Cookies that Remind us of the Stigmata Saints

There are numerous examples of hand shaped sugar cookies decorated with "stigmata" in various places on the internet.  It is hard to track down where the idea originated. It has not been posted on Catholic Cuisine, and I wanted to share the easy version we created. The ones I have seen either used jam/jelly or a frosting to get the effect. I thought an easier alternative would be to just place a red hot in the center of the cut cookie and bake. No need for the more time consuming decorating.

We just passed the feast of one of the most well-known stigmatists, St. Pio of Pietrelcina but are coming up on the feast of St. Francis, the first recorded stigmatist.  St. Francis received his stigmata on the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross in 1224. There is a specific feast to commemorate that event - Septemper 17 though his October feast day is a good time to recall it as well. 

Some of the more well-known stigmata saints:

Gemma Galgani (April 11)
St. Catherine of Siena (April 29)

Veronica Giuliani (July 9)

Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis (September 17)

St. Pio of Pietrelcina (September 23)

Francis of Assisi (October 4)

There are also many saints who recieved the invisible stigmata or only the crown of thorn head stigmata, including St. Faustina Kowalski, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Mary Margaret Alacoque, St. Rose of Lima.

One could also make these for feast of St. Thomas (who had to touch the wounds to believe) or any days around the Passion of Christ (Good Friday, Holy Saturday). 

The cookies are made using any standard sugar cookie dough recipe or even a prepared refigerator dough from the store. Using a hand (or foot) shaped cookie cutter (or paper pattern for cutting if you don't have a cookie cutter in this shape) cut out the dough. Place a red hot candy in the center of the cookie and bake as directed. And if you prefer there are also the options to decorate with jelly or frosting which give it a more realistic image of bleeding. 

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St. Faustina's Soup

The following post was submitted by Kathy at 9 Peas, complete with a soup recipe from their recent celebration of the feast of St. Faustina on October 5th.  Thank you Kathy!   

You should know, I'm a notorious 'feast day' recipe hack. Which means, I take a recipe and 'make' it work for the feast day, not the other way around. I learned pretty quickly that I do not cook well when trying other country's recipes. I do really well when I try to make something have a 'feel' of that country. The goal is for my kids to learn, and for us to enjoy a meal together.

Saturday, the Feast for St. Faustina Kowalska was actually cold and rainy. The perfect day for a soup, that I dubbed Polish because it had sausage in it - and that might be stretching it because it wasn't technically Polish Sausage 'ahem' but, for my children's sake it was a soup we already love and therefore I christened it St. Faustina's soup for the sake of the Feast Day and the soup didn't have a name anyway, so it was meant to be. *recipe at bottom of post*

I did not make these. I looked up Polish Desserts online and found this website. I knew our local Sam's carried these and being pressed for time - I picked up a box. The kids loved them and I appreciated getting to provide a Polish treat without any more kitchen time. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook & bake but Saturday was filled to the brim, we didn't make it to the Symphony Concert, because our day was so jam packed.

What would I do without these Turkey's I just do not know. They keep me in laughing, and I love watching their sense of humor develop! I also love watching their Faith grow, I enjoy Feast Days so that we can learn about the Saint but also about the country they are from.

St. Faustina's Soup

2 lbs sausage (you could be on your game and actually buy polish sausage for this, I know it would be delicious)
1 small yellow onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
(I usually soak Great Northern Dry Beans and cook those for this, but Saturday was busy, so I used cans)
2 can butter beans
2 cans Capelini Beans
2 can Northern Beans
(Basically just use any white beans you like, but remember the salt content will be greater so taste before over salting)
2 bunch kale washed and torn into shreds
Chicken Broth (I use 2 boxes)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Cook Sausage with onions and garlic, add to crock pot. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer on low all day, serve with hearty bread or croutons. Sooooo yummy!

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Divine Mercy Cookies

This afternoon, following the completion of our Divine Mercy Novena, my children enjoyed decorating cookies. 

We just used some soft molasses cookies I had in the cupboard, trimming them into the shape of a heart with kitchen scissors, though any heart shaped cookie would work.  Then we simply added red and white cookie icing to represent the rays of blood and water that flowed from Jesus' pierced heart.    

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

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Divine Mercy Cake

This beautiful cake was submitted by Cynthia Engle, in honor of today's feast of Divine Mercy. Thank you Cynthia!

Anyone can make this cake. All you need is a cross cake mold, cupcake pans, letter shaped cookie cutters and a little imagination.   The cross cake was baked in a Wilton Cross Cake mold, easily accessible at any craft store selling Wilton products. It is also available at various internet sites.

We covered the cake in white fondant, but you can frost it with your favorite icing if preferred. The lily is made from pressed gum drops. If you are not adept at sugar flowers, you can either forgo this step or buy a commercial decoration that fits the theme. The rays are mini cupcakes, frosted and then sprayed with Wilton color spray or red and blue. You can also just use food coloring in your icing, but the spray gives it a more ethereal image. The cupcakes surrounding the cake are full sized cupcakes with “Jesus I Trust In You” spelled out with letters cut from pressed gum drops with letter cookie cutters. An alternative is to cut and bake cookie letters and place those on the full sized cupcakes. We chose to use three different flavors for the Cross, the mini cupcakes and the full sized cupcakes, but you can use one flavor, using commercial cake mixes or a favorite homemade cake of you own choosing.

Arrange the mini cupcakes in cascading rays along the side of the cross and arrange the larger cupcake with the letters to form the message around the cake or wherever it fits best in your space. This is a little time consuming, but very easy and extremely impressive when served.

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Divine Mercy Cupcakes

These are easy Divine Mercy Cupcakes!

Instructions:

Follow the same instructions for Mardis Gras Cupcakes, dividing white cake mix into 3 colors. Or you may use just 2 colors of blue and red if you like. Use food coloring for red and blue only. (Cake mixture is already white for the middle) I chose to use white for the middle color so that the 2 rays would be more pronounced.  You may also opt out of using the white at all.

My kids loved biting into the cupcakes to reveal the colors of the Divine Mercy Rays.

(For those who live in the United States, these would also make great 4th of July or Memorial Day cupcakes)

 I found these Divine Mercy toppers for $1.50 at out local Catholic Bookstore.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

+Blessed Pope John Paul II,  please pray for us+

The Official Prayer for John Paul II's Intercession
O Blessed Trinity,
We thank You for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for
allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care, the glory of the cross of
Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him. 

Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of
Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd and has
shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you. 

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we
implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen
With ecclesiastical approval CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
the Holy Father's Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome

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Rays of Mercy Fruit Platter

~Happy Divine Mercy Sunday and Beatification of Venerable Pope John Paul II~

This is an easy Divine Mercy fruit platter to make, reflecting the rays of mercy.

"The two rays denote Blood and Water.  The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous.  The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls...,

These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.

These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father.  Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him."~Diary of St. Faustina 299~

Simple Instructions:

Just place fruit on skewers to reflect the red blood ray (strawberries) and blue pale water (blueberries) rays of Divine Mercy.  I also used bananas to add to the pale rays that stand for water.  You often see white mixed in with the blue rays to the far right of the image. You can certainly opt out of the banana skewers and just use strawberries and blueberries for the 2 rays only. I then trimmed my skewers to fit nicely on the platter I had.

"Let the rays of grace enter your soul; they bring with them light, warmth, and life."

Diary of St. Faustina~1486

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