A Rosary Hanger Giveaway

Well we thought it would be nice to encourage the Christmas celebration all through Christmastide. So we are giving away a lovely rosary hanger on the 12th day of Christmas. What a neat way to display your rosaries so they are easily accessible and always visible as a reminder to pray.
Just hop on over to the  facebook page and follow the instructions there. No widgets to bother with or emails to enter, all you do if post a link to your favorite rosary hanger from the Etsy shop on the facebook page post. A winner will be selected on the 12th day of Christmas.

**Rosary Hanger Giveaway**Our most popular Item this year was the Rosary Hanger! And to thank you all for making that a...
Posted by Saongjai on Saturday, December 19, 2015

FREE Nativity Coloring Page

When I was little there was this priest, Fr. Sacco who came to our village and said an English Mass for the handful of foreigners there. I will never forget him. I am especially fond of the nativity scene he always set up at the Cathedral in the big city down the way from us. He would construct this elaborate scenery for the nativity and always built this impressive cave for a stable. I couldn't find any coloring pages with a nativity scene in a cave so here you go in case you were looking for one too!

Gaudete Sunday Giveaway

We thought it would be nice to host a little Giveaway and it's open now through Gaudete Sunday!
The giveaway is for this lovely silver-toned Miraculous Medal & Crucifix Necklace with light rose crystals wrapped into the design.

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The Immaculate Conception

Here is an image I really love. Surely we will see many beautiful depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary floating around and they are all glorious, but this one tells the story. The Story of salvation history and the whole reason why we are celebrating the feast of the Immaculate Conception. You see, that sticky business about the fall of man needed to be rectified. Our God is one of infinite Mercy and full of love for us!

Adam and Eve our first parents opened the door with their first sin and tainted all of humanity with Original Sin. Well, God had a plan and that was to send His Son Jesus to save us. He chose to accomplish this through a new Eve: Mary. " Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." Isaiah 7:14  .  One must ask how could the Lord of all Creation take up a home in the womb of a person with the stain of Original Sin? Jesus hadn't yet come to save us so there was no baptism available to wash away Mary's Original Sin. But never fear there was a greater plan and that was The Immaculate Conception. Her conception in the womb of St. Anne was miraculous because St. Anne was barren and quite old to begin with, but there was more. God choose to wipe away the stain of Original Sin in Mary at the moment of her conception...she was conceived without Original Sin. Not because she was without the need for a savior but that Our Savior chose to save her first.

A favorite book of mine is titled The Mystical City of God by venerable Mary of Agreda. A very detailed private revelation about the life of the Virgin Mother of God. Click the image below to listen to an audio version or download the book. Only the first book is currently in audio at the moment, but that's great because a story of the Immaculate Conception is in that part!

 

Where is the Love for Our Red, White, and Blue?

Good morning folks. I am not sure if this is bugging you as much as it is me, but I am wondering why I don't see facebook flooded with profile pictures showing the compassion and mercy we poured our for France when everyone heard of the tragic terrorist attack there. Our beloved Country and the people of San Bernardino deserve to see our love and support too, but most of all have our prayers! They need our prayers for peace and God's Mercy to carry them through such a senseless tragedy. 

There are so many questions this boils up in me. Have we become desensitized to violence and the loss of precious life? Is this a side affect to a culture of death? Do you remember what tragedy and terrorism felt like on 911? Let us not become deaf to the cry and pain of human suffering throughout the world, but most especially not to our fellow countrymen!  Be shocked, be outraged, and cry to our God for Mercy. Fast, pray for peace, & pray for our beautiful United States of America.

Join me will you, in making this image your profile picture?

Maybe you would rather have a cover banner instead of changing your profile picture.

As we journey into this season of Advent, I say let us pray, fast, and love! Jesus wants us to love. The world needs more love from everyone. And not the comfortable love but real love. Compassion for those suffering rom injustice, hunger, cold, abandonment, and also for those who are deceived. Real love lets the truth be told and still shows mercy to humanity. Jesus didn't stone to death Mary Magdalene, He loved her, but he told her to go and sin no more. He didn't say it's all cool carry on your merry way!

What are some things you can do to prepare this Advent for Jesus? Maybe you can think of little ways to let Love ripple forth from your family into your community:

    Visit the elderly, find a Charity to work with that brings joy to people, do things that will help the    cold and hungry.
 
    Seek out the suffering at home in your community. Maybe there is a family in need at your church...ask your pastor if there are families that need help this time of year. 

    Give to your local food bank.

    There is this sweet charity called Lydia's Love that makes birthday dreams come true for homeless and underprivileged children who might never get a party.

    I asked my husband if he could cut some extra wood this year incase there were people who might need it this winter.

Stop and think about what you can do...it doesn't take much to make a difference...just a little bit of thought, some small sacrifice, and LOVE!I challenge you to make a difference. Leave a comment about what you will be doing to show God's love this time of year! Or share a link to one of your favorite Charities!

FREE St. Lucy Coloring Page

St. Lucy is celebrated on Dec 13th and here is a beautiful coloring page free just for you. We love to celebrate the saints so here are some links we love that you might too.

St. Lucias Braided Bread  Celebrating the Feast of St. Lucy  Ideas for Celebrating Santa Lucia Day Celebrating St. Lucy's Day with Kids

      To print the coloring page save the image first and then you'll be able to select how to print it out. 





FREE Baby's First Christmas Ornament Printable

Hello there, I made a set of boy and girl baby's first Christmas ornament printables for our shop and was thinking it would be so nice to offer my dear readers a free version! Just click on the image below and it will take you to download the pdf with instructions.

And here is an all in one cut out fold and paste cube version

The boy and girl set below is for purchase can be found in our shop...we can also customize the file with your child's full name. These make great gifts for new babies or God-children. The best part is that you get to be a little part of the making and some extra love goes into the gift!

St. John Berchmans FREE Coloring Page

This simple saint kind of reminds me of a male version of St. Therese. He lived a very unassuming life filled with a desired to love and please God in his ordinary life. He wanted to be a priest and a missionary but died at a very young age before he was able to be ordained. He is the patron of Alter Servers and young people. You can read more about him at Catholic Saints.

Bring the Catholic Conference 4 Moms to Your Parish or Mom's Group!

 

I am going to share with you all today an interview with Tami Kiser, the founder and creator of www.CatholicConference4Moms.com Lent is still a little ways off, but if you want to get this rolled out at your parish or in a women's group now is the time to start thinking about it!

Introduce yourself and tells us a little bit about yourself:

Gladly.  I am Tami Kiser, aka, Smart Martha in some circles.  I live in Greenville, SC with my husband of 28 years.  We have 10 children (ages 3-26) and 5 grandchildren.  DH is a headmaster at a Catholic School and most of my time is spent managing this large brood providing family dinners, essay edits, haircuts, rides, stories, and lots of advice (mostly unsolicited).  I also teach dance part-time and work on this exciting conference whenever I get the chance.

What is the “Faces of Mercy” 2016 Catholic Conference 4 Moms?

It is simply an online conference for this coming Year of Mercy, particularly catered to moms.  It is set up so that Mom’s groups or parishes can use the presentations to put together their own simple conference/retreat/mom’s day out.  It is also for individual moms to use the presentations on the conference day, Feb. 20, for their own day of reflection, but also to use the presentations throughout all of Lent as a time of growth. 

What gave you the inspiration to do a project like this?

 I was familiar with online webinars.  I was also familiar with Protestant groups doing a similar thing focused on just one presenter (for 1000’s of $!).  And I also ran a mom’s ministry, called Smart Martha, where I traveled to parishes and held one day seminars.   I blended all these concepts together and came up with this idea.  I consecrated the whole thing to Mary, and this is where we are today.

So the day of the conference is February 20^th?

Yes, this is the day which we are asking everyone to set aside for the conference so that we can all be united in mission and in prayer on this day.  There will be a couple of live presentations on this day and at 3:00 EST we are asking everyone to unite in saying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  But that being said, the online conference is very flexible and can accommodate many different days and weekends.  If that day doesn’t work for a mom or even a mom’s group, the conference is still available all throughout Lent after February 20^th  in order to be flexible with everyone’s busy schedules.

Is there a cost? 

There is a small cost, not 1000’s.  I am asking parishes or mom’s groups to pay around $60 (use the code HandmadeHost for a discount)  for the whole package which includes: downloads, discussion guide, and a hosting information guide.  This cost cover’s everyone who is in the group attending.  For individuals, the cost is closer to the price of one book, $12 ( use the code Handmade for a discount).  Not only does this get them online access throughout Lent, but it also gets them a conference “swag bag” which is full of online gifts and offers suitable for mothers.   There are discounts for both of these programs available through the conference affiliates for an even lower price. 

When do I sign up?

In November and December, we are looking for parishes willing to be hosts.  As the Year of Mercy begins, December 8, we want to see as many parishes as possible be able to announce that this is something their parish is doing for the Year of Mercy.  And yes, any mom can do this!  Please prayerfully consider this for the moms at your parish.  For more information or to sign-up, please go to: http://www.catholicconference4moms.com/host-it.html

Individual conference sign-ups are also available now, but when the season of Lent approaches we will begin emphasizing that aspect of the conference and encouraging moms to sign up then. 

 

How can our readers get involved?

Not to sound desperate, but please, please, consider hosting this at your parish or for some moms that you know, even if it is just a dozen of you sipping tea (or wine, or beer) in your living room.  The more moms and parishes involved in this—the cooler it will be!  And I can guarantee that you will have a spiritually moving experience.  It will be a “Jubilee Year of Mercy.”   

St. Nicholas Giveaway & FREE Coloring Page

Here is a coloring page of St. Nicholas. In some traditional icons the saint is depicted with Jesus  and Mary in the clouds on either side of him, so I put symbols of Jesus & Mary in this coloring page. St. Nicholas is also sometimes depicted with a book and 3 golden spheres so those are pictured also. Check out the awesome giveaway for the St. Nicholas Movie and a special 1 Decade St. Nicholas kids rosary, you can enter at the bottom of the page!

Here are some links we love on celebrating St. Nicholas Day, maybe you will enjoy them too!
Celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas  St. Nicholas Cookies  St. Nicholas Center- Celebrating the truth about Santa Claus
       
Please visit our sponsors below they help bring you great giveaways and FREE coloring pages!
Holy cards and little prayer bags make perfect St. Nicholas Day gifts...encouraging prayer!!!


Custom Holy Cards

Prayer Bags

 

 

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FREE Coloring Page for St. Margaret Queen of Scotland

Well tomorrow is November 16th and the day we celebrate St. Margaret of Scotland. Catholic Online has a lovely story up about her you can find it here in this link. I hope you enjoy this page as much as I did making it. Did you know she sewed vestments for the priests? What a humble and beautiful thing for a queen to do!

Pray for Peace, Pray for Paris a FREE Profile Picture

Here is a little Profile picture for FB if you would like to use it. Now more than ever we need to step up our game and pray for peace in this world. May we entrust our world to the Mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and ask for the intersession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace throughout the world.

 

 

Military Mission Rosaries for Veteran's Day

Well Veteran's Day is around the corner next week. Being the daughter of a veteran always compels me to hold veterans in particularly special place of my heart. Especially the wounded or suffering ones, the ones who have no hope or no one to love them. Jesus wants us to show our love and care to them. They need to feel their lives matter and one place I truly see this happen is at the chapel at the VA Domiciliary in White City, OR. They are there for the physical help they need at the hospital but then Jesus meets them at the chapel. He meets them in the Pastor, Priest, and ordinary folk who come just as they are to worship God with them. There are no distinctions there because all of us are wounded and broken coming humbly to our Lord in prayer and praise. It's a special place, that chapel there. A place for people to come together a place for veterans to feel God's love for them. My momma plays the music out there for Mass and sometimes for the protestant services too. She seeks out the vet's who have a desire to serve with their musical talents and tirelessly commits to making them feel loved and welcome. I can't remember a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter at my parents house that isn't attended by a few of the veterans that have no place to go on those special days.

As I was walking out of the chapel last Sunday I noticed a few little mission rosaries that were lying on one of the tables as I walked out.  I felt compelled to make some sturdier more rugged ones that we could give and have available for the taking on that little table. So the inspiration was to make these Military Mission Rosaries for the Veterans at the VA.

We set up a fundraiser to buy the supplies with and my sister and I are donating our time to make these. Maybe you will feel inspired to pray for our efforts or make a donation. Either are equally appreciated. May God Bless you!

FREE Spiritual Bouquet Card Craft for All Souls

This is a neat little way to help your children pray for our dearly departed. This Spiritual Bouquet Card can be printed out and colored, folded and placed inside a piece of construction paper. Set it up in a special place for the month of  November to remind you to pray for those who gone before us.  

 

 

We do have a full set  for sale in our shop of all occasion Spiritual Boquet Cards and also a compliment to this free card with "For my Departed Loved One and For my Departed Friend" They can all be found in the Cards and Printables section of our shop.

FREE St María de la Purísima Salvat Romero Coloring Page

Here is a coloring page for one of the most recently canonized Saints. St María de la Purísima Salvat Romero or also called St Mary of the Immaculate Conception. She tirelessly helped the poor and her feast day is coming up on  October 31st.

FREE St. Pope John Paul II Coloring Page

If you like this coloring page we add new free ones all the time on the Free Coloring and Activities Page the collection continues to grow so check in to see if we have new ones up!

We have a colorful line of kids rosaries that we can make with a JPII medal center.

FREE Sts. Louis & Zelie Martin Coloring Page

What a great example for families is this humble and loving saint duet! We need the uplifting example and reminder that this couple devoted to a mission of love shows us.  Especially now in our time when the family is under such tremendous attack, the Martin's are a shining example of love.

Sts. Louis & Zelie, pray for families especially for the unity and love of spouses!

If you liked this coloring page we add new free ones all the time on the Free Coloring and Activities Page the collection continues to grow so check in to see if we have new ones up!



To Host lovely giveaways like this and offer great free coloring pages takes time and a little money so if you are ever in need of an awesome Catholic gift or a religious item please think of shopping at our store Saongjai for things Heartfelt, Handcrafted, & Catholic. Thank you!

You can find Sts. Louis & Zelie in our shop too as part of our printable cute saint holy card set! 

The Giveaway Has Ended

You must enter the Giveaway on the Facebook page so please click the picture below and respond there.

In honor of the newly canonized couple we are hosting a Husband and Wife Rosary Set Giveaway. Help us get to 200 likes!...
Posted by Life, Love, & Sacred Art on Monday, October 19, 2015


 

2015 FREE Advent Activity Collection

It's back and this year's activity pack is similar to last year's but with a couple little changes. Instead of O Antiphon ornaments, I have included O Antiphon cards you can cut out and read on each of the golden nights. Also there are coloring pages of St. Nicholas & St. Lucy. A download link for this awesome Advent Activity pack will pop up once you have completed & submitted the free registration below.

You can always reference last year's activity should you wish to create the O Antiphon ornaments or the Advent candle craft. Here is  last year's post for the O Antiphon ornaments and advent candle craft!  If you would like to read more about the history and tradition of the O Antiphons Jessica at Shower of Roses has some great posts about the O Antiphons and she also has great ideas for other advent ideas too!

Looking for awesome gifts? If you want to know where your hard earned money goes, a couple friends of mine have these great home businesses that help support their little Catholic families.







Jacobs Toy Box & Books

Soft Saint Dolls












To get this wonderful Activity pack simply Register below. When you submit the form a link for the download will appear!

Making a Gaint Rosary

Well we wanted to make a very large rosary that kids could participate in saying the rosary while holding on to a part of the rosary. We started out small class size but someday I would like to make one for a large group...but that would require finding something super large and not too expensive I could use to make the Rosary beads with.

For this project I got practice balls from the sports section in Walmart and spray painted them. They were very inexpensive and came in a package of 15 for $1.88. Unfortunatly you can only get them in the store.

 For string we used nylon cord like the kind you might use for a laundry line.

And finally for the center and crucifix I used wooden shapes of a heart and cross that I painted to match the our father beads. I got these at Jo-Ann's.

For the corpus I just ordered a simple plastic one from Space age plastics corpus for the crucifix and I drew a picture of Our Lady of Grace on the heart. You could cut and paste a lovely image of Our lady from a Christmas card or magazine too.

We put it all together and tied knots around each bead so we could space them out and make the rosary large. Here is the finished Rosary when we used it for our Joyful Mysteries VBS program.

 

 

I am so sorry to disappoint but I had great during the project pictures until some sticky little fingers managed to erase a years worth of picture from my SD card! The only thing I would do different is not paint the practice balls or at least use a plastic approved spray paint to paint them. As usual, I was in a hurry to see what it would look like all finished so just used the spray paint I had on hand and...it wears off!

Are you looking for a special rosary for the little ones in your life? Well we have a great selection of chids rosaries for sale in our shop!

FREE Our Lady of the Rosary Coloring Page

I love that October is dedicated to the Rosary don't you? It's a beautiful devotion and I think a fantastic way we can draw our families together to meditate on the life of Christ as we sit at the school of Mary.

Save this image and then you'll be able to choose how you want to print it out to color in. I think it might be nice to print it on cardstock and use watercolor paints because of the painterly style of the drawing.  

Do you have a special place for keeping your rosaries? We've placed them in a bowl on our prayer table, made rosary hangers, and even just placed hooks for them up near sacred art.  Here are some beautiful rosary hangers that have space to write down your prayer intentions!

Madonna and Child with Pink Roses Rosary Hanger Dry Erase Board
by SaongJai

Fatima Prayer Rosary Holder Dry Erase Board With Keychain Holder
by SaongJai

Another FREE St. Therese Coloring Page

Well, I just couldn't resist making another coloring page for St. Therese. This one is inspired by a vintage medal. I hope you all enjoy!

 

If you are looking for a unique way to wear and share you faith we have a really beautiful selection of religious jewelry for sale over in our shop. Usually there is a  St. Therese Necklace in stock.