Feast of the Assumption Party/Playdate

The Feast of the Assumption celebrates the day Mary was taken into Heaven, body and soul.  It's a Holy Day of obligation for Catholics, and one of the most (the most?) important Marian feasts in the calendar.  It also happens to be my birthday, which means it's a day especially close to my heart.*

I decided to host an Assumption party/playdate for some of the moms from the Catholic moms group I'm in.  Here's a peek at how we celebrated:

I noticed after cleaning everything up and uploading photos that one of my children placed a lovely fingerprint right on the lens.  Excuse all these blurry photos.

According to several of my books, the Assumption has been traditionally a harvest festival, when people would bring fresh fruits, herbs and flowers to the church to be blessed.  This is also connected with a sweet old legend which Maria Von Trapp writes about in her book:

When Mary the Mother of Jesus felt that her end was drawing near, she sent her guardian angel to summon the Apostles, who had gone out into the world to preach the Gospel of her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  When they received the summons, they came in a great hurry and were just in time to witness the happy death of their dear Mother.  Everyone had come except Thomas.  He was three days late.  When he heard that the Blessed Mother had been resting in the tomb for days, he cried bitterly and pled with the Apostles to open the tomb once more and let him glance at the beloved features.  The other Apostles yielded to his plea, but as they opened the tomb, they found it filled with flowers, which gave out a heavenly scent.  On the place where they had laid the body there was only the shroud left – the body had been bourne up to heaven by the angels, where it was joined by the holy soul of the Mother of God.  According to the legend, all the flowers and herbs on earth had lost their scent after Adam and Eve committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden.  On the day of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother, however, the flowers were given back their scent and the herbs their power to heal.

 
Food
Lavender-lemon cookies, cut into tulip shape (to work in the herbs and flowers theme)
"Heavenly punch" (cheesy, I know)
Cookie dough pretzel bites (just because I saw them on Pinterest and they looked amazing)
Fresh fruit salad (nectarines, strawberries, red grapes, blueberries)

Just a simple shortbread recipe with (blessed) lavender and lemon zest mixed in

It looked more appetizing before the ice cream "clouds" melted all over the place

very yummy!

Decorations
Dark pink roses (no significance to the color - I just thought they were pretty)
A statue of Mary surrounded by cotton batting "clouds"

cheeeeeesy

Activities for the kids [forgot to get pics]
Assumption coloring page
This cute craft from Catholicmom.com

Favors [forgot to get pics]
I sent the moms home with a few sprigs of blessed lavender tied with a white ribbon

***

And for dinner tonight, I'm making myself my favorite food ever, "my mom's" chicken pot pie which happens to be loaded with herbs, so it works for the feast day celebrations!  But really, I decided to cook myself my favorite food because it's my birthday.  Is that lame?  That I'm cooking my own birthday dinner? Should I feel bad about this?  (That's the same question I asked myself when had to drive myself - all alone, no one else in the car - to the church on the morning of my wedding, with my hair done and my veil already pinned in.....I got some strange looks from other drivers).

Anyways, if anyone else is celebrating the Assumption today, I'd love to hear what you did!  (and link me up, if you write about it on your blog).  Happy Assumption Day!


*It wasn't always.  When I was a kid, I got SO MAD every year that I was forced  to go to church on my birthday, of all days!