Saint of the Week - St. Catherine Laboure - Feast Day: November 28. Catherine was the 9th of 11 children and grew up on a farm in France in the early 1800s. When she was 9 years old, her mother died. From that time on Catherine sought solace in her Heavenly Mother, the Blessed Virgin. She prayed that someday she would see Mary. Catherine joined the Sisters of Charity. In 1830 Catherine was kneeling in the convent chapel when she saw the Blessed Virgin appear in all her glory. Mary pointed to the altar and told Catherine this was the source of all consolation for humankind. A few months later, the Blessed Virgin again appeared and told Catherine to have a special medal made that would spread devotion to the Mother of God. The medal was to have the image of Our Lady and the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" on one side. The other side was to bear an image of the hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Blessed Virgin told Catherine that wearers of the medal would receive great graces. Catherine told only her confessor, a priest who consulted the Archbishop of Paris. The Archbishop gave permission to create the medal in 1832. The first medals were made and were very popular. Many miracles of grace, health, peace and prosperity occurred to those who wore it. Before long people were calling it the Miraculous Medal. Catherine spent the rest of her life caring for the elderly in her town and working to let the world know how to summon the power of Mary's aid.
Theme of the Week: Thanksgiving - November 24. The younger students will be asked to tell me what they are thankful for. The students will also listen to a few Thanksgiving stories as well as complete an acrostic poem using the word "Thanksgiving". The Writing Piece Question for the older students will be: Please write an acrostic poem using the word "Thanksgiving".
Word of the Week: This week the students will not have a word of the week due to the fact that I won't see some of the students in the library due to the Thanksgiving holidays.
I hope that all of our Immaculate Heart of Mary School and Parish families have a
Blessed Thanksgiving!