For the 150th Anniversary of Lourdes

The 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother to young Bernadette Soubirous is being celebrated around the world this month. To commemorate this blessed occasion, my children and I are planning to create a handmade holy water fount (similar to this one made during May) as a lasting reminder of the miraculous spring at Lourdes.

We will begin with a craft store planter, readily available in the floral department and relatively inexpensive. The photo below shows a planter we purchased for $2.99. (Similar planters in gold, stamped with grape vines were only $1.99):

Notice the detail in the back, making the planter easy to hang just about anywhere:

With a few simple embellishments, the planter becomes an attractive holy water font:

Depending on the image and decorations, these fonts might be made to give as gifts or to celebrate any Feast or liturgical season.

In another variation on the idea, my eight year old daughter used the planter to create a permanent shrine for her room:

When Karol Wojtyla was a boy in Poland, his mother always kept a bowl of holy water by the front door, teaching her young sons to bless themselves on the way in and out. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is the perfect reminder to establish this beautiful custom in our own homes.

Special note: Because the Church is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Lourdes apparitions, a special plenary indulgence is available to the faithful during the days leading up to the feast on February 11, 2008. Please see this article for details: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0706938.htm

 

 

Alice Gunther is an attorney who gave up practicing law over a dozen years ago to nurture and home educate her seven children, now ages thirteen to one. She blogs about Catholic family life at her weblog, Cottage Blessings, and writes a column for The Long Island Catholic called “The Catholic Home.” For the past nine years, Alice has run a popular Catholic Children’s Club, celebrating the Liturgical year through crafts, prayer, stories of saints and scripture, and “Liturgical Teas.” The Teas feature symbolic menu offerings to tell the underlying stories of faith, teaching children and adults in a unique and memorable way. She is currently working on two books about home education and catechesis.