ASH WEDNESDAY
"From dust we were created, to dust we (our physical bodies) will return"
What a special day today was in our beautiful Catholic Faith (and other Christian faiths that observe Ash Wednesday). I just love celebrating the Liturgical Seasons with my family. Our family is called to be a domestic church (for our children.....to form them in their Faith in Christ so that they can too, grow up and "feed His sheep" someday)
Today was the beginning of Lent. A beautiful season of renewal and purification of our souls! It is a prayerful preparation for the Triduum (Holy Thursday/Last Supper, Good Friday/Crucifixion through Easter Sunday/Resurrection) It is kind of a "New Years" feeling.....a new beginning for us. We REALLY focus on being better and making changes in our lives to better ourselves for Christ! To begin our season at our house, we started a tradition some years ago (I am sure that we stole the idea from another family) that in focusing on the Perfect Sacrifice that our Dear Lord Jesus made to save us......we try to be more like Him....dying to ourselves for others. In addition to giving up something for Lent, we "bake" our very own crown of thorns.....not to eat, but to use as a tangible reminder of our journey towards pureness of heart.
"From dust we were created, to dust we (our physical bodies) will return"
What a special day today was in our beautiful Catholic Faith (and other Christian faiths that observe Ash Wednesday). I just love celebrating the Liturgical Seasons with my family. Our family is called to be a domestic church (for our children.....to form them in their Faith in Christ so that they can too, grow up and "feed His sheep" someday)
Today was the beginning of Lent. A beautiful season of renewal and purification of our souls! It is a prayerful preparation for the Triduum (Holy Thursday/Last Supper, Good Friday/Crucifixion through Easter Sunday/Resurrection) It is kind of a "New Years" feeling.....a new beginning for us. We REALLY focus on being better and making changes in our lives to better ourselves for Christ! To begin our season at our house, we started a tradition some years ago (I am sure that we stole the idea from another family) that in focusing on the Perfect Sacrifice that our Dear Lord Jesus made to save us......we try to be more like Him....dying to ourselves for others. In addition to giving up something for Lent, we "bake" our very own crown of thorns.....not to eat, but to use as a tangible reminder of our journey towards pureness of heart.
We pull out thorns (toothpicks) from our crowns, as we show love for others over the weeks of Lent. Wouldn't it be great to remove all of the thorns from Jesus' crown for Him!??! Here is how we make them and what they look like
We use the canned Pillsbury dough, each child rolling out 2 "snakes" (look at the irony that they are rolling out snakes to make the crown of thorns.....just noticed that)!
Madison carefully kneading her dough
Nicholas starting to roll out his snakes
Savannah Carefully rolling out her snakes of dough
Rolling out the snakes longer and longer
Criss cross the snakes and begin to twist them around each other
Take your twisted dough snakes and make a crown shape
Now that you have your crown, you are ready to start adding the toothpick thorns
Add as many thorns as you would like. Savannah and Nicholas just added a lot of thorns with no special number in mind.....Madison (my thoughtful perfectionist) decided to put in 40 thorns representing the 40 days in Lent
Then we baked them in the oven a little longer than the package directions (liked the darker color better)
As they show Christ's love to others, dying to themselves, they remove a thorn. They can "see" how their love for others makes a real difference.
May you and your family experience a truly life changing Lenten season
God Bless you
God Bless you
