Mantel Letters

The purpose of this post is to help along the search process here in the Heart of my Home. I can't count the number of ladies who have written to me frustrated that they have searched and searched for "mantle letters" but they can't find all the posts--the ones telling how to make them or the ones that tell which words I've chosen for which month.Indeed, "mantle letters" is up there among the most popular in the Lijit cloud on the righthand sidebar.

When  you search "mantle letters," you only get two posts. That's because those are the two posts when I spelled "mantel" wrong and hit publish before I corrected it. If you spell "Mantel" correctly, you get lots and lots of hits. And now, even if you spell it wrong, this post will pop up and save me from the awkward situation of correcting someone's spelling when they write to ask:-)

What about the words? How did I choose the words? I'm glad you asked! Now, I can give you the whole answer. For the most part, the words change every month. 

January: Joy

February: Simplicity

March: Simplicity is replaced with Repent on Ash Wednesday

April: Alleluia appears on Easter morning

May: Grace

June: Gentleness

July: Humility

August: Charity

September: Diligence

October: Patience

November: Gratitude (the letters actually say "Grateful.")

December: We have Prepare for the first three weeks of Advent and then we replace it with Joy on Gaudete Sunday.

Our new book is a collection of doable daily devotions. Each month's devotion is organized around a virtue. And the virtues for each month look very much like the ones in the list above:-). In the book, March is Sacrifice and April is Courage and December is Peace. There is a study guide to go with the book. There, you will find an essay on each virtue and some questions and thoughts that will lead a contemplative mom on her own or a whole group of moms studying together. There is also a section in the study guide that contains the Lenten meditations. So, with the study guide, a group of local ladies could gather once a month, talk about the virtues, see what God's word has to say, make some resolutions to encourage each other to grow, and then go home and use the devotional for daily reinforcement from the saints.

And you can paint some letters and put them on your mantle mantel to remind you all month long:-)