The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is a special day in the Church because today we remember when Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist.

Again Victor over at Happy Saints has drawn a great picture to represent this event.

Victor has created a number of fantastic eBooks that you can download to read and colour. This picture is in his book called The Holy Rosary.

Here is a video that talks about this special visit.

Cloë it's not a cartoon you know!

Yes Tallulah, I realize that but we have some smart kids out there and it is short and not too hard to understand.

And here is a picture to colour everyone!

Click here to download the full size picture.

Tallulah, I think this is a great day to say the Hail Mary, don't you?!

I sure do Cloë, here are the words in case you can't remember the entire prayer.

Until the next time - Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

To the Guineamobile

Tallulah, today I thought we would share a fun video with everyone. It's called To the Guineamobile! The stars of the video are two guinea pigs named Carmy and Claire who belong to Fr. Andrew Trapp.

Did you say guinea pigs, where are they?! Something else for me to chase!!

Relax Tallulah, the guinea pigs are in the video and I'm not sure you would want to go after them. Even though they are small, you will see that they can definitely take care of themselves!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy2RpVmAQPI
Here is the link to this video that you can copy and paste, or you can click on our names in the top left hand corner of your email if you can't see the video.

Tallulah, do you know why Fr. Andrew named his guinea pigs Carmy and Claire?!

I must admit that I do not know Cloë.

Well, Carmy is short for Carmelite, as in the Carmelite nuns.

Hey wasn't Ste Thérèse a Carmalite?

Yes she was! and Claire is for St. Claire of Assisi who was a friend of St. Francis of Assisi.

I know, I know I know, he is the saint who loves animals!!

Yup you are right. Here are pictures of the two saints from Happy Saints. If you click on their names you can see how Victor of Happy Saints created these pictures.

Ste Thérèse de Lisieux    

St. Claire of Assisi

Well that's it for today. If you want to see more of Carmy and Claire, click here.

 

Wait Cloë! Did you forget whose birthday it is today (May28th) ?! It's Bishop Paul-André Durocher's b-day!!

 

That's right I almost forgot! But now he is Archbishop Paul-André.

 

Well to me he'll always be that guy who kept treats in his desk drawer just for us! I miss those days, sigh.

 

Happy Birthday Paul-André - Woof! Woof!! (that's God Bless in dog.)

Cloë and Tallulah

 

P.S. if this is the 3rd time you get this blog, we apologize, we dogs aren't the greatest at all this new technology.

Ordinary Time + Three in One

The Easter Season finished last Sunday with Pentecost. That means we have entered back into Ordinary Time.

Oh does that mean no more Easter eggs?!

That's right Tallulah, we put all our Easter stuff away until next year.

And what is with Ordinary, does that mean boring? It sounds like it does!

Not at all Tallulah. Ordinary time is when we get to focus on Jesus' life between when He was born (Advent and the Christmas Season) and when He died and resurected (Lent and the Easter Season). Jesus did a lot of things during his life and it is important to know about them and to know all that He taught the people then and that is still for the people today.

We must never forget that Sunday is the Church's original feast day. (St. Pius X & Blessed John XXIII).

Having said all that Tallulah, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith.

I find it very mind boggling how there can be one God but three persons.

Well Tallulah, that is why it is called a mystery. But I did find a video that helps explain the Trinity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-sKREbUBZ4

Also, here is a picture to help explain the Holy Trinity.

 

And of course we remember the Trinity everytime we make the Sign of the Cross.

 

Guess what Cloë? Lacy, over at Catholic Icing, has found a yummy way to help us understand the Trinity - a Sundae! Yeah!!

Oh you and your stomach! Is that all you ever think about?! For everyone else who loves ice cream click here for directions to make the Trinity Sundae.
 
Happy Eating! Woof!
 
Cloë and Tallulah (she is too busy eating so I signed her name for her.)

Let the little children come to me!

This is what Jesus tells his disciples in today's Gospel, Tallulah.

I was listening Cloë! People were bringing little children to him so that they could meet him. I guess they must have heard how nice he was and all the miracles he did, right Cloë?!

That's right Tallulah. You can find this story in the Gospel of Mark 10.13-16.

Here is a picture to colour that illustrates this story.

Copy and paste this link to download the picture.
http://www.raisingourkids.com/coloring-pages/printable/bible/048-jesus-children.html

And here are a couple of good videos that help tell the story.

If you can't see the video you can either click on our names in the top left corner of your email to go straight to our blog or you can copy and paste this address:  http://youtu.be/bPyZr8ypnkE

http://youtu.be/-Bpd_wvLhUY

Well that's it for today - Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

Jesus the Good Shepherd

Were you listening to today's Gospel Tallulah? It contains one of the most beautiful images about how Jesus sees people.

I remember something about a shepherd and sheep?! But once I heard the word sheep all I could think about was herding them and chasing around them to make sure they all stay together.

Well Tallulah below is a recap. But actually you are not so far off about caring about the herd.

The Bible often uses the image of a shepherd, espcially to describe Jesus. I had Kim Google the word shepherd and this is the description she found on the American Bible's Website.

A shepherd's life was not easy. Shepherds spent most of their time outside watching over the herd, no matter what the weather. They often slept near their flock to protect it from robbers or wild animals. The shepherd's tools and weapons were a rod, a staff, and a sling. Each night, the shepherds would gather their flocks into places called “sheepfolds.” These could be stone walls made by the shepherds or natural enclosures, such as a cave. Shepherds used their rod to help count their animals each evening when they brought them into the fold and again in the morning when they left for the pastures.

Wow Cloë, shepherds obviously cared a lot about their sheep. I guess that is why the writers in the Bible often compared Jesus to a shepherd and all the people to sheep. It's good to know he loves the people this much - do you think he loves us this much?

God created us too, so I am certain Tallulah, that God loves all his creatures, including us.

To finish off today's lesson, here is a funny cartoon! If you want to see more Joyful'toons click here.

See ya! Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

The Great White North

Today is the feast day of Saint Eugène de Mazenod. He was born in France in 1782! When he became a priest he very much liked working with the poor and young people. He eventually founded a religious order called the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

The bishops in North America did not have enough priests so they asked Eugène if he would send some over. Within 10 years, the Oblates were working all over Canada and were even in the United States.

Did you know Tallulah that the Oblates have done a lot of important work over the years in Canada. For instance, they founded the University of Ottawa in 1848! They also founded Le Droit newspaper in Ottawa as well as Novalis. Novalis publishes lots of great books about the Catholic Faith.
 
I love books Cloë. I looked up their website and here are just a few of the books you can buy from Novalis.
 

Next in the Saints and Me! series is Andre Bessette: A Heart of Strength. Part of Set 1, Saints of North America, it tells the story of Andre Bessette, a French-Canadian priest who is said to have healed many and who was canonized in 2010.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Teach traditional Catholic values and beliefs to your students and children with these fun and engaging Bible arts and crafts.

Each activity has defined learning objectives, making them educationally sound, developmentally appropriate and fun for youngsters of all ages.
 
 
 
 

The book will empower kids to “be like God”: to be creative, to turn off the computer and rest, to be a blessing to parents and friends, to do good deeds, to comfort those who are sick, to repair a little corner of the world, to give of themselves, and to forgive those who “mess up.” A great gift from parents and grandparents who are eager for their kids to connect with spirituality, the Bible, and God.

 The Oblates are still around Tallulah and they do a lot of work in Northern Canada. Visit the Catholic Missions in Canada website to learn more about the Catholic Church in Canada's Great White North.

 

 

And last but not least, here is a little video where you can see some of the things that the Oblates do and how they help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGVY5KgH34o&list=PLADE529A7B05D2DB3

Well that's lots Cloë, I don't think I can stuff anything else into my brain today!

Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

P.S. To really see our blog, including the videos, click on our names in the top right corner of the email you receive and it will take you directly to our blog!
 

 
 
 
 

The Living Rosary

As you know Tallulah, May is the month that we remember Mary in a special way. One of the best ways to pray with Mary is the rosary.

The rosary comes from the Latin word "rosarium", which means Crown of Roses. When we pray the rosary we remember the stories of Jesus' life.

Last week, our master Kim got to be involved in a Living Rosary at Immaculate Conception Catholic School. She said the kids were just great, and from the youngest to the oldest, they all got to participate!

So what do you know about the Rosary Taullulah?

Well I know there are an awful lot of prayers to it! I don't know if I could have sat that long to pray the whole thing!

Somehow I believe you Tallulah!

And you are right about there being a lot of prayers but mostly you repeat the same prayers over and over again: the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be.

Here is a sheet from Catholic Inspired that we found to help you know what prayers and what stories you remember as you pray.

If the video does not show up in your email go directly to the blog at www.thechurchdogs.blogspot.com

There is just so much to talk about with the Rosary! We will be exploring it more in future blogs.

Well that's it for now - Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

Parents here is more information from Catholic Inspired about how to pray the Rosary with your children.

 

If the video won't open copy and paste this address to your address bar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpdA4baDIP4

Come Holy Spirit Come

Wow Tallulah another big Sunday! It's the last Sunday of Easter and it is called Pentecost Sunday. Do you remember when we talked about confirmation how we talked about the Holy Spirit coming in a special way?

I do Cloë. You said that the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son (that's Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.

That's right Tallulah. On Pentecost Sunday, we remember when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles to help them understand the Good News of God and to help them explain it to all the world. And the Holy Spirit comes to each of us in a special way at our confirmation.

(be sure to go to www.happysaints.com to find other neat pictures and even ebooks.)

Did I hear right that when the apostles started to speak about the Good News that everyone there that day could understand them in their own language?! God sure does some neat miracles!

Also it was on Pentecost Sunday that the Catholic Church was born!

Do we have any good activities or videos to help explain Pentecost?

We sure do Tallulah. First up we have two videos. (And remember if you can't view them just copy and paste the links.)

http://youtu.be/M_ZnGJQT6D0

http://youtu.be/mfJfX-F06f4

And how about a craft to help you remember the story. Lacy over at Catholic Icing has some more good ideas.

And Cloë here is my very favourite way to celebrate Pentecost - Pentecost Sundaes!!

Be sure to visit catholicicing.com to find out how to make them.

Have a great Pentecost Sunday and may the Holy Spirit be with all of you!

Until next time - Woof!

Cloë & Tallulah

Parents if you want to know a bit more about Pentecost go to this link at Our Sunday Visitor.

http://goo.gl/xQ6pA

There are also some great explanations at www.myyearoffaith.com

Our Road Trip Around the Diocese

Yesterday, Tallulah and I got to visit some of the churches in our diocese. Kim was showing her summer student around and she decided to take us with her.

So Tallulah what did you think of the road trip?

It was a lot of fun Cloë, my favourite part was when she let us out of the car so we could run around. I have to say though I wasn't too crazy about having to keep posing for pictures!

I agree with you Tallulah, but at least we got a treat every time we did it. I think my favourite part was seeing how many beautiful churches and sacred places we have in our area.

Since it is the Month of Mary we thought this was a good picture!


We also had a lot of fun visiting the Nussbaumers!! They fed us Kraft dinner and some fat. Deeeelicious!

That was fun, but you sure scared me when you tried to go visit the cows! Luckily they ran away when they saw you coming instead of charging  you!

Here are some pictures at the Nussbamers.

Hey I think I see the Montrance Craft (top left corner) that we suggested kids make! Yeah, I'm glad some are taking our suggestions.

Here we are with some of our biggest fans! Abby, Claire, Johnnie and Annamaria. (I hope Kim spelled their names correctly.)

Do I see cows?!

I do see cows!! Here I come!

Ok so the cows ran away from me, let's go see what else interesting is on this farm.

Hey Johnnie what is in there?!

Is there a barn cat in there?

Well all good things must come to an end. We had to go home and the Nussbaumers had to get ready for soccer! Hopefully we can visit again when we have more time.

We'll show you more of our road trip pictures over the next weeks.

Woof!

Cloë & Tallulah

P.S. Thanks for those bones you sent home with us. Kim wouldn't let us have them yesterday :( because she said we had already eaten too much. But maybe she'll give them to us tonight!

A most special of Sundays

Wow Cloë, Mass was amazing today! Ascension Sunday + Mother's Day.

It really was exciting wasn't it Tallulah. Today's Gospel tells us the story of Jesus going up to Heaven!!! And to think I thought He might just be going to another country.

I thought Jesus rising from the dead on Easter Sunday was incredible, but now we learn that Jesus actually rose up to Heaven. This is indeed Good News Cloë!

Be sure to go to happysaints.com to see more pictures of Jesus.

We've been having trouble with the videos but we are going to try again! If you don't see anything then copy and paste this link into youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nfPKaQ67ZM

This is a picture of Cloë's mommy! Her name is Princess Lucky and she belongs to Kim's brother and his family.

She lives in West Vancouver, so I don't get to see her very often. Happy Mother's Day  mom! (I have her eyes and mouth, but otherwise I mostly look like my dad.)

And this is a picture of my mom, me, my sister and my brothers! We were only a few weeks old in this picture.

 

We would also like to wish all the mommies a very Happy Mother's Day! Woof! And here is a little help from the Legionaries of Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xhczIegEpQ

Let us know if you still can't view the videos (we are starting to think that the problem was that Kim was too quick and didn't let them finish loading before she published.)

Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

Canada's Very First Bishop!

Hi Everyone! As you can tell our master is not always the best secretary. We have been bugging her to help us write our next post but she keeps telling us she is busy :(

So today we just made her sit down to write. This past Monday was the feast day of Canada's very first bishop, Blessed François de Laval. (Well ok, at the time Canada still didn't exist so he was the first bishop of Quebec.) We are 2 days past May 6th but better late than never we say!

He was born in France, and came to Quebec in 1659!

Gee Cloë that seems like a long time ago, I don't think our master was even born then.

Don't be silly Tallulah that was like 354 years ago, no one from then is still around! Anyway getting back to François if I may. He did all kinds of wonderful things. He founded the Seminary of Quebec, which is now Laval University, he was in charge of all the French speaking territory of North America, he founded a minor seminary and an industrial school. And even though he came from a rich important family, he was very concerned about the first Europeans that came to settle Quebec as well as the native people. He helped them to learn and to have some money. (The pictures: François feeding the poor, the Grand Séminaire in Québec City, the harsh winter in Quebec)

 

 

Is that why he is called Blessed?

Well sort of, Blessed is one step away from becoming a Saint. People who become saints try to follow the way Jesus lived, to be kind to others and to care about others. In fact all people are called to be saints.

If you ever go to Québec City you can visit his museum, it is very interesting and there are lots of neat things to see. Here is a link to give you a sneak peak. (http://www.francoisdelaval.com/english/index.html)

This was a man who understood his job to tell everyone the Good News about God. Here is a prayer that you can pray to help you do the same thing.

O Lord, our God,

You chose François de Laval

To bring the Good News of salvation to North America.

Grant us strength in faith,

Through his intercession, and, following his example,

A fervent heart in service of what is to come.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Well that's it for today. We will close out with a joke!

 

What did the dog yell when it saw the pieces of a fallen tree ?

Bark! Bark!

 

See you later! Woof!

Cloë & Tallulah

 

First Communion Time

Last week we talked about all the confirmations that were happening in our diocese. Now that most of the almost 400 children have been confirmed, it is time for First Communions! Today at Mass there was one little girl who got to make her First Communion. Tallulah do you catch her name?

Cloë I think it was Kiera. I know we have met her before, because I seem to remember jumping up on her and giving her doggie kisses.

What exactly is Communion Cloë?

Well Tallulah, before Jesus left his apostles one of the great gifts he gave to them and to all the humans was the sacrament of Communion. When humans receive the bread at Mass, what they are really receiving is Jesus alive in that bread!!

Really Cloë?! It still looks like bread to me.

You are right Tallulah, it looks the same but once the priest has said the special prayers and he has called on God and the Holy Spirit, the bread becomes the body of Jesus and the wine becomes the blood of Jesus. This way when humans receive Communion they carry Jesus inside their heart. It's pretty awesome when you think about it.

Here is a neat craft that will help you and everyone else to better understand this miracle.

Monstrance Craft for Catholic Kids

 

This craft is by the very creative Lacy of Catholic Icing.

For complete directions and for lots of other great ideas click here.

 

Ask your Mom & Dad about their First Communion!

 

Here is a good prayer to say after you go to communion.

 

Jesus, thank You for coming to me.
Welcome to my heart and bless me.
And now that You are so close to me,
Help me to love You more,
and serve You as You want me to serve You.
I love You, Jesus!

Tell us about your First Communion, we'd love to here about it.

Until next time Woof

Cloë & Tallulah

Hey Parents click here if you want to know more about this sacrament and for ideas about how to explain it to your children.