"Warned from heaven to leave the desert,
he (St. Joachim) met his spouse at the golden gate which leads to the temple on the east side. Not far from here, near the Probatica piscina, where the little white lambs were washed before being offered in sacrifice..."
- Dom Gueranger
Yesterday was a great Feast Day in our home, not only is it a Name Day for a family member but the great feast of the Grandmother of our Lord and mother of our Lady! As Dom Guranger says about St. Anne: "In the family circle the grandmother's feast day is the most touching of all, when her grandchildren surround her with reverential love, as we gather around thee to-day." It truly was a special day in our little home and one our kids will remember for some time. Here are a few quick takes of our special meal and the boys working on their crafts. Praying you all had a blessed day!
St. Anne's Bible's (Old Testament fig cookies)
Raspberry Lemon Sugar cookies topped with homemade raspberry jam (from Grandpa's berries!). Red for St. Anne!
Red and Green, Saint Anne's Colors. Tomato and cucumber salad with a tomato rose and basil leaves. Roses are not only for Our Lady but also for her mother.
Lillies at the Golden Gate Macaroni Salad
Golden Gate in Jerusalem
In reading the story of St. Anne from Dom Guranger's Liturgical Year it talks about Joachim being warned to come down from the mountain where he had been praying and meeting St. Anne at the Golden Gate.
Other sources say that the Messiah was expected to come through this gate. The lillies at the gate were indeed St. Anne and St. Joachim full of purity and desire to do God's will by providing him with offspring that they could give back to Him who did bless them so abundantly. Through these two saints was born Our Lady who gave us the Messiah through this Golden Gate. This is the story of the Lillies at the Golden Gate Macaroni Salad. The Macaroni's are in the shape of an arch (the Golden Gate in Jerusalem) and the Lilies (made by rolling cheese, a slice of carrot and green onion for the stems) represent St. Anne and St. Joachim.
 Pink (for St. Anne) Lemonade served in a mason jar with a pink sugered rim. |  Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich with Spinach. (Red cranberries and green spinach for St. Anne) |
 Painting Roses with a celery stalk for St. Anne on her colors, red and green. Later we will use these and the Holy Card printables here to make Christmas ornaments to save and put away for gifts. |  Working on his paper plate Dove to representing the Holy Ghost as well as representing the purity of St. Anne and St. Joachim. |
May St. Anne, whose very name means grace, send you and your family an abundance of that which she is named for!
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.
_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.
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.
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!
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:JanuaryEpiphanyBaptism of Our LordMost Holy Name of JesusHoly FamilyOur Lady of Good SuccessSt. John Bosco FebruaryPurification of the Blessed Virgin MaryCandlemasSt. ValentineOur Lady of LourdesAsh WednesdayMarchSt. PatrickSt. JosephAnnunciation Palm SundayAprilHoly ThursdayGood FridayEaster SundaySt. Leo the GreatSt. GeorgeSt. Catherine of SienaMaySt. JosephFinding of the Holy CrossAscensionPentecostCoronation of Our LadyJuneTrinity SundayCorpus ChristiSacred Heart of JesusSts. Peter and PaulJulyMost Precious Blood of Our LordVisitationSt. Mary MagdalenAugustTransfigurationAssumptionImmaculate Heart of MarySeptemberNativity of the Blessed VirginMost Holy Name of MarySeven SorrowsOctoberGuardian AnglesOur Lady of the RosarySt. RaphaelChrist the KingAll Hallows EveNovemberAll Saints DayAll Souls DayPresentation of the Blessed VirginSt. AndrewAdvent/Jesse TreeDecemberSt. NicholasSt. LucyImmaculate ConceptionJesse Tree SymbolsO AntiphonsHoly InnocentsSt. John the EvangelistNativity
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