All posts filed under: Uncategorized

Prayer Beads for Kids

Published by

One of my goals this Lent is to spend more time in prayer.  My husband gifted me a beautiful set of Anglican prayer beads for Christmas, and the practice of using the beads and ages old prayers, in a rhythmic, defined manner, has made prayer more accessible to me.  And so I am much more inclined to spend time doing it! As I’ve been keeping them around on my desk areas for use, my charming and curious children have asked me what they are for, and so I decided to make them some of their own.  I was somewhat surprised that they were interested, but we ran with it, and came up with these simple circlets for their use. These can be made out of anything, and would be a fun Lenten family activity, or perhaps a surprise in their Easter basket?  Use what you have on hand; plastic pony beads in two colors on a piece of yarn would work just fine. The important thing is to place your beads in this form: For …

A Simple Easter Garden

Published by

Have you ever heard of the tradition of creating an Easter Garden?  This has become a well-loved custom in our home, that begins on Palm Sunday, and we observe through the difficult Holy Week, to its climax on Easter. It is a lovely and symbolic way to mark the events of Holy Week for children, and the adults quite enjoy it too! Here are some simple steps to create your own Easter Garden: Gather your materials: You will need a container to hold your garden; it is helpful if this container can drain so your garden does not get water-logged.  And of course, a tray to catch the draining water.  Use what you have on hand; ours is a large take-out container with holes poked in the bottom and its plastic lid to catch the drainage. a small terra-cotta pot for the tomb.  This should be relative in size to your container, ours is the smallest size pot you can buy. a large rock to cover your tomb.  Send your children outside to find one! …

Devotional Art: A Lenten Reflection

Published by

Our priest’s wife, Sandy Mc Namara, is a teacher and art historian.  She offers this reflection for us in the midst of Lent. Dutch Baroque artist Rembrandt van Rijn over the course of his lifetime painted hundreds of images depicting many Old and New Testament historical events, stories, and parables. Rembrandt is considered a Baroque painter, not only because he lived and painted during the 17th century, but also because his style and technique reflect many major characteristics of that period. Baroque art emphasized the theatrical and dramatic through focused use of strong light/dark contrasts, emotion, and dramatic scenes. One scene of Christ’s earthly ministry that intrigued Rembrandt was the instant when the two disciples who walked the road to Emmaus with Jesus, first realized they were interacting with their Lord after having witnessed his execution and burial. Rembrandt was an artist of human experience who loved to capture the emotional reaction of his subjects at crisis moments. He studied the human face, and attempted to depict the instant of epiphany and realization. This Emmaus …

Ash Wednesday Explained

Published by

Thank you to our priest, Fr. Wayne McNamara, for allowing us to post this explanation of Ash Wednesday. Fr. Wayne collects thoughts and resources at his blog: An Irishman’s Mugs, Mettles, and Meanderings.  What is Lent? The word ‘Lent’ comes from the old Saxon name for the month of ‘March.’ and came to refer also to ‘spring’. The Christian Church has observed the forty days before Easter as a time of corporate and individual self-examination, a time of mourning for our sins, of repentance, and fasting. Lent is the season where we might find ourselves like the prodigal son, finding our way home, returning to a more committed relationship with the Lord and His people, a time of spiritual renewal. It is a time where we (individually, as families, as parishes) face more deliberately all our unfaithfulness and failures. It is a time of fasting to remind us that our deepest hunger is for God and Him alone It is a time of cleansing and the removing of all kinds of impediments to the joyful coming …

Folk Artist Heather Sleightholm

Published by

We are grateful here at The Homely Hours, to have “met” and collaborated with folk artist Heather Sleightholm on this Candlemas coloring printable for you.  Heather’s art under the name Audrey Eclectic explores themes of faith and family, and you can view and purchase prints of her lovely work in her Etsy shop.  This is what Heather says about her work: “As I have grown as an artist, it has become my passion to explore themes of faith, family, love and tradition within my paintings. As I myself have deepened in my faith and come to cherish my Anglican roots, I have wanted to share the elements of my faith that are most dear to me through art. It is my hope that when people view my paintings, they feel a personal connection, peace and comfort. I am always so touched when I hear that one of my paintings reminds someone of a cherished childhood moment, time with family, or their intimate connection with God. I am very blessed to have been given this ability …

Candlemas Printables

Published by

We are excited today to bring you some Candlemas printables to aid your celebration of this Festival of Light.  Folk artist Heather Sleightholm of Audrey Eclectic kindly agreed to create a special piece of art just for us!  Her lovely drawing of the presentation of Christ in the temple, the ultimate Light coming into the world, is available to you as a coloring page, or a sticker to decorate your family’s vigil candle for the year. At our parish, Christ the King, we will be creating vigil candles for each family during Sunday School on January 31, and then our priest will do the Blessing of the Candles during our service.  My family is excited to have this special candle in our home this year to remind us that we can bring all our cares to Christ. There are two different artwork designs, a black and white design by Heather that can be colored and a full color piece by me.  They are formatted two to a page to fit onto a standard vigil candle, …

Epiphanytide: Three Kings Crowns

Published by

The Epiphany, or The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, is celebrated on January 6, with the season of Epiphanytide running through Shrove Tuesday.  There are several events in the life of Christ that we celebrate during this time, where He revealed Himself as the Saviour to both Jews and Gentiles.  The first is the visit of the Magi to see the newborn Christ. To mark this day in our family, we usually wear crowns, and dress up as kings and queens, to remember the visit of the Magi.  Some years, we have saved a special present for our children from Christmas, and given it to them on Epiphany.  I created these crowns in case you would like an easy way to remember and talk about the visit of the Magi with your own children. KingsCrown – There are three crowns in different color ways included in the file for you to print at will. We share these resources and ideas with the understanding that celebrations do not always have to be elaborate to be meaningful. …

Collects beyond Christmas

Published by

Have you found any usefulness from the printable collects we have offered?  I have enjoyed making them, and ruminating on the words as I re-type them into cards.  The prayers are so practical. Here you can find the next set of collects for the Circumcision of Christ through Epiphany.  I have formatted these so that if you print all three pages, you will have one of each collect for the Sundays from now until Lent begins. EpiphanyCollects  

Celebrating Christmastide: The 12 Days of Christmas

Published by

We are finally here: the waiting is over, our Savior has come, and we celebrate!  The season of Christmastide gives us 12 days in which to fully feast and remember the King’s birth. Here are a few suggestions for various activities and the significance of each day during Christmastide, from Full Homely Divinity. One idea is to share the true meaning of the 12 days of Christmas with friends and family.  Did you know that in 16th century England, the song was used to teach children their Roman Catholic catechism in code?  Read more about that history here. I designed these 12 Days of Christmas Cards with these things in mind.  Use them to color yourself, or have your children color them to send to friends and family this Christmas season.  You could also make them into ornaments to add to your tree. Merry Christmas, from all of us at The Homely Hours.