Feast Day: May Crowning and Our Lady of Fatima

This year we chose May 13th, Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, as the date to crown our Marian statue. It turned into a very propitious day as we not only sent off all our closing documents for the house in Colorado -- which is good to go for May 18th (John Paul the Great's birthday!) -- but we also got approval for a contract on a house here in Virginia.

What a day!

String Bean made the crown ... with chenille stem roses that perfectly match the real roses in front of Our Lady statues. Note the St. Joseph statue to the right of Mary ... he has been our constant companion throughout all this house rigamarole and we've prayer through his intercessions and now have developed a very deep devotion to the foster father of Jesus.

The cloth is our Easter Cloth, one that I made in 2001 for our Easter table to help us remember, in four different languages, that "Indeed, He is Risen!" We keep it on our table throughout the 50 days of the Easter season, and have a white candle burning whenever we are gathered together at the table.

Here's the prayers we used for the coronation (we got these prayers from the University of Dayton's Marian pages):
Brief Instruction
We have come here to crown this statue of the Virgin Mother of God. As we begin this celebration, let us be attentive and listen to the word of God in faith. This ceremony has a lesson to teach us about the Gospel: that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are those who are foremost in serving and in love. Our Lord himself came to serve, not to be served; he drew all things to himself when he was lifted up from the earth, and he reigned from the tree by the power of gentleness and love. And our Lady, whose glory we proclaim today, was the humble servant of the Lord when she was on earth: she gave herself utterly to her Son and his work; with him, and under him, she was an instrument in our redemption. Now, in the glory of heaven, she is still the God-bearer to Christ's brothers and sisters: she cares about their eternal salvation; she is minister of holiness and queen of love.

Let us pray:
O God, since you have given us Mary, the Mother of your Son, to be our mother and our queen, grant that we, who have come here to crown her image, may attain the glory of your children in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SING :
Bring flowers of the rarest, bring flowers of the fairest
From garden and woodland and hillside and vale;
Our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest Rose of the vale.
Refrain:Oh Mary, we crown you with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.:
Our voices ascending, in harmony blending,
Oh, thus may our hearts turn, dear Mother, to you.
Oh, thus shall we prove you how truly we love you;
How dark without Mary life's journey would be. (Ref.)

Concluding Prayer:
Dad: Queen of our hearts, your destiny is meant to be our destiny. Teach us to love our God as you did, to love our neighbors as you did and, above all, to love our family as you loved yours. We consecrate ourselves and our loved ones to you with the ancient prayer:
All: My Queen, my Mother, I give myself entirely to you, and to show my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my entire self without reserve. As I am your own, my good Mother, guard me and defend me as your property and possession. Amen.

Crowning our Marian statue is such a wonderful annual event ... each year is different and yet the same. We mix tradition with something different every time and the kids love to help with the organizing, decorating and choice of songs.

Let me know when y'all do a May Crowning ... I'd love to see what others do.

Feast Day: Feast of the Annunciation

The Feast of the Annunciation is one of our favorite feasts -- first, because it is such a wondrous example of obedience, Mary's resounding YES! to the Angel's message. Here is the plaque I made to add to our growing collection of Marian plaques (made from Shrinky Dink plastic). I added a personal touch to this lovely picture (see below for the answer if you can't figure it out!).

The Feast of the Annunciation is also a special day around here because 11 years ago, dh and I said "I do" in front of our pastor, family, friends and most of the parochial school where we were both teaching. It was a gorgeous, early Spring Wednesday afternoon and a glorious ceremony.

Since then, we've lived in Austria, moved to SC, moved to Colorado, and now in Virginia. We've had three more kids (to add to our combined five others) and even a puppy for a short time. We pledged our troth in a lovely chapel in Clemson, SC and renewed that pledge yesterday in the lovely chapel at dh's high school. We spent the early evening eating a sumptuous dinner at the Globe & Laurel (you should have seen the size of dh's "small" prime rib!) and then spent a relaxing, slow hour at a nearby Starbucks ... a sensationally, wonderfully romantic evening!

Hope your Annunciation was wonderful, too! Our Blessed Mother is a wonderful role-model for all moms ... a wonderful intercessor to whom we can pray through to her Son ... a lovely guide for us all.

Annunciation Prayer
Lord who came down from heaven and stayed in the womb of St. Mary, after making the annunciationto her through his head of angels, is blessed. The Lord is blessed whom the heaven and earth,Angels and mankind are praising always. Oh Lord let the intercession of your mother be a fort for us all. Peace be unto thee, Mother of the Sun of righteousness. Peace be unto thee, the palace of holiness, Peace be unto thee the ship full of blessings,the fruit of your virginity is blessed, Holy Mother please pray for us,so that we would also be holy like you in our lives. Lord have mercy upon us. Lord Jesus,who was kind enough to take the presence in humble virgin,kindly live in us and redeem us from the strong bondages of sins and death. Lord make us good and worthy divine homes,so that you could stay in us. Lord who had been kind enough to take the human body from the virgin, unite us all in your peace.Unite us all with your grace. Fill your love in us so that we could share the love with you and among us all. Make us worthy to praise thee with your blessed Mother and all the saints. Holy virgin Mother, you are blessed, By thy prayers let the Holy church and her children be saved from all sorts of calamities and let all the departed get forgiveness for their sins. Amen.

* the little personal touch I added is that the Blessed Mother is knitting ... and has dropped one needle to the floor!

Feast Day: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Thanks to Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda, we were able to add this beautiful Marian image to our "shrinky dink" Marian plaque collection. Didn't she come out lovely?

We love the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe -- but not half as much as our chaplain here at St. Athanasius. Fr. Z. -- who BamBam "hired" as our official chaplain -- is very devoted to this Marian image, both for her pro-life, protector of the unborn status and her "Mother of the Americas" appellation. Our Lady of Guadalupe is an amazing story of evangelizing the Aztecs through this lovely apparition in Mexico back in the late 1500s and the ensuing miracle through St. Juan Diego where not only did he bring roses to the Bishop in December, he had this beautiful image of Mary engraved in his tilma! What a wondrous thing that must have been. I've never seen the original; our chaplain has been to Mexico City many times and participated in concelebrating Mass with Pope John Paul the Great in the Basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe!

And Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to respond to our prayers to her. I've just sent a book off to a publisher which I had put under her patronage -- and sent off to said publisher this morning! What better way to celebrate her feast? Please keep the book in your prayers as we move toward a Spring publication date.

With all this, I figured I owed Our Lady a great dinner so I tried to pull out the stops a bit: tonight we had bean/cheese burritos, cheese quesadillas, rice and for dessert: flan! A great meal to finish off our day of learning and loving and living the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke you in their necessities. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the Grace of a firm faith and sure hope amid the bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.

Collect for Today:
O God of power and mercy, You blessed the Americas at Tepeyac with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. May her prayers help all men and women to accept each other as brothers and sisters. Through Your justice present in our hearts, may Your peace reign in the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. +Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Feast Day: Immaculate Conception

Couldn't let today go by without posting ... The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a BIGGGGGG deal for Catholics. This is when we affirm that the Blessed Mother, in order to carry the Christ Child, in order to BE the Mother of God, in order to be "full of grace" -- HAD to be conceived and born without the stain of original sin. In some ways, this is an obvious doctrine -- how could the woman who carried the Son of God be anything less than the New Eve ... be anything less than the perfect human.

Some folks have a problem with this doctrine -- to me, it's an obvious one.

And we love to celebrate this feast -- it comes in the midst of Advent, when we're all focused on Christ's birth. It comes when we need to remember the joy of the season of Advent, while still remembering that Jesus came into this world to die for our sins! It comes at a perfect time -- which makes sense as this is all part of God's plan and MUST be perfect.

Today, since Kotch had the day off (going to a good Catholic school, ends up paying off), we all were able to attend Mass with the students of dh's school. The chaplain, Fr. Z., does an amazing job of explaining doctrine so all the kids (especially the teens who may not have a whole lot of Catholicity at home) "get it".

After Mass, we did a quick run to the library, than home to celebrate the Feast. We read Tomie de Paola's beautiful tribute to Mary, Mary: Mother of Jesus, and then watched Steve Ray's Footprints of God: Mary video which is an amazing mix of history, catechism and legend blended into an entertaining and informative 60+ minute documentary. We also colored pictures and made another Marian plaque to go with our collection (thank you, Waltzing Matilda!).

We would have done more, but the littles had dress-rehearsal for their plays this weekend right between 5-7:30p.m. (and dh had to have a crown re-glued at 3:15) which doesn't leave a whole lot of time for partying (especially when dh and I are up 4:30/5:00 each school morning!).

Prayer of Pope John Paul IIDecember 8, 2003

Queen of peace, pray for us!
Our gaze is directed toward you in great fear,

to you do we turn with ever-more insistent faith in these times marked by many uncertainties and fears for the present and future of our planet.

Together we lift our confident and sorrowful petition to you,

the first fruit of humanity redeemed by Christ,

finally freed from the slavery of evil and sin:

hear the cry of the pain of victims of war

and so many forms of violence that bloody the earth.

Clear away the darkness of sorrow and worry, of hate and vengeance.

Open up our minds and hearts to faith and forgiveness!
Mother of mercy and hope:

Help every human being of every race and culture to find and embrace Jesus,

who came to earth in the mystery of Christmas to give us 'His' peace.
Mary, Queen of peace, give us Christ, true peace in the world!

Mary, the Immaculate Conception,

PRAY for US!

Feast: Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is a lovely feast -- Our Lady of the Rosary commemorates the amazing victory of the European troops (led by Austrian Don Juan) against the Turks at Lepanto. This was the battle that GKChesterton immortalized in his poem, Lepanto (which we read today to give the kids the flavor of the battle).

[here's Bam-bam's version of the "ships" -- they then got out all their stuffed animals (I mean, Turks) and proceeded to fire on them!]

Here's an article from EWTN that explains the origins of the feast:

[this painting, by an unknown artist, shows the port of Lepanto during the battle]

On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under thecommand of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage,the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.

At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. St. Padre Pio,said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!

The Battle of Lepanto was at first celebrated liturgically as "Our Lady of Victory." Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716 (who canonized Pope Pius V in 1712).

Here's what we did today to help remember this lovely feast:
Coloring page from our ever-resourceful Waltzing Matilda ...and "shrinky dink" plaque for the Marian feast.
We then put together a "Rosary Book". I bought "rosary cards" from Magnificat last May (but with moving, etc, never used them) and ...

we pasted those on card-stock. Here is the card for 5th Luminous mystery, the Institution of the Eucharist. Each set of mysteries is separated with a "summary" sheet so we know which mysteries on which days! All the cards are put in order in sheet protectors and the final page of our book is this quote from Servant of God, John Paul the Great:

… it becomes natural to bring to this encounter with the sacred humanity of
the Redeemer all the problems, anxieties, labors and endeavors which go to make
up our lives. “Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Ps 55:23).
To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ
and his Mother. … I feel the need to say once more, as a warm invitation to
everyone to experience it personally: the Rosary does indeed “mark the rhythm of
human life”, bringing it into harmony with the “rhythm” of God's own life, in
the joyful communion of the Holy Trinity, our life's destiny and deepest
longing. (paragraph 25, Rosarium Virginis Mariae)

And for dinner ... well, since Don John of Austria is the main man behind the Battle of Lepanto, we opted for an Austrian feast -- sausages, potatoes with apples and beer (add a salad and you got a great meal!). Since dh's birthday is tomorrow, we didn't make any sloppy-gloppy dessert as those will come over the next days (dh really likes to celebrate his birthday with food!).

Feast: Our Lady of Sorrows

(Durer's Seven Sorrows of Mary 1497)

Today is the day we remember the seven sorrows of the Blessed Mother:

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)

We celebrated today by coloring the beautiful drawings by Waltzing Matilda (the dear!) and I made a shrinky dink plaquesimilar to the one I made for Holy Name of Mary.For dessert, we made a crockpot version of the old classic, Espresso Brownie Pudding -- a bittersweet dessert to help us remember that Mary's sorrow is sad but had Jesus not died on the Cross for us ... if she hadn't given us everything she loved ... we wouldn't have the chance for salvation. Besides, anything with chocolate is always a great way to remember the good things in life!

Here's the recipe for Espresso Brownie Pudding:

Batter:
□ 1 Cup all-purpose flour
□ 2 tsp baking powder
□ 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
□ 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
□ 1/4 teaspoon salt
□ 1/2 cup low fat milk
□ 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
□ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
□ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
□ 1/2 cup brown sugar
□ 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
□ 1-1/2 cups very hot water & strong black coffee
□ 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

To prepare the batter, combine the flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the milk, melted butter and vanilla until blended. Spoon the batter into a 4-quart slow cooker.

To prepare the topping, combine the sugars and cocoa in a small bowl with optional nuts. Sprinkle evenly over the batter. Carefully pour water-coffee over the cocoa-sugar mixture. DO NOT STIR.

Cover and cook until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pudding comes out clean 1 to 2 hours on high (ours took just about 1.5 hours). Remove lid and let cool a little. The top is the brownie part, and there should be a great, gooey, lovely "hot fudge" syrup underneath -- best served in a bowl with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream!

This does not keep ... it should be served warm and fresh ... so eat up!

Feast: Holy Name of Mary

And I can't think of any picture of the Blessed Mother that honors her name more than this painting by Pietro Perugino, Madonna and Child Between SS. John the Baptist and Sebastian (1493). Doesn't she embody beauty, purity and love in this close-up?

Thanks to Aussie Annie and Waltzing Matilda, I was well-prepared for the Marian feast today. The Holy Name of Mary was named a feast of the universal Church in memory of King Sobieski (of Poland, of course) and his virtually miraculous victory over the Turks in Vienna on September 12, 1683.

Anne had a link to a great article about the Holy Name of Mary ... the story was interesting enough for even my littles to "get into" this Feast. Thanks to Matilda, we had great pictures to color during our discussion of Mary and why her name is so special (aside from the fact it's MY first name!):

The kids really enjoyed coloring these.

Then, since we had the Lyra colored pencils and Sharpie markers out, someone got the bright idea to get out the Shrinky Dink paper and make bunny "paper dolls", Ninja turtle figures and cool sports cars.

I decided to take a full sheet (8x10) and make my own Holy Name of Mary plaque. You can see how much the Shrinky Dink shrank just to the right of lower colored sheet -- but it makes a cool 3x5-ish size plaque. I'm thinking I'll do one for every Marian feast (as long as Matilda keeps making these cool coloring pages!).

For dessert, we created a deep-dish mixed-berry (blues and reds and purple for Mary and her times of joy and times of sorrow) crisp. The kids really don't want to have to wait till after pizza dinner to eat this one with vanilla icecream, but I'm sure they'll live!
Here are the many names by which the Blessed Mother is invoked (taken from the Litany of Loreto, an ancient prayer of the Catholic Church)

• Holy Mary, pray for us.
• Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
• Holy Virgin of Virgins, pray for us.
• Mother of Christ, pray for us.
• Mother of Divine Grace, pray for us.
• Mother Most Pure, pray for us.
• Mother Most Chaste, pray for us.
• Mother Inviolate, pray for us.
• Mother Undefiled, pray for us.
• Mother most amiable, pray for us.
• Mother most admirable, pray for us.
• Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us.
• Mother of Our Creator, pray for us.
• Mother of Our Savior, pray for us.
• Virgin Most Prudent, pray for us.
• Virgin Most Venerable, pray for us.
• Virgin Most Renowned, pray for us.
• Virgin Most Powerful, pray for us.
• Virgin Most Merciful, pray for us.
• Virgin Most Faithful, pray for us.
• Mirror of Justice, pray for us.
• Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.
• Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
• Spiritual Vessel, pray for us.
• Vessel of Honor, pray for us.
• Singular Vessel of Devotion, pray for us.
• Mystical Rose, pray for us.
• Tower of David, pray for us.
• Tower of Ivory, pray for us.
• House of Gold, pray for us.
• Ark of the Covenant, pray for us.
• Gate of Heaven, pray for us.
• Morning Star, pray for us.
• Health of the Sick, pray for us.
• Refuge of Sinners, pray for us.
• Comforter of the Afflicted, pray for us.
• Help of Christians, pray for us.
• Queen of Angels, pray for us.
• Queen of Patriarchs, pray for us.
• Queen of Prophets, pray for us.
• Queen of Apostels, pray for us.
• Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.
• Queen of Confessors, pray for us.
• Queen of Virgins, pray for us.
• Queen of All Saints, pray for us.
• Queen Conceived Without Original Sin, pray for us.
• Queen Assumed into Heaven, pray for us.
• Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
• Queen of Peace, pray for us.

Feast Day: Queenship of Mary

Is this not the most beautiful tapestry? This is one of four tapestries which was made for the Abbey of St. Walburga, a Benedictine Abbey nestled in north-central Colorado (just about into Wyoming). These tapestries were hand-made (!) in Germany by a Benedictine sister specifically for the Benedictines in Colorado -- when they built their new Abbey in the late 1990s, the design of the Chapel included prominent spots for these gorgeous tapestries.

This depicts the Risen Christ crowning his mother. The Latin translates as "forever singing allelulia".

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Queenship of Mary -- one week after we celebrate her Assumption into Heaven, we celebrate that Jesus than crowned her as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mary... "mother of Eternal Glory" ... "temple of the Divinity" ... "queen of life" is crowned by her Son to reign over us all. She intercedes for us with God.

Pope Pius XII promulgated the encyclical AD CAELI REGINAM in 1954 (four years after his encyclical when the Church formally accepted the dogma of Mary's Assumption), an encyclical which fully explains the Church's teachings on the Queenship of Mary and her special place as the mother of God.

The collect for today:

Father, you have given us the mother of your Son to be our queen and mother.
With the support of her prayers may we come to share the glory of your children
in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Here are the Latin words for ancient* prayer, "Hail Holy Queen":

Salve Regina, mater misericordiae: vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad
te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria. Amen.

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

[* ... the Salve Regina was used as a processional chant at Cluny by 1135. Around 1218 the Cistercians adopted it as a daily processional chant and in 1251 as an ending to Compline. Both the Dominicans and the Franciscans also adopted it around this same time and the Carmelites used it for a while in place of the last Gospel at Mass. Gregory IX (1227-1241) ordered it to be chanted after Compline on Fridays. From the 14th century down to today it has been a part of Compline for the Latin Rite. Traditionally this antiphon is recited at Compline from Trinity Sunday until Advent.]

Here's what we made for dessert, Queen of Heaven Pie, (an original recipe that allowed us to have a great dessert without heating up the kitchen!).

Using chocolate cookie crust, icecream, blueberries, blueberry jello, whipped topping and sprinkles ...We came up with Queen of Heaven Pie -- chocolate cookie crust base, blueberries sprinkled over the bottom, vanilla ice cream spread over the blueberries. We then placed chocolate wafer cookies around the rim (to keep the good stuff in -- and after all, Mary, being perfect would definitely have LOVED chocolate!), then blueberry jello (half the 4 oz. recipe) layered over the ice-cream covered blueberries, blueberry jello (the other half) mixed with the whipped topping and spread over all, then the last of the whipped topping and star sprinkles to top it off.

Definitely a heavenly dessert that was enjoyed by all!

Feast Day: Our Lady of Knock

Today is one of my favorite Marian apparition feast days -- the apparition of Mary, St. Joseph, St. John and the Lamb of God in a small village in Ireland. The Feast of Our Lady of Knock, patroness of Ireland.

The time is 1879 Ireland ... an Ireland decimated by the potato famine and subjugation which led to the ex-patriation of many Irish. The small agrarian economy of Knock was as depressed as her townspeople. It was a rainy, blustery evening and folks were coming home ... the village Church was being locked for the evening.

Suddenly, a bright glow appeared and the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and St. John appeared to the passersby ... with the Lamb of God on an altar, surrounded by angels. The silent apparition remained for almost two hours, while the 15 or so villagers stood and prayed the rosary.

This apparition gave hope to those villagers, to all of Ireland. God was letting all of Ireland know that she was not forgotten or forsaken ... despair had no place on the Emerald Isle.

Today, this apparition still gives hope in a world that has gone so far astray. A shrine was built that needs to be seen to be believed. It is beautiful! Bam-Bam (ok, he was only four months old so he probably doesn't really remember) and I were fortunate to feel that hope when we went to Ireland in 2003 on pilgrimage, joining the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who visit Knock each year.

A pilgrimage I will never forget!

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF KNOCK, IRELAND

(Eleventh Century Irish Litany of Mary)

Great Mary,

Greatest of Marys,

Greatest of Women,

Mother of Eternal Glory,

Mother of the Golden Light,

Honor of the Sky,

Temple of the Divinity,

Fountain of the Gardens,

Serence as the Moon,

Bright as the Sun,

Garden Enclosed,

Temple of the Living God,

Light of Nazareth,

Beauty of the World,

Queen of Life,

Ladder of Heaven,

Mother of God.

Pray for us.

Amen!

Recipe: Our Lady's Pie

Yesterday was the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Because it's been SO DARN HOT here in the Big Square State (and of course, we don't have air-conditioning), I KNEW I could NOT fire up the oven to bake something .... so, what's a mom to do who is trying to incorporate cooking math with living the liturgical year?

Invent her own dessert -- and BOY was it well received! For those of you who might be in a similar situation, here's the recipe ...

* +++++ * +++++ *

OUR LADY's PIE

(prep time -- 20 min; chilling time -- 1 hr + at least 1 more hour)

Ingredients:

(1) 9-inch chocolate cookie pie crust (such as Keebler or Oreo)

(1) 8oz. tub frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)

(1) box blueberry flavored gelatin (such as "BlueBerry Blast" from Jello)

(1) cup fresh or frozen blueberries

(12) round chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos)

First-layer of gelatin:

• Open gelatin packet and measure out slightly less than 1/4 cup of powder (this is half the package).
• Pour 3/4 cup boiling water on the 1/4 cup of gelatin and stir until gelatin is dissolved.
• Mix in 1/3 of the FROZEN whipped topping; stir until the topping is mixed in completely. Place the remainder of the whipped topping in the 'fridge to thaw till dinner.
• Pour into the 9-inch pie crust and chill for at least an hour.

While the first layer is chilling, you can start the next layer:

• Pour 1/2 cup of boiling water over the remainder of the gelatin package. Stir until the gelatin is dissolved.
• Add frozen blueberries or fresh into the gelatin; if using fresh blueberries, add 1/4 cup of cold water.
• Place in 'fridge for an hour or just until the gelatin begins to set.

After an hour or so, spoon the blueberry-filled gelatin over the top of the whipped-topping gelatin, being careful not to mix the layers. Continue to chill the pie at least one more hour or until ready to serve.

When ready to serve:

• Spoon remaining whipped topping over the pie.
• Place 12 round chocolate sandwich cookies on-end round the rim of the pie.

ENJOY!

Here's the meaning we developed for this pie:

• Cookie crust -- dark like the devil, crushed under Our Lady's foot
• 1st Layer -- Our Lady's pale blue veil
• 2nd Layer -- Our Lady's rich blue gown
• Whipped topping -- the white covering of her purity
• 12 cookies -- the stars, as related in Revelations 12, the surrounded her head symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel as well as Mary's part in conquering death for once and for all.

Living the liturgical year is not hard -- just combine it with meal-planning (and throw in some cooking math) and you've got a celebration that will be remembered!

Feast: Queenship of Mary

Today is the Feast of the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. This is a very hard Catholic concept for many. Here's an explanation from the Catholic-Forum website:

The feast of the Queenship of Mary was established in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. The
original date for this feast was chosen as May 31st, but was later moved to the
octave day of the feast of the Assumption, August 22nd. This memorial celebrates
the same event that is highlighted by the fifth glorious mystery or the Rosary.

Throughout the New Testament, Mary's role in heaven is mentioned. Mary is alluded to as Queen in the book of Revelations, and throughout the Bible. It is because of Jesus close relationship with his mother that she shares in his kingship.

The Church and the faithful for have also referred to Mary as queen since the fourth century. Various songs, litanies, and prayers refer to Mary as queen. (e.g. Regina Caeli during Eastertide.) The Church has affirmed the title of Mary in modern times through documents including Lumen Gentium (..."and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son" Lumen Gentium 59) and the papal encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam.

The title Queen is used to indicate the final state of the Virgin, seated beside her Son, the King of glory.

Here is an excerpt of the Ad Coeli Reginam written by Pope Pius XII:

38. From these considerations, the proof develops on these lines: if Mary, in
taking an active part in the work of salvation, was, by God's design, associated
with Jesus Christ, the source of salvation itself, in a manner comparable to
that in which Eve was associated with Adam, the source of death, so that it may
be stated that the work of our salvation was accomplished by a kind of
"recapitulation,"[49] in which a virgin was instrumental in the salvation of the
human race, just as a virgin had been closely associated with its death; if,
moreover, it can likewise be stated that this glorious Lady had been chosen
Mother of Christ "in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of
the human race";[50] and if, in truth, "it was she who, free of the stain of
actual and original sin, and ever most closely bound to her Son, on Golgotha
offered that Son to the Eternal Father together with the complete sacrifice of
her maternal rights and maternal love, like a new Eve, for all the sons of Adam,
stained as they were by his lamentable fall,"[51] then it may be legitimately
concluded that as Christ, the new Adam, must be called a King not merely because
He is Son of God, but also because He is our Redeemer, so, analogously, the Most
Blessed Virgin is queen not only because she is Mother of God, but also because,
as the new Eve, she was associated with the new Adam.

Makes perfect sense to me!

Queen of Heaven rejoice,
alleluia
The Son whom you merited to bear alleluia
Has risen as he said
alleluia
Pray for us to God alleluia
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary,
alleluia!
For the Lord has truly risen alleluia

Death LOSES and Today Proves It!

Today, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother -- the day when she went to Heaven, body and soul, to prove death's defeat and the triumph for once and for all over Satan! This is a fabulous feast.

This picture, The Assumption of the Virgin, by Francesco Botticini is housed in the National Gallery of Art in London. Jesus did not allow His mother to be buried but rather brought her, body and soul, to His side in Heaven -- with all the angels and saints cheering and looking on in wonder.

So tonight we party -- thanks to Jennifer at 4Real, we have dessert -- Lemon Cloud (as in, Mary was taken up in a cloud) Pie. Of course, because I CAN'T follow directions completely, we're having LIME Cloud Pie (and ours is a graham cracker crust).

So how did y'all celebrate?