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 ....

 

Nurturing Creativity Daybook ... the week at a glance

Last week over at Kind Conversations, I started a new daybook called "Nurturing Creativity" where I describe my day(s) and ways of nurturing creativity in my own home.

Now, let's be honest here ... there is no way I'm going to be able to keep up with a day-by-day listing of all the creative things we're doing around here.  If I did that, I wouldn't have time for all that nurturing I want to do ...

So, welcome to the week-at-a-glance version of NCD ....

• on my needles: I have just started another project for the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program;  the Season-spanning Cardi I was working on last week is ready to be pattern-drafted and sent off to KP!
• on the craft table: I have some sewing to do; we spent the weekend helping a dear friend make her aprons for her Dominican postulancy and that got String Bean and I plotting sewing projects -- skirts, tops and jumpers for summertim.
• on the kitchen counter: I have chicken thawing for making the only kind of chicken LegoManiac will eat:  MaryM's Clinkerdagger recipe.  I'm planning what we'll make to celebrate St. Louis Marie deMontfort on Wednesday, St. Catherine of Siena on Thursday and St. Joseph's Day on Saturday ... LOVE being Catholic!
• in the garden: I have seedlings coming up, transplanted azalea that needs to be nursed along, more tilling to get the front garden ready for flowers.  At least with the rain we had today, the ground is a bit easier to work
• in the school-room: String Bean and I are working on her Co-op History project on Martha Washington's contributions to the American Revolution -- we have till Wednesday to make her mob-cap, a petticoat for her skirt, baked goods to tantalize the audience, and a script to write and memorize.  We're all working on creative projects to surprise Dad on feast of St. Catherine of Siena -- she's Rick's patron saint this year and we've got some great ideas up our sleeves having to do with food, crafts and a bit of fun!

So what are you doing to nurture creativity in your home? 

BTW, my goal ... that is "my target" ... that is "my hope" ... is that every Monday I'll be posting a NCD-week at a glance to keep myself honest and ensure we're always nurturing creativity around here ....