Post Christmas Catch Up

Well, finally able to start posting again now that the Christmas festivities are all done with for this year. It was another beautiful, magical Christmas. I never tire of celebrating the birth of our Lord. And as I held my infant Granddaughter, I tried to imagine what it must have been like for Mary to hold our Lord as an infant... how awesome that must have been!

January 1st is another beautiful feast day in our Church- The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God commemorates the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the God-Bearer, Mother of our Lord and God Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on January 1st, one week after Christmas.

In honor of our Blessed Mother I am offering a beautiful Seven Sorrows of Mary Rosary/Chaplet in my Etsy Shop. Made from dark blue Goldstone beads, recitation of this particular chaplet was specifically requested by our Blessed Mother during her apparitions in Kibeho, Rawanda.

I want to wish everyone a healthy, happy and blessed New Year.  Keep checking back for news and updates on what new items I will be offering on Etsy. My 2011 creations are forming in my mind and I can't wait to get to work on bringing them to fruition and to you!

Deo Gratias!

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Tomorrow, Dec 8, 2010 the Catholic Church will celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This special feast day celebrates that dogma that Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception. Mary is, as she related to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, I am The Immaculate Conception.

Hail Mary, full of grace.
The  Lord is with thee.                                                                             
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.



Oh Mary, Conceived without sin, pray for us sinners who have recourse to thee- pray three times.

Finally!

Well, here I go, my first posting....it took me longer to set up my blog than it did to make all the rosaries in my Etsy shop! And to think that I work with computers everyday in the real world.

I decided that my first posting should be something to get us all in the Christmas spirit and decided to play a little trivia game. I know that most Catholics have a Nativity set or Creche set up in their homes this time of year..but do you know how the tradition of the Creche came into being?  Who actually thought up the first Nativity Scene?

Well, it may surprise you to know that it was actually St. Francis of Assisi! In the year 1223, Francis was visiting the town of Grecio to celebrate Christmas. He wanted to infuse the townspeople of Grecio with the wonder and splendor of the Nativity of Our Lord and he did so by re-creating the manager in Bethlehem, in a niche in a rock near the town square. He set up an alter, the manager, brought in hay, an ox and a donkey to complete the scene. He then preached, as only St. Francis could, on the "Babe of Bethlehem".

Today, Nativity scenes are a visible reminder of that night when our Savior was born. As you are setting up the tree this year, shopping, wrapping and decorating your home, as you set out your Creche, stop;  sit and contemplate the birth of our Savior -  May we never forget to see in our hearts the little Babe of Bethlehem, who came to save us from sin.

Deo Gratias.