Moving some classes off of here to another site - read more below! Breastfeeding course updates!1/18/2023
Our focus is pregnancy, postpartum, etc.. We have decided to move the herbal courses to another site and those classes are kind of a collaborative effort. When the full site is ready - we will share how to find that information. We don't want that to get in the way of our mission of helping mothers in pregnancy and postpartum! Talking about that - our next live zoom course information is below!!
We are updating our B.O.O.B. Counselor-Educator course to include more information. However, we found out we are not going to qualify at least for right now to be an ALPP provider (which gives the CLC exam) because they want us to be a provider of 45 CERP's for IBCLC which is a lot and hard to obtain. Instead we are looking at getting you some CERP credits for IBCLC! So if you are a lactation consultant taking our class, and you need CERP's you will gain some. WE cannot announce how many till we are approved. And we also can get approved for the March live class even AFTER the class is finished. So, if you are interested in CERP's please let us know. So, another announcement is this B.O.O.B. Counselor-Educator class will be a live zoom class in March - you can also take it self-paced if so desire. However, the class will be re-launching as fresh and new in March with EARLY bird special deals to signup in February. Early access to materials will be included. The first early bird deal is if you signup by Valentine's Day - or up to the 18th - we will send you 2 free books included. The regular early bird is up to February 24-th. After that we go to regular pricing. Class starts March 3rd(tentative date)- we usually work with the students to set date/time that works best for the group. We will meet around 7 times to cover as many modules as possible. Since we are adding in new things - we will not have time for all module coverage - but the educator portion will be in full! The counseling part and extra things will be self-paced. So, we can guarantee Breastfeeding Educator certificate when finished and you can get the other certificate when you finish the work for self-paced. To learn more go to this link and register. Note: If we only get one or two people we have right to make the class a self-paced only - no refunds - but we will do instead is meet one-on-one with the students a little more instead and set up those times. We need 3 people to "make" a live class. Thanks for understanding. Black Friday specials... We should support small businesses this week. This is Thanksgiving week and Black Friday weekend. I know a lot of you might already be "Black Fridayed" out . However, small businesses are people we should be supporting this season - not the big box stores.
If you are looking for a specialty item or small business to shop at - then consider supporting Catholic Doula as well. We have a small birth shop. Go here to see what we have in our birth shop! Another thing I do is make chapel veils. I finally got my Etsy shop back; so if you are looking for a homemade chapel veil - this is my shop below: https://www.etsy.com/shop/stellamarisveils Another thing to consider is donating to our scholarship fund. I have given out several partial scholarships to students this year in order for students to be able to afford our classes; so they basically got in at almost half off. So, if you have an extra cash in your pocket to donate to our scholarships - we will have a Mass offered for all of our benefactors: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/catholicdoulaprogram (Sorry, that's the only link I have for donations right now). We are attempting to get away from PayPal but I can only do donations through that processor. We have decided to make most of our shop items Square payments in order to support more pro-life things. It takes a bit longer to fill out the forms - so please be patient with that and we don't store your addresses or anything like that - so your privacy is protected when purchasing items from our store. If you prefer to send a check, we can let you know where to send checks too. Thank you so much. Please remember to shop small businesses this season! God Bless! Doulaing for the Holidays... Hi, I haven't had a chance to write a blog post lately - so the holidays are right around the corner and in fact it snowed here! What fun! Gets you in the mood for holiday cheer!
So, what is it like to do doula work around the holidays? What are things that might come up? Inductions! That is a big thing that may come up more often. The doctors are not having the mother's best interest in mind. They want to sell the idea of getting the baby out before Christmas instead of waiting for baby to come on his/her own timing. So, if you have a client due in December, make sure she knows her "informed consent" when it comes to inductions. Be more prepared to fight this (esp. if that is what your client wants to have a natural birth) then this is one thing you both can fight together. Gather all the evidence based research (in fact go to Evidence Based Birth(c) if you want more info about inductions). Make sure your client's doctor knows she does not want an induction. Make sure he/she is agreeable. Then let nature takes its course and yes it is OK to have a baby on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - Jesus was born on that day - why not share that day with Jesus' birth?! (Hey, I am Christian so please excuse if you are not into this). After the baby arrives (on his/her own timing), celebrate your client's birth with an extra special gift for her birthing around the holidays. If your client is Christian, you may want to gift them a special Christmas onesie for the baby for instance! Get creative for your gift giving for clients! If your baby is Jewish, I am sure the mom may enjoy something along that theme as well. Anyway, just remember to stand your ground when it comes to holidays and doulaing! Inductions should only be done for real true reasons, not because of the holidays! And mothers need to learn to stand their ground or they will end up with a birth that they do not desire. So, be the information source for your doula clients and help them have the best holiday birth possible! By Julie Larsen - Picture is from unsplash.com - Thank you. Make some herbal gifts for Christmas... Announcing our new and improved Mama Herb and Aroma course - note you do not have to be a "mother" to join the class - anyone who would like to learn more about herbs and aromatherapy can join.
The class is 6 modules for herbs - going from fertility herbs-postpartum herbal ideas. The last 3 modules are about aromatherapy or combo (gift idea) module. Go to this page to get more information and signup. We finally decided on Hart Song Herbal school as the official name of the Herbal things we plan to offer. So, you may ask if I have credentials to teach herbs? Yes! I took Grandma's Hands Herbal Course awhile back and I have a Master Herbalist Certificate from International Open Academy. I also have taken some classes via Udemy as well. So, I thought it was time to open up something a little more in depth. We hope you will come on over and learn with us. If you are considering becoming a doula, please let us know as well, we are extending our 15% off doula sale for this month of November and offering low down payments as one option to get started quicker - message us via contact page for information! Also, we are doing a book giveaway- you can enter on the front page form. We already did the rebozo drawing and gave away the rebozo. Thank you. We do still offer a rebozo course - it has moved to Rebozo Thinkific website. Go here to connect and get a free preview! Octoberfest! Doula circle coming soon and more...
So, this month we are offering a Doula Circle and our guest speaker will be talking about "Why Pro-Life Doulas?"---Date 10-21-22 so a week from Friday we will be doing our Doula circle - time to be announced. If you are in our newsletters, you will get info - or message us at catholicdoulaprogram@gmail.com - thanks! October is one of my favorite months of the year as it is finally feeling cooler where we live at and the 90 and 100 degree weather of summer is gone till next year (really wish it wasn't that hot in the summer here). At least we have all four seasons here - we get a real winter, spring, summer and fall here!! The leaves are starting to turn colors and I feel like going outside to exercise. So, what do you like about October? Write a comment if you like below. Also, October is the Month of the Holy Rosary - so this is a good time to break out your Rosary and pray together as a family or pray when you are driving around, etc. This also might be good time for a Rosary Novena. Now, there's a 54 day Rosary Novena - but I have not been good at that kind - so I think I am just going to do a 9 day one and 9 day of Thanksgiving - make it shorter and maybe it might actually be easier to keep up with for me! Also, this month is one of birthday(s) for family members and our wedding anniversary! I guess fall is just a good time to get married in and less being in the "summer wedding season". We also wanted to announce that we are leaving PayPal at the end of the month for payment processor - they seem to want to be a watchdog - well not for me - I'll just take Square or some other payment processor. For now, I think I am going to be doing Square and they have some other options to pay if using their linking system. I just need to figure out how to set up stuff on the website. You can also choose just to be invoiced via Square. Thank you for your patience as we move towards not supporting PayPal. What titles of Mary do we celebrate this month? Our Lady of Zell I thought I would talk about a few feast days of Mary that are in the month of September. Mary's Feast of Divine Shepherdess - this one sounds quite interesting.... "September 3: Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd, France Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd, or Notre Dame de Brebieres, is located in the small town of Albert in the diocese of Amiens, France. Brebieres refers to brebis, which is French for sheep, and berger, which is French for shepherd. At one time, probably sometime in the 12th century, and according to local tradition, a shepherd was grazing his sheep at Brebieres when he observed that many of the animals were staying in the same area to eat, ripping the grass out by the roots. It must have seemed very odd to the shepherd, who decided that the sheep were trying to uncover something, so he started to dig in the very spot himself. In a short time he uncovered a statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted from a single piece of solid stone. The statue was fairly large, nearly four feet tall, and represented the Blessed Mother holding the Divine Child in her arm. There was a sheep depicted quietly reclining at Mary’s feet. As has happened so often throughout history, the finding of the statue increased the enthusiasm and affection of the local populace toward the Mother of God. A small chapel was built at the site to honor the statue and receive the pilgrims who had already begun coming to Albert to visit the statue. Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd- more info: Saint Colette can be credited for helping to spread of the fame of Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd at Brebieres. At age fourteen she was somewhat short and had a delicate constitution. Seeking a remedy through the favor of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Colette prayed to Our Lady of Brebieres. She not only obtained vigor and good health, she also found that several inches were miraculously added to her height. In 1637 the sanctuary was partially burned, and the miraculous image was moved to the parish church of Albert in 1727. During the French Revolution the church was made into a pagan temple to the goddess of Reason while the image of the Mother of God was hidden until 1802 when the horrors of the Terror during this supposed time of reason subsided. This feast is celebrated in a number of places and by certain religious communities and congregations: Capuchins, Marists and others, on widely different dates. It is a special festival of the shrine of Our Lady of Brebieres, a very old sanctuary near Albert in France, formerly much resorted to by the shepherds. The pilgrimage here was revived after 1870, and a beautiful basilica was completed in 1887. The statue was crowned in 1901, and devastated in both world wars. The basilica has again been rebuilt." From: https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-the-divine-shepherd.html Our Next feast day is: September 8: Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15BC) The Nativity of Our Lady, which happened, according to Baronius, in the year of the creation of the world 4007, on a Saturday, at daybreak, fifteen years before the birth of our Savior. This feast was instituted on the 8th of September, in the Greek Church and in the Latin, in the year 436, according to the same Baronius; and, in France, by Saint Maurillus, Bishop of Angers. In the “Apocryphal” writings we read that the Virgin Mary was sprung from the royal family of David and educated at Jerusalem in the Temple of the Lord. Her father’s name was Joachim and her mother’s Anna. Her father’s family was of Galilee and her mother’s of Bethlehem. By some, Joachim is described as exceedingly rich. Tradition is unanimous that Mary was an only child, an heiress, and, therefore, so many of the eligible men were eager to obtain her hand in marriage. Feast of the birth of the Blessed VirginJoachim and Anna lived chastely without any children for about twenty years, in the favor of God and the esteem of men. They vowed that if God should favor them with any issue, they would devote it to the service of the lord, for which reason they went every season of the year to the Temple. Again, the “Aprocryphal” tells us that both Joachim and Anna suffered much because of their childlessness, for to be this was considered a punishment from God. However, their prayers and sacrifices were rewarded and being informed by an angel that they would have a child, they offered ten she-lambs and twelve tender calves to the Lord in the Temple. And Anna brought forth, and inquiring of the midwife, she was told it was a girl, and she said: “My soul has been magnified this day,”and she laid her child down. The days having been fulfilled, Anna was purified, and gave the breast to the child and called her name Mary. In Mary’s soul from the very beginning was the bliss of heaven; in the first instant of her conception, Mary, by a singular grace and privilege granted by God, was preserved exempt from all original sin. “Thou art all fair, O my Love, and there is not a spot in thee.” And “Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as any army set in array.” Holy Mother Church has selected September 8, as the day to celebrate the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary’s Nativity, Theotokos Deipara, Mother of God. God never created a being more perfect, more admirable, than she is; He imbued her with a richer grace, power, and blessedness; but in one simple respect she surpasses all creatures, namely, that she is the Mother of her Creator – giving her sanctity and greatness that cannot be surpassed. Men sometimes wonder that we call her Mother of Life, of Mercy, of Salvation; what are all these titles compared to that one name, Mother of God? Joachim and Anna bestowed the name of Mary on their little daughter, and she has become “Our Lady,” the greatest lady of all. What a happy choice of name! Mary is of all names the most common and the least vulgar, the name which is never really given, but lent, to those who have the honor to bear it, for it belongs by particular right to her who was the first to make it glorious. “Oh Mary! How great is thy name!” Source: https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/feast-of-the-birth-of-the-blessed-virgin.html Next feast day is September 12: The Most Holy Name of Mary "And the name of the virgin was Mary." (St. Luke, I, 27) In this simple phrase, St. Luke sums up the greatness of Mary, as epitomized in her holy name. That the Church recognizes this is quite apparent when we realize the numerous times the name of Mary occurs in her various prayer, invocations, and seasonal liturgy. The name of Mary was chosen by the Most High for the fairest of the daughters of Eve, the mother of His Divine Son, and was revealed to Anne and Joachim by the angel Gabriel who was later to announce to their child the great privilege accorded her by God. Mary! A name so lofty, in the regal majesty of its sound and meaning – Mary, Maria, Miriam! It is a name as familiar to us as the name of our Mother, as the bells of the church, as the peaks of the mountains which send their friendly greetings to the valleys below. Mary! A thousand times we have prayed, sung, wept this name, in good and evil days. Millions of women are called by that name and it weaves a golden thread around even the plainest woman. Mary! Holding on to this name, grope the way through the darkness of life and death. It is the rosy dawn heralding the rising sun, Jesus, in the Gospels as well as in the hearts of men. A beautiful wreath of interpretation has grown around this holy name of Mary; the name Mary is supposed to stem from the word, “yam” – sea; “mar,” “mir,” “mor” – bitter sea, mistress of the sea, or the best known, “star of the sea.” Others find profound meaning by tracing Mary to “moras,” – hope; “mar” the bitter one; “maron” the exalted one, “moren,” the rising one, “marsh,” the enlightener, “mor,” myrrh. All these are ingenious but are not etymologically tenable. In all probability, the name Mary goes back to the Egyptian language. The sister of Moses and Aaron, born in Egypt like her brothers, is the only woman mentioned in the Old Testament with this name. It can be derived from the Egyptian root, “mir,” love, and “jam,” “jahu,” Yahu, Yahwe, God; so that Miriam means “God-loving,” or “beloved of God.” In Mary’s time it was more common to derive the name from Maron, the Exalted One, corresponding to our Madonna, Notre Dame, Our Blessed Mother or Our Blessed Lady. Source: https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/holy-name-of-mary.html I love the name of this apparition: September 13: Our Lady of Zell (Mariazell), Austria The places dedicated to Mary are the best proof that Mary gives help today to souls and bodies. The glorious pilgrim church at Zell is nestled in the midst of the Styrian Mountains 50 miles southwest of Vienna. It is mantled in snow most of the winter and is the haven for skiers., is the Lourdes of central Europe. Since its founding, it has become the most popular Marian shrine in Austria, and there is a miraculous wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that is much venerated at the church. According to tradition, there was once a Benedictine monk known as Magnus, who, in the year 1157, left his abbey at Lambrecht seeking a more contemplative life. As he was passing through a forest looking for a suitable place for his hermitage, he encountered a massive, black boulder that blocked his way. Magnus was stymied, as he could not continue in that direction, and so he took out a small statue of the Blessed Virgin that he kept with him. Placing the statue on a log, he knelt down to pray for guidance. The heavenly assistance he requested was not long in coming, for the ground began to tremble, and with a loud crack, the boulder broke in two. A strange light emanated from the broken edges of the stone, revealing the miraculous cause of the break. Magnus realized at once that he had found the location of the hermitage he had been seeking, and placed his cherished statue on a stump and built a small shrine to display the miraculous statue. Pilgrims came to the place almost immediately as news of the miracle spread through the region. Our Lady of Zell Magnus’ statue, known as the "Magna Mater Austriae," can still be viewed. It is just over 18 inches tall, and is kept in what is called the Chapel of Miracles, which is located above the very place where Magnus had made his monastic cell. The statue depicts the Mother of God holding the Divine Child in her arm. The baby Jesus holds an apple, recalling the fall of man and his later redemption. The statue is also known as the Great Mother of Austria, the Great Lady of Hungary, and the Great Mother of the Slavic People. This first small shrine was enlarged with a church in the year 1200, and was further expanded in 1335 after King Henry I had been granted a miraculous cure after being told in a dream to go to Our Lady of Zell. King Louis the Great of Hungary had the Mariazell Basilica built in the year 1363, which is also known as the Basilica of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, in gratitude for a military victory he won over a numerically superior army of Turks: 20,000 men against 80,000 Turks. The church he had built was of Gothic style, and in 1377, King Louis I added a chapel called the Gnadenkappelle, the Chapel of Grace. The church was damaged by fire in 1420 and again in 1474, but then expanded again in the 17th century, and is the same church that stands today. The various peoples of the broad Danubian area have made Our Lady of Zell the goal of their pilgrimages. Jewels, crowns, and garments were brought to the Great Mother at Zell. Untold thousands of Austrians, Hungarians, Croats, Slovenes, Czechs have knelt there before Mary’s image, each feeling that his race was under the special protection of Mary. A lamp of pure silver burns before the altar. It is the gift of the Empress Maria Theresa. She was mother of a great empire and brought her sorrow to Mariazell to the Mother of God. No castle of Our Lady was more honored and enriched by the Hapsburghs. An average of one million people annually make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Zell, which in 1907 was made a Minor Basilica by Pope Saint Pius X, who also crowned the statue that same year. There are solemn processions on the eve of the feasts of Our Lady of Mariazell, September 13th, The Feast of the Assumption, August 15th, and the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, September 8th. The great Cardinal Mindszenty was buried at Mariazell, Our Lady of Zell, in 1975. Source: https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-zell.html I may do another blog post later in the month to cover more of her titles for September - but I thought this might be good start. I'll cover Our Lady of Sorrows next post. By the way, as our 20% off sale is ending for the big courses - however, I am going to put on a special sale for Our Lady of Sorrows Bereavement class this month and also a bundle sale - so watch for that and it will start close to a week from now. Thank you.
Teen doula explore class as well...My original post - I made an error - so want to correct something. If you are interested in our birth doula or postpartum doula classes or teen explore doula - we do take payment plans on the sale pricing - just put down around $100 - however, I can do special circumstances and $50 every 2 weeks or something like that also works. We want to make it easy for you to start training as a doula!
We also have a new teen doula explore class. Now, we do expect the parents to cover the fees of the class. This is a great class for homeschoolers. It will meet 6-7 times for the semester and offer mentoring up to 14 weeks to help the student finish the class. There will be an option for the teen to opt-in for full birth or postpartum doula certification for more. Go here to get info about teen doula explore! Next we are offering a business doula class again - this one is through our new Doula Money Group - so go to www.doulamoney.com to learn more about the class. We will meet up 1-2 times depending on class size and rest will be business modules sent to you. This class is low cost - but if you need a little boost - just message us about the class at catholicdoulaprogram@gmail.com We are going to still offer our herbal class again - we are working on an immediate download idea - so if you want this class before we have it in the birth shop - just message us and we can invoice you for it. Note: Birth shop items will be slightly more because of Square charging extra fee. If you prefer to do a "friends only" payment via PayPal or check let me know. The herbal class will also go on sale soon - so look for that. I wanted it to have a small discount. Thank you. This is also a great time again - to just study to be a doula - we think 20% savings is a great deal and really good if you are choosing mentorship options! Thank you! Confession and Queen Mary... Sometimes you need a good knock on the head when going to confession. Today I was reminded of Our Lady Queen to bring all our troubles too. We are in the land of exile - so we should turn towards Mary our Queen to ask her for help. She will help us in our state of life. If you are married, the Sacrament of Matrimony graces are not just for you - they are for the whole family esp. your husband. And the husband's graces are meant for you. So, perhaps you feel that you need some of those extra graces - then pray for your husband (if married).
So, what does this have to do with doula work? Mary is here to help us spiritually as a mother to cover her Mantle over us. She is here to show us the way... as a doula or mother - or whatever we are doing. That's in a way why I called my personal doula site "Our Lady's Mantle doula" - I want to be her handmaid and also she offers the "Mantle of Love" to us. I one time had a dream of Mary covering me with her mantle and today I am reminded that from the fruits you shall know them - today's Gospel (Latin Mass). So, the fruit of our doula work is helping mamas from pregnancy to postpartum. I hope you will find the clients you need for your doulaing. So, we are offering our business class again - you get in at the lower rate if you enroll by August 10th. We will plan at least one time to meetup and maybe more - if I have more students we may meet up 2 times. This will be determined after August 10th. The modules for business will be sent to you right away (and I may upload to the birth shop or email to you). After we gather how many will be in this class, I'll set up time(s) to meetup with the group to discuss the modules a little bit more. So, here's more information at the Business Page. So, August 10th is not the day we meet - but will just be our early bird deadline on entry to our summer business program. We will decide on meetup within a week after that probably after August 15th. Thank you. *Note: We will take late entries to the business class - you will be expected to pay slightly more. Thank you. What to do for the summer? If you are like me, I am tired of the heat or hot weather. I hear it is supposed to rain some locally. I hope you get cooled off this summer too. So, what if you are a new doula starting out and want to get some business ideas this summer? Great - I am planning to do is offer another business class for early August. We are now doing it this way - you get self-pace doula modules as soon as you enroll - (will be available August 1st) and then we will have 2 meetups if I have 2-3 people signup together or in early August. We will meet up to discuss business tips and set up and things like that. We can send you a CEU certificate if so desired if needed for DONA or for Catholic Doula program students. We are working on offering this for you to just get your doula business going more! Dates to be decided - since we are flexible for the live portion. Business page will be updated to reflect information soon. Thank you. Other business - we will be putting on sale our mama herb class soon and probably a website wide sale for 'back to school'. Perhaps you are a busy mother or single person over this summer and looking forward to kids being back in school and having more time on your hands? Great - then maybe this fall would be the perfect time to set up your doula studies!! We will be putting on sale the self-pace class and have options for live class if we have enough interest. Look for that sale soon! We will probably make it available soon for those who want to pay in full the sale will be available. We are not going to be able to offer payment plan sale at this time. Thanks for understanding. However, we may offer a sale for live class and that one will will make payment plan reflect a sale price. One final event coming up - Birth Ball Rebozo - we hope to offer in middle of August or late August - look for announcements later on that event! Thank you.  Our Birth shop has.... We finally getting our Birth shop up and running. We just uploaded postpartum doula contract and birth doula contract to purchase and since we are just launching our shop - we are putting everything on sale. We have one pink rebozo up for grabs as well! Note: We can order more if more than one person wants a pink rebozo!
So, our Level A rebozo workshop is on Saturday and we would love to have you attend. If you are a mama looking for a technique or two to help you with labor time - then come on over - rebozos have a way of taking away the pain!! To register go here: https://rebozo.weebly.com/rebozo-workshop-level-a.html#/ Late register fee is waived - so you get in for our lowest price! Now, we are working on the "on-demand" rebozo class as well and hope to have that ready in early August along with a mini-aroma class too. Herbs for mamas class is open for registration - go here to get the scoop... Go to our Mama Herb Page. We are no longer using an outside link for this class right now. Thank you. |
AuthorJuliana Larsen is the author of the Catholic Doula Blog. Archives
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