Oh When the Saints!

You would think since I work for a church I would be an expert at bringing our faith into our home. Well I'm sorry to say I fail miserably. Don't get me wrong, my family does benefit from my job as youth minister. Both Jacob and Alexa are around for many meetings, youth nights and classes. They participate in many of the activities around the church, we have a small prayer table at home, statues of Mary in all our rooms, rosaries can be found everywhere. My bible is always out and Jacob joined us on a World Youth Day pilgrimage when he was 8. I just want to share with them even more.
I have a love for the Saints. They are such extraordinary people whom I admire and strive to be like everyday. When I teach confirmation, I love the nights I get to share about various Saints. Unfortunately unless Jacob is around during the class he never experiences any of it. With Alexa I now have a chance to start over again and for Jacob a chance to catch him up.
I happened upon a blog post the other day from a mom sharing how she organized her saint activities each month according to their feast days. She had a very nice setup in her closet with a box for each month. (Sorry I can't for the life of me remember who's blog it was.) This got me thinking, I love to decorate for holidays and around seasonal themes, why not add the Saints as part of my decor. Plus as Alexa gets older she will be enjoying more art materials why not incorporate activities that introduce her to the various Saints. Now Jacob of course is to old to make a hand print Saint Frances but he's not to old to help his little sister make one.
This year we will start small, with one or two Saints a month in addition to various activities for Marian Feasts, Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. I of course have to plan out the whole year or else this will never come off the ground so here is our list for 2012:
Jan - 28th St Thomas Aquinas (next year we will add The Blessed Virgin Mary on Jan 1)

Feb - 11th Our Lady of Lourdes; 14th St. Valentine; 22nd Ash Wednesday

March - 17th St. Patrick; 19th St. Joseph

April - Holy Week; Easter; 25th St. Mark

May - 22nd St. Rita of Cascia; 27th Pentecost

June - 3rd Holy Trinity; 16th Immaculate Heart of Mary; 29th Saints Peter and Paul

July - 6th St Maria Goretti; Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

August - 8th St Dominic, 14th St Maximilian Kolbe; 27th St Monica

Sept - 9th St. Peter Claver; 21st St. Matthew; 29th Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

Oct - 1st St. Therese; 4th St. Frances; 19th St. Isaac Jogues

Nov - 1st All Saints Day; 2nd All Souls

Dec - 12th Our Lady of Guadalupe; 13th St. Lucy; 25th Christmas; 30th Holy Family

This is going to be a great year and I'm so happy to have you join us in this adventure. I plan to share each of our celebrations with you right here each month. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing.

Until next time,
Karri