Saint Gianna Molla Feast Day

Saint Gianna Molla's feast day is this Thursday (April 28th).  Most of the feast days that I'm celebrating with Curly this year are name saints for our family.  No one in my family is named Gianna, but I know that my mom really likes this saint because she became a saint by being, "just a mom."  She was an Italian mother (and doctor) who was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst while pregnant.  Instead of terminating the pregnancy, she carried the child to term and died because of the cyst.  She was canonize in 2004.  I think it's awesome to learn about recent saints who lived relatively normal lives (and holy lives, of course).  It puts sainthood into a more possible frame of reference.  I may not be a saint, but I can learn a lot from and live a lot like Saint Gianna.  However, there are a lot of unattainable saints.  I probably can't (or won't) live like Saint Brendan the Navigator--who travelled over the oceans with a group of monks and, as legend has it, had Mass on the back of a whale.  I like to reach for the stars, but realistically--that's not going to happen.

To celebrate Saint Gianna this week, I'm going to focus on her life--being a mom and a pediatrician, working with kids and families, living her faith even when it was difficult.  Here is a link to a bunch of saint coloring pages.  Saint Gianna is halfway down the page.

I've read online that a lot of people serve cannoli to celebrate her feast day since she's Italian.  Instead of buying cannoli (or making them--ouch!) I made cute and delicious Lacy Oatmeal Cookies, rolled them into a tube, and filled them with whipped cream.  The cookies were relatively easy to make.  I did add another 1/2 cup of flour to the recipe since the first batch through the oven were too thin to be practical.  I also used Rich Whip which is dairy free.  The fake whipped cream tasted surprisingly delicious.
  

I let Curly sample while I was burning my hands trying to get these to gracefully form into tubes.  She took a bite and said, "Yummy!  They taste like popcorn!"  I assumed she was just being three and weird.  But, no...later when I sampled, I thought the exact same thing.  Yummy!  They taste like popcorn!  Hmm.

Stuck to the pan.  I couldn't form fast enough.

Cooling while forming delightfully.

To finish these, I sprinkled the top with Cinnamon. By that time, I had already eaten more than my fill of crumbs and "whipped cream." Scott said that the cinnamon really made them delicious.

                     

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Catholic Kids Bulletin for 5/1/2011

Catholic Kids Bulletin!

Each SUNDAY, I will post a link to an activity sheet that coordinates with the Catholic Mass for the NEXT weekend. There will be pictures and activities each week to help little kids understand and appreciate the Mass. Most weeks, I'll also highlight a Saint whose feast day falls within that week or a liturgical symbol they can watch for at Mass.



Here's the link (It's a 2 page document)... Catholic Kids Bulletin--5/1/2011 Divine Mercy Sunday
A few bits of information...
**On the Gospel picture, I drew the wounds of Jesus including the wound in his side.  From everything that I could find, the wound was on the left.  It also fits in with picture of Saint Faustina's vision....
**On the 2nd page, there is a color-by-number of Saint Faustina and a vision of Jesus.  The color by number indicates that the kids should color the rays that are emanating from the left side of his chest--one red, one white.  I believe these are to symbolize the water and blood that poured from Jesus' wound on the cross when he was crucified.  
**On the picture of Saint Faustina, it says, "Jesu Ufam Tobie," which translates to, "Jesus, I trust in you."

My background is in education, and the goal of these bulletins is to give young kids an introduction to the basics of our Catholic Faith. I try to explain things on a kid's level, but many of the truths in which we believe are very difficult to explain succinctly and in child language. So instead of filling the pages with words, the goal is to give the kids a solid foundation in the Faith, hoping that the child will continue to build upon that base as he grows. I recommend that you look over the sheet with your children before Mass, to help prepare them for the Sunday celebration. Your child may have questions, and if they ask something you don't know, I recommend referencing the Catechism of the Catholic Church or leave a comment below and I'll do my best to find an answer.

And, of course, all material is, unless otherwise stated, the property of Theresa Burdick. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is a violation of copyright law. If you would like others to be aware of these bulletins, please refer them to the link for this site. Copies can be made solely for personal, noncommercial use. Individuals must preserve any copyright or other notices contained in or associated with them.

Linking up at these linky parties!

Catholic Kids Bulletin!

Catholic Kids Bulletin!

Each SUNDAY, I will post a link to an activity sheet that coordinates with the Catholic Mass for the NEXT weekend.  There will be pictures and activities each week to help little kids understand and appreciate the Mass.  Most weeks, I'll also highlight a Saint whose feast day falls within that week or a liturgical symbol they can watch for at Mass.

Here's the link (It's a 2 page document)... Catholic Kids Bulletin--EASTER

The activities are generally aimed at the Preschool/Kindergarten crowd.  However, smaller kids can color in the pictures, and older kids can learn from them too.  When I printed out a trial run for Curly (3 years old), she was entertained at the kitchen table for 20 minutes tracing everything on the page. 

My background is in education, and the goal of these bulletins is to give young kids an introduction to the basics of our Catholic Faith.   I try to explain things on a kid's level, but many of the truths in which we believe are very difficult to explain succinctly and in child language.  So instead of filling the pages with words, the goal is to give the kids a solid foundation in the Faith, hoping that the child will continue to build upon that base as he grows. I recommend that you look over the sheet with your children before Mass, to help prepare them for the Sunday celebration.  Your child may have questions, and if they ask something you don't know, I recommend referencing the Catechism of the Catholic Church or leave a comment below and I'll do my best to find an answer.

And, of course, all material is, unless otherwise stated, the property of TJB. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is a violation of copyright law.  If you would like others to be aware of these bulletins, please refer them to the link for this site.  Copies can be made solely for personal, noncommercial use. Individuals must preserve any copyright or other notices contained in or associated with them. 

Enjoy and come back next week!

Linking up at these linky parties!