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J1ST 092: Is Halloween Evil?

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Hi There!

We’re getting seasonal today and tackling Halloween… If you’re like us, you probably remember the annual struggle to narrow down your costume ideas to a single CHOICE and then the excitement of running door to door to get candy (FOR FREE) from strangers.

Halloween was quite different as we went on college and post-graduation life. Halloween seemed like nothing more than an invitation to dress immodestly and drink to excess, so no thank you, Halloween, we’ll just move on to All Soul’s Day.

Through Katie’s husband’s obsession with the history of All. The. Things, however, we’ve learned that Halloween does have some deep roots in Catholicism, even if the ‘seeds’ had been pagan. As Catholics, when we evangelize, there should always an effort to respect the traditions and culture of the people we are preaching to. We should not seek to eradicate all former ways of life, but seek to find ways to ‘baptize’ some traditions and tie them into our beautiful Liturgical cycle.

For example…. according to pious tradition, St. Boniface was working hard to spread the Good News to the people of Germany, but there was the issue of this huge tree they worshiped. St. Boniface knew a tree doesn’t have any supernatural power; only the Creator of that tree did. And so to drive home the point, he chopped it down. Yet, he allowed the people to continue on with the tradition of bringing smaller trees into their home in the middle of winter and those trees became a reminder of The Tree of our Salvation, the Cross. Christmas trees are a ‘baptized tradition’ from pagans.

Another example of this is the harvest festival of Samhain (Gaelic word pronounced ‘sewing’). On October 31st, the Gaelic people would have a celebration to mark the changing of the seasons and the beginning of the ‘darker half’ of the year. These celebrations involved bonfires, costumes, prayers (to false gods), and feasting. When saints like Patrick and Columba came to the island, they took the fact that Samhain occurred on the eve of All Saints’ Day and gradually turned Samhain into All Hallow’s Eve. Catholics like to party, so the costumes and feasting could remain, but the praying to false gods was left behind. So, Halloween is actually the first day of the triduum our Church celebrates each fall.

Beautifully, these three days connect the three parts of our Church: Militant, Triumphant, and Suffering. In some of the earlier celebrations of “All Hallow’s Eve” children would dress up as angels and demons and ‘battle’ each other, reminding us of our daily battle to choose good over evil. We are the Church Militant. On All Saints’ Day, we remember those who have been victorious in this earthly life, those who now enjoy the heavenly banquet, and can intercede for us: the Church Triumphant. And finally, on the last day of the triduum, we pray for the Church Suffering, those in purgatory who require our prayers to get to Heaven.

We hope you enjoy today’s episode as much as we enjoyed recording!

Your sisters in the small things,

Nancy and Katie

J1ST 091: The Little Flower

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

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Hi Friends!

Happy Feast Day of Fatima (if you’re checking this out Sunday evening). October 13th, 1917 is “The Day the Sun Danced.” It’s a great day to pray the rosary!

Speaking of roses…. It’s October and we’d be remiss if we didn’t share about one of our favorite saints, St. Therese of Lisieux, The Little Flower. Before St. Therese died, she declared “I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens, I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.” Since then, many Catholics have asked St. Therese’s intercession and have received roses, both literal and figurative at times, as their answer.

St. Therese was the youngest living daughter born to St. Zelie and St. Louis in 1873. From a very young age, she knew God wanted her to be a Carmelite Nun. She faced years of waiting despite going to visit the bishop and even the pope himself to ask permission to enter the convent. Finally, at the age of 15, she was allowed to enter the cloistered community.

She lived a very quiet, somewhat uneventful life in the convent. She was sick frequently and often fell asleep during prayer. In fact, after she died, her sisters were at a loss as to what they should write in her obituary. But, if you read her autobiography, written under obedience to her superiors, you get a glimpse into the holy simplicity and smallness with which St. Therese lived her life.

Today on the podcast, we have a guest, Nancy’s sister-in-law, Bobbi Verly. Bobbi grew up with a love of St. Therese that blossomed into a deep devotion. Through her prayers, Bobbi’s vocation was revealed in jarring detail from a relatively young age. Though it took years to come to fruition, Bobbi peacefully waited to see God’s plan come to life. It’s truly an amazing story you’ll want to hear!

Nancy and Katie both have some St. Therese “Rose Stories” to share as well. It’s funny how someone so small and ‘weak’ in the eyes of the world has touched the lives of so many from Heaven. As it says in First Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

We hope you love our Little Flower Stories. If you have received a rose from St. Therese, please reach out here, via e-mail, or on Facebook to share your story!!

Your Sisters in the Small Things,

Nancy and Katie

Mentioned in this episode:

The Story of a Soul (St. Therese’s Autobiography)

The Way of Trust and Love by Fr. Jacques Philippe

J1ST 039 Self Care Amid Suffering

by Nancy Bandzuch · 2 Comments

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Hey friends-

Today’s podcast episode is a bit of a personal one, so if you are sick of hearing me share about the baby I lost last fall, you might want to skip this episode.

You see, although we have been infinitely blessed by and through the still-birth loss of our little Maximilian on Thanksgiving Day of last year, we are approaching his due date, and suddenly the pain is very real once more. Although I have weeks and months to get my mind around the idea that he won’t be joining our family here on Earth, it is still hard to really understand just how different this spring will be from the spring I had imagined while I was pregnant.

Max was due on April 11th.

So, due to my own pain and continuing hurt, I have started to reflect on the fact that we really do need to take care of ourselves while suffering.

Maybe this is pretty obvious to you, but it wasn’t to me. I 100% believe in the value of suffering. I don’t like to suffer, but I see how redemptive and purifying it can be. So, the idea that I might need to protect myself while suffering, that was an idea that Laura from Mothering Spirit had to really pound into my head, and thank goodness she did.

The core experience that got me thinking about self-care amid suffering is my wonderful Thursday morning Bible Study.

The study, the women, the parish, the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program opposite it… they are all so great and I love that Bible Study. It’s just that there are SO MANY pregnant ladies there. After much pain and reflection, I decided that I just couldn’t be there this Spring, as I longed from my own baby, already in Heaven.

But, my kind of suffering is not the only kind of suffering that demands self-care. Just basic mothering is a form of suffering that demands self-care, which, if you are anything like me, you are terrible at.

This episode is a lot of food for thought.

And, if you have an extra prayer or two, I would appreciate them this Spring as we mourn our little Max.

In Christ,

J1ST 027: Rethinking Prayer

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

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I suspect that it is a nearly UNIVERSAL problem faced by new mothers: when do I find time to pray? Many of us had pretty good prayer lives before that first baby arrived. We had a routine and a set time that we prayed. Perhaps we had adoration hours or a nightly routine that involved prayer. And, if you are like me, you had no idea that having a baby would change everything, including prayer.

But then the baby arrived and somewhere amid learning to breastfeed and sleep loss and becoming a mother our prayer life died.

This is pretty much exactly what happened to me. In fact, it has taken me YEARS to figure out that as a mother prayer will just be different. Sure, I would love to enjoy hours of quiet, solitary prayer, but that just isn’t going to happen now. Maybe at some point in the future, maybe from time to time, but not reliably now.

Because of this all I am THRILLED to share the wisdom of Lauren Nelson on the podcast. Lauren is the Momma behind GATHERING MANNA, a new site for Catholic women struggling to pray amid the demands of life and motherhood. And Lauren’s answer to this struggle is rather simple.

WE NEED TO RETHINK PRAYER.

Prayer does not have to be something that fits into a specific pocket of time. Prayer does not have to be an entire rosary or full hour of scriptural meditation. Sure, those things are awesome, but they are not the only way to pray. And, most importantly, prayer will never be something we “master” or something we graduate from. The more we pray the more we will want to pray and the closer we get to God, the more we will want to be with Him and share with Him.

Prayer can simply be the rhythm of our lives. And, prayer is, at it’s core, little more than a returning to the Lord, a glance, a thought, a look toward heaven. An acknowledgement that He is gazing lovingly at us at all time.

So, go listen in. Her wisdom will change with way you think about prayer.

And, make sure to connect with Lauren over on her new site, Gathering Manna (launching the end of January). Until then, go join the conversation on her Facebook page.

A BIG thanks to Lauren–and thanks to all of you wonderful ladies!

Links included in this episode:

Gathering Manna: http://www.gatheringmanna.com/
Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence: http://amzn.to/2CvyZN2 (aff)
The KEY to having a prayer life as an at-home parent: https://www.catholicsprouts.com/2017/07/key-to-prayer-at-home-parent.html

Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary: Free Coloring Book

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

Today I’m thrilled to be sharing another one of my Uncle Dan’s hand-drawn creations: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary Coloring Pages. Just like the Pop-Up Baby Jesus Activity I shared from him before Christmas, he is allowing me to share this meaningful coloring book with you totally free. Just download, print, color and (hopefully) pray!

You can find the materials for this project, and MANY other Catholic projects in the Catholic Family Digital Resource Library. To get instant access, and join a thriving community of over 10,000 Catholic Parents, just enter your in your email address.

The PDF is set up to print out the coloring pages as a booklet. If printed on 8.5″x11″ paper you will have a 1/2 sheet sized book. For a full paged size book, print on larger paper.

Here is a peak at all of the pages in the book, one for each decade of the Rosary. In the images below the pages are colored in. The free download has the pages blank and ready to be colored.

Not only did my Uncle Dan draw such wonderful, meaningful images, but he also took the time to include the virtue paired with each decade. The kids and I worked on coloring up a booklet yesterday and the simple inclusion of these virtue brought about all sorts of productive and virtue-building conversation.

Once again, you can find the materials for this project, and MANY other Catholic projects in the Catholic Family Digital Resource Library. To get instant access, and join a thriving community of over 10,000 Catholic Parents, just enter your in your email address.

If you are looking for more wonderful ways to get your kids excited about the rosary, check out these ideas:

Rosary Quiet Book. Find the pattern and directions for making these meaningful felt quiet books HERE.

Printable Rosary Quiet Book. Get the PDF download and full instructions HERE.

Patron Saint Rosary Case. Pattern and Directions HERE.

Once again, a big thank you to my Uncle Dan for sharing his talent with all of us. If you do decide to download and use this free coloring book the only “payment” I ask is that you share with post with others so that they too might benefit from it as well.

Thanks, as always, for being here! And God Bless.