This coming Sunday the Christmas season will come to a close as we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of The Lord. In addition to attending Mass, I've been thinking about, and searching for, some ideas of things that we could do, here at home, to honor this feast.
Food: (I posted both of the following recipes over at Catholic Cuisine.)
In her cookbook A Continual Feast, author Evelyn Birge Vitz shares a recipe for making a special treat called Christ's Diapers (Diples). She tells us that, "Diples are "folds" in Greek. These cookies are sometimes shaped in bowknots or other fancy shapes, but for Christmas they are made in a shape suggestive of the swaddling clothes—or actually the diapers!—of the infant Jesus." Even though our Lord was grown when he was baptized by St. John the Baptist, the sacrament of baptism reminds us of infancy. In addition, this feast closes the Christmas season, making these a perfect treat to serve on this special feast.
Since the christian symbol for Baptism is the shell, we can easily tie this into our dinner plans by making a meal with pasta shells. One of my favorite recipes, using jumbo shells, is Nacho Stuffed Shells.I also plan to pull out some sea shells and our children's Baptismal candles, like Mary suggested last year, and light them during dinner. What a perfect time this will be to tell the children about the Baptism of Our Lord and their own special Baptismal days as well!
Update: These Scallop Shell Baptism Favors would also make a yummy treat for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Reading:
I chose a few books from our shelves about either the Baptism of our Lord, the Sacrament of Baptism, or our beliefs as Catholics.
- The Fish in the Fountain: A Story of Baptism
The Seven Sacramentsby Fr. Lovasik
- The Feasts of Jesus by Fr. Lovasik Pgs 12-13
- I Believe: The Nicene Creed
- I Believe - The Creed, Confession & Ten Commandments
Craft/Activity:
- A Little Craft for the Baptism of the Lord from By Sun and Candlelight
- This Candle Craft could also be adapted for the Baptism of the Lord.
- Various "Jesus is Baptized" Activities
- Sacrament of Baptism Coloring Page from Waltzing Matilda
- Baptism of Our Lord Coloring Page from Saint John the Baptism Religious Education
- Baptism of the Lord Coloring Page from Catholic Playground
- Seven Sacraments Stained Glass Window
- Baptismal Set for Children
Almighty, eternal God, when the Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, you revealed him as your own beloved Son. Keep us, your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful to our calling. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Wonderful suggestions, thanks Jessica.
ReplyDeleteHere's an OT comment...does anyone else find that it takes forever for the blog to load up? Or is it just me? Must be because Jessica has filled it with so much goodness! :)
I've been noticing this too, though I am not quite sure what it is that is causing it. Maybe I have too many things in my sidebars... I'll look into it, I'm sorry!
ReplyDeleteO! No need to apologize sweetie!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if it was just me?
Nothing could keep me from "visiting." :)
I'm glad you brought it up. It loads pretty quick on my own computer, but I was out at my parents the other night and it took FOREVER!! It was really frustrating. =) MY template is so modified, that it is now hard to change without starting over with something new, but I can start with removing a few things from the sidebars. It's hard for me to tell if it is making a difference though, from my own computer...
ReplyDeleteok -- I deleted a few things that I think may have been causing problems (recent comments, top commentators, etc...) hopefully this will help!
ReplyDeletePeople are going to hate me since you deleted things off your blog! But, you know what? It did seem a bit faster to load up!
ReplyDeletehello Jessica, it's Lucy once again. I understood your reply that Amazon sale was on 10- packs, that's great! I would love to order one of each, both books and coloring books. There are plenty of children in my family. Is there a list somewhere. Sorry to be pushy, but I'm being persistant because its a great deal!
ReplyDeleteJMJ ~ They will probably LOVE you for it! :)
ReplyDeleteJessica! That was quick. How do I find the books on sale? Is there a list somewhere?
ReplyDeleteHi Lucia, I answered this earlier at the other post, but I'll post my response here as well:
ReplyDelete"I don't think there is an actual "list" but I tried to create one in this post. Each of the book titles in my post is an actual link to the spot on Amazon where you can add it to your cart. There may be a few more that I didn't link to, but you will need to just look around Amazon for them -- I noticed others, but they were not selling for the low price.
You can also do a search at Amazon for Father Lovasik, or Catholic Coloring Books and see what comes up in the search results. That's how I found the ones I listed.
Pay attention to how many you have in your cart since every 4th one is Free and the price will be deducted when you check out. Also be sure to click the Super Saver Shipping Button to get the free shipping in the checkout process."
Jessica, just a little not to say THANKS
ReplyDelete