Humility Petal Meeting & Clean Stream

We had one last petal to earn from Wreath I. We paired our first petal meeting of the year with a service activity for Operation Clean Stream. We welcomed a new Little Flower to our troop! 

We learned about the virtue of Humility and picked up trash along the Meramec River. Doing a difficult or unpleasant task with a cheerful attitude is a great way to practice humility. Humility is the opposite of pride. It gives us courage to allow others to shine. Our verse was, "Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life". -Proverbs 22:4. 

The saint for humility is St. Catherine Laboure. She was a Daughter of Charity that lived from 1806-1876 in France. She was a friend of St. Vincent de Paul. Mary appeared to her and asked that the Miraculous Medal be struck with her image to remind everyone to pray for grace. When she was a child she said to her Mary statue, “"Now, dear Lady, you are to be my mother,” after her mother died. Even though Mary appeared to her, she lived a quiet unknown life doing humble tasks, serving others, and enduring illness. Her feast day is November 28. She is the patron saint of The Miraculous Medal. 

On one side of the medal, Mary is standing upon a globe as Queen of Heaven and earth, crushing the head of a serpent beneath her foot. It reads, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” The other side has 12 stars, a cross with an M below, as Mary stands below the crucifixion scene. Two hearts represent the love of Jesus and Mary for us. The girls were given blessed Miraculous Medals as a reminder to ask Mary for the graces needed each day.

We hope to be able to visit the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal in Perryville one day.

The flower for humility is the violet. "The humble soul is like the violet, which grows low, hangs the head downward, and hides itself with its own leaves." -Fredrika Bremer 

We were given violet t-shirts and earned a Clean Stream patch. We have opted to phase out the vests which are quite small. Let me know if you'd like to trade it out for a sash. I know it is a pain to transfer the patches, so perhaps you could begin fresh with a new year. Also be sure to turn in the registration form and $25 fee per family per year. 

The most interesting trash finds this year were a tire that was rolled about a half a mile by the "Tireneers," an orange cone, and lots of police caution tape. It was good to spend some time taking care of creation and being together made it easy to have a cheerful attitude.

May God Bless us and help us grow in the virtue of Humility.

St. Catherine Laboure, Pray for us!