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I’m always trying to figure out how to make it easier for families to observe the Christian Year because we felt so overwhelmed when we first started that journey (which is why we wrote the book we wish we had then). I thought it might be helpful for our family to have resources compiled for the month ahead so that we can plan in advance which special saints days we want to observe and I hope having them all in one place is helpful to you, too!
And I pinned all of the following resources on an October Liturgical Living board on pinterest for your convenience!
As always, remember not to get overwhelmed. You don’t have to observe every saints day! (We certainly don’t at our house.) The liturgical year is a gift. It shouldn’t feel like a burden!
October 1st: St. Therese of the Child Jesus
Food for Thought:
- The Power of the Little Flower: Jenny Uebbing for Catholic Exchange
- What a Spoiled French Nun Taught Me About Motherhood: Better Than Eden
Faith and Little Ones:
- St. Therese and Family Paper Dolls (Lucy loves these!)
Celebrating Around the Table:
- Heavenly Garden Apple Rose Pastries: Catholic Cuisine
October 2nd: The Holy Guardian Angels
Free Printable Guardian Angel Prayers: Catholic All Year
Faith and Little Ones:
Book suggestions:
Angels, Angels Everywhere by Tomie dePaola
Pascual and the Kitchen Angels by Tomie dePaola
October 4th: St. Francis of Assisi:
Food for Thought:
- What We Can Learn from St. Francis: Sam Guzman
Faith and Little Ones:
Book suggestions:
Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Katherine Paterson
The Song of Francis by Tomie dePaola
The Good Man of Assisi by Mary Joslin
St. Francis and the Nativity by Myrna Strasser
Activities for Celebrating:
- 10 Easy Ways Your Family Can Celebrate the Feast of St. Francis: Molly Makes Do
- Make Pinecone Bird Feeders with your kids to honor St. Francis of Assisi (You can find the instructions in our newest liturgical year ebook: More Feasts!)
October 7th: Our Lady of the Rosary
Faith and Little Ones:
- Rosary CDs for Kids: Holy Heroes (My kids adore these!)
Celebrating Around the Table
- Cupcake Rosary: Catholic Cuisine
October 10th: St. Francis Borgia
Celebrating Around the Table:
Make a Spanish feast (Simple Spanish Tapas, Spanish Eggplant Spread, and Potatoes Aioli recipe is in Feast! Real Food, Reflections, and Simple Living for the Christian Year)
October 15th: St. Teresa of Avila
Celebrating Around the Table:
- Chicken Stew with Lighter than Air Dumplings: Catholic Cuisine
- Whip up some sweet Yemas de Santa Teresa from More Feasts!
October 17th: St. Ignatius of Antioch
Celebrating Around the Table:
- Make Mujaddara, a lentil and rice dish popular in the Middle East. (You can find the recipe in Feast!)
October 18th: St. Luke
Faith and Littles Ones:
- Coloring Page: Waltzing Matilda
October 22nd: Pope St. John Paul II
Faith and Littles Ones:
Book Suggestion:
The Story of Saint John Paul II: A Boy Who Became Pope by Fabiola Garza
Coloring Book:
- Pope St. John Paul II 15-pg Coloring Download: Holy Heroes
Audio Story:
- Pope St. John Paul II Glory Story: Holy Heroes (We listened to this one on our road trip this summer!)
YouTube Video:
- My kids love watching this video of JPII! It’s autotuned, but somehow conveys his love so well and I watch it whenever I need to turn my day around.
Celebrating Around the Table:
- Polish Food and Papal Cake: Better Than Eden
- Pope Cakes: Melody’s Harmonies
October 23rd: St. John of Capistrano
Faith and Little Ones:
Book Suggestion:
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi
October 28th: St. Jude
Food for Thought:
- The Powerful Faith and Intercession of St. Jude: Daniel Stewart for Catholic Exchange
October 31: All Hallow’s Eve
Food for Thought:
- Hallowmas with Harry: What Harry Potter Taught Me About Death and the Communion of Saints: Carrots for Michaelmas
Faith and Little Ones:
- Finding Truth in Halloween: Look to Him and Be Radiant
- All Saints’ Halloween Party: A Knotted Life
And I love Kendra’s idea to easily transform Halloween costumes into All Saints’ costumes:
Awesome All Saints Costumes, And More Halloween/All Saints’ Costumes, Hallowtide, It’s How We Roll
And Coming Up….All Souls Day is November 2nd, so make sure you have everything you need to make these Soul Cakes!
Do you have any special traditions for holy days in October? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
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It’s not an official feast day yet but I think will be within 50 years now that it is the only church approved USA Marian apparition. October 9, Our Lady of Good Help – Wisconsin. We are having Belgium waffles with fire roasted apple topping. Adele Brise was from Belgium and one of the miracles of the Lady was the protection against the great Peshtigo fire.
Love that, Britta!
Putting books on hold at the library now!!! Thanks for the suggestions. You’ve made living liturgically a breeze.
I’m so glad it was helpful, Alicia! <3
I love this so much! We’re Eastern Orthodox so we don’t share ALL the same saints- but we share quite a few!! I love how your family makes feasting foods such a huge part of celebrating the saints and feast days. As a former working chef- we love a theme dinner for our favorite saints and feasts! As an Antiochian Orthodox family, specifically, I approve of your Mjdara for St. Ignatius- our most favorite Syrian dish!!!
I’m so glad, Caitlyn!
In an ongoing effort to avoid making “perfect” the enemy of “good,” I’ve decided not to stress about missing the actual feast days themselves, and to make the first 2 weeks of October a general appreciation of Sts. Theresa and Francis. My age-5-and-under crowd won’t know the difference anyway.
So now I’m trying to figure out how to make the gorgeous apple roses gluten-free for my little girl. What else can I use besides puff pastry dough as the “binder” that holds the rose together? Any ideas? I’d settle for a can of refrigerated pre-made GF dough, but I’ve never seen that at the stores.
We don’t do sugar… so here’s the substitute I found for us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0NJl58DXJI (Roses from a kiwi!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EiMToiiXYs (Roses from a strawberry!)
They take a little knife work, but don’t look too tricky. Hope this helps!
So cool!
Love that, Lisa! It certainly doesn’t have to be perfect. <3