Epiphany & Liturgical Planning

The majority of my liturgical planning is done a year in advance. This is not because I am necessarily ahead of the game, but because I get great ideas watching everyone celebrate, and I store the links and resources away hoping I will find them the next year. Some years it actually works. Blogs and Pinterest have certainly made it easier to share ideas with like-minded people all over the world.

Here is a planning resource I have begun using from Sanctus Simplicitus to keep track of books and other ideas for celebrating. Here is the link to my Pinterest board 'Liturgical Planning - January' in case you are looking for last minute ideas for tomorrow, later in the Epiphany season, or next year. Last year we celebrated Epiphany using "Christmas to Candlemas in a Catholic Home" by Helen McLoughlin. This booklet from the 1950s contains recipes, prayers, and other ideas to celebrate the major feasts during the 40 days. A free copy is found in EWTN's online library here. There are Epiphany prayers, a house blessing, and two recipes. Your neighbors will want to know why you are writing on your house with chalk - have your answers ready!

Our Wise men travel around the main floor of our house during the Twelve Days of Christmas until finally arriving at the creche.

Somehow or other our family devotions never look quite like this. ;)

This year we are adding a couple of new things. I replaced a lost camel cookie cutter here. I practiced making this star with fairly good success. I will let the girls make some on their own tomorrow afternoon. I made some additions to my Infancy Narrative set of peg people for my Sunday School Class.

I like the simple look of the wood and wool felt, but I wanted my Eastern sages to look distinctly different from my Hebrews. I looked at several places for simple wooden camels, but finally settled on this olive wood set I got inexpensively on Etsy.

I glued real frankincense into one little wooden pot (I will have to get an essential oil to put on in because all I smell is glue now,) gravel painted with metallic paint in another, and clear glue in one to represent the myrrh as oil.

Our Sunday School lesson tomorrow will come from Moira Farrell's Home Catechesis 6-9 with a few additions ("wondering together")from Young Children and Worship. I will let you know how it goes - things rarely go as planned in our combined-ages-due-to-lack-of-space Sunday School class - and not just because they know I am easily distracted. ;)