Never Did I Ever Think I'd Be Praying for St. Brigid's Intercession Regarding a Chicken...

Never did I ever think I would be praying for St. Brigid's intercession regarding a chicken...

... and never did I ever think I would sleep on a couch while on chicken watch duty...

Nor did I ever imagine that I would spend an early morning before Mass using a gloved finger to apply oil to a chicken vent...

I also never thought that I would spend hours researching what differing colors and textures of chicken poop mean...

... and the list goes on.

Things that never once entered my brain before have now become a part of my present reality for the love of my children... and their chickens.

Yes, we've had a sometimes emotional, definitely educational, and undeniably unexpected couple of days here nursing one of the kids' chickens back  -we hope! - to health.

In doing so, we have tapped into the kindness and wisdom of local friends, countless websites and Youtube channels, and fellow chicken owners in Facebook groups.

We've also discovered that a saint we have celebrated and prayed to before is patron to chicken farmers! Thus, although we are hardly chicken farmers, I have been praying for St. Brigid's intercession for our dear chicken Pippin.

More than once in the past 24+ hours, I have prayed simple prayers, such as:

St. Brigid, please intercede that me may be guided in taking care of our sick chicken Pippin. For, while this matter is small in the large scheme of the world, my children's love for Pippin is strong. We know our Lord loves us and desires good. We wish to do what is best for our chicken. Whatever happens, please let my daughter and youngest son be at peace. Amen.

Now, yes, yes, yes. I know. With all the dire matters facing the world today, it may seem silly to pray for St. Brigid's intercession due to a sick chicken. Yet, here I have been doing so. For, in small matters and in large, prayer is vital, right?

Adoration. Contrition. Thanksgiving. Petition. Our Lord loves when we turn to Him.

The saints are there as intercessors.

And, so, we pray.

And we share in case you have chickens, too, and - like us - did not know that St. Brigid is, among other things, Patron to Chicken Farmers.

Now you do know and, should your family face time of chicken challenges, you can call upon her intercession.

Likewise, chickens or no chickens, you might also remember just how much Our Mother loves us and desires to help us no matter what we are going through.

I could not help but to think about that as my love for my children (and their love for their chickens) prompted us to do things over the past few days that we never imagined we would.

Love can drive us to do so many things. May one of them be turning to Our Lady in prayer.

We took a break from chicken care to do just that as a group today, praying for weightier matters, and it was wonderful.

Whatever your challenges and joys are, may you keep on praying!

Plan a St. Brigid and St. Verdiana Art, Music, and a Poet-Tea

February first is the Memorial of Saint Brigid of Ireland and also that of Saint Verdiana (although some calendars have Saint Verdiana's day listed as February 16th.)  It is also a day that our AMP It Up club is scheduled to meet.  Thus, I am planning another saint-based Poet-Tea, filled with faith, food, friendship, art, music, and poetry.

If you'd like to include saint-centered snacks and arts immersion on the St. Brigid's and St. Verdiana's feast day, I thought I'd share our Poet-Tea plans.

A St. Brigid and St. Verdiana Poet-Tea Setting and Menu
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Our poet-tea table will be decorated with:

• a white tablecloth (for the purity of the saint' love for God) layered with a blue fabric with golden "stars" on it (since St. Brigid's mantle is sometimes depicted as blue with stars).

• a green candle (to remind us that we are in Ordinary Time) and a white candle (also to remind us of the purity of the saints' love for God).

• several books depicting Saint Brigid and Saint Verdiana including:
  

 

Saint Bridget and the Fox and Saint Verdiana and the Snakes in Amazing Saints & their Awesome Animals

Saint Brigid  in Saints Lives and Illuminations

Brigid's Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story

Saint Brigid and the Cows

•  a St. Brigid cross (if I have time to fashion one) and some dry beans to remind us of how St. Verdiana, with her charitable heart,  gave away all her beans to the poor).

• a globe, so we can locate Ireland (for St. Brigid) and Italy (for St. Verdiana).
• perhaps some snake and cow figurines (since snakes play into St. Verdiana's stories and cows into St. Brigid's)

The food and drink we will serve s still being decided, but will likely include some of the following:

• bread, water, and herbs (because St. Verdiana's diet consisted of eating bread and water once a day, and, sometimes, eating herbs or vegetables.)
• beans (because Verdiana gave beans to the poor.)
• apples (because apples play into one of the tales of St. Brigid's miracles and charity.)
• coconut milk (because there are a number of tales and traditions related to St. Brigid and milk, but my children are cow-milk-free kids and one of our guests has both nut and soy allergies, so coconut milk is our only milk alternative)
• oat bread (adapted from traditional St. Brigid's oat cakes)
• blueberry jam (because it is traditional to eat on St. Brigid's day.)
• an "Italian Flag" fruit plate and an "Irish Flag" vegetable plate (because St. Verdiana was Italian and St. Brigid was Irish.)

Whatever the fare ends up being, I know, we'll pray pray grace, some spontaneous prayers, and a Traditional Catholic Prayer to Saint Brigid before digging into it and chatting more about the lives of Saint Brigid and Saint Verdiana, who were both known for their charity.

Poetry

We will revisit the poem The Giveaway, a long-time St. Brigid Day favorite of mine using a pdf from Clondalkin Village Parish.  Then, after reading about Saint Verdiana, I will ask the children to try their hand at writing a poem, inspired by The Giveaway, about Verdiana.

Music

Bridging from poetry to music, we will take a peak at the lyrics of the Hymn to Saint Brigid as we listen to it sung on a Youtube video:

We will also sing along to We Sing a Song to Saint Brigid.

Art

This file comes from Wellcome Images, a website operated by Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom. Refer to Wellcome blog post (archive).

Finally, for art, we will notice how the illustrations in Saint Brigid and the Cows use hatching and how an engraving of St. Verdiana by Bartolozzi uses stippling, much like his other artwork did as demonstrated in the detail below:

Then, we'll explore hatching and stippling using simple exercises like this one:

Or, perhaps, by creating our own simple line drawings of items and creatures that remind us of Saint Brigid's or Saint Verdiana's story, and, then, adding value to our drawings through hatching or stippling.

More

Find loads of ideas, resources, and links for lessons inspired by Saint. Brigid and Verdiana as well as plans for a luncheon.

Enjoy some ideas for simple stories and notebooking -including a link to a free online story, take a peak at plans for a simple Saint Brigid Feast day for younger children, or flashback to how we celebrated one year when my children were wee ones.

Browse through Poet-Tea plans and photos for other liturgical celebrations.

Saint Brigid, pray for us.  Saint Verdiana, pray for us.

Enjoy a St. Brigid and St. Verdiana S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + and a Luncheon "Tea" Plan

Just a few days away, on February 1, is the feast day of St. Brigid and St. Verdiana, so today, I have been planning our saint-inspired S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + in connection to these saints as well as planning details for hosting a small saint luncheon tea with friends.  In case you, too, enjoy weaving saint-based learning, food, and fun into your days, too, I thought I'd share my plans.


Saints Brigid and Verdiana S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. +

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  S - Spell and Learn Words  

My children always enjoy find-a-word challenges on saint days, so we will first, talk about how "St." is the abbreviation for the word "Saint" and, likewise, how "Sts." if the one for "Saints".  Then, using our movable printed alphabet, we will "write" "Sts. Brigid and Verdiana" with our printed alphabet letters on the floor, upon which, I will challenge my children (and myself) to create as many words as they can from the letters within the saints' names withing an agreed upon amount of time.  Then, starting with my youngest, we will read the words we created and see if we can each meet the goal of having written as least as many words.

I may slide a gentle grammar lesson in as well, chatting about why we capitalize the word "saint" sometimes and not others, what a common noun is and what a proper noun is.

I will also, of course, highlight phonograms my children have been working on and ones that come up as they create words and may discuss strategies we each used in creating our word lists, such as thinking of rhyming words, finding as many words as we can from the letters in just one word (Sts., Brigid, or Verdiana) before moving on to the next, or thinking about 1-letter words, then 2-letter ones, then 3-letter ones, and so forth.

K - Keep Reading to Yourself
The children, as always, will be able to choose their own reading for "Read to Self" time, including the following saint day selections and, maybe books about Ireland, Italy, snakes, foxes, as well as other creatures and things related to the lives and legends that have been recorded about St. Brigid and St. Verdiana.

Some of the books they might dip into are:

St. Brigid of Ireland (The Story Library of the Saints), which we own

 

Saint Bridget and the Fox and Saint Verdiana and the Snakes (Amazing Saints & their Awesome Animals), which we own

St. Brigid's Cloak, which we have borrowed from our library system

Saint Brigid (Saints Lives and Illuminations), which we have borrowed from our library system and which is on my "buy" list

Brigid's Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story, which is in at our local library for us and which I have now put on my buy list after so many years of borrowing it

 

I - Illustrate and Write

I was hoping to make a free printable copywork/studied dictation sheet today to share using the quote:

"I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all."

- St. Brigid of Kildare (451 - 523)

Time ran out on me as I attended to other needs, but we may still use the quote without a printable.  (Or, if I find the time within the next couple days, I may make a simple sheet and share it here later.)

The children may also be encouraged to color the Saint Bridget and the Fox and Saint Verdiana and the Snakes  images in our Amazing Saints & their Awesome Animals Coloring Book and, then, to write their own version of the tales, if they wish.


Or, perhaps I will have them write letters to people we know which include this blessing:

May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell. Bless every fireside, every wall and door. Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof. Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy. Bless every foot that walks its portals through. May Brigid bless the house that shelters you.

St. Brigid of Ireland, Pray for us!

L - Listen to Reading
Along with reading some of the books listed above, we will likely read or listen to one or more of the following together:

I would love to own Life of Saint Brigid: Abbess of Kildare, but copies of it seem to be found only at crazy-high price right now.  Luckily, the book is offered free as an audio online at Ancient Faith Minisitries along with other St. Brigid day audios, so we may listen to it while we do chores, color, or craft.

We also have these stories on hold at our library, which I hope come in in time:

Saint Brigid and the Cows (Brother Wolf, Sister Sparrow)

Twenty Tales of Irish Saints

Plus, of course, I have plenty of online excerpts bookmarked on my laptop should we have time to read more, including some from this goldmine of St. Brigid tales and this archived reading on St. Verdiana or this more modern one from the Catholic Herald.

L -Learn and Play with One Another Using Language Arts

Although I sometimes comes up with fun games for saint days, this week, I want to stick with the children and my typical 1:1 routine, which includes them reading to me and then us playing a 3-in-a-row game on whiteboards with challenge words.  We'll likely do this with St. Brigid or St. Verdiana readings.

T - Think, Read and Write About Math

The children  and I will create story problems related to the saints as we read about them.  I may also have the children draw what 13 portions of something might look like, with the 13th portion extra big, for it is said the Brigid used to apportion the butter she churned into 13 portions to remember Jesus and his 12 apostles, and that she would always set the larger "Jesus" portion aside to offer to those in need.

 
I - Investigate and Problem Solve with Math

St. Brigid and St. Verdiana are associated through stories with all manner of  animals and objects.  Thus, we might use our Tangram Race Game pieces to challenge ourselves to make swords, dogs snakes, cows, and foxes.  Perhaps, I will read the children the different tales as they make the shapes.

M - Master Math Skills Together

We may measure out a space that is 10 ft. x 4 ft., the size the St. Verdiana's cell is purported to be, and then figure out its perimeter and area.  I might even have each child spend part of the day in the measured space and imagine what it would be like to live there for 3 years, alongside two huge snakes, to boot!

Also, 34 years in a cell for St. Verdiana. Thirteen portions of churned butter from St. Brigid.  The numbers in tales of St. Verdiana and St. Brigid are plenty.  With them, we can create addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems with ease.  We can also figure how long each saint was said to have lived, how many years apart they lived, etc.

Plus, playing on the idea of the two snakes that tested St. Verdiana's patience (by her own request), we can work with counting by two's.

E - Exercise Math Skills on My Own

I may have each of my children pick a number from the saint stories and write that number in as many forms as they can think of - as a Roman numeral, as coins, as an addition/subtraction/multiplication/division problem, as a date or month (of possible), in word-form, in tally marks, etc.

+ Extra Learning and  Fun

• Virtues:  We will likely discuss piety, generosity, patience, and mortification in reference to St. Verdiana and piety, generosity, perseverance, joy, hospitality, and morein relation to St. Brigid.
   
• Practical Life:  We will likely have Irish-oatmeal for breakfast, which the kids can help make.  For dinner, if we are feeling ambitious, I may enlist the children to help make slow cooker GFCF Irish Stew or One Hour Vegan Shepherd's Pie for dinner in celebration of St. Brigid's Irish heritage.  If we are not up for that, I will have the children help me make Irish and Italian "flags" out of produce and whatnot to celebrate both St. Brigid's and St. Verdiana's countries of origin.

• Crafting:  We may make St. Brigid's Crosses as directed in the brief St. Brigid section of Catholic Traditions in the Home and Classroom.  (There are directions in various places online, too.) .

• Art Study:  We will examine illustrations in various books.  I also would like to do a quick art study of Saint Brigid Milking Her Cows to Feed the Local Bishops, which I found on artnet.  I think my children will find the warm colors and composition interesting.  We may also look at the paintings of Saint Verdiana Carrying Food to the Poor and Saint Verdiani Healing the Child, which are at Harvard Art Museum's site.

• Culture/Geography:  Of course, we will find Ireland and Italy on maps and globes, and we may also chat about Irish and Italian culture, as well as traditions connected directly to the saints, such as hanging out a piece of cloth or ribbon to become a piece of St. Brigid's mantle.

• Survival Skills:  It is said, among other things, that St. Brigid kept a fire perpetually burning.  Depending on how the day goes, perhaps we will make an outdoor fire and try to cook some potatoes in it.

• Music Appreciation and Song:  Youtube has a wide variety of songs about St. Brigid as well as plenty of Irish music, so music should be no problem.

• Art:  Obviously, with so many possibilities for learning and fun on this day, there will be more plans than putting into practice (which is okay by me, since the plans we don't get to can be used in future years!)  Among those plans are painting peg dolls, creating mixed media art, and otherwise diving into arts and crafts in regards to these saints.

Faith through Food and Fun

This year, we'll be hosting a luncheon "tea" for some friends we've been trying to get together with for some time.  We had actually planned to have them over to share in our annual Our Lady of Altagracia celebration,  but Nana's passing canceled that.  So, this week, we'll be celebrating a triple-saint "tea", honoring Our Lady of Altagracia, Saint Brigid, and Saint Verdiana.

Decoration

With so many saints to celebrate at once, our decorations will be simple.

• the table will be covered a white table cloth layered with a blue fabric with golden "stars" on it since Our Lady of Altagracia's veil and St. Brigid's mantle are both sometimes depicted as blue with stars.

• a green candle will remind us we are in Ordinary Time again (though some, traditionally consider the seasons Christmastide straight through Candlemas on February 2) and a white candle will remind us of the purity of the saints' love for God.

• several of the aforementioned picture books and/or printed images of the saints will adorn the head of the table.

• my Our Lady of Altagracia peg doll (from the lovely collection I have form a local Marian peg doll swap), a St. Brigid cross (if I have time to fashion one), and some dry beans to remind us of St. Verdiana's charitable heart will also adorn the table.

• a globe, so we can locate Ireland (for St. Brigid), Italy (for St. Verdiana), and the Dominican Republic (for Our Lady of Altagracia)

Tea Time Fare 

Our menu will be eclectic, since we are celebrating three saints and accommodating multiple food allergies, intolerance, and preferences between our two families which preclude things like Irish bread, Irish stew, and popular St. Brigid Day fare.  However, somehow we have managed to plan a gluten-free, casein-free, menu without rice, soy, corn, grains, legumes, and added sugar, while still including some meat for our meat lovers.

• The children will be able to choose from Irish Tea (for Saint Brigid's homeland), water (for St. Brigid's Holy Well), orange juice (for Our Lady of Altagracia), or chocolate almond milk (because two of my three children love that!)

• A small bowl of oranges and clementines will remind us of the story A Gift of Gracias about Our Lady of Altagracia.

•  To add some vegetables and some meat to our table, I will make our now-traditional "orange grove" in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia using nitrite and nitrate-free cold cuts, baby greens, and carrot slices. 

• My friend said she is going to bring a delicious gluten-free, casein, free, paleo orange cake she experimented with (also in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia).

• She is also bring GFCF biscuits and jam, as we have read that eating blueberry jam on St. Brigid's day is becoming customary in Ireland.  (I will add Earth Balance spread and peach jelly "marmalade" since those are one of my child's preferred spread)

• Homemade crockpot applesauce (which my children love!) with optional So Delicious Cocowhip, will remind us of St. Brigid's generosity and the purity of her love and kindness as it  is said that St. Brigid gave away gifts of apples to lepers.  (See Bethu Brigte for more details.)

•  Although part of my friend's family does not do legumes, since it is an intolerance, not an allergy, I will put out some chickpeas and cannellini beans to remind us of St. Verdiana and to get some protein into my one vegetarian.

Prayer

• We will, of course, pray Grace and spontaneous prayers.

• Then, we'll add a Hail Mary in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia.

• We may also pray one or more of the St. Brigid day prayers my children and I used last year when we celebrated with simple stories and notebooking.

• We also will add a spontaneous prayer related to St. Verdiana. 

Activities

• We will likely read one or more selection from the books I mentioned under S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + and, possibly, A Gift of Gracias, which I have previously shared a book study for.

• The Great Giveaway:  Although the Year of Mercy has ended, every year is a year to focus on mercy and virtue as far as I am concerned.  Thus, I thought we might read The Giveaway poem (as shared in my 2012 St. Brigid Day post) and, then, read a bit about St. Verdiana's generosity before making My Great Giveaway charts.  What I am envisioning is that each child can make a 12-month chart decorated with images of, and, perhaps, notes about, Sts. Brigid and Verdiana.  Then, they can use it to remind themselves to give something away by the first of each month (the monthly anniversary of both St. Brigid and Verdiana.

Revisit Past Celebrations and Ideas

Our family has celebrated St. Brigid's Day in one way or another almost every year since 2010, and I've written up descriptions with photographs and links for several of those years.  Enjoy clicking through to find more ideas and inspiration if you wish.

• Celebrating St. Brigid's Feast Day (2010)

• Plans for a Simple Saint Brigid Feast Day (2012)

• Celebrate St. Brigid with Simple Stories and Notebooking (2015)

 As always, I pray that the sharing I offer here blesses your family's life and learning.  

I would also love to hear about your favorite resources, recipes, prayers, and ideas related to Sts. Brigid and Verdiana (and Our Lady of Altagracia, too!). Links and comments about descriptions of your devotions, studies, and celebrations are always most welcome.

 
  St. Brigid, St. Verdiana, and Our Lady of Altagracia and pray for us!

Celebrate St. Brigid with Simple Stories and Notebooking

Happy St. Brigid's Feast Day!

Several years ago we began to celebrate the feast day of this Patron Saint of Ireland, and, each year, we have done so a little differently.

 

This year, we celebrated over a simple oatmeal-and-topping breakfast.

We decorated the table with an image of St. Brigid and two candles, as well as a globe (so we could find Ireland on it.) 

Then we began breakfast with three prayers:

• St Brigid, Mary of Ireland, which I found randomly online at By Hand, With Heart.

• St. Brigid Psalm from the Brigidine Sisters site.

• St. Brigid's Blessing, also from the Brigidine Sisters' site

Reflecting on the words of the prayers, we talked about how we might be strong, valiant, firm, true and faithful today; how we might bless others with our hears, hands and feet; and how we might bring light, hope and peace to the world today.

We also talked about how, through the years, there has been conflict in Ireland with Christians fighting Christians.  The kids thought that was silly: all Christians should be at peace and love one another and others.  I agree.  Thus, we found Ireland on the globe and Nina led us in a prayer for peace among all people in Ireland.

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Since a friend still had the copy St. Brigid's Cloak that I had planned to read, I found two wonderful FREE stories about St. Brigid online to read.


A Fantastic Free Story: St Bridget and the King's Wolf

The children said they wanted to hear St. Bridget and the King's Wolf first.  What a fantastic read aloud it was!  I had so much doing a dramatic reading of it and the children loved the story.  Likewise, I appreciate the opportunities that the story offered for:

• participation ("Find your right ear.  Touch it.  that is where the wolf was marked."  "Can you pant like a wolf?"  Let's see who can be perfectly still like the wolf for a full ten seconds.")

• making predictions ("What do you think will happen to the wolf?"  "How will Bridget help the man?"  Etc.)

• and chatting about virtues and vices (What virtues and vices did the hunter, the king and Bridget show?)

Indeed, the story was chock full of entertainment as well as opportunities to move, to sprinkle in literary/ELA skills (suspense, prediction, etc.) and to chat about virtues.

The kids did find part of the ending of the story a bit "wrong" at first, though.  In it, Bridget calls the huntsman "Sirra Stupid" and "gives him a stern lecture...advising him not to be so hasty and so wasty next time."  A bit later, she ;eaves "the silly man to think over what she has said (about not being able to afford to lose our friendly beasts), and to feel much ashamed".

"Stupid" is a word that we don't use much in our home, so hearing the character of Saint Bridget use the term definitely caused the kids' eyebrows to raise.  Then, to hear that she purposefully left a man to feel ashamed...  The kids were surprised!

We chatted about it, though, and decided that sometimes people have to be left to think about their bad choices, so they can, eventually, seek forgiveness and make amends.  The conversation ended up moving into one about Reconciliation.  (I just love when things naturally flow towards talk of the Sacraments!)


Another Fabulous Story about St. Brigid

We then read The Blessed Virgin Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, a free pdf offered by St. Michael's Orthodox School.  This story was a more historical account of St. Brigid's life (and some of the legends that have arisen about the saint).  While not as interesting as our first read aloud from a dramatic storytelling sense, this story was still illuminating, providing a fuller picture of who St. Brigid was, what miracles are said to have happened in her life and how she impacted those around her through her charity, practical evangelization and love.  We found ourselves pausing the story often to chat about the virtues St. Brigid embodied and the ways she models how to live for us. 


Simple Notebooking Pages

Finally, after eating, at the tale end of storytime, we began making a page for our Faith and Character Notebooks, which had been dismantled at one point when we needed binders for something else and did not have any on hand, but are now being put back together. 

Our pages were simple and included:

•  a St. Brigid coloring page from Waltzing Matilda.

• some simple sentences the kids wrote about St. Brigid.

• a small prayer book with 3x5 print outs of the prayers we prayed at the beginning of our meal. 

 

This simple celebration provided a wonderful start to a day filled by Mass, sledding and more.

We pray you've had a wonderful day today, too, and that hearing the details of how we weave saint celebrations into our days inspires you to enjoy focusing on some heroes of faith and virtue, too. 

How do you weave saint and virtue studies into your days?