We've made it through our first winter as Little Flowers despite never meeting indoors! Strong work! Thank you for your faithful prayers for the challenge patches. We have now received our Jesse Tree and Holy Lent patches so I also ordered Rosary patches that we can earn in May. They arrived too! Thank you God, for answering our little prayer!
We gathered at Emmeneger Park for a petal meeting and hiking adventure.
We worked to memorize Isaiah 40:31 They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.
St. Monica (331-387) is an excellent saint to teach us about unwavering hope. She was married to a pagan man and had three children in Africa. Her husband and in-laws would not allow her children to be baptized or raised in the faith.
She prayed and wept for many years for their conversion and for her husband’s temper. Eventually her prayers were answered and one of her son’s, Augustine became a great Saint and doctor of the Church. A quote of St. Monica’s is,“Nothing is far from God.” Her feast day is August 27. St. Monica is the patron saint of difficult marriages, disappointing children, and the conversion of relatives.
We learned about the virtue of Hope. As Christians we are comforted by the hope of heaven and know God is always with us. We have unshakable trust that God will keep His promises.
We learned about Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) and went for a hike and nature walk. Frassati was an Italian who loved to hike and rock climb and taught that anyone can become a saint. We hope to see him named a Saint of the church soon!
We had a snack of pretzels, a traditional treat that represents our arms crossed in prayer. Don't forget to keep marking your Lenten calendars. We made hope votives that we can safely light when we say our prayers.
Act of Hope: O, my God, because you are all powerful, merciful, and faithful to your promises, I hope to be happy with you in heaven.
The flower for Hope is Ivy because it clings to walls and just keeps growing over obstacles. It needs something strong to support its growth, like we rely on God for our strength and growth. Our Hope votives are encircled with ivy to help us remember to grow in our faith, always reaching for heaven. We thought about how poison ivy is like sin and to avoid it!
We earned the Hope petal and hiking badge. We prayed a decade of the rosary and repeated our verse to keep up our strength along the hike. May God bless us and help us to never give up Hope.
Holy Week is upon us! Our hope rests in the resurrection of Easter!
Join us on Holy Saturday at 1 pm to chalk the plaza of church with joyful art.
Saints Monica and Augustine, Pray for us!
Blessed Frassati, Pray for us!
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