST ON THE BLOG YESTERDAY, UGH!"

😂

As is the pandemic norm, keeping track of the days of the week is just not a *thing* right now. Additionally, last Friday, Anne was sick and stayed home from school, so I was all thrown off, home and taking care of here when I had originally planned to go into the office. Getting a transition routine up and running, with being back in the office two days a week, has certainly been a challenge as it's such a big change, and things are just still so wonky with pretty much everything. We're getting there! So I thought we could have a bit of a two-week-in-review post today. First, let's talk books!

Summer Book Club! I've gotten a few votes for St. Francis of Assisi, and a few people who mentioned that they would be happy to read about any of the saints, but there's still time to cast your vote! We'll read one of Louis de Wohl's historical fiction novels based on the lives of the saints. Just leave a comment on the post with your choice!

I've started a new non-fiction selection that Mike got me for Mother's Day...


...about the code breakers in World War II. I love it so far! I'm trying to do less mindless scrolling on my phone these days, especially before bed, and more reading of actual books. For my fiction option, I'm currently reading the latest in the Amish Candy Shop series:


Loving it! This is one of my very favorite cozy fiction authors. I've also been knitting, and finished up the April National Parks hat, this one themed on Death Valley in the springtime:

Death Valley, by Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich

I'm also knitting a cabled bag, which is definitely in a very wonky stage right now!

Quin Cabled Bag pattern is free!

And in news unrelated to literally anything else, I got another ear piercing, this time a cartilage piercing called a Daith piercing, and I absolutely love it (if pictures of ears gross you out, keep scrolling!): 


I just needed a little something different to keep my spirits refreshed. I love ear piercings, I think they're so beautiful!

All right, that's my update! Everyone in the family is doing well, and we're all looking forward to school wrapping up and experiencing the summer! How are you doing?! Don't forget to let me know your Summer Book Club selection in the comments if you haven't done so already!