Glow in the Dark Jesus

One of the things you kind of forget when you send your kid to Catholic school is they will come back talking about Catholic things.  I admit that as someone who does not really talk about my religious beliefs, it can make me a little uncomfortable.  This is silly, but I digress.

For those not familiar with all things Catholic, May is the month of Mary.  The children at school participated in a May crowning on the first (everyone brings flowers and lays them at the feet of a Mary statue).  Mary has appeared around the world, often to children.  That's where you get those fun names like Our Lady of ________.  The blank is where she appeared.  I'm not sure where "Our Lady of Perpetual Agony" fits in to these.  During these appearances, Mary encourages people to pray the rosary.

This all brings us to this morning.  Linus asked me if I had any rosaries.  Being the good Catholic that I am, I keep all my religious books, prayers cards, rosaries, medals, etc in a box that is kept on top of a very high shelf collecting dust.  I pulled the box down, blew the dust off (literally), and proceeded to talk the kids through its contents. 

I didn't realize just how many rosaries I had accumulated in my life.  Every couple of years I think to myself, "I should really pray the rosary," and I locate my how to pray the rosary brochure and attempt to make it one time through.  Back when I was at camp, a young seminarian not so politely informed me that I was praying the rosary completely wrong.  Apparently, the pamphlets put out by the Catholic Press are totally wrong.  In my defense, the pamphlets haven't changed and this particular seminarian washed out.  So who is right now!?!  Since that fun little episode, I haven't pulled one out.

Any Catholic worth their salt has a glow in the dark rosary.  As luck would have it, I had two.  Perfect.  One for each big kid.   I'm pretty sure Robin would just treat one as a chew toy and I'm not sure if that is considered sacrilegious.  With a glow in the dark rosary in hand, Linus immediately started praying the rosary.  He continued praying right through breakfast.

I guess in preschool they do the abridged version.  Ten "I love you Marys" followed by one "I love you Jesus."  The crucifix gets an "I love you God."  Maybe if the adult version were this simple no one would accuse me of doing it wrong nor would it take so long to get through.  The preschool may be on to something.

Eileen is just excited to have her own glow in the dark Jesus necklace.