All posts filed under: printables

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, friends! I’m making this quick post so that our Saint Patrick’s Day posts are easy to find on our homepage. Here is a free coloring page of Saint Patrick from Michelle Abernathy: Download the Saint Patrick coloring page here. In addition to Irish folk songs, make sure you sing the Breastplate of Saint Patrick today. 1 I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three. 2 I bind this day to me forever, by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation, his baptism in the Jordan river, his death on cross for my salvation, his bursting from the spiced tomb, his riding up the heavenly way, his coming at the day of doom, I bind unto myself today. 3 I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven, the glorious sun’s life-giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even, the flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, the stable earth, the deep …

Common Prayer in a Time of Fear

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I made a simple printable of relevant collects from the Prayer Book to tape up by my kitchen and bathroom sinks. I thought I would share it here, too, in case any of you would also like it. Download here: Common Prayer in Time of Fear As I’m sure many others have, I’ve been dwelling a lot on Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”   I’ve been encouraged by that word “guard.” The peace of God is not something flimsy, evanescent. It’s stalwart, solid, firm. When we make our requests known to God, His peace guards us “manfully” (to use a word from the Prayer Book). And, I keep thinking of this quotation about prayer that I shared back in the summer (it was quoted in Company of Voices by George Guiver): “Perhaps at this very moment, on other …

Holy Triduum Coloring Page

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As we head into the Holy Triduum tomorrow, we have a new resource to help explain it to our children. Michelle Abernathy created this coloring page, focusing on the liturgical highlights of each day. Click to download pdf of Holy Triduum coloring page. As we color through the page, we’ll talk about it. Here is something along the lines of what I will say (if you’re interested in learning what we will be doing each day at our church): Maundy Thursday: On Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus and His disciples shared an ancient special meal called the Passover, remembering how God delivered the Israelite people from slavery and death. On this night, Jesus also shared with his disciples a new special meal: the Eucharist. All those who by faith take in His life — His body and blood in the bread and wine– trust that God also delivers us from slavery and death. At our church, we re-live this every week, but especially as we participate in the Eucharist on this night. This is also when Jesus …

St. Patrick Coloring Page

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Continuing her series of saints coloring pages, Michelle Abernathy has created a St. Patrick coloring page for us! Download the Saint Patrick coloring page here. (You can also see the watercolor original here). If you’re wondering what you should be singing on St. Patrick’s day besides Irish folk songs, here we have an explanation of the best hymn ever: The Lorica (or Breastplate) of St. Patrick. Tomorrow, we’ll be eating shepherd’s pie, reading Tomie dePaola’s Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland and looking forward to our church’s upcoming Irish Folk Sing.

Tending the Garden of Our Hearts

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I’m always on the lookout for good family resources to celebrate the church year. So I took the opportunity to review Tending the Garden of Our Hearts: Daily Lenten Meditations for Families by Elissa Bjeletich and Kristina Wenger, receiving a copy from Ancient Faith Publishing in exchange for my honest review. When I expressed interest in the book, I made sure they knew that I’m not Orthodox. But as an Anglican, I welcomed this opportunity to learn more about Great Lent in Orthodoxy. The book consists of daily devotionals that follow and deepen the theme for each Sunday in Great Lent: Forgiveness, Orthodoxy, Prayer, The Cross/Humility, The Ladder of Divine Ascent/Alms-giving, and St. Mary of Egypt. It’s based on the authors’ podcast last year and it’s meant for families with children of all ages to read together. To any Orthodox families that happen to read this blog, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It’s a resource that strengthens the connection between the home and the church. It will carry you along with the traditions of the …

St. Valentine Coloring Page

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If you happen to be looking for a way to highlight that St. Valentine’s day IS a saint’s day (even if we don’t know a whole lot about him), Michelle Abernathy has made a coloring page out of her painting of St. Valentine (see on Etsy)! You can download a printable pdf of the St. Valentine coloring page here. St. Valentine was a priest or bishop that was martyred around 269 in Rome under the Emperor Claudius. I like how Michelle depicts him as celebrant in a marriage ceremony, highlighting that love and sacrifice go hand in hand. I appreciate Auntie Leila’s thoughts on celebrating: “… make it into a real, not just sentimental, occasion of expressing affection to everyone — in family life, just take out the romantic part of it. There’s nothing wrong with sending pretty cards and giving chocolates to those you love best, keeping in mind of course that dear St. Valentine was a martyr for the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and he wants us to contemplate our …

Candlemas: Celebrating at Home

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Candlemas is a beautiful day — the third “Festival of Light” that rounds out our winter celebrations. Our priest, Fr. Wayne McNamara, wrote a helpful explanation of the meaning of Candlemas. He believes it is important for the modern church to recover this feast: “Candlemas articulates the necessary future of this beautiful Light coming into the world. Our celebrations so far have dwelt on the joyful implications of the Son of God’s arrival, our redemption, salvation, and deliverance. Candlemas reiterates in a pointed way that the coming of the Lord includes difficult things – the persecutions of Jesus in His ministry and the call of the Christ to suffer the Cross. Candlemas rounds out our thoughts regarding the significance of the Word become flesh, and moves us forward to Lent.” This year, Michelle Abernathy made a lovely coloring page printable based upon the painting displayed in the header for Candlemas: you can download a printable pdf here. We also have a Candlemas family liturgy: You can download that here.  In the devotional Celebrating the Saints, I loved …

Saint Brigid Coloring Page

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February 1 is the feast day of Saint Brigid. Michelle Abernathy has taken her beautiful painting of this saint and made it into a coloring page. “When faith’s light of freedom to Ireland first came, You, Lord, raised up Brigid to make known your name. Her proud chieftain father’s wild rage she defied, And followed your way, with the gospel for guide. In silence of fields, while she tended her fold, You spoke to her heart words more precious than gold. White figure of peace, through our country she went, In your loving service her whole life was spent. With keen fiery arrow she set hearts aflame; To live ‘neath her rule many monks and nuns came. The poor and the hungry were fed from her store, For open to all were her heart, hand and door. For Brigid we praise you, our Father and God, We praise Christ your Son in whose footsteps she trod, We praise your kind Spirit who guided her ways, We praise you, blest Trinity, all of our days. (From …

A Candlemas Gift from Hearthstone Fables

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Kristin Haakenson is the artist behind Hearthstone Fables. I truly gasped when I opened Kristin’s email with these Candlemas images. What a gift! When I think of Hearthstone Fables, I think of St. Francis of Assisi. In his Canticle of the Sun, he saw all creation as family —  “Brother Sun,” Sister Moon,” Brother Wind…” The legends say that he preached sermons to birds and befriended wolves. In this way, Kristin’s art at Hearthstone Fables seems very Franciscan to me. And, with these beautiful Candlemas gifts, I think we can look to “Sister Swan” and “Brother Fox” as we carry the light in our homes. In her lovely website, Kristin says: “In the magical world of Hearthstone Fables, I’ve sought to express my passion for faith, nature, & mythic storytelling through art.  I aim to create simple, quiet narratives that convey a sense of wonderment at the sacred world, with the various flora and fauna of nature weaving enchanting stories together. I’ve always been enamored with mythic storytelling, both through written narrative and the visual arts.  Humanity so often expresses a sense of displacement…a nagging feeling …

Advent Saints Coloring Pages

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Are you looking for a simple way to incorporate some feast day celebrations into your Advent this year?  One of our parish members, Michelle, has created these lovely coloring pages for you to print as you will and enjoy with your family.  We are currently in the midst of a very busy season in the life of our family, so this will be about the extent of our feast day observances this year.  I look forward to joining my children in some quiet coloring time!  Thank you again, Michelle! StNicholasColoring StLucyColoring