Welcome to a community where we seek to transform our homes through prayer, celebrating the lives of the saints, merging sacred Catholic traditions into the modern home, and observing the seasons of the church through liturgical living.
Hi there, I’m Brianna.
I am a Catholic Convert and mother of three. When my (now) husband introduced me to the Catholic faith, I fell in love with its traditions and the profound purpose I saw present in a Catholic lifestyle. After our first daughter was born I found a new passion for cultivating a home environment that would immerse her in God’s presence.
I desire for my children to to love their God with all their hearts and seek to serve Him willingly and passionately every day. I realized that in order to give them that future, I have to model it for them.
To transform my own heart and lifestyle, I knew the first place I needed to start was in our home.
As a convert I feel particularly pulled to the consistency and beauty that the Church offers. My faith has been a bedrock for how I cultivate our home and raise our children. However, I did not grow up with a Catholic lifestyle or in a Catholic home. Because of this, the particulars of how to foster an environment of holiness was very daunting to me. Simply put: I didn’t know where to begin.
Over the past 4 years I have spent time immersing myself in research. I have read books, done endless amount of google searching, followed every Catholic social media account or blog I could find, talked to my priest frequently, and (possibly the most beneficial) built a community of local Catholic families I seek to learn from. I am by no means an expert on Catholic theology, how to become a saint, or how to implement a perfect Catholic lifestyle. But one thing I can do is share what I have have learned.
Despite all my faults, as the sinner I am, I seek to be a vessel of His will in this world. I have been feeling the Holy Spirit pull me to share what I have learned with a community of women who may be in the same place I have been. So with the tugging on my heart I discerned it was time to spread my reach by creating this blog. Little Acorn Saints was developed as a platform to share the resources and knowledge I have gained about merging the sacred traditions of the church into the modern Catholic home. Particularly I will share small actions you can take to transform your heart and your home to be more holy.
During my research there were several themes I identified that contribute to a home becoming rooted in the Catholic Faith.
Prayer
Celebrating (and learning from) the lives of the Saints
Observing the seasons of the church in your home through liturgical living
The keeping of Sacred Catholic Traditions
By implementing these themes in our home I have felt a transformation in my heart and spirit. I have found incredible peace and joy during this season of growth! I have found particular wisdom in learning about the saints and celebrating their lives and accomplishments. I suppose the child inside of me still loves stories – and what greater stories are those than the ones found in the bible and of those who have been united with our savior in heaven?
Although I the actions I have made have been small, they have been intentional and impactful. It is my joy to share some actions you can take to help you transform your home into a place that brings Glory to our Lord. Let our homes become deeply rooted in the Catholic faith, so that our children may grow up to be a new generation of Catholics who love and understand their faith with the deepest parts of their soul.
A large way I have sought to transform our lifestyle is by drawing from the lessons of the saints. In our home we celebrate the lives of the saints and I am delighted to share how we do that with you. Monthly I publish a free printable saints calendar for the upcoming month. I also publish a weekly newsletter to keep you up to date on how we are celebrating the saints each week.
This blog is named Little Acorn Saints
My hope is that my children will grow into “mighty oaks of righteousness” as Isaiah commanded to the people of Israel in Isaiah 61:3. And as the old English proverb says – from little acorns mighty oaks grow.
If I don’t provide you with any information or resources you didn’t already have – then I hope I at least encourage you to grow in faith and prayer. I believe we can draw strength from our community of the faithful. I’m so thankful that you have taken the time to visit my blog and I am praying for all of you.
I converted into the Catholic faith shortly before my (now) husband proposed to me. He had introduced me to the Faith when we met, and while I always respected his devotion, it took me several years to seek a deeper understanding of what it meant to be Catholic.
The RCIA process was incredibly formative for me and gave me the foundation I needed to accept the Trinity in my life.
However, I would be lying to omit that my primary motivation at the time was to “be Catholic” because it would make it easier for me to marry my (now) husband.
It has taken several years since my confirmation into the church for me to fully grasp the depths of what it means to be a devout Catholic.
God has consistently used major life events to stir the Holy Spirit inside of me. I like to imagine those moments are him saying “Look at all that I can do, I am reaching my hand towards you. All I need is for you to reach back”.
I have felt his presence when my first daughter was born.
Then when I became pregnant when she was 9 months old.
Then again when my grandmother was in the hospital after a deadly accident, but then was miraculously healed and went on to live another whole year. My second daughter was born. We found the perfect home for us at exactly the right time. After years of loneliness I made my first Catholic Mom friend, which then snowballed into a group of 8 families. Our village. Then most recently, our third child, and first son, was born.
Sometimes I would recognize him and I would be bursting with joy from the blessings. Other times I was resistant. It felt like I was being punished and I wanted to complain about the rules of the church and how impractical they were and why I shouldn’t have to follow them. However sometime over the last 5 years I decided to let go of control, anxiety and anger.
In particular, since the conception of my son I have felt a shift in my heart. With each child I have begun to embrace the Lord more and seek a path that leads to him.
What l’ve noticed most is the desire to live out my faith in a way that my children imitate me. To surround myself with the Word and with Godly people. To raise my children with a foundation I didn’t have.
I grew up in a secular home in the US Bible Belt. My experience with religion was going to church occasionally friend from school. And it was never Catholic Churches that I visited.
I’ve always thirsted to learn more about God and Jesus, and I’ve had moments in my life where I’ve embraced certain churches and communities and tried to make them mine.
But something that always seems to bother me was how many Protestant communities were very closed off from one another.
They all believed the same things and worshipped the same God – but the interaction between parishes was never there.
The sermons always ended with a warning against some church or “those a Catholics”. I never understood why a community that prided itself on loving one another like Jesus would always try to compete with other churches and encourage loyalty to this one particular building or community.
It wasn’t until I went to college and met my (now) husband, that I was introduced to the Catholic Church.
At first I was annoyed at all the rules that seemed arbitrary (why couldn’t I receive communion?) and I always got the vibe that Catholics thought they had this secret little club that I wasn’t cool enough for.
But as my (now) husband and I began dating and I kept attending Sunday mass with him, God transformed my heart.
Ilearned more about scripture and the life of Christ through weekly mass. I learned about the lives of the saints and the the apostles and how the traditions the of the Catholic Church came from imitating those who seek to imitate Christ.
I realized the beauty of the Catholic Church came from its rules and traditions. The Catholic community is the same whether you attend one church in Louisiana or one across the world in France. We read the same scriptures, celebrate on the same days, and keep to the same liturgical calendar.
After 5 years of dating I realized that before I could become a wife and honor my husband, I needed to first Love God and devote myself to him. So in fall of 2018 l began the RCIA process and was initiated Easter of 2019.
I am catholic because the Catholic Church has the consistency and tradition that all other churches lack.
Join our Weekly Newsletter
A large way I have sought to transform our lifestyle is by drawing from the lessons of the saints. In our home we celebrate the lives of the saints and I am delighted to share how we do that with you. I publish a weekly newsletter to keep you up to date on how we are celebrating the saints each week. In this newsletter I include:
- Printable bookmark with the Saints and Feast Days for the upcoming week
- Printable craft or activity to do with your children to teach them about the saints and the catholic faith
- Description of how we are celebrating in the upcoming week, including a meal plan and recipe
- Previews on what posts are coming to the blog over the upcoming week.
These resources and information are exclusive to subscribers. If you want to get all of this delivered to your email fill out the form below!
It’s so nice to meet you!
Why don’t you take a moment to introduce yourself below? Where are you from, what’s your background? What has your journey into the faith been like? I am so happy to have you join me in this space and I am looking forward to growing our community together.