Hard to believe that it is September. School is starting, all the pumpkin things are starting to roll out, and the official start of Fall fast approaching. With the change of the season I wanted to share the feast days that we will try to celebrate in the next few months. I’ll be the first to admit that there are some Feast days that, despite my best intentions, get overlooked. If you are new to celebrating feast days check out this post with some tips on getting started. There are soooo many feast days, that you just can’t do them all, but here are a few I hope to highlight in our home this Fall.
I created this download so that I could have a list handy, which helps me not to forget…of course, there is still no guarantee! To be honest sometimes it’s the night before and I am searching Pinterest and trying to figure out what I can pull off without a trip to the store! I am excited that we will have more time to celebrate and learn about the Saints this year since we are homeschooling, so I have added a few new feast days to my “hope to celebrate list”.
There are so many more great ideas on Pinterest for celebrating feast days, and if you are looking for a book on liturgical living I highly recommend Catholic All Year. It is full of wonderful ideas for living out your Catholic faith at home.
St. Teresa of Calcutta– We will be studying about St. Theresa as part of our home school. I haven’t decided what we might do as a celebration. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to attempt to feed my children Indian food, but it would be a great way to celebrate.
Nativity of Mary– Fun fact…the Church actual only celebrates three birthdays- Mary who was conceives without original sin, Jesus, of course, and John the Baptist who was cleansed of original sin when he leapt in his mother’s womb. I think this feast day will be fun to celebrate by throwing a birthday party for Mary. I plan to have my boys make birthday cards and we will probably have cake or dessert of some kind. (Dessert is a common theme in our feast day celebrations)
Feast of the Archangels– The Feast of St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, also known as Michealmas. There is a legend that says that when Lucifer was expelled from Heaven he landed in a blackberry bush, so blackberry dishes are a traditional way to celebrate.
St. Therese of Lisieux– St. Therese of the Little Way. I plan to make sacrifice beads like these with the boys. Since St. Therese is know for showering roses from heaven anything rose themed would work…strawberries cut into roses, or cupcakes with pink frosting. I recently read that her favorite treat was eclairs so that seems like a fitting dessert. We’ve never tried eclairs so it would be a fun thing to try.
Feast of the Guardian Angels– I plan to have the boys memorize the Guardian Angel prayer during the month of October. I honestly don’t know much about the angels, but I think learning more about them would be fun. It seems like angel food cake would be the perfect dessert.
St. Francis of Assisi– St. Francis is a fan favorite around here with my little animal lovers. Last year we had a variety of animal themed snacks. (goldfish, animal crackers, and ants on a log would all do the trick) If it isn’t too chilly we may even had to the Zoo.
Our Lady of the Rosary– We are not great about family rosaries around here, but since October is all about the Rosary maybe we will try to up our game. I also think that it would be fun to make an edible rosary with m&ms or chocolate chips for this feast day.
All Saints Day– If you only squeeze in one extra feast day, this would be the one to hit, right? Honor all the Saints in one day! There are some elaborate All Saints Day party ideas out there, and I think they could be a lot of fun, especially if you opt out of Halloween. Last year we kept it simple with “halo donuts”. We made some baked donuts and added a glaze and golden sprinkles. I think a potluck with other families would be fun if everyone brought a Saint themed dish!
All Souls Day– I think that this is an important day to recognize. This year I think we will make a list of our faithful departed to pray for and maybe also visit a nearby cemetery to pray for those laid to rest there. I also think we will attempt to make soul cakes. Here’s a recipe.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne– There is a shrine to St. Rose Philippine a few hours from our house that we visited this past spring, so I thought that it would be fun to look at the pictures from that day and remember this Saint that once lived in the same state that we live in.
Here’s a PDF of the printable if you would like a copy!
What feast days will you celebrate this season?
Meg
