Celebrating the Feast of Saint Patrick

After Sunday morning Mass on March 17th, the feast of St. Patrick, we headed back home to make our annual Shamrock Cinnamon Rolls for with Sunday brunch, then get started on our Irish Beef and Guinness Stew and Irish Soda Bread. ☘️

I hadn't done much to prepare, other than order each of the kids and our priests St. Patrick's Day Potatoes and grocery shop the day before.  It is so nice to have a house full of helpful teens who want to pick up my slack when it comes to some of their favorite family traditions/patron saint feast days, since I haven't been feeling very well or had much energy this pregnancy.

 

We all made sure to wear green and our oldest son had his underneath his Mass shirt. One of my brothers-in-law (Fr. J Gordon) sent Sean and I each a "Can't Keep Calm I'm Irish" t-shirt, but my pregnant tummy isn't fitting into t-shirts very well these days so I let our oldest son have mine.

The Rhymed Life of St. Patrick • St. Patrick from Naturally Catholic

While the girls shaped and baked the Shamrock Cinnamon Rolls (also pictured here and here) and decorated Chocolate Coins with images of St. Patrick, I read some of The Rhymed Life of St. Patrick from our March Book Basket/Cart to the little ones. ☘

Sean made another amazing Paleo Spinach and Bacon Frittata to go along with the Shamrock Cinnamon Rolls.

The boys hung a couple flags from the second floor interior balcony, turned on some Irish music, and volunteered to make this year's Irish Beef and Guinness Stew and Traditional Irish Soda Bread. I wasn't able to make it for St. Patrick's Day last year (since I spent that weekend at the hospital with my brother's family - Happy birthday up in heaven to sweet little Millie!) so the boys ended up teaching themselves to make those particular recipes last spring while the rest of us were in Arizona visiting my mother-in-law. They're becoming quite efficient in the kitchen!

 

 

It all turned out beautifully and delicious!
(Ora et Labora Apron can be found over at Catholic Cuisine)

St. Patrick T-Shirt from Totally Catholic Tees • March Picture Books

Reading the sermon for the day from our copy of the Sermons of the Cure of Ars
which was recently touched to the Reliquary containing The Heart of a Priest

☘️ St. Patrick, pray for us! ☘️

Paint by Number :: Spring Birds

Spring Birds Series - Bird V 

Karribi Paint by Number Kit for Adults and Children 

Mary Undoer of Knots T-Shirt from Catholic T-Shirt Club

Get a free $10 credit for Catholic T-Shirt Club when you buy any subscription. 

Use coupon: REFSNYRV9UFS3

This beautiful paint by number was a gift from Grandma Murphy last year for her, at her bird themed 13th birthday party, and she finally had a chance to pull it out and paint! I think I'll have to order her one or two more from the series for her 14th birthday next month.

Happy First Day of Spring! 

St. Patrick's Day Parade

When our girls were little they had the opportunity to take nine Irish Dance lessons one spring leading up to our parish's St. Patrick's Day Celebration. The girls have always wished to continue learning to Irish Dance, but there just weren't any options near our old home. When we moved to Idaho last fall they were so excited to be able to join the classes here which are taught by a fellow parishioner out of her home. This weekend they got to dance their way through downtown Coeur d'Alene in this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade! Meanwhile the rest of our family enjoyed watching the parade with friends. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

The Heart of a Priest

We ventured downtown to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes to venerate the incorrupt heart of St. Jean Vianney!

"On the Way of the Cross, you see, my children, only the first step is painful. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. . . We have not the courage to carry our cross, and we are very much mistaken; for, whatever we do, the cross holds us tight – we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses, and make use of them to take us to heaven?” 

- St. Jean-Marie Vianney

Touching her scapular to the reliquary containing the incorrupt heart of St. Jean Vianney ♥

"My little children, your hearts, are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun."

- St. Jean-Marie Vianney

My husband also brought along one of our family's favorite books to touch to the reliquary too:
Sermons of the Cure of Ars ♥  (We have a beautiful hardcover edition from Neumann Press that is out of print)
My husband often reads his sermons aloud at dinner time.
You can find the links to a couple sermons in this post from 2007.

"My God, I give you my heart, and since You are so good as to give me another day, give me the grace that everything I do will be for Your honour and for the salvation of my soul."

- St. Jean-Marie Vianney

"I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally... My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath."

- St. Jean-Marie Vianney

You can view the full schedule for the Saint Jean Vianney Relic Pilgrimage here.