Saint Patrick's Day

After reading the above book as an introduction to this amazing man and saint, we set out to do "something" in which to have fun and help us have a tangible way of remembering Saint Patrick.

Well, it just so happens I have happened upon a new tradition that I will begin with the kiddos NEXT year. :)

We were going to visit some friends, not Catholic, but Irish nonetheless and we wanted to bring something to them. Since Saint Patrick was very devoted to prayer (and I mean hundreds of them a day) we went looking for an Irish blessing.
Since hubby's computer had major malfunctions today, the printer was not working, so I quickly hand scribbled the blessing to attach to our origami basket. (Totally cool basket, right?)
If you know the story of Saint Patrick, you know that he used a shamrock (three leaf clover) to illustrate the mystery of the Trinity. We added one of those on the bag as well, which was a simple craft that Prez and I had done earlier that day.
Because the blessing mentions having a coin in your purse and a rainbow after the rain, we added "gold" coins to play with and a rainbow of Jolly Ranchers.

Here is where the new tradition comes in. From now on, I think I'm going to have the tradition that in the morning when the kids wake up, they'll have a "gift" bag in honor of St. patrick with this blessing.

May you always have work for your hands to do. There will be a craft to make (like a prayer plaque or holy card craft or painted cross)
May your pockets hold always a coin or two. some chocolate coins
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane. ?
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain. a bag of Skittles
May the hand of a friend always be near you. the name of a friend to pray for

And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you. a special drink to use for "cheers"

So, I'm super excited about implementing that.
We then took off to visit our friends. Prez is looking rough because he spilled his bubbles and couldn't find his bubble stick. Poor guy.
Bubbles wasn't with us (she's visiting her best friend for the weekend), but here are the rest of them. We're so glad to have such wonderful friends and fun times.

Saint Patrick, intercede for us that we may work tirelessly to help others understand the depth of God's love.