Archive for February, 2008:
St. Valentine
This is late but too beautiful not to share. I hope you had a lovely St. Valentine’s day!
The Saint Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on seeing that Valentine would never renounce his faith, had him beaten with clubs, and afterwards, beheaded. This was executed on February 14, about the year 270.
Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which, for a long time, gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly, Porta Valetini. The greatest part of his relics are now in the church of St. Praxedes.
His name is celebrated as that of an illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the Roman Missal of Thomasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day.
Dear Saint and glorious Martyr, be gracious to those whom we love and to us. Teach us to love unselfishly and to find great joy in giving. Enable all true lovers to bring out the best in each other. Let them love each other in God and God in each other. Amen.
Liturgy for the Feast of St. Valentine
Entrance Antiphon
Here is a true martyr who shed his blood for Christ.
His judges could not shake him by their menaces,
and so he won through to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Opening Prayer
All powerful, ever living God,
You gave St Valentine the courage to witness to the
Gospel of Christ,
even to the point of giving his life for it.
By his prayers help us to endure all suffering for love of You
and to seek You with all our hearts,
for You alone are the source of life.
Grant this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son . . . .
Amen.
———-
Subscribe to the comments for this postPerfect timing!
I just posted about the conference and now I see that Hillside Education has just announced Alice Gunther’s new book!
Alice Gunther is the featured speaker at this year’s Family-Centered Learning Conference.
Haystack Full of Needles,
A Catholic Home Educator’s Guide to Socialization
by Alice Gunther
This is the book we’ve all been waiting for. The book that explains why “Socialization is not the weakness of home education—it is its strength and joy.”
Its release is set for the Spring and I can hardly wait!
Kudos Alice!
Family-Centered Learning Conference update
Have you checked out the conference page lately?
It’s being updated regularly.
The date has been changed but we’re all set and it’s really starting to come together.
I hope you can join us because it’s going to be fabulous!
The Pope’s visit to the United States
Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, will be visiting the United States in April of this year. He will make stops in Washington and New York.
The Holy Father’s visit is the perfect opportunity for catechesis (during this period of preparation for the visit and during our Holy Father’s stay).
A web-site sponsored by the USCCB and the Archdiocese of Washington has a number of catechetical materials.
There are age appropriate lesson plans and materials, as well as power-point presentations that have been prepared for teachers and catechists. Additionally, there is a segment that has been specifically prepared for parish RCIA programs. An introductory part explains the best use of these materials.
Why not take this opportunity to educate yourself and others more deeply on the meaning and mystery of the Papacy!
You know are living in 2008 when…
My 11 yr. old daughter sent this to me in a e-mail (yes from the desk behind me!) .
You know are living in 2008 when…
1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list.
