St. Noah Mawaggali and The Feast of The Visitation

This coming Thursday, May 31, is a special day for my son, Noah.  We like to celebrate patron saint days in our family, and for years we used Noah's middle name (Chad) for a patron saint.  I just couldn't find the Biblical Noah or any other Noah in any saint resource.  Surely the Noah from the Bible is in heaven ... I just couldn't imagine otherwise, but still, I really wanted a saint from a resource like Butler's Lives of the Saints with an official feast day.  A few years back I purchased a copy of the most recent Roman Martyrology - the book that Butler's draws from and was happily surprised to find a Saint Noah!  His feast day is on May 31 ... so, this nice guy gets to share a special day with Saints Mary and Elizabeth in honor of their feast of The Visitation.

This is the only holy card/image I could find
connected with St. Noah Mawaggali. 
My son keeps it in his wallet, so it is a little worn!
I got it from www.CatholicPrayerCards.org.  

The back side of the card ... St. Noah (Nowa) is the 8th martyr listed.

Saint Noah Mawaggali
You can find this saint's name spelled in a variety of ways:

Noah

Noa

Nowa

Noe

St. Noah was born in Uganda, Africa near 1850, and as an adult worked as a potter and tanner.  Through his landlord, he learned about the Catholic Faith and chose to be baptised ... at the age of 35.  Noah Mawaggali was active in his faith, even when persecutions against Catholics surfaced.  He was targeted as a Catholic, and on May 31, 1886 (about 6 months after his baptism) he was accosted, stabbed with a spear, and fed to dogs.

Saint Noah Mawaggali actually has two feast days ... May 31 for his personal martyrdom, and June 3 which commemorates the martyrdom of 22 Catholic Ugandans from the time.

More On Saint Noah Mawaggali

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A Recent Article on the Devotion of the Holy Face of Jesus

Another Beautiful Holy Card From
www.CatholicPrayerCards.org

A Family Litany of Saints

Back in March, while visiting my son Ian in Virginia, I came across this neat booklet in the back of his church.  The author presented an idea that I thought was just great ... making up your own Litany of the Saints!  So, inspired by the book, I created a Litany of the Saints for my family based on everyone's patron/name saint:

St. Chad (for my husband), please pray for us.

St. Therese (my patroness), please pray for us.

St. James the Greater (for my oldest, Seamus), please pray for us.

Our Lady of the Pillar (for my almost-daughter-in-law), please pray for us.

St. John the Evangelist (for my middle son, Ian), please pray for us.

St. Noah (for my youngest, Noah), please pray for us.

Click here for some more traditional Litanies.

Litany of the Saints - Aberdeen Breviary, 1509

Scarves and Illuminated Manuscripts ~ Keeping Seniors Busy

I few weeks ago I wrapped up a school year of teaching a 12th Grade CCD class.  Really, the very best way to teach a bunch of 17-18 year olds is to keep them BUSY!  I felt an inspiration to teach them how to crochet scarves ... they LOVED it (except for a few of the boys ... but they were good and patient sports)!  The noise level decreased dramatically when their hands were busy with  crochet hooks and yarn - yet their ears were still willing to work - they listened to all (most of, really) I wanted to share with them.   When the weather gets cold again, we'll get the scarves to some needy folks who could use a bit of extra warmth. 

Another project I often like to teach CCD kids is the art of Illuminated Manuscripts.  As you can see from above, they put some heart into this project too ... and learned about some of the Saints in the Bible at the same time!

 

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT LESSON PLAN

1) Make sure each student has a Bible, a few sheets of blank paper and plenty of markers and/or colored pencils.

2) Pick out a Bible verse (maybe the Responsorial Psalm of Sunday's mass), or a saint. 
3) Explain to the students how in the pre-printing press days, monks, nuns, and scribes copied Bibles by hand.  Often they would “illuminate” some of the pages by enlarging and decorating the first letter of the first word of a page or spaces in the margins ― the artwork often representing something from the words on the page.  (If possible, bring a sample of an“Illuminated Letter” from a Google Image search or library book).  

4) Have the students illuminate the Bible verse or saint's name by creating a large decorated first letter, and filling in free space with relevant symbols, drawings, or geometric designs.

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A Good Summer Read:

If you are looking for a good book to read this summer, consider Story of a Soul by St. Therese ... it's even free on Kindle now!

Story of a Soul: A Catholic Must-Read

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A Great Mother's Day ... all three of my kids got home.  The one on my left (with the Happy Mother's Day T-Shirt) was a big shock, for he lives in Virginia!!!  The boys got together and orchestrated this fun surprise for me.  For those of you with kids entering their adult years, you can empathise with me.  Getting them all together in one room doesn't happen as often!  My pretty and sweet almost-daughter-in-law came over too.  So, we had a very happy day.  People often comment on my sons' heights ... believe it or not, I used to be considered tall.  I guess when you put on about 50 pounds during a pregnancy, though, the babies are bound to be big.

Noah's Ark Caption Contest

Click Here To Submit A Caption

Cuyler Black at www.InheritTheMirth.com really cracks me up.  His cartoons are sort of like The Far Side, but with Biblical themes.  I bought my teenager his book What's That Funny Look on Your Faith? a  year or so ago and he just loved it (the whole family did, actually). 

Every once in a while Cuyler offers a Caption Contest for new cartoons.  If you are the clever type, consider sending in a caption for the cartoon above and maybe you will win a fun prize.

Feast of St. Jeremiah



St. Jeremiah Distraught Over the Destruction of Jerusalem

Today - May 1 - is the Feast of an Old Testament prophet and saint:  Saint Jeremiah.  His book is the second in the section of the prophets' books.  It's a bit tricky to read and absorb, but basically, he tried real hard to get the people of Judah to follow the ways of God.  Below is an acrostic-styled list of bits and pieces about St. Jeremiah ....

J - Josiah:  Jeremiah became a prophet during the reign of good King Josiah (1:2).

E - Exile: Jeremiah was one of those left behind, while thousands of his countrymen were forced into exile in Babylon (40:1-6).

R - Ruin: Jeremiah tried to warn the people of Judah of the possible ruin of their country if they did not live in Godly ways (13:15-17).

E - Egypt: While his countrymen were in Babylon, Jeremiah was eventually taken to Egypt (43:6-7).

M - Messages: Jeremiah was frustrated over the people of Judah ignoring messages of God (8:18-23).

I -  Imagination: Jeremiah tried to appeal to the imagination of the Judahites by comparing the power of God to a potter's clay (18:1-10).

A - Anguish: Jeremiah felt great anguish over the behavior of his countrymen 20:8).

H - Hope: Jeremiah also gave messages of hope for an eventual restoration of the Israelite nation (33:6-7).

Married Couple Saints

With the divorce rate so high, it seems a good time to ponder the lives of some married couples who are counted as saints or blesseds in the Catholic Church:  

Saints Ann and Joachim - the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus.

(Photo by NHeyob)

Saints Mary and Joseph - the mother and foster father of Jesus.

 

Saints Elizabeth and Zechariah - the parents of St. John the Baptist.

Saints Mary of Cl[e]opas and Cleopas - a possible married couple from the New Testament.

The Church of Saints Aquila and Priscilla - a couple who helped Paul in his missionary works.

Saints Philemon and Apphia - friends of St. Paul who had a House Church at their home in Colossae.

 

Saints Isidore and Maria de la Cabeza - a very holy couple who lived in the 12th century near Madrid, Spain.  They had one son. 

 

  Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin - the parents of St. Therese, the Little Flower.

(photo credit - Carmelite Sisters by the Sea)

Blessed Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini - a devout couple from Italy.  They had four children, three of whom are still living. 

(photo credit - The Black Cordelias)

By the way, today - May 24 - is the feast of St. Mary of Cl[e]opas, the possible wife of St. Cleopas.  It is also the feast of St. Salome; although her husband, Zebedee, is not listed in the Roman Martyrology, I like to think that he is indeed in heaven along with Salome and their apostle sons, James and John.

Married Saints From The Bible

Mini Bible Prayers

A few years ago I had a pastor who loved to tell us about the many Bible verses that are prayer-like in their wording.  I sometimes prefer a simple prayer over a long-flowery prayer, so this concept really caught my attention.

Below are a few examples (the words underlined can be deleted or changed to make the prayer more applicable to your needs):

Make straight Your way before me.

~Psalm 5:96

Let me be filled with your presence.

~ Psalm 17:15

Cleanse me from my unknown faults.

~ Psalm 19:13b

Lord, help me.

~ Matthew 15:25b

Lord, have pity on my son.

~ Matthew 17:15

If You wish, You can make me clean.

~ Mark 1:40b

Lord … only say the word and my servant will be healed.

~ Matthew 8:8b

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

~ Luke 18:13b

My Lord and my God!

~ John 20:28b

Lord, You know everything; you know that I love You.

~ John21:17b

Taking a rosary and repeating one of these Scriptural prayers on each bead can be a very soothing exercise … very calming to the soul.