St. John Bosco

It was not quite the relaxing day we had planned, but...

Mark made yummy cookie dough (Bachelor Buttons from Catholic Cuisine).

 The boys colored pictures and set the table.

James rolled the cookie dough into balls (like the balls that St. John Bosco used to juggle), rolled them in sugar, and cooked them.

Paul juggled. I have no idea why I have the camera sideways!

And I made a yummy stuffed bell pepper dinner (also from Catholic Cuisine) for the adults. The kids made their own pizzas.

We read about St. John Bosco in Stories of the Saints (CHC) and watched half of the movie, St. John Bosco: Mission to Love (it is a long movie!). 

Novena in Honor of St. John Bosco

Father and Teacher of the Young

In need of special help, I appeal with confidence to you, Saint John Bosco, for I require not only spiritual graces, but also temporal ones, and particularly...

(add your personal intentions here)

May you, who on earth had such great devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to

Mary Help of Christians, and who always had compassion for those who were suffering,

obtain from Jesus and His Heavenly Mother the grace I now request, and also a sincere

resignation to the Will of God.

(Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be)

Favorite Resources for Celebrating Our Catholic Faith

The big change that I want to make as this school year starts is to live the church year and feast days more fully. To accomplish this, I searched the internet, looked through our books, and tried to come up with something that I felt was doable. Both of the following resources came to my attention at the same time and fit the bill (keeping it super simple!) perfectly.

This first resource is a little book from Seton Press. My friend was telling me about her son's art book with lessons that follow the major holy days, feast days, or seasons for the liturgical year. I couldn't wait to see it. After looking at her copy of Art 1 for Young Catholics, I was sold. Even though this is a first grade book, any child would enjoy the projects. And, in keeping with the super simple theme, there is not a lot prep work or unusual supplies involved.

Building the Family Cookbook by the creator of the famed Light Weigh program is the next resource that I am looking forward to using. It is just perfect- the book follows the calendar year and provides several saint or feast day celebrations for each month. There is page of so of a explanation followed by at least one (sometimes more) very doable recipe to prepare in honor of that particular day. I have enjoyed the saints' stories so much that I have been reading them myself at night. The author has a wonderful gift for storytelling.