Our Little Flowers arrived in smiles! It is so wonderful to see them so excited!
Our second meeting for Wreath I began with the prayers in the member's guide: Act of Faith, Act of Hope, Act of Love and the prayer to St. Therese. We then reviewed the lesson learned last month for the virtue of faith, sang the memory Bible verse, talked about St. Catherine's firm belief - her faith in God and that our faith is a gift from God. Like the sunflower growing towards the sun - 'our hearts, mind and souls should never waver from following the Son of God in heaven' (LFGC Leader's Guide)...we should keep our faith burning brightly.
We also went over the assignments from last month - each girl shared something that they accomplished to help them grow in this virtue and then placed a glass bead into the jar for each tasked completed on their list. They have a nice start...they'll receive a special gift at our Mother/Daughter Tea for filling the jar.
The girls listened to the biography of St. Monica. We discussed the virtue of Hope and read the verse/Psalm 71:5 which was posted on the marker board. We sang the verse along with the CD together. The words were erased a few at a time from the board and each girl had the opportunity to complete the verse independently with some words missing. They had it memorized so quickly!!
Moving on, the girls set to work on their coloring pages but wanted to put together the notebook page instead.
They used the ivy (flower for the virtue of Hope) stickers and sparkly glitter glue (lots of it in some areas :) ) to embellish the red heart. The Act of Hope prayer was included and quote from The Catholic Girls' Guide: Hope must encircle and cling to your heart like the climbing ivy.
While they worked on their notebook pages, I posted this explanation of hope on top of the dry erase board and read it aloud:
What is Hope?
Hope is the virtue by which we desire the Kingdom of God and eternal life. We trust in Christ's promises to us. We rely on God, not ourselves. Hope keeps us from discouragement.
What is Hope?
Hope is the virtue by which we desire the Kingdom of God and eternal life. We trust in Christ's promises to us. We rely on God, not ourselves. Hope keeps us from discouragement.
To explain hope, I borrowed this idea (from Jessica @ Shower of Roses, who found it on the LF Yahoo Group...): let's think of hope as things we might wish for - like a puppy or going on a special vacation. The girls each described something that they wished for and these were written in a large cloud on the board. A line was drawn from their wish in the cloud to each girl's name. They had to explain something that they might be difficult to do before or in order to obtain that wish (ie earning/saving money, extra schoolwork to stay caught up, extra chores). These were written along the line that connected their name to the wish. Then, as a group, I asked the girls if it is easy or hard to do the difficult task knowing that the reward would be going on that special vacation, etc. Next, all the 'wishes' written in the cloud were erased and 'HEAVEN' was written in place. We then talked about how when we have to do something hard we can think about how it is merely something we must do on our way to Heaven.
For the craft this month, each girl was given a small clay pot, floral foam, artificial ivy spray, 22 gauge wire in the shape of a heart, a heart shaped 'hope' garden marker and some American moss. It was a bit challenging because the wire was less rigid than it should have been but they stuck with it and I think they turned out to be quite nice.
Since we are in the Lenten season, our snack was of the non-sweet variety -except for 'heaven'. Sliced strawberries (hearts), arugula (climbing ivy) and whipped cream (cloud, representing the hope of eternal life in heaven).
Our First Badge Ceremony
To create a special way of recognizing the girls, we had a small badge ceremony to complete our second meeting.
Individually, each girl was called to stand up and as they were presented with their first badge/flower petal of Wreath I, this was repeated:
"(Name), May God bless you and help you to grow in the virtue of Faith!"
We ended the meeting with a prayer and the girls shared their own petitions. I was so moved by their heartfelt intentions. We then recited the Hail Mary.
The roses for our Blessed Mother were truly beautiful! I describe them as a delicate lavender shade (perfect for the season of Lent) and so very fragrant. At the end of the evening, I realized that these were a gift from St. Therese as she promised to send when prayers were answered. I am quite anxious to share my story with the girls and Moms next meeting! Thank you, St. Therese, the little flower!
