Crafts -- helping kids with the Rosary

OK, I rarely link to another's posts on this blog, but I DON'T want to forget this spectacular idea from Kimberlee over at pondered in my heart ... wow, so easy and yet so perfect for helping little ones with keeping track of the prayer and the mystery of the Rosary!

And those girls ... don't you just want to pull them onto your lap and cuddle them?????

Election 2008: 9-day Novena for Life from Oct 27 - Nov 4, 2008

We have but nine days till the election. Nine days to continue to fight the good fight ... to encourage all who are able to vote and to vote with clear minds and hearts ... to allow reason and rationality in their choice -- whoever that might be ... to pray that our country be blessed with a strong, life-loving president (no matter what race, creed, color or sex) who is an American first and whatever else second.

I love the following novena that Father Corapi has asked up to pray daily for the next nine days in addition to fasting or abstaining from something in reparation for our own sins and those of our country. This prayer takes some of the best elements of the Election Novena our family has been praying for the past 9 weeks:

That we may realize that while politics is not our salvation, That our response to God requires that we be politically active. That the Lord may awaken His people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world but rather a community of faith renewing the world. That we may realize that the hands lifted up to the Lord in prayer are the same hands that pull the lever in the voting booth; That the eyes eyes that read God’s Word are the same eyes that read the names on the ballot, And that we do not cease to be Christians when we enter the voting booth. That we may be awakened to a commitment to justice,To the sanctity of marriage and the family,To the dignity of each individual human life, And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin, and not one moment later.

Please pray this nine-day novena with us ... and many others ... for the safety and sanity of our Country as we go to the polls next Tuesday. This kind of novena truly works: it worked at Lepanto, in England during WW2 and it will work now ... but only if we avail ourselves of our God-given right to pray to Him!

For more information on this Rosary Novena, visit Father Corapi’s website . Here’s a link to his original invitation to pray this Novena:

Our Lady of Victory
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us,
Christ, hear us,Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

(The response for the following greetings is "Pray for us".)
Our Lady of Victory,
Victorious daughter of the Father,
Victorious Mother of the Son,
Victorious Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Victorious servant of the Holy Trinity
Victorious in your Immaculate Conception,
Victorious in crushing the serpent’s head,
Victorious over all the children of Adam,
Victorious over all enemies,
Victorious in your response to the Angel Gabriel,
Victorious in your wedding to St. Joseph,
Victorious in the birth of Christ,
Victorious in the flight to Egypt,
Victorious in your exile,
Victorious in your home at Nazareth,
Victorious in finding Christ in the temple,
Victorious in the mission of your Son,
Victorious in His passion and death,
Victorious in His Resurrection and Ascension,
Victorious in the Coming of the Holy Spirit,
Victorious in your sorrows and joys,
Victorious in your glorious Assumption,
Victorious in the angels who remained faithful,
Victorious in the happiness of the saints,
Victorious in the message of the prophets,
Victorious in the testimony of the patriarchs,
Victorious in the zeal of the apostles,
Victorious in the witness of the evangelists,
Victorious in the wisdom of the doctors,
Victorious in the deeds of the confessors,
Victorious in the triumph of all holy women,
Victorious in the faithfulness of the martyrs,
Victorious in your power ful intercession,
Victorious under your many titles,
Victorious at the moment of death,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Spare us, Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Hear us, Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy, Lord.
Pray for us, blessed Lady of Victory.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

The Novena Prayer
Our Lady of Victory, we have unshaken confidence in your influence with your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Humbly we ask your intercession for all of us associated under your title, Our Lady of Victory. We beg your powerful assistance also for our own personal needs.
That the Lord’s people may be awakened.
That we may realize that while politics is not our salvation,That our response to God requires that we be politically active.
That the Lord may awaken His people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world but rather a community of faith renewing the world.
That we may realize that the hands lifted up to the Lord in prayer are the same hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the eyes eyes that read God’s Word are the same eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that we do not cease to be Christians when we enter the voting booth.
That we may be awakened to a commitment to justice,
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin, and not one moment later.
In your maternal kindness please ask Jesus to forgive all our sins and failings, and to secure His blessings for us and for all the works of charity dedicated to your name.
We implore you to obtain for us the grace of sharing Christ’s victory and yours, forever in the life that knows no ending.
May we join you there to praise forever the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, on God, for all the ages to come. Amen.

Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen)
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.To Thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.Turn, then, O most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us.And after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary,Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God:That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection, implored Thy help, and sought Thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto Thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To Thee I come; before Thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate! despise not my petitions, but in Thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

All this we ask of The Father in the name of Mary’s Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with Him and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Father Baker’s Prayer To Our Lady of Victory
Let us pray:O Victorious Lady! Thou who has ever such powerful influence with Thy Divine Son, in conquering the hardest of hearts, intercede for those for whom we pray, that their hearts being softened by the rays of Divine Grace, they may return to the unity of the true Faith, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

{HT: Stef at ...and these Thy gifts}

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!).