Happy Mail - Part 1

[faith]


Recently received, all wrapped up in pretty blue tissue paper. 

Handcrafted by Tina Marie, rosary-artist extraordinaire.  I originally saw the white First Communion rosary in her Loreto Gift Shop on Etsy, and although Alexa doesn't receive First Communion till next year, I knew it would be perfect. So I scooped it up.

Tina does beautiful work. And the best thing? She's local, and I love supporting local artists.

Tina offered to make the Our Father beads in my choice of color, perhaps Alexa's birthstone, but to me the blue is just beautiful against the white. And a lovely symbol of Our Blessed Mother.

I love the chalice as the center. What a perfect detail. So I've wrapped up and tucked this rosary away till next year. In the meantime, I continued to browse Tina's shop where ... one thing led to another and ... this one is for me. 

One thing our family does, without fail every Sunday night, is pray a rosary together, each taking a turn with a decade. We have done this since Group A was little and Group B was barely in the works. We didn't mind if they played quietly with Lego or coloured (using Rosary Reflections for Kids), we just wanted to create a pleasant tradition that cemented us as a family that prays. Without sucking the life out of it. Ya know?

Some people think that prayer has to be so solemn and sour-faced and serious and strict and ... un-fun. Smiles not permitted. But really, how can you pass on a faith to your children if you don't show them you actually love it and enjoy it? Why would they even want to receive it? God wants for us to live and be vibrant and laugh a little!!  It IS possible, desirable even, to enjoy prayer and be reverent at the same time. So with that in mind we try hard to make our family prayer time something the kids want to be a part of. Prayer preceeds a good little snack and family chat. My daughter (my big one!) always snuggles up to me during rosary so I will play with her hair or rub her neck and that's ok with me. Anything we want our kids to enjoy we try to associate with pleasure of some sort. Good thing, that. 

Of course things did backfire on us once. During one rosary, Tom just started to laugh hysterically for no good reason. He couldn't stop. It became contagious. But then, the next Sunday we remembered the previous Sunday and someone started to laugh. Let's just say it took MANY Sundays to get back to praying our rosary without laughing and that was not good. Not good at all folks.

The Rosary is a beautiful prayer for families, because each bead represents some aspect about the life of Christ through the eyes of His Mother. So its perfect for helping children learn the little "stories" or "mysteries" that we meditate upon with each decade. The beads themselves, they help everyone focus. I like to have aids in prayer - be it a Bible, prayerbook, rosary, or a Holy picture. Heck, anything to help with all the distractions that is my life. True?

So yeah. Loreto Gift Shop. Go there.

History of the Rosary here.
Free virtual rosary right here.

See you Thursday with some sewing :).