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Our simple and easy plans for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary were in fact achieved!
Hurrah!

As I had to go shopping for the ingredients after Mass we did not have a lot of the day left and so really only prepared the foods and coloured in our pictures
Here is more information on why we celebrate this day
It is tradition to bless both fruit and herbs on this feast day we tried to use herbs and fruits. Below are examples of how we incorporated them into our day.
We made up this chicken recipe with chicken breasts sliced and then stuffed them with both tasty and camembert cheese and then sprinkled with Italian herbs after rubbing the chicken breast with olive oil.
Our chocolate gluten free cup cakes (I admit I was going to make grain free from scratch but used this packet mix instead) with whipped cream and a strawberry heart on top
Our meal as we were ready to eat.
Chicken, fluffy mashed potato, cauliflower, onion all white to represent Our Lady's purity.
Pumpkin cause it is my favourite vegetable and peas and beans too
Our Heavenly punch which is apple and blackcurrant juice with strawberries on top
Sweets consisted of  strawberry hearts on fluffy whipped cloud cream
or creamy cloudy yogurt with blueberries ( the blueberries are for Mary)
Mixing up the blueberries in the yogurt
The table decoration was prepared by Myffwyn and we always use this book for special occasion grace
Our muffins compliment a warm drink of hot chocolate with marshmallow clouds on a cold day
Myffy and Corbyn colouring in some of the pictures I printed from our plans
Moran did some too.
And as a special  'sugar full/wheat full' treat. Sunburst mixed berries for those lucky to be around after 9pm at night.
One family's example of celebrating this feast
Traditions around the world

Prayer for the Day!
Almighty God,
You gave a humble Virgin the privilege of being mother of your Son, and crowned her with the glory of heaven.
 May the prayers of the Virgin Mary bring us to the salvation of Christ and raise us up to eternal life.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
 Amen.

 Blessings to you and your homes,
 

With all our moving plans at the moment, this year for the Feast of The Assumption I am keeping it very simple. These are a few ideas we have for tomorrow well today now.

Perhaps I will be changing this as we go along with more fun activities:

Plans for the day will involve Mass at 9:30am

Read these books~

Just Like Mary
Mary my Mother
Mary The Mother of Jesus
Mary Mother of Jesus

Colouring  Page....I love this one
Simple colouring page
Another one and another and another

Food we will eat~
Breakfast Smoothies-
Lunch~ Buckwheat pancakes with cream and strawberry hearts
Snack~ Chocolate gluten free/ or grain free muffins with cream and strawberry hearts again
Dinner ~ Herb and Cheese Stuffed Chicken with fluffy mashed potato, cauliflower, pumpkin clouds
Sweets~ Blueberry Yogurt Parfaits
Drinks~ Heavenly Punch and Fluffy Cloud Hot Chocolate

Blessings to you and your homes,

 

Well it has been a week since the Feast Of Our Lady of Mount Carmelhowever I still want to share;the very little activity we did, as it really is so very simple to achieve.

In fact our children had me convinced that it was last Tuesday rather than the Monday anyway and as we had an unexpected activity that had to be done on Monday we really were not prepared at all, sigh!

So straight to the matter. I really did not want to do any of the complicated ideas we have done in the past, Our
About The Brown Scapular and some recipes to celebrate 
Crafts and cake we did in 2009
as if just was too hard for me this year and so I was trying to work out how we could at least make a cake to celebrate with.


I really couldn't think of anything that I could do quickly and then our  very clever girl Autumn, came up with the idea you can see above.


It is quite simple:
Take two very large blocks of chocolate then place on top  a printed out image from the computer. Then for the straps  of the scapular join them with two  very fat straps of licorice to complete.

Did I mention that is all there is to it?
By the Way don't leave that chocolate out for too long as I am sure it will be eaten very, very fast!


Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Here are some plans I have put together  for the Feast of the Assumption.
I am pretty sure we will keep it simple tomorrow as we still have a lot of sick children right now, making it harder to organise feast days. Also they won't want to  eat much anyway  and activities will happen only if and when they feel up to it.
However I haven't done an Assumption planning post so will have this ready (I hope) for future use too.

HISTORY~ from Fisheaters
On this day, a Holy Day of Obligation, we recall Our Lady's being assumed into Heaven and crowned Queen. Though the Church has always believed in the Assumption of Mary, the dogma was only formally defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950 in his Bull Munificentissimus Deus. Note that Mary was assumed into Heaven -- taken up by the power of God, like Elias and Enoch -- while Christ ascended into Heaven under His own power.

This Feast is associated with herbs and fruits, and the Roman Ritual includes a blessing for such. In some parishes and chapels, congregants will bring fresh flowers to adorn the church in Mary's honor, and will bring the same along with fruit and herbs -- especially healing herbs -- to be blessed and take home

The giving of these blessed herbs, fruit baskets, and flowers and is a lovely custom of the day, and our prayer is that we emulate Mary by using the blessed herbs to bring healing to the world.
More Information at Catholic Culture and Women For Faith and Family

CRAFTS~
We will be making a banner from fabric or paper: (This can be then re-used each year for this celebration.)
Divide fabric/paper into three  or make three heart shaped ones
On the three sections or hearts write: Love~Hope~Joy

I think we will also make a Mary Banner: get everyone to choose their favourite Mary images and cut them out and place them on  heart (Immaculate Heart) or star ( Mary star of the Sea)

COLOURING PAGES~
St John The Baptist Catholic Church - The Assumption
St Anne's Helper 1
St Anne's Helper 2
There is also This great Rosary Colouring Book

PRAYERS~
We will be praying  the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary tonight in stead of Joyous
 AND starting this Novena and continuing for 9 days ( usually we start 9 days before the Feast Day but we didn't so will do it this way for this year)

Novena of the Assumption:

Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven,
I rejoice that after years of heroic martyrdom on earth,
you have at last been taken to the throne
prepared for you in heaven by the Holy Trinity.

Lift my heart with you in the glory of your Assumption
above the dreadful touch of sin and impurity.
Teach me how small earth becomes when viewed from heaven.
Make me realize that death is the triumphant gate
through which I shall pass to your Son,
and that someday my body shall rejoin my soul
in the unending bliss of heaven.

From this earth,
over which I tread as a pilgrim,
I look to you for help.
I ask for this favor:

(State your intention here...)

When my hour of death has come,
lead me safely to the presence of Jesus
to enjoy the vision of my God for all eternity together with you. 

TRADITION~ Blessing of Fruits and Herbs on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This tradition is very old and specific blessings for the day can be  found as early as the tenth century. The blessing of herbs was reserved only to the feast of the Assumption. Herbs had not our restricted English meaning but included all kinds of cultivated and wild flowers, especially those which in some way had a symbolic relation to our Lady. The people brought herbs to church on her feast not only to secure for themselves another blessed object, but also to make of the occasion a harvest festival of thanksgiving to God for His great bounty manifested in the abundant fruits of the earth.

FOOD~
We will have a "Greek feast" to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption (idea from Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church) —barbecued lamb chops, Greek salad and, As per the blessing  traditions, we will be making Herb bread to have with our meal

For sweets I think the delightful little cupcakes from Catholic Cuisine

Also for drinks we will have (fruits; in the blessing above) berry punch with Strawberries and Cocoa with clouds (marshmallows) on top

May your day be filled with much love and joyous feasting!

Blessings to you and your homes,

The Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is on this coming Saturday.

As I am not planning anything spectacular and probably will do similar things to years past I am posting these links to Last year 2010 and 2009 Feast days celebrated in our home, as well as some plans I put together in 2009  as well as  some plans and ideas for 2010 and some lovely images of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Within these links are craft ideas and recipes we have used for this feast day.

I am hoping that THIS year we will get to the Carmelite Monastery in Launceston, but as it is on a Saturday and our track record with feast days on a weekend, we will see.

I hope this will be of benefit to some of you ♥

Blessings to you and your homes
,