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.

Remembering the Scruffy Hospitality of a St. Catherine of Siena Picnic & Play

As so may of us sit in social isolation, wondering when things might "get back to normal" and what the "new normal" might look like, sometimes, it is helpful to pause and just give thanks for the moment we are in - for the relative quiet that this time in history ca offer us.

It can also be enjoyable to walk down memory lane, recalling the altogether too often madcap mayhem that was everyday life not too long ago.

Tonight, I have been doing that, and ended up running into some notes that I wrote about how we celebrated St. Catherine of Siena's feast day last year.

What a riot!  What a real-life day!

I've never been one to attempt to spend much time making things picture perfect and blog beautiful as I share about our life and learning here - and, what follows, is anything but.  So, if you like posts replete with idealized life, just keep scrolling.

If you crave a sense of solidarity in "this is my real life", read on.  For I forewarn you: The memory of last year's St. Catherine of Siena feast day celebration is not blog beautiful nor picture perfect. Rather, it is real!  Very real.

A memory of how we roll here-  often with the real usurping the ideal, but blessings unfolding nonetheless.

***

Inspiration after Morning Mass Unfolds into Chaos and Clear Blessings with Some Scruffy Hospitality

What do you do when you are running on little sleep, navigating some of life's curve balls, and have a task list a mile long?

If you're me, you'll walk out of Mass on a sunny morning and follow a prompt from the Spirit to offer to host a last-minute St Catherine of Siena feast day gathering.

As you get word out to others to invite them to the gathering, you will think you have plenty of time to move through the necessary tasks of the day with an hour or more to spare in order to prep for the picnic potluck.

But, then, your day will go off course multiple times, and, after getting back on track to a degree, you will meander off course again. Indeed, you will lose track of time while out at a commitment, and return to your house 15 minutes before the potluck is set to begin.

As you pull up to your house, you will find someone already waiting for you.

Ooops!

With humility, you will then apologize for the mess you know is inside your house and ask your first guest to be patient while you run in and out to set up for the picnic.

Yes, a homemade salt-oil-sugar free dressing was made among the mess in that Magic Bullet there.

Then, as you begin quick preparation, you will randomly remember that you forgot to return a library book that is due ASAP and will thank your eldest son who volunteers to bike the book down to the library.

You will then smile with gratitude at your daughter who you will notice has jumped right in making homemade pasta for the gathering.

Love Her Helpfulness and Handiwork in the Kitchen

Meanwhile, as you bring things outside for the feast, you will discover that your chickens have gotten loose and run into the woods. Then, you will be enormously grateful for your youngest child who will bravely battle briers to attempt to catch and coral your runaway chickens.

Guest being ever so gracious and child and chickens in the woods, you will then field phone calls, check messages - including a missed ones from car dealers that you are praying will help land you a new vehicle because one of your family vehicles has died - and, concurrently, you will begin prepping food for potluck before pausing that task to help your youngest fetch the chickens...

So not picture perfect - mess from the morning was added to with potluck prep mess - just keeping things real!

Chickens corralled, you will discover that one chicken somehow got a string wrapped countless times around its leg, so you, your son, and your wonderfully understanding first guest will team up to hold the chicken, try to untie the string, and, finally, use scissors to extract the chicken's leg from the string.

At this point, your oldest son - who happens to have an OCD thing going on - will come home from his library run and begin to worry about chicken germs, but, thankfully, he'll get over his concerns quickly.

Your daughter will pull through with a stellar homemade pasta.

My sweet girl whipped some homemade pasta up quickly!

Then, other guests will arrive and graciously overlook the disaster of your house and help you see the beauty of blessings in it instead. 

As moms lay out the meal outside, kids were happy inside.  I just love seeing various ages so content together.

Said guests will be laden with yummy dishes to share, and, you'll find out that one guest actually prayed the day prior for a chance to get together, and, then, felt prompted that very morning morning to make a random and rare Facebook check, seeing the last minute invite you felt prompted to make after Mass.

Yum! Spaghetti squash brought by a friend.

Upon hearing this, you'll think, "Ah, God thing! Total God thing!"

Vegan Pasta Sauce for the Italian Saint

Delicious food will be spread out, everyone will gather on blankets, and you'll pray, chat, and read about St. Catherine of Siena.

A bit of beauty and some books to use during our saint celebration "circle" as we pray, read, and chat

Finally, the ideal becoming real...

A little Italian veggie flag...

But just for a moment.

A Quick Stigmata Salad

For, while you are leading the "saint day circle" of prayer and chatting, one small guest child will find a wagon your kids have left out, climb in it, go careening down your small side "cliff", causing all to turn with great worried intakes of breath.

Thankfully, however, the child's Guardian Angel will prevail and - praise God! - the child will be no worse for the wear  somehow having missed briers, rocks, and more!

Thus, eating, story, prayer, conversation, and play will continue.

In the end, you'll be delighted by your children's helpfulness and warmth - and comments from others about your children which remind you that the same children you chided earlier in the day for ill behaviors truly can be filled with wonderful joy, kindness, helpfulness, etc. Indeed, the experience will evidence that they are growing in virtue so much that they actually inspired one of your guests.  

The big smile makes reality right!

And, so what started as an after-morning-Mass-inspiration, developed into a real mess, and then progressed onto a lovely time with fresh air, faith, friendship, and plenty of good food will leave you satiated.

Safer wagon play...

You will know that you may have provided the scruffiest hospitality ever and that - although the day may have had plenty of imperfections and be ending before all your to dos are attended to - all is blessed.  For you listened to the Spirit prompt and it was good.

You will realize you did not take many photos, but that the night was replete with memories, so you'll write some out so as never to forget the extraordinary challenges an blessings of a rather ordinary day in your madcap life - the real within the ideal, and the Go(o)d part of everything.

Then, finally, you will go off to finish the sleep you never got night before thinking, What a day!  I have the fabulous friends, good kids, and so much to thank God for. St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us - and, thank for you every intercession you may have offered for me and for others today.

***

Whatever your Saint Catherine of Siena feast day observances bring this year, may you find beauty and blessings in them!

Enjoy a St. Valentine Potluck Picnic and Nature Walk with a FREE St. Valentine Nature Scavenger Hunt Printable!

It is said that St. Valentine was a priest and doctor who, at one point, had a young, blind girl under his care. It is also said that St Valentine would take the girl on long walks where they would pick flowers for her to smell.

Taking a cue from their walks, a nature walk with those you care about seems an ideal way to celebrate part of St. Valentine's Day.

That is just what my children, some friends, and I enjoyed last year on Valentine's Day: a St. Valentine Potluck Picnic and Walk and using a St. Valentine Nature Walk printable that I had whipped up and am sharing now here.

Enjoy a St. Valentine Potluck Picnic!

With a traditional theme of love, it is easy peasy to whip up a wide variety of snacks and dishes to share at a St. Valentine picnic as this sampling from our picnic demonstrates:

Juice Wiggler Hearts

Gluten Free Muffins with Gummy Ducks (since one of St. Valentine's symbols is birds)

Probiotic Gummy Ducks (since one of St. Valentine's symbols is birds)

Beet Puffs (Red for Love)

Tofu Hearts Filled with Heart-Healthy Vegetables

Clementine Hearts

Black Rice with Tofu Hearts

Seaweed Snack Hearts

Learn about St. Valentine with a Nature Scavenger Hunt!

You can also enjoy a St. Valentine Nature Scavenger Hunt using the FREE printable here.

On it, kids can sketch what they find, check things off as they take photos of them, or write notes about what they find.

Ideas for things that can be searched for and discussed are:

• something that offers comfort: In 3rd such Rome, Emperor Claudius II persecuted Christians. It is said that St. Valentine and St. Marius comforted fellow Christians during the persecutions.

Checking out roots.

• an interesting root: As a doctor in the 3rd century, St. Valentine likely made medicines by pounding and grinding roots and other natural things.

• an herb or edible plants: St. Valentine was a doctor and priest. He likely made poultices using herbs and plant matter.

Entwined Things.

More Entwined Things

• two entwined things: In the 3rd century, Emperor Claudius II wanted to increase his troops. He believed single men made better soldiers than married ones, so we forbade young men to marry. St. Valentine defied Claudius edict and encouraged young couples to come to him in secret to be joined in the sacrament of marriage.

Snow can be converted into water, the kids said.

• something that can be converted: After St. Valentine was arrested for illegally marrying couples, he is said to have been brought before Claudius, who was impressed by him. Claudius attempted to convert St. Valentine to Roman Paganism, but, instead, St. Valentine attempted to convert Claudius to Christianity.

This cool pattern frozen into the ice made the kids think that you could "write" messages on ice.

• something you could write a message on: When imprisoned, St. Valentine was said to be tended by a jailer, Asterius, and his blind daughter, who was very kind to St. Valentine, bringing him food and messages. St. Valentine and the girl developed a friendship and, toward the end of his imprisonment, Valentine was able to convert both her and her father to Christianity.

A tree growing around a wheel sure seemed interesting!

• something beautiful or interesting to look at: It is said that Asterius’ daughter was blind and St. Valentine miraculously restored her sight.

It's a heart!

• something with a heart-shaped: It is said that before his execution St. Valentine wrote a farewell message to Asterius’ daughter to thank her for her friendship and encourage her in her love for Christ and that he signed the message affectionately "From Your Valentine.” This phrase lives on even today. 

 
On the nature hunt printable, there is also a "free space" for St. Valentine, whose patronage includes affianced couples, against fainting, bee keepers, betrothed couples, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greeting card manufacturers, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.

Symbols for him include birds, roses, a bishop with a crippled or epileptic child at his feet, a bishop with a rooster nearby, a bishop refusing to adore an idol, a bishop being beheaded, a priest bearing a sword, a priest holding a sun, and a priest giving sight to a blind girl.

St. Valentine was executed on February 14th, 273 AD in Rome and the valentine has become the universal symbol of friendship and affection shared on each anniversary of the priest's execution -- St. Valentine's Day.

Take Time to Explore!

Of course, part of the fun and blessing of a Potluck Picnic and Nature Walk on St. Valentine's Day is simply being with those you love and care about and letting explorations take you where they will.  

Here are some snapshots of the fun we had exploring.

It truly was a blessed and beautiful St. Valentine celebration!

I pray with our FREE printable and inspiration from the snapshots and explanations here, you might enjoy a similarly blessed and beautiful time.

You can find other nature study, outdoor ideas, and free printables here, too.

If you go on a St. Valentine's Day Nature Scavenger Hunt we'd delight in hearing about it or seeing your snapshots. We also always welcome your ideas for living the liturgical year with children - especially outside, so, please, share here or on our Training Happy Hearts Facebook page.



St. Valentine, pray for us!