Easy Eats for St. Angela of Merici's Feast Day

Want an easy meal addition for January 27?

Buy grapes.

Yes, grapes!

According to ST. ANGELA MERICI (1474 - 1540) FEAST DAY - JANUARY 27TH, grapes symbolize:

1. the Eucharistic blood of Christ.
2. St. Angela de Merici's family vineyard.
3. the cluster of women St. Angela of Merici drew together as the first teaching congregation of women in the Church, the Company of Saint Ursula.

Thus, grapes can become a simple addition to your feast day table that offer an opportunity to discuss St. Angela de Merici's love for Christ, her family history, and the fact that she founded the first "secular institute of religious women" who lived at home, had no special habit, and took no formal vows, but still practiced virginity, poverty, and obedience..

For a bit more feast day table fun and culinary history exploration, since St. Angela of Merici was born in Northern Italy in the 1400's and died in the 1500's, you might add some 15th and 16th century Italian dishes to your table as well.

Our family did this last year, choosing to try Fungi di Monte (Mountain Mushrooms), which was only a hit with my husband and me...

...and Menestra d'herbette (Herb Soup / Pottage of Greens), which only three out of five of us here liked.

Thus, it looks like I will be browsing the collection of authentic recipes at Medieval Cuisine once more this year to find new inspiration! 

I will also, once again, be browsing my own past collection of ideas at Answering a Request for St. Angela of Merici Activities.

Find more ideas!

That post includes more ideas and links than I used last year with my children, so it will be worth me revisiting and could be helpful for you, too.

Among the ideas from the post that I put into practice last year were:

• praying a short prayer found at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church with my family: 

Saint Angela,
you were not afraid of change.
You did not let stereotypes keep you from serving.
Help us to overcome our fear of change in order to follow God's call and allow others to follow theirs.
Amen.

• watching a brief video from Catholic Online that offers a quick overview of St. Angela Merici's life:

• enjoying a virtual sightseeing tour while learning about St. Angela Merici:

This, of course, led my crew into discussing and looking up incorrupt saints after dinner, which may or may not be something you wish to unfold depending on your family's sensitivities.

Any which way - no matter what else you choose to do to celebrate - grapes make an easy and meaningful addition to your table when introducing or learning more about St. Angela of Merici.  Might I suggest, then, that you put some on your shopping list this week?

St. Angela of Merici, pray for us.

Simple Meals with the Saints: Our Lady of Banneux

Have you done your meal planning for the upcoming week yet?  If not, might I suggest putting Belgium waffles on the menu?

January 15 is the feast day of Our Lady of Banneux, an apparition of Mary that appeared to young girl named Mariette Beco in Banneux, Belgium between January 15 and March 2, 1933, saying "I come to relieve suffering," and "Believe in me and I will believe in you."

Thus, it seems an ideal day to put a white lace or blue tablecloth on the table (since Our Lady's traditional colors are blue and white and Belgium is famous for lace) and, then, to enjoy some Belgian hot chocolate and Liege waffles while reading, praying, and chatting about Our Lady of Banneux. 

(Or, if you are trying to reduce salt, oil, and sugar like I am, you could make 2-Ingredient Waffles an Oatmeal waffles.)

Along with these, be sure to have some water.

Why?

It will can remind you that on January 18, 1933, when the Virgin appeared to Mariette a second time, she led her from her house to a spring which she said would bring healing to all nations. 

After grace and before eating, you might also want to pray the following prayers, which appears along with others on the the Banneux Notre Dame site:

Prayer of the International Union of Prayer

Mary Virgin of the Poor,

You lead us to Jesus, source of grace, and you come to alleviate our suffering.

We implore you with confidence:
Help us follow your Son with generosity, and to belong to Him unreservedly.

Help us to welcome the Holy Spirit Who guides and sanctify us.

Obtain us the grace to look like Jesus everyday more, so that our life will glorify the Father and contribute to the salvation of our Brothers.

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Source: Amazon

You could also read a copy of the Our Lady of Banneux Coloring Book if you have one, and, if not, you could read about Our Lady of the Poor and the apparitions online.

For more ideas about celebrating and learning with Our Lady of Banneux in mind, see 15 Ways to Celebrate Our Lady of Banneux's Day.

Get More Ideas!

Our Lady of Banneux, pray for us!

Enjoy a St. Teresa of Calcutta Potluck-n-Play with Kids

Are you wondering how you might observe Saint Teresa of Calcutta's feast day on September 5th?

How about through a Potluck-n-Play time with with your children and some friends?

We enjoyed one last year with friends and found it so easy, fun, and meaningful for St. Teresa of Calcutta's feast day.

What is a Potluck-n-Play?

In a nutshell, a Potluck-n-Play is a simple way to enjoy a feast day with friends. You simple pick a day, time, and location for celebrating...

... ask everyone to bring a feast-related dish to share, leaving the details of the meal up to whatever the Holy Spirit inspires each family to bring...

... decorate a feast table with some candles and images...

...share some stories, prayers, or teaching about the day's saint... 

...perhaps play a planned game, do a service craft, or introduce some planned activities....

... then, dig in and enjoy the food before further fun, free play, and fellowship.

Easy, peasy, and oh-so-blessed!

A Pleasing (and Simple!) Potluck-n-Play for St. Teresa of Calcutta's Feast Day

For our first St. Teresa of Calcutta Potluck-n-Play, everyone was asked to bring themselves and Indian-inspired dish, drink, or snack to share on our feast table.

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Upon arrival, children played, while some moms did last minute food prep or offered materials and decorations for our feast table, which I began to set up.

Then, we all gathered together and chatted about St. Teresa using a poem in Saintly Rhymes for Modern Times to get us started.

We talked bit about the three stripes on Mother Teresa's sari (and our candles), how the Missionaries of Charity live their calling, and how we can model some of our choices after theirs.

We also prayed Mother Teresa’s Nazareth Prayer for the Family as found on Catholic prayers Online.

Heavenly Father,

you have given us the model of life

in the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Help us, O Loving Father,

to make our family another Nazareth

where love, peace and joy reign.

May it be deeply contemplative,

intensely Eucharistic,

revived with joy.

Help us to stay together in joy

and sorrow in family prayer.

Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families,

especially in their distressing disguise.

May the Eucharistic heart of Jesus

make our hearts humble like his

and help us to carry out our family duties

in a holy way.

May we love one another

as God loves each one of us,

more and more each day,

and forgive each other’s faults

as you forgive our sins.

Help us, O Loving Father,

to take whatever you give

and give whatever you take with a big smile.

Immaculate Heart of Mary,

cause of our joy, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Holy Guardian Angels,

be always with us,

guide and protect us.

Amen.

We discussed briefly how we have our immediate family, but also "families" that extend beyond - our family of friends and neighbors - which we are called to love.

Using parts of Living Faith Kids: Meet Mother Teresa we chatted a bit more about how St. Teresa went from living with her immediate family, to her family of religious sisters in another country, to her mission in India.  We also traced where St. Teresa of Calcutta was born, studied, and began her "call within a call" on a globe.

Then, I challenged the children to think of ways they could be pencils in God's hands...

...writing love letters to family and friends...

... coloring inspiring sayings to give to others...

...creating get well cards...

... and decorating and filling a "blessing box" for friends.

As I read a biography about St. Teresa of Calcutta from the Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, the children worked on this project.

In fact, it was a joy to see how all of of the children were happy to help prepare this simple gift for a family we know whose little brother was in the hospital with a heart defect.

They each took a part in decorating the box, filling it with messages and cards, or packing the easy eats, grab-n-go treats, coloring books, soothing teas, gift cards, and more that friends donated for it.

After that, there was more play time as we finally laid out our potluck lunch feast and gathered to pray grace.

Of course, the children were eager to taste test different dishes - including the delicious "tasters" from Amy's Indian frozen meals line.

And, there was just so much yumminess!  

Seriously! How can you go wrong with Indian-inspired eats!

Thus, we all dug in, then, enjoyed more free time and fellowship together, all the while remembering St. Teresa of Calcutta's reminder to "do small things with great love."

It was a truly lovely feast day celebration filled with faith, food, friends, and filling the blessing box. I pray that yours is as delight-filled.

More Ideas


For additional ideas for celebrating St. Teresa of Calcutta with children at home as a family or elsewhere, click on over:

More here.

More here.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.

Plan a Queenship of Mary Feast Day Party

If you enjoy living the liturgical year like we do, you might want to remember that August 22 is the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary - a wonderful day for celebrating faith through food, fellowship, and fun!

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Right now, I am putting together plans to do just that with our local Catholic homeschool network, so I thought I would share some of what we have planned in case you'd like to plan your own relatively last-minute Queenship of Mary feast day party.

No Fuss Food Ideas

Marian feast days are so easy to plan! 

Any blue, red, and white foods can be symbolic of Mary, since blue is a traditional color of royalty and also symbolic of heaven and the sky; red symbolizes Mary's love passion, devotion, and sacrifice; and white symbolizes Mama Mary's purity. So, since, it is summer time, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and/or raspberries with whipped cream, yogurt, nice cream, or ice cream, are a wonderful idea! Cherry tomatoes - also in season - can be an easy addition to your feast table, too.

(You can read more about Marian colors at the University of Dayton Mary Pages, Artsy, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.)

Then, you've got the queen theme - which opens up so many more easy eats ideas:

Just about any food can be made into a crown as was proven when our family had an impromptu Mary Queen of Heaven liturgical tea years ago.

Catholic Cuisine is filled with such ideas - from cheese and watermelon, cookie crowns, peach parfaits, sandwiches, crown jewel berries, and cakes.

They also share an idea for "little queen" pasta.

Golden juices and ice teas can also work well.

Since I like to encourage plant-based eating, I plan to bring watermelon crowns, blueberry and strawberry crown jewels, and ice cream to our gathering and to be happily surprised with what others bring to the liturgical table, which will, of course, be covered in a blue or white table cloth, with a Marian blue candle, a statue of Mary, and whatever else people choose to add.

Then, as we usually do before eating, I will ask the children present if they can guess why we have any of the foods we do out on the table and add to any of the ideas and insights they come up with.

When doing so, I also plan to to place a bunch of red "crown jewel" grapes out and to show this short video clip reminding the children that as members of Christ's body we, along with Mary, share in Christ's dignity, before suggesting that the grapes - as a connected bunch - remind us how we are connected to Christ.

I also plan, of course, to pray grace with the children, and to encourage us to pray a The Coronation with the Complete Illustrated Rosary (previously reviewed here) and the Prayer in Honor of the Queenship of Mary.

Leave Fellowship to the Holy Spirit

If there is one thing I have come to realize when planning feast day meet ups for Catholic homeschool friends, it is to trust that the Holy Spirit will ensure that just the right group of people shows up.  So, I simply plan to facilitate the party and ask a friend to host (which ensures at least two families in attendance), and then, put up a Facebook invitation, leaving the rest to the Holy Spirit, who always seems to prompt just the right mix of people to show up at any given feast day.

Enjoy Some Themed Fun

For the little in our group I will print out a free coloring page of the Cornonation and lead them in a fun little Marian Queenship song and game to the tune of Ring Around the Rosary from a cute little book called Joyful Noises.

The older children will get to enjoy having a water balloon fight with the Marian color Bunch O Balloons I have been saving since the Queenship of Mary is also my daughter's baptism anniversary and since it is summer, so water balloon fights are fun.

We may also a version of Queenie, Queenie, Whose Got the Ball, but with an adapted rhyme:

Queenie, Queenie, who has the ball?
Someone big or someone small?
We know Jesus loves us all.

We will also probably play chain tag, remembering we all seek to a share in the glory of Heaven one day as Mary does.  (See how to play below.)

Additional Resources to Read Yourself or to Share

There are some wonderful resources online that dive into the reasoning and meaning of the Queenship of Meaning, including:

• Queenship of Mary
• The MOST Theological Collection: Mary in Our Life
• Our Beautiful Queen: Lessons on the Queenship of Mary
• The Memorial of the Queenship of Mary

Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us.

Saint Rocco with Kids {Snacking with the Saints}

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If you'd like a super simple snack to celebrate a saint day with, just buy some spring water, a loaf of bread, and set these out on your table or picnic blanket on August 16 with an image or figurine of a dog and a picture of St. Rocco nearby.

That's what we'll be doing on St. Rocco's feast day.

We may enjoy some more fun and learning, too.

Why?

Recently, when I was paging through our copy of Amazing Saints & their Awesome Animals, I noticed that one of the saints that the book it features - St. Rocco - has a feast day coming up. Then, not knowing much about the saint, I got curious and started researching...

Inspiration for a Simple St. Rocco's Feast Day Snack

Source: Wikimedia

As I began my research, I recalled a simple snack for St. Benedict's day that I'd seen on Catholic Cuisine, and thought, "Switch the bird for a dog and that's an easy peasy snack idea for St. Rocco's day that my children will love." (We don't eat a lot of bread here anymore, so bread is actually a treat for my children.)

Then, even though water may not seem very celebratory, I decided spring water would go perfectly, since, it is said spring water kept thirst at bay when St. Rocco was convalescing in the woods after contracting sickness while healing others with the plague.

My "Snacking with the Saints" was set.

A Prayer Before Snacking

Source:Wikimedia

Then, as I began researching more about St. Rocco. I found myself on the St. Rocco Society of Potenza page, where I found A Prayer to Saint Rocco which will be perfect between grace and enjoying our bread:

O Great St. Rocco, deliver us, we beseech you, from contagious diseases, and the contagion of sin. Obtain, for us, a purity of heart which will assist us to make good use of health, and to bear sufferings with patience. Teach us to follow your example in the practice of penance and charity, so that we may, one day enjoy the happiness of being with Christ, Our Savior, in Heaven. Amen.

We will also read the biography and reflection at Franciscan Media:

It is obvious that being well known or even recognizable are not necessary for sainthood. But service to the community through care for those in need–through miracles at his intercession–seem to suffice.

There is also a longer prayer shared at St. Rocco's Feast.

Additional Ideas for Celebrating St. Rocco's Feast Day

Source: Wikimedia

Other ideas popped into my head as I researched the saint, too. Perhaps one will inspire a feast day celebration for you and your children.

• Read about St. Rocco and his Dog in Amazing Saints & their Awesome Animals (which I reviewed here) or within the short Saint Rocco biography posted under Saints that Loved Animals.

• Color an image of Saint Rocco and the Dog from the Amazing Saints & their Awesome Animals Coloring Book, draw your own image, or color any free printable image of a dog while reading a longer biography about St Rocco.

• Remember that St. Rocco went out to care for the sick and visit or send a note to a sick friend. Alternately, go to a nursing home or hospital and offer to pray or visit with people.

• Focus on the Sign of the Cross - and how St. Rocco cured people using it - by doing some free copywork or coloring of the prayer as found on Crusaders for Christ.

• It is said that St. Rocco fasted twice a week as a pious practice when he was a child. Discuss the virtue of temperance and how we might choose to practice it.

• Some say St. Rocco was born to wealthy parents who died by the time he was 20 years old, at which time St. Rocco distributed the fortune he inherited to the poor and devoted his life to serving people in need. Following his example, offer some of your own"riches" to others in need.

• It is said that St. Rocco was born with an unusual, deep red mark on his chest in the shape of a cross as a sign that the Blessed Virgin Mary had heard and answered his mother's prayers for her barrenness to be healed. It is also said that it was the unique mark that helped identify St. Rocco at his death. Remembering this, pray for Mama Mary's intercession with a difficult issue and chat about physical and spiritual "marks" in our own lives that identify us. 

• Go on a virtual tour to Venice, looking at some pictures and reading about St. Rocco, festivities for his feast day on DreamDiscoverItalia. 

• Make dog treats as found on Saints, Feast, Family (and look at the beautiful prayers and images in the related post.

• Go to a natural spring to draw water, go on a tour of a spring water place, or simply enjoy some fresh spring water, remembering how, when St. Rocco"was expelled from the town; and withdrew into the forest, where he made himself a hut of boughs and leaves, which was miraculously supplied with water by a spring that arose in the place; he would have perished had not a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothard Palastrelli supplied him with bread and licked his wounds, healing them. Count Gothard, following his hunting dog that carried the bread, discovered Saint Roch and became his acolyte."

• Some say that St. Rocco took refuge in a cave when he was banished. Enjoy a hike somewhere where there are cave-like structures.

• Some say he slept on leaves. Practice survival skills making leaf beds and other wilderness beds.

• Some say he took refuge in a remote hut, while others say he built a hut out of sticks and leaves. Design and build your own forest hut.

• Remembering the dog that cared for St. Rocco, donate something to a dog shelter or give your own dog a special treat.

May learning more about St. Rocco bless you and yours and encourage you to come closer to Christ.

I would love to hear about your favorite traditions, resources, and ideas related to St. Rocco as well as any other Snacking with the Saint inspirations you might offer.

Saint Rocco, pray for us.