Like many of you, I am a 24/7, on-call, do-it-all mama! And day by day, my family and I are trying to make it in this crazy world and do so with grace, love, and reverence for our Church. Not an easy feat, by any means, and one that takes great patience and forbearance for any mother!
Thankfully, we've been recently taken by a few Catholic media items that hav
e helped in a small way to smooth over the rough patches in our day and bring us to our knees more often. Couldn't we all use a little more of that? The first has been cycling on our CD player already this morning. My two cherubs love Rose Marie Rudolph's Tiny Hands Precious Feet: A Catholic Baby's First Lullabies. Thanks to Aunt Kat and Uncle ET, our T-baby's godparents, this CD made its way into our home and has been a blessing to us since. In it, Rose Marie and her 6 sons and 6 nieces and nephews sing into the hearts of their listeners with songs, prayers, and poems. It is a beautiful compilation, including Catholic favorites like "Sing of Mary", "Panis Angelicus", and "Adoro Te Devote" along with other classics like "Braham's Lullaby" and "Pachelbel's Cannon in D". It is a heartwarming work and one that my boys love hearing over and over (and over, etc.!) again. Having it play as the soundtrack to our day-to-day has been quite a blessing for our growing family.
The second of our media loves came by the way of a dear blogging friend and sister in Christ and His Church. Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena for Mothers-To-Be by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle has already graced this pregnancy with insight, wisdom, and prayerful encouragement as I journey through month four and beyond. The book invites readers to experience pregnancy in prayerful meditation. Each chapter walks through one month of pregnancy, giving general information about the baby's development and then offering various St. Anne (patron saint for mothers) and St. Gerard Majella Novenas, insights from Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Rosary meditations. The chapters end with space for the mother to write out her thoughts and reflections for that month. How I long to make this journey of pregnancy through prayer... Day by day, one prayer at a time! I can already tell it will be, by far, one of my most graced-filled pregnancies yet thanks to this wonderful Catholic book.As we journey this road together, what products do you love? What has encouraged your family toward a more Christ-filled day-to-day? Please share your insight--we are always looking to expand our inventory here in Gasperini-Ville!
4 comments:
We don't own the CD you mentioned...but I will definitely add it to my wish list, what a great idea. One of the things our family appreciates is Magnificat, http://www.magnificat.com. We have been doing evening prayer as a family from Magnificat and it has been great. We are also big fans of the cartoon Catholic Videos (such as Bernadette, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St. Francis).
Red, don't know if you've seen it, but the editors of Magnificat also offer a version for kiddos, "Magnifi-Kid". I haven't yet perused one, but will be bringing it as a surprise for G this weekend. We'll have to check it out for future reference.
We get Magnifikid, my aunt has sent it to Peter, I think it is most helpful for a child who can read, because he does follow the parts of the mass in it. If anyone wants to see one, let me know and I can send it to you.
We use Magnifikid, but I agree that it's geared to young school-age kids. Our 9 & 7 year olds love it (it's always a challenge to have them share it during Mass). But they can follow the order of the Mass and there are puzzles and a little Comic that relate to theme of the feast day or the Gospel reading. We try to do the Saturday page as a family - to think and pray ahead on the theme too.
We've had people sitting around us at Mass ask us afterward what it is , since they see our kids using them.
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