Holy Saturday - Preparing for Easter!

We spent some time on Saturday preparing for Easter Sunday. We planned to go to Mass in the morning and then have my parents over for a big meal. First, we died eggs. Although I have four dozen eggs in my fridge, I still had to go buy a carton of white ones... our hens lay brown eggs, and I figured they wouldn't really dye very well!

Cecilia enjoyed watching and choosing which colors to put "her" eggs in.

Isn't it odd that in these dye kits, they always include 12 dye tablets, yet there are only 9 spots on the back of the package in which to set the eggs to dry?

Caroline dyeing her own six eggs on the other side of the table.

Waiting for the colors to darken...

And here they are! I thought it was funny that the kit included "teal, denim, and blue." But after pulling the eggs out, it was clear which color was which!

After dyeing eggs, we made resurrection rolls. This has become a tradition since this is the third or fourth year of doing it. I just make a basic whole wheat roll dough and then we use it to wrap around the marshmallows...

... the Wal-Mart brand marshmallows that had already been opened and were in the pantry for a couple months... and perhaps this is why they didn't melt down completely inside the dough as they typically do?

The marshmallows get dipped into melted butter and then cinnamon-sugar before being rolled up in the dough. The marshmallow represents Jesus, the butter and cinnamon sugar represent the burial cloth/spices, and the dough represents the tomb. When they are served for Easter Sunday breakfast, the rolls are hollow, just like the empty tomb!

Caroline dips a marshmallow.

Cecilia shows us how greasy her fingers are after handling the buttery marshmallows!

Now they wait until the next morning to find the "empty tomb!"

Observing Holy Thursday and Good Friday

Holy Thursday

We made this Last Supper craft from Catholic Icing on Holy Thursday, along with working on the clothespin doll figures. It is modeled after the da Vinci painting. All you need is a printer, colored pencils, scissors, and an egg carton!

Caroline did most of it, although Cecilia colored a few of the apostles (and Caroline was a bit put off that she had colored some of their hands blue, ha ha).

Good Friday

We changed the priest's vestments to red, the liturgical color for the day.

Cecilia is almost able to do this on her own now.

The red tablecloth went out, in preparation for our special Good Friday dinner.

Caroline added an image of the Last Supper on Thursday and of Jesus on the cross on Friday. There is an image of Jesus in the tomb for Saturday.

The girls used the figures to act out the Passion while I read about it from the Bible. Simon is helping Jesus carry the cross here.

Cecilia made Veronica wipe Jesus's face. Yes, I know that's not actually in the Bible. ;)

arranging the figures on Golgotha

laying Jesus in the tomb and placing the large stone in front of the opening

We also made hot cross buns again this year. Caroline measured flour while Cecilia stirred the raisins into the run to soak. Don't worry, she didn't taste any after they went in the rum. ;)

all finished and freshly iced with crosses

Then we went to our parish at 3:00 for the Seven Last Words of Jesus and Stations of the Cross. Caroline pointed out that it should be called the seven last phrases, not words. We had never been before - not with the girls; I had been ages ago at my childhood parish, I think. It was nice to be able to do this.

When we came home, the girls had hot cross buns for a snack and played outside.

Holy Thursday and Good Friday Meals

We have enjoyed doing some of the various Liturgical Teas that are described at Cottage Blessings. There are two for Lent: one for Holy Thursday, and the other for Good Friday! We did the Good Friday one last year, and this year we did them both, for our dinner on both days. It is a good way to retell the story of what happened while having dinner at the same time!

~Holy Thursday Dinner~

Caroline made labels for each of the dishes on our table this evening

Palm on the Road

This was made by buttering slices of sourdough bread and slicing heart of palm lengthwise and placing them on top if the butter.

Mk. 11:1-11 - Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey and the people lay palm branches and cloaks on the road to greet him.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

These were made by cutting slices of muenster cheese with a small biscuit cutter and serving them alongside round Nut Thin crackers... there were 15 of each.

Mk. 14:10-11; Mt. 26: 14-16 - Judas betrays Jesus in exchange for thirty pieces of silver

Costly Oil and Unleavened Bread

These are simply small dishes of olive oil with bits of chopped rosemary and whole wheat pita bread to tear up and share.

Mk. 14:3-9; Mk. 14: 12-22 - A woman in Bethany offers Jesus expensive oil, and preparing the Passover meal (Passover being the feast of unleavened bread).

The Mount of Olives

Just a pile of olives to form a "mountain"

Mk. 14: 26 - Jesus and his apostles go out to the Mount of Olives after eating.

Before the Cock Crows...

I made chicken salad for this one, to be the main dish: shredded cooked chicken breasts (I didn't really use rooster meat, ha ha!), mayo, some sour cream and/or plain yogurt (I don't like too much mayo, but it has to be moist enough!), dill, chopped pecans, salt and pepper, and sliced red grapes!

Mk. 14: 27-31 - Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the cock crows.

Here's the chicken salad on bread for sandwiches.

Gethsemane Figs

These are fig and honey cream cheese muffins... very yummy! Figs are used here because it is possible that fig trees grew in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Mk. 14: 32-42 - Jesus prays in the garden.

Judas's Kiss and Peter's Tears

Hershey Kisses obviously work well to represent a kiss, and peppermint Tic-Tacs resemble tears.

Mk. 14: 43-50; Mk. 14: 66-72 - Judas kisses Jesus as a signal showing who to arrest, and Peter cries bitterly upon realizing he has denied knowing Jesus three times, just as predicted.

~Good Friday Dinner~

Caroline made the crowns of thorns herself, with Cecilia helping some

The King's Crown

I made this by spreading most of a package of cream cheese on the bottom of a pie plate, then spreading most of a can of refried beans over that. Then I added a little bit of salsa on top of the beans and topped it all with shredded cheddar. Yum!!! The pointed tortilla chips around the edge make it look like a crown.

Mk. 15: 1-5 - Pilate asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews.

Out of Envy

This is just basic guacamole: avocado, lime juice, garlic powder, and salt. The connection is the saying that people can be "green with envy."

Mk. 15: 6-15 - This says it was out of envy that the chief priests had brought him in for questioning.

The Crown of Thorns and The Purple Cloak

The crowns are round crackers spread with almond butter and edged with broken pretzels to resemble the thorns. The purple garment is squares of purple fruit leather - boysenberry, I think.

Mk. 15: 16-17 - The soldiers place the crown of thorns and purple cloak on Jesus to mock him.

Golgotha Eggs

These are hard-boiled eggs (from our chickens, so they are tan instead of white) with a skull drawn on each. The hard boiled egg inside is at least white like a skull! Golgotha means "the place of the skull."

Mk. 15:21-23 - Jesus is brought to Golgotha.

The Seamless Garment

I used kitchen scissors to cut tortillas into the shape of a garment like the one Jesus wore, for which the soldiers then cast lots. The "dice" on each garment are just cubes of mozzarella cheese.

Mk. 15:24-27 - The soldiers strip Jesus of his garments and gamble to see who wins the seamless tunic.

Vinegar to Drink

We didn't really drink it, but we used the red wine vinegar on the mozzarella and tomatoes and basil. I had the white vinegar out so it could be smelled (and tasted if anyone was brave enough!) to get an idea of how that would not have been a pleasant thing to offer as a drink!

Mk. 15: 33-37 - A soldier offers Jesus a sponge soaked in vinegar on a reed.

The Roman Centurion and The Two Robbers

There are 100 grape tomato halves in the bowl to represent the centurion, since he would have been in charge of 1oo men. Everyone took two of the basil leaves to represent the two thieves who were crucified on either side of Jesus. Interestingly, legend says that basil grew on the hill where the crucifixion took place, and basil is also symbolic of both hatred and best wishes, which reminds us of how each of the thieves acted.

Mk. 15:38-39; Mk. 15: 27-32 - The centurion says Jesus was truly the son of God after he dies, and the robbers are crucified with Jesus.

Laid in the Tomb

Do these look familiar? They were used again for tonight's dinner after being used for the figs the night before. Tonight, they had their tops sliced off, revealing the cream cheese filling inside. last year, I used another basic muffin recipe and hollowed out a portion inside to represent the tomb. Caroline said that the white stood for Jesus, wrapped in a white burial cloth. then the lid of the muffin is like the stone being rolled in front.

Mk. 15:40-47 - Jesus is laid in the tomb hewn out of rock.

The whole table, set and ready

Caroline shows her work on the crowns of thorns

Holy Saturday

Dyeing eggs

The girls were entertained by the stickers that come in the egg dyeing kit. How else do the Paas people make money besides these dinky kits? I know the Peeps people have snuck their nasty marshmallow product into every holiday at this point, but I don't think Paas has convinced anybody to dye food items for any other days besides Easter...

Caroline placed these pictures on the Lent calendar... Jesus on the cross on Good Friday, and Jesus in the tomb for Holy Saturday.