Backwoods MamaFaith

Advent in our Home (2015)

Advent in our Home (2015)

Advent is a time of reflection. It is a time that we strive to embrace peaceful stillness and prepare our hearts for Christmas. Yet, Advent always seems to be in such contrast with the reality of the upcoming month that sometimes I wonder how I can reconcile our...

read more
The Holy Thursday Meal: A Seder for Catholics and Christians

The Holy Thursday Meal: A Seder for Catholics and Christians

For the people of Jewish faith, the Passover Seder meal is a sacred ritual that celebrates the deliverance and freedom of the Israelite people from four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, as told in the book of Exodus. I have never taken part in an authentic Jewish...

read more
Lent 2015: Fasting. Praying. Almsgiving.

Lent 2015: Fasting. Praying. Almsgiving.

We are a little late with starting our observance of Lent this year. Lent started on February 18th, which was only a day after we returned from our month long trip to Thailand. Being waylaid by the affects of jet lag we are only beginning to rediscover the rhythm of...

read more
Twelve Days of Christmas

Twelve Days of Christmas

Merry Christmas! Our family celebrates Christmas for twelve days, starting on December 25th and ending on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany. I suppose that there are actually thirteen days, but Christmas day doesn't count in that number. For so many people...

read more
Advent in our Home – 2014

Advent in our Home – 2014

Advent started a couple days ago, on Sunday, and continues on for the four weeks leading up to Christmas. For our family, Advent is a time when we prepare our hearts and home for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. This year we have set up our Jesse tree, Advent...

read more
Jesus Tree: Symbols, Bible Readings and Colouring Pages

Jesus Tree: Symbols, Bible Readings and Colouring Pages

The Jesus Tree is a Lenten version of the Advent Jesse Tree (What is a Jesse Tree?). On each day during Lent a story about Jesus' life is read from the Bible and a symbol is place on a tree. You can use any Bible, we like to use our New Catholic Picture...

read more
Lent 2014: Fasting. Praying. Almsgiving.

Lent 2014: Fasting. Praying. Almsgiving.

The Lenten season begins on March 5th, Ash Wednesday, and it goes on for forty-six days, ending with Easter. Lent is meant to be a time of fasting, praying and almsgiving to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter. As a family we try to mindfully incorporate...

read more
On the Second Day

On the Second Day

Throughout the month of December our family prepares for the celebration of Christmas. We light our advent candles and hang ornaments on our Jesse tree, along with other traditions that I mentioned earlier this month. What this means is that when Christmas finally...

read more
Advent in our Home – 2013

Advent in our Home – 2013

Today Advent has begun. It is a time of anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Our family has several Advent traditions, some of our tradition have been passed on to us from our parents and others we've discovered on our own. I...

read more
Happy Easter! Alleluia!

Happy Easter! Alleluia!

Happy Easter my friends! Alleluia He is risen!What a blessing it has been to celebrate Easter with family. My parents and younger brother arrived at the end of last week and while they were here there was no shortage of laughter and celebration. Today they make...

read more
Preparing for Easter

Preparing for Easter

The night is young but I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. It has been a busy day of bread baking and spring cleaning. We are working hard to prepare our home for celebrating the Easter triduum which begins tomorrow, Holy Thursday.I did finish Teddy's...

read more
The First Day of Lent

The First Day of Lent

It's Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and I am glad that the Lenten season is here. After Christmas I felt a little lost and overwhelmed but I know that Lent will help me refocus and prepare for Easter and the continuing year.I managed to get...

read more
Dawn on the Feast of St. Nicholas

Dawn on the Feast of St. Nicholas

It was dawn. Teddy woke up to nurse and wasn't settling back to sleep. I suspected that he was getting sick. There is a cold making the rounds in our home. Even I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose this morning. I picked up Teddy and we tiptoed into the...

read more
The Spirit of Advent

The Spirit of Advent

Advent has begun in our home. The Jesse tree is up and, unlike last year, I managed to make a wreath for our four Advent candles. Our children have noticed the changes around our home and have responded with curiosity and excitement. It makes me smile when I see my...

read more
Preparing for Advent 2012

Preparing for Advent 2012

The power cable for my laptop broke over the weekend. Until the new power cable arrives I am blogging from my husband's computer. Unfortunately I'm not able to upload pictures from my camera so the pictures in this post are from my archives.---Advent is a...

read more