As readers of this blog likely know by now, faith formation in family life is one of my primary interests, both professionally and personally. I worked for years in parish faith formation, where my job was to develop and implement religious education opportunities across the lifespan, but even as I spent my days creating and leading classes, retreats, book groups and workshops, I took seriously the Catechism’s instruction that parents are the primary educators of their children in matters of faith. What I taught in a Confirmation retreat or fourth grade CCD class had far less potential to bear lasting impact on a young person’s spiritual development than how their parents spoke to and behaved with them on a daily basis. Therefore, in every program that I offered, I attempted to foster dialogue between grandparents, parents, and children, and I kept an eye towards nurturing the faith of parents so that they could in turn feel confident in nurturing their children’s faith.

Now that I am no longer working at a parish, and am a parent myself, my focus has shifted from my place of employment to my home  when it comes to considering family faith formation. Along with “what am I going to cook for dinner,” “do I need to wash Esther’s uniform,” and “are we out of milk,” the question “how am I nourishing  my children’s faith” is never far from my mind. 

While some answers to this question remain consistent across time – praying before meals, attending Mass, keeping our home filled with religious art, honoring the liturgical seasons – I’m also always interested in exploring new and creative ways to integrate practices of faith into our family life. For instance, this year, a new goal of mine is to pay particular attention to honoring my children and godchildren’s feast days. I feel like this intention hits the trifecta of parenting projects – it’s meaningful,  it’s fun for my kids, and it’s fun for ME.

I thought I’d share here some ideas about how I’m going to honor my kids’ feast days, knowing that my plans (for MY kids' feast days) are translatable to other feast days (of other kids' feast days) as well.

And just a side note – if your child or godchild doesn’t have a saint name, you can choose any saint to make “their” saint. You could pick their middle name, if it works, or a saint that reminds you of your child, or, if your child is old enough, you can let them choose their special saint. You’ll see in the case of the first example that I give, I had to think a little outside the box.

March 13th: Queen Esther 

Having lived five centuries before the coming of Christ, Queen Esther isn’t technically a saint. Nevertheless, she joins many others – Moses, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, King David, Rachel and Leah, Joseph and his brothers – as an important model of faith, courage, and wisdom. 

Queen Esther doesn’t have a feast day, but my family will join the people of Judaism in honoring her on Purim, the  Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther. We’ll tell her story that day by reading it aloud from our Children’s Bible, and we’ll make dinner time a celebration by letting Esther choose her favorite meal (it will be pizza) and setting the table more nicely than we usually do (you know, using linens!). This practice of letting the child’s whose name day it is pick our meal is one we’ll carry forward throughout the year.

July 5: St. Zoe

Zoe is my niece, and she lives several states away, so I won’t be able to throw a home party for her on St. Zoe’s feast day. Instead, I’ll send her a little gift and a note. Zoe’s a baby, so I’m leaning towards this wooden prayer candle, but I can’t wait till she’s older and I can send her this journal for Catholic girls. 

July 26: St. Anne 

My sweet niece Anna is also a long-distance relative, so she’ll receive a gift in the mail as well. For her, I think I’ll send this beautiful When Mary Says Yes picture book. Additionally,  I’ll either write a note or call Anna to tell her about how St. Anne was the mother of Mary and that anytime she thinks of her special saint she can remember the important role that St. Anne played in the life of Mary and Jesus. 

St. Jude - October 28th

While telling the story of the saint, having a special meal, and sharing a gift will likely be the standard way we honor feast days in our home, I might throw some extra plans into the mix as well, if they fit. For instance, I love to pray the Novena to St. Jude when I have what feels like  a particularly hopeless cause on my hands. I could include my family in this prayer and either plan to begin or end the novena on St. Jude’s feast day. You can pray a novena to any saint, so this activity would work well for any family.

St. Frances Cabrini - November 13

Finding an activity or event related to a particular saint is another great way to honor their feast day. St. Frances Cabrini, the name saint of my middle daughter, Franny, is the patron saint of immigrants, so I thought it might be fun on her feast day to do something to either learn about or celebrate our local immigrants. Perhaps we’ll go to our favorite Mexican restaurant, owned by an immigrant family, or we’ll arrange to visit immigrant friends from church to learn about their home country and their decision to immigrate. 

What we pay attention to, what we celebrate, sends a message to our children. When we honor their saint days, we weave the stories of role models from our faith into their memories.