Lenten Feast Table
“Grant, O Lord, to Thy faithful people that they may begin the venerable solemnities of fasting with becoming piety, and may persevere to the end with steadfast devotion.”
Taken from the Collect of the Mass, Ash Wednesday
Below is our Lenten Feast table with our liturgical frame.
Have I ever given you a close look at our Liturgical Frame? It was handmade by my brother and is a treasure. I have seen similar shadow boxes and frames at Michael’s or craft stores. I probably wouldn’t have thought to use them in this way if my talented brother hadn’t given me this beautiful frame.
I placed art images representing the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary within the frame along with a few holy cards for the season.
Let me show you how the frame works…
 
The frame, made of oak, is hinged on the left side. Pulling gently, the front of the frame swings open to reveal a panel.
 
This panel has 2 magnetic strips that form an X. If you look closely, I think you can see the magnets that hold the images to the magnetic strips. The front of the frame is plexiglass.
Each month, I replace the art with something the children have made for the liturgical year, or with beautiful artwork that is representative of part of the upcoming Church year. It’s a wonderful visual reminder and anchor for our Family Feast Table.
The above is a wrought iron Cross I found on a local craft store clearance table. I remembered a post of Dawn’s a couple of years ago and thought it was a nice idea to add a touch of greenery to the Cross each day of Lent. I have gathered a small collection of silk greenery to be tucked into the Cross by the children each evening.
These sprigs of greenery will be symbolic of our gifts for the day, placed on the Cross. The Cross will be veiled during Holy Week, and when it is unveiled on Easter morning, the children will find beautiful white lilies and roses throughout the greenery on the Cross. Doesn’t that sound lovely?
Finally, I have placed some of our Lenten reading in a basket on the Feast Table. I’d like to work on some special hymns during Lent so we’ll continue working on the Stabat Mater using Lingua Angelica. And, this year I hung all of our Stations of the Cross images down our long hallway so that we can pray the Stations of the Cross with the Church on Fridays even if we cannot make it to Church (have you been having crazy weather where you are?).
(See a past post here for a slightly different look for the Lenten Feast Table from a different year, and do check out Suzanne’s Lenten Feast Table at Gladdest Hours!)
I pray all your preparations for this Lent are fruitful. Wishing all of you a blessed and holy Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Beautiful, Jen!
Prayers to all of you for a very blessed Lent!
Wow, that shadowbox is such a neat “why didn't I think of that” kind of idea….I've been stewing forever for a better way to display seasonal holy cards. My current way is to prop them up against something else, where they later fall over and become chew toys for the toddler. 🙂
Dear Jen,
I am always amazed at how you come up with these things. Once again thanks for the inspiration. I really like the shadowbox and am thinking how I can incorporate one into our own Lenten display.
Praying you have a fruitful Lenten season.
God Bless
Oh wow, this is beautiful! Would you mind if I linked to this from my blog to share with my readers?
I'm so glad you ladies enjoyed the post!
Heidi,
You're welcome to link to the post!!
God bless!
I gave you the Happy 101 award…You are one of the 10 blogs that make me happy. 🙂
http://mondorfment.blogspot.com/2010/02/tag-youre-it-i-received-award.html
Honey
This is beautiful, Jen!
Yeah, I've been waiting for this post about the frame! love it! Thanks for sharing!
God Bless you Jen. Thank you once again for your ideas. Our family life has been enriched because of what you and a few other Catholic bloggers have taken the time to share. 🙂 Hopeing you have a fruitful Lent,
Susana
I just love your frame!
I even told my hubby about it, and he thought it was nifty, too.
JMJ
Trish