Sunday of the Cross

This year for the Third Sunday in Lent, I decided we would try a masking or stencil-type painting project.  I have been working with watercolors lately so I thought a watercolor project would be in order.  First we tried the project with a cross cut out of cardstock that we taped to watercolor paper.  We then splattered several colors of watercolor paint onto the paper around the cross.

This was an experimental project for me as I had not tried it before.  What we discovered is the watercolors ran a bit under the cardstock cross.  Also, lighter colors did not work very well because they did not provide enough contrast.  I also tried the project with masking tape in a simple cross pattern.  This one came out a bit better as it did not run.  This project would work well with acrylic or tempera paint (just dilute with a little water to make it more runny).

I have two sick kids today so just my oldest son and I did the project together.  He doesn't usually join me for things like this anymore, but when he was younger we did a craft project together almost every day.  So it was nice to do a project together again!

Materials used:
140 lb watercolor paper
watercolor paints
water
flat paintbrush
masking tape
cardstock

Steps:
Print template of desired shape and cut out.  Trace onto cardstock and then cut shape from the cardstock.  Place rolled up pieces of tape on the back of the cardstock cross (put plenty of tape on the edges to hold down securely).  Or alternatively, place masking tape on the paper in the shape of a cross.










Choose at least 3-4 colors of paint and add a bit of water to each color on your palette.  Fill brush with paint, hold over the paper with one hand and tap paintbrush with other hand to flick water onto the paper.  Make sure to put plenty of color around the edges of the cardstock shape (or tape) for the greatest contrast.

Allow to dry a bit before removing the cardstock cross (or if using plain masking tape, allow to dry completely before removing).





To see the project we did last year for the Sunday of the Cross click HERE.

Our furry helper

Some of our recent watercolor projects

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Mounting an icon print on wood















In preparation for the Sunday of Orthodoxy this weekend (http://antiochian.org/sundayoforthodoxy) I decided a good project for the kids and I would be to mount some icon prints on wood.  I had been wanting to try this project for awhile so this seemed like the perfect week for it.  This is not an easy project for children so I had them participate as best they could.

The materials we used were:
unfinished wood plaques from a craft store
printed icons (one from a magazine, one from a calendar and one print from the Convent of St. Elizabeth)
fine sandpaper
craft paint
mod podge
paintbrush

I had not tried this before so it was a bit of an experiment.  I have read about mounting icon prints on wood using varnish, but I decided to try the mod podge method instead.  I watched a short tutorial on mounting a photo onto wood with mod podge so I used a similar method for the icons.  I learned that the thinner papers wrinkled some with the mod podge.  The thicker icon print from St. Elizabeth's did not wrinkle, but I had to be careful when applying the mod podge because if I wiped the mod podge off of the print it smudged off the ink.  So I carefully applied a layer of the mod podge to that print taking care not to wipe or smudge it.  Since the thinner paper of the magazine and calendar wrinkled some I had to use my fingers to smooth out wrinkles after applying the mod podge.  Thankfully the ink did not smudge on these.  Overall the project came out decent, but not perfect.

Method:
First I lightly sanded the wood plaques with fine grain sandpaper (220).  Then I had my kids each paint the front of a plaque for their chosen icon print.  The store was out of the size of plaque I needed for my daughter's print so we had to use a plaque that was too large.  None of the icons fit perfectly onto the wood, but I found wood fairly close in size for the other two.

We let the paint dry and then the kids applied a second coat.  We used a chocolate brown color.  After the fronts had dried, the kids applied one coat of paint to the back.

After the plaques were completely dry we applied a light coat of mod podge to the back of the icon prints.  It is important to not apply too much mod podge to the back of the paper especially the thinner papers as it will cause it to wrinkle.  I laid the print with the mod podge on the back on the plaque and starting smoothing from the middle of the print outward.  I had to apply a little extra to the corners as the mod podge dries quickly.

Then I had the kids help apply a thin layer of mod podge over the top of the print and wood.  (its best to lay the wood on plastic while you do this step instead of newspaper so the wood does not stick to the paper).  I ended up doing most of this step myself when I saw that the thinner paper icons were going to wrinkle.  I tried to apply the thinnest coat possible to the thinner papers.  Then I smoothed the print out as best as I could with my fingers (I did not do this with the print from St. Elizabeth's which was thicker).  Be sure to check a corner of your print to see if the ink is going to rub off before trying to smooth out after applying a layer of mod podge.  We only applied one coat of the mod podge and only to the fronts.  You can apply to the back also after the front has dried thoroughly, but we skipped that step.

After they had dried, the wrinkles were not too apparent.  For a first attempt with simple supplies the results were not too bad.  Unfortunately we are snowed in so we weren't able to take our icons to church today for the procession.  So we had our own procession at home.

From the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese website:  On the first Sunday in Lent, we commemorate the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 A.D. upholding the use of holy icons in Orthodox worship. We also commemorate today the unity of Orthodox belief and the oneness of our Faith throughout our various jurisdictions, nations and languages and across the continents and the centuries.

St. Mary of Egypt

This coming Sunday, the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent,  we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt.  I really love St. Mary and the story of her very sincere and deep repentance as well as her amazing life of asceticism.  It's no wonder she is commemorated in the Orthodox Church during Great Lent, a time of repentance and spiritual renewal.

Her story has many elements that children find interesting (especially the lion!).  St. Mary lived a very sinful life before her conversion.  Therefore, it can be a somewhat delicate task to tell her story to children in a way that is appropriate for them while at the same time conveying the depths of her sins from which she repented.  I searched online for a children's book or story about the life pf St. Mary of Egypt.  I still haven't found any storybooks about her life for children, but I did run across a re-telling of her life for children posted on her feast day (which is April 1).  It can be found here along with some lovely icons that help tell her story.

I read the story to my children and showed them some of the icons.  They were particularly interested in the lion and her miracle of walking across the Jordan river.  We talked a bit about how sorry she was for her grave sins and why she chose to live a life of extreme asceticism in the desert (as a form a deep and humble repentance, to keep herself from returning to her old ways and to become closer and closer to God).  We also talked a bit about Fr. Zosimas' pride and his sincere humility after meeting St. Mary.

I asked my kids what part of St. Mary's story they found the most interesting.  My daughter said the part where Mary was unable to enter the church on Jerusalem was most interesting to her and my son was most fascinated by the fact that she lived so long alone in the desert.


For our project I decided to have the kids draw a picture depicting Fr. Zosimas and St. Mary with simple figures in the Waldorf style.  We used watercolor pencils (I have a set I have been wanting to try out so I thought this would be a good project for that!).  We used two particular icons (see above) as inspiration for our drawings and I encouraged the children to either depict Fr. Zosimas with the reposed St. Mary (and the lion nearby) or St. Mary coming across the Jordan river to receive communion.  I made a quick drawing as an example for them.  After they completed their drawings I showed them how they could dip a paintbrush in water and go over parts of their painting with the brush to make it appear like a watercolor painting.  I think the effect and the resulting pictures are lovely.

(click on photos to see them larger)

A note on paper:  After a trial run, before I did the project with my children, I decided to use watercolor paper.  I first tried the project with an 80# drawing paper, but with the water it made the paper wrinkle up too much.  The heavier watercolor paper worked much better.

St. John of the Ladder

On the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church we commemorate St. John Climacus (also known as St. John of the Ladder). He is the author of the book The Ladder of Divine Ascent, a treatise on spiritual exercises and actions. In the book he outlines 30 steps, each one being a virtue to be acquired or a vice to be surrendered. Through these steps a person can better know Christ and attain the Heavenly Kingdom.

I read my children a lesson on St. John of the Ladder from the Children's Garden of the Theotokos curriculum. We looked at how you climb a ladder, one step at a time, by climbing a real ladder in our house. We talked about St. John and his book and some of the virtues he taught. We looked at the icon for The Ladder of Divine Ascent (there is a short video on the link provided above that explains a bit about the icon). This happens to my 6 year old's favorite icon. He has a little book of icon prints he takes to church and he stares at this particular icon through most of the Divine Liturgy service each week! He loves to study all the figures in the icon, the monks and priests climbing the ladder, the angels in the corner, the demons trying to pull the people off as they try to reach the Heavenly Kingdom and Christ in the upper corner reaching out to those on the ladder.

For our project the children made their own Ladder of Divine Ascent picture. We used tan cardstock for the background for this project. I cut out some strips from black construction paper that my children glued onto their cardstock to make a ladder. I cut out some very basic fugures from white construction paper to reperesent the monks, angels and demons. My daughter colored hers in different colors to represent the different figures - brown for the monks, black for the demons and gold for the angels (with halos around their heads). My son chose to draw all the figures on his page. He wanted to add more detail like the original icon with swords and bows and arrows for the demons. They also drew a mandorla (blue circles) in the corner near the ladder to represent the Heavenly Kingdom and golden spears coming out to represent the Holy Spirit.

Let us honor John, that pride of ascetics, that angel on earth, that man of God in heaven, that adornment of the world, and that bliss of virtues and good deeds; for, planted in the house of God, he flourished with justice; and, like a cedar tree in the wilderness, he caused the flock of Christ to grow, those sheep endowed with speech, in righteousness and justice.

-Vespers of the Feast

Sunday of the Adoration of the Holy Cross

The Third Sunday of Lent in the Orthodox Church is the Adoration of the Holy Cross.  We decorated our own Russian style crosses with markers and pretty paper scraps.

I drew a blank Russian style three bar cross on card stock and then let the kids decorate their how they liked.

I gave them markers, scissors, glue sticks and some pretty origami paper I had left over from a Japanese wabi-sabi collage project.

 I wrote the Troparion of the Cross on the bottom of the pages.

O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance;
Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries
And by the virtue of the Cross, protect Thy habitation!

St. Gregory Palamas

St. Gregory Palamas is commemorated this coming Sunday (the second Sunday in Lent) in the Orthodox Church.  He is remembered on this Sunday because the condemnation of his enemies and the vindication of his teachings by the Church in the 14th century was acclaimed as a second triumph of Orthodoxy.

St. Gregory was born in 1296 in Constantinople to pious Christian parents. He eventually entered the monastic life.  Through solitude and inner stillness he was able to enter into a state of constant prayer.  He wrote various treatises on asceticism and prayer and defended the methods used by hesychasts.
Read more about St. Gregory Palamas HERE.

St. Gregory taught that unceasing mental prayer is the duty of all Christians and the prayer known as the "Jesus Prayer" is often used for this purpose in the Orthodox Tradition.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

To prepare for this Sunday I read a lesson to my kids about St. Gregory Palamas from the Orthodox curriculum, The Children's Garden of the Theotokos (Anaphora Press).  It teaches children about the use of prayer ropes with the Jesus Prayer.  Instead of making the page outlined in the lesson, I used a craft found on the Crafty Contemplative blog.  Click HERE for the craft.  We did ours slightly different (for instance we used 3-dimensional stickers for the crosses) and added an icon of St. Gregory that I printed.  I made my own with the kids and said one Jesus Prayer as I glued on each of the circles that represent the knots on a prayer rope.  You can read more about prayer ropes HERE.

The kids seemed to really enjoy making their own version of a prayer rope on paper and we hung them on the wall to remind us of this prayer throughout Lent.

(Click to see larger)