Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The topic of our next meeting, July 14.

The children will be enrolled in the brown scapular .

The scapular is a sacramental ~
A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church toexcite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through thesemovements of the heart to remit venial sin. St Joseph Baltimore Catechism

Our Lady Help of Christians

Br Louis addressed our group on Tuesday. He spoke of Our Lady Help of Christians. He read to us parts of the Acts of the Apostles, about Mary's role in the early Church. Mrs Robertson then asked us to write a poem or song or list about Mary.

Our Lady Help of Christians

The feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, was established after Pope Pius VII after he was freed from captivity by Napoleon.

Pope Pius VII instituted the feast in July, 1814 when he returned to Rome, after his arrest in 1808.

The feast is also associated with the Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto, where a united Christian fleet defeated a fleet from the Ottoman Empire, which threatened to invade all of Europe. Pope Pius V had told people to pray to Our Lady and, in thanks to Mary, instituted the title Our Lady, Help of Christians.

The feast is celebrated on the 24th of May every year and we remember this feast in Australia, as Our Lady Help of Christians is a patron saint of Australia. ~ Anthony

Our Lady of Fatima

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

In Portugal in 1917 something extraordinary happened. In Portugal in 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to two shepherdesses and one shepherd . The three children were Lucia dos Santos,and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Mary appeared to the three children on the thirteenth of six consecutive months, and many thousands of people came to the spot in Fatima to pray, despite the fact that only the children could see and hear Mary.

The authorities of Portugal believed that the apparitions were disturbing the peace and had the children arrested for a time in August. Our Lady told the children three secrets that they were not allowed to divulge for many years, it was these secrets that the government of Portugal tried to learn from Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco.

During her last appearance in October, Mary announced the coming end of world war one. Francisco died in 1919, a victim of the great Spanish flu epidemic, as was his sister Jacinta who died in 1920.

Lucia survived the epidemic and joined a Carmelite convent, she reportedly had visions of Mary throughout her entire life, she died on February 13 2005. ~ Thomas

A saint from this week's calendar

Blessed Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico) was commemorated on February 18. Born as Guido di Pietro in 1386 or 1387 in Vicchio, Tuscany. He entered the Dominican Order in 1407 taking the name Brother John of the Angels.

Fra Angelico (Angelico meaning 'Angelic' in Italian) was a Dominican friar renowned for his artwork.The artwork of Fra Angelico continuously shows the goodness of creation, and this is exemplified in his many representations of the Annunciation.

Fra Angelico's greatest complete work was his "Life of Christ," a series of thirty five paintings in Fiesole. They began with the vision of the Prophet Ezechiel and ended with the lovely "Coronation of the Virgin". These pictures hint to us that Brother John of the Angels was a capable theologian and a Scripture scholar.

He was also a devoted son of St Dominic, whom he loved dearly and never tired of painting.Fra Angelico was beatified 3 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and in 1984 the Pope declared him patron of Catholic artists.

See more prints and more information at The Artcyclopedia.

The Immaculate Conception

Our next meeting is at Leonie's home, December 16. Meet at 12 noon. Bring lunch to share for an end of the year party, and we will also talk about the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - bring along those Mary Notebooks, too and we will aim to add an entry.

Anybody want to sare Advent links, recipes, ideas?

Immaculate Conception

O Father, you prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy motherof your Son. …Help us by her prayers, to live in your presencewithout sin. Amen.

All Hallows Eve, All Saints and All Souls

I love these feast days - so much to plan for, so much fun to have, prayers to pray, activities to undertake, Masses to attend, parties, perhaps, to plan... We can't do it all so each year I just select a few things on which to concentrate...


Halloween

Halloween, All Saints and All Souls

Soul cakes - we've made these for several years, yum!

Prayer - De Profundus

St. Therese Activities

St. Therese Chaplet Beads

This little set of prayer beads is a great example of using uniquely shaped beads in a chaplet. The beads chosen for this St. Therese chaplet are, appropriately enough, little pressed glass flowers! Either a St. Therese medal or crucifix can be used for this chaplet, but in this example, we have used both. The 24 beads are symbolic of her 24 years on earth. May praying this lovely chaplet help you to imitate St. Therese’s “little way” of following Christ.

School and Family Activities on St. Therese

Puzzles and Crafts about St. Therese.

Links for this week's meeting

St Francis of Assisi

Conventual Franciscans

St Therese of the Child Jesus

A Mary Blue Cake for the Feast of the Holy Rosary

And what we did last year for the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary.