Anyway, here are some ideas for St. Therese's Feast Day, as re-posted from other wonderful Catholic moms' blogs and Catholic websites! (It's never too late to celebrate and teach our kids about St. Therese, who is one of my personal favorites, as we sought her intercession when I was pregnant with our 2 kids on mission! That's why we named our first daughter, Alyssa Therese :-) hehe.)
P.S. Please also keep reading to the end for ideas on celebrating the Feast of the Guardian Angels (Oct 2)! :-)
1. Celebrating St. Therese (of Lisieux)'s Feast Day (Oct 1):
Ideas from Shower of Roses:
Since the printable activities for St. Thérèse that I had linked to in the past are no longer available, I spent a little time last night creating some of our own. I uploaded them to share, if any of you are looking for any additional activities to celebrate this dear saint's feast day(s) with your children!
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux Word Search
- A St. Thérèse Crossword
- The Story of St. Thérèse (Fill in the Blanks)
- Quote from St. Thérèse on her deathbed (Pick the correct letter)
Ideas from Women for Faith and Family
Ideas from Holy Family Classical Academy
Today is the feast day for St. Therese of Lisieux, or St. Therese of the Little Flower, or St. Therese of the Little Way. Whichever name you decide to call her, she is still one of our favorite saints! If you decide to spend a little time with her and your children, here are a list of places where you can find some great activities to do together!
Sacrifice Beads
St. Therese Coloring Pages
A Collection of Activities related to St. Therese (wonderful site!)
Ideas from Catholic Culture
Things to Do:
- Find photographs of St. Thérèse and her family.
Her sister Céline and cousin Marier Guérin had become interested in the art of photography, and when Céline entered the Carmelites with her sisters, she was given permission to bring her equipment and use it in the convent. A wonderful out-of-print book with all the photographs of this saint is called The Photo Album of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. - Read St. Thérèse's autobiography Story of a Soul and other writings of or about St. Thérèse. Find biographies suitable for your children.
- Read more about her confidence in God, an excellent book is I Believe in Love.
- St. Thérèse belonged to the Discalced order of Carmelites, which means unshod or barefoot. Find out more about the order of Carmelites.
- From the Catholic Culture Library:
- John Paul II from 1997 Divini Amoris Scientia (Apostolic Letter Proclaiming St. Therese of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church)
- John Paul II from 1997 Homily at Mass proclaiming Therese to be Doctor of the Church
- Apostolic Exhortation of Paul VI from 1975 On Christian Joy (Gaudete in Domino). He speaks of St. Therese:
In more recent times, St. Therese of Lisieux shows us the courageous way of abandonment into the hands of God to whom she entrusts her littleness. And yet it is not that she has no experience of the feeling of God's absence, a feeling which our century is harshly experiencing: "Sometimes it seems that the little bird (to which she compared herself) cannot believe that anything else exists except the clouds that envelop it.... This is the moment of perfect joy for the poor, weak little thing.... What happiness for it to remain there nevertheless, and to gaze at the invisible light that hides from its faith."
- Short Autobiography of St. Therese
- Thérèse of Liseiux — No Plaster Saint
- Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
- Learn about the Society of the Little Flower.
- There is the historic National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan, aBasilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in San Antonio, Texas.
- Bake a cake or brownies and frost. Decorate with roses, either real, artificial, marzipan, icing, candy or other. Let your imagination go! See top bar for marzipan suggestions.
- Learn about St. Therese's sacrifice beads, buy or learn to make them.
- Do some rose crafts or recipes today. St. Therese's dying words were: "I will let fall a shower of roses after my death." This site has some wonderful old-fashioned rose recipes.
October 1st is the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, "the Little Flower." There are so many wonderful ideas for celebrating her feast day. Here are a few, some of which we are planning to do:
Prayer I have this wonderful cd, Praying the Rosary with St. Therese, that I use to pray the rosary when I am in the car, that I will bring inside for us to pray the rosary with. It takes a little longer than usual because between each prayer is a beautiful, inspirational quote by St. Therese. We will be finishing our Rose Novena to St. Therese the day before, so we will say this prayer today.
Prayer to St. Therese O little St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, who during your short life on earth became a mirror of angelic purity, of love strong as death, and of wholehearted abandonment to God, now that you rejoice in the reward of your virtues, cast a glance of pity on me as I leave all things in your hands. Make my troubles your own - speak a word for me to our Lady Immaculate, whose flower of special love you were - to that Queen of heaven "who smiled on you at the dawn of life." Beg her as the Queen of the heart of Jesus to obtain for me by her powerful intercession, the grace I yearn for so ardently at this moment, and that she join with it a blessing that may strengthen me during life. Defend me at the hour of death, and lead me straight on to a happy eternity. Amen.
Books
Saint Therese of Lisieux: And the "Little Way" of Love St. Therese and the Roses I will start reading St. Therese's autobiography, The Story of a Soul, which has been on my book list to read for so long.Food French toast of strawberry crepes (if I am feeling ambitious) for breakfast Make easy chocolate éclairs, which were St. Therese’s favorite For other food ideas for the Feast of St. Therese, visit Catholic Cuisine
Activities & Crafts Color either of Charlotte's St. Therese Coloring pages, child and habit Make Sacrifice Beads, a devotion of St. Therese. Point out France on a world map, as St. Therese is a patroness of France. Maybe in future years we'll try this adorable craft of making chocolate roses for St. Therese Watch the children's DVD My Catholic Family - St. Therese of Lisieux Watch the DVD Miracle of St. Therese
"In times of aridity when I am incapable of praying, of practicing virtue, I seek little opportunities, mere trifles, to give pleasure to Jesus; for instance a smile, a pleasant word when inclined to be silent and to show weariness. If I find no opportunities, I at least tell Him again and again that I love Him; that is not difficult and it keeps alive the fire in my heart. Even though this fire of love might seem extinct I would still throw little straws upon the embers and I am certain it would rekindle."
- St. Therese of Lisieux
2. Celebrating the Feast Day of our Guardian Angels (Oct 2):
What WE plan to do:
- Read the Grandpa's Angel book together (we originally bought this for Michaelmas, and Tim loved it! Though at first he was complaining that he wanted a different book! hehe)
- Go to Mass and show the kids statues of angels :-)
- Do an angel craft (from one of the posts below)
- Watch this children's music video about Guardian Angels
- Pray and sing this with the kids
Ideas from Shower of Roses
Prayer:Before dinner, we will pray the following table blessing:
We will also pray the Angel of God, The Angelus, and I will pray my personal favorite, A Mother's Prayer to the Guardian Angels of her children:Table Blessing for the Feast of the Guardian Angels
Source: Table Blessings: Mealtime Prayers Throughout the Year
Reading: They come, God's messengers of love, they come from realms of peace above, from homes of never-fading light, from blessful mansions ever bright. Lord, to us the zeal of angels give, with love to serve you while we live; To us an angel-guard supply, when on the bed of death we lie. (Robert Campbell)
Responsory Verse: God gave his angels charge over us,
Response: to protect us in all our ways.
The Lord's Prayer
Blessing: Almighty God, our creator, we unite with the choir of angels to sing your praises daily. And today, we give you thanks for giving the angels to us, as messengers of your mysteries and as protectors of our bodies and souls. Grant us to share this meal in peace, joy, and thanksgiving, being always mindful of the unfailing protection of our guardian angels. We ask you this, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
I humbly salute you, O you faithful, heavenly Friends of my children! I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show them. At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for them, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge their indebtedness to your guidance and protection. Continue to watch over them. Provide for all their needs of body and soul. Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed company. Amen.
Food/Snacks:
I still haven't decided on a recipe for dinner yet, though it will most likely be a dish made with Angel Hair pasta.
But for dessert, in contrast to the "Devil's Food" cupcakes that we made for the feast of St. Michael, I plan on making an "Angel Food" cake for this feast day. I will serve it with of fluffy
In fact, I may buy a ready made angel food cake, and make a trifle. It's super easy and very yummy. Just tear the cake up into bite sized pieces, and layer them alternately with fresh strawberries or raspberries and whipped cream. I would use my favorite trifle bowl, but any bowl will do.
And for an afternoon treat, the children will each receive an Angel Lollipop Favor that was sent home from the Autumn Festival we attended last week. A very talented mom made these for all the children out of card stock! I love them!
- The Angels God's Messengers and Our Helpers.
- My Guardian Dear: A Story of the Angels
- Angel in the Waters
- Angels, Angels Everywhere
Crafts:
- Make Rainbow Angels! We are still on "a" (for Angels!) week (I am switching to a letter every 2 weeks -- with everything else, one per week is just too much!) and since we will be learning about both Colors and Angels this week in Little Saints!
- Angel of God Craft provided in Little Saints
- Color Charlotte's adorable coloring page to add to our notebooks along with our copywork.
Copywork:
Angel of God,
My Guardian Dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and to guard,
to rule and guide. Amen.
My Guardian Dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and to guard,
to rule and guide. Amen.
O my dear Angel Guardian,
preserve me from the misfortune of offending God.
preserve me from the misfortune of offending God.
Ideas from Domestic Church
Exploring Angels
by Mary Ellen Vice
used with permission
Introduction
As we approach September 29th, the feast of the Archangels and October 2rd, the feast of the Guardian Angels, I consider the significance of angels in our daily lives and in the life of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that their existence is an 'truth of faith.' Item number 328 states, ' the witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.'
As a child, I prayed the 'Angels of God, my guardian dear' prayer. It must have brought my mother great comfort knowing that one of the Lord's angels wateched over me as I slept and during the day, while I went to school and played with my friends.
But when I grew towards adulthood, I stopped praying to my guardian angel. I all but forgot about him. My, how things change when you have children of your own! Through a group of wonderful women called 'Mothers in Christ' I found a copy of 'The Small Angel' by Michael O'Brien. Beside simply being the tale of a tiny angel who becomes a guardian angel and O'Brien's charming and consise pen and ink drawings, this delightful book contains the words to the angel of God prayer. It was like finding an old friend. I bought a copy and read the story to my children that night.
Recognizing and honouring our guardian angels is now a tradition in our household. Each one of the children knows that God has provided him (I have four boys) with a handpicked angel who protects him from harm. At bedtime, we say the litany of 'God bless Daddy, God bless Mommy...' then we say the 'Angel of God.' I bless the boys on their foreheads each night and say 'God bless you and keep you.'(Sigh of relief) It is a great comfort to me to know that God and his angels are taking good care of our treasures.
Books to Read
Baby Angels
by Jane Cowan-Fletcher (Illustrator)
This book is perfect for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten children. Its simple language is in friendly interesting rhyme, its exquisite drawings capture the children's interest. | Reading level: Baby-Preschool Hardcover - 16 pages Board edition (November 1997) $4.19 at Amazon.com Availability: This title usually ships within 24 hours. Candlewick Pr; ISBN: 0763604143 |
The Small Angel by Michael O'Brien
This book is a wonderful 'family read' for a family with small children. It takes about 25 minutes to read aloud, just right for evening story time, or it could be read over two nights. | Reading level: Ages 4-8 Paperback - 52 pages 1 Ed edition (June 1996) $7.95 + $1.35 at Amazon.com Availability: This title usually ships within 24 hours. White Horse Press; ISBN: 0969639120 |
Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul : 101 Stories of Courage, Hope and Laughter Jack Canfield (Editor), Irene Dunlap, Muhammad Ali
The story "My Guardian Angel" by Travis Ebel aged 14 years, is wonderful and heartwarming. | Reading level: Ages 9-12 Paperback - 398 pages (July 1998) $10.36 at Amazon.com Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days. Health Communications Audio; ISBN: 1558746099 |
by Catherine Fournier
For solution, go to Solution Page.
Feast of the Guardian Angels
Suggestions for spiritual practices in the family on the feast of the Guardian Angels.
Directions
Every day of the year gives you a special opportunity to instill a great religious appreciation in your children, to broaden their knowledg of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother and the saints, and to strengthen their dedication to the laws of God and the Church. Each day is set aside by the Church to honor a particular event in the life of Our Lord or the Blessed Virgin, or to honor a particular saint. Consulting your religious calendar and one of the many books recounting the lives of the saints you can discuss these events with your children, stressing the qualities in the saints' lives which we might cultivate.
This day has a personal appeal for your child. You can remind him that he has an angelic protector to whom he can turn for aid in time of danger. Make sure your child knows the "Angel of God" prayer, and remember as a family to pray this often.
Activity Source: Catholic Family Handbook, The by Rev. George A. Kelly, Random House, Inc., New York, 1959
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