Three Ways To Nurture Your Catholic Faith in Your Children

In this day and age of technology and instant access, there is much to compete with in our children's lives. It can be more than difficult to connect and create strong enough bonds to our faith and family without added distractions. I truly believe that knowledge is power and understanding your obstacles is the best way to create a plan to succeed in any endeavor.

The endeavor that is most important to me right now is helping to cultivate a love for God, family and the Catholic Church in my children. This has been a topic of interest for me for quite awhile actually. I am a cradle Catholic. Born and raised to go to Confession on Saturday afternoon, attend Mass on Sunday mornings and participate in Catechism classes and Youth groups as needed. That was the recipe to create a love for my Catholic faith. I am not knocking this recipe because obviously something went right. I am now thirty years old, still Catholic and attempting to nourish a faith in my own children and family. I am here to share what I have learned through many trials, more errors and things that I still do today.

Find a Parish to call Home

This is probably one of the most important things you can do to establish a real relationship with your children and their faith. A Parish is not just the church you attend on Sundays or other Holy days of Obligation. A Parish is a second family. They will be present for some of the biggest milestones and memories of your family! Baptisms, First Communion, First Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage and even funerals. They will be there when you need help, whether prayers or other types of assistance.

Create relationships with the people sitting with you in the pews and go say hello to your priest. My children have always been enamored by the priests of our parish. They love to give hugs, high-fives and always smile when they see people from our parish around town. My oldest son's teacher is even in attendance at our parish!

Another important aspect of being in a Parish is participation. Sign up to attend bible studies and other Parish hosted events as a family. Allow your children to make friends with kids at Religious Education and youth groups. Embrace what your Parish can offer your family but remember that it is also important to volunteer and give back as well. 

Decorate Your Catholic Home 

As a child, I remember the beautiful gold display that had the Ten Commandments engraved above my dining room table. The nostalgia of childhood rings so strong when you become an adult. Bring your faith into your home and allow it to have a place in your everyday life, not just Sunday worship.

The Liturgical season is full of distinct colors, sounds and beautiful scenes that can be displayed in your home. Add Holy Water Fonts, Crucifixes and display portraits of Our Lady and the Holy Family. I have incorporated a Home Altar that we update with the Liturgical colors, special Saints of the season, candles and rosaries.

The more these special reminders of our Catholic faith become apart of your families everyday life, the harder it will be for your children to go out into the world without them. These additions to your home can also be passed along to your family as they grow. There was a gorgeous statue of Mother Mary that was my Grandmother Mary's that my dad gave to me when I had children. It was something that I was able to bring with me from my childhood and I hope to pass along to my children one day as well.

Create Happy Memories and Traditions

This suggestion is probably the most important. Creating memories that are warm, happy and include our faith will be what our children think about in times of turmoil. The Liturgical year makes this super easy! Celebrate anniversaries of your children's Sacraments and Saint's feast days. Make new traditions with baking special dinners or desserts on certain days. There are several Liturgical seasons to embrace and each month is dedicated to a special devotion too. I include those days on our family calendar so everyone can see it. My children have started to remind me about certain activities or movies we are suppose to watch on certain feast days now! We incorporate special blessings and prayers. Create candles, crafts and so much more. Make the Catholic faith come to life.

If you need some ideas for ways to incorporate faith into your everyday activities, check out some of my ideas under the Liturgical Celebrations tab. Let your creativity free! You will be creating memories for yourself and your children! The positive association between happiness, love and faith will be something that your family can tangibly look back on as they grow older and venture into the world. My favorite thing about my faith is that we Catholics know how to celebrate! We do have many traditional ways you can incorporate but do not let that interfere with trying out some new family traditions that will be passed on to your children's children.

Interested in more ideas to keep your children Catholic? Checkout this month's CWBN Blog Hop with several articles written on this very intriguing and important topic. Several of my friend's from Everyday Ediths are contributing to this Blog Hop as well.

Visiting the Relics of Saint Padre Pio

A pilgrimage is a journey to a place associated with someone or something well known respected. So I guess you could say I was blessed to have the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver to see the Relics of Saint Padre Pio this past May.

I was more excited than words can express to go out to this Basilica because last year I created the Ultimate Guide to Holy Places in Colorado and this particular location made the list! It has been on my Bucket list ever since! Let me tell you that I was not disappointed! The Basilica was absolutely gorgeous and being blessed to be in the presence of Saint Padre Pio's relics was amazing.

In case you weren't aware, a relic is a part of a deceased holy person's body or belongings kept as an object of reverence.There are several different relics that are available to visit in Italy of Saint Padre Pio. His blood, glove and hair were on display when I went to visit at the Basilica. You can see more up close pictures below:

The glove, blood and hair of Padre Pio are encased to protect them while on display to the public. First class relics are the body or remnants of the body of a saint, such as blood, bone or flesh. Second class relics are something that a saint personally owned, like Padre Pio's glove. Third class relics are those items that a saint touched or that have been touched to a first, second, or another third class relic of a saint. Something VERY important to remember in regard to third class relics is that the touch does not have to be a direct touch to the relic itself.  Merely touching the container that holds the relic is sufficient to bring about that transformation and effect a new relic.

“Moses took Joseph’s bones with him; because he had adjured the children of Israel, saying: God shall visit you if you carry my bones from hence with you.”
Exodus 13:19

If you don't know much about Padre Pio, I highly suggest doing some reading about him. He is an inspiration to many. Padre Pio was born in Italy in 1887. He was one of eight children and had visions of angels and demons as early as five years old! He grew up and became a priest that was sought out due to his healing prayers and loving heart. There are many stories that are shared about this wonderful man regarding the devil, bi-location, stigmata, levitation and much more.

During my pilgrimage, I attended Mass and was truly touched by the reverence that was shown to both the Eucharist and the relics. During Communion I witnessed a man get on his knees and bow before the Eucharist. He then received the Eucharist while still on his knees. 

It was beyond soul-gripping. 

I think this image will be one that I will never forget. The love and respect shown by this man to Our Lord touched me in such a way that I nearly cried. It lit a fire in me to do a better job of showing reverence while I am in Mass and in the presence of the Eucharist. 

People also waited in a line that stretched around the Basilica to stand before the Relics of Saint Padre Pio. The awe and wonder that filled the air was magical. 

I won this beautiful rosary during a giveaway hosted by my friend, Mrs. Andy, who writes over at Anchored by Faith and with me at Everyday Ediths. I brought this rosary with me and pressed it against the relics. Although there was glass between the relics and this rosary I know that there was a special blessing that was transferred and I will forever have this as a way to remember my pilgrimage and the special experience of being in the presence of Saint Padre Pio's relics. I created a third class relic. There were many visitors that did this same thing with crucifixes, rosaries and other religious emblems.

The Relics were being moved across the United States over the next few months. Have you had the pleasure of checking out these relics? Or the relics of another saint? If so, I would love to hear all about it! Interested in more information about Padre Pio? Check out Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.