Feast + Fast + Feria Collection – Barefoot Abbey

People Look East: Advent Wreath Prayers, Carols, & Blessings

Genie — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 23:41:01 +0000

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” — John 1:14

Advent is the liturgical season of penitential but joyful anticipation and a time to prepare our hearts for the arrival of our long awaited Savior. It is also one of our family’s favorite seasons of the liturgical year and one that we begin observing with our children from their earliest days through traditions like the Advent Wreath.

As the beginning of the new Church Year, Advent also provides Catholics a fresh start, and therefore the perfect opportunity to incorporate new spiritual devotions and disciplines within our families. The 4 week length of Advent is just enough time to cement a new religious resolution of habit into the liturgy of our lives and prayers around the Advent Wreath are an easy place to start easy place to start that can help make the mystery of the incarnation more tangible to every member of your family young and old. As our children grew, we started selecting individual religious resolutions for the coming year as part out our Catholic New Year’s Eve festivities the night before Advent begins.

The Advent Wreath is traditionally lit at night, and preferably in the dark for the greatest effect on the senses and the soul alike. With most things the most painless way to remember to add something new into our hectic lives is by pinning it to or pairing it with something else your family already does habitually. For example, your family may decide to light your Advent Wreath before or after a meal like supper, or before bedtime.

Our family has our devotions before bed as a quiet close to the busy day. We light the week's candle(s), sing "People Look East," and the O Antiphon if during the Golden Nights, then say our Advent prayers When over, we blow out the candles and, in the spirit of the Great Silence at the close of day in a monastery, head off to bed as hushed as possible with eight little ones in tow.

This booklet includes all the prayers, carols, & blessings we use for Advent Wreath devotions, as well as links to the music recordings, the Marian antiphon for Advent, a few novenas of the season, and prayers for the Advent Ember Days.

The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know.

Your family may also be blessed by our:

You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective here.

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee…” – Zachariah 9:9

Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

November Poor Souls Calendar & List of Faithful Departed

Genie — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 16:43:29 +0000

Liturgy of Life Prayer Booklet

Genie — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 12:19:53 +0000

When you dive into liturgical living there are an overwhelming amount of ideas and suggestions for commemorating the multitude of feasts and fasts within the Church year. However, we are not only called to live our Catholic faith on days when there is a feast or fast, but each and every day. That is why in this collection you’ll find all the traditional prayers, hymns, and indulgences our family has used to build a Liturgy of Life. So that you too can have the foundation to live liturgically no matter what day it may be and build a habit of holiness in your home for every season.

We begin with the prayers that focus on the dedication of eace month and then add those for each day of the week. Like a Rule of Life for an individual, a family’s Liturgy of Life is the spiritual foundation for the day that all liturgical living can be built upon. We may not all live in a monastery or convent, but we can all follow the example of religious life in taking time throughout the day to recollect our family to God in the midst of our daily tasks. And the habit of a Liturgy of Life is a great tool we can use to do this. I pray that this Liturgy of Life is as much of a blessing for your family as it has been for ours.

The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know. Your family may also be blessed by our:

You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective here.

“Prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trail as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.” — St.Therese of Lisieux

Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

November Meal Time Wall Prayers

Genie — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:52:32 +0000

"O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee. Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition.” - Psalm 88:1-2

After adding in the meal blessing and thanksgiving, our next little steps to liturgical living were to add a prayer at supper for the monthly dedication. Each month of the Catholic year has a traditional dedication and November’s is the Poor Souls in Purgatory. Pinning a related prayer to supper is our daily reminder of the month’s dedication and what it’s commemoration is supposed to be teaching us over these few weeks.

So as a visual reminder for your family and mine, I made a set of our favorite prayers in memory of the Poor Souls. Add as many or few to your meals, school day, or anytime as works for your particular family.

This set contains 8 digital prints that can be used and chosen from year after year.

Included are the:

Eternal Rest prayer
Eternal Father, I Offer Thee the Most Precious Blood prayer
O God, the Creator & Redeemer of All the Faithful prayer

Each prayer print is in both English and Latin when available. And you can choose to print them in ether black ink or one of our two Icon inspired color ways that best matches your seasonal decor. Magnetic poster holders make for easy displaying and switching out of prints each month.

The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know. Your family may also be blessed by our:

You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective here. “I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles.” - Psalm 34:4 Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

Immaculate Conception Novena

Genie — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 00:51:42 +0000

Lift me up bodily and in the flesh, which is fallen in Adam. Lift me up not from Sarah but from Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace had made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.” — St. Ambrose

The Conception of the Virgin Mary has been celebrated as a Holy Day of Obligation since the mandate of Pope Clement XI in 1708. As such this feast is to be treated as a Sunday Sabbath without unnecessary work and purchases. Its vigil, the day before, is also traditionally a day of fasting and abstinence.

In 1954 Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception was proclaimed the 3rd dogma of Mary by Pope Pius IX in his papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. There in he announced: “We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.”

In preparation for this commemoration on December 8th, the Immaculate Conception Novena is usually prayed the 9 days leading up to the feast, from November 29th—December 7th. However, it may be prayed anytime throughout the year.

This traditional version of the novena also includes the partially indulged Tota Pulchra Es, Maria Prayer found in the Raccolta.

The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know.

Your family may also be blessed by our:

You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective here. “O happy and glorious Conception! So welcome to us, and so dear to God! Misery is at an end; mercy is given to us; sadness is succeeded by joy.” — Prose from the 1600s Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

Perpetual Liturgical Planner

Genie — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 13:54:16 +0000

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” — Jeremiah 29:11 As the beginning of the new Catholic year, Advent is the perfect time to slowly slide into liturgical living with your family. And knowing which holy days fall when is the first step to getting your year of commemorations off on the right foot. When we were first starting out in this endeavor my best tool was the perpetual calendar I made to keep all my ideas and future plans contained. So to help you have everything together in one place and give you a clear but simple overview of the liturgical year to prevent overwhelm, I’m sharing our list of all the feasts, fasts, and ferias of both the new and traditional calendars in this reuseable Perpetual Liturgical Planner. With its compact size it’s thorough without being bulky and is the perfect size to slip inside your Liturgical Binder of resources. Pick a couple personally meaningful feasts or fasts for your family to mark each month, and, with the space provided, write what worked in your home. Then year after year you can revisit you notes and add, or adjust, more Catholic customs and liturgical traditions as your family grows in each new season of life. The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know. You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective.

“The feasts! What precious memories these simple words bring to me. I loved them; and my sisters knew so well how to explain the mysteries hidden in each one. Those days of earth became days of Heaven.” — St.Therese of Lisieux

Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

Requiescat in Pace: Poor Souls Prayer Booklet

Genie — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 15:01:49 +0000

For better it is that these things shall be superfluously done to them whom they neither hinder nor help, than lacking to them whom they help.” — St. Augustine, Caring for the Dead The Feast of the Poor Souls falls on November 2nd each year and the whole month of November is dedicated to these faithful departed as well. In her generosity Mother Church offers several Plenary Indulgences for these members of the Church suffering to be gained by us in their stead. However the Poor Souls not only need our prayers in November, but throughout the whole year. This is why I compiled this booklet of over 25 pages full of our family’s favorite prayers in memory of the Poor Souls and all the important indulgences of the All Saints Octave. Additionally you will find hymns, prayers, and scripture readings for All Souls and the Requiem Mass. A few other ways we can continue caring for the Poor Souls beyond November are to:

Keep an updated list of all our departed family and friends.
Pray the Sign of the Cross and the Eternal Rest Prayer when you see a cemetery.
Set a daily alarm for the family De Profundis Bell.
Remember the Poor Souls on their dedicated day of Monday.
Adopt a local cemetery and its poor souls and stop to pray there often.

My hope is that having everything you may need to petition for the Poor Souls in this handy booklet will help your family keep them top of mind and in your constant prayers. The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know. You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective. “Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.” — St. John Chrysostom Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

At Home Rorate Caeli

Genie — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 17:01:20 +0000

Roráte, coeli, désuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem. Benedixísti, Domine, terram tuam: avertísti captivitátem Jacob. Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior. Thou hast favored, O Lord, Thy land; Thou hast restored the well-being of Jacob. — Introit of the Rorate Caeli Mass A Rorate Caeli Mass is an Advent Votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the Advent cousin of the Holy Week Office of Tenebrae. In the early morning hours, while still dark, this Mass is said by candlelight until the sun rises, signifying Christ coming as the Light of the World. Its name is taken from this Mass’ Introit found in Isaiah 45:8: “Rorate, caeli, desuper,et nubes pluant justum; aperiatur terra, et germinet salvatorem.” A Votive Mass is a set of Mass propers that may be said on days when there is no assigned feast. And this votive is an off shoot of the Mass for Ember Wednesday in Advent, however, with white vestments used for Our Lady instead of the customary Advent violet. Going back at least to the Middle Ages, when it was called the Angelic or Golden Mass - Missa Aurea - this beautiful Advent tradition is not to be missed. It also fits in our liturgical living with boys philosophy of “if in doubt, add fire.” But even if this beautiful Mass is not offered by your parish or you can’t make it that early in the morning, as my little early Christmas gift to you, your family can still bring this meaningful custom into your home in this final week of Advent. Light some candles and use this mini missal to pray the Rorate Caeli propers with your family. This Mass is usually celebrated on a Saturday during Advent, but fit it in whenever your family can the remainder of this season.

Your family may also be blessed by our:

You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective here. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a savior: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him. - Isaiah 45:8 Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

Feast + Fast + Feria Advent Recipes Set

Genie — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 01:04:38 +0000

When our family began living according to the liturgical year over 15 years ago, after a foundation of prayer, we turned to incorporating traditionally associated foods into our holy day commemorations. And through the years the rich, spice-filled recipes of Advent have become some our family’s favorites.

In our home the fragrances and flavors of Advent are not just delicious additions to an austere winter menu. They also help add to the season’s atmosphere of joyful anticipation. Historically, in European countries like Austria, Christmas baking did not commence until the traditional feast of St. Thomas the Apostle on December 21st. Here the appearance of these long awaited tastes and scents of the season illustrated just how near the Feast of the Nativity finally was.

In monastic communities this connection between food and anticipating Christ’s birth was also mirrored. In the celebration of the O Antiphons, from the Divine Office of Vespers, during the final week of Advent, different little goodies were shared among the monks. On December 19th, O Radix (Root of) Jesse, the gardener shared his best dried and preserved fruit, while for O Clavis (Key of) David, on December 20th, the cellar was unlocked and the finest wine enjoyed.

This raccolta of Advent recipes contains tried and true dishes from our family’s own collection, as well as the shortcuts we have used during busier seasons of life - like after a new baby is born. Some recipes are historical foods long associated with specific feasts and saints, or the cuisine of the places from which certain saints hail, while others are the silly food puns our children and I have come up with over the years. We’ve found that the later can often be the most memorable. You can print and add these recipe sheets to your recipe binder to use again and again. And we pray they will all be a nourishment to your family both in body and soul.

These are 8 of our family's favorite recipes for the season of Advent. We hope they become some of your family's favorites too. And you can have our family's tried and true liturgical recipes sent to you _every_ month when you join the Feast + Fast + Feria Collective here. The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know. Your family may also be blessed by our:

You can also find this printable and all the other resources, help, and encouragement you need for living liturgically every month by joining our Feast + Fast + Feria Collective. "For every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his labour, this is the gift of God.” - Ecclesiastes 3:13 Ad majórem Dei glóriam,

Feast + Fast + Feria Collective

Genie — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 02:22:49 +0000

Based on the Feasts and Fasts of Each Month, Your Monthly Mentorship Includes a Combination of:

Liturgical Ordo - See a full overview of the month's Catholic commemorations and all the liturgical traditions and activities that your family can choose from to add in your own home.
Liturgical Meal Plan - Find menu ideas informed and inspired by the feasts and fasts of the Church year for the whole month. Ferias, days without a feast, are also included.
Liturgical Recipes - Pull from the tried and true recipes for your feast day celebrations and fasting that real folks actually use.
Prayer Prints - Pick from multiple prayers related to the month's traditional dedication.
Devotions Booklets - Help your whole family pray together with the original printable prayer booklets.
Feria Library Access - Use our library of Feria resources to help your family live the Catholic Faith even on days that have no assigned commemoration on the liturgical calendar.
Access to Our Private Community - Gather with a sisterhood of mothers just like you in our own private social parlor online.
Liturgical Living Workshops - Through their experience, our guests will share how to incorporate different facets of liturgical living into your busy life.
Liturgical Living Coaching - Plan and troubleshoot your liturgical traditions and customs with one-on-one and group sessions.
Hymn Studies - No musical experience is required, all your children have to do is sing along with me.
Sacred Music Playlists - Enjoy curated Spotify playlists for the month, season, and important feasts.
Liturgical Booklists - Celebrate the saints and seasons with the assistance of beautiful picture books and more.

The gift of your donation helps cover the needs of this apostolate. And we appreciate it more than you can know. It would give us great joy to have you as part of our collective and help your family on their journey to heaven one feast, fast, and feria at a time.

“But you, my beloved, building yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting.” - Jude 1:20-21

Ad majórem Dei glóriam,