... and these Thy gifts ... » saints

Africa Unit Study, St. Charles Lwanga

stef — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:03:55 +0000

How timely (and ironic, but more on that later) that we’re doing our Africa unit study and today is the feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions! I’m keeping it simple (everyone’s still recovering, bad coughs all around) so we’re simply going to read from the Liturgy of the Hours, which includes a portion of the homily delivered by Pope Paul VI at the canonization of these martyrs of Uganda.

Here are some useful links:

Catholic Culture for June 3
Black Martyrs at the National Black Catholic Congress website
from Catholic.org
Amandazi from Catholic Cuisine — but since I’m stocked with African ingredients already we’ll stick with the menu plan for the day — these sound really yummy though
at SQPN
lots of information at the Women for Faith and Family website
found this link at 4real, to jclubcatholic, suitable for younger kids

Our library doesn’t have a copy of African Triumph by Charles Dollen and I didn’t look for it in time to purchase it for today .

Ironic that this day is the feast of African martyrs who gave their lives for purity and for the Christian faith, in a month which our African-American president declares LGBT Pride Month. These martyrs died just 125 years ago.

St. Charles Lwanga, pray for us!

From Liturgy of the Hours:

Father,
You have made the blood of the martyrs
the seed of Christians.
May the witness of Saint Charles and his companions
and their loyalty to Christ in the face of torture
inspire countless men and women
to live the Christian faith.
We ask this though our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Preliminary Confirmation Prep Plan for Paco

stef — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:35:48 +0000

Study of the Saints
- Joseph of Nazareth –
  read 5 pages daily and write in reflection journal
- Read and narrate books on other chosen saints:
  - Mary: Mary, Mother of Jesus by Joslin, Mary by Brian Wildsmith, Mary: The Mother of Jesus by Tomie de Paola
  - St. Francis of Assisi: Saint Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy, Francis: The Poor Man of Assisi, Clare and Francis, Francis and Clare: Saints of Assisi (Vision Book Series), Saint Francis by Brian Wildsmith,
  - St. Peter
  - St. Maximilian Kolbe (parish)
  - St. Paul (patron saint/namesake)
  - St. Francis Xavier (patron saint/namesake)
  - St. Dominic
  - St. Dominic Savio
  - St. John the Apostle
The Holy Spirit, Virtue and Habit Formation, Service
- Prayers, English and Latin
- Prayers to the Holy Spirit
- Gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Fruits of the Holy Spirit section
- Following the Holy Spirit
- Growing in the Virtues of Jesus
- Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions
- shoot for Daily Mass, but at least Wednesdays and Sundays
- Confession monthly
- Eucharistic Adoration on Thursday evenings
- Volunteer to help at Parish Festival, IHN, Soup kitchen, YFC, scouting
- Tithing
- Spiritual Reading: In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year and The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time
- Altar Service
Scripture, Tradition, Catechism and Apologetics
This list is currently overkill, so we’ll have to be picky about which sections to cover.
- The Holy Bible
- Fr. John Laux’ books, for discussion
- St. Patrick’s Summer: A Children’s Adventure Catechism
- Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- My Path to Heaven: A Young Person’s Guide to the Faith
- I Believe: The Nicene Creed
- Remain in Me
- Beginning Apologetics Series
- Prove It! Series by Amy Welborn
- Mere Christianity
- An Illustrated Catechism
- A Philadelphia Catholic in King James’s Court and A Philadelphia Catholic to King James’s Court: Discussion/Study Guide
- Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions
- Artwork: The Ten Commandments
Salvation History
The Sacraments
- Art work on confirmation
- Selections from Lapbooks for Catholics’ Sacraments
- The Sacrament of Confirmation
The Holy Mass
- The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You
- Jesus: Our Eucharistic Love
Christian Literature
- Rereading of The Chronicles of Narnia (Box Set), plus this study guide (pdf file)
- The Lord of the Rings, plus discussion using these two articles
- The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories
- The Screwtape Letters
Vocations/Theology of the Body
- Selections from Theology of the Body for Teens
- The Joyful Mysteries of Life
- Completely Christ’s I and Completely Christ’s II

Resources for Dad and Mom

Letters to a Young Catholic (Art of Mentoring)
Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters

These books were either culled from suggestions at the 4Real Forum or were used during dd-18′s own confirmation preparation years.

The plan is to use this as the bulk of our curriculum for this coming year (we’ve already been working on a few of these this past year so some are just continuing), only adding Math (Saxon) and Science to the mix. I’m thinking we’ll have to pare down on a bunch of these still as it may be too much even for one year’s worth of coursework. I’ll update this with the final plan when we get back to the US and gather the rest of our resources.

Simple Saints Costumes for All Saints Day

stef — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:16:00 +0000

It’s a Google spreadsheet, as yet unfinished, but will be working on it off and on the next few days. Also taking volunteers, if you feel like it!

Saint Athanasius by F. A. Forbes

stef — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:04:44 +0000

for Paco, 12.

Vocabulary

Chapter 1:

Patriarch
Mediterranean
predecessor
previous
judgment
incense
amphitheater
steadfast
quailed
absolved
quench
bruised
scrupled
apostates
schism
allegiance
hither
thither
aureole
vigorous
catechumens

Saint Meinrad Catholic Story Coloring Book

stef — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:54:58 +0000

Vocabulary for Yena, 6.

Chapter 1.

one
year
there
great
castle
what
twelve
name
more
about

Saint Anthony and the Christ Child

stef — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:42:17 +0000

Chapter 1 Vocabulary list for Migi, 9:

Portuguese
armory
entertaining
magistrate
beautiful
laughter
doublet
fierce
flourishing
Saracens
ancestor
possessions
murmured
accounts
cathedral
question
courtyard
roused
attention
deceived

Honoring St. Augustine (and his mom)

stef — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:41:46 +0000

“Our hearts were made for Thee, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in Thee.”
“Sero te amavi pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova!” (Late have I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new!)

Lots of reading and activities here.

Today, we are remembering St. Augustine. Yesterday, it was his mother‘s memorial. These are two of my favorite saint stories — the mother who prayed unceasingly for her wayward son, soooo unwaveringly faithful, that he turned away from sin and became a saint. Here’s what St. Augustine had to say about his own mother. How can a parent not be inspired?

I keep wondering what St. Augustine and St. Monica and all the rest of them are saying up there in heaven after his words have been severely misused by those down here.

And for those of us who are just that wee bit crazy about Latin, here’s a very timely lesson (w00t! This will take us several weeks to dig into!) from Context, Pelosi. from Aliens in this World. Gotta say though, if Pelosi reads Latin, I can’t help but be mighty impressed. But then again, as the Spartans said, *IF*.

We are lucky enough to be the owners of a couple of older volumes by St. Augustine, found at a book sale, they used to belong to a priest! DD-17 has been reading parts of Confessions for her Theology of the Body class, so this is great timing. Especially since she’s graduating at the end of the week, she’ll have PLENTY of time to delve into more of St. A’s works.

Happy Name Day to Me: Saint Stephen, the First Martyr

stef — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:50:43 +0000

Today is the Feast day of the First Christian Martyr (Proto Martyr), Saint Stephen, for whom I am named. He’s actually my mom’s saint as today is her birthday, but when I was born they chose his name for me.

The Stoning of St. Stephen by Pietro da Cortona

Read about St. Stephen here

St. Stephen’s Day Night Prayers