Today is the feast of St. Louis de Montfort. The boys and I have just finished reading this biography of him and are excited to celebrate his life and his message of true devotion to the Blessed Mother today.
St. Louis explained to his congregations that true devotion to the Blessed Mother is the fastest way to reach of a high level of holiness. One comparison that struck the boys and I was this: St. Louis said that reaching holiness without devotion to Mary was like sculpting a statue from a block of marble while reaching holiness through Mary was like sculpting a statue by pouring plaster into a mold--a much simpler and faster process.
So today we are going to make a batch of homemade play dough (blue, of course) and try our hands at modeling something ourselves and then making it by cutting it out with a cookie cutter. We'll follow up the activity with praying the Rosary. I'll work with the children from today and throughout the month of May on learning the "Hail Holy Queen" and the "Regina Coeli". Our hymn for the month is "Sing of Mary".
Today is also the feast of St. Gianna Beretta Molla. I will teach the kids a little bit about her one day this week and we will make a batch of homemade belly balm for a friend who has a special ministry. She counsels at abortion clinics and then sends the moms home with a basket of special goodies to help them remember that this time is special and sacred and that they are loved and supported. We'll put a picture and prayer to St. Gianna on the tins.
Tomorrow is the feast of St. Catherine of Sienna and we will celebrate with our friends in our Catholic Families in Action prayer group.
Tomorrow I will post on update on our Liturgical Tree and the plans for Ascension and Pentecost. We will have our Ascension tea with some friends on Thursday in preparation for Sunday's celebration in our diocese.
On Friday, we celebrate our Kolbe's first birthday! Wow, I can't believe it. What a fun week of joy we have ahead of us. I can't wait to share photos with you.