Annual Overnight

 The girls had a blast spending a jam packed night in the parish hall. We began with pizza dinner followed by professional story telling from our friend from the Iris society. He helped kick off the theme of service and charity. He encouraged us to remember one of his stories to share with a friend.

Next, we made Wear and Give Miraculous Medal bracelets to give away when the Holy Spirit moves us or when someone gives one a compliment and Good Deed Beads to help remind us to do acts of kindness (spiritual and corporal works of mercy) each day. We learned about the Miraculous Medal and St Catherine Laboure and how the Wear and Give Ministry is still spreading Mary's love for all her children and bringing them closer to her son, Jesus. 

We earned our Service petals at our petal meeting where we learned about Saint Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. She was called to care for the elderly. We are each called to service in a particular way by the people and situations God places before us. We can turn work into the virtue of service by choosing to do the work out of love for God and others. 

The girls were given Iris coloring contest sheets in the yellow packets. Instructions for entry are in the packet and are due by January 31st. There are also instructions for the Ackerman essay contest which is due May 17. You'll notice a familiar name listed as the first place winner. Check out her wonderful essay published in the packet. Congratulations to R! 

Next, we celebrated the birthday of a Little Flower with cake and ice cream and a fun party with Bingo, karaoke, and board games. The girls finally got their wish of having more time to just be together. 

We ended the night praying in the chapel and singing the Divine Mercy Chaplet before sharing the roses and thorns of the day. The girls bonded and shivered through their night in the unheated youth room with the motion sensor lights punctuating their sleep. 

The next morning we packed up and thought better of hiking to breakfast due to sub zero temperatures, and enjoyed more fellowship and good food at a local establishment. Thank you to all our volunteers that helped make this much anticipated annual event a success. 

Docility Petal Meeting/Overnight

Lesson 5 of wreath 4 was on Docility and Pro-life patron, St Gianna Molla of Italy. 

The virtue of docility is our willingness to be taught about our faith. Sometimes we can struggle to understand a teaching of our Church. We are encouraged to be docile as we learn more, asking Jesus to help us understand and be obedient to what He asks of us. We grow in docility from being humble, pure of heart, willing to spend time in prayer, and willing to listen to both God and those God sends our way. It is good to question things that don't seem right to us, and to be open to understanding the why behind the what of our Church. The girls shared people that were good examples of this virtue. We also talked about what to do if someone in charge of us tells us to do something that doesn't seem right. 

Verse: Show me your ways, Lord. Teach me your paths. -Psalm 25:4

A Saint that is a great example of docility is Gianna Molla (1922-1962). Her doctors told her to terminate her pregnancy because she had cancer and may not survive if she kept her baby. Gianna listened to God's command and did not obey the doctors. She died shortly after giving birth to Gianna Emmanuela, her fourth child. She lived a beautiful life of sacrificial love. Her feast day is April 28. She is the patron of mothers and the unborn. 

After Mass, we did more work to earn our year long pro-life badge by learning about St Gianna Molla. We also made stamped valentines which will be given to the residents of Birthstone, a non profit that supports single mothers who have chosen life for their babies. We prayed our decade of the rosary in the adoration chapel before bedtime. We also watched Seuss's "Horton Hears a Who," which has a great message about standing up for the vulnerable. 

We had a lot of fun learning some Italian and a little about the country so many of our Saints and popes come from. We had a pizza dinner and ordered gelato in Italian. We sang Buon Compleanno to a Little Flower sharing her birthday with us. 

Taco-Gatto-Pizza

Scusa!

The next morning, we had a passegiatta (walk) to collazione (breakfast). Thank you for all who helped lead our Little Flowers through a fun and fruitful weekend!

St Gianna Molla, Prega per noi!