my name is Kathryn.
My friends call me Kat so you can too. Welcome! I’m really glad you’re here. First I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself. I am 11 years old and I am in the 6th grade. My favorite colors are bubble gum pink and periwinkle blue and my favorite treat to make is a banana whip with fresh strawberries. My favorite movie is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Have you ever seen it? It's an old movie. I really like old movies, especially musicals.
Speaking of music, I’m also a musician. You probably figured that out when you saw my picture. The school I go to is called Allegro Music Academy. I study regular school subjects but I also have a lot of musical instruction. Every morning when I’m getting ready for school I pray, "Thank You, Jesus! Thank You that I have another day to use my gift of music for Your glory!”
My mom always reminds me that all my gifts and talents come from God and that I should always strive to use them for His glory. On our piano at home we have a little sign that says: AMDG - Ad maiorem Dei gloriam. That's Latin and means “For the greater glory of God.”
The instruments I play are the piano, the violin and the cello. I thought you might like to see a picture of some of the instruments that me and my classmates play at school. How many of them can you name?
Now it's time to get down to Catholic Kids 101 business! I would like to tell you about my very favorite way to pray and how I do it. I’m hoping my CK101 Page will help it become your favorite way too!
My favorite way of praying is the prayer of the Rosary! You will see that a part of Catholic Kids 101 is a whole section entitled ROSARY 4 KIDS. There you will meet a boy named Mario and he is going to tell you all kinds of amazing things about the Rosary. For now, my CK101 page is going to be like a "sneak preview" of more awesome Rosary things to come.
I want to ask you a question. Did you know that in more recent times Jesus has sent Mother Mary from Heaven to help us understand that we need to pray the Rosary? It’s true! I’ve thought a lot about it and I decided since Jesus has done that, He must think that praying the Rosary is really important!
Saint Bernadette Soubirous, age 14 in 1858
I'll tell you about one of those times. In the year 1858, Jesus sent Our Lady to a place called Lourdes, France. She came from Heaven to talk with a fourteen year old girl named Bernadette Soubirous. Our Lady had a beautiful Rosary! Bernadette said it was made with a gold chain and it had white beads. I have often wondered if Our Blessed Mother made the beautiful Rosary herself. Maybe it looked something like this...
Here is how Bernadette described what happened when she saw Our Lady for the very first time. Bernadette said, "Without thinking of what I was doing, I took my Rosary in my hands and went on my knees. The Lady made with her head a sign of approval and herself took into her hands a Rosary which hung on her right arm...it was only after the Lady had signed herself that I could do the same. The Lady left me to pray all alone; she passed the beads of her Rosary between her fingers but she said nothing; only at the end of each decade did she say the 'Glory be' with me."
Now I want to share a story with you that I heard when I went to a retreat for kids at my parish, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. I really like this story! I think you'll know why I like it so much when you get to the end. It's called "The Wreath of Flowers" and it is based on one that was told to kids a really long time ago by an order of nuns called the Daughters of Charity from Emmitsburg, Maryland. I hope you like it as much as I do!
THE WREATH OF FLOWERS
Once upon a time there lived a little boy named Elijah. He lived with his loving parents and also his little pup Gracie. They all lived happily together in a place where it was summertime all year round. The sky was nearly always blue and the birds always sang sweetly in the trees. There were always many beautiful flowers in bloom and a very amazing thing often happened. When it did rain, the sun would often shine at the same time! Elijah did not know what winter was like. He never saw snow or ice. He never felt a cold wind. Jack Frost never bit his nose. He never had to stay inside to keep warm. But once he had to stay in his house for six long weeks. The reason was because Elijah became ill. He became very ill. As each day and then each week went by, he grew weaker and weaker. Sadly, the doctor told Elijah's father that there was nothing more he could do to help his little Elijah get better. Of course, Elijah's dear mother took excellent care of him. She stayed by Elijah's side night and day. She often cried. She did not want Elijah to die. At last this poor mother said to her grief stricken husband, "I will ask the Blessed Mother to obtain a cure for our little Elijah. I will pray and ask her for help."
Elijah's mother carefully wrapped him up in a cozy blanket and then gently picked up her dying son. She carried him outside where there was a magnificent garden. Little pup Gracie followed them. At the end of the path was a lovely statue of our Blessed Mother Mary. Elijah's mother laid her son on the soft ground at the feet of the statue. Then she wiped her tear-filled eyes and prayed, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, my little child is very, very sick. Please, will you ask your Son to make him well again? You loved your little Jesus very much. You understand how much my heart hurts right now because you are also a Mother who held her Son in her arms. If you obtain a cure for little Elijah, his father and I will teach him that he must always love you and your Son very much. We will teach him to show his love for you every single day."
When she finished her prayer, Elijah suddenly let out a big sigh. He opened his eyes, lifted his head and looked all around the garden. He then looked up at his mother with a big smile and exclaimed, "Mama! Mama! I feel all better!"
Our Blessed Mother had prayed for Elijah and now he was well again! Elijah's mother was so happy! She picked up Elijah and kissed his rosy cheeks. Then she said through her happy tears, "The Mother of God has obtained this cure for you by her prayers, my little one! You must always love her and her Son very much!"
Every day after that, Elijah and Gracie would go out through the garden and Elijah would pick many beautiful flowers. He would make them into a wreath and then take it to the statue of Our Lady and put the wreath of flowers at her feet. Then he would kneel down and pray, "Holy Mother of God and my Mother, I give you this wreath of flowers to show you that I love you! I thank you for all you have done for me. Help me to keep my soul pure. Help me to love your Son! Please bless my father and my mother." Then Elijah would pray one "Hail Mary." When he had finished praying out loud, he would sit at the feet of the beautiful statue and look up into the big blue sky. He liked to sit and think about Our Lady and her little Boy Jesus. After awhile, he would get up, blow the statue a kiss and then he and Gracie would walk the lovely flower-edged path back to their home.
The years came and went and little Elijah grew up to be a fine young man. He still made a wreath of flowers for Our Lady every day. Elijah loved our Blessed Mother and her Son Jesus even more now than when he was a little boy.
One evening Elijah came back into the house after making a wreath of flowers and said to his mother, "I must go away, my dear mother. I must leave you and father."
​
"What do you mean, my son?" asked Elijah's mother.
​
"I must go away and live high up in the great mountains where the Carmelite Fathers and Brothers live. Our Lady wishes me to go there for I believe I will find my vocation as a religious brother in the Carmelite order. I must go and pray very much for the needs of the Church and the world. I especially must pray for the conversion of big sinners. I will pray that they will turn from their wicked ways and love and follow Jesus."
​
Elijah's mother was both sad and glad at the same time. She was sad because she and her husband would miss Elijah very much! But she was glad that Jesus and Our Lady wished Elijah to be a religious brother. What a wonderful vocation! Big tears came to her eyes. She wiped the tears now spilling down her cheeks and then finally said with a smile, "Blessed be God! Blessed be Our Lady! I am so glad for you my son!"
​
Then she held Elijah close to her heart and kissed him on the head, just like she had done many times before when he was a boy.
And so Elijah traveled far away from home. He went up, up, up to live in the mountains. He did become a religious brother in the Carmelite order and he was very happy. However, with the passing of the first year, one of the Carmelite priests named Father James noticed that Brother Elijah seemed sad. He seemed to have lost his joy. Father decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with Brother Elijah.
​
"Brother Elijah, I have been watching you," began Father James. "You were very happy when you first arrived here and now I can see that you are sad. Why are you so sad, Brother? Why have you lost your joy? Tell me what has changed."
​
Brother Elijah was standing and looking out the large picture window. He said, "Father James, please come here and look out the window. Tell me what you see."
​
Father James was a bit surprised by this request. He went over to the window and took a long look. Then he said, "I see the beautiful pure white snow falling ever so gently." Father looked at Brother Elijah and continued, "But Brother, that is not strange. It is always cold and snowy up here in the mountains. As you know, we have snow all year round."
​
"Yes," said Brother Elijah. "That is just what I mean. That is why I have become so sad. In the place where I lived until I came here, I only saw summer. Every single day since I was a very small boy, I gathered the flowers that grew in abundance on our property and made a beautiful wreath of flowers for our Blessed Lady. I would put that wreath at the foot of the lovely white statue in our family's garden." He paused and looked back out the window. "Father James, now every evening that passes by, I have unexpectedly found myself growing more and more sad because I cannot show my love for Our Lady in this way anymore."
​
Father James gazed on Brother Elijah with great love. He smiled and said, "Do not be sad anymore, Brother!" Then he pointed to the sturdy black Rosary that was hanging from the side of Brother Elijah's brown habit. "That is the wreath of flowers that our dear Lady loves even more than those that you gave her from your family garden! When you say the prayers of our Blessed Mother's Rosary, every "Our Father," every "Hail Mary," and every "Glory Be," is like a beautiful flower. The Holy Angels take our prayers and make them into the most exquisite wreath of flowers and lay them at Our Blessed Mother's feet in Heaven for us. She is overjoyed to receive these wreaths because the flowers will never fade or die. Why, they bloom forever!"
​
Brother Elijah took his Rosary in his hands and kissed it. He was instantly filled with joy again! He now understood that he could show his love for our Blessed Mother by making many beautiful Heavenly wreaths of flowers for her by praying his Rosary!
Now a time came when Father James found himself in a situation where he needed to have a very important letter delivered to another Carmelite monastery that was located far away. After thinking and praying about it, he finally decided to send Brother Elijah and Brother Joseph to hand deliver this extremely important document. So Brother Elijah and Brother Joseph soon left their Carmelite monastery in the mountains to accomplish this important mission.
The brothers had walked for many days when they came to a big woods. They had nearly reached the other side when Brother Joseph said, "Brother Elijah, it is evening and we have walked all day. Let us sit on this log and rest a little while before continuing.” The brothers sat down to take a little rest. After a few moments, Brother Elijah said, "Brother Joseph, the sun is going to be setting soon. Let us pray a Rosary. You know this is the hour that I always make a heavenly wreath of flowers for Our Blessed Lady.” So each of the brothers took their Rosary in their hands, knelt down, closed their eyes and began to pray.
Now unknown to the brothers, two men dressed all in black were quietly sneaking up behind them. These men were robbers. These men were very wicked men. These men were so wicked that often they would hurt the people they were going to rob. Each of the robbers held a club, like a little baseball bat. They crept closer and closer to the brothers... The robbers were just about to raise their arms to strike the brothers with their clubs when they suddenly stopped. They stopped because they couldn't see anything! It had gone completely dark! Then a very bright light began to shine all around them. As their eyes adjusted, they saw the brothers again, kneeling and praying the Rosary. But the robbers also saw many, many, many Holy Angels! The robbers watched in utter amazement as some of the Holy Angels took the prayers from the brothers and made two exquisitely beautiful wreaths of flowers! Then they watched the Holy Angels ascend upwards and were completely astonished to see the most beautiful woman dressed all in white standing above them! The Holy Angels placed the two beautiful wreaths of flowers at her feet.
Then the robbers heard Brother Elijah say, "Brother Joseph, let us offer Our Blessed Lady another Rosary. I feel inspired to ask her for special graces tonight. We will ask her to obtain from her Son the conversion of men who are very big sinners. We will pray that these men will stop sinning and turn to Jesus." Brother Joseph heartily agreed and the two brothers started another Rosary. Once again, the Holy Angels took the prayers from the brothers and began making two more beautiful wreaths of flowers! The robbers looked and looked and as they looked, they began to think about their sins. They began to feel just terrible thinking about the many evil deeds they had committed. Then the two robbers suddenly dropped their clubs and then dropped to their knees, crying out, "O God! Lord Jesus! Have mercy on us! Holy Mary, pray for us!" Just then, Brother Elijah and Brother Joseph finished praying their second Rosary. The brothers stood up, turned around, and were very surprised to see two men, dressed all in black on their knees, crying out for God's mercy! The robbers then knelt at the feet of the brothers, admitted their evil intentions and begged forgiveness. Then they told the brothers about the Holy Angels, the beautiful Lady and all they had seen!
​
Brother Elijah showed the two men the Crucifix at the end of his Rosary and said, "Our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered and died on the Cross to save every single one of us from our sins. He will gladly forgive you all your sins if you are truly sorry!" The two men nodded their heads and cried, "We are sorry! Truly sorry!"
Then the brothers helped the two men to their feet and embraced them. "We should arrive at the Carmelite monastery by midnight." explained Brother Elijah. "A priest will hear your Confessions when we get there."
​
And from that very day onward, those two men never again did a single evil deed. They lived very good and holy lives and prayed many Rosaries that the Holy Angels made into many, many beautiful wreaths of flowers for our Blessed Mother in Heaven!
​
THE END
Isn't that a wonderful story? I thought so! Now I want to tell you some things about my experience praying the Rosary.
When I was little, my mom and I would pray one decade of the Rosary together before I went to bed. When I got older we started to pray 5 decades every night together right after dinner. Now on every first Saturday of the month we pray all 20 decades together. It takes a while but it's great!
When I pray my decades, I think of the 'Our Father,' the 'Hail Mary' and the 'Glory Be' as beautiful background music. Those prayers keep the pace or rhythm as we go along. When I'm saying those prayers, I'm not so much thinking about the actual words of what I’m saying. My fingers are moving the beads and my voice is speaking but my mind and my heart are really somewhere else...they are trying to stay focused on the particular Mystery. We call it a Mystery because when we think about the events in the lives of Jesus and Mary there will always be things to learn and discover!
I thought for my CK101 Page I would share with you some meditations that I wrote for the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. I'm hoping these will help you when you pray your Rosary decades. I also have beautiful drawings for you to look at by a talented artist named Anna May McCallum. She is letting me show her prayer card illustrations to all the people who visit my page. I love how she drew kids as part of the Rosary mysteries. It helps me imagine myself right there watching, learning and being a part of all that is going on in the lives of Jesus and Mary!
KAT'S Rosary Meditations for CK101 Kids
.jpg)
"MY MOTHER, I AM ALL YOURS,
AND ALL I AM I GIVE TO YOU TO GIVE TO JESUS!"
.jpg)
THE FIRST JOYFUL MYSTERY
THE ANNUNCIATION
Mary is in her little house in Nazareth. She is praying. She is thinking about God and loving Him with all her heart. She is praying that the promised Savior of the world will soon be born.
The Archangel Gabriel has been sent from God to announce the most wonderful news ever in the history of the world. He announces that God wants Mary to be the Mother of His only Son. God’s Son is Jesus!
Mary is the most holy person that God ever created. She loves God with all her heart. She only wants to obey God and do whatever God wants. She says that she will be the Mother of God.
At that very moment, Jesus becomes a tiny Baby in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a tiny Baby in His Mother’s womb exactly like how you were a baby in your mother’s womb not that long ago. God loves babies in the womb very, very much.
Dear King Jesus, we thank You and love You with all our hearts! We now pray for every single person in our family. We pray for all the families of the world. We also pray for the grace to always be obedient to what you want.
THE SECOND JOYFUL MYSTERY
THE VISITATION
_edited.jpg)
Before the Archangel Gabriel went back to Heaven, he told Mary that Elizabeth, her cousin, was going to have a baby.
Elizabeth was an old woman and everybody thought that she was much too old to have a baby. But nothing is impossible with God! Elizabeth was already 6 months pregnant with a baby boy named John. We now call him Saint John the Baptist.
Mary went in haste, that means quickly, to visit her cousin. Mary wanted to bring Jesus to Elizabeth and baby John. Mary always brings us Jesus! Remember that Jesus was a little baby growing in Mary’s womb. Put your finger on the side of your neck and press down gently until you feel your pulse. Can you feel it? Thump, thump, thump, thump... That is just how Jesus’ little Sacred Heart was beating in His Mother’s womb.
​
Now the most wonderful thing happened when Mary greeted Elizabeth. Imagine Jesus is in Mary’s womb and John is in Elizabeth’s womb. As soon as the sound of Mary’s voice reached Elizabeth’s ears, the baby in her womb, John, jumped for joy!
Mary stayed with Elizabeth and helped her get ready for the birth of her son, John. He would prepare the way for Jesus our Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!
Dear King Jesus, we thank You and love You with all our hearts! We now pray for every baby growing in their mother’s womb that they will be born safely. We also ask for the grace to never be afraid to bring You to others.
THE THIRD JOYFUL MYSTERY
THE NATIVITY
.jpg)
The time has come for Jesus to be born.
You remember where Jesus was born, don’t you? Yes, in a stable with animals all around Him. Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. Mary and Joseph were so joyful because now they could see Jesus, the Son of God, face to face!
Now it is time to use your imagination. You can use the picture above to help you. Can you imagine the beautiful face of Mother Mary? Can you see Saint Joseph standing as guardian and protector of the Holy Family? Now imagine that you are right next to the manger with Mother Mary like the girl and the boy in the picture. There is Jesus! How tiny He is. Now Mother Mary is carefully picking Him up. See her kiss His little head. Now she is looking right at you! Her eyes are full of love for you. She trusts you. She is going to let you hold her precious Son. She carefully places Jesus in your arms. Can you feel His Heart beating so close to yours? How does it feel to have Jesus so close to your heart? He loves you so much. God came down from Heaven and became a little Baby so you would never be afraid to come to Him. Is there something you would like to say to Jesus? Whisper it to Him right now.
The very same Jesus is here with us right now, today, at every Mass and in every Catholic Church tabernacle and Adoration Chapel all over the world!
Dear King Jesus, we thank You and love You with all our hearts! We now pray for all the people in the world who do not know You or believe in You. We ask for the grace to always love the poor and to show kindness to those who are in need.
​
P.S. Did you find the 3 Kings in the picture prayer card?
THE FOURTH JOYFUL MYSTERY
THE PRESENTATION
.jpg)
The Holy Family was a Jewish family. All Jewish families worship God the Father in a place like our Church but they call it a Synagogue or sometimes God's Temple.
Mother Mary and Good Saint Joseph followed the Jewish law perfectly. They knew that when Jesus was 40 days old they were to bring Him to the Temple to be offered to God the Father. It was the law that God had given Moses.
Now when they came to the Temple 40 days after the birth of Jesus, there was a very old man waiting there named Simeon. He was a very faithful Jewish man. Simeon loved God very much. And God had made a promise to this very holy man. He promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the promised Savior of the world. God promised him that he would see Jesus! So perhaps it was day after day, month after month, year after year that Simeon patiently waited for the Savior to come into the Temple. Simeon trusted God. He knew that God would keep His promise.
Simeon looked at all the families coming into the Temple that day. Suddenly, just like little John the Baptist, Simeon found himself in the presence of Jesus! The Holy Spirit spoke to Simeon and he understood that the promise was about to be fulfilled. He was about to see, face to face, the promised Savior of the world!
What tremendous joy filled old Simeon’s heart as he took the Baby in his trembling arms! Tears of joy probably fell from his eyes as he gazed on the sweet face of God and kissed the soft tiny cheek of our Lord Jesus.
Then Simeon prayed these words: “Lord, now You let Your servant go in peace. Your word has been fulfilled. My eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of every people. A light to reveal You to the nations and the glory of Your people Israel.”
Dear King Jesus, we thank You and love You with all our hearts! How faithful and patient Simeon was. We ask for the grace to be more patient. We now pray for all the elderly, older grandmas and grandpas, who may be suffering. We especially pray for those who feel lonely and have nobody to visit with them. We pray that You will send them a friend during their last days on earth. And Jesus, maybe that friend could even be me.
THE FIFTH JOYFUL MYSTERY
THE FINDING IN THE TEMPLE
.jpg)
Jesus has grown up quite a bit since our last mystery. He is no longer a baby but a twelve-year-old boy.
The Holy Family is going to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God the Father. How joyful they are as they travel together on their pilgrimage to the Father’s House!
​
Jesus sees all the people worshiping and loving His Father. His Sacred Heart burns with zeal!
Now you may know that in this mystery Mother Mary and Saint Joseph lose Jesus. Mary thought Jesus was with Joseph and Joseph thought Jesus was with Mary. That part is the sorrowful part but this is called a joyful mystery because after three days of looking, they find Him in the Temple.
Remember at the beginning of my CK101 Page when I told you that we call these mysteries because there is always something to discover? Well, think about this. Jesus wanted you and me, over 2000 years after He ascended into Heaven, to be able to always find Him in the Temple. He never wanted anyone to think that they had lost Him. So this is what He did. When He was about 33 years old, on the night before He died on the Cross to save us from our sins, He sat down with His Apostles at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night. He took some bread in His sacred hands and broke it. He gave it to His Apostles and said, “This is My Body.” Then He took a cup of wine and said, “This is My Blood.” And because Jesus is God and nothing is impossible for Him, the bread and wine became the Body and Blood of Jesus! Jesus made the Apostles His first priests and bishops and gave them the power to change the bread and wine into His Body and Blood. For over 2000 years since the Last Supper the bishops of the Catholic Church have been ordaining priests so they can continue consecrating the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Jesus wanted you and me to always be able to find Him in the Temple! We don't have to be afraid that we lost Him because we can always find Him in every Catholic Church in the world!
​
Dear King Jesus, we thank You and love You with all our hearts! We pray now for Your Church. We pray especially for Your bishops and priests. We ask for the grace for all of us to be Saints!​ We ask for this and many graces though our Rosary!
​Thank you for visiting my page! I am so happy I had this amazing chance to talk about the Rosary with you. Don't forget to visit Rosary 4 Kids and keep praying those decades!
Your Catholic Kids 101 friend,
Kat
