Patricia's Page

"As St. Nicholas is the Patron of Children in the Eastern Catholic Churches, we celebrate his Feast Day by attending the Divine Liturgy & making special foods at home. The Saint Nicholas Center has some nice craft & baking ideas, & tons…"

"We have enjoyed giving & receiving icons of the child's Patron Saint."

"Gretchen, You might check into the crafts from the Blue Knights Boy's Club, Little Flowers Girl's Club, Little Women Hospitality Program, & Pilgrims of the Holy Family programs. Another idea might be some of the activities/crafts from…"

"Carol gives excellent advice on being in a state of grace as you prepare for the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Also, your baby's expected due date is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe -- seek her intercession for you, for your child, & for…"

""He also said there is secular music at Mass all the time." With all due respect for your priest, I must say this sounds like a pretty lame excuse for allowing such a song to be used. Secular music has no place in the Holy Sacrifice of the…"

"What a glorious Feast indeed! What an awesome hymn we pray on the Feast of the Annunciation: "Today is the beginning of our salvation!" Every year a group of us gathers on the Feast of the Annunciation to pray outside a local IVF clinic.…"

"They used to all share a room -- but now the 3 eldest boys (7, 10 & 14) are in one room & the 2 girls (4 & 12) share another room (& the baby is with us). Don't know how we'd fit without bunk beds! ;o)"

"Co-sleeping has worked great for our 6 babies. The youngest, 21 months, still nurses frequently & still sleeps with us. Our cribs serve briefly as "holding pens" for the baby when I am making the bed in the morning...so our children…"

"Angele, Thanks for your thorough input on Seton based on your experience! We have used Seton for 5 children from K through 9th thus far, & plan to stick with it in the future for the younger ones -- supplementing with other materials &…"

"Although I've never read it myself, I do recall seeing what I believe was a Catholic (at least Christian) version of the well-known "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book at a Catholic bookstore. I think it was called…"

"Karen, I am glad that you asked. The teaching of the Church on contraception (& related issues) may be difficult for some, but it does not need to be confusing. These links are a great resource for what the Scriptures say about the matter, as…"

"I second contacting the Pope Paul VI Institute & wonder if you might be able to find a NaPro Technology practitioner whom you might be able to do some phone consultation with: http://www.naprotechnology.com/"

"Diana, Catholic Canon Law supports the teaching that it is the parents who are primarily responsible for the education & religious formation of their children. The parish, priest & religious education programs are there to assist &…"

"We have been using Seton (& supplementing with other materials we also like) since our eldest (9th grade now) began homeschooling in Kindergarten. We have been very pleased with how solid their religion materials are. We also like the fact that…"

"Alice, Like you said, the key is discerning with the help of solid spiritual direction -- a desire on our part to learn & to understand (even, at times, when the answer isn't what we wanted or expected). That being said, I'm not sure…"

"Over time, various dogmas have developed as the Church comes to a fuller understanding of certain doctrines. Church teaching has also developed as culture & technology changes -- examples of this would be Church teaching on human cloning,…"