Michaelmas

Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (also the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels), is a day in the Western Christian liturgical year that occurs on 29 September.

This year, we Lowmans celebrated the feast of Michaelmas. I can take no credit, however, as Carter arranged it all! (Praise God!)

My birthday is just a few days before Michaelmas and on my birthday Carter surprised me with a note saying that we would be going on a mini retreat on the the Saturday of Michaelmas Embertide at Mount Saint Michael Benedictine Monastery!  It was a much needed time away. My in-laws graciously took Felicity for the night and we drove a whole 5 minutes to the middle of nowhere (aka: the outskirts of Elkhorn).  We prayed Vespers with monks, walked the gorgeous monastic grounds and gardens, and played cards and relaxed and read in the ever so charming Saint Raphael Retreat House.  I read the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, while Carter read The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce.

Here are some pictures from our lovely time:

Our anniversary falls on the Eve of Michaelmas, so Carter cooked me a delightful feast complete with traditional Michaelmas foods -- carrots and blackberries! (He apparently called the grocery store for a goose, but decided against it as it was too large for two!) He also gave me Michaelmas Daisies in a galvanized watering can (which had been on my wish list for a while!)

Delicious Whiskey-Glazed Carrots!

Blackberry Brandy Sauce over ice cream!

A very happy me!

Carter is very intense about pouring that sauce...

Michaelmas Daisies!

St. Michael and all the Archangels, pray for us!

Our Little Way to France

Carter and I have an ardent desire to go on {European} pilgrimages.  Since this dream is not plausible at this moment in our lives, we had the idea to have our own pilgrimage at home. Our destination? France, of course!

At dawn we began our pilgrimage Office of Readings commemorating the life of St. Norbert.

 {A French Bishop }

Surely, one cannot have a pilgrimage without walking, so we took a glorious botany hike to soak in God's creation and work up an appetite for coffee and crepes! Sadly, we did not find the red poppy or the yellow flag iris of the French landscape, however, we did spot a deer!

  

The next part of our pilgrimage was focused on prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.  We attended St. Vincent de Paul Parish {named for the French saint and featuring French architecture} for morning Mass, where we gave alms, and then attended Adoration.  

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Omaha

Felicity with the Child Jesus

Upon heading home, we read up on some of the many of French saints from the Lives of the Saints, including : St. Vincent de Paul, St. Joan of Arc, St. Bernard of Clairveux, St. Martin de Tours.

The bulk of our day was devoted to reading St. Therese of Lisieux's Story of a Soul. Carter and I took turns reading aloud while we fasted from lunch. We got about 100 pages into it, but I have since finished it in my spare time. I have so many thoughts on this wonderful book, but I'll just say that it was stunning and I feel like I have made a true friend of my Confirmation saint!

The Queen of France holding her court!

After some prayer and silent time, we made our French feast! This is the recipe we made; it's from the region of France where St. Therese lived.  Although, we made it with normal sausage, not blood sausage (ewww) like the recipe calls for.  It was delicious and fun to cook as a couple! We renamed the dish Pom Pom de Terre {Apple-Potato; literally "Apple-Apple of the Ground"}! And we feasted with some vin of course!

After one more visit to St. Vincent de Paul for confession, we discussed and reflected on The Little Flower's work over wine and brie and chocolate.

We then had some fun watching Les Miserables and reading Felicity a fairytale or two by the French writer, Charles Perrault. The night ended with Compline...or so we thought, until we looked outside and saw fireworks!!!!!

It was a much needed day away from the world, which is just what our little family needed! We are hoping to be "pilgrims" in another country soon! 

Easter

This Easter was Felicity's first, and we were so excited to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord as a family! I had so much fun putting together a little Easter basket for her!  She received play silks (which I dyed) for her enjoyment, hair bows for her ever growing mane, and socks for her feet (also ever growing)!

Play silks! (Excuse the wrinkles...)

 

Easter basket...Butterfly (a symbol of the Resurrection) & Anchor (Christian symbol of hope) socks!

A happy girl on Easter morn!

We went to the Vigil Mass in order to wake up bright and early for our annual Easter morning picnic.  We did, however, break into the picnic basket a little early, for a post Vigil snack of scones and mimosas!

This Easter picnic was especially exciting because it was on a boat! We went to Chalco Lake and feasted upon white chocolate raspberry scones, cherries, and breakfast sandwiches.  The morning was very still and calm, and altogether quite lovely. Felicity, who already has an affinity for the outdoors, seemed to enjoy herself immensely!

We were very cautious and stayed close to the shore.

Later we got together with the entire Lowman clan for another picnic at a different lake, complete with an Easter egg hunt, Easter baskets galore from Grandma, and of course good food and company!

With Grandma!

Cousin fun!

The feistiest girl!

Happy Easter from the Lowmans!!!!

Gifts of Guinness

In college, Carter practiced a friendly "prank" (as he so calls it) on the eve of St. Patrick's day.  This little tradition of leaving a Guinness on strangers' front steps has seeped its way into our marriage, and I'm so glad it did!

This year we made a whole fun night of it!

After reading St. Patrick's Confessions, (a very beautiful work and a quick read) we chose this quote to accompany the beer:

This is how we can repay such blessings, when our lives change and we come to know God, to praise and bear witness to His great wonders before every nation under Heaven.  ~ St. Patrick

Husband's hands. 

Finished product!

Before embarking on our mission we prayed the Office of Readings for St. Patrick's Feast and blessed the beer (!!!) with this blessing!  Our favorite line was "Bless..this creature beer"! 

Carter and I dressed in all black with green sashes and Felicity, the reverse! 

We got all ten beers delivered without getting caught...hopefully it was a nice surprise for those who received them!

Wee little lass. 

St. Patrick, pray for us!

Felicity's First Feast Day

As parents, our greatest hope for our children is that they become great saints!  We named Felicity after the early Church martyr, St. Felicity of Carthage. We pray that she might look up to and stay close to her namesake her whole life.  March 7th was the feast of Saints Felicity and Perpetua, so naturally, we had to celebrate.

In the weeks prior to this special day, I had thought it'd be nice to give Felicity a holy card of her patron.  Little did I know how hard this task would be. I searched Catholic bookstores, scoured the internet, but alas, my efforts fell short! So Carter and I undertook the task of making our own (and now it is family tradition, and no matter how "common" our other children's names are, we must do this on every first feast day!).  Carter was to write the prayer, and I was to find the image and assemble the card.

Carter based the prayer off of the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, a fascinating primary text, in which Perpetua gives a first hand account of their martyrdom. (I actually had to read this in college for a women in classical studies class -- see, public education isn't all that bad!)  Since I am challenged when it comes to computers, it took me longer than I'm willing to admit to assemble the holy card. But it turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself!

The prayer is more than lovely! We can't wait to teach it to our little girl.  As for now, we will just pray it on her behalf: 

St. Felicity –O happy martyr! 

Twice blessed with baptismal grace, 

Offer praises with heavenly psalter 

To the Holy Spirit, Son, and Father, 

And kisses of perpetual peace.

And in the garden of humility

Pray God grants thy spiritual daughter, 

If I suffer for His divinity, 

The fortitude in femininity 

To meet thee at the sacred altar. 

Some small gifts, including animal crackers since St. Felicity was killed by a wild beast!

#catholichumor

Roles reversed, as a Felicity devours the wild beast!

St. Felicity, pray for us!!!