An Afternoon Tea for Candlemas

The Feast of the Purification is also called Candlemas or Candle Mass Day. It is observed each year on February 2nd. This feast commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the temple, which took place 40 days after his birth as Jewish law required. It is also called Candlemas day, since the blessing of candles takes place on this feast.   Last year my family enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea, inspired by Alice at Cottage Blessings on this feast day.

   Here are a few pictures of what was included in our tea, 

while we read from the Gospel of Luke (2:22-40): 

~ White Cocoa with Pure Hearts ~

For this tea, I decided to serve White Cocoa topped with Whipped Cream and Strawberry Marshmallow hearts (instead of tea), representing the purity of both Mary and St. Joseph.

~ Water ~ 

With a pair of turtledoves perched on the handle!

~ A Pair of Turtledoves ~

Using a lovely Tasha Tudor Dove Cookie Cutter (a gift from my sister-in-law), I made Dove Shaped PB&J Sandwiches.

~ Holy Simeon's Arms ~

These mini pretzel's symbolize arms folded in prayer.

~ Piercing Swords ~

I couldn't seem to find the cocktail swords that I know I have around here somewhere, but swords can always be found in my boys bedroom! ;)

~ Anna the Prophetess ~ 

Since I didn't want to go to the store to search for the Mallomars that Alice suggested, especially since I was already serving plenty of cookies, Captain suggested using Black Olives. (The black symbolizes the fact that Anna was a widow.)

~ Edible Candles ~

These were really quite easy and fun to make, not to mention delicious! 

All-powerful Father, Christ your Son became man for us and was presented in the temple. May he free our hearts from sin and bring us into your presence. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia

This afternoon my family enjoyed a (tea-less) "Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia," inspired by yet another one of Alice's amazing Liturgical Teas.  This one is is based on the Novena prayer to Our Lady of Altagracia, which was translated by Helen from the original Spanish!

~ Our Mother's Hand's ~

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our 
Patroness.
  Look at us here, prostrate in your presence, desiring 
to offer you this novena as a testimony of our love 
for you and in thanksgiving for the innumerable
 favors that we have received from your hands.

For this activity, the children made:
  "Our Mother's Hands" Stained Glass Windows

~ The Love of our Hearts ~

You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our 
needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to
 learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to 
offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, 
dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively 
to our supplications. Amen.

For this activity, the children all created "love notes" to our dear Mother Mary. I gave them each a large red heart shaped doily (I picked up a pack of 16 from the Dollar Store), a smaller white heart cut out of copy paper, and a pile of stickers.

~ Three Graces Tea Menu ~

Supplications

1. Oh sweetest Mother of Altagracia, 
all pure and Immaculate from your Conception! We
 beseech you to bless us, your children, with the grace
 to love the purity you practiced and to preserve the 
innocence of our children. Hail Mary…

2. Oh sweetest Mother of Altagracia, 
admirable model of Christian mothers and wives in the
 humble house of Nazareth, we beseech you to bless our 
homes, making them flourish in the holiness of
 matrimony. Hail Mary…

3. Oh sweetest Mother of Altagracia, 
you received into your arms the Holy Infant who died 
for us on the Cross, we give you all of our
 sufferings, so that at the hour of our death we may
 die with the name of Jesus on our lips and in our
 hearts, and fly to heaven with the help of your 
maternal arms. Hail Mary …

"The Novena specifies the three graces we request from Our Lady, and the menu offerings of the tea reflect them in a simple way."

1. Love of Purity ~ White ranch dip represents purity and will go well with the vegetables in the next menu offering.  This reminds us of the perfect purity of the Holy Family.

2. Home Blessing ~ This next offering reminds us of the humble home of the Holy Family in Nazareth, and we ask for a shower of blessings upon our homes, making them flourish in the holiness of matrimony.  Since Our Lady of Altagracia is patroness of the Dominican Republic, Alice suggests "we remember "Home Blessings" with produce that grows in this, her chosen homeland: snap peas or pea pods. When you break open the side of the pod, the peas inside look like a family in their house. "

3. Maternal Arms ~ In the last supplication we ask for the grace of flying to Heaven with the help of Our Lady's maternal arms.   For this offering Alice suggests serving small twisted pretzels.  She says, "The original German pretzels were meant to represent arms crossed in prayer, but I think they would make a wonderful maternal embrace for these purposes"

I also served a bowl of White (Our Lady's Purity) Pretzels (Maternal Arms).

~ Treats for Our Lady of Altagracia ~

For a delicious dessert in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia, Alice suggests serving caramelized bananas over coffee ice cream since the chief exports of the Dominican Republic are coffee, sugar and bananas.

Directions:  To carmelize the bananas, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the bananas in half and sprinkle with butter and brown sugar. Bake about 7 minutes or so. If this is too difficult, use plain ripe bananas over coffee ice cream--or even vanilla ice cream with bananas and a drizzle of coffee syrup.

The next treat I made was a crown of stars for the "beautiful lady with golden skin and a crown of stars."   ~  excerpt from A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia   I placed our little hand painted Our Lady of Altagracia doll in the center.

Our Lady of Altagracia's Chocolate Stars

Melt and mold Yellow Chocolate according to directions using a star chocolate mold. 

Our Lady of Altagracia Orange Smoothies

You can find the recipe from this delicious drink in the archives.

Final Prayer 

Holy Virgin of Altagracia!

From your hands and your maternal heart we receive 
each day the sustenance that you give to us from Our
 Father in heaven. 
You are our defense in danger,
 our indispensable help in our necessities and our hope in the sacrifices required of the Christian 
life. 
Through your Immaculate Heart we desire to pay tribute
 to God with a hymn of thanksgiving for all the 
benefits you have distributed.
 We promise you, Oh Mother, gratitude and fidelity.
 You will always reign in our homes and in our town, 
where all venerate you as Our Lady and Mother, you who
 make all virtues increase and thrive. 
We are honored to be called your children.  We hope to finish our lives serving God and you until 
we reach the highest grace possible, the grace you
 will help us to attain, the great gift of heaven
 itself.  Amen.

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A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe

I just realized that I never added the Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which our family enjoyed last year, here at Catholic Cuisine! In fact, it wasn't until just now, after seeing my own post linked on another blog, that I even remembered having this tea... In my defense, I was 9 months pregnant (due on Dec 25th) and just days away from delivering! It is so hard to believe that our little "Rose" will be a year old on the 15th!   Anyhow, here is the post in honor of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe tomorrow!

Inspired, once again, by Alice's amazing Liturgical Teas, we enjoyed A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Some of my children had made Tilmas at last weeks Homeschool Craft Day, but those that didn't worked on making theirs while the others colored and cut out Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego Paper Dolls as I prepared the tea and we all listened to Fresh Flowers in Winter: The Story of Saint Juan Diego.

Here is what was included in the menu:

~ Aztec Chocolate ~

Mexican Hot Cocoa with Mini Marshmallows, while praying for the many innocent lives that were sacrificed by the Aztecs.


~ St. Juan Diego's Sombrero ~

Pringles with a little round of string cheese
My children LOVED these and they were so easy!


~ Tepayac Hill ~

I forgot to pick up Guacamole or Potato Salad as suggested and so I resorted to using a package of Idahoan Instant Baby Red Mashed Potatoes. It worked. :)


~ A Woman Clothed with the Sun ~

Instead of Alice's Recipe, I made Pampered Chef's Touchdown Taco Dip:
1 can refried beans, topped with 1 package cream cheese mixed with 1 cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, and then topped with cheddar cheese.
(The recipe calls for green onions, diced tomatoes, and olives on the very top after it bakes, but I omitted them for the "Sun")


~ A Mantle of Stars ~

46 stars to represent the 46 constellations that would have appeared in the sky on the night of Our Lady's December 12th apparition to St. Juan Diego.

I found these star cookies at Target. I also ran across Star Marshmallows, Star Candies, and even Star shaped Baby Food Puffs, so there were lots of options!

Also, this was A LOT of Cookies -- almost all went back in the package to save for Christmas. Next year I think I will serve only 12 for Our Lady's "Crown of 12 Stars."


~ Crescent Moons ~

Crescent shaped biscotti!
If I make this tea again, I would probably substitute these for small crescent shaped croissants filled with chicken salad or something, though the biscotti was perfect for dipping into that hot cocoa!


~ Supporting Angels ~

 

Since I used the Lindt Angels for our Jesse Tea, I purchased these for this one. Aren't they so cute! My girls were especially thrilled and have been "saving" theirs! ;)


~ Praying Hands ~

Praying Hand shaped tea sandwiches, pointing towards the baby Jesus!


~ The Tilma of Roses ~

My children *LOVED* these!!
I did fold them up after taking photos and before serving, and let the children unfold them to find the "roses."


~ Bishop Zumarraga's Miter ~

These miter cookies were leftover from the feast of St. Nicholas and made such a great little addition to the tea!


~ Crushed Serpents ~

~ "Build Me a Church" ~

~ Roses from Heaven Punch ~

For the punch I just used a bottle of Raspberry Spritzer

and added scoops of Raspberry Sherbet.


There were quite a few sweets included in this tea, so I postponed serving the "Build me a Church" and the Roses from Heaven Punch until the next day, which ended up being the perfect time to read The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie de Paola and Our Lady of Guadalupe by Father Lovasik.


Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke you in their necessities. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the Grace of a firm faith and sure hope amid the bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.

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A Jesse "Tea" for Advent

Ever since our last Tea for Easter, my children have been asking when we could have another Liturgical Tea. The Jesse Tree has been one of our favorite Advent traditions since my children were very small, so when I ran across Alice's Jesse "Tea" I knew it would be perfect!

Alice suggests having this tea during the last week of Advent, however I decided it would be a fun way to kick-off this Advent season after Mass on the first Sunday of Advent. Really though, you could have it at any time during Advent, or even serve a little something each day of Advent to go along with the ornament and reading for that particular day!

Here is what was included in the menu:

~ The Jesse "Tea" ~

A couple of us had tea and the rest opted for "Adam's Apple Cider."

~ Adam's Apple ~

A Bowl of Apples with a gummi worm serpent!

"And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat." Gen. 3: 6

~ Noah's Ark ~

Alice suggested Celery and Tomato boats, but since most of my children do not care for celery, here is what I came up with:

Animal Crackers 2x2 ~ Deviled Egg Arks ~ Fruit Slice Rainbows

"And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds: And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth. And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth. " Gen. 9: 12-17

~ Abraham's Stars ~

I wasn't able to find Dora Star Cereal, but I did find some Brach's Star Candy.
They are SO delicious!

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be." Gen. 15: 5

~ Isaac's Bundle of Sticks ~

I used string cheese to tie our little bundles of 8 pretzel sticks together.

"And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword." Gen. 22: 6

~ Jacob's Ladder ~

Using Isaac's Bundle of Sticks, each person makes their own ladder.

"And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it." Gen. 28: 12

~ Joseph's Coat of Many Colors ~

These were very fun, and easy to make, following Alice's directions.

"Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him in his old age: and he made him a coat of divers colours. And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him." Gen. 37: 3-4

~ The Burning Bush ~

Broccoli Florets dipped in Thousand Island Dressing

"And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt. And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." Exodus 3: 2-3

~ Moses' Tablets of the Law ~

I bought Milano cookies, as recommended by Alice, but added Roman Numerals I-X with chocolate icing.

I love how they turned out!

"And after this he said: Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the former, and I will write upon them the words which were in the tables, which thou brokest." Exodus 34: 1

~ Jonah and the Whale ~

When I saw a box of Whale Crackers I just had to buy them to add to our tea!

"Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. And Jonas prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the fish. " Jonah 2: 1-2

~ The Root of Jesse ~

Baby Carrots since they are a "Root" Vegetable

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root." and "In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious." Isaiah 11: 1 and 10

~ David's Star Tea Sandwiches ~

I just used two different sized Star Cookie Cutters to cut one star out of bread and a slightly smaller star out of cheese.

1 Samuel 17: 12-51

~ Bethlehem, House of Bread ~

A Basket of Rolls

"But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel" Matthew 2: 5-6

~ John the Baptist's Honey ~

I ordered a box of Honey Stix from Amazon for about $14.00, not realizing I would be receiving 384 of them (instead of 48)! What a deal!! Good thing my children liked them...

"And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb." Luke 1: 41
"For this is he that was spoken of by Isaias the prophet, saying: A voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." Matthew 3: 3

~ Angelic Messengers ~

I didn't have any luck finding the cookies Alice Suggested, but there are lots of Angel candies to be found this time of year. I purchased a little package of Lindt Angels for this tea.

"And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. " Luke 1:26-28

~ Flowers of Jesse ~

I thought about making Rose Cupcakes, but I (at 9 months pregnant) had already been on my feet long enough so I opted for Pepperidge Farms Verona Cookies which look like flowers.

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. " Isaiah 11:1-3

Be sure to visit Cottage Blessings for more ideas, recipes and the shopping list!

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