The Seven Sacraments for Children Coloring Pages

The Catholic faith is rich with prayers, devotions, traditions, sacramentals and many other elements that can be used to grow your relationship with God. The seven sacraments are pillars of the Catholic faith and mark extraordinary portions of our life. It is essential to treat these life-altering milestones as such, especially if we expect our children to understand the significance of each sacrament and it's meaning. My goal as a parent is to make sure I have immersed my children in as much of their Catholic faith as possible, in hopes that they will love it as much as I do.

"The Sacraments are the salvation of those who use them rightly, and the damnation of those who misuse them."
- St. Augustine 

How do we accomplish such a huge responsibility? First, we must make sure that we ourselves are well versed in the information that we are teaching to the younger generations. Do you know much about the sacraments?

Here are a few quick basics:

• There are seven sacraments; Baptism, Penance, Eucharist, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders.
• These seven sacraments are broken down into several different types; The Sacraments of Initiation, The Sacraments of Healing and the Sacraments of Service.
• The Sacraments of Initiation are Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation.
• The Sacraments of Healing are Penance and Anointing of the Sick.
• The Sacraments of Service are Marriage and Holy Orders. 

Although I said this was some "basic" information. How basic does this sound to children? Probably not very relatable and not very intriguing to young minds... yet.

Children retain more knowledge if they are able to play and create memories. Most of us were baptized as babies and the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist are given to us early in the elementary years. That is three out of six of the sacraments you are able to receive by the time you are 8/9 years old!

I state three out of six sacraments because you cannot receive Holy Orders and be married as well. There are exceptions, of course, but that is a little much to explain to children in this age group.

Illustrating the importance of these milestones can be difficult and hard to comprehend for young children if you are not able to portray these sacraments in an easy to comprehend state. I was contacted by my friend, Sherry, from Personal Creations about sharing some wonderful and captivating Sacrament Coloring Pages that can assist the teaching of the seven sacraments to children and make them more fun to learn!

Sherry has said...

"I hope these coloring pages give joy to families and teach children the milestones of Christian life. From baptism to marriage, these coloring pages are a delightful way to celebrate the many stages of a spiritual journey with God."

I was thrilled to be able to have a quick lesson with my boys on the Sacraments and share these coloring pages with them. I can honestly say that they both enjoyed it! I have a seven year old and a ten year old. They had requested I join in the coloring fun since we do have nights where we pull out all the art supplies and have "craft nights". 

My youngest son loves games! He had asked me if we could use these pictures to make a game. I told him, "Of course we can!" We created a Matching Sacrament Game by printing two of the coloring pages that summarized all of the sacraments and cutting them out. We now have a Liturgical Game that my son is very proud of because he did all the coloring and cutting and I have a game to play with him that will teach him about the sacraments. Definitely a Win, Win!

My older son is more of a perfectionist and insisted that he make the pages look as life like as possible. He had to use the perfect combination of crayons, markers and colored pencils to get each page looking like a masterpiece.

Having an activity that was intriguing to both my children was such a blessing. They are at those ages where it can be difficult to find something that reaches them at their own levels and yet keeps them on the same task. It turned into a nice family evening.

Advent is just a few short days away. What a great way to anticipate the Christ child's birth by learning more about the seven sacraments with your families. If you are interested in these beautiful Sacrament Coloring pages, please check out the link to Personal Creations here. These wonderful coloring pages will help establish a great love for the sacraments in your children and help explain some of the more difficult aspects of the sacraments in a child's way.

Menu Plan Monday: January 9- January 15

Today was a crazy day. We experienced Hurricane strength winds all day and it is still continuing as we speak. I had some plans to make some delicious Stuffed Shells for the Baptism of the Lord tonight but after my experience getting to and from work and the schools being shut down I believed it was safer to stay home. The boys celebrate their Baptism Anniversary on the 29th so we will just save that dinner for that evening. Please say a prayer to everyone affected by the crazy wind storm that hit us here in Colorado. 

On a higher note, we will be attending our first Hockey Game this Saturday! The boys don't even know yet! We have decided to do a family activity, whether it be a game night, watching a movie, going on a hike or something similar to make more family memories together. This is a bigger event than we will get most of the time but I am so excited!

Here is our Menu Plan for this Menu Plan Monday:

Monday: Baptism of the Lord

Leftover Epiphany Chicken A La King with Star of Bethlehem Biscuits

Tuesday:

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Wednesday:

Deli Sandwiches and Garden Salad

Thursday:

Chili

Friday:

Mexican Baked Spaghetti Squash

Saturday:

Eat Out as a Family

Sunday:

Leftover Dinner Buffet

I can't remember if I have shared my Hawaiian BBQ Chicken recipe before but it is loaded with fruits and veggies and a great quick and easy family meal that can be prepared in the crockpot!

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken:

2-3 Large Chicken Breast

1 Can Crushed or Cubed Pineapple.. your texture preference (Drained) 

1 Large Onion Diced

2 Cups Shredded Carrots

1 Bottle of Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into the Crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-6 hours. I like to serve this Chicken recipe on Kings Hawaiian Sweet Bread Rolls and top it with a dollop of coleslaw. 

Enjoy!

Sweet potato fries are an amazing side item to pair it with as well. You can also dump all these ingredients into a Gallon Ziplock bag for an easy Freezer to Crockpot meal. 

#WorthRevisit: Baptism Anniversary

This month is extra special for me because January 29th is the anniversary of my boys receiving the Sacrament of Baptism together. I wanted to share how we celebrated in the past and I would love to hear about your family traditions and other special ways to make this day amazing for my boys! 

It's also funny to see that in Florida we had two snow days ever and it just so happens to coincide with this anniversary. What makes this even funnier is we are in Colorado now and we are getting hit with a snow storm tonight! Crazy Coincidence? Here's my #WorthRevisit with Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb:

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary!

January 29th is Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary!

We of course had to celebrate! The day my kids were baptized was one of the happiest moments of my life.

I was disappointed it took so long to get Little Man this special Sacrament but its so nice that Little Man can remember his special day just like me. It became a blessing in disguise. Father John did an amazing job explaining what was happening during the baptism to Little Man. He asked him questions and told him he was old enough to respond. There is nothing sweeter than hearing your child's sweet little voice say "Yes, I believe God!"

The picture to the left is Father John lighting Little Man and Squishy's baptism candles for the first time. I keep their candles in the boxes until their special day comes around. I take them out and display them all day and we light them for the beginning of our dinner. The boys always want me to keep them lit but I would like the candles to last for a long time.

January 29th was the second snow day that we endured and as I'm sure you guessed, changed our celebration slightly. All the roads were closed because they were iced over and we do not have salt trucks around here to help out so we were all battling cabin fever. I would have loved to have bought some picture frames and pulled out some shells to glue to the outside of the frame to display pictures from the baptism. Instead we looked at pictures on Facebook. Thank God we were blessed with power during our winter storm so we were able to access the Internet and our family.



For dinner I made ricotta stuffed shells covered in a spinach mushroom alfredo sauce and covered with Italian cheese. I loved the symbolism with the shells. Their are small shells carved into the baptism candles too. I also had leftover spinach dip from a get together we had earlier in the week that needed to be eaten as well. It was delicious!! Everyone in our home loves the everything Italian loaf as a side too. For all the super special celebrations we have sparkling juice! Little Man and Squishy love drinking from their wine glasses  plastic flutes. They are so cute tapping their glasses together to "cheers"!



For dessert we made white cupcakes for the cleanness that is restored with the waters our of baptism and blue vanilla frosting to symbolize the water used to baptize us in God's name. We topped the cupcakes with blue sugar crystals because what is a celebration without sprinkles?!

Are there traditions to celebrate baptisms? I would love to hear your traditions or suggestions too!

#WorthRevisit: Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary

Sacraments are gifts from God. Baptism is a Sacrament of Initiation and both of my beautiful boys were able to receive their baptism the same day. Since then, Little Man has received his First Reconciliation and his First Communion. Goalie still has a few years to go before he can receive his next sacrament but he is always asking when it is his time. I felt that this was a great post to share because I have been so nostalgic lately and reminiscing on the milestones I have witnessed in my children's lives and all the things that I continuously pray for ever day. Maybe it's the change in weather? Maybe it's the longing I have for more children? Either way this was heavy on my heart and wanted to share it with you all. Check out what else is #WorthRevisit this week with Theology is a Verb and Reconciled to You.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary!

January 29th is Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary!

We of course had to celebrate! The day my kids were baptized was one of the happiest moments of my life.

I was disappointed it took so long to get Little Man this special Sacrament but its so nice that Little Man can remember his special day just like me. It became a blessing in disguise. Father John did an amazing job explaining what was happening during the baptism to Little Man. He asked him questions and told him he was old enough to respond. There is nothing sweeter than hearing your child's sweet little voice say "Yes, I believe God!"

The picture to the left is Father John lighting Little Man and Squishy's baptism candles for the first time. I keep their candles in the boxes until their special day comes around. I take them out and display them all day and we light them for the beginning of our dinner. The boys always want me to keep them lit but I would like the candles to last for a long time. 

January 29th was the second snow day that we endured and as I'm sure you guessed, changed our celebration slightly. All the roads were closed because they were iced over and we do not have salt trucks around here to help out so we were all battling cabin fever. I would have loved to have bought some picture frames and pulled out some shells to glue to the outside of the frame to display pictures from the baptism. Instead we looked at pictures on Facebook. Thank God we were blessed with power during our winter storm so we were able to access the Internet and our family. 

For dinner I made ricotta stuffed shells covered in a spinach mushroom alfredo sauce and covered with Italian cheese. I loved the symbolism with the shells. Their are small shells carved into the baptism candles too. I also had leftover spinach dip from a get together we had earlier in the week that needed to be eaten as well. It was delicious!! Everyone in our home loves the everything Italian loaf as a side too. For all the super special celebrations we have sparkling juice! Little Man and Squishy love drinking from their wine glasses  plastic flutes. They are so cute tapping their glasses together to "cheers"!



For dessert we made white cupcakes for the cleanness that is restored with the waters our of baptism and blue vanilla frosting to symbolize the water used to baptize us in God's name. We topped the cupcakes with blue sugar crystals because what is a celebration without sprinkles?!

Are there traditions to celebrate baptisms? I would love to hear your traditions or suggestions too! 

Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne

Saints Joachim and Anne were the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus Christ. Saint Anne's name means "grace." God blessed Saint Anne with many special graces, the most important being that she was the mother of Mary. Saint Anne is the patron of mothers, infertility and children. Because of Saint Anne's patronage to fertility, she is known as a patron of rain for the soil's fertility. In Italy it is said that "rain is Saint Anne's gift" and in Germany it is called "Saint Anne's Dowry." We have had tons of rain this past week during the afternoon, maybe we will be blessed with Saint Anne's Dowery today as well. Saint Joachim is the patron saint of fathers, grandfathers and grandparents. Grandparents should be shown some extra love on this day. Since we relocated out of state, my children will be sending letters and goodies to their grandparents today.

Saint Anne is my baptismal saint as well. It is custom for girls who are named for Saint Anne to wear red and green ribbons in their hair. Maybe I'll rock some cute red and green head pieces today. The day is still young. Thanks to this color combination I think of watermelon, strawberries, and fresh salads for food. I also think of beautiful red roses, lady bugs climbing on leaves and Christmastime. We are already celebrating Christmas in July this upcoming Sunday but today might have been a fun way to incorporate some cool Christmas cheer into the hot summer too.

For breakfast I decided to make a watermelon strawberry smoothie and I felt that it was appropriate for the boys to pick their meal for dinner because that's what their grandparents would do for them. Naturally they chose chicken nuggets and fries. We don't usually eat stuff like that and when we do it is probably once every couple of months. The boys are ecstatic about dinner to say the least! While the boys stuff their faces with nuggets and fries, my husband and I will be enjoying a fresh garden salad and maybe a french fry or two and attempting to stick to a healthier eating menu.

If you check out my previous post about the Feast of Saint Anne you will see it is customary to prepare some type of lobster or shell fish in Saint Anne's honor as well. In the past I have made lobster bisque and a watermelon cake, they were both delicious!

We are so blessed that we are close to the Shrine of Saint Anne. I discussed this shrine in the Ultimate Guide to Holy Places in Colorado. Today we will be unable to drive out to the shrine because Tuesdays are a busy day with behavioral therapy and other things. My little Goalie really has been struggling with controlling his emotions the past few weeks so days when we have behavioral therapy are usually emotionally draining for him. I will be planning a special trip to the shrine to have some quiet prayer time. I am also thinking I will print a couple coloring pages. I just came across this new Catholic coloring page site here too. What do you have planned today? Any fun activities or outings with the grandparents? I would love to hear all about it!

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for over two years and have not been blessed with another child yet. If you don't mind please pray the attached prayer with my special intention to conceive a child if it be God's will. I would greatly appreciate it! 

St Anne Prayer (To Obtain Some Special Favor) 

Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.

St. Anne, please, recommend to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.St. Anne cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. (Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.) 

Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. (Three times).

Here is a another prayer that can be said in honor of your Baptismal Saint as well. It has Saint Anne in the prayer because she is my Baptismal Saint but to make it personalized for you and your family, just replace "Saint Anne" with the name of your saint:

Saint Anne, at baptism, my parents gave me that name which was also yours. You are my companion and heavenly protector. You have borne this name honorably before God and men. May your example teach me to do the will of God, to be faithful to Christ, to go my way with the attitude and conduct of a committed Christian so that I may one day share with you the rewarding joy of having followed Christ faithfully. Amen

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us!

Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary!

January 29th is Little Man and Squishy's Baptism Anniversary!

We of course had to celebrate! The day my kids were baptized was one of the happiest moments of my life.

I was disappointed it took so long to get Little Man this special Sacrament but its so nice that Little Man can remember his special day just like me. It became a blessing in disguise. Father John did an amazing job explaining what was happening during the baptism to Little Man. He asked him questions and told him he was old enough to respond. There is nothing sweeter than hearing your child's sweet little voice say "Yes, I believe God!"

The picture to the left is Father John lighting Little Man and Squishy's baptism candles for the first time. I keep their candles in the boxes until their special day comes around. I take them out and display them all day and we light them for the beginning of our dinner. The boys always want me to keep them lit but I would like the candles to last for a long time.

January 29th was the second snow day that we endured and as I'm sure you guessed, changed our celebration slightly. All the roads were closed because they were iced over and we do not have salt trucks around here to help out so we were all battling cabin fever. I would have loved to have bought some picture frames and pulled out some shells to glue to the outside of the frame to display pictures from the baptism. Instead we looked at pictures on Facebook. Thank God we were blessed with power during our winter storm so we were able to access the Internet and our family.



For dinner I made ricotta stuffed shells covered in a spinach mushroom alfredo sauce and covered with Italian cheese. I loved the symbolism with the shells. Their are small shells carved into the baptism candles too. I also had leftover spinach dip from a get together we had earlier in the week that needed to be eaten as well. It was delicious!! Everyone in our home loves the everything Italian loaf as a side too. For all the super special celebrations we have sparkling juice! Little Man and Squishy love drinking from their wine glasses  plastic flutes. They are so cute tapping their glasses together to "cheers"!



For dessert we made white cupcakes for the cleanness that is restored with the waters our of baptism and blue vanilla frosting to symbolize the water used to baptize us in God's name. We topped the cupcakes with blue sugar crystals because what is a celebration without sprinkles?!

Are there traditions to celebrate baptisms? I would love to hear your traditions or suggestions too!