Just wanted to share the focus of this month’s Little Flowers’ Leaders Meeting. We focused on how our Little Flowers and other clubs might be able to add a little extra to their meetings during Lent.
A virtue of special importance over the next 40 days might be Perseverance – seeing things through to the end, despite fear or obstacles. “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3). And our catechism tells us that to “To live, grow and persevere in faith to the end we must nourish it with the word of God…” (CCC 162).
Our saint for Perseverance is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Wreath II). And Lent is all about perseverance. We strive each day to avoid that which we have given up, or lean into more prayers and time reading the Gospels. Lent can be a difficult thing and we will often want to give up as it all just too hard. But those acts of emptying ourselves of our wants and our will helps ensure there is more room for Jesus and His will.
If St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s story is not familiar to you, you might want to check out this delightful video from her shrine located in Emmitsburg, MD:
There is also a fun tour offered here – Fish On Friday seems quite appropriate doesn’t it!
If you would like an easy craft, consider sacrifice beads. These can become a great way to keep track of sacrifices made throughout each day in Lent:
You might even think about adding these to your library or gift in an Easter basket:
Regardless of the wreath you are working on or the club you belong to, perhaps taking some time to talk about the challenge of persevering to the end of Lent might be a good idea. We all struggle to keep up with our sacrifices, those commitments we made for extra prayer, sharing with the poor and other Lenten ideas. Remembering saints, like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, struggled to persevere as well may make our Lenten journey more fruitful. She is there ready to help and intercede for you, your family and your club.
Be assured of our prayers as we all strive to grow a little bit holier, one virtue at a time.
