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September 29 is the Feast of the Archangels, or Michaelmas.   The Archangels are Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael. We started celebrating this special feast day last year and I'm still learning more about it! What is Michaelmas? I'll let Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas answer that here.


Like last year, we celebrated this feast with readings, food and a craft.

In the morning I set up our kitchen table with books, statues and the symbolic food we were going to eat for the day.

The book on the stand is Saints and Angels, then on the left is An Alphabet of Angels.  The book that is opened is Treasure Box book #18 and then on the far right is Angels for Kids that I recently won from Catholic Child on Catholic Child's Facebook page.  Angels for Kids has a chapter titled "The Archangels" which gives interesting information about each of the Archangels.


Right after breakfast we made an Archangel craft while I read from our book collection.  I printed off  free Archangel printables at Catholic Sistas. We turned the printables into "stained glass" projects using tissue paper scraps. We then tied the prayers to each Archangel and then I typed out what each name meant.  Here are photos from our project.


Since we had a busy evening with my son's homeschool soccer game and my daughter's gymnastics class, we had an "angelic" lunch, not dinner. On the menu we had angel hair pasta with alfredo sauce and angel food cake with "clouds" (homemade whipped cream) and blackberries.  Blackberries are symbolic of Michaelmas as explained with this recipe for Michaelmas Blackberry Cobbler at Catholic Cuisine.


I printed the Archangel printable on our cake from Happy Saints and saved it from last year's celebration.

I found this graphic on Catholic Link's Facebook page which I think is beautiful!


If you would like to see more ways to celebrate the feast of the Archangels be sure to visit:

Peanut Butter and Grace's post titled 7 Ways to Celebrate the Feast of the Angels.

Catholic Mommy Blogs posted other  ways to incorporate the Feast of the Archangels into your meal.

Catholic Icing posted Celebrate Michaelmas-St. Michael and all the Archangels! with a list of fun ideas.

Saintly Seasons has 2016 Catholic Children's Calendar Coloring Book that includes a page of the Archangels.

Life, Love & Sacred Heart has a free St. Michael the Archangel printable prayer card.

A PRAYER TO
SAINT MICHAEL, GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS

In October there are several feast days that can be celebrated.  Here are some we have celebrated in the past.

Coming up is:

October 1 (St. Therese of Lisieux)
October 2 (Guardian Angels)
October 4 (St. Francis of Assisi)
October 7 (Our Lady of the Rosary)
October 13 (Our Lady of Fatima)
October 22 (St. John Paul II)

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October is annually observed as Respect Life Month in Catholic Churches across the United States.

Of course, this does not mean that October is the only month to defend life.  Respecting all life, from conception to natural death, is imperative and necessary each and every day, no matter the calendar month.  We are blessed that there are wonderful ministries such as Life Chain Sunday, Priests for Life, 40 Days for Life and Culture of Life Studies Program that bring to light the beauty and dignity of each human life so that truth can be taught to thwart the lies and deceit of the "culture of death".

I was first introduced to the Culture of Life Studies Program from fellow bloggers.

So what is American Life League's Culture of Life Studies Program?

"With our culture waging open war against marriage, the family, preborn children, and the disabled, there has never been a greater need for an educational program that teaches students the truth about the value of all human beings, the sacredness of the sacrament of marriage, and the necessity of the family as the building block of society. American Life League’s Culture of Life Studies Program strives to build a culture of life by helping students to understand the value of every human being and by inspiring a new generation of young people who will defend preborn children, respect all human beings from creation to death, and speak the truth with confidence in defense of the innocent."

Last year my family and I enjoyed doing a "Ladybug Warriors" lesson as part of Culture of Life Studies Program.

Since October, Respect Life Month, is about here my children and I worked on another lesson titled The Beauty of the Developing Human Being: A Defend Life Lesson for Grades 7-8 this past week.  I was given this program in exchange for this review. Though the target age is Grades 7-8, I was able to adapt this lesson for my younger and older children so everyone of all ages can learn something valuable.

As a homeschool mom, I really liked how easy it was to teach this program and it's flexible enough to implement as much or as little as you want in a homeschool or traditional classroom setting.  The lessons can be spread out over four days (or four 50-minute class periods) to complete. We completed the poster activity in four days and we plan on continuing to use the links and many resources contained in the Instructor Guide throughout the month of October.

Each lesson has a warm-up activity which includes brief discussion questions, lecture and discussion with links to worksheets that students can fill out and then there is an activity for reinforcement which has printables of the different stages of life from conception to birth.  We have a family friend who is 6 weeks pregnant so this lesson was very relevant for our family and it was great to be able to discuss how the preborn baby grows and develops inside the womb of our family friend.  

Here are some photos of our family enjoying this beautiful, pro-life lesson:

I placed these posters in page protectors and placed them in the binder where I have the Instructor Guide.  That way, my children can always reference this lesson, their artwork and the wealth of information this program provides.

I extended the lesson and I showed my children the model of a 11-12 week old preborn baby with information about the baby's development.


Did you know that on Week 4 the baby's heart has begun to beat and eyes, ears and lungs begin to form?

Did you know on Week 8 every organ is present, but immature. The baby begins spontaneous movement and is the size of a thumb?

Did you know on Week 12 the baby frequently touches his face with his newly formed hands?

Do you know how wonderfully made you are and God knit you in your mother's womb? (Psalm 139)

We also read a few books about the beautiful miracle of life this week: 

The Miracle of Me 
Angel in the Waters
On the Night You Were Born


Here is an inside peek at Angel in the Waters (which is also a great break to read for the Feast Day of the Guardian Angels celebrated on October 2).


The Beauty of the Developing Human Being Defend Life Lesson created by Culture of Life Studies Progam is a meaningful and wonderful way to teach children in a homeschool or classroom setting the beauty and wonder of each unborn child and how loving and defending life brings much joy, peace and hope!

I have a Pinterest Pro-Life board called "L.I.F.E. = Life Is For Everyone" that I created awhile ago, where I have been collecting pro-life posts.  Please check it out and repin away to help spread the message of life to all the world!



I'll close with another prayer from Day 1 in the Instructor Guide:

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of life. 
Help us to always treasure the sacredness of every human being's life. 
We ask this through Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

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On September 21, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Matthew.  Saint Matthew was a tax collector who was not liked by many and his fellow Jews were shocked to see Jesus calling Saint Matthew to follow Him.

Compared to other feast day celebrations that we have enjoyed, St. Matthew's feast day was very simple, but I hope meaningful and memorable for my children.

In the morning during our Couch Catechism time before we started our homeschool day, I read about St. Matthew from the Saints for Young Readers for Every Day, Vol. 2: July-December.

I LOVE this book so much and have learned so much about the Saints lives along with my children!  Seriously, it is the best kid-friendly Saint book that I have found so far and we have been reading from Vol. One or Vol. Two daily for several years now.

We also read about St. Matthew from the book Saints and Angels: Popular Stories of Familiar Saints.


While I was reading from the Saints and Angels book, my children had some chocolate coins that I bought at the party store 15 for $1.  I also placed the Saint Matthew peg doll on the table that I received at the Saint peg doll exchange that I participated in November 2015.


Easy, fun and frugal feast day celebration!

St. Matthew, pray for us!
 

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Today, September 15, is the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.  What is the devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady?

I'll let CatholicCulture.org explain about this memorial:

"This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world.
As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:"

1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50)
4. Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
6. The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
7. The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

There is so much to ponder when thinking about the grief and sorrow our Blessed Mother endured while being a mother to Jesus. We can look to Mary to show us how to endure suffering with great faith, hope and love. I enjoyed reading the Blessed Is She devotion for today's Mass readings.

For the first time last year, we did the Seven Sorrows of Mary Activity for Children from Catholic All Year.  We did this same activity today and it was a blessing to spend time with my children reading about the Seven Sorrows of Mary.


We first read from the book, Mary: The Mother of Jesus, (that is opened in above photo).  There was a page about Mary's sorrow.


Then using the Catholic All Year printable (that I laminated last year), we read each of the Seven Sorrows and the scripture that went with each one. After each one, my children ate one lemon candy that was sour-ish.  (Note to self: next year I think I'll use sour Skittles because my children said they are more sour than Lemonheads.)


I really like the ideas that Martianne had for the Seven Sorrows of Mary explained on her Plans to Honor Our Lady of Sorrows through Art, Music, and a Poet-Tea.  I enjoyed telling my children from her post that "the Sorrows of Mary have inspired many poems and songs through the years, perhaps the most famous of which the Stabat Mater (At the Cross Her Station Keeping), a 13th century hymn, which has been revised a number of times and which the children may be most familiar from the Lenten season.  One version of the hymn was composed by someone we've already studied a bit about - a Baroque composer who the children might remember as a red-haired priest.  Vivaldi!"

We listened to a few minutes of  Antonio Vivaldi "Stabat mater, RV 621" 



I also enjoyed reading Fr. Steve Grunow reflection on the Seven Sorrows of Mary as he explains how it dramatically displays the Incarnation in Why Our Lady of Sorrows? 


 

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This morning during our Couch Catechism time before we started our homeschool day, we read about today's feast day, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the finding of the Cross on which Jesus died.  We read from my favorite daily Saint book for children (and adults), Saints for Young Readers for Every Day, Vol. 2 (July-December).  During the months of January through June, we read from Saints for Younger Readers for Every Day, Vol. 1.

Today I read the post, 10 Quotes to Help You Meditate on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, with my children.  There are beautiful quotes from Sacred Scripture and holy Saints.

I wanted to do a quick activity to celebrate this feast day and I was happy to see Jen's post Exaltation of the Holy Cross that had a brief explanation about this feast day and directions for a simple, yet beautiful paint project!  So I thought I would give it a try with my crew!  My 3 year old spent the most time on her project and she was very focused and happy about her creation.


I used the following supplies:
* White cardstock paper
* Washable paints (I used Crayola Washable Paints)
* Foam brushes
* Blue painter's tape

Here are some photos of the project which are in order of the steps...


1) After you gather your supplies, make a cross with the blue tape on the white cardstock paper.
2) Then use foam brushes to paint over the tape and white space. 

3) Let paint dry, then peel off the cross carefully.  (Some of the tape tore small sections of the paper, but they still turned out nicely, I think)

4) Happy (and one serious) artists with their crosses...

"We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world."

Last week on September 8, our family and homeschool group celebrated the Nativity of our Blessed Mother, or Mary's birthday!  We don't actually know the exact date of Mary's birthday, but September 8 was chosen by the Church as her birthday because 9 months prior on December 8, the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when Mary was conceived without Original Sin.

As we have done for several years now, we celebrate Mary's birthday with a doughnut rosary which is eaten after we say a decade of the rosary and sing "Happy Birthday to Mary".  A friend also brought some blue cupcakes to represent the "Our Father" prayers on top of the doughnuts.  Several families met at a local park this year for the celebration after we attended daily Mass.


In years' past our homeschool group made our edible rosaries for this celebration out of small and large cupcakes as in 2009: