The Virgin Mary
The Blessed Mother is honored with multiple titles and feast days that celebrate her special role in the story of Salvation. In the month of August, we celebrate three Marian Feasts: Our Lady, Queen of Angels on August 2, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15 and The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 22.
Honoring Mary on these days with the celebration of Mass and praying the Rosary, are two ways to truly make these days holy with your family. It's also an opportunity explain to your children the Church's teachings about Mary. Crafts and fun food recipes are a way to extend the celebration throughout the day. If you didn't get around to planting a Mary Garden in the month of May, August is a good time to do it!
To better understand the Church's teachings on Mary (which come from Scipture) we recommend reading Scott Hahn's book: Hail, Holy Queen.
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Hail, Holy Queen |
The Transfiguration, August 6
All three synoptic gospels tell the story of the transfiguration of Jesus (Matt. 17:1-13; Mark 9:3-13; Luke 9:28-36) in which Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a mountain and there they see Jesus transfigured, as well as Jesus talking with the important Old Testament figures Elijah and Moses. This identifies Jesus with the law and the prophets, and shows he has authority from God (God the Father instructs Peter, James and John to listen to Jesus). The Transfiguration is a foretaste of the glory of heaven, it also served to strengthen the faith of the disciples as they were about to witness Jesus' crucifixion and death. In the same way, the story of the Transfiguration is a reminder to us that to attain the glories of heaven, we must take up our cross and follow Jesus.
A simple way to celebrate at home is to "transfigure" some leftovers into a new meal for dinner. Read one of the Scripture accounts of the Transfiguration and discuss it together and talk with your kids about heaven: "What is heaven? Who do you hope to see in heaven? How do we get to heaven?" and so on.
A simple way to celebrate at home is to "transfigure" some leftovers into a new meal for dinner. Read one of the Scripture accounts of the Transfiguration and discuss it together and talk with your kids about heaven: "What is heaven? Who do you hope to see in heaven? How do we get to heaven?" and so on.
Saint's Days
Some well known saints who have feast days in August are St. Lawrence (August 10), St. Clare of Assisi (August 11) and St. Maximilian Kolbe (August 14; Kolbe is pronounced: COLE-Bay). Taking the time to learn about the saints of the Church gives kids solid examples of people who lived their life for Christ and show them that faithful disciples of Jesus come from all walks of life, all cultures and races and each use their particular gifts to share the Gospel with others. In researching about St. Lawrence they will discover that even while enduring the pain of a tortuous death, he retained his sense of humor, telling his executioners (who were burning him alive) to turn him over, "I'm done on this side!"
In reading about St. Clare, they will learn how she faced down an invading army with the Blessed Sacrament, causing them to flee. And why a saint who lived in the 13th Century became the patron saint of television.
St. Maximilian Kolbe is one of my favorite saints. He was born in Poland in 1894, ordained a priest in 1918; he operated a religious publishing press and established monasteries in India and Japan. But most people probably know his name because of the way he died, at Auschwitz (see video). |
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After spending some time researching and learning about a saint on their feast day, make a meal together from the saint's native country (I'm partial to pierogi and kopytka, so I love the feast days of Polish saints!). At the meal, include the saint in your prayers, and discuss their life. What did each person find most interesting? Most inspiring? Ultimately, you want to bring the conversation around to Christ; how the lives of the saints are a testament to the truth: following Christ is the way to true and everlasting happiness.