Feast Day: Our Lady of Lourdes

Our family is very tied-into the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes:  my husband and I met while we were teaching at Our Lady of Lourdes School .... we were married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church ... two of our children were baptized at Our Lady of Lourdes Church ... we've been very blessed to go to Lourdes as a family, twice -- once in 2000 and again in 2001.  My maternal great-grandfather came from the Basque village of  Oloron-Ste.Marie, about 20 miles west of Lourdes in the Pyrennes.

We have many connections.

This apparition of Our Lady to St. Bernadette in a grotto in the south of France 18 times in the 1850s is one of the most visited shrines in the world.  Catholics, Christians, Jews ... even pagans go to Lourdes to pray and become whole in mind, body and spirit.  Some are cured ... some are eased in their illness ... some are left with the crippling diseases which have brought them to this spot.  But all leave with a sense of peace and love and care that only the Blessed Mother and her Son can bring.

It is an amazing place like none other on earth ... a place of prayer ... a place of peace ... a place of love.  The candlelight prayer service everynight is amazing: singing and crying and praying in different languages, warmed by the glow of the thousands and thousands of candles that fill the area in front of the Cathedral.  There is a constant flow of penitents into and out of the Confessional Building, where the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered all day every day in just about every language.  The Blessed Sacrament is available for adoration as is Holy Mass throughout the day.  The sick ... wheeled in on stretchers or wheel chairs, some even carried ... are all there for a special healing service in the afternoon, every afternoon. 

What a haven of peace and Divine love in the midst of our 21st Century.

Today, we'll read stories from The Wonders of Lourdes: 150 Miraculous Stories of the Power of Prayer ... we'll watch Bernadette and Song of Bernadette (we started last night by watching Loretta Young in Road to Lourdes).  We'll eat Tuna Lorenzo (tuna salad on homemade English muffins, broiled) and Gateau Basque (I'll post our version later) ... and of course, we'll pray for all those who are sick, suffering or dying as well as praying in thanksgiving for God's Love which allowed St. Bernadette to see Mary and God's Charity which continues the miraculous cures into the 21st century.

 

Review: Adventures in Booga Booga Land

First, I have to say that I think this dvd would sell better if it was set somewhere else than "Booga Booga Land" ... it's just too goofy of a name. 

But, that aside, this is a pretty good cartoon for the kids. The Adventures in Booga Booga Land is an animated series made in Canada based on Richard Milner's allegories, compiled in his book Adventures in Booga Booga.  The dvd has three episodes which bring parables of Jesus into a new context -- that of BoogaBooga Land.  Marty the monkey and Gerard the giraffe are the "stars" of the series and work all different kinds of jobs ... which is how they get involved in the scenarios that evolve into the telling of the parables. 

All of the parables on this dvd are from Matthew:

1. the workers in the vineyard (Matt 20:1-16)
2. the wise and foolish builders (Matt 7:24-27)
3. the lamp under the bowl (Matt 5:14-16)

All are well done re-tellings (except for the third which doesn't have as clean a link between the Booga Booga story and the original parable).  My kids -- 7, 10, and 11 -- and I all liked the stories on the dvd.  The animation is well-done (especially at a time when most of the animation done for kids is cheesy computer-generated graphics or ugly).  The voices are appropriate (and cute with the Canadian accents!).  The music is not irritating but peppy and "fits" the stories.

Overall, I'd say this is a great dvd to show kids of all ages.  I wish they had a study-guide or resource at the end of discussing the links between these cartoons and the scriptures; definitely want to take advantage of the teachable moments engendered by these stories.

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Disclaimer:  I recd this dvd as part of the Book Sneeze program.  I promised to post a review of the product.  The words of the review above are  honest opinion of this dvd.
 

Feast Day: St. Catherine Benincasa (of Siena)

St. Catherine of Siena is well-loved around here.  She is one of Kotch's namesake-saints and she is dh's patron saint this year.  This was one amazing woman who lived only 33 years and yet accomplished so much through her mystic discussions -- which, for the continued benefit of Catholics today, were transcribed for the Church.

In musing about what to feast on to celebrate this wonderful Dominican tertiary, I did a "google" on recipes and found out something wonderful.  The author of one of my favorite liturgical year cookbooks, A Continual Feast, Evelyn Birge Vitz, has created a blog to continue the recipes and celebration of the liturgical year aptly named A Continual Feast ... Continued. 

I love what she said about foods for St. Catherine's feast:

What shall we eat in St. Catherine's honor? I was casting about for Italian treats--I am sure the Sienese must have something scrumptious for her feast day! But Catherine herself spent important periods of her life fasting, and indeed consuming nothing but the Eucharistic host. As she said in one of her dialogues, speaking to the Eternal Trinity: "The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love… In our hunger you are a satisfying food, for you are sweetness and in you there is no taste of bitterness, O triune God." I think that, if possible, the most appropriate food for us to eat in St. Catherine’s honor is the Eucharist--the bread of heaven.

So, we're off to Mass this morning!  [But, never fear, I'm sure we'll come up with something suitable for feasting tonight!]

Here are some wonderful resources we will use today to learn more about St. Catherine of Siena, one of only three female Doctors of the Church:

• Rick has been reading Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset and highly recommends this loving portrait of his saint.
• Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue is packed with copywork possibilities even for the youngest; although her thoughts are deeply profound, the words are quite accessible (with some explanation) for even BamBam. [Note:  the picture above, which I used to make a prayer card, is the Holy Spirit inspiring St. Catherine to dictate the Dialogue.]
• Lay Siege to Heaven: A Novel about Saint Catherine of Siena by Louis deWohl, is a wonderful telling of this lady's life.  This book is great reading for the 5th grade and up crowd.
• Catherine of Siena (the DVD) is one of those great dramas created in Italy and distributed in the US by Ignatius Press.  The ability to show the kids a saint "in real life" helps them "own" the saint and remember her and her trials and triumphs.

Happy Feast of St. Catherine of Siena ... and please say a prayer to her today for Kotch (who is heading into finals week at college) and for Rick ....

 

Unit Study: For the Birds ... some more resources we're using

We started a unit study on birds ... starting with the incomparable John James Audubon!  We're having such fun learning about birds and all the amazing things they do ... much more than merely pecking at the ground and flying!

Here are some of the best resources we've used recently:

• Capturing Nature: the writings and art of John James Audubon (edited by Peter and Connie Roop with illustrations by Rick Farley) ... this is a great introduction to Audubon, using his own words to describe his background, how he got interested in birds, and a bit about how he learned to draw them so beautifully.
• John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings (the Library of America) ... this is a great companion to the above children's version; here you have the actual writings (misspellings and all) of Mr. Audubon, including his journals for going up and down the rivers and his ornithological directory (with amazingly personal notes about each bird) and his letters and notes about drawing birds.  This is a great addition to our study as we can do copywork from here and really get to know Audubon!
• John James Audubon: Wildlife Artist by Peter Anderson ... this is a great chapter biography about Audubon, illustrated throughout with Audubon's own prints/paintings of birds.  The author, Peter Anderson, does a great job of explaining in accessible language all about this great naturalist, artist, outdoorsman, painter!
• Winged Migration -- this is an AMAZING DVD that covers 40 countries, all seven continents, following birds on their migrations.  It is an amazing work of art to watch this video.
• Life of Birds -- the indomitable David Attenborough does a fabulous job of explaining birds -- in all their many facets -- to the audience of this series.  Add the award-winning cinematography and gorgeous soundtrack and you'll understand why we are taking the time to watch this 5+ hour series.  One of the cool things is that Attenborough and his team seem to make a point of showing less-well-known birds and their antics.
• Nature and Environment: Great Lives by Doris and Harold Faber is a compilation of biographies about many naturalists and scientists.  Written for a elementary-school level, the chapter on Audubon is great.  Don't worry if you;re tempted to head off on rabbit trails to discover more about other naturalists discussed in here including:  John and William Bartram, Luther Burbank, Rachel Carson, George Washington Carver, Jacques Cousteau, Jean Henri Fabre, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt ... to name just a few. We did just that and found this lovely chapter book:  Children of Summer: Henri Fabre's Insects -- this is a great read-aloud about bugs!

Spring is such a perfect time to launch into nature studies ... and we're having a blast!  What have you found that we should look for?