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Stations of the Cross Story Book

Stations of the Cross Story Book from Catholic Sprouts

The Way of the Cross is a beautiful devotion, especially when done during Holy Week. Jesus Himself has asked His followers to come and be with Him, even today, as He walks to Calvary to make the ultimate sacrifice. At a time when most of His followers had abandoned Him, we have an opportunity to be near Him and to see all that He did for us.

The stations of the cross hang on the walls of nearly every church, they are that important! The times that Jesus fell, the people that offered a tiny bit of help, the love of His mother, the cruelty of those that crucified Him–we should never be too far from any of these things. Especially during Lent.

There are many (MANY!) versions of the Stations of the Cross out there. Lots of them are well done and beautiful. Lots of them offer profound thoughts and challenges for people of all ages and experiences. Some of them even engage the hearts of children in a powerful way.

What I desired to have for my own children, however, was a book that told the STORY of the Way of the Cross. A book that my children could pick up and read all on their own, a book that we could use formally as we pray the stations of the cross, but a book that could also be read before bedtime like other story books.

I also desired to give my children big, engaging pictures of what Jesus endured out of love on that first Good Friday. Pictures that showed the truth of Jesus’s suffering, but in a way that is appropriate for a child.

So we got to work with an artist and we created it.

The Stations of the Cross book we came up with is simple and beautiful. The focus is Jesus and we pray that as children read this book they enter into that moment with Jesus. They see Him suffering, yet they refuse to look away.

Sometimes the stations of the cross can seem formal and not for children. Jesus, of course, reminds us to ‘let the children come’ to Him. They understand more about suffering than you know. Allow them to walk with Jesus and comfort His Sacred Heart.

It is our hope that this simple, beautiful book can help Catholic Children understand better the great gift Jesus gave them, and continues to give them.

The Station of the Cross book from Catholic Sprouts is available now.

Grab one copy for $11.

We are also happy to over bulk purchasing options for parishes and schools. For more details, email us direction ([email protected])

Thank you for your ongoing support!

J1ST 095: Relics Part Two

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

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** Before we jump into this week’s episode, we want to let you know that we’ll be doing a book study this upcoming Advent!!! The book is Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacques Philippe. Have you read anything by Fr. Philippe yet? He is AMAZING. Such a gentle, yet wise voice… our hope is this study will help us all stay centered this Advent on what (or WHO!) truly matters. You can snag a copy here. First episode/discussion will be on December 1st!! **

And we’re back with Part 2 of our Mini Series on Relics!! We thought it might be good to distinguish between veneration and worship. Besides the fact that relics are pieces of dead people or things that have touched dead people, those unfamiliar with the practice might also take offense at the idea of us giving “worship” to something/someone other than God. But the fact is, we *don’t* Worship relics. We venerate them. In the words of one of our Church Fathers, St. Jerome,

“We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are.”

So if you have friends thinking you’re weird for worshiping pieces of dead people, you’ve got your reply right there. It ISN’T worship. Holding, gazing, praying with (not TO) relics can help us feel a stronger connection to the holy people we are asking to pray for us. Relics are a powerful reminder that the Saints are Real People who had Real Bodies. Also: the fact that there are no first class relics of Christ or Our Lady strengthens our belief in the Ascension and the Assumption. Where are their bodies? Not on Earth!

Anyways, this week on the podcast, we’re diving into specific relic stories. Namely the Holy Stairs, the Crown of Thorns, and the Shroud of Turin.

The Holy Stairs were brought to Rome by St. Helena. They are the stairs that Christ ascended to appear before Pilate.

The Crown of Thorns were in the news earlier this year when a fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It, along with many other relics and the Eucharist were saved from the blaze.

The Shroud of Turin is arguably the most fascinating relic of our Faith. It is the cloth in which Christ was covered and buried in and a ‘negative image’ of His face was left. Studies of the shroud have shown us just how much Christ suffered on Good Friday before dying on the Cross.

Have you visited any of these ‘extreme relics?’ Tell us about it in the comments!

Your sisters in the small things,

Nancy and Katie

J1ST 092: Is Halloween Evil?

by Nancy Bandzuch · Leave a Comment

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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,