Enjoy S'more of the Liturgical Year with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

I nearly forgot that today, July 16, is the Memorial of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and, so, did not plan ahead for honoring Our Lady with my children.  Then, by the time I did, we were off to an event we'd previously planned, so now I am finally sitting down to put together some ideas while my children take a transition-to-home break.  I thought I would share them in case anyone else ever needs some semi-spontaneous feast day ideas for honoring Out Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Since I've been planning all week to surprise my children with gluten- and casein-free s'mores after dinner as a Sunday treat, I've decided to transform s'more fun into"snacking with the saints" tonight.

The Setting

Since Our Lady's colors are typically blue and white, I will cover our outside table with a blue tablecloth and add a white candle atop it.  On the candle, I will tape a printed version of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Saints by Pietro Novelli.

Next to the candle, I will place our Our Lady of Mt. Carmel peg doll from the Marian Peg Doll Swap I participated in some time ago.

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In front of that, will be placed a brown scapular. 

If you want to know more about scapulars, the International Marian Research Institute offers a succinct explanation about scapulars in general as well as one about Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Brown Scapular.  Free Brown Scapular offers a helpful Q & A, as well as scapulars for free and at reasonable prices.  You can also purchase scapulars at religious stores and on Amazon.I will also put out whichever of these books that that I can uncover from our piles when I go to set up:

The Brown Scapular Coloring Book

Garment of Grace

Garment of Grace Children's Edition

A Year with God (page 156 on St. Simon Stock and the Scapular)

The Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions (to read part of pages 93-94 on this feast day)

Catholic Traditions in the Home and Classroom (page 179-180 with the short, meaningful quote, "Keep Mary in mind, and Jesus will grow in your heart.")

A Saint-Inspired Snack

Using a brown scapular with gold cross as inspiration...

... my plan is to break gluten-free S'morable Graham Style Crackers and Theo Pure Dark Chocolate into rectangles.

Then, I'll fashion crosses out of cut and rolled Smash Mallow Cinnamon Churro pieces atop of them.

If I can find some brown yarn in our house, I will use that to connect pairs of rectangles in order to make edible brown scapulars.  If not, I may dribble maple syrup on the plate as the cords.

Nearby, of course, will be our marshmallows, to remind us of Mary's pure love for Jesus and how we might model after it and, also, reminding us of the sweet promise of Heaven, which will be ours if we stick with our Lord.

A simple snack - and summer s'mores - will remind us of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Prayer

There are many beautiful prayers related to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.  I have chosen to use one found at The Catholic Company tonight:

Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel – Be our constant hope.

Mary, perfect disciple of the Lord – Make us also faithful to him.

Mary, Flower of Carmel – Fill us with your joy.

Virgin Mary, Beauty of Carmel – Smile upon your family

Sweet Mother of Carmel – Accept me as your child.

Holy, Mother beyond compare – Remember your children forever.

Holy Virgin, Star of the Sea – Be our beacon of Light.

Protecting Veil – Shelter us in the mantle of your love.

Mary, conceived without sin – pray for us who have recourse to you.

Activities

While the children make their s'mores and enjoy them, I will likely read selections from the aforementioned books and, possibly, this succinct description from Holy Spirit Interactive Kids.  We might also read or listen to Franciscan media's brief account about Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and share what we know about the Carmelite saints it mentions.

If the children wish to color or paint, we might also print out some free coloring pages from St. John the Baptist Religious Education or ones from My Catholic Source (here and here) for them to use.

I would love to hear about how you honor the Memorial of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us!