October 30 & November 2
ALL SAINTS CELEBRATIONS
The FUN never stops. During Faith Formation classes, we will have a parade of Saints! This week, children will receive an All About Saint assignment which could be a great family activity. Students should try to find a "cool" saint, dress up, and come ready to join our parade of Saints. And parents are encouraged to join us for the last 20 minutes of class to see the beauty and variety of our saints.
Saints of God, pray, rejoice and sing with us!
“Jesus likes to intervene in the smallest details of our life…There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year’s Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year…”
PARENTS! WHO IS YOUR SAINT THIS YEAR?
Have YOU chosen your saint for the year? Why would you do this? This excerpt is from spritualdirection.com
Many religious orders have had a tradition of picking a saint to be their patron saint for the year. In fact, St. Faustina Kowalska writes about it in her diary as quoted above.
Saints names are placed in a container. Then, all pray for the intercession of the Holy Spirit in the saint selection. And, finally everyone draws a name. That saint becomes their special patron for that year. You, too, can participate in this tradition. You can put saints’ names in a container, pray for the Holy Spirit’s intercession, and then pick the name of a saint to be your special patron.
Of course, you must not throw the saint back into the container because you do not like them or because you know nothing about them! That would be cheating! Your job is to ask for their intercession and get to know them throughout the year. Granted, sometimes there isn’t much published on them – but that’s OK – a saint is a saint! An intercessor is an intercessor! (end)
I personally like this Saint Generator found on Jen Fulwiler's page. If you haven't heard of her, she is a lovely Catholic comedian and author. Pray a little prayer then hit the button: My saint for the upcoming year is St. Barnabas. I'm really enjoying getting to know him already and learning from his journey how I can become closer to God.
So how can I help my child find a saint?
This is a great booklet that asks some thought-provoking questions about saints. You and your child could really share a fun moment working on this. And the costume could be as simple as a printed picture to carry or as elaborate as props and garb. Have fun with this.
Books about Saints:
My kids used to like to read through this book from Loyola Press: Book of Saints.
My First Book of Saints from The Catholic Company will surely capture their attention.
Both books can also be found on Amazon and other major retailers.
Videos of Saints:
Click on this link for Formed Kids saints But there are many other videos for kids about different saints, so be sure to explore the site.
Christian Kids TV on YouTube also has some videos on saints. This link goes to Saint Anthony of Padua (of lost things) but if you click on their channel there are many other saints.
You have your saint, what now?
I encourage you to celebrate each family member's saint feast day. It could be a sweet treat, a craft, a walk in the park or any way your family likes to be together.
Maybe on the way home from Mass, call each of your saints' names and everyone can respond, "Pray for Us."
For older children, maybe during dinner, they can recall a time in the day or week that they did something similar to the saint they chose. For example, if your saint was very generous, maybe your child shared a meal with a friend or shared a toy. We are all saints (2 Cor 1:1) and we live in the Communion of Saints, so we are all one big Catholic family. It's nice to be with family.
ONGOING!
DONT FORGET OUR TRUNK OR TREAT!
There's still time to sign up to volunteer or bring a decorated car to hand out treats!
BE THE LIGHT!
Filled boxes need to be returned to St. Mike by October 31st.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
11/1 All Saints Day - Holy Day of Obligation
12/3 Saint Nicholas Breakfast/Advent Retreat
12/8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception - Holy Day of Obligation
12/11 and 12/14 Faith Formation Family Prayer Service