Category Archives: Prayer Bead Workshops

Kristin's Shows, Prayer Bead Workshops

Workshops and Shows

Featured Image Photo Credit: Kristin McCarthy

Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead Workshops

Are you a creative type? Are you interested in beading? Are you interested in praying in a new way?

Well, perhaps a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead Workshop is for you!

Using my designs and unique felted wool pieces, you can create your own bead strand. We begin by discussing the theme of the bead strand. With my instruction, you string your own chaplet with the beads of your choice, or kits that I have put together. I supply all the necessary tools for the workshop, such as string, beads, felted piece, prayer page and storage bag. Then as a group, we pray the chaplet together to complete the workshop.

It is a great way to

  • Deepen your prayer life
  • Gain a better understanding of God through prayer
  • Learn about Saints and the history of our Catholic Faith
  • Offer our Catholic Faithful a continuous personal faith development
  • Share our faith and pray as a community

I look forward to meeting you.

For more information, visit my Workshops page or contact me.

Shows

I welcome you to come and see me at the shows that I am participating in. I often have my latest designs– both necklaces and chaplets available that may not be on my website just yet.

I display all my products for you to see and purchase—Wool of the Lamb Prayer Beads, felted wool necklaces, key chains and other woolen items, my beaded and hand-stitched paper cards, plus my bead bags showcasing my pastel paintings. Depending on the show, my paintings may be on display for purchase as well.

I look forward to meeting you.

For more information, visit my Shows page or contact me.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Holy Rosary Workshop

For Grade 2 First Communion

The cost is $11 per kit.

The Rosary is a beautiful, prayerful exercise that encourages you to be still and mindful. It is a prayer that can be done privately or communally and offers the Catholic faithful something that we all share in common. It helps us all to better our relationship with Our Lord as well as Our Blessed Mother Mary. The way to Jesus is through His mother.

The Holy Rosary workshop is a great introduction to the rosary for a First Communion class or to those looking to familiarize themselves with this prayer. This is a fun and hands-on approach for Grade 2 students to get to know the rosary and Mary, Our Blessed Mother, as well as an understanding of how to pray the rosary.

Students make their own rosary using natural coloured wooden beads and a blue woolen cross. Students can personalize their rosary by choosing between two different shades of blue, both symbolizing Our Blessed Mother. The wooden beads represent the wood of the cross and the woolen cross represents the Wool of the Lamb. As we string the beads together, these young students practice sorting, counting and patterning while using fine motor skills and listening to instruction.

I often split the Holy Rosary workshop into two parts. As a class, it takes about one and a half hours to make the rosary due to the age of the students. There are a lot of beads to string for little fingers. I also recommend that the Grade 2 students be assisted by older students, such as Grades 7 or 8, or by parent volunteers. We take a break before learning to pray the rosary or, in some cases, I return another day to pray the rosary with the Grade 2 students.

At the end of the Holy Rosary workshop, students have a completed rosary and an understanding of how it is prayed. This workshop helps them practice  popular Catholic prayers, such as Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. It is a great  introduction to meditation, reflection and being still and invokes a relationship with God and His Mother Mary. Communal prayer also encourages children to share their Catholic faith with their peer community.

In this workshop, following my instructions, each participant will make their own Rosary, which consists of 5 sets of 10 Hail Mary beads (oval wooden beads), marked with 5 our father beads (round wooden beads), one centre bead (large oval wooden bead), ending with a woolen cross. Each chaplet kit comes with a prayer page and plastic storage bag. After the chaplet is strung together, we pray the chaplet as a group.

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.

 

Prayer Bead Workshops

Chaplet of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit Workshop

For Grade 7 Confirmation

The cost is $6 per chaplet kit.

Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, you are completing your commitment to Christ that began at your Baptism, making you adults in the Faith. You are given the Holy Spirit who visits you inwardly and touches you deep within your soul. Whatever challenges you face in your life, know that these special gifts given to you by the Holy Spirit are like no others. Time in prayer will help you develop these gifts and give you complete confidence in Christ.

Inspired by the Sacrament of Confirmation, with children, ages 12—14 in mind, I have re-created the Chaplet of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit by using more modern day vocabulary that would appeal to our young people.  The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are the same: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Fortitude (Courage), Counsel (Right Judgement), Piety (Reverence) and Fear of the Lord (Wonder and Awe), but I have added meditations that will hopefully inspire our faithful young Catholics. The Holy Spirit did indeed guide me through this process.

This is a special year for Grade 7 students, and this workshop offers them a keepsake of their Confirmation. It is also a great way for each student to know and understand the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit in a prayerful way.

Each Gift is paired with an easy to understand insightful meditation. Mary also has a strong presence in this chaplet with each gift accompanied by a Hail Mary. Know that you can also call on Our Blessed Mother for help at any time.  It is a short, easy to use chaplet that will hopefully inspire our intermediate students.

This is also a great workshop for those who wish to reconnect with the Holy Spirit and reaffirm the gifts that have been given us.

In this workshop, following my instructions, each participant will make their own Chaplet of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which begins with a white, woolen cross (which symbolizes the Holy Spirit), continues with 7 round glass beads (one for each gift alternating white and brightly coloured) and finishes with an end bead. Each chaplet kit comes with a prayer page and plastic storage bag. After the chaplet is strung together, we pray the chaplet as a group.

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary Workshop

For Teenagers and Adults

The cost is $8 per chaplet kit.

“Holy Virgin, from now on I will show you my loving devotion by imitating your virtues. There is no greater homage, no greater proof of love, that I can give.” (“Imitation of Mary” by Alexander De Rouville. 1985-1977 Catholic Publishing Corp., N.Y., pg. 17)

The church urges us as Catholic faithful to look to Jesus’ Mother, Mary, as a role model during our earthly lives and to imitate the virtues of the Blessed Virgin as best we can. The Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary are: Pure, Prudent, Humble, Faithful, Devout, Obedient, Poor, Patient, Merciful, Sorrowful/Compassionate.

Give Mary your solitude by being alone with her while praying this chaplet. By giving Her your time and attention, you will realize something within you that calms your sorrows and alleviates your fears. Before you know it, you will begin to hear God speak to you because you know His mother. It is in this solitude where you can learn to trust God and honour His Blessed Mother. Bring all your dangers, doubts and anxieties to Mary. Believe she can help you and have faith.

The Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary is ideal for those who want to deepen their relationship with Our Blessed Mother. It is great for high school students who have stepped away from their faith and are searching for something a little different.  It is also great for retreats for teachers, educators and groups who desire faith development. This chaplet can help you get to know Mary better and thus bring you closer to Her Son, Jesus.

“The Blessed Virgin’s life contains lessons for everyone. If we study it, we learn how to live in prosperity and adversity, prayer and work, honors and humiliations.” (Imitation of Mary by Alexander De Rouville. 1985-1977 Catholic Publishing Corp., N.Y., pg. 15)

The Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a straightforward prayer strand and features the most popular Catholic prayers; Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. I came across this prayer bead strand in my research, but felt that something was needed to reflect upon while praying it, so I paired each virtue with a meditation from St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion to Mary”, a church classic.

In this workshop, following my instructions, each participant will make their own Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which begins with a felted woolen cross or ten pointed star, continues with 10 colourful glass beads (each representing a specific virtue) and finishes with a glass end bead. Each chaplet kit comes with a prayer page and plastic storage bag. After the chaplet is strung together, we pray the chaplet as a group.

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Hail Mary Decade Chaplet Workshop

For Children and Adults

The cost is $8 per kit.

As the Hail Mary Decade Chaplet is just one decade of the Rosary, it is significantly smaller than a full Rosary, but is nonetheless just as beautiful. It remains a prayerful exercise that encourages you to be still and mindful and can be done privately or communally by offering the Catholic faithful a shared commonality. It helps us all to better our relationship with Our Blessed Mother Mary as well as Her Son. The way to Jesus is through His mother.

Some find the Rosary overwhelming with its mysteries, prayers and meditations and regrettably avoid the Rosary altogether. Or some may feel that the prayers take too long. This Hail Mary Decade Chaplet may appeal to you and to those who are interested in praying the Rosary but are looking for a simpler option. A decade chaplet is great way to either begin praying the rosary or to bring it back into your life. You can focus and meditate on just one mystery while reciting one Our Father and 10 Hail Mary prayers. Before you know it you will be praying the whole rosary on just one decade strand.

The Hail Mary Decade Chaplet is a wonderful way to begin a relationship with Our Blessed Mother Mary. She watches over those who honour her and answers those who ask for her intercession.

In this workshop, following my instructions, each participant will make their own Hail Mary Decade Chaplet, which begins with a woolen cross, continues with 10 “Hail Mary” beads and finishes with a coordinating glass end bead. Each chaplet kit comes with a prayer page and plastic storage bag. After the chaplet is strung together, we pray the chaplet as a group.

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary Workshop, Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Aside

For March Break, I will be giving a Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary workshop, for children Grades 4-7, on Wednesday, March  18, 2015 at Holy Rosary Church (Our Lady of the Rosary Community Room), 175 Emma Street, Guelph, ON, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Cost is $6 per chaplet. Younger children accompanied by parents are also welcome. Contact me to register.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary Workshop

For Children —Grades 4-8

The cost is $6 per chaplet kit.

I created the Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary for children, inspired from the Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary prayed by adults.

Look to Our Mother Mary as a model of how we should all live. Mary teaches us how to love with care and tenderness, how to be patient and tolerant and how to be a humble, devout and faithful soul. Let her be your spiritual mother. The best way to know her son Jesus is to know His Blessed Mother. Take her hand and let her show you the way. Trust her to guide you and always be accepting of her loving comfort—even when you sin. Trust her throughout your lifetime. Always and Forever.

The Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary workshop encourages students to pray and be prayerful, gain a better personal relationship with God through prayer and share their Catholic faith with their peer community.

Get closer to Our Mother, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary by praying this chaplet and asking for her intercession.

In this workshop, following my instructions, each participant will make their own Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which begins with a woolen cross or an eight-pointed, woolen star (an ancient symbol of Mary that also symbolizes each virtue), continues with 8 “Hail Mary” beads and finishes with an end bead. Each chaplet kit comes with a prayer page and plastic storage bag. After the chaplet is strung together, we pray the chaplet as a group.

 

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Chaplet of St. Francis of Assisi Workshop

For adults

The cost is $14 per kit.

“Prepare your heart to suffer all that this world throws at you—humbly and patiently.” St. Francis

Francis came to us during a time when the clergy was corrupt and the church was no longer respected. The church had become like society—rich, self-serving and stuffy. Public worship was reduced to ceremony with not much depth. It was Francis who brought ideas of reform.

He followed the Gospels after giving up all his worldly riches and finding love in poverty. Francis saw the Gospels as a ‘guidebook’ for living, as they are the way to God and serve as an example of how to live life in spirit and deed. Francis wants us to become the ‘living gospel’ – living, sharing, and offering the Good News to those around us. Give to the poor and you’ll have treasure in heaven.

Francis began a movement, “Band of Little Brothers”, living by the Gospels. Here began the Franciscan spirituality—simple, peace-filled, joyful living in harmony with God and nature with great concern and care for the poor. Always give thanks and praise to God, for His blessings, grace filled moments, His mercy and His love. Also, having trust in knowing that God’s unconditional love for us runs deep and is constant in our pain and suffering.

After receiving the Stigmata, Francis went from town to town preaching, evangelizing and performing miracles. Unfortunately, he found himself tormented in darkness and took to living in a cave, where he composed the Canticle of the Sun. Joy returned to him and in his last year, Francis wrote letters as his way of evangelizing because he could no longer travel.

I have prepared and posted a synopsis of “The Life of St. Francis of Assisi” by Paul Sabatier that provides some additional details of the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

I have also prepared and posted a synopsis of “Praying with Francis of Assisi by Joseph M. Stoutzenberger and John D. Bohrer that provides additional details on the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi.

Get closer to St. Francis of Assisi by praying this chaplet and asking for his intercession.

In this workshop, following my instructions, each participant will make their own Chaplet of St. Francis of Assis, which consists of 5 sets of 3 beads (Hail Mary, Our Father, and Glory Be), a centre bead and a tail with 2 beads, ending with either a felted woolen cross or a woolen beaded tassel. You can choose your own beads and felted woolen end, or choose a kit that I have put together if you’re not too sure about your colour choices. Each chaplet kit comes with a prayer page and plastic storage bag. After the chaplet is strung together, we pray the chaplet as a group.

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.

Prayer Bead Workshops

Host A Prayer Bead Workshop

Are you a creative type? Are you interested in beading? Are you interested in praying in a new way?

Well, perhaps Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead Workshop is for you!

Using my designs and unique felted wool pieces, you can create your own bead strand. We begin by discussing the theme of the bead strand. With my instruction, you string your own chaplet with the beads of your choice, or kits that I have put together. I supply all the necessary tools for the workshop, such as string, beads, felted piece, prayer page and storage bag. Then as a group, we pray the chaplet together to complete the workshop.

It is a great way to

  • Deepen your prayer life
  • Gain a better understanding of God through prayer
  • Learn about Saints and the history of our Catholic Faith
  • Offer our Catholic Faithful a continuous personal faith development
  • Share our faith and pray as a community

Workshop For Children – Grades 4—6

Chaplet of the Eight Evangelical Virtues of Mary Workshop

A great way to teach children about Mary and how we can become more like her.

Workshops for Adults

Chaplet of St. Francis Workshop

Get to know St. Francis and begin to understand why our Pope Francis has chosen to be his follower.

I have several other chaplets ready to be a workshop.

For more information or if you would like to host a Wool of the Lamb Prayer Bead workshop, visit my Kristin’s Workshops page or contact me.