Living Room

   

I moved furniture around in my living room.  One piece that belonged to my husband before we married, and I still continue to use is this cabinet for media storage.  This is its original look, but I added contact paper to the glass door to hide everything inside.  I got tired of the green palms contact paper.  I removed it and replaced it with another one.

I found the contact paper at the Dollar tree store.  There were different colors but I wanted a  neutral color that will go well with all the other furniture. I change  the  colors often, window linens, sofa and chair covers.

As you can see there's still clutter left in the living room, which I will target later in the afternoon.

Another change I made was in the wall decor.  My kids pictures are now here, next to the light swithch box.  I am going to cover it up some how, but still thinking how to do it.   This was the corner where the buffet table was before.

An the buffet table is now where the sofa was before the changes.

The buffet piece, serves as the Liturgical Feast table.  This are the new changes for the month of May.  To celebrate Pope John II beautification.  And Divine Mercy Sunday on May 1st.

Cuaresma

Hoy empezamos la cuaresma.  Miercoles de Ceniza.  Y hoy decidi empezar a escribir mis posts en Español.  Se que si eres un seguidor de mi blog y no lees Español podras usar el traductor para poder leer este post en tu Idioma.  Eh compartido este blog con amistades que no estan aun familiarizados con los blogs. 

Pense en aser otro blog totalmente en Español, pero tendria que estar actualizando ambos y pasaria mucho tiempo en eso, asi que decidi quedarme con mi actual blog y escribir en Español.

A continuacion comparto una fotografias de mi altar en casa.  La mesa de celebraciones liturgicas.

Comenze el mes de Marzo con este altar y colores del calendario liturgico Ordinario.

Hoy dia cambie los colores del mantel y organize las imagenes de otra manera.

Durante el mes de Marzo, celebramos la fiesta de San Patricio el 17  y de San Jose esposo de Maria el 19.
La imagen que aparece en la foto es de San Jose Obrero.  Despues la cambie por la imagen que uso durante la Navidad de San Jose.  Pense que se miraba muy pequeño en comparacion con las demas imagenes en el altar.

Tengo tambien a la Virgen de Guadalupe, por ser la patrona de Mexico.  Estoy orando por Mexico para que se termine toda la violencia.   Tambien tengo a Santa Rita y una tarjeta de Santa Maria Goretti, para intercession en un caso muy especial que esta pasando unos familiares en Mexico.  No puedo dar muchos detalles, pero les pido que oren para que Dios escuche nuestra oracion.

La imagen del Angel dormido, representa los bebes no aun nacidos.  Que Dios los cuide y proteja.  Tambien representa los Angelitos que se fueron al cielo antes de nacer.   Mi hermana me regalo esta imagen hace unos años.

La imagen de la Divina Misericordia siempre estara en ese lugar, ya que es el Patrono de nuestro hogar.
Y la imagen del Niño Jesus con su vestido nuevo que su madrina le hizo para este año.  Con nuevo sombrero y nuevas sandalias hechos a mano.   Gracias comadre Mati.

El color morado representa el tiempo de Cuaresma.  Decidi solo usar el color en el mantel y la cruz.  El resto de la sala aun tiene el color verde en los decorativos. 

La imagen de mi intercesor favorito, San Antonio de Padua la lleve a mi oficina de casa.  Junto con otras imagenes.  San Francisco, San Martin de Porres, Santa Teresita de Jesus, y la imagen de la medalla milagrosa.  En fotografia tengo a Santa Teresa de Calcuta, a Juan Pablo II y a San Rafael Guizar. 

Tambien tengo en cuadro una foto de Juan XXIII.  Tengo mas imagenes en otras partes de la casa.  Voy a organizar bien mis estantes de libros para poder usar uno solamente para guardar las imagenes que no se usan en el altar principal.

Pues como ven, sigo actualizando mi hogar con los colores liturgicos.  Sigo pendiente de mi blog aunque no escriba.  Espero que tengan una temporada de cuaresma acercandose mas a Dios.  Su amiga de siempre. Dios los bendiga.

August Feast Table

I started simple.

August is dedicated to the Imaculatte Heart of Mary. 

Since I do not have an image of the Imaculate Heart of Mary,

I decided to use this icon of Mary's Asumption.

Its also a Solemnity celebrated this month.

On August 15.

It is a special day for us, because my daughter was baptized on August 15.

I plan to do a special celebration this year.

We have never celebrated our baptisms anniversaries.

It should be a special day, because its the day we are received into the church.

The Cathecism of the Catholic Church states:

1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4 and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."5

This month includes the feasts days of other Saints.  I will be reading their short biographies to my children.  And my children will be coloring pages of these Saints.

St. John Vianney, St. Monica, St. Augustisne of Hippo, St. Clare, and St. Rose of Lima.

At Church we will have a special celebration on August 6, the transfiguration of Jesus.  Salvadoreanians, celebrate their patron the Divine Savior of the World.  It is an image of Jesus' Transfiguration. 

I had this small image at home for a week.

Here is the final picture of the August feast table.

I added Father Wood.

A picture of St. Alphonsus Liguori, feast day, Augut 1st.

A small prayer card of the Imaculatte Heart of Mary.

printed from this site.

And a book that tells the story of Mary.

The image of Jesus, "The Shepperd", is one of my favorite.

The Lord is my shepperd,

I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down

 in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

Your prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You annoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the lord

Forever.

Almost August

Tomorrow begins the month of August.  Like I mentioned before we have lots of activities on our schedule this coming month.

Today the last day of July.  We celebrate the day of St. Ignatius of Loyola.  He is the founder of the company of Jesus, the Jesuits. 

Our parish's Priests are Jesuits.  This is why today, there will be a special Mass at noon to celebrate the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

You will be reading a lot of about the Catholic traditions here on my blog.  I am beginning to savor the richness of my Catholic faith.  I am learning about the life of different people that have left a mark in the Catholic Church.


Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of August is traditionally dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The physical heart of Mary is venerated (and not adored as the Sacred Heart of Jesus is) because it is united to her person and is the seat of her love (especially for her divine Son), virtue, and inner life. Such devotion is an incentive to a similar love and virtue. Read More here.

To incorporate this special celebrations in my home, I am using a Feast table.  You might also call it a home shrine.   It has been a tradional aspect in many Catholic homes. 

I began to do this at the beginning of this year.  I got this idea, from my sister who was already using the liturgical colors within her home.  Here is a picture of her home's feast table.

Then one day, I came across this interesting blog, Wildflowers and Marbles.  Jenn has pictures of her feast tables for each month or a particular liturgical season.   She explains in one of her posts the reason for having a feast table within your home. Read her post here.

I liked this scripture posted at Everything Else Thrownin by Dianne.



By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;


through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures. Psalm 24:3,4

And that is my purpose to fill my house with lovely treasures of the Catholic faith.

I also plan to incorparate the word of God into my decor.  I already have a few items in English, but I want to find some in Spanish.  So that my Spanish speaking guests can also read the messages on them. 

This idea came from this scripture.


Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.


These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.


Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.


Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.


Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Deut. 6:4-9

I will post picture later of my August feast table, I am going to work on it as soon as I publish this post.

Liturgical year planner

I am done with my liturgical year planner.  Its about 4 pages long in word document.  I still have to figure out how to share it with you. I am thinking on adding pages to my blog.  I seen them in other blogs but I have not figured it out how to do this. 

I want to share with you that I took my Liturgical year calendar.  The circle one.  And chose the feast days that are consider Feasts of obligation.  They are usually the one in  bold.  I also added some of the Saints feast days of the most popular Saints.   And I also included our family events, such as birthdays and baptisms anniversaries. 

sorry about the shiny spot on the picture

I want to celebrate this special dates with my children.  They are days that are very significant with our Catholic Faith Formation. 

I spent most of yesterday morning making the list.  Searching for the actual feast days of some of our Patron Saints not listed on the circular calendar.

My house is not a mess, thanks to my children helping me keep it clean and helping me do some chores. 
After finishing the planner.  I cleaned the bathroom, wiped and moped the floor. Tidy up the laundry room, did a few loads of laundry, vacuumed all the lent behind and around the washer and dryer. 

Then I noticed it was 2:30 PM and dinner was not prepared yet.  So I started preparing the dinner, washed the dishes, and tidy up the kitchen.

I am so glad dinner was ready by the time husband came home. 

After dinner was served and I tidy up the kitchen again, I went to my bedroom to tidy up the dressers.  I organized some of the drawers and I vacuumed.

Today, I will be organizing my closet.  Help the kids to do a deep cleaning of their room.  Dust, vacuum, and organize closet and drawers.

Next week's goal is the attic.  Yes, the attic.  It was not finished, but I plan to get my children involved in the process.   This summer vacations seem to be going by fast.  Soon we will be planning for the new school year.  Back to school shopping. 

August is Birthday Month.  Lots of birthdays and family events to attend.  My daughter is scheduled for pre-surgery appointments on the 24th of August.  Her surgery date is September 15.

I have my son's and husband's birthday party to plan.  I plan to keep it simple this year.  But like me, I always leave everything for last minute.  We have not chosen a date yet for the party.  It will probably be on the 21st of August.  Since their birthdays fall on a week day, we always choose the closest day on the weekend.  But most of the weekends are scheduled for other parties. 

Daughter's birthday is in December, right around Christmas time.   I'm hoping that if she is better by then from her surgery.  We could take a vacation to Mexico for the holidays.  Her sister's birthday is on New Years eve.  It will be great if we could be there to celebrate both their birthdays. 

Let me not worry about that yet,  and only God knows if we are able to go to Mexico with all the violence going on in most of the Mexican cities.

I am getting back to my home blessings.  Hope you have a very nice day.

Thankful Thursday

Here is something to be thankful.

My son drew this for his Dad.  It is St. Martin of Tours.

I told my husband that our son had drawn the Sacred Heart icon and Our Lady of Guadalupe. 


He wanted to challenge our son and asked him to draw the icon of St. Martin of Tours. 


Here is what my son drew.  I took a picture of the drawing instead of scanning it because sometimes the scanner fades some details.

My son is only 7 years old.  I hope that he uses this talent well.

The following picture was taken at my sister's house.  She has this display on top of her media cabinet.  She changes the color of the drape for each liturgical season. 

She also has a home shrine or altar, where she has the infant Jesus dressed in white.   The family bible opened.  The easter candle.  And a rosary on the wall.  She also changes the colors of the linens and the dress for the infant Jesus.

She also has a collection of saint icons.  But she keeps those in her bedroom.  

She uses them for the Little Flowers Club meeting.  To show the girls the particular saint they are learning about.  

I will be having our club meeting this summer like last year.  There is also a club for boys, they are called the Blue Knights.  You can find out more about this clubs at this blog.  Little Flowers Girls Club.

liturgical colors

As you enter the front door of my home. You see immidiately that this is a Catholic home. Not just Catholic but also Mexican-American. I am proud of my culture and of my faith. In every single room of this house, excluding the bathroom, you see a small shrine dedicated to Jesus and Mary.



This year I have been using the liturgical colors used to signify the seasons, feasts and holy days of the church.

Thanks to Jenn over at Wildflowers and Marbles and Lacy at Catholic Icing, I was introduced to how to use the liturgical colors within my home.

This small shrine is in my home office, just above my computer. The sacred heart icon is one of my favorite. The child of Atocha was my grandmother's special devotion. And of course Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron of Latin America. The cross is a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. This one is from Home Interiors' Max Lucado collections. I placed a small rosary on it as a reminder to pray the rosary.





The picture above where you see the icon of the Holy Trinity is another section of my living room. This is actually the wall adjacent to the kitchen. Here you see pictures of my Parents, sisters family, and brother with his fiance. The words Family and Love are a reminder that in our family Love is what keeps us together.


Next picture is from my bedroom. Here I have a big mirror with the image of our Lady of Guadalupe painted on it in gold color. On top of the dresser a picture of my children, a small icon of the Divine Mercy and the sacred family, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.






I have another table in the hallway going towards the laundry room, stairs to the attic and the back door. Here I have another small shrine that will be changing monthly acording to the different celebrations of the month or season. You can see the picture on this post.

Here is a picture of a few months ago during lent when I decorated for the feast of St. Joseph the worker, spouse of Mary, and foster father of Jesus.

These are just a few of the ways that I have been using the liturgical colors withing my home. And how I am making a domestic church in my home. Keeping our traditions alive and sharing them with my children and the people that visit our home.

Month of May

May is the month dedicated to Mary. And to remember her here is our Mary altar. Simple

St. Joseph Feast Day

Click on picture to enlarge

I know my non Catholic friends will think I have gone crazy. Putting up an altar to a Saint. Why do Catholics do this? All over the world and for many years, Catholics have honored Saints and Mary the mother of Jesus with beautiful adorned altars in their homes or in churches. It is a tradition of faith.

Just recently I learned of the tradition to make altars to remember St. Joseph, the chaste spouse of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The origins of the celebration, was long time ago in Sicily, Italy. Farmers will make this altars to St. Joseph and pray for his intercession for a good harvest that year. The food used on the altars they will share with those who where needy.

This is my first year making one. I remember my grandmother will make one for the Child of Atocha. I included Mary and Jesus too. The Holy Family. I am asking for a family blessing. A stronger bond for my family. The conversion of my husband. A deeper relationship with God our Father. And end for the violence in Mexico.

I used some of the ideas from other Catholic Mom blogs. As well as some of my own.


For the sawdust, I used shredded dried shrimp. In Mexico we use the dried shredded shrimp and add it to beated eggs to make fried egg puffs, we serve them with cactus in chile sauce. That is why I also included a jar of cactus. It is said in Mexico that cactus is the meat of the poor. I have some cans of fruit and vegetables, italian pastries, small little fish crackers, red and white wine vinegar. Most of the items I found at 99 cents store. Amazing!!


The jar of cactus is from My Mom's kitchen. She cans, cactus, tomatoes, and jalapenos. She made some apricot jam once too. My talented Mom.


I cut out some fig bars into shapes of a cross, the monstrance, a heart and chalice. In Italy they used bread in different shapes stuffed with fig jam. You can find out more of this tradion at the St. Joseph Altar blog, click here.

If you will like to see the altars of other Catholic Mom's go here.

Liturgical Colors in the home

As I was searching for some activities for my children to do this week at home. I came across some great blogs of Catholic Moms.

I was introduced to "Father Pine". It is a siloutte of a priest with his hand lifted like the shape of the cross. And dressed in colorful vestments that represent the liturgical colors of the year.

My sister has been using the liturgical color in her own home. She has a big cross on top of her tv armoire. Every liturgical season she changes the drape on the cross according to the specific liturgical color. I have been wanting to do the same at my house.


Thanks to Jenn over at Wildflowers and Marbles for sharing this idea with us. You can see more ideas at this other blog Catholic Icing.