Catholic Moment Article
Thank you to the Catholic Moment for your interest and article about the work that I do.
Read more about how I came to paint the Saints and how the Saint of the Month Club got started.
Read pages 1 and 3 at the link below.
July’s Saint of the Month
Mary lived in the town of Magdala. This small town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee was a place where Jesus spent much of his time preaching. This is probably where Mary first came to know Jesus. Some people believe and St. Gregory the Great claimed, that she was the woman who entered Simon the Pharisee’s house. She’s the woman that wept and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with her hair and then poured perfume on His feet. The Gospels tell us that Jesus released seven demons from Mary. We are not sure what the evils were, but over the centuries people have guessed that she was an immoral woman. The Vatican has said this is not so, and many scholars believe that the reference means she was cured of illness by Jesus. Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch him. Our Lord who could see into Mary’s heart said, “Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much.” Then to Mary He said kindly, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” St. Mary Magdalene was a sinner, yet Jesus forgave her. He could see that she loved much. From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His apostles.
Mary stayed with the Blessed Mother, some other women, and St. John at the foot of the Cross until Jesus died. She would not leave her Friend in the terrible last moments of His earthly life. After Jesus’ body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning, because there had been no time when He was buried. She was shocked when she saw that the tomb was empty. Not finding the Sacred Body, she stood outside the tomb and began to weep. Suddenly she saw someone she thought was the gardener. She asked him if he knew where the body of her beloved Master had been taken. Touched by her deep sorrow, the man spoke in a voice filled with love that she knew so well: “Mary!” It was Jesus, standing right there in front of her. He was risen from the dead. And He had chosen to reveal himself first to her. The Gospels tell us that Mary was sent by Jesus himself to announce the Good News of the resurrection to Peter and the apostles.
We do not know where Mary went after Jesus ascended into heaven. Some say that she went with St. John to Ephesus. Others say she went to southern France where she lived alone in a cave and prayed. No matter where she ended up, Mary is still a model for us today as one of Jesus’ first and most loyal disciples. St Mary is called the “apostle to the apostles”.
This is a great overview of Mary’s life and gives you more details about the end of her life.
SOM Club July Member Spotlight
Meet Evagrace!
As a mom myself, and owner of the Saint of the Month Club, notes and messages like the one below make me feel so grateful to do what I do. Relationships are important to me and interacting with you Club members is such a blessing to me!
Here’s the note from Evagrace’s mom…
“This is Evagrace. She is 7 years old and she loves the Saint of the Month Club because she says “it’s fun learning about the Saints, doing the fun projects, and coloring the beautiful coloring pages of the Saints!” She especially enjoyed planting the garden from St. Catherine of Siena’s SOM box. She prayed that the Holy Spirit would grow her seedling of faith into something beautiful like the heavenly blue plant! 😍
Thank you for making learning about the saints so interactive and special!”
What a sweet girl! And I love her relationship with the Holy Spirit…that is so inspiring!
Please join me in praying for Evagrace and her entire family. I love having them be apart of the Saint of the Month Club!
May Saint of the Month
Saint Florian!
St. Florian was born around 250 A.D. and was secretly a Christian in a time when the Roman emperors were trying to eliminate Christianity throughout their realm. He was also a commander in the Roman army serving under the Emperor Diocletian in present-day Austria. Among his duties was the organization of firefighting brigades. Saint Florian is once said to have saved a town from burning by saying a prayer and then throwing a single bucket or pitcher of water on the blaze. Despite being a firefighter, Florian and his guards were ordered to burn Christian churches, books, and homes of Christians. Florian refused, and a high-ranking official, Aquilius, was dispatched to investigate. When Aquilius investigated his refusal to execute Christians, Florian stated, “Tell the Emperor that I am a Christian and will suffer the same fate as the Christians.” Aquilius then offered him a raise and promotion if he would change his mind, which Florian refused, outraging Aquilius. Florian was initially whipped, as pressure to renounce his faith and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. He told Aquilius that he had “suffered many wounds for the Emperor” and therefore, why should he “fear a few scratches for his own beliefs?” His courage scared Aquilius, who feared that Florian would lead others to rebel and convert to Christianity.
Word reached the Emperor that he was not enforcing the ban against Christianity in his territory, and under investigation he was found to be a Christian. The popular method of disposing of Christians in that day was to burn them to death, and it was suggested that Florian suffer the same fate. He, however, stated his intention to “climb to Heaven on the flames” of the funeral pyre being prepared for him. The soldiers decided at that point to dispose of him another way so he was tortured, then a large stone was tied around his neck and he was thrown into the Ennis River to drown. He was martyred around the year 304 A.D.
A faithful lady recovered and buried his body, which was later moved to the Augustinian Abbey of St. Florian, near current-day Linz, Austria. In 1138 some of St. Florian’s relics were given to King Casimir of Poland and the Bishop of Cracow. Since his relics arrived in Poland, he has been regarded as the patron saint of that country. Numerous miraculous occurrences have been reported both in the presence of his relics, and at the confluence of the Enns and Danube Rivers, where his martyrdom occurred.
Because of his association with fire, St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters and chimney sweeps and has been invoked for protection from both fire and water. St. Florian…pray for us!
We celebrate Pentecost on May 20th. Here is a short little video about the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. May we call on the Holy Spirit every day so that we have the courage and wisdom to say YES LORD!
April Saint of the Month
Saint Catherine of Siena
Catherine was born at Siena, Tuscany in Italy and was one of 26 children . She had many siblings but unfortunately, about half of them died at an early age, including Catherine’s twin sister. It was a busy household and Catherine was a cheerful, smart, and devout child. When she was 5 or 6 year old, she saw her first vision while walking home, of Jesus enthroned in heaven surrounded by the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John.
Her mother and father wanted her to be happily married. But, Catherine wished only to be a nun. To make herself as unattractive as possible, she cut off her long, beautiful hair. Her parents were very upset and scolded her often. They also gave her the most difficult housework to do. But Catherine did not change her mind. St. Dominic himself appeared to her in a vision, which convinced her to be a Dominican tertiary, something that at the time was normally reserved for widows. She also got special permission to wear a habit. Finally, her parents stopped bothering her and allowed her to become a nun.
When Catherine was 21 years old, the little baby Jesus and his mother Mary appeared to Catherine who was praying alone in her room. Mary took Catherine’s hand and the infant Jesus put a ring on the saint’s finger and she became his bride. Although only Catherine could see this ring, this mystical marriage to Jesus filled her heart with love and joy and she answered her call to go out in the world and serve the poor.
St. Catherine was drawn further into the world as she worked, and eventually she began to travel, calling for reform of the Church and for people to confess and to love God totally. In those days the Church had many problems. There were fights going on all over Italy. Catherine wrote letters to kings and queens. She even went to beg rulers to make peace with the pope and to avoid wars. Catherine asked the pope to leave Avignon, France, and return to Rome to rule the Church as it was God’s will. He listened to St. Catherine and did as she said. She was a peacemaker and was respected by many for her service and good council. During a visit to the city of Pisa, Catherine received the stigmata from a wooden cross hanging in the Church of Santa Cristina, but just like her ring, this crown and stigmata was only seen by her.
Catherine went on to write over 400 letters to help Christians understand their faith so they would love Jesus and the Church even more. It’s because of these writings and her bold service to the Church that she became a Doctor of the Church.
This great saint died of a stroke in 1380 when she was just thirty-three. The people of Siena wanted to have her body. There was a miracle told in which they were partially successful. Knowing that they could not smuggle her whole body out of Rome, they decided to take only her head, which they placed in a bag. When stopped by the Roman guards, they prayed to St Catherine to help them. When they opened the bag to show the guards, it appeared no longer to hold her head but to be full of rose petals. Once they got back to Siena they reopened the bag and her head was visible again. Due to this story, St Catherine is often seen holding a rose. The incorruptible head and thumb were entombed in the Basilica of San Domenico, where they remain today.
In my research on St. Catherine’s life, I found this bio to be one of the best. Please read more about the life of this amazing Saint.
A quick overview of St. Catherine’s life story…
Saint Catherine…pray for us!
SOM Club April Member Spotlight
Meet Sara!
Sara has been part of the Club from the beginning! Her knowledge and devotion to the Saints is a real inspiration to me. Sara’s family does an amazing job in encouraging her and they spend time together researching different Saints and growing together in their knowledge and devotion of our friends in Heaven. If there was a trivia game show about the Saints…Sara would be a champ!
Let’s meet 9 year old Sara!
Favorite Saint and why: St.Agnes of Assisi is my favorite saint because she is pretty in the saint cards I have. I have a short book called ‘A Story Of Saint Agnes of Assisi’ by Brother Flavius, C.S.C. that I got on the feast of Saint Nicholas.
Favorite thing about the Saint of the Month Club: My favorite thing about the Saint of the Month Club is learning about the saints. I like learning about how they died or were martyred. I also like your paintings of the saints.
Favorite family activity? My favorite family activity is playing outside with my family, because we get to play together. We like playing Frisbee together.
Please join me this month in praying for Sara and her family. May they continue to be open to the gift of grace and a lifelong friendship with the Saints. May the Holy Spirit guide us all in a greater knowledge of the Saints and help us to remember to call on them in our times of struggle. -Amen!
Saint Agnes of Assisi, Saint Catherine of Siena…pray for us!
How to plant a St. Catherine of Siena Devotional Garden
Part 1/ Planting the Seeds of Faith
Talking with a friend last spring she mentioned that she was working a her ‘Mary Garden’ and explained that this was a devotional garden which used certain plants to represent different virtues of Mary and prayers you may need. WHAT! Why had I not heard of this? Oh wait, Im still a baby Catholic, only 9years young. Well this baby Catholic went to Pinterest and I was instantly hooked!
So this spring I wanted to do my own devotional garden, and I thought this would be a fun project to do with my Saint of the Month friends. Since Saint Catherine of Siena happens to be one of my favorite Saints, this was the perfect way for me to honor her and grow in virtue… get it? GROW in virtue!
I have never started plants from seeds, but have always wanted to try it. I reflected on St. Catherine’s life and remembered the mustard seed parable in the bible.
Matthew 13:31-32 “Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Due to our baptism, God has planted this “seed” of faith in all of us. How and when will our faith grow? Will our faith extend outside of ourselves and grow as big a tree? Can our faith offer refuge to others? YES! This seed of faith is a great gift from God and it can’t help but grow as long as we nurture this gift. St. Catherine of Siena nurtured this seed of faith by spending time in prayer and growing in friendship with Jesus. Much like the seeds I will plant for her devotional garden, they need the Son.
I choose 4 different plants for Saint Catherine’s garden. Each flower represents a part of Saint Catherine’s life and how she cooperated with God’s grace, this gift of faith.
- Heavenly Blue= represents her Mystical Marriage to Jesus. How Jesus came to her with the blessed Mother at His side and placed a ring, brought down from Heaven, onto St. Catherine’s finger.
- Cosmos= represents the Divine Intervention she received by her mystical visions of Saints. She was visited by Jesus, the Blessed Mother, Mary Magdalene (her spiritual mother), Saint Dominic ( who convinced her to join the Sisters of Penitence of Saint Dominic’s Third Order and also one of her favorite Saints), Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint John, St. David, .
- Marigold= represents St. Catherine’s love and devotion to Jesus and the Blessed Mother.
- Forget-Me-Not= represents St. Catherine as Doctor of the Church. Her zeal for God, the Church and her teachings converted many people, including political leaders. She is only 1 of 4 female Doctors of the Church, which is why I only choose 4 different plant varieties.
Excited to get this project going, I wanted to support Saint of the Month members in their seed growing efforts and devotion of St. Catherine by offering them a Devotional Garden Kit in their April Saint of the Month Box.
(click on photos 2 x to see larger view)
Some extra supplies you may want on hand to make the most out of your Devotional Garden Kit.
craft paint, scissors, tacky or white school glue, paint brush and cup of water for the paint.
Take some time to get your craft on and decorate your plant markers.
Before planting a seed, we must prepare the soil. Kinda like how God prepares our soul for the seed of faith through baptism.
Soak the soil pods in water for 10 minutes.
Be sure to offer your seeds all that they need to grow. Proper sun light, temperature above 50 degrees and water ( but don’t drown your seed, just keep it moist).
Part 2 of growing a St Catherine of Siena devotional garden coming soon. Patience is a virtue…see it’s already helping me to grow!
Shrimp Tacos with a Twist
Looking for a super easy, tasty, affordable, quick and yummy meal for
Fridays during Lent? I got one!
Ok…it’s truly this easy! Add these items to your shopping list this week.
Follow the directions on the popcorn shrimp box for baking and while that’s in the oven mix up the Asian Salad ingredients, which are all included in the bag.
Toast your corn tortillas over a flame on your gas stove or microwave for a few seconds to heat.
Build your Asian taco by adding the salad mix on to the tortilla, followed by fresh slices avocado and topped with popcorn shrimp.
If you’re feeling funky, add some yummy Tabasco Sriracha, our favorite, on top! 
Some other ingredients you could add on include cilantro, mango, or sweet peppers.
My family goes meatless on Friday’s year round, so this is a quick for me, yummy for them favorite.
So quick in fact, that this blog post took me longer to write then the time it takes to make this meal!
I hope you enjoy it too!
Lenten Blessings!
SOM Club March Member Spotlight
Meet the Teipen Family
This amazing family is shining in our March Spotlight!
Let’s meet em’!
Faustina is 9yrs old and her favorite Saint is Mary! Why? Because she is the Mother of God of course:) Faustina enjoys making the activities that comes in the Saint of the Month box each month.
Augustine is up next and he is 11yrs old. His favorite thing about the SOM Club was the activities sent during the Christmas months because our family worked on it together. Augustine’s favorite Saint is St Therese because she was called the Little Flower. She did a lot of little things that helped others.
Ave Maria is 7 years old and her favorite Saint is also St. Therese of Lisieux because she was a nun. Ave Maria enjoys the Saint Story each month, along with the coloring page.
Ignatius is the little guy, and he is 3 yrs old and wanted in the picture also. He is a sweet saint in the making!
Finally meet John Paul…any guesses who his favorite Saint is?! You got it! Saint JP the Great!
Please join me this month by adding the entire Teipen family and their intentions to your prayer list. May the love of Christ continue to inspire them as they answer the call to service and sainthood, just like their namesakes.
Blessed Mother, St. Faustina, St. Augustine, St. Ignatius,
St. Therese and St. John Paul…
pray for them!