Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Explaining the Immaculate Conception to Kids (and Adults): 2011

Colored by my daughter, Cupcake #1

Thank you Lacy at Catholic Icing for another great free resource about the Catholic faith!  Here is an explanation by Lacy about her beautiful drawing on the Immaculate Conception:   

Symbolism in this picture includes Mary in the womb of St. Anne (wearing her signature veil). St. Anne and Mary both have their backs turned towards the apple tree to visually state that Mary was conceived without original sin. There are 3 beams of light coming down from the sun that stand for the trinity. Also, the snake (Satan) is unhappy about what has happened here.

On  Dec. 8, Catholics around the world celebrate another beautiful feast day, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.  What does this mean?  Many Catholics and non-Catholics mistakenly think that this day celebrates when Mary miraculously conceived Jesus, however this feast day refers to Mary being conceived without original sin.
There are so many great articles and resources to explain this doctrine.  One article I found, "Advent- The Immaculate Conception", does a beautiful job on how to explain such a teaching to young children.  I include the link to the article for myself to refer back to for my children, but if you have time to read it, I hope you too will be blessed by it in some way.  Today also concludes the Immaculate Conception Novena that I blogged about HERE.

Here is a short video with a priest explaining the Immaculate Conception:


I plan to let my children watch another great CCC movie titled, Bernadette-The Princess of Lourdes .  See below for an explanation from the CCC website about the graces this beautiful young girl received from God and our Blessed Mother in 1858...



BERNADETTE - THE PRINCESS OF LOURDES
It’s February 11, 1858. Three girls from Lourdes, France, gather firewood in front of a grotto. Suddenly one of them, Bernadette Soubirous, 14, drops to her knees, gazes ecstatically at something beautiful only she can see, and starts to pray. Soon the town buzzes: Has Bernadette, poor, sickly, and always behind in school, really seen a Lady from Heaven? The police chief is angry, the pastor busy, and the crowd amused, but Bernadette is calm and brave. Then a spring bubbles up from nowhere and withered arms and sightless eyes are cured. At last, the Lady tells Bernadette her name: “I am The Immaculate Conception.”
BERNADETTE, THE PRINCESS OF LOURDES, is the exciting true story of a visit by the Queen of Heaven that left all the world a source of health for body and soul.

Then on Thursday, Dec. 9, we will celebrate Saint Juan Diego's feast day by watching the CCC video, Juan Diego-Messenger of Guadalupe.   See below for a summary from CCC about this video and Juan Diego's true story.

JUAN DIEGO - MESSENGER OF GUADALUPE
In 1591 Juan Diego found himself between two worlds…that of the Spanish conquerors and that of his own Aztec heritage. Because of his love for his people and his strong faith, Juan Diego turned to Jesus and His Mother, Mary for help in uniting his people. The answer to Juan Diego’s prayers has become one of the greatest events in the history of the Americas.
JUAN DIEGO, MESSENGER OF GUADALUPE is the true story of how the Blessed Mother chose a hero for a key role in a beautiful miracle that would united diverse peoples and change the course of history.
In the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City the miracle of the tilma of Juan Diego may still be seen, just as it was seen by the bishop in 1531.

Lacy at Catholic Icing  has a great post on the feast day of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe here.  I love all the resources she has for this feast day!  (can you tell I am a BIG fan of Lacy's site and CCC with all my links to them? )

I can't say enough good things about CCC and their saints and heroes 11 DVD collection and all their other resources!  My children watch these DVDs over and over again no matter what feast day it is!


No Ordinary Blog Hop

5 comments:

Lisa Boyle said...

Thank you for such a beautiful post! I just love Lacy's site, as well. What a great coloring page to really explain the Solemnity to our younger ones. I am going to use it with my kiddos tomorrow!

At the Vigil Mass tonight, the celebrant talked about the confusion between the Annunciation and the feast of the Immaculate Conception. I like how he said that Mary's conception was a validation of the beauty of married love and that the sexual act between married people is a beautiful, wonderful thing and that the Mother of our Lord came from such an act. He said a lot of other wonderful things, but I really like how he tied in the importance of marriage and how highly the Lord always looked upon it.

Happy Feast of our Lady to you and your family!
God bless,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
Thank you for stopping by to comment! I love Lacy's coloring page and will be using it again tomorrow too! :)
What a beautiful homily you received at Mass tonight and a beautiful way to tie in the sacredness of marriage and the marriage act!
Happy Feast of our Lady to you also and your family!

LeAnn said...

I love learning more about the Catholic faith. Especially learning about the Immuaculate Conception. These were interesting stories and video; thanks for sharing them.
Blessings to you!

I just found your blog and am enjoying your posts... it's making me realize how far I have to go to "really" be Catholic. Though I am a cradle Catholic, there is so much I don't know, and so much of "Catholic Life," that was not a part of my upbringing.

Mom2Seven said...

Hi Tracy! I think some of my favorite posts by mama bloggers are teaching posts about our beautiful Catholic faith. You always do such a good job of sharing our faith! May God bless you! Love, Annita

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