Charlotte’s Blog
Have a St. Nicholas party in July!
I know you and your little ones are feeling a bit stir-crazy right now. I am, too. All of my regular summer activities have been cancelled. We’re all looking for something fun to do. And I have just the thing: The Nativity of St. Nicholas falls on July 29. You can...
A table where strangers are welcome
I love words. Words are my toys, and they’re my tools. I think with them, I work with them, I play with them. I use them to interact with people, and I use them to understand the world. And while I’d like to say that I love all words equally, that’s not true. I have...
Why I find the Sunday of the Paralytic disheartening
Guest post by Monica Spoor The Sunday of the Paralytic is just behind us – it is in fact a week later – and I’ve had the week to discover that it made me upset again, and why. I’ve heard sermons on that Sunday for years, of course, and they’re not very different from...
Rhubarb cookies for Pascha (or any time)
Before Holy Week, I had planned to make a half batch of honey bunnies for a Pascha treat. A whole batch would be too many for our family, and I wouldn't be taking them to church to share. So a half batch would do it. But when I went to the grocery on Holy Tuesday,...
The complete list of multicultural Easter picture books
For over two thousand years now, people have celebrated Easter with great joy and a dazzling variety of traditions. And it seems natural that the joy and the traditions would find their way into picture books. It would be natural, but it’s not common. When I created...
Celebrating Holy Week and Pascha at home
Most of us will be celebrating Holy Week and Pascha at home instead of at church this year. And if we focus on what we usually do, what we want to do, what we can't do, it may feel like we’re not having Holy Week and Pascha at all. We can’t re-create our beautiful...
Pascha gifts during a pandemic
The social distancing that is being asked of all of us is providing a quiet and somber Lent. But you still need Pascha gifts for the little ones you love. You don't want to go to the mall. And, as you may have heard, Amazon may not be stocking non-essential items....
ADHD in The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane
The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane is the story of Theophane, a young monk in a monastery in the mountains of Mourne, in Ireland, in the Middle Ages. Author C.M. Millen doesn’t say that Theophane has ADHD. It would be an absurd thing for her to say, an outrageous...
Lent for families with special needs
I can tell Lent is coming. I’ve heard the stories of Zacchaeus, and the Publican and the Pharisee, and the Prodigal Son. I’ve been warned about the sheep and the goats. I’ve done some serious menu planning, to make sure we use up the foods that we aren’t going to eat...
When Pope Leo met Attila the Hun
The meeting between St. Leo the Great, Pope of Rome, and Attila the Hun was brief. The story of what led up to that meeting takes somewhat longer to tell. It started in the year 450. Honoria, the older sister of Valentinian III, emperor of the western Roman Empire,...
A dangerous story: The prodigal son
I once heard a homily for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, in which the priest explained that the parable is dangerous. We might be tempted to see in the father the example of a loving parent. But any parent that, in real life, acted as the father of the prodigal son...
Joy: A story of disability and depression
Joy is a new picture book by Corrinne Averiss, with illustrations by Isabelle Follath. I found it on a list of books that feature characters with disabilities. I was so excited to get a copy. I thought I’d review it right away. But it’s taken me a while to write the...
THE MAGIC OF BOOKS
Share the joy of Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine's Pascha.
AN INVITATION
Sign up for my newsletter to get exclusive content and never miss a post. 