Living Liturgically
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Living Liturgically
Each month we will provide activities for your family to live liturgically and celebrate our Faith! Each of these activities will bring the Christian Year into your home life.
What does living liturgically look like? It means being aware of the rhythms of the liturgical year by allowing them to saturate your daily life. It includes many types of activities that allow us to spend Holy time with our families throughout the year. It can look like any and all of the following activities:
- Celebrating the holy men and women that the Church has canonized by honoring the saints, perhaps with a special meal or sharing stories about them with your family and friends.
- Slowing down your schedule during the preparatory season of Advent while the world is hustling and bustling around you so that your heart’s ready to embrace the reality of the Incarnation on Christmas Day.
- Praying the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent—walking with Jesus through His Passion.
- Living liturgically might alter your grocery list or your reading list.
The liturgical year isn’t meant to stress you out, add more to your full plate, or overwhelm you. It’s not a burden. Don’t stress if you can’t get to something!
It’s also important to remember that observing the liturgical year in your daily life will be specific to your home and family. Liturgical living is not a to do list, it’s a turning toward holy time, a daily conversion about our Faith.
The nuts-n-bolts of monthly liturgical living recommendations
- Each month we will provide a family movie recommendation, book recommendation for bedtime reading, a list of the Holy days of obligation, and general information about the time of the year we are in.
- Each month we will also provide a weekly feast day with ideas on how you can celebrate at home through prayer, craft, science experiment and food recipes!
- Find activities on our COTR LIFT Google calendar and subscribe
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October Liturgical Living
Church calendar time: Ordinary Time
Liturgical color: Green
Holy Days of Obligation: Sundays Only in the month of October
Family movie night Recommendation: Joseph King of Dreams
Book recommendation: Stories of the Saints
Family prayer time: Every night at bedtime, together say: one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. Then take turns sharing three things you're thankful for from the day and say thank you to Jesus.
October 4th - St. Francis of Assisi Feast Day!ABOUT ST. FRANCIS!
- Celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi's Feast day on October 4 and read more about him here!
- Watch video about little Francis here and how he turned to Jesus!
PRAY!
- Teach your pet to pray and include them in your daily prayers for the week! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN5Ype29zuM
FEAST!
- Try this recipe for Hearty Lentil Stew, or select one of your favorite soups, to have a meal that honors the poverty of Saint Francis who gave up all he had to serve God's people.
CELEBRATION ACTIVITY!
- Watch this video first. Then draw sketches of the symbols of St. Francis (birds and animals, bag of gold and rich raiment at his feet, winged crucifix with five rays, stigmata, crown of thorns, lighted lamp, fiery chariot, birds, deer, fish, skull, wolf and fire), use clip art to make them, or, better still, have children draw their own representations of them. Then, hide these around the house. Have children try to find them.
October 7th - Our Lady of the Rosary Feast Day!
ABOUT OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY!
- Celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7 and read more about it here!
- Watch this video about how the Rosary came to be and why we should pray it.
PRAY & FEAST TOGETHER!
- Learn to say the Rosary with this guide!
- Make a cupcake Rosary to pray with!
CELEBRATION ACTIVITY!
- Craft your own single decade kid's Rosary out of pipe cleaner and beads. Full instructions here!
October 15th - St. Teresa of Avila Feast Day!
ABOUT St. Teresa of Avila!
- Celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Avila on October 15 and read more about her here!
PRAY!
- In the spirit of St. Teresa, can one decade of the rosary for someone you know who is sick. You can even make your edible Rosary to pray with!
FEAST!
- In honor of St. Teresa's feast day people from all over the world flock to Avila Spain to celebrate and chocolate covered churros is a main part of the food festivities! Try making your own with this recipe or you can purchase pre-made from Costo or Kroger!
CELEBRATION ACTIVITY!
- Watch this video about St. Teresa and how to draw her! (For those of you who prefer to a pre-drawn coloring page, we've attached one to the calendar invite.)
October 17th - St. Ignatius of Loyola Feast Day!ABOUT St. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA!
- Celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius on October 17 and read more about him here!
PRAY!
- St. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuit order, in 1534. Today there are Jesuits all over the world!
- St. Ignatius created spiritual exercises to deepen and strengthen our relationship with Christ and to move our prayer thoughts into service actions!
- Use https://jesuitprayer.org/ this week to give you a daily scripture reading with an Ignition prayer and reflection.
FEAST!
- The dish we now know today as "nachos", which come in many variations and flavors, was originally served by a chef in Piedras Negras, Mexico as a simple combination of fried corn tortillas, melted cheese and jalapenos. It was named after that chef who was baptized Ignatio Anaya (named for St. Ignatius no doubt) but known to his friends and family simply as Nacho.
- Eat Nachos! Make them at home the way you like or go out to eat at your favorite place with Nachos!
CELEBRATION ACTIVITY!
- St. Ignatius had transformed from being a soldier who fought in battles to being a strong follower of Christ. In doing so, I mentioned how both soldiers and followers of Christ can become stronger through disciplined training and how St. Ignatius developed Spiritual Exercises which are still used today in order to strengthen himself as a follower of Christ.
- Parents, learn more about Ignatian Spirituality for kids here!
- Today, start with the first spiritual exercise. This begins with finding God in all things. Go into your backyard, or a park, and have everyone find one item that God made. (Many sticks, leaves and rocks will be brought back). Now you can talk about how God made everything and this gives children the opportunity to acknowledge/recognize bits and pieces of God’s creation.
- Thank God for His wonderful creations and emphasized how EVERYTHING really does go back to God!
October 28th - St. Simon and St. Jude Feast Day!
ABOUT Sts. Simon & Jude!
- Celebrate the feast of Sts. Simon & Jude on October 28 and read more about it here!
- Watch this video about St. Jude and what drew him to God!
PRAY
- Over the years great devotion has grown up around Saint Jude as the Saint of the impossible. Prayers to Saint Jude restore or revitalize the parts of our life that are difficult. We are encouraged to pray for his intercession for our biggest, most stressful concerns!
- Select a special spot on one of your walls at home at will be your prayer board. It could be near your prayer table! Get out your post-it notes! Every day have family members write down their special prayer intentions, every concerns, and people you want to pray for. Ask St. Jude to take all your prayer intentions before our Lord.
- Watch this video from the awesome, Father Mike Schmitz, to help explain why, as Catholics, we pray through the Saints and how they help us.
FEAST!
- St. Jude is also the patron saint of Armenia and the Philippines. Celebrate his time for Christ in these countries by having Armenian Ghapama or Pilipino Chicken Adobo, both recipes can be found here.