Keeping it Catholic Monday {Making Catholic Christmas Ornaments}

01/09/2012

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Praying that you all had a wonderful Feast of the Holy Family on Sunday. We are ever nearing the approach of the Lenten Season but while we are still in the Christmas season I thought I would share today a few of our Christmas related projects.

Some where in the internet world there was a blog post about creating Christmas ornaments throughout the year on each of the Feast Days so that when it came time to decorate the tree there were many ornaments featuring Catholic subjects(wish I could give credit where it was due but I've long forgot the location). I thought it was a wonderful idea and so we started a few here and there and hope to keep it up this year with even more to add to our tree. The above ornament is of St. Anne, featuring three different images that were found on the internet. I traced the outline of one side and scanned the image, placing it over the internet image I found online so that it would fit properly when cut out. I then printed as many as I needed and cut them out. A little trimming needed as each paper mache ornament I used was different. Then I used Modge Podge to glue them on and two layers of the top to make it shine a little and protect it from any handling or storage issues. With a glue gun I put lines down the side and poured glitter over the top which gives it a more finished look and extra shimmer. They were pretty simple to make in the end and lots of fun. I have more of these paper mache ornaments stored away for making more this year.
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_The ornaments were purchased at Micheal's Craft store and you may still be able to find them but they were hit and miss during the Christmas season. I did find some more options here online that are a little more expensive but it gives an idea of what was used in the one above.

To the right is another (forgive my poor photography!) of the paper mache one's that we did. My 7 year old son did St. Patrick, which is his patron Saint. He cut out the pieces that were printed and glued them on and put the finishing coat on. After it dried over night I added the glitter as the glue gun requires fast hands. Several others were also made as Christmas gifts as part of our trying to make more hand made gifts this year.
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There were a couple of these ornaments of St. Linus (2nd Pope) on our tree this year which we made back in September on the Feast of St. Linus. Another Patron Saint in our family. This one was another print out Modge Podged onto a wooden coin that the boys collected from some event we were at. They also added glitter around the edge of this one too and tied it up with a ribbon.
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Here is another that the boys made on the Feast of St. Nicholas. They used a  print out from the St. Nicholas Center and then cut it out and colored. It was then taped or glued to a Popsicle stick that they colored green and wrote their name on. There are lots of and lots of ideas at the St. Nicholas Center as well as other places for making ornaments of the real St. Nicholas. A great addition to the Christmas tree and fun to make!
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This one was made when we were studying about St. Brendan and his discovery of America. We read the book Saint Brendan and the Voyage before Columbus, this was one of the activities we did to reinforce the book. St. Brendan's Cross was free handed onto some thick coordinated cardboard and then cut out with an Exacto knife. Then painted on both sides with gold acrylic paint. Next lots of glue and lots of glitter added to make it sparkle!

There are lots and lots of ideas that can be used for adding Catholic ornaments to you tree while making them here and there throughout the year.

How about saving all the fronts of your Christmas cards and coming up with a creative way to recycle them into Christmas tree ornaments? Some of the images may even be the right size for the paper mache ornaments. Ornaments can be made for school subjects such as historical studies, Catechism subjects and so forth. Here is a sort list of days throughout the year that could be used for an ornament theme:

January
Epiphany
Baptism of Our Lord
Most Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Family
Our Lady of Good Success
St. John Bosco

February
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Candlemas
St. Valentine
Our Lady of Lourdes
Ash Wednesday

March
St. Patrick
St. Joseph
Annunciation
Palm Sunday

April
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
St. Leo the Great
St. George
St. Catherine of Siena

May
St. Joseph
Finding of the Holy Cross
Ascension
Pentecost
Coronation of Our Lady

June
Trinity Sunday
Corpus Christi
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Sts. Peter and Paul

July
Most Precious Blood of Our Lord
Visitation
St. Mary Magdalen

August
Transfiguration
Assumption
Immaculate Heart of Mary

September
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Most Holy Name of Mary
Seven Sorrows

October
Guardian Angles
Our Lady of the Rosary
St. Raphael
Christ the King
All Hallows Eve

November
All Saints Day
All Souls Day
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin
St. Andrew
Advent/Jesse Tree

December
St. Nicholas
St. Lucy
Immaculate Conception
Jesse Tree Symbols
O Antiphons
Holy Innocents
St. John the Evangelist
Nativity

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The Christmas Crib & Seeking Shelter

11/21/2011

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_ By: Maria Von Trapp
From Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family

If asked about the origin of these old folk customs, one sometimes finds it hard to answer. They have come down to us through the centuries out of the gray past. Some are so old that they go back to pre-Christian times, having been baptized together with the people and turned from pagan into Christian customs. But once in a while we know how one or the other custom originated. The Christmas crib as we have it today goes back to St. Francis of Assisi. Not that he was the one who made the first creche. This devotion is almost as old as the Church. We are told that the very place of Christ's birth and the manger in which He lay "wrapped in swaddling clothes" were already venerated in Bethlehem in the first centuries of the Christian era. Later devout people substituted a silver manger for the original one and built a basilica over it; and, with the centuries, the veneration of the Holy Child Lying in the manger spread all over the Christian countries.

More and more ceremonies sprang up around this devotion, until in medieval times they had grown into a real theatre performance--drama, opera, and ballet combined. Finally, Pope Honorius had to put a stop to this, for it had grown into an abuse. A generation later St. Francis of Assisi got permission for his famous Christmas celebration in the woods of Greccio near Assisi, on Christmas Eve, 1223. His first biographer, Thomas of Celano, tells us how it happened: "It should be recorded and held in reverent memory what Blessed Francis did near the town of Greccio, on the feast day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, three years before his glorious death. In that town lived a certain man by the name of John (Messer Giovanni Velitta) who stood in high esteem, and whose life was even better than his reputation.

Blessed Francis loved him with a special affection because, being very noble and much honored, he despised the nobility of the flesh and strove after the nobility of the soul. "Blessed Francis often saw this man. He now called him about two weeks before Christmas and said to him "If you desire that we should celebrate this year's Christmas together at Greccio, go quickly and prepare what I tell you; for I want to enact the memory of the Infant who was born at Bethlehem and how He was deprived of all the comforts babies enjoy; how He was bedded in the manger on hay between an ass and an ox. For once I want to see all this with my own eyes." When that good and faithful man had heard this, he departed quickly and prepared in the above-mentioned place everything that the Saint had told him. "The joyful day approached.

The Brethren [the Friars who had gathered around St. Francis] were called from many communities. The men and women of the neighborhood, as best they could, prepared candles and torches to brighten the night. Finally the Saint of God arrived, found everything prepared, saw it and rejoiced. The crib was made ready, hay was brought, the ox and ass were led to the spot....Greccio became a new Bethlehem. The night was made radiant like the day, filling men and animals with joy. The crowds drew near and rejoiced in the novelty of the celebration. Their voices resounded from the woods, and the rocky cliffs echoed the jubilant outburst. As they sang in praise of God the whole night rang with exultation.

The Saint of God stood before the crib, overcome with devotion and wondrous joy. A solemn Mass was sung at the crib. "The Saint, dressed in deacon's vestments, for a deacon he was, sang the Gospel. Then he preached a delightful sermon to the people who stood around him, speaking about the nativity of the poor King and the humble town of Bethlehem....And whenever he mentioned the Child of Bethlehem or the Name of Jesus, he seemed to lick his lips as if he would happily taste and swallow the sweetness of that word." (Celano. "Life and Miracles of St. Francis," as quoted in Francis X. Weiser, "The Christmas Book," pp. 106 f., New York, Harcourt, Brace & Co.)

That is the beginning of the creche as we know it in our own day. St. Francis' idea of bringing Bethlehem into one's own town spread quickly all over the Christian world, and when there was a Christmas crib in every church, the families began to re-enact the birth of Christ in their homes too. With loving imagination, more or less elaborately, the little town of Bethlehem would be reconstructed. There would be the cave with the manger, "because there was no room at the inn," and the figures would be carved in wood or modeled in clay or worked after the fashion of puppets. They also might be drawn and painted and then glued on wood. In some countries whole valleys would take up the carving of these figures--as in Tyrolia and southern Bavaria.

Some of these creches are works of great art. On the long winter evenings, during the weeks of Advent, the people are working on them. First, the scenery is set up again, and then the figures are placed, each year seeing some new additions, until such a crib fills almost a whole room with its hundreds of figures. Outside the town of Bethlehem, Connecticut, the nuns of the Benedictine Priory, "Regina Laudis," have devoted a whole building to their huge Christmas crib, a Neapolitan work that was given to them as a gift. This beautiful crib could become an American shrine, the center for a pilgrimage during the Christmas season. Just as the Reformation did away with statues and pictures of saints in Protestant churches, it also deprived many Protestant homes of the creche. A few of the German sects, however, kept up this custom even after the Reformation, and brought it to America. When the Moravians, for example, founded the town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on a Christmas Eve, they had preserved the custom of the creche.

At home in Austria we wanted a creche which we could make mostly by ourselves. That is why we did not buy one of the ready-made models, but went out into the woods with the children before the first snowfall and carried home stones, moss, bark, lichen, and pine cones. A large table-top, three by five feet, was placed over two carpenter's sawhorses and draped with green cloth. This was the foundation on which every year a slightly different scene would be erected by artistic young hands--the stony hill with the cave, the field, covered with moss, with shepherds in the foreground. For the figures we bought only the heads and hands, beautifully modeled in wax at a little store in Salzburg that sold handmade and artistically decorated candles and "Lebkuchen".

At home we made the foundation of the figures with wire and then dressed them with loving care, and it is incredible what ingenious hands can produce with a needle and thread and remnants of dress material. Every evening during Advent some time was devoted to the creche. At the end of the first week the landscape was completed; the second week was animal week, at the end of which many little sheep were grazing on the meadow and the ox was standing in the cave. In the third week the shepherds appeared, watching their sheep in little groups; while in the fourth week Mary and Joseph could be seen approaching from afar with the little ass, advancing steadily every day. Finally, on Christmas Eve, they reached the cave. The ass joined the ox behind the empty manger. Mary was kneeling down in expectation (that's the beauty of the wire under the blue dress the figures can kneel, stand, or sit), while Saint Joseph hung up a lantern above the manger and everyone seemed to hold his breath, waiting until just before Midnight Mass.

Then the youngest member of the family would put the little Baby into the manger and joy would reach its height. After Midnight Mass, the figure of the big angel would appear, suspended on a long wire above the shepherds, announcing, "Glory to God in the Highest." There is no telling how much love and joy goes into the making of such a crib year after year. Again I must go back to our first year in this country. Of course, Christmas without a crib under the tree would for us have been Christmas with something essential missing.

The beloved figures of our Christmas crib, however, were among the things we had left behind. But now the older children's Christmas present to me in that memorable first year turned out to be a large, elaborate Christmas crib with the figures and the little town of Bethlehem, self-designed, cut out of cardboard and hand-painted. Our neighbors in Germantown had kindly invited the children to help themselves in their gardens to the necessary bark, moss, and stones. In addition to the large Christmas crib in the living room, we had one more custom in our family as long as the children were little. We used to place in the nursery a large wooden crib which could hold an almost life-size Infant Jesus.

On the first Sunday in Advent it would be empty, but a big bag full of straw would rest beside it. Every evening, after the family evening prayers, each child could take as many pieces of straw from the bag as it had performed sacrifices and good deeds during the day "in order to please the Infant Jesus"--in other words, out of love of God. This is a precious opportunity for a mother to teach her little ones the true nature of a sacrifice brought voluntarily for the love of God. Meal times furnish excellent occasions for self-denial. To take an extra helping of an unpopular vegetable or to pass up a delicious dessert may be a real sacrifice for a child.

So Hedwig ate a whole plateful of very healthy but unloved beets, while Martina followed the chocolate cake with longing eyes, saying, "No, thank you," however. Toys gave another opportunity for self-denial. I could hardly believe my eyes when I found Hedwig's favorite doll, "Happy," in Martina's lap, and Martina's little family of dwarfs--Father Dwarf, Mother Dwarf, and Baby Dwarf--in Johanna's corner, while Johanna had put her otherwise jealously guarded doll house into the middle of the room for everybody to use. These may be acts of heroism; we have only to think of the parable of the widow's mite--in the eyes of God she had given more than any other, for the others gave from their abundance, while she had given all she had. What a race among the youngsters from evening to evening until the crib was finally filled to the brim!

When, on Christmas Eve, little Martina--for a long time the youngest among the children--was allowed to put the Holy Child on His bed of straw, the Infant seemed to smile at the children, grateful for the soft bed prepared with so much love. It is curious how such a childhood habit stays with you through life. You may be grown up, even white-haired, but all during Advent you will feel the same urge to "collect more straws for the crib."


Seeking Shelter

In the old country we had in our house an oil painting showing St. Joseph leading the Blessed Mother, who was with Child and looked fatigued and tired, as they were asking shelter at the inn. Through the crack of the door one could see the ugly, rough face of the innkeeper, and it was rather easy to guess what he had just said. This picture played a big role during the last part of Advent in the custom called "Herbergsuchen" (seeking shelter). By lot, nine members of the household were chosen to be host to this holy couple, to make up for the hard words, each one in turn offering room and shelter for one day. The children, especially, vied with each other, decorating little altars with candles and fir branches and trying to outdo each other in loving care for the august visitors.

The one who was the host for the day could have the picture in his room and spend as much time with his holy guests as he wanted and school permitted. He could, for instance, take his meals together with them upstairs. How inspiring this is for the imagination of the very young--sharing even their meals with the poor Holy Mother, who "doesn't look so tired any more and seems to like it here." Every night, before evening prayers, the whole family would gather outside the room where the picture had stayed for the day, and in solemn procession it would be carried through the house accompanied by the singing of Advent songs, until it reached the next resting place. Each evening there would be enacted the scene before the closed door of the inn. We used to sing the old Austrian "Herbergsucherlied," the song called "Wer Kopfet an": Who's knocking at my door? Two people poor and low. What are you asking for? That you may mercy show. We are, O Sir, in sorry plight, O grant us shelter here tonight. You ask in vain. We beg a place to rest. It's "no" again! You will be greatly blessed.

I told you no! You cannot stay. Get out of here and go your way. When we were in Mexico, we learned that there they have a similar custom, called the Posada. On the nine evenings before Christmas they play the "Herbergsuchen" from house to house. They invite the local priest, who joins the procession, saying prayers. Eight nights the holy couple is refused shelter and on the ninth evening, Christmas Eve, they are let into a house where everything is prepared most lovingly--a large cradle is waiting, and while a statue of the Infant is put on the straw, the cradle is being rocked and a famous lullaby is being chanted, "A la Rurruru." As the weeks of Advent are now our busiest concert season, we have had to give up this custom of "Herbergsuchen"--but only in one way. Every evening of these holy weeks of Advent we sing our Christmas program in a different town. While doing so, we hope we may prepare a warm place for the homeless holy couple in many hearts among our audiences.

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Free Cutout Paper Creche's!

11/09/2011

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Creche Mania has some wonderful Creche's from around the world that you can print right at home, cut out and put together. There are several free one's and many that are very affordable as well!

Visit this link for the list of downloads.

We have stareted printing and cutting ours now so that they will all be ready for Christmas. Visit the Crech Mania's video on how to create a Christmas tree decorated with these beautiful paper Creches!
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Christmas in July, not quite...

08/09/2011

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...but how about Christmas in August?! A friend shared a wonderful link with me for paper model Creche's, most of which are free. They are beautifully done and feature many from different countries. Download them now and save them for Advent/Christmas! They would be great to make one a day for the 10 days of Christmas. Have fun and enjoy!
Paper Model Kiosk

This also looks like a neat book, if you have seen the inside please let us know how it is!
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