The Beginnings of a Summer Reading List

It's time to make my Summer Reading plans!  Back in this post, I compiled a big list of books about Saints that I have plans to really begin to explore this summer.  So books about Saints make up the majority of my current Summer Reading List, but I'm still looking for some great suggestions (probably one per month) for great fiction/historical fiction novels you'd recommend.   
 Note** You can also currently find my 'summer list' under my Mommy's Book Bag tab
Here's what I've got so far for my Summer Reading Saints list:

Let's start with a few books that will be on my "ongoing list" throughout the summer.  By that I mean that I know they will take longer than 1 month.  Some will take just over, some will take more like two, some will take 4, and some I won't even finish during "summer" and will continue into the fall and beyond, I'm sure.  

A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms 

By Lisa Hendey

My (former) Mom's Group is working through this book which is fantastic.  It's filled with short biographies, little reflections, scriptures to reflect on that relate to each Saint, and ways to reflect at home with your family as well.  

33 Days to Morning Glory

By Fr. Michael Gaitley

Two years ago, I consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary (using the 33 Days book; I've done the St. Louis de Montfort version in the past multiple times) on May 31, the feast of The Visitation.  So every year since I've tried to re-read the 33 Days to Morning Glory book (beginning April 28) and reconsecrate on May 31. 

'You Did It to Me'

also by Fr. Michael Gaitley

I'm already a little ways into this, but I put it down because I wanted to read Story of a Soul and Fr. Michael's new book, 33 Days to Merciful Love earlier in 2016, but it's still the Year of Mercy, and I'm determined to read this great book on mercy that Fr. Gaitley has penned as well.

Diary of St. Faustina: Divine Mercy in my Soul

I've also been reading this off and on for a long, long while now.  Again, it's the Year of Mercy, so I'm going to make a more concentrated effort to try to finish this in 2016. 

Introduction to the Devout Life

by St. Francis de Sales

I have had this on my "to read" list for a long time now.  I am a big fan of both St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, but I still have yet to read this awesome work. 

                                                                                                                                   

And now for some other books on specific Saints to read from May-September:
   

 Story of a Soul
(Yes, I am STILL finishing up the last chapter or two of this book.  It's a gem, but PACKED with awesomeness, so I've been taking it really slowly.)

The Mother of the Little Flower

By Celine Martin

I hope to read both this and The Father of the Little Flower this year.  St. Therese's parents were canonized just last year and I have been itching to read more and more about them.  This is a May goal. 

The Imitation of Christ

by Thomas a Kempis

Another that I've started, but have yet to make it all the way through, so this is my June goal.  My friend Denise loves this book and I know I will too once I actually finally read it!

Lily of the Mohawks: The Story of St. Kateri

by Emily Cavins

I will likely read this as a 'read-aloud' with Kayla since St. Kateri is one of her current favorite Saints.  I bought this book with her in mind, so we'll try to read it during the month of July since St. Kateri's feast day is almost smack in the middle of that month.  

Saint Martin de Porres

by Elizabeth Marie DeDomenico

This book is one Kayla earned a few months ago with good behavior.  She's already barreled through it, but I'm going to read it on my own (a very easy read as it's written for elementary kids, but a nice, quick intro to a Saint whom I know very little about, but I'm very interested in.). 

    

A Man for Others
by Patricia Treece
A book about St. Maximilian Kolbe, another great Marian Saint.  I've been wanting to read it for awhile now, and I'm figuring that the month of his feast day might be a nice goal, so August it is.

Meditations from a Simple Path
by Mother Teresa
I don't have a copy of this yet, but I'm hoping to locate a copy before September.  Mother Teresa will be canonized then and I'm due right around then.  I'm thinking she will be a great inspiration.  Her humility and sacrificial love are virtues that I'd love to grasp more especially during the waiting at the end of pregnancy and the exhaustion that comes after labor and delivery.

Lovely Mother Teresa print from Katrina over at Hatchprints.  I adore her work. 

Any fiction recommendations for me? 

 I'd love to hear what you hope to read over the summer too!

Where you go, I'll go-- Moving again!

It won't come as a surprise to most that we are moving once again.  In our 7.5 years of marriage we have lived in 2 states, 6 different cities, and 8 homes.   We will be adding another state, another city, and another home with our next move to the Denver, CO area.  It is (per usual) a very bittersweet move for us.  

Though we have been discussing the idea of a move to the Denver area for quite awhile, until very recently (like 4 weeks ago), we were planning it as more of a plan for sometime in the next 2-4 years. Why?  Because we love it here.  We don't actually want to move at all.  

The weather is perfect.  We have an amazing group of faith-filled friends.  My godfather and his wife live here and we have become so close to them in our time here.  We started a Young Families Ministry at a nearby parish.  We each attend a monthly men's/women's Bible study with friends.  I love my mom's group at the local parish.  Our Catholic homeschooling group is a wonderful one.  I love the Charter School that we've been working with this year for Kayla's homeschooling.  Kayla loves her ballet studio.  We live near Disneyland and had the blessing of annual passes for two years.  We live near both the ocean and mountains where we love to hike.  We love the area, we love our grocery stores, we love our library....we LOVE living in our little corner of Southern California.  

(this isn't to say there aren't wonderful things about the Denver area; I know there are.  More on that eventually in another post... This is just to say that we don't want to leave.  We love it HERE.)

And though we have been able to live here on one income (and my little part-time help), we moved here "late in the game" to make it work long-term because the area is just so very expensive.  With the number of kids we already have, we just won't ever save enough in an area like this to ever really expand and grow.   Hence, why we had been reluctantly discussing the idea of moving while still trying to avoid it as long as we possibly could and hope that God would work an amazing miracle so that we could just stay.  God? God??

Alas, God's ways are not our ways, and after diligently looking for new jobs in the area for the last 9 months, and then looking even harder for jobs here recently, we decided to be open to moving to Denver now.  Chris put out a bunch more applications, and we heard back.  Almost immediately.  Hello there, God.  

And suddenly I could feel the air tightening around me.  What have I done?  What did I say yes to? But still there was no actual interview or job offer.  Sigh.  Phew.  A week later, that, too, began though, and I was suddenly very glad that God had brought Fr. Michael Gaitley's book 33 Days to Merciful Love into my life right now.  It has been an incredible help and source of peace.  Chris' current job has been draining him for many reasons in the last year but especially in the last few months, so there is a huge part of me that was praying and I mean, praying hard that he would find something new, no matter where it took us.  I think it goes without saying that this was difficult for me. There was a huge part of us that was still hoping God would work everything out so we could continue our life here.  

So I did the only thing I could think to do in the midst of my whirling emotions surrounding it all: pray.  I prayed a lot and I stopped telling God what I wanted, what I needed, and just prayed the words under the Divine Mercy image, 

"Jesus, I trust in You."  

Sometimes I prayed it through tears of frustration and sadness at the thought of leaving yet another place.  Sometimes I said it in peaceful submission, but I just kept saying it (and I'm still praying it...).  At the times when I'm especially anxious about giving over my will to God and struggle to have faith that His plans for our family are truly better than my own, I pray a favorite Bible verse of mine too, "Lord, I believe!  Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24).  

These two prayers have been an incredible source of grace and have brought so much peace into my life about this move.  

And sure enough, Chris got the job.  It's better in every way than his job here, so we couldn't hide anymore behind excuses about why we shouldn't move....but more than that, we have both been blessed with an amazing peace about it all.  I know I will shed many more tears before we leave and after too, but by God's grace, I am also able to praise God for this new opportunity for Chris and our family to grow where He is planting us now.  

A random fact:
 None of our 4 girls have been born in the same city, or even county, as each other.  This move makes it official that #5 will keep our accidental trend alive and strong....

Mission Basilica Door of Mercy!

You may have heard of "Holy Doors", and if you are like me you guess that they are some beautiful Church tradition and that there's a bit of research that must be done to educate yourself more on the subject. 

With the ease of the internet, I found a wonderful explanation on the Mission Basilica website in about 5 seconds.  

To give a brief explanation here, I have pasted a part of the explanation below (I have added some underlining for emphasis):

       "A holy door or porta sancta has been used since the fifteenth century as a ritual expression of            conversion. Pilgrims and penitents pass through it as a gesture of leaving the past behind and              crossing the threshold from sin to grace, from slavery to freedom, and from darkness to light.              Often these rituals are associated with prayer, pilgrimage, sacrifice, confession, and indulgences.

       But the door finds meaning only when the believer associates the door with Christ.

       Jesus is the Door!"

We are blessed to live quite near to the Mission Basilica, one of two locations in Orange County where a holy door can be found during the Year of Mercy.  Our dear friends, Jacinta and Scott organized an 'pilgrimage' (gave us a meeting date and time) to visit the holy door and complete the 11 Stations of Mercy at the Mission Basilica.  And it did end up being more of a pilgrimage than we thought it might be because the annual Swallows Day parade was taking place the same day, so we ended up having to park several miles away, hop onto a shuttle (a school bus) and walk about 1/2 a mile to the Basilica from there.  It was a nice little additional time and effort to make it feel like we had to "try" since ordinarily a trip to the Basilica is a quick easy hop for all of us from where we live and there is a parking lot right next to it.  

There ended up being three families who met to do our little pilgrimage together. 

 Here are some of us entering the door.  (Jacinta took these next two pictures)

I love Ava looking up at the picture here.  So sweet. 

Chris and Scott and Gregory heading through from darkness to light.  :)

Inside the Basilica (and outside too, since a few of the stations were outside) they designated certain pictures and shrines to be markers for the 11 Stations of Mercy:

Station 1: Welcome the Stranger

Station 2: Admonish the Sinner

Station 3: Counsel the Doubtful

Station 4: Forgive Offenses

Station 5: Comfort the Sick

Station 6: Visit the Imprisoned

Station 7: Bear Wrongs Patiently

Station 8: Feed the Hungry, Clothe the Naked, Give Drink to the Thirsty

Station 9: Instruct the Ignorant

Station 10: Comfort the Afflicted

Station 11: Bury the Dead, Pray for the Living and the Dead

You can find the stations to pray on your own wherever you are during this Year of Mercy here on the Basilica's website.  It has reflections on each station and a beautiful prayer to say for each as well.  

Jacinta took these next two sweet pictures as well. 

It was a beautiful little pilgrimage and a wonderful blessing for each of us and for our families during this Year of Mercy.  

As Pope Francis said, "There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of communion with God: this is Jesus"  

Especially in this Year of Mercy, may God continually remind us to show others mercy just as He has shown us such incredible mercy.  

Jesus, I trust in You.  Be Merciful to me, a sinner.

And here are just a few pictures of a bit of the Swallows Day parade that we caught after our pilgrimage.  

 

Here's sweet Gregory, "feeding the hungry".  hahaha

It's hard to see the 'swallows' they are swinging around in the wind....

God's Word-FILLED Wednesday- Jeremiah 29:11

God has been working with me HARD-CORE on trusting in Him recently.  In reading the book, 33 Days to Merciful Love by Fr. Mike Gaitley, I am being smacked over the head with it continually.  Trust, trust, TRUST!  I am also using Blessed Is She's Lenten devotional workbook and it, too, (through reading and reflecting on the daily readings as well as additional reflections written by Blessed Is She writers) is urging me to stop worrying and TRUST.  

As a family, we are discerning some pretty big decisions right now, and for every time I try to grab back all my worries and anxieties, God is sending me encouragement to give it to Him, to trust Him with my life, my family, my future.  Over and over and over again (I'm a bit of a control freak and pro/con lists and constant discussion about decisions is kind of how I roll).  But God has asked me to toss those things aside and simply give my plans and worries over to Him.  

This morning, I opened a fresh journal (given to me by my friend for my birthday) and this verse stared me in the face:

And just as I've done almost every other day this week, I had a quiet conversation with the Lord and gave Him (once again!) the worries that I was attempting to sneak back.  God and I have been having a lot of words recently.  I've spent some time crying.  But I've spent far more time saying, "OK, God.  Whatever you want.  Not my will, but yours be done."   And I have found so much peace in that.  My heart is no longer tied in knots about everything on my plate.  My worries about our family are balanced with the knowledge that God is in control and His plans are better than mine.  EVEN when I don't understand them.  

What a beautiful gift we have been given in the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  God's merciful love is so wide, so high, so big, and this Year of Mercy has been a wonderful reminder to accept the great outpouring of God's love and mercy that is available to us if we only open our hearts and accept it.  

What's on your heart today?  Can you read that verse with me and trust God's words to us that He has incredible plans for our lives even when we can't see how all the crazy pieces will fit together?  Can you repeat with me, "Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24) over and over until God's peace shines through the darkness of our fears and failings?  Can we pray these words of St. Faustina: "Jesus, I trust in You." and give Him EVERYTHING?  

Let's begin with a simple "Yes" as Mary did. 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation-Why I'm so bad at it

Perhaps I am the only one who dreads the confessional.  But after reflecting on it for awhile, I realized why.  

It's pride.  

I hate going to confession because it makes me feel like a failure.  I am constantly committing the same sins over and over again, and the words of Saint Paul to the Romans ring true, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do."  (7:15)

Pride.  

I am treating Confession as a "Get-out-of-Jail-Free" card instead of as a Sacrament which has layers of grace for me.  See, even though I know better, I tend to fall into the habit of treating Confession as just another "obligation" that the Church requires in order for me to be an active participant.  It's like I have a checklist and expect to get gold stars for each one when I've fulfilled my "duty" or something: 1. Go to Mass every Sunday--Gold Star!  2. Give up meat on Fridays in Lent--Gold Star!  3. Go to Mass on Holy Days of Obligation--Gold Star!  4. Go to Mass with kids--2 Gold Stars! :P  You get the idea...

Sure all those things are requirements, but they have no point without love.  As it says in 1 Corinthians 13, "if I speak in the tongues of men and angels, have the gift of prophecy, have faith that can move mountains, and give all I have to the poor, but have not love, I gain nothing!"

God's forgiveness and mercy are always there for me, but am I receiving them?  Am I going to Confession with the right mindset, with the right heart?  More often than not, I would have to say no. 

Today I pulled out the Catechism to get some more insight into the Sacrament of RECONCILIATION.  What does it truly mean to reconcile with God and the Church and others?

First of all in the Catechism 1422, we read, "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."

Yeah, I've never really considered that my sins have wounded the Church, but they have.  How many folks leave the Church because of hypocrites?  How many people leave the Church because they see rule-followers, but don't feel loved?  My sins, my failure to love wounds the Church and contributes to that.  

Also we see that there are layers to the Sacrament when we read on in the Catechism 1423-1424, 

"It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally  present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.  

It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.  

It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament.  In a profound sense it is also a "confession" --acknowledgement and praise--of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.  

It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent 'pardon and peace'.  

It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God.'  He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: 'Go; first be reconciled to your brother.'"

Pretty profound really.  And much deeper than simply going and telling the priest that you did something naughty and getting a brief scolding of sorts.  The Sacrament requires many things of us, the first of which is a truly contrite heart.  One that leaves pride behind and embraces humility and more humility.  

Reconciliation isn't just about us.  The dictionary defines reconciling in several ways, "to win over to friendliness", to "compose or settle" (as in a dispute), "to bring into agreement or harmony", to "reconsecrate", to "restore".   If we are truly sorry, if we have said yes to Jesus' call to conversion and taken steps toward penance and restoration, if we have humbly admitted our fault and acknowledged God's great mercy, and accepted His love for us, we make amends.  We change our lives.  We can't help it.  We recommit in real, intentional ways because we never want to wound Christ and His Church again.  

image found on Pinterest

I'll close with this section 1434 of the Catechism which sums up reconciliation and also the general sentiment of Lent:

"The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways.  Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others.  Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: efforts at reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity 'which covers a multitude of sins'".  

Image found on Pinterest

Do you have thoughts about #Reconciliation?  Link-up here with the Blessed Is She sisterhood, in the comments or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using the #Bissisterhood hashtag.  

Let's trust in the mercy of God today and let it transform our hearts. 

Jesus, I trust in You. 

Image found on Pinterest

Have mercy on me, and on the whole world. 

God's Word-filled Wednesday: Psalm 19:14

When I read this verse, I alternate between viewing it from two different places.  

Let me explain....

On the one hand, I feel as though a verse like this would be just the sort of thing the Pharisees would have loudly prayed for all to hear.  I know I'm tempted to read it and think, I've been pretty good here, haven't I, God?  I say the right things and I try to think about you and say my prayers.  I'm pretty good, aren't I?

But isn't that prideful?  Even if I'm not loudly proclaiming it, I'm allowing pride in.

Shouldn't I be more like that poor sinner who beats his chest and cries out, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" ?  

It's true.  The moment I think that I'm doing pretty well, I'm letting pride creep into my life.  

One of the lessons I am ever so slowly learning is that I can do nothing on my own.  It is only "by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Then, of course, there is the flip-side of that pride, which is to feel as though nothing I do is ever good enough to be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. A false humility, really, because I am denying that God has given me grace enough to do good and worthy things. Shall we refer once more to the verse from 1 Corinthians? "By the grace of God I am what I am." To believe that I am not enough is to accuse God of not being enough and His grace of being ineffective.

But let's read the verse again...

This time, I read a humble, beautiful cry to the Lord.  I know that I am completely unworthy of God's love.  I fail time and time again.  I try so hard to do the right things, say the right things, and think the right things, but I'm human.  

Knowing and understanding that, I see this verse as a humble appeal to God's divine mercy.  

You may be familiar with the message of Divine Mercy entrusted to St. Faustina.  I have read only bits and pieces of the actual diary (it's quite extensive!), but I am doing my best to go through it little by little.  Let me share a few thoughts about God's mercy from her diary:

“I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.”

“I have opened my Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death.”

The ocean at sunset always reminds me of the message of Divine Mercy. 

The sun (SON!) presiding over a sea (of Divine Mercy).  

Le sigh.....

These are some of the lyrics from Hillsong United song, "Oceans". 

It reminds me a lot of God's divine mercy.  At one point, the words are: "Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders".  That is the kind of trust we all must have in the great mercy of our Savior.  He alone can fill us with grace enough to be holy as he is holy.  He alone can fill the voids in our lives, in our hearts.  He alone is enough.  And we can rest in the embrace of His ocean of mercy that flows over us and "envelops the whole world".  

 When I rest in His embrace and in the knowledge of His great mercy for us all, I am able to truly and humbly pray:

So the key is really true humility, true contrition for my sins, and trust in the love and mercy of God. If I can just acknowledge my own sinfulness and inabilities, and instead trust in the mercy of God, He will fill me with an abundance of graces.  

Come Holy Spirit, fill me with your grace. 

Oh, how I need you!

What I Wore: April 27

My outfit was nothing terribly exciting or terribly unique.  I have worn outfits quite similar, but hey, isn't that what mom style is really all about?  Mixing and matching the items you have to make "new" outfits, even if they aren't ENTIRELY new?  I think so and so does my clothing budget.

Today is the celebration of many wonderful events in the Church.  We are celebrating the canonizations of two Popes, now Saints, and of course it is the feast of Divine Mercy!  Here are some fun ideas for celebrating, many of which we'll be doing/have already done. John Paul II and Divine Mercy Sunday.

And because my daughters and I got weary of the traditional pictures for What I Wore on Sunday, we started taking selfies of the various emotions.....

 

May you have a blessed feast of Divine Mercy!

Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, pray for us!

Sunday style link-up!  Add yours and check out some great outfits from some lovely ladies.

Finelinenandpurple.com

Celebrating the Canonization of John Paul II

Pope John XXIII is also being canonized this Sunday, and I feel like we are leaving him out, but the honest truth is that I just don't know all that much about him except that he wrote some great encyclicals and that he was a very humble man.  Perhaps when I no longer have a child under the age of 4, I will have more time to read up on him and his encyclicals too!

 Saint John XXIII, pray for us!

And that brings us to the man who was Pope when I was born, a Pope that inspired me, and a man I traveled across the United States to see at World Youth Day.  Even after his death, I have studied about him and been inspired by his life.  When I  studied abroad, we visited Poland and were guided through several areas that were significant in his life; his city of birth, Wadowice, and a school where he studied.  We even enjoyed a bit of Polish cream cake, now referred to as "Papal Cream Cake" or simply "Pope Cake" because he apparently loved the stuff so much.

 

The hubby and I met that semester abroad, so we share these memories, but what also really made me smile was finding out that my hubby was also present at World Youth Day in Toronto and shared that experience with our beloved Pope too.  We didn't know each other, but God brought us to the same place to be blessed by an amazing man who had so much wisdom to share and whose life was truly one of spreading the gospel in love.

You better believe we will be celebrating his canonization and sharing what we can about him with our children.  For Sunday, here are the grand plans:

1. We are making some "Pope Cake" in honor of JPII.  I found a fairly simple recipe here.  You might also check out Catholic Cuisine for a variation.

picture from about.com

2. I'm planning a Polish meal- some of it is still to be determined, so I'll have to do a follow-up post with pictures of how everything turned out...  My current thought is Perogies and Polish sausage at least...

3. We may be sporting some hipster JPII looks just for fun.  Seriously, the man was the coolest.  If you don't believe me, check out these 21 awesome facts about him.  Did you read them?  DO IT!  He is just incredible and amazing.  I've already decided that the next book I'm reading (and actually finishing!) is going to be this one as soon as I can get a copy.

4. We will be doing some fun crafts.  Definitely the cute John Paul II paper bag puppet (see the pic below and one of the links for direction), but perhaps more...Check out some fun stuff you can do with your kids at Catholic Icing HERE!  and also here on Catholic Icing.

5. Watch one of the Pope's (supposedly) favorite movies.  I came across a few sites that listed some and we have chosen Life is Beautiful.  (It's Uh-mazing!)

6. Go for a family hike (or do something outdoor-sy).  Pope John Paul II was an avid outdoorsman, who loved to ski, swim, hike, and kayak among other outdoor activities.  

found on usatoday.com

 And let's go back in time... to Pope John Paul II's beatification!  Check out Kayla's little project from back then.  And just look how little she was.....

Saint John Paul the Great, pray for us.  

Divine Mercy Sunday

If you want really great ideas to do with kids to celebrate the feast of Divine Mercy, then check out Lacy's ideas and others she has gathered at Catholic Icing here.  We have done the 'Divine Mercy Sundaes' in the past and will be revisiting that wonderfully clever (and delicious) idea again tonight.  We also have done the hand print works of mercy project.  See the pictures (from two years ago) below:

Here is Kayla's finished product from this year's:

I also crafted a Jesus (same template I use to make the Alphabet Saints) so that Kayla could add the blood and water gushing forth from the heart of Jesus.  We discussed Jesus' passion and death for our sins and how we don't deserve it, but He loves us so much that He can't help it.  His mercy is ready to spill over for those who come to Him with repentant hearts and ask.

To help teach this fairly short and simple prayer, I made up this little "coloring" sheet for Kayla to color later on after we eat our dinner.

This is a great kids' book (a short novel) that could be read with children during the last several weeks of Lent and the Easter octave in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday.