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.

Quiet Faith: Reconciliation

It's the start of a new year. A new year means all things are new, bright and clean. Reconciliation is like the start of a new year and is an act of quiet faith. To be completely honest, the quiet faith required for Reconciliation is terrifying to me. I am so grateful for this wonderful Sacrament but I am overwhelmed with the immensity of the act of complete forgiveness that leaves your hear and soul quiet so that it is prepared to hear God speak. 

I am a cradle Catholic and when I was growing up we went to Reconciliation very consistently. My father would bring my entire family to our local parish every first Saturday of the month. We would wait in the line outside the confessional and just wait. There was no talking. There was only silence. I remember realizing this quietness at a young age, before I was old enough to participate in the Sacrament, and thinking it was odd. Church was a quiet and reverent place but this silence was different than anything I have ever experienced.

I would watch people come and go from the Confessional. Some were quick, others took a very long time; Some parishioners left smiling and others left in tears. My mother was one of those who often left in tears. Seeing all these grown people that I admired, loved and looked up to in such an emotional state after leaving the confessional had a huge impact on me. Those were my first memories of Reconciliation. After that, I remember attending my Catechism classes to receive my first Reconciliation and being so terrified of the confessional. I was petrified of admitting all the not so nice things I had done, said and thought throughout my short 7 years of life. I had convinced myself that I must be the most horrible person in the world.

The day that I received my First Reconciliation was a life changing experience for me. I actually cried while I waited to go into the confessional and when it was my turn all I remember is opening the door and hearing silence. As I entered the confessional, I completed my blessing and even (with a huge burst of courage) decided to sit in front of the priest versus behind the screen. As I began speaking to start my confession, I again started crying. I apologized to the priest expressing that I was so scared that God would hate me for admitting all the sins I had committed, especially the ones I committed on purpose.

I will never forget the priest, Fr. Grotchen, who took my hand and smiled at me. He explained that the entire purpose of Confession was to reconnect with God. He listened to me pour my little heart out and many many tears. He told me that I should never be afraid to speak to God because God is always longing for me to return to him just like the story of the Prodigal son. He told me that when I did my penance to be calm and quiet and God would wash away all my sadness and restore me to grace. I was shocked when he told em to be "calm and quiet". It has always stuck with me.

Since my First Reconciliation I have been to MANY confessionals and I have had an abundance of sins to confess but I will always remember that the quiet that I was once so afraid of, is nothing but God's way of connecting to me in my heart and cleansing my soul. You have to embrace the Quiet to feel God speak to you.

Truth be told, I am still scared of Reconciliation and I have made it one of my resolutions to embrace this Quiet Faith and attend it more often. It is even more important now because my oldest son has received his First Reconciliation and loves it. I don't want him to lose that love for the Sacrament that makes us new again. I am so proud of the gentleman he is growing into and the love he has for his faith.

Oddly enough, I decided to pick a saint at random to learn about and pray for spiritual guidance throughout this year. I drew the name Saint Jan Sarkander, the martyr of the confessional. I'll share more on this amazing saint later. I know God is asking me to come to him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and I know that he gave me this saint to help me find him where I am most fearful to go.... into the Quiet, because I feel unworthy. Where do you find the quiet in your faith? Is it a struggle like it is for me?

This is my post for The Zelie Group’s new link-up, “Getting To Know Us”. We invite you to write a blog post (or two!) or post on social media about what “Quiet” means to you during the month of January. Link up and use the hashtags #thezeliegroup, #tzg_quiet and #tzg_gettingtoknowus to connect with us. 

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#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!

{SQT}: Marriage, Sports and Much More

I have been MIA from several of my favorite linkups, including {SQT}, because of an overwhelming amount of extra activities that were added to our schedule. This past week was no different but I am doing my best to get back on track with everything that has been pushed to the side. 

{ONE}

My cousin Serina's wedding was this past Saturday! Congrats Serina and Jesus! They have such an extraordinary love story. They have actually been together for 12 years already. They have endured so much and have supported each other through all the good, bad and the ugly. I have no doubt that they will have a long, prosperous marriage and will live happily ever after.

The wedding was in Liberal, Kansas so it was only a 6 hour drive from where we live. We have most of my dad's side of the family living in Kansas so we were able to see a large amount of them at the wedding too. It was a beautiful wedding and a gorgeous reception. Little Man was given the opportunity to altar serve during the wedding. I know he was scared and nervous because he had never served for the priest or at the location the wedding was being held but he was brave and accepted the invitation to honor his family during the Mass. I was and still am so proud of him for stepping up.

{TWO}

We completed our Halloween decorating this week too! My boys love to decorate the house and do seasonal crafts to celebrate. I am working on a post right now about Halloween and being Catholic. I read an article several years ago about how to keep the "scary" in Halloween without losing the important concepts that are the important aspects of All Saints and All Souls Day. Halloween is a day of fasting to prepare for All Saints and All Souls. I think it is also important to discuss purgatory on Halloween and that allows us to have a scary Halloween. 

I even received the boys costumes in the mail this week so now I only have to figure out what my husband and I will wear. This will be the first year we have done a family dress up. The boys are REALLY into Star Wars so they are dressing as a Flame Trooper and Captain Rex. My husband really wants to be Darth Vader and I have absolutely no clue what I will be. Maybe I'll just be a storm trooper too? Suggestions are welcome!

{THREE}

We have TWO football games this week! We normally only have one so it was a FULL week of football. I am enjoying that there is no practice today so I using this time to catch up on old, new and late blog posts! Little Man has really missed having a banner to run through the past few games so I found some banner paper and created a banner for his team. Little did I know that when I bought this paper that there would be over 75 feet of paper!!!! Needless to say, I will be making banners the rest of the season. I might even make one for Goalie's soccer team. 

Painting the banners was actually pretty calming and relaxing until I saw that my cat Lemon was drinking the water I used to clean the paint brushes! I had a mini-stroke reading the labels on the paint to make sure it was non-toxic. Lemon was mad at me for yelling at her so she ignored me the rest of the day. Oh the price we pay for loving animals. 

{FOUR}

Goalie started Dino School this week. I think I may have mentioned once before but it is essentially a group therapy that is held to help teach children with developmental delays about socialization, dealing with tough emotions and learning how to control anger outbursts. 

{FIVE}

Yesterday was the first official day of Fall and I am so glad! I love Autumn! We celebrated with Spiced Apple Pork Chops with Sweet potato and zucchini. Everyone loved it. The pork fell apart so easily from slow cooking all day and the amazing spices made my house smell amazing. We had a football game yesterday too so it really was the perfect way to start the beginning of Autumn. 

{SIX}

We had Soccer pictures this week! Goalie plays for the Memorial Blizzards and he was smiling extra hard this year! I love that my boys love playing on teams. I love his "Shark fin" hair that he requested special for picture day.

{SEVEN}

To end this week, I decided it was best to have a Halloween movie night! This will be one of many because my boys and I love movie nights and we have a list of Halloween movies that MUST be watched before October 31st! We are starting tonight with The Halloween Tree. This was one of my most favorite movies that I watched with my brother and sister every Halloween season. We will be enjoying pizza, popcorn, Halloween ice cream floats and cupcakes! I am finishing up preparations as we speak. I honestly might be more excited about this than my kids! This will be their first time watching this cartoon and it has been years since I last saw it! I love Autumn and all the amazing family activities that come with it!

#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!