September 1-7 Supplies List

Here is the supply list for the suggested activities for next week, September 1-7. Feel free to improvise or to adjust activities to fit your family's preferences, skills and time allotment.

Monday: A copy of the movie, "The Bells of St. Mary's" (and about two hours to watch it - feel free to watch it in stages throughout the day or over the next couple of days). 

Wednesday: Materials to make a "cave" for each child. This can be a pop-up tent, a sheet thrown over a card table, even a reasonably sized closet. 

Thursday: Crayons and/or colored pencils. 

Friday: 3 cups of sliced peaches, 1-1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 cup milk, 1 egg.

Saturday: Ivory soap (one bar for each bath - if you have two little ones that take a bath together, they can share one bar. If you have older kids who take showers, all the showering kids can share one bar, too.) 

August 31: St. Raymond Nonnatus

History

Saint Raymond was a Spanish priest who had the job of ransoming slaves. He would go to slave owners in Algeria, pay for slaves, and then set them free. Then his money ran out, so he was taken hostage for several slaves. While he was held hostage, he preached about Jesus, and several Algerians became Christians. This made the governor very angry. He was beaten and punished, but he kept preaching. The governor had his lips padlocked shut to keep him quiet!

Activity

Many people leave padlocks for prayer intentions at the altar of
Saint Raymond Nonnatus in the Metropolitan Cathedral, Mexico City

In some countries, people who ask Saint Raymond Nonnatus to pray for them will leave a padlock on an altar at church. Make your own padlocks, then "open" them and eat them up!

1. Using kitchen shears, cut candy vines (like Twizzlers®) in half so you have two short lengths. Cut each piece in half lengthwise so that you have thinner pieces. 

2. Carefully nudge the ends of the candy into the filling of a Newton cookie so that it looks like a padlock. 

3. To enjoy these treats, "unlock" the padlocks by pulling out the candy. 

Saint Raymond Nonnatus, pray for us!

More reading for parents:  

Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Online

August 30: St. Rumon

History

Saint Rumon lived so long ago, we’re not quite sure how to spell his name (it could be Rumon, Ruan, Ronan, or Ruadan), and we don’t know much about him. He was born in either Ireland or Cornwall (now part of England), and he worked as a missionary. People must have thought he was a great Christian, because many churches were named after him. Some traditions say he miraculously drove wolves out of Cornwall, protecting the people.

Activity

Today, let's pretend that the bad things we want to do - like being selfish or telling a lie - are wolves that we need to chase away from our homes. Use homemade chalk spray paint and a wolf track stencil. Print this stencil on card stock. (You will probably need a number of stencils so that more than one child can spray at a time and so that each Stencil doesn’t get too wet.) An adult can use a craft knife to cut away the wolf’s paw print shapes. Then mix up chalk spray paint out of cornstarch, water and food coloring, and place it in the spray bottle. Make different colors and use multiple spray bottles. Lay the template on the sidewalk leading away from your front door and carefully spray the template. Repeat as many times as you like. 

Saint Rumon, pray for us!

More reading for parents:

Catholic Online

August 29: St. Sabina

History

Saint Sabina was not always a Christian. Her female servant was the one who taught Sabina about Jesus. At the time, the government was fighting against Christianity by killing as many Christians as they could. Sabina’s servant was executed for being a Christian, one of many people who were martyred for Jesus in those times. Sabina had the body buried with her ancestors. That got her in trouble with the government, and Sabina was also executed for being a Christian.

Activity

Most of the people who read this blog live in the United States, where Christians are still free to worship and live the way they want to live. But in other parts of the world, Christians are threatened the same way Saint Sabina and her servant were. Today, pray for all of those who are persecuted for their faith, that God will strengthen them no matter what happens.

Saint Sabina, pray for us!

More reading for parents:

Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Online

August 28: Saint Augustine of Hippo

History

Yesterday was the feast of Saint Augustine’s mother, Monica, and today we honor him. When he was a young man, Augustine didn’t care one bit about Jesus. He so full of pride, he couldn’t believe in God, and he sinned all the time. But through his mother’s prayers and the powerful words of Saint Ambrose, Augustine believed in Jesus. The only problem was, he thought he had sinned too much to ever be a Christian. He asked the Lord to end his sinful nature once and for all. Suddenly, he heard a child’s voice singing, “Take up and read!” He grabbed a book of the Letters of Saint Paul and the first thing he read was, “Put away all impurity and live in imitation of Jesus.” From that moment on, Augustine had the grace to live a Christian life. He became a great priest, bishop and writer whom Christians still look up to today.

Activity

Did you ever have a bad day when you did one naughty thing after another and it seemed like you couldn’t help yourself? That’s probably how Saint Augustine felt when he first believed in Jesus but didn’t think he could ever stop sinning. The answer was to trust in the Lord and to make up his mind to live like Jesus lived. Today, make up your mind to live like Jesus would live.

Saint Augustine, pray for us!

More reading for parents:

Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Online

August 27: Saint Monica

History

Saint Monica had a hard life. Her husband generous, but he wasn’t a Christian and he had a terrible temper. His mother lived with them, and she was also mean to Saint Monica. But Saint Monica was very patient. She prayed for them all the time, and they eventually became Christians, too. Two of her children entered the religious life, but the oldest, Augustine, did not believe in God. For 17 years, Saint Monica prayed for him, often weeping from fear her son would never love Jesus. Finally, Augustine became a Christian – in fact, he became a wonderful saint, just like his mother.

Activity

Today’s activity comes from Sole Searching Mamma, who honored Saint Monica last year with a lime pie to represent the “sour” turning “sweet.” Here’s a recipe for a Frozen Key Lime Pie that’s easy to make (make it even easier with a pre-made crust and bottle lime juice). If you want to follow Sole Searching Mamma’s suggestions, color the lime filling blue with a little food coloring to represent the sea of tears that Saint Monica shed when praying for her son to become a Christian. Out of time? Go ahead and buy a frozen pie, ready-made. Before you eat, think of somebody you know who is not a Christian and pray that God will make Himself known to that person.

Saint Monica, pray for us!

More reading for parents:

Catholic Encyclopedia

EWTN

Catholic Online