Winter Ordinary Time 2022: Holy Reminders & Lenten Planning

 

Hello friends, it's good to be back with you again! We're nearing the end of Winter Ordinary Time, which excites me greatly, because I know that that heralds the start of Lent! I look forward to this immediate pre-Lenten time every single year, because it means that I get to think about and organize my plans for Lent. 

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I *love* Lenten planning! This does not mean that I necessarily succeed on all of my Lenten goals each year, but the endeavoring to try keeps me going! I like to have a combination of devotional goals, abstinence goals, and almsgiving. Keeps things interesting. ;-)

So coming up here for Lent, I will design some sort of series with Lenten themes, I live for this stuff. 😎 I'll plan it all out before the end of February. Ash Wednesday falls on March 2nd this year!

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As the time approaches (and it feels like we have a longer time to marinate in it this year since all of February can be devoted to prep time) I'm happily coming up with ideas and trying things out. I've got a few new devotional items that are helping to keep my mind attuned to All Things Faith-Filled that I thought I would share with you. I have a new icon devoted to the Lenten season that I hung near our kitchen table (so much fun meatless Friday planning to come!)

The kitchen table is also where I do a lot of my work from home, so the placment lifts me up there, too. Oh! I think I forgot to show you this before, but when I'm working in my office, I have this new Christ and Theotokos set to lift me up:

Icons all from Legacy Icons

These are in the extra small size, and they're truly perfect for tabletop use. The other adorable thing that has been lifting me up lately is this delightful mini home altar from The Catholic Woodworker:

Isn't it just divine?! It makes me so happy to see these reminders of our faith as I go about my daily activities, and lately it's reminding me how close we are getting to embarking on our Lenten journey for another year!

Have you started planning for Lent yet this year? What kinds of holy reminders do you have out on your desk or other work space? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Catholic Art. Or, maybe Nativity Art. Is that right?!

I like to think about what my blog topic will be on any given day in the morning, since I often find inspiration in my daily preparations and commute. So. What happened in Tiffany's morning today to form a theme?

Exhibit A: Anne's Subtle Musings

"Mommy, where is the princess castle?"


"Upstairs, Honey. We needed to make room for the nativity set."

"Mommy, who are...THOSE PEOPLE?!"

Thankfully, she wasn't talking about the Holy Family. She was pointing accusingly to a gaggle of shepherds. I don't know how, but we would up with more shepherds than sheep in our nativity set.

"They're shepherds Sweetie. And the 3 Kings. Don't worry, the castle is upstairs all safe and sound."

"Want the castle, Mommy."

:0

At any rate, this tied nicely into:

Exhibit B: The Advent Joy That Is Shepherd's Abiding

I just finished re-reading Jan Karon's Shepherd's Abiding, a lovely Advent story. And in that story, Fr. Tim decides to refurbish an heirloom nativity set for his wife as a surprise Christmas gift. In the course of his work, he seeks out a book of artistic renderings of the nativity, as a way of guiding his painting and plaster work. This notion has fascinated me every time I read the book. I want a book of images of the nativity! Doesn't that sound sublime?

And so, THEN:

Exhibit C: The Wonderful Deacon Tom & Dee Fox of Catholic Vitamins

I've started listening to the Catholic Vitamins podcast, and I'm so glad that I did. This week, their vitamin is I for Icons, and the interview they are doing with an icon writer (this is the proper term for iconographers) is absolutely fascinating, how prayer is instrumental throughout the process and how intricate it is to create an icon. I highly recommend listening to this episode if this topic is of interest to you. As I listened on my commute in, I thought back on that nativity book I was pondering, since all of this has me in a distinctive art kind of mood...

I know nothing about art. As in, seriously. My art teachers always gave me that placating smile they come up with for a child who has zero artistic ability but they don't want to make you feel bad. It's never been my gift. And so I really appreciate it when I see someone's work who DOES have this gift. All of these musings led me to do some searching on Amazon while I sat at a quiet reference shift. And I currently have a trial of Amazon Prime, so I'm drunk with power at the thought of ordering a single book, and not having to pay shipping, each day until the end of the year. :0 At any rate, I found this book, which looks kind of fascinating.

I figure there must be other contenders out there for art relating to the nativity. Does anyone have any titles to suggest?

I am at your command in the combox. :)