A White Garment

4 years ago I wore this huge, lovely ballgown as I vowed to give myself faithfully, totally, freely and fruitfully to my husband. I'd heard of women who made their children's baptismal garment from their wedding dresses and I thought it was a brilliant idea. But when my first child's birth drew near I was too nervous to take a scissors to my lovely gown.

As our last anniversary drew near I really wanted to wear my gown again and began to consider altering it into a cocktail dress strictly for that purpose - wearing on our anniversaries and Valentine's dates. When our anniversary passed I was a bit sad that I hadn't altered it. With that desire to be able to wear my dress again and our second child's approaching birth I finally built up the courage to take a scissors to this beautiful gown.

I ended up making a pattern based off the baptismal garment that our first son used and the entirety of the fabric needed for it was able to be cut from just the train of my gown. Just the train. I was shocked, I don't know why, but I was. 

While not perfect, I think it turned out pretty good for a first ever attempt at making baby clothes, especially out of satin. 

I continued cutting fabric.

I cut out roughly 20 YARDS of stiff netting, simply to cut down the bulk and be able to seam rip out the netting where it'd been attached to the under skirt. I then proceeded to cut off some of the length so that now it should be just below my knee and I'll have plenty of fabric to comfortably hem it when I've lost all this baby weight. I cut out the zipper (I know, so wrong, but I didn't know what all those stitches were hold together!) and installed a corset back which I bought from this Etsy vender. I know it will make the dress less casual even though my overall goal is to make it definitely more casual, but I figured since I will never be a size 8 again and we're only at the beginning of starting our family, a corset back would be more forgiving than a zipper. Besides, I plan to wear cardigans over it anyways.

Since I can't fit it on to hem it accurately now, this project is going to have to sit for a while. I've kept all the fabric I've cut off it in the hopes of someday using it to make beautiful garments and projects for our children. Until that day, the excess will be safely stored in an airtight bag. For now this ballgown now only consists of 2 tulle layers, a soft netting layer, satin layer, and an underskirt. Once this whole project is done I will be sure to update you.

What was the point of having such a beautiful, meaningful work of art sit in a box in the closet when I want to wear it again and again? I'm also excited to offer to God the fruit of our union, dressed in the same garment I made that Fruitful Vow in.

DIY Quiet Mass Kit

Hello all! This week's craft is one that I've made 4 times now so I think I have most (hopefully all) the kinks worked out. Looking around online I wanted an affordable plush Mass Set but what I found was a paper/cardboard one for about $20, a plush WeeBelievers My Mass Kit for $77, and then various wooden ones between $40-$80 on Etsy. While the Wee Believers kit was close to what I wanted it was more than I wanted to spend and for some odd reason, not all the golden articles of the Mass were golden.... some of them were blue or various random colors. Eeehh... not quiet what I wanted.

So I made my own, and trust me the first set did not look like the one in the picture. Unfortunately I could not made the cruets I wanted, but I figured this set would do for a toddler. Here is the pattern and directions. Enjoy!

Quiet Mass Book Pattern

Ever take a toddler to Mass? Ever want to share the Catholic faith with a toddler?

I never made a quiet book before this, but I've had this idea in my mind and I made it. Obviously it's a first time experience that I learned from, but overall I think it was a success - the 3-year-old in question loved it! All the pieces happily worked, but things I will do differently (and I plan to update pictures after the next one) would be the page fabrics and how I attached some pieces like probably more gluing in the future and less tiny stitches and NO 3D FABRIC PAINT. On the pages that have 3D paint on both sides, they tend to stick together... I've never used 3D fabric paint before.

This book invites your toddler to interact with the different parts of the Mass, beginning with getting Father ready for Mass. The 1st page is dedicated to getting the alb, cincture, and chasuble over the priest's clerics. No, there's no stoles because the stoles, if I understand correctly, the stoles match the chasubles and they would've just ended up being a piece of yarn, so I forwent them.

The 2nd page is the Entrance Procession where the servers are on a string of yarn and can be pulled back and forth from the nave to the sanctuary. The 3rd page is the Liturgy of the Word with pieces that spin, flip, flap, pull, and have interesting texture. The 4th page is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, specifically the Preparation of the Altar. Your child gets to place various pieces on the "altar" page in the correct place. The final page is after Mass, Jesus is still there, waiting for us in the tabernacle.

The PDF is available right here. I hope you enjoy it, add your own style to it, and feel free to improve on it!

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

Hello World!!!

It's been a LONG time - 6 years in fact - since I've last written a blog post and as you may have noted from my bio, a lot has changed in my life since then. I had a career at one point (teaching), then I found my vocation, got married, and became a stay at home mom to 2 sweet little boys. Feel free to read the really old posts from when I was in college 9 years ago, but please don't judge me by them. Like I said, life has gone on living and I'm no youthful college student anymore.

As the outside world is crumbling around us in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, not much as actually changed for us. Husband is still working at work and I'm still at home with my too-young-for-school children. (Ok, the second one isn't even born yet, but give it a couple weeks, because I'm about the size of a whale and he is already rambunctious in his jacuzzi-house).

About 17 months ago, when #1 was born, my husband became inspired with the idea of incorporating the Liturgical Calendar into our daily lives from some of the various blogs, books, and podcasts he consumes. It was something I'd always wanted to do to, especially as a Catholic Doctrine teacher, but I was missing out on how to do so practically. Occasionally he'd read something from https://catholicallyear.com/ by Kendra Tierney and at about that time her book The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life came out. We quickly devoured it. I HIGHLY recommend it to every Catholic family and have even bought it as a wedding gift for couples. IT IS THAT GREAT. To be sure Mrs. Tierney has been living the liturgical life with her husband and 9 children for 20+ years so she's had plenty of time to develop traditions within their family and she suggests starting small - choose like 2 or 3 things a year to start with. Don't try everything at once. You will go crazy.

One of the ideas she introduced me to was creating a bread altar for the Solemnity of St. Joseph the Worker. Last year I tried it for the first time (using my great-grandmother's bread recipe from the old country of course!) and yeah... inspired by the St. Joseph altars you can easily find on Pinterest I went a little bit overboard and I apparently even deleted the photographic evidence so I can't show you, but needless to say we had PLENTY of bread in the shapes of various tools and Catholic symbols to last us a while. This year I was a bit more sane and simple. A new bread recipe out of my late mother's stained and well loved Betty Crocker book and only 4 traditional St. Joseph shaped pieces of bread: a saw, wheat, a staff, and a ladder. I think we'll continue to keep it small and simple going into the future. Good luck living the faith in even the smallest everyday ways, like planning supper around a feast.

Pax Tecum!

To Imagine Love

“I wonder if you’re too idealistic?”

That’s what he said to me. Which led to the thought of being romantic, and so on to the phrase “hopelessly romantic.” Now I bring this jungle of thought to your attention for Christians in general.

Well, what does “romantic” mean? Google defines it as:

ro·man·tic rōˈmantik,rə-/ adjective

1.      inclined toward or suggestive of the feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love…relating to love, esp. in a sentimental or idealized way.

2.      of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality

What is this “idealistic” that keeps coming up? Merriam-Webster says:

            ide·al·ism noun \ī-ˈdē-(ə-)ˌliz-əm, ˈī-(ˌ)dē-\

the attitude of a person who believes that it is possible to live according to very high standards of behavior and honesty

Hm… just following the bouncing ball as we know what people usually mean when they say “hopeless romantic,” but in actuality it doesn’t sound like a romantic is hopeless at all. Quite the opposite in fact! It is the same as saying “hopelessly hopeful.” “…relating to love, especially in a sentimental or [very high standards] way.” Reminds me of the saints. Men and women who held to their hearts desires of hoping to bring God, who is trust (honesty) and love. They lived virtuous lives of high integrity. St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati. St. Gianna Molla. St. Maria Gorretti. Bl. Jose del Rio Sanchez. St. Barbara. St. Philomena. St. John Vianney. St. Josemaria Escriva. The list goes on!

So if you’re “hopelessly romantic” or “too idealistic” is that not actually a complement to one who is seeking God? I must admit that it took some searching to find a definition of “idealism” that seemed appropriate for this post for various reasons – such as the use of the word in the definition and a couple definitions that’s wording wasn’t suited for this train of thought, but do you still find agreement with the definitions presented? What then, do you day dream, idealize, and romanticize about?

Life from Luke

i was offline last weekend due to a retreat which ws pretty good.For one thing, I noticed the Ld really urging me to open up Luke and what I found flipped my lid!  Luke 1:12-17. Read it.

Ok, now follow along with tese awesome revelations:
Luke 1:12. "Elizabeth will bear a son." A son. A person! Not a clump of meaningless cells.

Luke1:13. "Joy will come with his birth." His enetering into the world will bring joy to all whose lives he will be a part of.

Luke1:15. "He will be great in the eyes of the Lord." The Lord will see this little boy, whose future only the Lord knows, as great!

1:16. That future is that he is going to do great things. He is the only one who can fill the space in human history that was made for him.

Luke1:17. "Strong and mighty." TGabriel could even tell Elizabeth what he would grow to be like! Look at this! John was not even conceived yet and look at what the Lord  already knew and was able to share about him. This is everyone of His children. Every human. Is it awesome? Why can't others see thisand apply it to every unborn child? Let's pray for for this conversion and wisdom! :)

En Communio

Have you ever watched a couple who are legitimately in love? They can silently exchange glances, communicating one thing or another. They seek to anticipate the needs of the other in order to help them. They gladly make sacrifices of their own will to see the other become over joyed.

Should this not be how our relationship with God the Son should be? Didn’t He make the greatest sacrifice to see us at the eternal level of joy? Didn’t He anticipate our need for redemption and mercy? There’s a story I’ve heard a few different versions of…

“Once there was an old man who would come to adoration every week. He would sit in the back pew and just stare at the Blessed Sacrament. No reading. No beads. Just gaze. And when asked what it was that he prayed during that time, he responded, “I’m not praying. I look at Him and He looks at me.”

Obviously this is prayer since prayer is a two way street. Is he not listening? Isn’t the lover and beloved silently exchanging glances? What great love the Holy Spirit must be doing in such a person’s heart! 

Recently, on EWTN radio, Johnette Benkovic was talking with an older man who had been away from the Church for over 40 years. He complained that since he’s begun praying he’s not heard God speak and wondered if he was doing it wrong. He’s felt nothing. Johnette’s answer was profound: “Like medical anesthesia, the Lord is doing such deep work in your soul that it would be too painful for you to feel it all at once, but He is there.”

So often we become discouraged in our prayers. Why isn’t God answering them? Why isn’t He giving me the answer in the time frame I want? Why can’t I feel Him? Love isn’t about feelings. Sometimes it’s not about getting what we want when we want, but receiving what it is that we actually need to become the saints God created us to be.

Like the lovers, we are God’s beloved, are we letting Him romance us? Can we listen to Him? Are we able to just spend quality time with Him? Or do we treat Him like a vending machine: put in a prayer, receive desired result?

“He is jealous for me. Love’s like a hurricane and I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, And I realize just how beautiful You are, And how great Your affections are for me. (How He Loves, by David Crowder Band.)”

Pax Tecum.