Sometimes we feel a little down when the official Christmas season is over. It’s hard to jump enthusiastically into Ordinary Time, because it sounds so, well, ordinary! But Catholic living can add so much richness to our every day life and celebrating our Faith and family culture can be an active pursuit all year long! Here are ten ideas to foster your own family culture…while integrating the richness of our Catholic Faith with Saints, Sacraments, Scripture, Catechism and Prayer! All of our Cathletics Craft Kits come with permission to copy for family use and they’re packed with Catechism, Saints, Sacraments and Prayer to get you started, but we’ve included other helpful links too!
Top FOUR Resolutions for 2019
January 7, 2019 by 3 Comments
It’s that time of year again, our second chance to start the new year (the Liturgical Calendar began with Advent in 2018).These are the big four resolutions that I’m compelled to commit to and I’ve included some resource, article and affiliate links that I’ve found helpful. This is not an exhaustive list! I might even edit and add to these lists throughout January…and I’m happy to check out your recommendations!
Equipping Catholic Families for January 2019
December 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Equipping Catholic Families for January 2019 Saints!
Welcome to our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar.
- Feast of the Holy Family (December 30)
Key Feast Days in January:
- Solemnity of Mary (January 1) Mary Crafts, In the Arms of Mary
- World Day of Peace (January 1)
- St. Basil the Great (January 2)
- St. Gregory Nazianzen (January 2)
- Most Holy Name of Jesus (January 3)
- St. Genevieve (January 3)
- St. Elizabeth Seton (January 4)
- St. John Neumann (January 5)
- St. Andre Bessette (January 6)
- Epiphany of the Lord (January 6) Felt Kings Tutorial
- St. Raymond of Penysfort (January 7)
- Baptism of the Lord (January 13)
- St. Hilary (January 13)
- St. Anthony of Egypt (January 17)
- St. Sebastian (January 20)
- St. Agnes (January 21)
- Day of Prayer for the Unborn (January 22)
- St. Francis de Sales (January 24)
- Conversion of St. Paul (January 25)
- St. Timothy and St. Titus (January 26)
- St. Angela Merici (January 27)
- St. Thomas Aquinas (January 28)
- St. John Bosco (January 31)
Monthly Devotion for January: Holy Name of Jesus
- Holy Name of Jesus by PBandGrace
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Christmas!
- 12 Days of Christmas ends January 5th
- Sock Baby Jesus
- Nativities
New Year Resolutions and
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Ordinary Time!
Just a reminder, the readings for Sunday Masses come from Year C and Cycle 1 for the Weekday Masses.
Catholic Stamps for planners, prayerbooks and penpals!
December 6, 2018 by Leave a Comment
I’ve just added 17 new stamps to our Prayer Impressions Journal Stamp Shoppe at Arma Dei! This after adding a bunch of Rosary stamps, just a few weeks ago! These stamps are perfect for your prayer journal, Christmas Cards, lunch notes, penpal correspondence, planners, calendars, adult coloring, Bible journaling…and more!
Equipping Catholic Families for December Feasts and Saints Days!
November 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Equipping Catholic Families for December Saints!
- Both the month of December and the season of Advent begin this weekend!
- Here is our monthly summary of crafts and family traditions related to the Monthly Devotion, Key Feast Days and the appropriate Season of the Liturgical Calendar.
Key Feast Days in December:
- St Francis Xavier (December 3)
- St John Damascene (December 4)
- St Nicholas (December 6)
- St Ambrose (December 7)
- Immaculate Conception (December 8)
- St Juan Diego (December 9)
- Our Lady of Loretto (December 10)
- Our Lady, Queen of Angels (December 11)
- St Damasus I (December 11)
- Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12)
- St Lucy (December 13)
- St John of the Cross (December 14)
- O Antiphons (December 17-23)
- Bambinelli Sunday (December 16)
- Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Dec 18)
- St Abraham, St Isaac, St Jacob (December 20)
- St Thomas, St Peter Canisius (December 21)
- St John of Kanty (December 23)
- The Birth of Jesus (December 25)
- St Stephen (December 26)
- St John Apostle (December 27)
- Holy Innocents (December 28)
- St Thomas Becket (December 29)
- Feast of the Holy Family (December 30)
Check out the St Nick Bundle at the Arma Dei Shoppe for great stocking stuffers! on sale until December 13/2018!
Season of the Liturgical Calendar: Advent!
- Anticipating Advent: Prep for Advent: Summary of Crafts and Activities
- Keep Christ in Christmas: read Him, look for Him, pray to Him, visit him, share Him, give for Him; live for Him Keep Christ in Christmas
The Advent Calendar
The Advent Calendar is a great way to countdown the days until Christmas. You’ll find lots of chocolate covered ones in the stores now, but you can make your own and fill it with dollarstore Nativity figures, holy medals, Saint pegs, Super Saints, printable Advent Quest challenges and of course your favorite treats or chocolates. There are so many ways to make an Advent Calendar (including this one we made years ago) and we found 35 [Awesome} DIY Advent Calendars here.
Sock Baby Jesus Workshop in time for Advent!
November 29, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last Sunday (a whole week before Advent begins!) we hosted a Sock Baby Jesus in a Clementine Crib Workshop and we had a lot of fun!
First, we collected the materials we would need and even made a new Sock Baby Jesus just to make sure that we weren’t forgetting anything. The kids co-operated by eating their way through 3 crates of Clementine oranges and our friend Michelle brought 3 additional crates as well!
Cyber Small Biz: St Anthony Find Us a Deal
November 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Purchase a couple Saints, Sacraments, Catechism or Prayer-packed Craft Kit PDFs (minimum spend $39), get $13 OFF!
That’s 33% OFF!
Use the code: StAnthonyFindUsADeal at our shoppe:
www.ArmaDei.com
Expires at midnight on Cyber Monday November 26th!
That’s my Patron Saint looking at me!
November 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
In the last week, a customer asked me for some custom artwork. She asked if I could create 8″x10″ Super Saints prints of the three patron saints of her children. She plans to frame the images and hang them over each bed (or crib).
Beginner’s Guide to the Seven Sacraments
November 20, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Guest Post by Laurel Whitworth
Christianity is one of the world’s largest religious groups, with nearly 2.5 billion people following one of its five major denominations—Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic. Roughly half of all worldwide Christians identify as Catholic, making it the largest of the Christian churches. That number continues to grow as worshippers share their faith and experiences with those across the globe and new members join local congregations. The Statistical Yearbook of the Church or Annuario Pontificio, released annually by Central Statistics Office of the Church, compiles data relating to the church’s demographics and trends, as well as contains a list of every diocese, Roman Curia office, and papal university in the world.
Feast Day Fun: St Gertrude
November 15, 2018 by 2 Comments
St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) was a Benedictine mystic and she is patroness of the West Indies. She was born in Germany and placed in a Benedictine convent at the age of five. She had a vision of Jesus at the age of twenty-six. She wrote a number of books and many prayers, spreading devotion of the Sacred Heart. She is also credited with this special prayer for the souls in Purgatory. Jesus, Himself told her that He would ease the suffering of 1000 souls, release them from purgatory and welcome them into Heaven, each time this prayer is prayed devoutly!
