The Annunciation

Yesterday we had an amazing evening celebrating the Solemnity of the Annunciation as a family! I had to work most of the day so our celebration wasn't as elaborate as I had originally had planned.

To start the celebration, we created an Annunciation Candle:

We used a white pillar candle (symbolizing the purity of the Virgin Mary) and carved a spot in the middle of the candle large enough to hold a small picture of a baby (symbolizing Baby Jesus in Mary's womb). We then tied a piece of blue ribbon over the opening making it seem as if the baby was hidden, like a baby is hidden within its' mother's body until birth. The really fun thing about making this candle is that you can use it for any Marion Feast Day and on Christmas you can untie the ribbon displaying  Baby Jesus. I am really excited about using the candle throughout the year!

After displaying our beautiful candle on the table in preparation for dinner, the kids and I discussed what the Annunciation is about in the simplest way possible. I told them the Angel Gabriel asked Mary if she would be the mommy of Jesus and she said Yes! At that moment baby Jesus was inside Mary's tummy. I also explained that this is why every baby is special because the moment that they are in their mommy's tummies they are apart of a family and they are special and loved. My husband and I are going to be trying to conceive again soon so I think this is a special lesson for our two boys.

I made an Angel Food cake (Angel Gabriel) and frosted it with whipped topping (Mary's purity) and decorated it with blue sprinkles (Mary's mantle). The whole family loved it!
Did you know...In Sweden today is also known as "Waffle Day"? I was hoping to make blueberry waffles for breakfast but today was the first day back from Spring Break. We all had a hard time starting the day but somehow managed to get everyone to school/work on time. I will certainly make them next year, even if I have to make breakfast for dinner! :o)

There are a few other ideas I wanted to touch on for this feast that I wasn't able to complete fully since I was short on time but sound like too much fun not to mention...
I wanted to purchase some marigolds to plant but was only able to get a sunflower seed. I am waiting until this weekend to have the whole family help with this project and hopefully we will have some beautiful sunflowers in our front yard soon!
I would have liked to be able to color some Annunciation scenes or have the kids draw their own interpretation of the story.
Some other crafts I thought about were hand print angels or using butterfly paperclips to create angels.

If anyone has any suggestions for me to try next year please let me know!

Looking forward to the start of Holy Week and Easter

I hope you had a blessed day!