Liturgical Decorating~ Easter White

(We replaced our Lenten violet drape on our stair case cross with white... for He is risen!)

After our Easter cleaning frenzy, we were ready for liturgical white.

Just thought I'd share some simple ways we decorate with the Easter color of joy.  After all, it does last 50 days!

I replaced the violet bow on our front door wreath with a white bow.  I still love the symbolism of the dogwood for the Easter season.

Our prayer table or home altar covering is changed to white.

(With the addition of an Alleluia plaque and Divine Mercy sacramentals for our Divine Mercy novena and Divine Mercy Sunday)

The Divine Mercy Novena is one of my favorite Easter prayer offerings:)

I know I've posted this photo before but this is our Easter mantel, once again.

How about an Easter center piece for your kitchen table with a white table cloth?...We keep this on all 50 days, though we are constantly washing the white tablecloth!

Easter countdown?

We are using this cute one so generously offered by Lacy over at Catholic Icing...

And also this white cross made by my husband a few years ago. (The other side is painted a violet color for Lent.  Then we just flip it over for Easter white:)  I cut out simple white doves, each numbered for the 50 days.  This is a photo from last year with all of the completed countdown doves taped on.

Easter white candles...

I forgot to mention in my last post that I bought this big white candle (below) from a mission society who melts down old altar candles and re-molds them into these beautiful bees wax pillars.  They sell them and proceeds go to the mission. I love this idea! Coming from altar candles, makes this particular candle extra special for the Easter season:)

Paschal Candle

White Easter lambs...

symbolizing the Lamb of God and His Paschal sacrifice.
(Those are our palms from Palm Sunday in the background)
This little lamb (below) came from the Dollar Tree.  Isn't he cute?

Here's a close up photo (below) of the little faith-based Easter egg tree (shown above) that I found on sale at Hobby Lobby.  This would probably be a fairly easy DIY project with some nice handwriting...

 Our Resurrection Set (Oriental Trading) stays up through the Easter season.  It's pretty good quality so to me, it's worth the $25.00.  We even use the characters for our Resurrection Tomb Cake on Easter Sunday.  It comes in handy more ways than one;)

I also just had to pass on this great article about the home being a domestic church.  It's an easy-and-quick-worth-the-read!
With Divine Mercy Sunday being this weekend, here are some easy celebration ideas that I posted last year.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

"I am mercy itself; therefore I ask you to offer Me your misery and this very helplessness of yours and, in this way, you will delight My Heart." (Diary of St. Faustina,  1775)

5 Ways to Keep Easter Rejoicing!

1.  Find reason for a happy dance.  Christ is Risen for goodness sakes...This calls for a victory celebration!

It was a REAL week of Easter Joy around our house.

Can you believe we filled up 2 of these baby blues?

I blame the Easter grass for sending me into a cleaning frenzy...That stuff drives me nuts like nobody's business.

Let's just say that this week was our Spring Break so we took advantage of some time off to do some much-needed chores and work around the house and yard.  A big family...Definitely a bonus:) We got a ton done with a team of 7.  Well, really 6...We had to make our Fire Captain supervise only since he is still off duty with a sprained knee and hip.


I did a super big happy dance when we were through! I know it sounds menial but it really was a victory celebration in our own way.  Since we should be looking for ways to rejoice during the Easter season, I think my clean-up happy dance counts as Easter joy:) 


2. Shout out lots of this beautiful word...

I got this Easter mantel idea from Charlotte a couple of years ago;)  It's now a tradition that we unpack the Alleluia on Easter morning.  The children always look forward to listening for the Alleluia's in the liturgy from now on...And so do I!


3. Look for God's glory in His creation and life all around us.  After all, His goodness is what we celebrate at Easter.  He tells us to seek and we shall find.


It was a solidly rainy week and this was our reward yesterday...A full rainbow over our Court!

I proceeded to go on a rainbow chase and captured a few more neat photos around our neighborhood.

Our parish Fatima shrine...God's glory at it's finest.

4.  Keep letting your Easter light shine!  
Easter isn't over...Smile more often, Easter is the beginning of our eternal hope.

Speaking of light, I put away all of our Lenten violet candles and replaced them with Easter white.  White is the liturgical color of Easter that symbolizes joy.

We made this Paschal candle last year during Holy Week.  I was able to pull off using it one more year by changing the bottom part of the year from an 11 to a 12 with a Sharpie pen...I really only had to change the last number from a 1 to 2.  You can't even tell...Shouting out another Alleluia for squeezing a little more light out of this one!

5.  Seek to recognize Jesus all around us...In both expected and unexpected ways.


This is my favorite reason to rejoice.  He is made known to us today, just as He was made known to His disciples in the breaking of the bread.  Alleluia! (Lk 24:35)

May we recognize our risen Lord on the throne of grace, through the beauty of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist.


May we recognize our risen Lord, too, in unexpected places...Especially in those who are poor in body, mind and spirit.  May we be strengthened by the courage of the disciples to shine our Easter light in the most difficult places of our lives.

"My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

I will sing, I will sing your praise.

Awake, my soul,

Awake, lyre and harp,

I will awake the dawn."

Psalm 108

Happy+Holy=Easter!

Look what we found in our Easter baskets!

Happy and Holy Easter to all those who might pass this way!  ~Christ of hope has risen...Alleluia~

We started out with early morning Mass...

Followed by fun in the sun at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Loved this one and the Mary T-shirt:)

We made our traditional Resurrection Tomb Cake...

And some Alleluia Eggs

Thanks to Jennifer at Crafolic for the perfect printable toppers:)

The Easter Season begins...

"Keep the light of Christ always burning in your heart~for He is the Way to walk.  He is the Life to live. He is the Love to love."~Mother Teresa of Calcutta~

Holy Week Happenings

Happy Holy Thursday!
It's been a quiet Holy Week thus far and I guess that's a good thing...
Except for the fact that I did have some liturgical projects and crafts planned for the kids this week...Nope, none of them happened.

I wonder if God laughs at us with all of our "big plans" some times?

Go figure, He often seems to have other plans than mine.  The weather has been so nice and sunny that the kids just wanted to play outside after school work got done...Can't argue with that!


We did do some cleaning around the house and helped clean the church for Easter.

Rod loves to head this up every year as it encourages the Youth of our parish to feel comfortable in their church and be connected to the inner workings.  The complaining that goes on around our house suddenly stops when our kids work somewhere else...Why is that?

Our Living Water Hike was the highlight of our week! (Though our local Good Friday Walk for Life will surely be a another highlight;) This hike is a glorious witness of metaphors that surround some of the meaning of Easter.
Prior to our hike, we talked about how we renew our Baptismal vows every Easter, right a long with the new candidates entering the church.  I packed a long a small bible so we could review the scripture verses that I had written down from last year.  It was a beautiful reflection and connection, certainly for this weary Mama.  Some of the younger kids don't quite get it but hopefully some of it sank in with the olders.  Regardless, they certainly saw God's hand in all of the amazing wildflowers and new life around them...It's become a tradition and we all love it:)
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Ezekiel 36: 24-28
John 4: 7-13

The metaphor of the tree with sturdy roots by the stream truly comes alive here.  Can you believe this is only 10 minutes from my house? We should be out here a lot more than once a year!
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; it's leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. ~Jeremiah 17:7-8

"For I will take you out of the nations: I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you and your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God." ~Ezekiel 36:24-28

This little muchkin carried her blankie the whole way!

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ~John 4:13~
Another great metaphor in view!

Dad got injured so it was a special treat to have some dear friends join us this year:) For this we were grateful.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter!
May the spring of Christ's living water fill the reservoirs of your soul and renew your spirit.

We've Come A Long Way Baby!

It is finished.

This day has passed.

Another death anniversary under our belts.

A husband parted too soon...

A Father who wasn't to be Dad for very long.

The waters of loss run deep into the well of our souls.

We live the aftermath of tragedy and remember suffering...It's what we do every Holy Week. 
We never stop missing, we never stop loving.  We are humbled by life that is fragile. Hope is real.  This is the beauty of loss.
Like the theme song of this blog, we lay our burdens down at the foot of the Cross.
He feels our pain and wipes our tears until we fly home.

We've come a long way baby...18 years under our belt.

From the dungeon of loneliness and sorrow to the hills of hope, we have ascended from the grave only by His grace.
I never would have dreamed that this sorrow would yield such a glorious new dawn.
And yet, why wouldn't it?
I know better now.

The trek to Calvary is not a choice but a necessity.

It has brought us thus far.
It will carry us to the end.
As we roll back our stone,

A brush with Divinity sets us free.

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
~1 James 2-4~


Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer.  Indeed the devil will throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will face an ordeal.  Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
~Revelation 2:10~
"He is stretched out upon a Cross who by his word stretched out the heavens."
~St. Amphilochius of Iconium~


These have been a few of the readings in the Magnificat last week as I moved towards Chris' death anniversary, today.  They are exactly what I needed to hear as this day was extremely emotional for me.  I think it's because I'm starting to prepare my heart for this first son to go to college...We've come a long way baby!  And yet there's more heart ache to come when he moves away this summer.  I'm praying really hard for peace.  


With that being said, Holy Week is here and that means Good News awaits us at the end of the week and beyond my aching heart.  Beyond the horror, there are Hallelujah's to be hailed and heaven to be hoped for.  Like salve for our wounds, through His, Easter always arrives.