How to get started living liturgically
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Do you want to bring the rhythm of the Church’s life into your home, but feel unsure of how to begin? With several seasons, dozens of Feast days, and thousands of saints, the Catholic Church year is rich with causes for contemplation and celebration.
I encourage you to pick ONE idea from this blog post to try working into your life. You don’t have to have a special celebration, penance, or activity planned every single day. Gradually add practices in over time, and you will see what resonates most with you and your family. Also, there will be ideas for living liturgically appropriate for whether you have small children or not. It’s never too early or too late to become more fully integrated in the life of the Church!
Full disclosure, I am still growing, and while I have done some of these things, I don’t do all of them all of the time - yet! This is about inspiration and taking steps, not perfection. With that in mind, Here are some ideas
Make a themed meal
You eat every day, so this is one of the most straight-forward ways to get started incorporating the life of the Church into the day-to-day! Take a look at the month or season you’re in and find one feast day you’d like to celebrate. You can be as simple or elaborate with this as you like. Early in our marriage, I loved using Cooking with the Saints. With many ethnic foods, this is a great option if you are a foodie and love a culinary adventure! There are some simpler dessert and cookie ideas, as well. I love that there is a simple biography of each saint’s feast day alongside the recipe. Similarly, Drinking with the Saints gives a cocktail recipe inspired by the saints.
If you are looking to cook for a family, there are so many simple ways to celebrate! Here are a few we’ve tried with our kiddos so far:
Homemade Pretzels for Lent (This free PDF has everything!)
White foods (Alfredo or another chicken dish, cauliflower, sugar cookies, etc.) for the feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th, Holy Day of Obligation)
A treat for our patron saints’ feast days and Baptism days
Crêpes for the Feast of the Presentation (February 2nd)
If you’ve got a kiddo who loves getting involved in the kitchen, there’s even a Catholic Kid’s Cookbook. This could be a great birthday, Christmas, Baptism day, First Communion, or Easter gift.
Celebrate with friends
You can invite friends for a themed meal, but you could do another activity as well! Game nights, picnics, beach days, and play-dates can all be transformed into a holy celebration. My husband and I strive to have a few times every year where we invite friends into a feast day celebration. A couple of times, I hosted an Advent craft night. One year, we had a few close families over for Chinese food on Epiphany, and Andrew pulled out his guitar for a final round of Christmas caroling. Another time, we had some family friends join us for Italian food on St. Joseph’s Feast Day (yes, I know St. Joseph wasn’t an Italian, they just love the man and have some great traditions).
Having people over not only makes the feast feel more like a party, but it’s also giving others an opportunity to enter into the Church’s life more fully. Begin or end the meal with a prayer related to the feast day or Church season.
do some artwork
If you have small children, shininglightdolls.com has so many free printable coloring pages for every month! It’s a great way for me to discover new saints, too.
For elementary kids, catholicfamilycrate.com has a freebie vault with beautiful designs if you sign up for their email list, as well. You don’t need to be a kid to celebrate with art, though! Whether you are a drawer, painter, or crafter, using your hands to create something beautiful can be a powerful way to meditate on the events throughout the Church year. Living the Seasons has creative ideas for all ages.
decorate
Stations of the Cross from LittleLiturgyPress on Etsy
I have really been getting excited about decorating as a way to live out the Church year. On the Feast of the Annunciation, I set out a table runner, borrowed the floral wreath from our door, lit a blessed candle, and put a statue of Mary on the table. It took less than 10 minutes, but it elevated the dinner to more than just an average weeknight meal!
Holy pictures are another simple yet impactful way to commemorate a feast day. Whether this is printing one out, finding some holy cards, or even displaying one on your TV, you will have the visual reminder of the feast. Catholicfamilycrate.com also has a beautifully designed Year of Catholic Art Collection. Click HERE to get 20% off your first order!
Just as you might switch out your décor from winter to spring, you can do the same for the Church seasons! This year, I wanted to use all the beautiful ideas I came across for Lent, but picked just one. I purchased and printed these Stations of the Cross from Etsy and hung them on a string going up our stairs. With that reminder, we remembered to pray at least some version of the Stations each Friday this Lent. It was such a gift! Similarly, last year I made this Alleluia banner for Easter season, and hung it across our window. These simple reminders go a long way in turning our hearts and minds to God throughout our homes.
daily Mass readings
Going to daily Mass is, of course, the best way possible to celebrate any feast! If that isn’t feasible at this phase of your life, you can still participate in spirit by reading the daily Mass readings and making a Spiritual Communion. You will often get a reminder if there is a special feast that day, too! Adding a simple St. so-and-so, pray for us! to your meal prayer is a wonderful beginning.
Read a story/Listen to a podcast
Even if you don’t have time to plan a special meal or throw a party, learning more about a saint or devotion honors God, too! ShiningLightDolls and Saints Alive are a couple great saint podcasts for kids, while the Augustine Institute has a CatholicSaints podcast for adults. Formed is another wonderful resource for learning about your Faith!
Do what you normally would for fun - and invite Jesus
While it’s wonderful to celebrate a saint with their country’s ethnic food, and excellent if you get to celebrate the feast day of, those aren’t the most important part. (Except if it’s a Holy Day of Obligation, definitely celebrate by going to Mass). I did not buy saffron for my St. Lucy Day rolls, and nobody cared! One year, we went to an All Saints Day party the Sunday after All Saints Day. The point is to start somewhere in a way that works for you.
So, do you like to go out for the occasional ice cream or dinner? Plan it for a Feast Day! Or if you have a date night planned, learn about a saint so you can have a conversation starter. Basically, invite God into your fun!
Have the planning done for you
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Find what others have done before you, and tailor it to work for your family. Personally, I have received a TON of inspiration from Kendra Tierney’s Catholic All Year, both her book and her blog. She’s been doing this Liturgical Living thing for 20 years, so she has built an arsenal of resources for us beginners. I use the book as a reference point when I need ideas for Church seasons and celebrations. Her writing is funny, engaging, and well-informed.
There is also a digital “Venerable” membership for $12 a month. If you are serious about integrating your Faith into your family life, this can really get you jump-started. It would also be a great supplement to any at-home religion curriculum, or a family Christmas gift idea!
Exclusive access to the Catholic All Year digital membership library (soooo much here!)
A dated & labeled calendar page for the month (digital)
A sticker sheet to decorate the calendar page (digital)
A monthly prayer booklet (digital)
A saint summary sheet describing the month’s feast days (digital)
4-6 liturgical year recipe cards (digital)
4-6 decor & activity sheets (digital)
The nice thing is, unlike most subscriptions, you could join for a year and print out everything you like, then be done if you need to (although she’s always adding more great stuff if you wanted to continue).
If you feel like printing and organizing materials is not your thing, you can have all of that done for you, too, with the Catholic All Year “Blessed” subscription. You’ll still have access to the digital resources, and high-quality prints of each resource delivered in the mail.
For $50/month, here’s what's included:
A liturgical calendar upon signup
Exclusive access to the digital membership library
2 sticker sheets to decorate your liturgical calendar (digital + print)
A monthly prayer booklet (digital + print)
Saint summary pages describing the month’s feast days (digital + print)
4-6 liturgical year recipe cards (digital + print)
4-6 décor & activity pages (digital + print)
While it’s an investment, the benefit could be eternal! I personally am excited to try the Venerable membership for my littles.
Wrapping it up
Do you ever notice how crowded Ash Wednesday Mass and Good Friday Service are compared to days that are actually Holy Days of Obligation? I believe it’s the ashes and the Veneration of the Cross. People LOVE traditions - it’s part of how God designed us! Think of your favorite memories growing up - I’d bet you would name a few traditions.
By establishing some traditions with surrounding the Church year as a couple, with friends, or as a family, the Faith will become ingrained more and more deeply into your life. Each little step that you take to integrate Catholicism into your day to day life matters. It doesn’t have to be a big or perfect - God sees your effort and is so delighted in you. So which idea inspired you most? Put it in your calendar and give it a go! Let’s keep growing in this adventure of Liturgical Living together.
