Paschal Candle

I made our Paschal candle today and thought I would share with you a few tidbits. I am always reminded this time of year about a dear priest who was our pastor in Arizona. He was insistent on saying Happy Paschal Feast!

Jesus is the Paschal Lamb, the Paschal Mystery is the center and crux of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and this season we are coming upon this Paschal Feast is the pillar of our Christian faith. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior died for us so that we may be free from sin and enjoy everlasting life with Him. Though undeserved we are He gave His life to save us because He loves us and His Mercy is abundant. No matter what we have done, how immense our transgressions He is merciful looking at us with love and not chastisement only saying sin no more and pick up your cross...follow Me.
 
 
 
 

Making this candle every year and lighting it during this upcoming season is a reminder of God's Mercy and unending love for us.









God is the beginning and the end of everything and I love being reminded of that when I look at this candle seeing the symbols for Alpha and Omega. We are reminded also of His suffering for us. In a real liturgical candle used in church there would be 5 pieces of incense embedded in the wax candle on the cross to remind us of the wounds of Christ.

 

Advent Candles in a Pinch

I had waited until the last minute to get advent candles for our wreath and every store in our tiny town only had white candles. So I took some pearlized glass paint and a stencil and proceeded to paint my candles with purple and rose accents. On the Rose candle for Gaudete Sunday I had stenciled JOY across the bottom. So if you ever need advent candles you can always paint them. the only tip I would recommend is that you just sponge on the paint, it adheres better to the wax than painting with a brush.




If you'd like to share your advent wreath join this Advent Wreath Link up at Catholic Mom

O Antiphons Ornament Printable

I didn't get around to making an advent calendar or Jesse tree this year and we barley got our tree up...thank goodness there was one more little tradition to count down the days till our sweet Savior is born! Praying the O Antiphons. For a few years I've been wanting to make a set of ornaments to put on our Christmas tree.

Just incase this is the only page you land on I have updated this Ornament printable with each Antiphon written on the ornament in my newest blog post here.

If you use the printable please like and share so others can enjoy it too!

O Antiphons Ornament by abansmer

 I thought it would be neat to have a little basket of gold pinecones each with a tiny painted O Antiphon. The kids can place one on our tree and then we could say the prayers for the respective O Antiphon. If you are a little bewildered as to what I'm talking about or have never heard of this beautiful tradition the O Antiphons are an ancient tradition in the church in which we anticipate Our Lord's birth by bring to mind these particular seven Messianic titles for Christ: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and finnally O Emmanuel our long awaited King! Here is a great link that goes into further detail about the matter: What Are the O Antiphons?

Onward to the ornaments. I painted seven pinecones in a bright gold...you could spray paint, glitter, sponge, brush or apply gold to the pinecones however you like.

I then  painted seven little paintings of each O Antiphon and used a scrapbook software to put them in frames and make a layout so that I could print them, cut them out, and glue them onto my pinecones.

                                    

                                       

                                       

You could attach the printouts anyway you like this is just one of the many ways I was contemplating how to proceed with the project.

A Crucifix for The Holy Trinity

I wanted to reflect on the Trinity and omnipotence of God. In this crucifix is represented God the Father with " the hand of God" painted on medallion at the top of the cross, God the Son with the plaster cast corpus finished with a faux white marble technique, and God the Holy Spirit with a dove painted on bottom medallion. On the right side of the cross is painted the Alpha and on the left is painted the Omega because God Almighty is the beginning and end of everything.


                       

                          

A New Etsy Shop

I decided to make available for purchase some of the items that I blog about. My sister and I opened up an Esty shop named SaongJai. In Thai, the name for our shop means two hearts because this endeavor is something we have set out to do together and also we have dedicated it to the two Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

 

Ever since we were little we liked to do creative things together and we've always loved to bead and make jewelry. I also wanted to help my sister as she is not able to work a steady job due to illness. So making and selling rosaries, Catholic jewelry, & things, will hopefully be a way she can be supported.

We take custom orders for rosaries, jewelry, crucifixes, and other Catholic things. Our rosaries are heirloom quality, being hand made, beaded in the style of knotted pearl stringing. We will try to accommodate any material you'd like a custom rosary made from.

God bless and thanks for reading...

Beaded Rosaries

These beautiful rosaries are made with a variety of beads ranging from wood, glass and gemstones. Lots of time and love have gone into these unique one of a kind rosaries that are keepsakes and will add a little something special to you daily prayer life.

These Little pocket Rosaries are kind of neat. To keep track of the decades you just slip the ring onto a different finger!

Holy Water Bottles and Devotional Candles

Here are some more Holy water bottles and a neat idea for devotional candles. When the candles have been burned use the beautifully painted glass container as a vase for flowers by a holy picture or statue!