Have your own May crowning at home! Make it a family affair! 

If you do not own a statue of Mary, this is the perfect occasion to get one so you can “Take Mary home” with you, and crown your heavenly mother!  

When Jesus saw His mother, and His disciple whom He loved standing by Him, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then, He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26-27) Jesus tells us that we his disciples should revere Mary as our own Mother, and we should each “take her home” with us into our daily lives. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus preforms his first miracle, because Mary asks him. This is a perfect example as to why we go to and through Mary often to get to Jesus. 

This is our way as disciples to “take Mary home” with us! 

Supplies:

-wire or rope

-wire cutters or scissors

-collect flowers and pretty leaves in a basket

-Together, make a beautiful crown for Mary

Sing or play Marian songs together! 

This is Great time to pray the rosary as a family or with other faithful friends on this occasion! It’s a great witness to do this with others as it normalizes holiness.  
On the Cross, Jesus said, "behold your mother."  Mary is our mother in heaven! Let's remember the commandment of honor your mother and father. Today we honor Mary!

In having her statue, we are reminded of the holiest person to ever live. In having her statue, hopefully we are inspired to live holier lives because she is a true holy role model. 

Have a Prayer Service and May Crowning Ceremony 

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: (Luke 1:26-38)

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virginʹs name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, ʺHail, favored one! The Lord is with you.ʺ But she was greatly troubled at what was said 

and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, ʺDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, 

and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.ʺ But Mary said to the angel,
ʺHow can this be, since I have no relations with a man?ʺ And the angel said to her in reply, ʺThe holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, 

has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.ʺ 

Mary said, ʺBehold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.ʺ Then the angel departed from her. 

The Gospel of the Lord.

Eternal God, Let your people enjoy constant health in mind and body, Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, Free us from the sorrows of this life And lead us to happiness in the life to come. Grant this through Christ Our Lord. Amen. 

Hail Holy Queen 

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen. 

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. 

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen. 

Hail Mary 

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

From the (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) 

As the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary has a unique position among the saints, indeed, among all creatures. She is exalted, yet still one of us. Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie, she is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth. At the same time, however, because she belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all those who are to be saved. (Lumen Gentium, no. 53) 

Mary embraces God's will and freely chooses to cooperate with God's grace, thereby fulfilling a crucial role in God's plan of salvation. Throughout the centuries, the Church has turned to the Blessed Virgin in order to come closer to Christ. Many forms of piety toward the Mother of God developed that help bring us closer to her Son. In these devotions to Mary, "while the Mother is honored, the Son, through whom all things have their being and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, is rightly known, loved and glorified and . . . all His commands are observed." The Church honors her as the Mother of God, looks to her as a model of perfect discipleship, and asks for her prayers to God on our behalf. 

  A wonderful thing to do with the kids is to buy and plant seeds around Mary. We have a Jesus statue too! So, it is fun to do different things every year! 

You can also buy and plant flowers with your children around your other statues! 

Today, let the person who works in the family know how much you appreciate how hard they work for the family today. Do something special for them to recognize this day. I have the kids write a thank you letter to their dad and draw a picture to give to him! 

Our Lady appeared on May 13th 1917, she told Lucia that she was Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.  It was because of the town Fatima in Portugal, where the apparitions took place, Mary became known as Our Lady of Fatima. Our Lady of Fatima appeared to 3 children; Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta  as “Our Lady of the Holy Rosary”.

She asked the children to pray what is known the Fatima prayer. “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.” 

After repeating this prayer three times she said:
“Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are ready to listen to you.”

Again, in this, we see the importance of prostrating and kneeling when receiving Jesus (God) in Holy Communion.  These apparitions were meant to prepare for Mary’s coming to ask them to pray the Holy Rosary.

On that first day, she also told them why they were to pray the Holy Rosary every day: “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war“.

On July 13th she asked them to pray the “Fatima prayer” after each decade: “Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy”.

The 3 children were put in jail and separately threatened with their lives, to “tell the truth”. A 7, 9 and 10 year old would not have been willing to die for a lie they had just made up. Our Lady appeared on August 19 and told Lucia: “Many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray for them.”

The great miracle of the Sun spinning in the sky, stopping and drying off all the wet pilgrims took place on October 13, 1917.  The message that day from the Queen of Heaven was: “I am the Lady of the Rosary, build a chapel in my honor where the Rosary will be recited every day“ showing us the importance of praying the Holy Rosary every day.  May we receive the great protection and miracles, that God wants to give us through Our Lady, as we devoutly pray the 15 traditional mysteries of the Holy Rosary every day.

Dancing Sun Painting Activity! 

Supplies

-Yellow, Orange, White, Pink, Red colors in paint, paint brushes and paper. 

1. Painting clothes or painting cover on

2. Paper plates work great for portion control in squeezing the colors on for the kids to have their own supply! 

3. Paint a large piece of paper with all of the colors! or paint a paper plate into a sun. or color or paint a circle sun. 

anything to recognize and talk about the miracle. 

4. Dry and then cut out the circle

5. Make it spin! 

This is also a great opportunity to talk about how the sun remains in place while the planets revolve around the sun, and what a great miracle this was! 

Ascension of Jesus, 40 Days after Easter 

Watch Jesus ascend! 

Supplies

Helium Balloon

Image of Jesus 

Tape 

Super simple! 

Take a blanket out and hang out as a family, and read the story of the ascension and then let your balloon with Jesus ascend into heaven. 

Because we like to be really festive, we always use balloons for birthdays! Balloons make everything more festive!! You can invest in a helium kit, balloons, and even balloon inflator, so you can inflate 100 balloons in like 1 minute. Okay, maybe not that many, but you get my point! 

Today is the Birthday of the Catholic Church! Make and decorate a cake, and sing happy birthday to the Catholic Church!! 

Happy Birthday Church!
Pentecost is the Church's birthday, and a secondary birthday for us as well, as we make up the body of Christ. The word Pentecost is Greek and it means "50th day." Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their Earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations. At Pentecost, the Apostles and their followers were gathered in a room.  A great wind blew and a flame appeared as a tongue of fire, which split itself into many individual flames above the heads of all those present. The Holy Spirit came upon these people and each began to speak in tongues. Despite the fact many had no common language, they were able to understand each other, and spread the Word of God! After the resurrection, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Today is a great day to have a bon fire! Kids love roasting marshmallows! This is a great reason and way to talk about the Holy Spirit as fire that came upon His disciples. 

Today, talk about the armor of God. 

Joan was a 12-year peasant girl when she experienced a vision that inspired her during the Hundred Years War, to lead the French troops against the English and recapture the cities of Orléans and Troyes. This enabled Charles VII to be crowned as king in Reims in 1429. She dressed in armor, and led the soldiers. She was a devout girl and trusted in God. Her trust in God helped the French win, but ultimately be martyred for her obedience. Often when we do God’s will, many people in the world will be against it, but we MUST be strong and wear the armor or God. Let’s read about the Armor of God in The Bible, and do an activity! 

The Armor of God -Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

This coloring page and more from http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/armour-of-god