What's Cooking At Our House

Something's always cooking -- literally and figuratively.  We have a house full of cooks!  Why this is I don't really know, except that we all love to eat -- and it's become rather expected -- more by the children, themselves, I think than by us -- that if you live here, you know how to cook.  And this is a good thing. Such a good thing! Paul (Mr. Rice -- he should have been Chinese!) is a wonderful husband to wife, Nicole, and can take over when needed or desired in the kitchen.  Both of our Seminarians ended up being seminary cooks: Dominic (Mr. Innovative, you just never know what he'll pull together with what ingredients) started out with the job right out of high school and Br. Philip-Jon (Mr. Tobasco with the asbestos tongue) held the position for a couple years.  Michelle (who just landed a job on the early morning bread-baking shift at Panera Bread) can hold her own with the best of them; Theresa (the bake sale queen where she's boarding in Olathe, CO) knows her way around the kitchen pretty durn well -- and there's a rumor that even Kevvy can cook if he wants to.  

This last bunch of kiddos, however, may give all of the Big Kids a run for their money.  Oh my goodness, can Cathy and Anna put on a dinner!  And we've started giving them a chance to impress us once week -- to everyone's benefit.  While I plan and prepare most dinners and Dan is the star of weekend breakfasts, Saturday night is the girls' night for epicurean greatness. Lucky us!

Tonight, Cathy took care of dinner, making an amazing pan of Chicken Cacciatore (this recipe here), served over brown rice (because Dan and I are making an attempt at going Paleo).  It was stellar!

Anna was on tap for dessert, and served up something that none of us have ever tried before: Spicy Walnut Raisin Pie.  Her first attempt at crust from scratch, too!  And it was delicious!  Perfecto!  Yuh-um!

 (Yeah, I went off the diet for pie...  You caught me.  But, really, 

it was a sacrifice I made for Anna's sake...)

The boys give it a thumbs up!  Even William, who doesn't like nuts! Success all the way around!  Thank-you, girls!

Here's the recipe for the Spicy Walnut Raisin Pie

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup light or dark corn syrup

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

Heat oven to 375.  Prepare pastry. Beat eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, corn syrup, and butter with hand beater until blended. Stir in walnuts and raisins.  Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.  Bake until set, app. 40-50 minutes.

* Oddly enough, everyone said this pie reminds them of bread pudding!

Mother's Rosary

Isn't it neat?

I need to make one of these!

(It'll need to be the fifteen decade kind...)

"Best Day Ever!"

Anna said that: "Really!  The best day ever!"

We all looked at her funny, so she explained, "Because everyone said it couldn't be done and I proved them wrong!"

This is the story.  Gabriel comes from a long line of baseball players, and like many nine-year old ball players, he has a favorite hat, a favorite glove, and a favorite ball.  You see him pictured here with his favorite baseball playing trifecta:

That's his big brother's high school ball cap and the glove du jour.

And here's his favorite ball.  

But, alas...  We live in a house right now with a backyard not well suited to playing ball.  It's way too small, surrounded by high walls, and most of the space is taken up by a swimming pool.  We've warned all the children that they can fish the balls (or frisbees or army guys or spoons or whatever...) out of the pool, but if they go over the walls, they're at the mercy of our neighbors to throw them back over.  They can't climb over the walls and trespass, so they know they play at their own risk -- or at the risk of their toys, more precisely -- if they throw things around in the yard.

So.  This morning, around ten o'clock, having the day off of school for Presidents' Day, the children took themselves outdoors to play.  It wasn't long before we heard a wail of disbelief from the back patio.  It seems Anna had been playing with Gabe's baseball, and at first everyone thought she'd thrown it over the high wall -- but upon further investigation, they discovered that she'd actually managed to throw it down the crack in between the two walls back there.  Oops.  Big OOPS!  

This is actually Anna re-enacting the moment.  She says that, in reality, if she was 

going to be perfectly honest about the whole baseball-down-the-hole-in-the-wall 

affair, she had to admit that, when she first did it, she laughed.  But then, when she 

realized she was going to have to buy Gabe a new ball, she got serious pretty fast.  

 To make a long story short, Anna and Cathy teamed up to rescue the ball.  They went through practically every tool in the shed in their attempts to reach down into the crack, about five-and-a-half feet down to the ball near the ground.  While they could get to the ball and actually touch it with several different implements, they couldn't manage to scoop or grab it up.

They spent all day trying!

(Have you ever seen Sandlot ?  It was like that without the big monster dog...)

Until Anna fashioned this contraption out of a PVC pipe, a pair of tongs, and a length of string.  See how it works? 

She threaded the string all the way through after tying it to the end of the tongs.

When she pulled the string, it forced the tongs to close.

Voila!

A very good, satisfying day's work for Anna.

Gabe, however, is not impressed.

(I strongly suspect the baseball will be hidden from now on.)

On The Day We Remember the Flight into Egypt

Caracci 1663

We take for granted, I think, that the Holy Family traveled places.  They went to Jerusalem all the time, traveled to Bethlehem, fled to Egypt, came back....  But, what we might not think about is how they did all this traveling. For us, it's just a matter of hopping in a car, or  a plane or on a train maybe to take a trip, but it was not so easy for folks at the time of Christ.  Pretty much everywhere they went they walked.  If someone had a little money, a donkey might be used to carry belongings on a trip, but seldom was it used to ride the whole journey.  And,since they were very poor, Mary, Jesus, and Joseph would likely not have had a donkey most of the time and would have had to carry the necessities for a journey on their backs!

Wm Hole 1500s

There is an amazing man named Arthur Blessit who became fascinated with the actual day-to-day realities of the travels of Jesus and Mary, so much so that he made it his life's goal to travel in their footsteps -- and beyond.  He's traveled the world carrying an eight foot cross on his back.  On his website, he calculates the mileage walked by both Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.  Following is the information he tallied on the travels Our Lady made on foot in her lifetime -- conservatively based on the information we have solely in the Bible:

Mary the Mother of Jesus

Ansaldo 1620s

* Mary was probably carried to Jerusalem till she reached 3 years of age. Mary would have walked from Nazareth to Jerusalem and back ‘at least’ once a year from the age of 3 till the Jesus when she may have been about the age of 20. The one way mileage was about 120 (193) each way and thus it would be about 240 miles round trip (386 km). Mary Walking: 240 miles (386 km) per year from Nazareth to Jerusalem round trip x 17 years = 4,080 miles (6,565 km)!

(This would mean walking roughly the distance from DesMoines, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska  and back -- once a year) 

*After she conceived by the Holy Spirit of God she ‘walked’ traveled from Nazareth to south of Jerusalem where Elizabeth her cousin was pregnant with John the Baptist (130 miles, 209 km). She then ‘walked’ traveled back to Nazareth (130 miles, 209 km). Then with Joseph she ‘walked’ traveled back south of Jerusalem to Bethlehem (130 miles, 209 km). During all this walking travel of 390 miles (627 km) Mary ‘was’ with Child!

(This is roughly the distance between Washington D.C. and New York City.  Imagine walking that roundtrip pregnant!)

* Mary, Joseph and Jesus must have lived in Bethlehem for about two years. Jesus was taken at least twice to the Temple in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph for Circumcision and then again for Him to be ‘presented to the Lord’. (Luke 2:21-24) Let us count these two visits to Jerusalem for a total of 25 miles Mary walked.

(This is roughly the distance across the entire city of Denver)



Philip Otto Runge 1805
To learn about the legend of the Sycamore tree under which the Holy Family rested in Matariya, Egypt, go here.


* With Herod the King seeking to kill Jesus an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and he was told to flee to Egypt and they lived there till the death of Herod. Then he was told again by an angel to return to Israel and they came to live in Nazareth. (Matthew 2:13-23) The normal mileage from Bethlehem down to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, through Gaza across the Sinai Desert and into Egypt to the Pyramids along the Nile would be about 350 miles (563 km). Mary traveled with the infant baby Jesus at about the age of two for 350 miles (563 km) through the desert.

(This would be roughly the equivalent of a walk from Boston to Philadelphia -- and back the long way)

Dore. Click and print for a lovely coloring page!



* Mary, Joseph and child Jesus at about the age of 4 or 5 walked (traveled) from Egypt across the desert past Gaza and Joppa along the Mediterranean Sea to Nazareth. Mary walked about 400 miles (643 km) from Egypt to Nazareth with Jesus and Joseph.

(It's about 400 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Minneapolis, Minnesota)

* Living in Nazareth Mary would have gone at least once a year to the Temple in Jerusalem and back. This would surely have been at Passover or at least one of the Temple festivals. Jesus begins His public ministry at about the age of 30. Let us say they came back to Nazareth when Jesus was 5. For 25 years, Mary would have made round trips to and from Jerusalem once a year. Mary walked 240 miles (386 km) round trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem for 25 years, this = 25 x 240 = 6,000 miles (9655 km)!

(240 miles is about the distance from Baltimore, Maryland to Norfolk, Virginia)

* During the public ministry we find Mary in Cana with Jesus. (John 2:1-11) Mary was with Jesus in His ministry (Matt.12: 46-47; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:19)She was present as Jesus was crucified. (John 19:25-27) The disciple John was asked by Jesus to take care of Mary. (John 19: 27) Mary stayed to live with the early believers in Jerusalem. (Acts 1:14) We do not know the full extent of her travels with Jesus during this three year period but she surely went to the Passover three times, traveled to Cana round trip (12 miles, 19 km) and Capernaum round trip from Nazareth (60 miles, 96 km). The three Passovers including a one way from Nazareth to Jerusalem = 240 x 2 = 720 + 120 (one way to Jerusalem) + 72 = 912 miles (1,467 km). Mary walked at least 912 miles (1,467 km) during the 3-year public ministry of Jesus.

Total miles walked by Mary the Mother of Jesus!

Albrecht Durer.  Click and Print
for another great coloring page!

•4,080 Nazareth to Jerusalem and return. (Age 3 till 20)

•390 While with Child.

•25 From Bethlehem to Jerusalem twice.

•350 Bethlehem to Egypt

•400 Egypt to Nazareth.

•6,000 From Jesus age 5 till 30.

•912 During the public ministry of Jesus.

•Total: 12,187 Miles (19,612 km) Mary the Mother of Jesus Walked by the time she was about 50 years of age!

The distance around the world at the equator is 24,901.55 miles (40,074 km).

This means the Mary the Mother of Jesus Walked almost ‘HALF’ the distance around the world!

 The Flight into Egypt, as well as the Riposo -- or rest -- of the Holy Family, has been a favorite subject of artists since the beginning of Christian art.  There have been countless depictions! Many paintings are highly stylized and not very realistic, but this is a tendency we can easily forgive as they were graceful studies of a weary and gritty journey -- but a journey lit  with the beauty of the Divine Presence -- the Child Jesus safe in the haven of His Mother and St. Joseph's obedient care.

 Here are a few more paintings we've enjoyed looking up this morning:

Can't find the painter of this beautiful depiction.  Love the rich color and the pyramids in the distance.  Where is their baggage, though?

George Hitchcock - 1892  This is a lovely pastoral view of the Flight - but we wonder if it really would have looked like this in the desert between Bethlehem and Egypt.  And why is St. Joseph lagging so far behind?

George Hitchcock - 1895 A very different take on the same subject by Hitchcock, who seems to have moved onto Impressionism.  This one feels lonely and cold to us, compared to the other.  And again, St. Joseph lags way behind.

Luc Olivier Merson 1879.  This painting captures the desert starkness, we think, and is very beautiful in its simplicity, but we have a hard time imagining Our Blessed Mother crawling up to sleep in the arms of the little sphynx.. 

What do you think? Do you have a favorite?
*Repost from 2011 (Incidentally, one of the best research projects I ever got to do!  Putting facts and mileage to the history made it more than just a story for me...)

Celebrating the Day: The Feast of St. Valentine

Gratitude Sunday link-up here at Alphabet Salad!

* St. Valentine's Day  Traditions!

The girls and I decorate for the feast every year, but the boys plan, cook, serve and clean up for the girls. Do I need to say this is one of the girls' very favorite holidays?  Since we only have two little boys at home these days, neither of which is even "double digits" yet, Dan was on the spot for the menu on Friday, but the little guys took care of all the courtesies with efficiency and aplomb.  (Check out the waiter "uniforms" they chose all by themselves. ;)

The numbers served and serving is considerably smaller now that we've moved to Nevada and our big kids have Valentines of their own to entertain.  But everyone here had a wonderful time! We can't help but feel like they're all missing out...  The company here at St. Valentine's Day 2014 was excellent, the service was outstanding, and the food was exceptional!  We could not have felt more pampered and loved, and the boys were pretty proud of a job well done.  We're very grateful for the men in our family!

Getting Things Rolling

Gabey wrote this little speech all by himself.  We hid our smiles as he introduced himself and welcomed us to "his" house..  (Heehee!)

The staff: William (8), Gabriel (9)

Anna (11), who also had iced tea...

Cathy (13) -- who ended up with iced tea...

June (85 years young), who also took a pass on the wine and opted for tea

(Not pictured:  yours truly, who did, indeed, have the wine! 

And who was too busy eating to take a picture of the beautiful feast.)

Some of the St. Valentine's Day cards:

Loved them all!  One of my favorite things about this day is the homemade cards.

Gabe, our chief waiter and master of ceremonies.  (Not that he didn't trust William, mind you, but Gabe opted to do most of the toting and carrying...)

Three cheers for the chef!  Thank-you, Daddy/Dan!

A Couple Giggles

The boys told us these were for those of us without dates...

Watched these wacko candles melt throughout the dinner...
And, anyone who was a kid, naturally let some of it melt all
over their hands, etc, and so forth...

*  At the end of the meal, Chef Dan came out and told us to pretend we were Lot's family, to go around the long way to the rec room, and to not look back at the kitchen...  We were happy to comply.

And then there was the entertainment:

Who needs music, right?  Go, William!

And of Course,  Always Our Guest of Honor...

The Queen of Our Hearts

Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Pray for us!

* On the menu

As Gabe anounced in the video, above, we had salmon and grape*fruit* sauce (not actually "grape" sauce), along with our iced tea, water, and "Suter Home" pink Muscato wine. Dan also prepared herbed Quinoa and asparagus.  Then later, we had orange sherbet floats (with gingerale).

It wal all sooooo good!    But the Salmon!  Oh. my. goodness! We've had salmon many different ways, but this grapefruit and shallot sauce was totally unexpected, and delicious. (Great find, Dan!)  A must try for meatless Fridays!  (Trust me; you'll love it!)

Salmon and Grapefruit/Shallot Sauce

Ingredients
4 skinless salmon fillets, 5 to 6 ounces each
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
2 ruby red grapefruits
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons honey
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt, place in a baking dish and roast until cooked through, about 18 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking prepare the sauce. Cut 1 of the grapefruits into sections by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit, then standing it on 1 end, cut down the skin to remove the pith and peel. Then, with a paring knife, remove each segment of fruit from its casing and cut the segments in half. Set the segment pieces aside. Juice the other grapefruit and set the juice aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger, grapefruit juice, honey, and cayenne pepper and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce is reduced by about half about, 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and season with salt, to taste. Right before serving, toss the grapefruit pieces and basil into the sauce. Put the salmon onto a serving dish. Spoon sauce over the salmon and serve.

Found here.

On the Feast of the Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes

February 11th Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception." A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings deign to cast upon us a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request. request Through gratitude for your favors, we will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory. Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will.   Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

DAY 1  O Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, virgin and mother, queen of heaven, chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin, we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes and pray with childlike trust in you that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes, you will look with mercy on our present petition and secure for us a favorable answer to the request for which we are making this novena. The actual statue in the niche at the grotto in Lourdes. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.  DAY 2 Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception!" O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with one ray of the burning love of your pure heart Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you, in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity. O dispenser of His graces here below, take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son the petition for which we are making this novena. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.  DAY 3 "You are all fair, O Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin." O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. O brilliant star of sanctity, as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes you spoke to the child Bernadette and a fountain broke from the plain earth and miracles happened and the great shrine of Lourdes began, so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us. DAY 4 O Immaculate Queen of Heaven, we your wayward, erring children, join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving to those of the angels and saints and your own-the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified in heaven and on earth. Our Lady of Lourdes, as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette as she prayed her rosary in the grotto, look down now, we beseech you, with love and mercy upon us. From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son, sweet Mother of God, give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need and at this moment look with special favor on the grace we seek in this novena. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us. This stained glass detail from the Upper Basilica in Lourdes shows Our Lady of Lourdes holding a model of the chapel that was built on the site she wished.  DAY 5 O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother, from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we, full of confidence in your unbounded goodness and confident that your Divine Son will look favorably upon any request you make of Him in our behalf, we beseech you to come to our aid and secure for us the favor we seek in this novena. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.  DAY 6 O glorious Mother of God, so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the gracious Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare and for the special favor we so earnestly seek in this novena. (make your request) O Lady of Bernadette, with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet, look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes. O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.  DAY 7 O Almighty God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary did prepare a worthy dwelling place for your Son, we humbly beseech you that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes, we may be St. Bernadette at fifteen blessed with health of mind and body. O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer, look with favor upon us as you did that day on Bernadette and intercede with him for us that the favor we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.  DAY 8 O Immaculate Mother of God, from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette in the rough Grotto of Lourdes! And as Bernadette knelt at your feet and the miraculous spring burst forth and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God, we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favor we seek in this novena. (make your request) O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us.  DAY 9 O glorious Mother of God, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a St. Bernadette, an incorruptible happy death. O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favor we seek at this time. (make your request) We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Saint Bernadette, pray for us! Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Lourdes, France Celebrating the Day I've posted something on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and/or the feast day of St. Bernadette every year since I started blogging, which is a lot of posts! St. Bernadette is my special name patron (my middle name is Bernadette) and Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, is the title of the Blessed Mother as my special Protectress through my Consecration to Mary. So, yeah... I can't resist writing about the apparitions at Lourdes!   For a ton of links, plus the story in a nutshell, and information on Lourdes, itself, you can find a round up here.  And some more over here.  You can  find instructions and links for a "grotto craft" for the feast day here.  Jessica at A Shower of Roses has a great collection of other craft links here. Catholic Cuisine's post for the feast of St. Bernadette suggests crepes to celebrate the day, and they have a treasure trove of other ideas for the feast day, celebrating Our Lady as the Guest of Honor, here.    And then there are always coloring pages... Click and print for a simpler coloring page! Go here to print out this coloring page!

Happy Feast of the Apparitions at Lourdes!  St. Bernadette, pray for us!  Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!