Saints and Such!

2010

"The goal of our spiritual life is to become a new person in Christ.  It is not enough just to be "nice."  We are called to be saints."

~Fr. James Farfaglia~

~Just thought we'd share our blessings as we prepared for All Saint's Day this week...
It came a little early at our house!

Just want to mention these awesome links...

Catholic Culture has a great article about All Hallowed Eve and All Saints!

~Catholic Cuisine also has some wonderful traditions and goodies posted in this detailed post.  I would love to make those Soul Cakes this year for All Soul's Day!~

Be sure to see Catholic Icing's link-up for other glorious ideas. Just click on this button:

It's been  a fun week carving pumpkins and looking through old clothes and costumes.  The most amazing part of it all is that we actually made it through the festivities without anyone being SICK this year!  Except me...I've been a little under the weather but I've been marchin on...That's what Moms do, right?  But seriously, it seems we always have someone sick this time of year so it's a miracle to have healthy kids right now!

As far as costumes go, it has been our goal to do All Saint's on a budget.  It's been another blessing to explore what we can "create" with things on-hand...Especially since I don't sew!  Speaking of that, Catholic Icing has a great idea for Mother Teresa if you are looking for a quick and easy no-sew idea!  There are some amazing ideas out there.  This is a link from a St. Joseph's church with some photos and more saints to ponder!

~Princess wanted to dress as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha~
Even though she's not a saint yet...Being a Blessed is pretty close:)
My Mom found this Native American costume in her basement that was an old dress of mine when I was in Campfire Girls!

We scrunched it up with a belt since it was a bit long. The boys had the Indian arrowhead necklace from Cub Scouts and we had plenty of cross-necklaces to go around. We made the headband from a scarf and hot-glued the feathers...Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was re-created!
But my favorite "special touch" came from our very own backyard!

Since Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha is known for her love of Jesus, the Holy Eucharist, and the Cross, she is often seen in photos carrying a cross. 

We made this one out of Birch Tree branches found right out our back door!

This would make a great craft for her Feast Day in July!

~We just used leather twine and the lashing technique~

(You could easily just use regular string)

And now for the cross branch...

Pretty easy and authentic!

This was the full costume, complete with spray painted hair!  Princess wore this the first time this week to a Cub Scout Halloween party.

A little "out of order" on the calendar, our annual All Saint's Celebration with our Little Flowers/Blue Knights group was held (a little early) on Friday, the 29th.  I wrote a bit about this celebration last year.  

Having 3 boys, we have several Knight costume parts that we have accumulated over the years since oldest is now 17!  We were able to use knight shirts, pants, and capes for our St. Joan of Arc and St. Florian costumes.  

We purchased the Pope costume several years ago from a party store and it has gotten the most mileage!  We have even used it for St. Patrick in years past.  This year Army Dude (age 11) was St. Pope Damasus.  Kristi's blog, The Bishops of Rome is a great resource for Popes!  We certainly found St. Pope Damasus there.

A few photos of the completed costumes...

Angel Baby (Age 2) as St. Joan of Arc

She played the part a little "too" well for a "two" year old.
Hmmmm....

Next was our St. Florian, Patron Saint of Firefighters...One of our family favorites for obvious reasons!

~This is our Superboy at Age 6~

Florian is his real middle name!

And finally, we had St. Pope Damasus

Army Dude (Age 11)

Princess dressed as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha for a 2nd time, this time with no black hair spray!

 Funny how the blond hair changes things!

And here we have a whole band of saints!

St. Florian, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Pope Damasus, and St. Joan of Arc!
At the party, big brother helped little brother play the game...

I just have to share this easy and fun game for kids if any of you have All Saint's Parties in your communities....
For the life of me, I can't remember where I got this idea...It seems that I heard about a priest doing it for a homily?
Nevertheless, its a neat thing to do for an All Saint's Party!
All you need is a shoe box and a small mirror...

Tell the kids that you have a surprise for them.
All they need to do is line up if they want to see a "Great Saint!"
One by one they walk through the line and peek into the box...Quietly, so they don't spoil the surprise for the other kids in line.
When they peer into the box they see that "Great Saint" looking right back at them!

What a delight to see those beaming smiles on their faces!

"There is only one tragedy in the end, not to have been a saint."

~Leon Bloy~
All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Halloween came at the end of our week.  I really should do a separate post but I'm too tired for that!  The kids had fun trick-or-treating around our neighborhood Court and visiting the Care Home where the elderly residents enjoy the costume review and a giving out treats. The residents even dress in costumes too!

Angel Baby wasn't a bit bashful!
~Looking forward to a peaceful All Saint's Day Mass to shake out the stress of a busy weekend~
God Bless all of you saints and souls!