Remembering Loved Ones

November is a wonderful month of remembrance.  We remember the saints in Heaven with God on Nov. 1st- All Saints Day, we remember our loved ones who died in the faith on Nov. 2nd- All Souls, and we remember all of the blessings in our lives as we approach our country's Thanksgiving holiday.

I wanted to find a decoration that would take my family through the month, honor those family members who are no longer with us, and remind us of all we have to be thankful for.  I came up with the idea of creating a 'remembrance rope' of sorts. 

All you need to do is pull out some sort of garland- mine happens to be very twiggy- and wedge photos of your loved ones who have died between the branches.  I also included some prayer cards.  I will put the garland on our staircase railing-after the Halloween decorations come down! 

 

During the month, we will add leaves to thank God for our many blessings.  Our remembrance rope will become a gratitude garland!  The children and I have talked about how we can pray for these family members, and ask them to pray for us, and how the church sets aside a day for us to remember and pray for those who have died.  It's also a great month to learn the 'Eternal Rest' prayer.

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen."

May God bless and comfort you as you remember your loved ones this month.

Spooky Saint Stones!

I want my kids to understand the connection between Halloween, the vigil, and All Saint's Day on Nov. 1st, the holy day where we recognize those men and women who died and are now in Heaven with God.  My boys, however, want, eerie, ominous, and weird this time of year, so it can be a challenge to merge our faith with some spooky fun. This year I've found a way to incorporate the saints in our decorating with Spooky Saint Stones!

My boys were pretty self-sufficient making these, and while the Superhero Princess had a great time and was engaged with the activity, just know that you'll have to be very hands-on if you try this with a toddler or preschooler.   The very first thing we did was talk about the saints-the way they lived their lives are now role-models for us, the church sets aside All Saints Day for us to remember them and we can ask them to pray for us (intercede) because they are in Heaven with God and will help us.

First, stack two pieces of black or gray fun foam and cut them out, so that you have two same-shaped tomb stones.  As you can see, I free-handed these, so they are far from perfect!  Keeping the stones stacked, write the names of favorite saints on the top outside piece, and the bottom outside piece.  Leave the center sides (the ones that match up) blank.  We used permanent metallic markers, since our foam was black, but if you use lighter colored foam, any permanent marker would work.  We talked about a lot of different saints while doing this.  Our choices for saints included family favorites, Confirmation saints, patron saints of things that are important to us, and our parish's patron.

After writing all of the names, open the set so that the blank side of both pieces is facing up.  Place a generous glob of tacky glue in the lower third center of the stone and attach a pom-pom.

Now put a generous glob of glue on top of the pom-pom.

Put the second tombstone piece on top of the pom-pom so that the saint name is facing up.  Squeeze!

Better yet, sandwich the project between books or newspapers and allow to dry thoroughly (give it about an hour.)  After you pull them out, you will need to gently bend the bottom flaps up and away from the pom-pom so that the tomb stone will stand.

Put your stones out for display, and there you go, spooky decorations that incorporate the real meaning of this fun time of year!

All you Holy Men and Women, pray for us!

**These are very lightweight, and although they will stand on their own, you might want to prop them against a real stone if they are in a gusty area of your house, or, if like me, you have little mini-cyclones in the forms of your children.  Happy All Saints!