Truthfulness ~ St. Bridget of Sweden

St. Bridget of Sweden, pray for us!

Our final meeting of Wreath I!  The past nine months has gone so fast and I hope the girls have had as much enjoyment as I have participating in our 'little' LFGC...

We began our meeting with the prayers in the member's guide: Act of Faith, Act of Hope, Act of Love (each girl recited a prayer) and the prayer to St. Thérèse.

A brief review from our lesson on the virtue of Industry.

Together we sang the memory verse from last month and glass beads were put into the vase for assignments completed while each girl shared something memorable that they did to grow in the virtue - Industry.  No problem for this group filling the vase!

Virtue ~ Saint ~ Flower of the Month

I used Chat with God's Little Ones Lesson 30, the 8th Commandment, to talk about the virtue of truthfulness.

Then, summarizing from the Leader's guide we discussed the following:  the 8th Commandment tells used not to bear false witness against our neighbor; not to hurt our neighbor's good name by lying about him or saying things that will make other people lose respect for him; never harm others by saying unkind things about them; never talk about their faults, because you have no right to judge people - Jesus said, "Judge not, and you will not be judged."  The 8th Commandment tells us not to tell a lie.  Lying is the sin against truthfulness.  God is Truth and we are called to act in truthfulness.  You must be truthful even if you know you may be punished.  You are really brave if you always tell the truth.

From The Catholic Girl's Guide :  Real, true, honest, unselfish love of all men or charity, ought to rule your heart, guide your tongue, dictate your speech.  Then there will be no unkind word, no word injurious to your neighbor.

Jesus said:  "I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak they shall render an account for it in the day of judgement."

We recited the memory verse for this month from the marker board and then sang together using the Memory Verse CD.

The narcissus is the chosen flower for the virtue of truthfulness.  However, these beautiful long stem red roses had to substitute to honor our Blessed Mother this month as it is October and there is not a fresh narcissus to be found in the land.

Perhaps a gesture from St. Thérèse as these were so lovely and such a good price!  Plus - they adorned the mantle next to Our Lady for a full five days!

While the girls worked on their notebook and coloring pages (thanks once again to Jessica @ Shower of Roses for the notebook page template and Charlotte @ Waltzing Matilda for the coloring page), I read St. Bridget's biography out loud from the Member's Guide.

One of the mothers then read 'Meet Kindness and Truth' - A Story about Truthfulness in the Virtue and Stories book.  We had some really good discussion afterwards.

Completed notebook pages.

Craft

Narcissus 'Honesty' Necklaces

Small, wooden circles and satin light blue ribbon purchased at Hobby Lobby.  My husband drilled a small hole at the top of each wooden piece.  I copied two different images of the narcissus flower to Mod Podge.  The girls could then use permanent marker to write a Bible verse on the back:  

Let not mercy and truth leave thee, put them about thy neck, and write them in the tables of thy heart.  Proverbs 3:3  

or

A kind mouth multiplies friend, and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.  Sirach 6:5

The choice of blue ribbon ties in the meaning of 'true blue':  loyal and unwavering in one's opinions or support for a cause.  There are several theories to its origin, one is the representation in paintings of the Virgin Mary in blue clothing.

'True blue' friends!

Snack

'Narcissus' Fruity Marshmallow Treats

I really thought that by using a leaf cookie cutter and a bit of icing and sprinkles that it would somehow turn out to look just like a narcissus...and then, sometimes ideas just don't work out like you think they will :).  We have made marshmallow treats before using Coco Pebbles and they were a real hit in our family.  I used Fruity Pebbles for maximum color and the jarred marshmallow cream.  The icing was of the canned variety that I purchased as a shortcut to save some time.  Needless to say, we've had better treats!  The girls were a bit wound up from the sugar overload, turned a few cartwheels in the living room and begged for a goofy photo.  Here you go... 

Closing

"(Name) may God bless you and help you to grow in the virtue of Industry."  "Congratulations!"

We completed our meeting by praying together the Hail Mary and thanking God for bringing us together to grow in virtue.  

Pray for our members, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, as they work towards earning their ninth patch and grow in the Virtue of Truthfulness - and through these small acts, showing their love for your Son, Jesus.