A little, or lengthy, treatise as a starting point.

Celebrating the great holy days in the church calendar is one of the best ways of handing down the faith in a meaningful way to our children. These days help mark a rhythm in time: ordinary days, days of penance, days of rejoicing, days of praise. Celebrating these days in our homes allows children to explore the multifaceted richness that is our faith. They hear stories, and have the chance to really think and talk about them. They see artwork and lay a framework for  understanding our story through imagery. They create with their hands, and lay on that framework a new understanding. They pray, and hear the words and patterns of our conversations with God. Finally, they taste, they feast!

This can seem overwhelming. How? How do we pull all that together? Who has time for all this?

I’ve tried to map out a plan that will make celebrating these days at home as families more than doable. That plan is: Joyful, Simple, Faithful.

Joyful

The basis of the Holy Days at Home idea is to create an atmosphere of familial love and learning. If you’re stressed about making these happen, stressed about getting them done in time or doing enough…that atmosphere will quickly lose all of its sweetness. In that environment anything you present to your children will fall on closed ears, hard hearts, infertile soil.

Now I’m not saying you need to have a kids TV host kind of saccharine about you. No! Guess what? They can see right through that, especially face to face. They know you too well. But going after the celebration of Holy Days at Home with a certain amount of pace and excitement will naturally draw them in.

“Hey guys! Know what today is? It’s St. Thomas’ feast day! Anyone know who he is?” And bam. They’re hooked.

Do let the children make imperfect crafts. Do let them ask questions. Do expect that these sit-down times will get interrupted, will not be finished, may take a lot less time than you expect.

Do not lose the joy. If you stop finding joy in it, take a break for a few weeks. If they don’t want to participate, don’t force them. Present it, maybe do the craft yourself. Say the prayer at dinner. Have the treat and mention why it’s significant. Whatever you do, do not lose the joy.

 

Simple

A friend of mine has the right idea about these celebrations at home. We were talking one day about teaching or children the faith at home. How do we do it? These celebrations are one way of passing on the faith, and one way specifically that teaches them the joy and richness of it. I easily get bogged down with the idea of doing the research, making the food, preparing the craft, etc. Her advice? Story, coloring sheet, prayer. Done. That way the task isn’t daunting, for anyone. The lesson: the simpler the better!

Components

The format I’ve designed for these Holy Days at Home celebrations can be adapted to suit your family’s needs. You can do it all in one sitting in the morning culminating with a morning snack. You can spread the components out throughout the day, or have a little family time after dinner ending in dessert. You can pick and choose which components to use. And of course, adapt any of the components to better suit your family’s interests. Don’t feel like you have to do-it-all in order to hand on the faith. Do what you can, do it cheerfully. It does not need to be perfect!

Pace

I will try to present a sampling of feast or holy days each month for you to choose from. Choose from. I recommend not trying to do them all. Maybe start with one, the one saint or day that speaks to you the most per month. Or choose the one or two that you can most easily implement. Don’t make this hard on yourself! Remember, if the atmosphere here is tense and stressed, then that’s all they’ll remember.

Treats

For the most part I’ll include both a store-bought and homemade treat option. Sometimes having a special store-bought snack is all you need! If you’re a cook or baker and enjoy that activity with your children, include them in the process of creating the treat to enjoy. But don’t feel you have to make everything homemade, from scratch, Martha Stewart perfect.

Crafts

The crafts also have options. The first is a more hands-on craft project usually involving a bit of prep work. Unless you’ve got a whole craft supply closet in your house already. You know who you are 😉

But, for those days you really can’t get to the store, really can’t afford that extra supply, really don’t have the time or energy to make a mess…never fear! Let me introduce you to the humble coloring page.

The internet is full of saint’s coloring pages these days! I’ll try to link at least one to every feast day. These are sometimes better than a hands-on craft, especially for the grade-schoolers, because often while their hands are occupied their minds are open. Reading aloud the story or scripture while they are coloring, discussing the saint, and talking about their virtue can all come rather naturally while the little hands are busy. Plus, coloring is all the rage, didn’t you know. You can get in on that action, too.

Faithful

 Never lose sight of the point of all this: Love. Love that draws us to Himself. Love that caused us to be, that kindled in each of these saints a burning desire of self-gift. Love, the underlying pulse of all that we believe as Catholics.

“If I speak in tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.” (1Cor.13:1)

You could present the most elaborate crafts, most delicious treats, the most fun-filled activities. But if you leave out the core of the purpose of these celebrations you may as well be an off-beat percussion section. If you do nothing else, pray. Mention the saint in your family’s prayer time. “St. of the day, patron of whatever it is, pray for us.” Done. And oh the graces from that simple prayer!

Pray the prayer of the day from the Liturgy of the Hours. I’ll include this as the prayer unless the saint was a recently beatified.

Read the scripture. Read the saints biography or story.

But if you do nothing else, pray. “Families that pray together, stay together.” Prayer binds your family together with the Trinity. Prayer forms the basis of trust and faithfulness that will see your children through all their lives. Prayer is the means of tapping into the graces flowing from heaven. Prayer, openness to the Spirit, trust in the Father, belief in the Son, will bear greater fruit than all the crafts and treats and activities any supermom (or dad!) could ever prepare.

With that, my friends, go and make disciples of all nations. Beginning at home.