Gifts for Kids

Basket Stuffers –

Custom Easter Basket Initial Tag | Custom Easter Egg Painting Kit | Scavenger Hunt Tool | Stocked Pencil Case with Scripture Keychain | Lamb Lacing from Catholic All Year

Silicone Rosaries from Roses & Pearls

Decade Pop-Its | Sacraments Pop-Its from Gather and Pray

Toys & Puzzles from Kingdom Come Co.

“Kid Saint” Girls Stickers | “Kid Saint” Boys Stickers | Saint Memory Game from Just Love Prints

Marian Spinners from Studio Senn

Saint Dolls from The Little Rose Shop

Books –

God’s Glorious Girl | God’s Brave Boy by Emily Wilson Hussem

Jesus and the Miracle of the Mass | The Holy Spirit and the Greatest Adventure by Gracie Jagla

I Wonder About the Good Shepherd by Jenny Luetkemeyer

Petook: The Rooster Who Met Jesus by Tomie DePaola

Ten Keys to Good Manners by Claire Boutrolle d’Estaimbuc

Breeze and Flames: The Story of Pentecost by Madeleine Carroll

The Catholic Kids’ Cookbook by Haley Stewart and Clare Sheaf

Apparel –

Holy Outdoorsmen | Princess Saints | St. Michael | Interior Castle Youth Tees from Marigold Catholic Goods Co.

Kid Socks from Sock Religious

Bracelets from My Saint My Hero

Gifts for Women

Apparel –

Ad Jesum per Mariam Tee | Eucharist Bandana Scarf from Marigold Catholic Goods Co.

Adult Socks from Sock Religious

Jewelry –

Jewelry from The Little Catholic

Stella Maris Cuff Bracelet | Vintage Holy Card Pendants from Art Angel by Raphael

LifeStyle –

Easter Rosary from Lux Via

Heavenly Joy Beeswax Candle| Magnificat Beeswax Candle from Stacey Sumereau

Divine Intimacy sold by Blessed Is She

Three Hearts Water Bottle | Holy Family Hearts Tealight Holders | Wooden Phone Stand from Liz Long

Wall Decor from House of Joppa

Lavender Bath Soak | Comfort & Joy Essential Oil Blend | Renew Face & Body Cream from Rooted for Good

Gifts for Men

Adult Socks from Sock Religious

Drinking with the Saints by Michael P. Foley

Wooden Coasters from Catholic All Year

Cologne from Salt & Light by Sami

Rosaries from Rugged Rosaries

Catholic Trucker Style Cap from Liz Long

Prepare your home for the Easter season!

Paschal Candle from Catholic All Year

Easter Candle Holder from Catholic All Year

He Is Risen Banner from Catholic All Year

DIY Pysanky Easter Eggs | Lamb Butter Mold | Wooden Resurrection Tomb from Catholic All Year

White Garland from SmallThingsGr8LoveCo

The team at CAY is wishing you a holy rest of your Lent and a joyful Easter season!

The post The 2025 Catholic All Year Easter Gift Guide: Everything you need for baskets, gifts, and your home! appeared first on Catholic All Year.

We’ve talked a lot on this blog about prayers, pious practices, and foods associated with particular days and seasons of the liturgical calendar. The deep and wide deposit of Catholic tradition ALSO includes beautiful music associated with these feast days. You might remember that our family feast days food repertoire includes traditional foods like lamb on Holy Thursday and waffles on the Annunciation, and also more novel fare like a rice crispy lamb to go with the roasted variety on Holy Thursday, and St. Thomas S’Mores on his feast day. Feast day playlists in our house are a lot like that. Some songs are traditional, some are just for the fun associations. These four playlists for Holy Week and Easter are brand new this year.

They have been specially curated with songs that I love to listen to with my family, that I think will help your family enter into the spirit of each day!

Music is especially helpful for setting the tone throughout the day with children, so pump the tunes, and Happy (Solemn?) Holy Week!

Spy Wednesday

Spy Wednesday is the day that we remember Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and then his “spying” out a convenient time to hand Jesus over to be arrested. This SPY Wednesday-themed playlist is curated especially with Judas’ sneakiness in mind!

Holy Thursday

Especially drawing on the history of the feast of the Passover that Jesus was celebrating with his disciples at the Last Supper, this playlist is perfect to listen to while you make your Holy Thursday dinner, or while you wash each other’s feet!

Good Friday

On Good Friday we’ll spend the day remembering our Lord’s passion and death. This playlist was specially curated to help you enter into the solemn mysteries that are unfolding today.

Easter

Rejoice! Alleluia! Here are some hymns for your Easter celebration! This playlist is perfect to listen to on Easter day, as well as throughout the whole Easter season.

If you take a listen to one or all of these, I’d love to hear what you think. If I misfiled a song or left out your favorite, please let me know in the comments!

Piano All Year – Hymns for Your Domestic Church

Bring the music of the Liturgical Calendar into your home with our new piano music book!

The post CAY Holy Week and Easter Playlists on Spotify appeared first on Catholic All Year.

Also available as a YouTube video here!

Well, you’ve done it. You AND your children have, somehow, against all odds, survived through to these last few days of Lent. Though for a while there, it looked like you might succumb to an acute lack of coffee / Netflix / Facebook, you’ve made it. And now you need to figure out how to make Holy Week solemn, meaningful, and memorable for your kids. Without a whole lot of effort or advance planning on your part.

So what exactly does Holy Week look like in a faithful Catholic home? Hah! That’s a trick question. There’s no one way to be Catholic, and there’s no one way to do Holy Week. But I WILL tell you what WE usually do and that I haven’t started any of it yet and that it’s worked for us in the past. If I can do it, you can do it!

And . . . as always, please remember that you do not have to do all these things! I am a big supporter of baby steps when it comes to beginning liturgical living in the home, and doing what works for your family. I’ll include links to some Catholic All Year products, in case that’s helpful. But if you haven’t set aside a budget for Holy Week that’s okay too. When I started doing all this stuff with my family fifteen years ago I put everything we used together myself, mostly using things I had around the house.

See the Catholic All April printable booklet with prayers, readings, and devotions for Holy Week and Eastertide here.

— 1 —

Monday of Holy Week

Clean the House Part I: Clean out the toys. This is a great time for a BIG toy purge. We did a our first big playroom toy clean out a few years ago, and it was a HUGE blessing in less mess, less cleaning, less yelling, and more family interaction. I can’t recommend it enough.

We use the first three days of Holy Week to do our biggest house cleaning and stuff purging of the year. People talk about “Spring Cleaning”. That’s too open-ended for me. I need more of a “these are the only three days of the year you could possibly do this and it’s for JESUS” feel to make it happen. You can get a holy week cleaning checklist for free to print at home here.

On Monday we clean the living spaces, and specifically clean out toys, desks, and craft supplies. This is a great time for a BIG toy purge. Since I am not naturally a very tidy and organized person, I have found that the BEST thing I can do towards keeping the house clean is to regularly get rid of half of our toys and craft supplies and even books. I just keep the stuff I actually like. It’s revolutionary, I’m telling you. Fewer toys in my house means less mess, less cleaning, less yelling, and more family interaction. I can’t recommend it enough.

I’ll also finish up our Easter baskets. I’m focusing this year on practical, lovely things that won’t fill our house back up with junk. Each child is getting a new pair of shoes, a new swimsuit, a couple religious or outside toys or books, and some candy.

Monday is the day that St. Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with nard perfume. We have this little Catholic All Year bottle of actual nard perfume, which allows us to smell the same smell that Jesus did on this day. I think that’s SO cool.

Try It! Tidy a couple rooms of the house. Because it’s tradition. Buy candy and toys for Easter baskets.

— 2 —

Tuesday of Holy Week

Clean the House Part II: On Tuesday the cleaning continues with sleeping spaces. We tidy up upstairs desks and bedside tables and clean out the closets. The method that works best for us is to pull ALL the clothes out of each closet, and only put back in a reasonable amount. Draws that close easily and some wiggle room between hangers makes it much easier for kids to keep their closets tidy.

We do laundry nearly every day, and we have much, much more in the closets than we actually use in a week. It’s time to pass it along to people who could actually use it. AND make our closets a little more manageable. Also, if stained / ripped / cartoon-character-adorned shirts aren’t in their closets, they can’t wear them, which is a plus in my book.

I’ll also finalize the guest list for our Good Friday Fish Fry and Easter Sunday Dinner, and make up my shopping lists for the food we’ll need for the rest of the week.

Try It! Tidy a couple more rooms of the house. Figure out what you are doing for Easter dinner.

— 3 —

Spy Wednesday

Then the fun starts on Spy Wednesday, but not until . . .

Clean the House Part III: On Wednesday we will tidy eating spaces. The kitchen will get cleaned including inside the drawers and refrigerator. We’ll also organize the dining room shelves.

It’s called “Spy” Wednesday because it is the day that Judas *sneakily* betrayed Jesus, selling the information of when he would be in a place where he could be conveniently arrested to the high priest for thirty pieces of silver.

We’ll read the story in the Bible. (Matthew 26:1-16)

And I’ll hide thirty pieces of silver (we use quarters or chocolate coins) in one area of the house for the kids to find.

We started doing this a few years ago and it’s always an interesting social experiment. My (somewhat) kind and pleasant kids have been known to turn into a bunch of Judases themselves. They’ve pushed past each other, grabbed quarters that other kids had spotted first but couldn’t reach, and babies have been knocked over. All over 30 pieces of silver.

These days, they kind of know what to expect, so it’s not quite so dramatic, but still fun. And they know that they’ll allow themselves to be convinced to donate the quarters to the poor box and maybe even to save the chocolate to eat on Easter.

For more info, and more photos, see this post.

Wednesday evening is the first night of the very cool and very unique Tenebrae service, done only Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Holy Week. We do an at home version with this very cool Tenebrae Hearse Candelabra. But you can also use any 15 candles you’ve got in a drawer someplace. Get a printable version of a modified at-home version here. (Or grab this new guide from the CAY Marketplace!)

Try It! Finish tidying the house. Do your grocery shopping for the rest of the week. Read the story of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus from the Bible to your kids. (Matthew 26:1-16)

— 4 —

Holy Thursday

Hopefully the three day manic housecleaning was successful, because now things get pretty busy. We do a modified Seven Churches Visitation. This is a Catholic tradition that began with St. Alphonsus Liguori in Italy in the 18th century. After the Mass of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, the Eucharist is not again consecrated until the Easter vigil. The hosts consecrated at this Mass are removed from the church and placed in what’s called an “altar of repose” in a location outside the church. In order to emulate the disciples who followed behind Jesus as he went from place to place after the last supper on Thursday, St. Alphonsus, with his friends, would visit the altars of repose at the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, on foot, after the Mass of the Last Supper. 

That sounds really amazing.

But also not very practical for where I live in Los Angeles and my current state of life which includes many small children. So, I remember the advice of my late grandfather who used to say “better is the enemy of good enough” and we do it during the day, in the car. Perhaps someday I’ll do it at night, on foot, in silence. But so far, doing it during the day in a car full of noisy little kids has been great.

Then, we come home and prepare our Last Supper Dinner. For dinner, we’ll approximate what Jesus and the disciples ate and have lamb chops, a bitter herb salad, flat bread, applesauce, and knishes. See here for the recipes.

On Holy Thursday we commemorate something happy (the Institution of the Eucharist) along with the sad (Jesus’ agony and arrest). So in addition to our bitter herbs, of which the kids must have a little, we also have a Rice Crispy Lamb Cake.

I can’t vouch for the historical accuracy of that part, but it’s fun and tasty.

In whatever order works with the Mass schedules, we’ll also attend a Holy Thursday Mass and do a family foot-washing extravaganza. We draw names and everyone washes and gets washed. We’ll do the at-home Tenebrae service again.

If we can find the time we’ll also watch The Prince of Egypt. It covers the ten plagues and the Passover, so it’s especially appropriate for the day. It is a really wonderful movie, it’s available here streaming.

Try It! Watch The Prince of Egypt. Eat Gummi Frogs.

Posts to check out:

HOW WE DO THE TRIDUUM: HOLY THURSDAY

HAPPY FOOT WASHING DAY!

— 5 —

Good Friday

Good Friday is meant to be a day of fasting and of solemn reflection. My kids aren’t very good at that. And, frankly, neither am I. But we do our best.

We’ll start the day with Hot Cross Buns, because even though they’re a tasty treat, I figure if they were Catholic enough for Elizabeth I to outlaw, that ought to be good enough for me.

In the late morning we usually walk to our local parish, visit the empty Adoration Chapel and venerate the cross either at church or at home. See this video for how we do it.

Veneration of the Cross Printable Booklet {Digital Download} Also available as part of the Catholic All April Booklet.

We have a fasting “collation” lunch and read aloud from the Bible the story of the Passion, Crucifixion, and Death of Our Lord. One version is Matthew 27:11-66.

During nap time, I’ll give the older kids a quiet craft or project, like Stations of the Cross coloring pages.

After naps, in order to encourage quiet, I often put on a movie for the kids, called “The Miracle Maker – The Story of Jesus”. Available for streaming here. It’s a claymation style and is pretty great. VeggieTales Jonah and the Whale is another option since Jonah, in the whale for three days, is an archetype for Jesus in the tomb for three days. And hey, you’d get to teach your kids the word “archetype”. They’ll be so impressed.

For dinner, we always invite friends over for a simple Lenten Catfish Fry in honor of my mom’s southern heritage, and we do the Stations of the Cross, and the Tenebrae service.

Try it! Fast. Read the story of the crucifixion. (Matthew 27:11-66) Spend the hours of noon-3pm in prayer or doing quiet activities like Stations of the Cross coloring pages. Consider doing the Stations of the Cross at home with this booklet.

Post to check out:

HOW WE DO THE TRIDUUM: GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY SATURDAY

— 6 —

Holy Saturday

Next up is Holy Saturday . . . a day of silence and waiting.

Here are a few things we don’t do:

• We don’t attend Easter Egg Hunts
• We don’t attend early Easter brunches
• We don’t abandon our Lenten disciplines
• Or otherwise pretend that it’s already Easter when Jesus’ body is still in the tomb

Here’s what we do:

• We dye our Easter Eggs
• We take down all our Lent decorations
• We decorate for Easter
• We begin preparations for Easter dinner.

We do preparation things, but not celebration things.

If we have some extra time, we’ll get out of the house for a hike or a walk to keep the house from getting messed up again. Which is a real problem around here since everyone keeps eating and wearing clothes even though I JUST cleaned all that stuff.

Once it gets dark we’ll light our family paschal candle and do a little at home lucernarium for the little kids.

A grownup will take just the big kids to the Vigil Mass, which is always a big deal for them, especially since it means getting to break their Lenten fast of treats many hours before their sleeping brothers and sisters. And the beauty and majesty of the Easter Vigil and all that . . . but also . . . treats early. 

The Easter Bunny comes and fills the Easter Baskets and changes our Lenten Sacrifice Beans into Jelly Beans.

Try it! Don’t attend any Easter Egg Hunts. Dye Eggs. Remove Lent decorations. Decorate for Easter. Begin preparing for Easter dinner. Watch The Robe .

—7—

Easter Sunday

And then it’s Easter Sunday! And there is much rejoicing!

We dig up the Alleluia that we buried in the yard on Ash Wednesday. We sing O Filli et Filliae. Loudly.

We really hit those alleluias, since it’s been a while.

We find that our Lenten Sacrifice Beans have been turned to jelly beans. We have our baskets and an Easter Egg Hunt, and get all dressed up to go to Mass as a family and have a big lovely Ham Dinner.

And I’m going to be having a couple Dr. Peppers. At least.

So that’s what we do. As I always have to say at the end of these things: it sounds like a lot. I know. But somehow it’s been manageable for us over many years and my kids really enjoy and benefit from these traditions. Even in the midst of Holy Week sacrifices, Holy Week traditions are something we all look forward to. If you’re just getting started, I recommend starting small, with a few things that sounded cool and/or doable for your family.

If you want stuff like this for the whole year, check out my books from Ignatius Press, The Catholic All Year Compendium and The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion. Ignatius Press also has many other lovely books for children and adults that would fit just right in Easter baskets, so check those out. 

You can do this! Catholic All Year is here to help.

WE HAD EASTER, IT WAS CUTE

What will you be doing for Holy Week?

The post The “You Can Still Do This” Guide to All Things Holy Week appeared first on Catholic All Year.

MARY MAGDALENE AND THE RED EGG

There are different versions of the stories, but the one I like to tell says that when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb on Easter morning with the other Holy Women, she brought with her a basket of hard-boiled eggs. It would be nice to have something to eat together at daybreak as they looked for someone who could help them roll away the stone. Then they could anoint the body of Our Lord. But when she arrived at the tomb, there was no time for breakfast. Things got really crazy really quickly, what with the earthquake, and the message from an angel, then the meeting with the risen Jesus himself, and being charged with bearing the message of the resurrection to the apostles. (Mark 16, Matthew 28)

As if the day hadn’t been noteworthy enough, when Mary Magdalene grabbed her basket to run back and tell, she saw that the white eggs inside had been miraculously transformed to a rainbow of colors.

Later, as a wealthy woman of importance in Jerusalem, she was granted an audience with the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome. She denounced Pontius Pilate for his treatment of her people. She gave an account of how weak-willed the governor had been in the face of the angry crowds, and his unjust conviction and execution of Jesus Christ. She went on, explaining to the emperor how Jesus, who had gone into the tomb, came forth again in his glorious resurrection. Seeing eggs upon the emperor’s table, she picked one up to illustrate her point.

The emperor scoffed, saying that there was as much chance of Christ being raised from the dead as there was of that egg turning red in her hand. Mary smiled, remembering the miracle of Easter morning. She prayed to God for another miracle. The egg in her hand became bright red before the eyes of the emperor and his retinue. The shocked emperor later removed Pilate from his post.

Dyeing eggs and, in the Byzantine Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, red eggs especially, became a way to remember Jesus’ resurrection. These eggs are traditionally dyed with onion skins.

DYEING EGGS NATURALLY

Dyeing eggs with onion skins and other natural flowers, herbs, and vegetables is something I’ve wanted to do for many years. I finally set out to get it figured out to be able to include it in the Liturgical Year Subscription Boxes (subscriptions will open up again during Eastertide! Get the egg dye kit on its own here.). I was amazed at how cool the process was, and how great the color turns out to be. Not to get all metaphysical here, but the experience is so much deeper somehow than dumping little tablets into cups.

Even starting at the dried flower and herb stage rather than gathering one’s own, you get different smells and consistencies. You can tell that these are the products of nature, given to us by a Benevolent Creator who knew we’d want to make things pretty colors. Don’t get me started on this. First, it was butter proving the existence of God, now it’s onion skins. But seriously. I think it all does. And you just don’t get that same sense from fizzy dye tablets.

I also like that feeling of connection with the Holy Women who would have dyed yarn and fabric this way, as well as eggs–when the eggs weren’t being miraculously transformed that is.

Here’s a video:

(Sorry about the sound quality, I forgot to turn on my external mic.)

What you need:

• White eggs (brown eggs work for onion skin red dye, but don’t work as well for other colors)
• Large jars
• Dried hibiscus flowers
• Turmeric root powder
• Beetroot powder
• White and red onion skins (just the papery outer layer)
• Alum powder
• Vinegar
• You can also use red cabbage and other grated vegetable

What you do:

Hard-boil your eggs if you like, although you can also dye raw eggs and use them for cooking and baking as you would normally, or blow out the contents after dyeing to use them as seasonal decor or to make cascarones (confetti eggs). I prefer white eggs for this project. Brown eggs will take the dye, but the colors will be very muted. The exception is dyeing eggs red with onion skin. That works on white or brown eggs.

ONION SKINS & OTHER VEGETABLES

• Boil 1 1/2 cups of one color onion peel or grated vegetable in 2 1/2 cups water for 15-20 minutes. (Double if you want to make two jars, one with each mordant.)
• Strain solids, and transfer into jars.
• Add a mordant (1 tsp alum or 1 Tbsp vinegar).
• Gently add eggs.
• Leave in the dye, checking and rotating them every 10 minutes or so until the color you want is achieved.
• Let them air dry, then rub with oil to give them a shine. (I always forget this step.)

Yellow onion skins + alum = burnt orange. Yellow onion skins + vinegar = peach to red. Red onion skins + alum = olive green. Red onion skins + vinegar = brown to red. Red cabbage + vinegar = Robin’s egg blue. Red cabbage + alum = blue-violet. Vary the color by altering the pH with baking soda!

DRIED FLOWERS & HERBS

• Bring about eight cups of water to a boil.
• Get three jars.
• Combine 4 Tbsp dried hibiscus flowers and 1 tsp alum in one.
• Combine 2 Tbsp beetroot powder and 1 Tbsp vinegar in one.
• Combine 2 Tbsp turmeric powder and 1 Tbsp vinegar in one.

NOTE: These dyes are powerful! Especially the turmeric. They can stain hands and counters (although in my experience it all comes off eventually). Place jars on a small plate to catch drips, and rest utensils on the plate when not in use. Wipe up spills immediately.

• Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water into each jar and stir to combine.
• Carefully lower up to 4 eggs into each jar using tongs or a spoon.
• Add hot water to cover.
• Leave eggs in dye until the desired color has been reached, rotating eggs every few minutes.

Remove one egg from each color at intervals to get a range of shades. The hibiscus flower dye will give you a dusty blue immediately, and a deep midnight blue in 30 minutes. The beetroot powder and turmeric will give you varied shades of pink and yellow at 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. If any solids remain on the eggs when you remove them, rinse with water. WIPING WET EGGS WILL REMOVE COLOR. To keep the color, don’t rinse the beetroot eggs, just let them dry with the solids on there. Allow them to dry completely, then rub them with oil to give them a shine. The dye can be used again for another batch.

I hope you’ll give it a try!

The natural egg dye kit, plus other items from our Easter Collection, are available here in the CAY Marketplace!

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The post How to Dye Your Easter Eggs the Way Mary Magdalene Would Have Except Her Eggs Dyed Miraculously appeared first on Catholic All Year.

Read Aloud Recommendations for Each Month

DECEMBER

Advent & Christmas Middle Length Family Read-Alouds (also great as audiobooks). I’ve included the publisher’s recommended age range, but we listen as a whole family, babies to adults.

The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas: An Austin Family Story by Madeleine L’Engle  2010 (originally 1964), recommended age range 4-8, illustrated short chapter book

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson 1972, recommended age range 8-12, short chapter book 

Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren 1981, recommended age 7 and up, long picture book

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 1843, recommended age 10 and up, short chapter book

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas 1952, recommended age 7 and up, long picture book

The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden 1958, recommended age range 5-8 long picture book

Advent & Christmas Picture Books

Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt 2007

The Donkey’s Dream by Barbara Helen Berger 1985

Christmas in the Manger board book by Nola Buck 1998

An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco  2004

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston 1996

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola  1997

The Legend of Old Befana: An Italian Christmas Story by Tomie dePaola  2017

The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola  1978

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Laurel Long  2011

December 6—Saint Nicholas

The Miracle of Saint Nicholas (Note: about an Orthodox Parish called St. Nicholas, not about the saint, but a great story!) by Gloria Whelan  1997

The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard  2018

Santa’s Favorite Story: Santa Tells the Story of the First Christmas by Hisako Aoki 2007

The Legend of Saint Nicholas (An overview of the various and more fantastical St. Nicholas legends) by Demi 2003

Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins (A more detailed version of the money through the window story) by Jim Forest 2015

December 9—Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin / December 12—Our Lady of Guadalupe

Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola  1980

Guadalupe: First Words – Primeras Palabras board book by Patty Rodriguez

Third Sunday of Advent—Gaudete Sunday / Bambinelli Sunday

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing  by Amy Welborn  2013

December 24—Christmas Eve / Saints Adam and Eve

The End of the Fiery Sword: Adam & Eve and Jesus & Mary by Maura Roan McKeegan 2014

December 25—THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (Christmas)

The Christmas Story  by The Metropolitan Museum of Art  2017

December 26—Saint Stephen, The First Martyr

Wenceslas (Note: St. Wenceslas’ feast day is actually September 28, but most people associate him with the Feast of St. Stephen) by Geraldine McCaughrean  2007

JANUARY

January 1—Mary, Mother of God 

Mary: The Mother of Jesus  by Tomie dePaola  1995

My First Pictures of Mary board book by Maïte Roche 2011

January 6 (or the Sunday after January 1)—Epiphany

We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin  2007

FEBRUARY

February 1—Saint Brigid of Ireland

Brigid and the Butter: A Legend about St Brigid by Pamela Love  2017

February 11—Our Lady of Lourdes

Saint Bernadette and the Miracles of Lourdes by Demi 2017

February 23—Saint Isabelle

Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson 1999

MARCH

March 17—Saint Patrick

Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola 1992

Patrick: Saint of Ireland by Diana Mayo 2002

March 25—The Annunciation

Mary Stories from the Bible by Charlotte Grossetête   2018

Holy Week

Margaret’s First Holy Week (The Pope’s Cat) short chapter book by Jon M. Sweeney  2019

The Queen and the Cross (About St. Helena, so also appropriate for her feast day August 18 or Exaltation of the Holy Cross September 14) by Cornelia Bilinsky 2013

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale  by Angela Elwell Hunt 1989

APRIL

Easter

The Easter Story  by Brian Wildsmith  2000

Into the Sea, Out of the Tomb: Jonah and Jesus by Maura Roan McKeegan  2016

The Story of the Easter Robin by Dandi Daley Mackall 2010

April 23—Saint George

Saint George and the Dragon (fairytale legend St. George) by Margaret Hodges 1984

Saint George and the Dragon (Catholic legend St. George) by Jim Forest  2011

MAY

May 22—Saint Rita

Brothers at Bat: the True Story of an Amazing All Brother Baseball Team  (we read this for the feast of St. Rita since she’s unofficially the patron saint of baseball) by Audrey Vernick 2012

May 30—Saint Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc  by Demi 2011 

May 31—Visitation

Take It to the Queen: A Tale of Hope by Josephine Nobisso  2008

Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale by San Souci, Robert D 2000

JUNE

June 29—Saints Peter and Paul

Peter, Apostle of Jesus: The Life of a Saint  by Boris Grebille 2014

JULY

July 22—Saint Mary Magdalene 

The Miracle of the Red Egg by Elizabeth Crispina Johnson 2014

AUGUST

August 28—Saint Augustine

Brother Hugo and the Bear by Katy Beebe  2014

Gus Finds God by Michael P. Foley 2018

SEPTEMBER

September 5—Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Mother Teresa: The Smile of Calcutta (Life of a Saint)  by Charlotte Grossetête 2016

September 11

Fourteen Cows for America  (not a saint story, but a beautiful book for September 11th) by Carmen Agra Deedy 2009

September 29—Michaelmas

The Bearskinner: A Tale of the Brothers Grimm Hardcover by Laura Amy Schlitz  2007 (we read this for Michaelmas, because it’s about triumphing over the devil, it’s my all-time favorite picture book)

OCTOBER

October 1—Saint Thérèse

Therese: The Little Flower of Lisieux (Life of a Saint) by Sioux Berger 2011

The Little Flower: A Parable of Saint Therese of Lisieux by Becky B. Arganbright 2015

October 2—The Holy Guardian Angels

Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman 2005

God Bless the Gargoyles by Dav Pilkey 2016

October 4—Saint Francis

Saint Francis and the Wolf by Richard Egielski 2005

Saint Francis by Brian Wildsmith  1996

Brother Sun, Sister Moon  by Katherine Paterson 2011

October 7—Our Lady of the Rosary

Let’s Pray the Rosary by Mauricette Vial-Andru 2015

Mysteries of the Rosary board book set by Catholic Sprouts 2019

Hail Mary board book/ Our Father board book by Maïte Roche 2017

October 22—Saint Pope John Paul II

The Story of Saint John Paul II: A Boy Who Became Pope by Fabiola Garza 2014

Lolek – The Boy Who Became Pope John Paul II by Mary Hramiec Hoffman 2008 (the two JPII books are both well-written and illustrated, but this one has more historical information)

October 31—All Hallow’s Eve

Cautionary Tales for Children Hardcover by Hilaire Belloc  2002 (originally 1907) We like these as spooky Memento Mori poems for Halloween!

NOVEMBER

A Story of St. Catherine of Alexandria by Brother Flavius C.S.C 2013 (originally 1965)

So that’s it, our entire picture book liturgical library! If you’ve read these, I’d love to know which are your family’s favorites, and if you love a saint picture book that’s not on the list, please let me know in the comments. I’m always looking to add good books to our collection. Check back in on this post, I’ll update it as we get new books!

And please pray for all of us at the Fiat Conference, and consider joining us!

The post The Ultimate Liturgical Library Post: Saint Books for All Year Long appeared first on Catholic All Year.

And I was like, “GET OUT OF MY HEAD, children’s book from 1939 about how to become the Easter Bunny!” Because, seriously, I find this story quite applicable to my real life. Except for the absentee daddy bunny part. We have a very involved daddy bunny around here. Also, I don’t have magic shoes.

Everyone is on her own journey, and we don’t all have the same aptitudes and motivations, and things don’t work out in quite the same way for any of us, but I have to say, in my particular case, the country bunny really is a model of living out seasons of mothering.

When I was a mom of only little kids, writing wasn’t even on my radar. It’s something I had enjoyed in my younger, unmarried, days, but — and those of you with only little kids can back me up here — having only little kids is really, really time-consuming. And exhausting. And, somehow, even with all those hours in the day, and a house that didn’t look much like I had spent a lot of time on it . . . there wasn’t time to even think of anything else.

But the country bunny made me realize . . . I hadn’t had to give up entirely on having some side pursuits in my life. I had just had to put them off for a bit. Just like the she did. And I’ve found that, quite against all conventional wisdom, a handful of my creative-type friends would tell you just the same thing.

My friend Hope is a very talented musician, my friend Molly loves theater and costume design. But each of us found ourselves married and with a family to take care of, and the important things had to be our sole focus.

I felt (and still do feel) strongly that I have a vocation to motherhood. That, first and foremost, is what I am meant to be doing with my life. There was a time when I knew that if I wanted to correspond to my vocation, I needed to give myself to it to the exclusion of outside things.

I spent the first handful of years trying to survive (and, ideally. . . eventually, thrive) while doing this mothering thing. Like the country bunny, I really tried to encourage independence, self-sufficiency, and helpfulness in my kids. It wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision at first . . . there were just so many of them, that I actually needed their help.

Over the years, I realized that the more I taught them, and the more I calmly and consistently required them to help our family, the more they were able to manage small tasks and remember our routines and help each other without constant supervision and input from me.

Then one day, when I had five kids and my oldest was nine, my spiritual director told me I should write a book. At first, all I could think of was all the reasons I, of course, could not do that. I had ALL THESE KIDS. I wasn’t a writer, I was their mother. There wasn’t time for that.

Or was there?

I realized that I did have some freedom again. Even with pregnancies and babies and toddlers. Even with homeschooling and homemaking. I realized that, perhaps, I actually did have the time and the energy to devote to projects outside of my first responsibility of mothering. My kids weren’t out of the house, they weren’t even all out of diapers, but we had systems and a routine going such that it would mostly still function even if I stepped out of the picture every now and again to work on writing.

And writing turned out to be a good fit for my aptitudes and for my family.

So I wrote that book. It got published. I started writing a blog. People started reading it. And it’s been manageable because I’m no longer in that season of all little kids, when it seemed like I was barely treading water. I have big kids now, who are very helpful. I have routines and systems and confidence in my mama gut, also very helpful.

My friend Hope has had a similar experience. As a mother of seven, with her youngest not even a year old, after many years away from music, she and her husband have an awesome band. She writes award-winning songs, they’ve released multiple albums. The husband and I are going to their concert this weekend.

My friend Molly worked in theater before she had her son, but gave it up because she didn’t feel like she could dedicate herself to both in the way she would want to. But as her son gets older, she’s starting to work towards organizing her life so that some work in the theater would be possible for her again, because it feels like a possibility again.

Maybe you don’t have the luxury to pursue outside interests, because you need to work to support your family, or maybe you just don’t have any interest in doing so, or maybe you’ve been able to manage it the whole time, even with all little kids. Each of those cases is completely legitimate. But, for me, being able to spend time on something outside of my primary vocation was something I thought I had given up. For me, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes is a reminder than I can let go of childhood hopes and plans, and give myself completely to mothering, and that is enough. But then maybe, those other loves I had lived without for so many years, might just find a way back into my life. Even without magic shoes.

How about you? Anyone else finding a moment here and there for some long-lost pursuits alongside mothering?

The post The Country Bunny and Seasons of Mothering appeared first on Catholic All Year.

He is Risen. . .

Are you guys getting tired of that yet? Sorry. I just found out about it this year. It’s possible I’m getting carried away. Also, I’ve eaten a LOT of candy. They’re always saying how easy it is to take candy from a baby. But they never mention how hard it is to NOT take candy from a baby. I mean, it’s sitting right there. And he can’t even count. He would never know . . .

. . .

Ooops, sorry. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Easter.

<sing-song> I made you guys a preh-zuuuuuuhnt!

Go thank Bonnie at A Knotted Life. She asked on Facebook if anyone knew where she could find fun prints of The Morning Offering and The Act of Contrition. And no one did. So I couldn’t resist trying out my brand new full membership at PicMonkey, and here ya go:

The Morning Offering on Yellow

The Morning Offering on White

The Act of Contrition on Purple

The Act of Contrition on White

Download them here!

Shutterfly tells me they should print well up to 20×30, and right now that size is on sale for $18.39, and an 8×10 is only $3.99. I hope you like them Bonnie!

Please tell me if this doesn’t work.

It’s a good thing that Easter is fifty days long, because I haven’t finished decorating yet. We really did it up for the Triduum, though.

Here’s what it looked like . . .

Seven Churches Visitation

Last Supper supper

family foot washing———————-

Southern Catfish Fry and Stations of the Cross

our dyed/watercolor painted eggs

my first Easter

The kids really loved their Usborne books. If you’re looking for high-quality, creative, entertaining books and sticker books for kids, check ’em out here. Their stickers are the perfect amount of sticky. I am very particular about that. I hate stickers that won’t stick, but it’s nice if they’ll move a bit. These are just right. (I bought these books with my own money. I just really like them. If you click on the link and buy some books, I might get to get some more.)

And we went to Mass and whatnot, obviously. There are photos of what we wore here.

Happy Easter everyone, hope yours was/is/will be great!

Please stay tuned this week for a really extraordinary giveaway. Seriously, it’s amazing. I can’t wait for it to find its perfect winner.

The post An Easter Present for All of You but Mostly Bonnie and a Triduum / Easter Recap appeared first on Catholic All Year.

We had a triumphantly adorable Easter, so I thought I’d try one of these what I wore link-ups to share.  And hey, today there are THREE!  Thanks to Camp Patton, The Practicing Catholic, and Fine Linen and Purple for hosting.

First, the what I wore part:

Now let’s back up a bit, shall we?  (Please feel free to make your own rewinding noises at home.)

We figured we wouldn’t go to the Vigil, since we didn’t know any of the Catechumens or Candidates this year, and it’s a late night.  But Jack and Betty weren’t having it.  Jack was shocked, SHOCKED when we suggested that perhaps he only wanted to go for the treats afterwards, and insisted that he loved the pagentry and the immersion baptisms.  So off we went.  And had a lovely time.

The next morning began bright and early.  The Easter Bunny stopped by:

Leaving Easter baskets for all.

This is how excited Anita is about getting a new toothbrush.

He changed our Lenten Sacrifice Beans into Jelly Beans!

Blue Easter drool: cute or gross?  You decide.

The “Golden Egg” has a dollar in it.

Jack went out to the front yard and changed the sign on the cross he made as his quiet afternoon project on Good Friday:

Later, we hosted some friends for a really wonderful Easter dinner.

My Mom and I combined forces on a Southern ham dinner with all the fixin’s.

And our guests brought desserts!

So this day has been officially siezed.  I feel so humbled and grateful.  Our God is good and triumphant.  Our family is hilarious, and beautiful, and fun.  Our friends are charming, and interesting, and generous.  Who could ask for more?

May all your Easter days be blessed.  Keep celebrating!

The post We Had Easter, It Was Cute appeared first on Catholic All Year.