Feast of All Saints

The Hobbits and I attended our first All Saints Day party! It was great fun! First we attended Mass and then we had a pot-luck supper followed by saints presentations. Following are the Hobbits' contributions.

Saint Martin

St. Martin was a soldier in the Roman army. He was very kind. He gave everything away. If he had money he gave it away. If he had nice clothes he gave them away, too. He gave pretty much everything he had away and he was well known for it. One day, his friends gave him a warm red cloak. One of them said,"Martin, if you love us you will not give this cloak away." Martin liked the cloak very much and kept his promise.

One stormy, snowy, windy, and very cold night Martin was riding on his horse when he saw an old man in ragged clothes sitting by a tree. Martin stopped his horse and looked at him. He had nothing to give the old man but his cloak and he did not want to offend his friends. Then he had an idea. He drew his sword and cut his cloak in half. He kept on half for himself and gave the other to the old man, then rode away.

When Martin was sleeping, the old man appeared to him in the half-cloak then he turned into our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus said to Martin,"I am the poor beggar man you helped. Your cloak is keeping me warm. What you do to others, you do to me."

Saint Juan Diego

When Juan Diego was 13 years old he witnessed the Night of Darkness when 80,000 Aztec Indians were killed in human sacrifice. Juan Diego wished there was another way to live but he did not know another way. Around 15 years later the Catholic Faith arrived in Mexico and he learned another way.

One day when he was about 50 years old Juan Diego was going to Mass when there, on top of a hill, was a bright light, then there was a beautiful lady instead. The Lady told Juan Diego to go to the bishop and ask him to build a church where they were standing and she would bless Mexico. Two time Juan Diego asked the bishop to build a church on the hill yet the bishop did not believe.

Juan Diego left the bishop for the second time and went back to the Lady. The Lady said," Go home and then meet me here in the morning." When Juan Diego went home he saw his uncle dying. The next morning Juan Diego's uncle was worse. Juan Diego went to get a priest, being sure to go another way so as not to disappoint the Lady. The Lady found him anyway and said,"Juan Diego, why are you going this way? I told you to meet me on the hill, yet you avoided me."

Juan Diego said,"I go to get a priest . My uncle is dying."

The Lady said,"Go to that hill and pick all the flowers you can find. Then bring them here to me in your tilma." Juan Diego did as he was told even though he doubted that there where going to be any flowers this late in the year. When Juan Diego got there, to his amazement he saw hundreds of roses. He gathered all the roses up and brought them to the Lady who arranged them in his tilma. Then Juan Diego went to the bishop and showed him his tilma with the roses i nit. The bishop gasped and dropped to his knees and started praying. Juan Diego asked what was the matter. The bishop pointed to the tilma. Juan Diego saw the image of Mary. The church was built and the uncle healed. Juan Diego and his uncle lived happily ever after.

Saint Joseph

Joseph was a carpenter and the foster father of Jesus. One day Mary got pregnant and a few days later the emperor Caesar said that everyone had to go to their hometown so that they could count the people. Joseph's hometown was Bethlehem and it was a long way away. But they had to go, so they went.

When they got there, there was no place to sleep. Finally, they met a boy that said there was a cave up on the hill that you could sleep in. When they got there Joseph made a bed out of straw so Mary could lie down. Then the cave was filled with light and when it was gone a little baby was sitting on the straw. They named him Jesus.