Courage ~ Blessed Margaret Pole

Blessed Margaret Pole, pray for us!

Wreath II continues with our second meeting!  It amazes me how the Holy Spirit works so miraculously to make these gatherings come together, I feel so inadequate to be 'teaching' virtues.  The girls are so kind and a true delight.

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. Therese.

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

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 - Mercy.  They are working so hard and I see that they are really trying to complete as many tasks as possible!

Virtue ~ Saint ~ Flower of the Month

Copies of the notebook page (compliments of Jessica @ Shower of Roses blog) and coloring page (an image I found online and added caption).  The girls will continue to do these at home as part of the assignments to be completed for earning their patch.

The memory verse was introduced and we sang along using the CD...

I command you:  be firm and steadfast!  Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1: 9

We talked about the words firm and steadfast as they mean strong and courageous.  Courage does not mean not being afraid - it is not how we feel but how we act.  We all have things we are afraid of and courage is what we do when we have these fears.  I asked the girls if they knew any examples of courage from the Bible.  We recalled the stories of Daniel and the lion, David and Goliath, Mary at the Annunciation, and Christ Himself on the Cross.  We should never be afraid to do what is right because God will always be with us.  Courage does not "follow the crowd" if the crowd is not doing what is right.  Courage is doing what we know is right and truthful, even though we may be afraid.  Not everything that is right is popular and not everything that is popular is right.  (Wreath II Leader's Guide) 

I asked the girls to think of a time they had to demonstrate or be courageous.  They completed a task from the member's guide for this virtue by drawing a picture of it.  Then said a prayer of thanksgiving to God for helping.

Next, I asked them:  how can YOU grow in courage?  They came up with really good answers and we talked about all kinds of ways ie: admitting when you are wrong, saying "hi" to a new student at school or a lonely student that you may not be friends with yet, making new friends with an open heart while keeping all of your old friends, telling the truth to your parents if you did something wrong, even if you know there may be a punishment, live an active faith life and be a witness in all you do, etc.

To learn more about our saint this month, we watched a video about the life and death of Blessed Margaret Pole.

  

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVz59Uuttnk&feature=em-share_video_user)

~ Craft ~ 

'Courage to follow Christ' Key Chains

This simple craft reminds us to seek the Lord in simple things and know that Jesus waits for you and will grant the gifts you need to serve Him...including courage.  The knot we used to make the 'chain' was the box braid or crown knot - remember Blessed Margaret Pole was royalty!

~ Activity ~

I believe the idea for this activity came from a post on the Little Flowers Yahoo Group.  I wish I could give proper credit!  Anyway, I had three boxes with something different inside.  Each girl took a turn and was blindfolded and they had to trust that I wouldn't do anything to harm them (courage and trust).  They then wrote down what they felt in each box, guessing the object enclosed.  I had ice in one, a pocket rosary in another and a squirrel's tail in the last (yes, my son was the brain behind that one!).  It was a really fun and easy activity.

~ Snack ~ 

'Barbell Bites'

Grapes, pretzels and cheese pieced together like barbells, reminding us of how we are strong with God.  There were more 'barbells' than just what is shown...perhaps I took this picture once they started eating?

~ Closing ~

Patches earned since our last meeting were presented, congratulating each Little Flower for their dedication and Mercy.  (Name) may God bless you and help you to grow in the virtue of Mercy."  "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 second patch in Wreath II and grow in the Virtue of Courage - and through these small acts, showing their love for your Son, Jesus.

Mercy ~ St. Faustina

St. Faustina, pray for us!

Our first meeting in Wreath II!  It is wonderful to see the girls together again and pick up where we left off.  They are excited to learn more about these holy women in our Communion of Saints and the virtues they practiced.

I was so excited that this month's virtue and saint falls within the season of Lent.  The plan to create a Divine Mercy lapbook will certainly help to prepare the girls to participate in the Divine Mercy Novena starting on Good Friday!  This novena is truly unique for a number of reasons.  This novena is different from all other novenas because it is the first novena in the history of the Catholic Church which was created by Jesus.  The Divine Mercy Novena is intended to be prayed for graces and/or salvation to be given to other people, unlike other novenas, where people ask for something from God through the intercession of His Holy Saints.

We began the meeting with the prayers in the member's guide: Act of Faith, Act of Hope, Act of Love and the prayer to St. Therese.

The craft this month was going to take some time, so we began straight away with our lesson.  I've decided that this year the girls will complete their notebook pages and coloring pages at home as part of the assignments.  This will give us more time for our lesson, games and craft during the meetings.

Virtue ~ Saint ~ Flower of the Month

I read aloud the lovely book, Helen's Special Picture by David Previtali, and we talked about St. Faustina's special life and how she is such an inspiration to trust in Jesus and to be merciful to others.  She exhibited mercy from her childhood until her death.

In our discussion, and using the leader's guide, I explained that mercy means God loves us and forgives us our sins.  Mercy is the fruit of charity - given when not expected and never withheld.  Mercy is an imitation of God.  The Church provides us with the 'Works of Mercy' to grow in and use this virtue.  Jesus appeared to St. Faustina and gave her the chaplet and image to share with the world and to show His mercy and encourage souls.

I displayed Fr. Lovakik's book The Works of Mercy and reviewed with them both the Corporal and the Spiritual Works of Mercy.

We listened to the memory verse and read, repeated it together:

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;  in the greatness of your compassion, wipe out my offense.   Psalms 51: 3-4. 

~ Craft ~

My children have loved making lapbooks and I found one online to use in our group.  Ours turned out to be a combination of two examples I discovered.

Above shows the 'raw' materials and then pictures of my example for the girls.  A mini book of the novena and chaplet, a pocket to hold a holy card (image on front, Divine Mercy Prayer and image description on back) printed on card stock, St. Faustina with Divine Mercy image, Divine Mercy promises mini book with tabs.

They worked very diligently as even a simple lapbook takes a while to finish.  They did a great job and it will be nice to have this to refer to anytime and especially leading to Divine Mercy Sunday.

~ Snack ~

Keeping things simple, as we are in the season of Lent, the girls enjoyed
'Divine Mercy' strawberries and cream.

"The two rays denote Blood and Water.  The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous.  The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls.  These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross."

~ Closing ~

Our meeting was completed after praying 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 first patch in Wreath II and grow in the Virtue of Mercy - and through these small acts, showing their love for your Son, Jesus.

Preparing to begin Wreath II

After a very inspiring year and a four month hiatus, preparations are underway to begin meeting again for Wreath II.

Our next gathering will be March 13, 2013 from 7:00 until 9:00 pm. 

My daughter are I are so excited, we can hardly wait!  So far we have four of the five members returning and hopefully, after an article in the parish newsletter, we will have other girls that may be interested in joining our small group.  That would be a blessing!

Wreath II includes the following virtues:  Mercy, Joy/Mirthfulness, Courage, Generosity, Prudence, Wisdom, Justice, Loyalty and Perseverance.

Pray for our members (and their Mommas :)) as we prepare to begin our studies.