Holy Week Clock

Here is this year's version of our Holy Week clock! I used coloring pages from online (see the links below).

Here are the coloring pages I used for the clock:

Ten Virgins Parable

Jesus Heals Peter's Mother in Law (Holy Unction)

Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet (Holy Thursday)

Good Friday

The Guards guarding Jesus' Tomb (Holy Saturday)

The Resurrection (Pascha)

Easy AND Yummy Vegan Recipes

To help guide you through the last week of Lent, here are some easy and yummy vegan recipes, courtesy of Ms. Martha Stewart:

• Pea Soup (A great choice for Palm Sunday, where it is traditional in Wales to have pea soup).
• Black Bean and Corn Stew
• Portobello Mushroom Burgers with Avocado Sauce
• Sesame Noodles
• BBQ Tofu Burgers
• Chickpea Apple Curry (simply ditch the yogurt as a topping)
• Eggplant and Tomato Pasta (omit the optional Parmesan garnish and you're good to go!)
• And, believe or not, you can make sloppy joes with lentils and the kids'll love it. Simply substitute lentils for the ground beef and you're good to go (you can find vegetarian versions of Worcestershire Sauce quite easily. If you have trouble finding some, it is quite easy to make. Use this recipe).

Annunciation of the Theotokos

March 25th (today) marks the annunciation of the Theotokos. It is a feast celebrating the Archangel Gabriel appearing to Mary, announcing that she will bear the son of God. We celebrate both God reaching out to man and Mary's response; a humble obedience we should all emulate.

This is one of the only days during Lent (along with Palm Sunday) when fish is allowed. In the western church, this feast is also referred to as "Lady Day".

Ideas to celebrate:

1. Treat your family to a feast of fish for this celebration.

2. The Liturgical color for this feast is blue; so why not dress appropriately?

3. Read the story of the annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) and have the children memorize the verse, "Be it unto me according to thy word."

4. Here is a simple handprint angel craft. You could also use finger paint for the activity instead of cutting out paper. A bit more messy, but the kids will think it's fun!

May you all have a blessed Feast of the Annunciation.

Holy Week Activities

A friend from college emailed me some links for activities yesterday (thanks, Christa!). One is for making The Hill of Calvary and the other is for making an Easter Tree.

Hill of Calvary

Easter Tree

The latter activity I really like and I thought it would be fun to do a twist on it and put images of the Stations of the Cross on it. You can print out images of art for this (see the stations listed below) or have your kids color these coloring pages of the different stations.

1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus is given his cross
3. Jesus falls the first time
4. Jesus meets His Mother
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7. Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus' body is removed from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense.

Although this is definitely part of the Western tradition of Christianity and not the Eastern, I think it is a very good way to educate our children in preparation for Good Friday. I would suggest spending the week coloring a page or two each day and putting up the tree on Good Friday.

Another twist on this activity would be to buy a live tree to plant on Pascha in honor of the Life Giving Tree, the Cross.

Do remember that I have other activities listed for Holy Week and the rest of Lent in the archives and that this is a blog that depends on group participation. In other words, please share your ideas! We can all benefit from each other's creativity as we strive to educate our children in the faith.