New Lady Lent Printable (Kyra Sarakosti)

I made a new Lady Lent printable for our elementary church school class. We have several families who have not observed Lent before, so I wanted to make sure her meaning was very clear. (I think she's super fun, but I know some people think she's just weird!) I made the example above to demonstrate for my class in case we don't have time to cut out the legs in class, and will perhaps demonstrate tearing off a leg. 

I made a few changes, including the poem, to make clear that Lady Lent personifies:

1) fasting  - in addition to having no mouth, we will decorate her skirt with foods the kids eat during Lent after an activity about fasting.

2) prayer - in addition to the crossed arms on her chest, I added the Jesus Prayer to the right side of the page to discuss in class. 

3) almsgiving -  I added the last stanza to the poem to include "good deeds." We will also glue an apron onto her skirt, creating a flap we can lift to write our secret almsgiving plans. I used to do an almsgiving planning activity with my kids, in which I asked them to think of at least one act of kindness they could do each week for different people. When they were finished, we talked about giving in secret, and folded the papers in half to keep their plans private. I thought we could simply incorporate that into our Lady Lent

Grab the jpg above, or the pdf printable is below. The second page includes extra aprons for classes, if needed. 

And here's my edited version of the poem:

Lady Lent, no mouth has she,
She little talks nor eats

Upon her chest, her crossed arms rest,
all day Christ she entreats.

And seven feet, no more, no less
she has to count the weeks.

Each Saturday we cut away

one of her seven feet.

She reminds us that we fast and pray
And try to do good deeds.

We do these throughout Lent

to get ready for the Feast.

[We'll still make a big one at home because my older kids don't want to be left out of our Lady Sarakosti tradition. We usually make ours out of construction paper, and we use most of a whole sheet for the skirt and body, plus the head and legs  - so that she ends up being about three sheets of paper tall.] 

102 Orthodox Saints

Ss. Priscilla and Aquila

When my kids were little I always kept a church bag with religious books, soft toys, and coloring pages with a few crayons. The kids were only allowed to read some of those books at church, which helped them looked forward to them. It was a nice way to keep them quiet and busy during Liturgy. My kids are all too old for coloring pages and toys now, but my 9 year old will still read a book during Orthros or at other times during the Liturgy. Recently, she's been reading the Action Bible, but I've had my eye out for some Orthodox books that might be more appropriate for her age. So I was thrilled to receive a review copy of 102 Orthodox Saints! 

St. Hermione

I study saints and history in my academic work, so this book has tons of elements that I love. It's laid out alphabetically, with a key on the side of the page which includes an icon, name, date and location, as well as vocation and feast day. Besides Nicholas Malara's beautiful illustrations, each entry also includes maps and photographs or illustrations of historical artifacts. I love seeing St. Hermione's medical instruments, St. Saba's monastery, or the Byzantine map of Constantinople from the time of Pulcheria. These details root the saints in the physical world, reminding us that these are more than fairy tales. These are real people, from every corner of the earth, whose show us a myriad of ways to live out the Christian life. Definitely a good pick for history lovers!

When I was putting together this blog post, I realized the pictures I snapped reflect my interest in the early Christian and early Byzantine periods - but the books includes modern saints, too. My kids always enjoy those. Its fun to see real photographs of modern saints and remember that God continues to be glorious in his saints!

St. Matrona

My 9 year old daughter enjoyed the pictures and liked reading the stories. She said she would enjoy using it during church and other times. My 17 year old daughter was also enamored with it! She loved the reference features, being able to look saints up by date or alphabetical order, and the color coding on the side that indicates what time period the saint came from. She was wondering which saints are in 101 Saints, and so I'm thinking we'll have to add that book for Christmas. (Or when it's back in print?!)

Ss. Perpetua and Felicity

There are definitely some wonderful saints in this volume. I love Ss. Perpetua and Felicity, and this illustrations of them as mothers is so beautiful! Holy Saints, pray to God for us!

St. Saba

Church bag

Yellow Onion Skin Dye for Red Eggs

 

With thanks to the Williams Family!

Yellow Onion Skins Method 

Originally from: http://williamsfamilyadventure.blogspot.com/2011/04/blood-red-easter-eggs.html 

Gather lots of yellow onion skins. [If you don't have enough, buy a sack of onions and take all the skins off! That should be enough.] 

On Holy Thursday, or a few days before Pascha stuff them into a pot and pour  2 Liters of water over them, plus 4 TBSP of vinegar.  [Don't overdo the vinegar! It will break down the egg shell and make them look bad. Learned the hard way!]

It is important for all the onion skins to be submerged, so squish down the onion skins with a weighted plate. Bring this to a boil and then simmer for about a half hour. 

Take the skins out. 

Place hard boiled eggs in the simmering dye for about 10 minutes. [Brown eggs make a deeper red. If you want to boil the eggs while you dye, you can do that too. It does seem like they take the dye better if it is simmering.] 

When boiling the eggs, don't pile them up or let the water boil too rapidly or you will risk cracking the eggs. I usually boil a single layer (12 or so) on a low simmer for 10 minutes, repeating until I have enough.

Someone told me to polish them with olive oil to make them pretty and shiny, and I like to do that. 

2024 HOLY WEEK PRINTABLES

 I'm printing all my Holy Week resources today, and thought I'd share this updated list. Good strenght this Holy Week!

Lazarakia Recipe

Holy Sunday/Monday/Tuesday

Bridegroom Services

 

Holy Wednesday

Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday
is egg dyeing day! I don't have any printables about the last supper Liturgy!

Dozen egg coloring page with Red Egg Poem 

Holy Friday Craft

We're making this little craft to tell my youngest what to expect this week.  The figure of Christ and the epitaphios are not glued on, so we can act out when they are moved. I just cut out the cross and bier from brown paper sacks and used tissue paper and glue and markers.

Here are some printables. I'll give the large epitaphios to my youngest to color during one of the Holy Friday services, but I printed it now so she could see it. Then we made a tiny one for the bier.

Holy Saturday

15 Old Testament Readings of Holy Saturday

Printable Pascha Cards for mailing to friends and family: 

If you want to print your own Easter Cards, I made a less ink version below for you. I like to print them on cardstock, cut them apart, and attach them to Pascha gifts. Click them image to see the full size version, grab and print.

Folky Black Pascha Print

I put together a new print on Spoonflower to make a new Pascha basket cover. I don't know why I keep making new ones, but I love this print so much I might also splurge on 2 yards for a table cloth.

It's on spoonflower with and without the words "Christ is risen," both options in four different colors.  Check them all out here!  If you want to make a basket cover, choose from the larger prints (named "Easter") on a fat quarter. It usually takes two weeks for them to print and ship to you, and you will need to hem the edges. I'm going to use the smaller print (named Spring) for napkins and tablecloths.

I'm having so much fun, I also put it on greeting cards and t-shirts on zazzle.  If you want to print your own Easter Cards, I made a less ink version below for you. I like to print them on cardstock, cut them apart, and attach them to Pascha gifts. Click them image to see the full size version, grab and print.

The Little Way of A Pilgrim

I love the Russian classic The Way of the Pilgrim, so I was excited to get a copy of this new children's book based on the classic. The Little Way of a Pilgrim presents a modern young pilgrim in his Chuck Taylor tennis shoes asking the same question, "what does it mean to pray without ceasing?" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) He travels down the road, asking the people he meets if they can teach him about ceaseless prayer. When the monk teaches him the Jesus Prayer, he is overjoyed and begins his practice. He is filled with gratitude and joy. 

The book doesn't attempt to retell the story exactly, but clearly refers to passages from the classic. Older children might enjoy reading more of the encounters told in the original. This picture book offers younger children a similar sense of watching this wanderer search and grow in a life-long quest for prayer and love for Christ.

I'm always particular about illustrations, and I just adore these by Diana-Elena Popescu. My daughter enjoyed the animals and tiny details. We both appreciated Jennifer Anna Rich's child-friendly language, that wasn't overly flowery. 

In the end, it led to a nice conversation about prayer ropes and the Jesus Prayer. My 8 year old daughter was aware of both, but it seemed to illustrate their purpose and practice more clearly. She doesn't have a prayer rope of her own, but now would like one. Seems like a nice way to begin Lent! 

I received a review copy of The Little Way of a Pilgrim from Ancient Faith. 

The God-Beloved Deaconesses

I am researching St. Domnika and other deaconess saints for my dissertation. While there are many unknowns about this ancient office, we can see the church's theology in their lives and ministries. 

Someday, I would love to paint icons of many of these saints. In the meantime, I created this illustration featuring fourteen deaconesses commemorated as saints in the Orthodox Church. I put the most famous saints in the center, Phoebe and Olympia. They span from the first through tenth centuries, from Gaul and Rome, to Constantinople and Cappadocia, and to Syria and Alexandria. At least 10 of them were likely ordained with either with the prayers in the Apostolic Constitutions, or with the Byzantine rite for the ordination of deaconesses. There are three martyrs, two bishops' wives, many teachers and abbesses, and all ascetics. 

You can grab the coloring page to print. I also uploaded the design to my Zazzle, where I printed stickers and a mug for myself - and you can get some too. :)

Front Row: St. Radegunde, St. Irene Chrysovalantou, St. Justina, St. Phoebe, St. Olympia, St. Platonida, St. Susanna, St. Tatiana; Back Row: St. Domnika, St. Theosebia, St. Nonna, St. Poplia, St. Xenia, St. Apollonia

The God-Beloved Deaconesses Sticker
by orthojack

Holy Saints, pray to God for us!