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Hello! I am sat here with my cup of coffee feeling excited to write our first blog post. I invite you to get your coffee, or tea, and join me. I would love to tell you about how we got here and where we're going (God willing!)
I'm Athena, and my husband, Peter, and I welcome you to Catholic Seasons, our new online Catholic shop. We're a family-owned shop and hail from the UK in Southwest England. Opening a Catholic shop has been a dream for years and we decided now is the time to go for it. We are more than a Catholic shop and see this as a ministry as much as business, and this is why. We want to help you draw into a deeper relationship with God by bringing you Catholic products and resources for your dwelling that inspire your own daily rhythms for you and all that may enter your home. We are deeply in love with the Catholic faith and the treasures of the church in all her traditions, prayers, devotions, saints, solemnities and celebrations. At mass, during the Eucharistic prayer, the priest says, "...may we order our days in your peace". When we intentionally decorate our home with reminders of our faith, we're called to live and move within the seasons of the Church through all our seasons of life. Additionally, we want to bring attention to the many traditions and ways of liturgical living and invite you to try them out or to enhance the traditions you already have. We would love to hear how you celebrate them!
"No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who 'labor and are heavy laden." - The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1658
The Domestic Church
The term "domestic church" is rising in popularity. Popes St. John Paul II, Benedict and Francis have all spoken about the domestic church, and it comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church which says, "The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity." (CCC 1666) The catechism also speaks of the Church as a home beyond the traditional family unit, "No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who 'labor and are heavy laden." (CCC 1658) No matter your station or vocation in life, your domestic church is wherever you call home.
Our Journey
Through all the changes we experienced in life, the constancy of the Catholic church has been a place of peace and refuge for us. Peter and I have experienced many seasons of life and are currently in the season of raising 4 teenagers (2 boys and 2 girls). Peter is British and I'm American and we met on a Catholic dating site in 2018. We were both annulled single parents raising two kids each and life at that time felt very busy as well as lonely (Single parents don't quite know where they fit within the church community and I would love to do a future blog post discussing this more.) We connected quickly through our similar journeys and love of our Catholic faith, but the distance between Oregon and England was vast and made us feel uncertain about what to do. Through many discussions, discernment and prayer, we put all our faith in God and believed that if He wanted us together as much as we wanted to be together, He would take care of the rest. And He did. He did in the small ways and in the big dramatic, overflowing with generosity ways that He always does. We were married in 2020 and in 2021 we joined families and cultures when the American half of the family moved to England.
Why Catholic Seasons
We chose the name Catholic Seasons to refer both to the Catholic church's liturgical seasons as well as seasons of life. We primarily want to bring you Catholic or Catholic inspired home decor, art, and gifts that are fresh, unique and rooted in Catholic tradition. We aim to provide products that come from reputable sources and prioritize collaborating with local businesses, some of which are Catholic as well. We are so excited to embark on this journey and happy to have you here with us. Please contact us with any questions or suggestions and don't forget to subscribe to get our latest updates!
In Christ,
Peter & Athena and family
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