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Mary G
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Hey y'all --
I saw this book: The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions for Children's Faith Formation by Beth McNamara Branigan? It looks good, but I was wondering if anyone has used it? Is it worth the $17?
Any comments would be MOST appreciated!
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MaryG
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MaryM
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It was discussed briefly in an earlier thread. I had also asked Jenn about it last year when I first saw it. I think she and I have simimlar taste in liturgical year books/materials and since it wasn't one that really appealed to her I didn't end up trying to get it. Still would like to see it but can't get it through the library.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JennGM
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I'll chime in again and give you examples to make up your own mind.
I have both Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions and Big Book of Ideas for Children's Faith Formation by Beth Branigan McNamara. The former is better than the latter. Both are for younger aged children...not teens or whole family activities.
If you don't have any other liturgical year activities book and need some ideas and a quick and easy reference, this would be okay for your needs. Most of the ideas are good and easily accomplished.
For the chapter on December/Advent/Christmas it covers:
Dedication for December: Immaculate Conception
Liturgical Colors
Patron Saints of the Month
Celebrations Table for December/Advent
Season of Advent
December 6: Feast of St. Nicholas
December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 13: St. Lucia Day
December 21: 1st Day of Winter
Saint Francis and the First Creche
The Christmas Candle Tradition
December 24: Christmas Eve
December 25: Christmas Day
Christmas Booklet
Christmas Peace
A Christmas Legend
December 26: Feast of St. Stephen
December 27: Feast of St. John the Evangelist and Apostle
December 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents
1st Sunday after Christmas: Feast of the Holy Family
Under Season of Advent, it includes a brief overview of the season and a prayer. Activities include:
Advent Wreath, making a Living Wreath, with each child as a candle and the family holding the garland, and prayers for each week.
Gift Tags as a service project
Toy Workshop: fixing next-to-new toys in classroom to give to others.
Scavenger Hunt: Magazine hunt for Christmas symbols
Nativity Scene: life size nativity to hang
Recycled Ornaments: cardboard shapes covered with puzzle pieces covered with paint and glitter.
St. Nicholas Activities include
Filling Shoes with Candy
Shoe Blessing
Holiday Service Project: sending socks filled with goodies to local shelter
Bishops' Hats
Candy Canes: talk about significance and then make with pipe cleaners.
Hope that helps you make your decision. It's solidly Catholic, a good resource, just not Great. I think there are better resources out there...including the wonderful ideas on this forum alone.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mary G
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jenngm67 wrote:
| It's solidly Catholic, a good resource, just not Great. I think there are better resources out there...including the wonderful ideas on this forum alone. |
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OK, Jenn -- can you give me the better resources? I like the idea of this one -- especially becuase it has lots of things in one place (I end up checking Newland's book, the Fourniers book, CHC's book -- and it drives me nuts!)
Any help would be appreciated 
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JennGM
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Mary G. wrote:
jenngm67 wrote:
| It's solidly Catholic, a good resource, just not Great. I think there are better resources out there...including the wonderful ideas on this forum alone. |
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OK, Jenn -- can you give me the better resources? I like the idea of this one -- especially becuase it has lots of things in one place (I end up checking Newland's book, the Fourniers book, CHC's book -- and it drives me nuts!)
Any help would be appreciated |
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This is my constant problem. I have loads of resources, none that has EVERYTHING. When I conceived the Liturgical Year section of Catholic Culture, that was my aim, to have all the information at one place. I didn't finish my plan, and didn't have enough help to get it all done (I'm not the programmer!) and I now don't work for them, but it was my original goal. I wanted printable .pdf files with the crafts illustrations and diagrams and instructions. Can you say "Catholic Martha Stewart?" I had always hoped to make a book to have it all, but it is very huge project...and ds needs attention. 
What are you looking for, craft ideas, food ideas, teaching ideas, prayers, new ideas vs. traditional ones? Very simple paper crafts? Are you looking for things for the seasons or saints or both?
I was thinking CHC's book might have been your answer...that's one I've requested for Christmas...but you're not saying it is! 
I really like the simplicity and straightforwardness of Women for Faith and Family's Sourcebooks, but it's for the temporal seasonal, not the Sanctoral season. The best resource for the Saints is Saints and Feast Days. Expanded edition even includes Pio and Faustina and other new saints.
You didn't mention using Maria Trapp's book Around the Year with the Trapp Family, Helen McLoughlin (My Nameday Come for Dessert, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Family Advent Customs, Christmas to Candlemas) or some others that are older. PM your email address and I'll send a list of books with online texts that you can do more comparison.
My opinion is that a book should have the combination of old and new ideas and cover all the bases of liturgy in the home, both interior and exterior: Prayer, Readings, Music, Activity, Decorations and Visual Aids and Food. "Big Book" seems to want to have new ideas, which is okay, but I like a combination.
As my dh loves to say, "the bottom line" is I haven't found a good "one stop shop" for the Liturgical Year. Do you think there's a need?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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momwise
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jenngm67 wrote:
| As my dh loves to say, the bottom line is I haven't found a good "one stop shop" for the Liturgical Year. Do you think there's a need? |
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Jenn,
My dream project is a 3-ring binder with color-coded dividers (liturgical sections)to which I could continually add new sections. These could be in the form of a 4-6 week mailer like the card clubs (the ones that come with a free box and send out a new card packet every so often), or new unit studies for homeschoolers based on feast days around the year, or a core packet that covers the year that could be added to. With dividers and pockets anyone could regularly add their own stuff as well. Only problem is, I'm sure the notebook would eventually get stuffed!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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JennGM
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momwise wrote:
Jenn,
My dream project is a 3-ring binder with color-coded dividers (liturgical sections)to which I could continually add new sections. These could be in the form of a 4-6 week mailer like the card clubs (the ones that come with a free box and send out a new card packet every so often), or new unit studies for homeschoolers based on feast days around the year, or a core packet that covers the year that could be added to. With dividers and pockets anyone could regularly add their own stuff as well. Only problem is, I'm sure the notebook would eventually get stuffed! |
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I had a similar idea! We should colaborate.  I have to think it would require at least 3 binders, 1) Advent and Christmas, 2) Lent and Easter and 3) Ordinary Time and the Saints.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mary G
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What I'd love to see is a book that is calendar based but tied to the seasons also -- so I could open to September -- find all the Saints, any feasts or solemnities, liturgical season, etc. Crafts, recipes (I love to bake and the kids love to eat  ) prayers and music -- all in one spot! Then I could get rid of my shelf-full of all other "good, but still not perfect" ones.  (Those that I told my dh I had to have  )
I'm up for a project of compiling if anyone wants to help.......
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MaryG
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Mary G. wrote:
| What I'd love to see is a book that is calendar based but tied to the seasons also -- so I could open to September -- find all the Saints, any feasts or solemnities, liturgical season, etc. Crafts, recipes (I love to bake and the kids love to eat ) prayers and music -- all in one spot! Then I could get rid of my shelf-full of all other "good, but still not perfect" ones. (Those that I told my dh I had to have ) |
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Sounds like we have similar ideas. I go back and forth with organization by Month and/or Seasons. Some things overlap which make it harder to "file."
Only one shelf-full? You should see my house! Two bookshelves full...and overflowing!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MaryM
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jenngm67 wrote:
| As my dh loves to say, the bottom line is I haven't found a good "one stop shop" for the Liturgical Year. Do you think there's a need? |
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Yes!
Mary G. wrote:
I'm up for a project of compiling if anyone wants to help....... |
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I'd bet we have a good number of potential "compilers" on-line here. I'd be in.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JennGM
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How exciting! I guess I never even thought of a joint project...that would make this much easier to tackle!
One obstacle that always gets me is the problem of copyright. I love some of the original works...I think the ideas and the writings are beautiful, and I would love to just transfer it, not try to rewrite. If this is something to get published, how to track down permission to excerpt from the many sources?
Otherwise, I'm back to my old problem of hanging on to so many resources....
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Cay Gibson
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momwise wrote:
| My dream project is a 3-ring binder with color-coded dividers (liturgical sections)to which I could continually add new sections. Only problem is, I'm sure the notebook would eventually get stuffed! |
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Gwen,
This is what we've done this past year.
This year the notebook will continue to get packed and we're using the liturgical wheel from Our Father's House. Neat! I love the wheel and it's very visual for the dc.  She includes a couple smaller chaarts that can go inside their notebooks.
There is no one-stop shop, I'm afraid. We will constantly find stuff on the Internet and in books we read that toot new ideas and inspiring information that we want to include in our dc's notebook s( and education). Remember those gaps? They will always exist.
The liturgical notebook has worked well for us. After one year it is nearly *stuffed* and I had to adapt a bit. We did a study on the pope back in April. That went into a separate folder. We did a rosary lapbook a couple years ago. That is placed inside the binder. I can also see that I'll have to place my dd's 1st communion resources separately. I also plan to do a separate notebook for all the apparitions of Mary. We just haven't got to that yet. And, feeling very inspired by the St. Nicholas website, I'd love to do a whole notebook on St. Nicholas. Sadly, feeling the pressures of preparing for a home Christmas, a 4yr old b-day party, and two deadlines looming overhead; I don't see it happening THIS year. We're doing the simple, cozy Advent preparations instead vs. the in-depth, studious stuff.
In our liturgical year notebooks, I made the dividers myself with colored labels in plastic tabs. I added sections as we covered them during the year. The divisions are:
* Religion Clock/Liturgical Year Wheel
* Advent
* Christmas
* Epiphany
* Lent
* Easter
* Penetecost
* Ordinary Time
* Baptism
* Penance
* 1st Communion (again, this might get moved out separately)
* Saints (another notebooks)
* Rosary
* Mary (might get moved out into a separate notebook)
* Pope (already moved out)
When I say notebook though, I don't mean a binder. I use a narrower folder with a clear pocket on the front to place a cover sheet. The only THICK notebook is for the liturgical year. We have a whole shelf just for our notebooks and lapbooks.
The younger 3 who are doing the notebook are no where near Confirmation. That will be added later, perhaps in a separate notebook as well. I need to add the other sacraments in there at some point.
Extra paper books and holy cards, etc. are placed in plastic baseball card dividers or the binder pocketes. We include all those CHC ideas in our notebook as well. Some of the sections are full, others only have a few sheets.
What I like the most about a liturgical year notebook is you don't ever HAVE to feel it's complete. In this case, that's a good thing.  As you come across those new ideas and information, you simply add to the notebook and keep going. You don't ever have to say, "Oh, we didn't get to that!" or "I wish we'd have added that!" You can!
We did ours last year, we'll keep doing it this year.
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Cay Gibson
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jenngm67 wrote:
How exciting! I guess I never even thought of a joint project...that would make this much easier to tackle!
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You gals are just the ones to do this beautiful compost!!!
Jenn, I think God is calling you. You're always such a wonderful source to all of us.
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Cay Gibson
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JennGM
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| There is no one-stop shop, I'm afraid. We will constantly find stuff on the Internet and in books we read that toot new ideas and inspiring information that we want to include in our dc's notebook s( and education). Remember those gaps? They will always exist. |
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So true. It's like life, you're always "evolving." Even if we could try to think of all angles and include so many different possibilities, there will always be 1) room for improvement 2) personal changes and 3) new ideas or possibilites.
There will always be some things that stay the course (things like the Advent Wreath will always be used) and the liturgy of the Church, but within our domestic church there is the ebb and flow of life that makes this "one book" an impossibility such as: the age levels of the children, different interests at different stages, changing tastebuds (or health or waistlines demand different ingredients), family members growing up and moving away. And most importantly for these goal of implementing the liturgical year, our spiritual lives are not stagnant, and never does "one-size-fits-all" even within family members.
Cay Gibson wrote:
The liturgical notebook has worked well for us. After one year it is nearly *stuffed* and I had to adapt a bit. <snip!>
What I like the most about a liturgical year notebook is you don't ever HAVE to feel it's complete. In this case, that's a good thing. As you come across those new ideas and information, you simply add to the notebook and keep going. You don't ever have to say, "Oh, we didn't get to that!" or "I wish we'd have added that!" You can! |
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This is fabulous stuff, Cay! You're a woman of action and organization.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Cay Gibson
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jenngm67 wrote:
| This is fabulous stuff, Cay! You're a woman of action and organization. |
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Action, yes!
Organization, no!
And the action is only a cover-up to my true love of curling up with a good book in bed and getting a back rub from dh.
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Cay Gibson
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Big Book of Catholic Customs
