Saints Peter Claver and Robert Bellarmine

Saints Peter Claver and Robert Bellarmine: Feast Days Sept. 9th & 17th

Today, September 10th, I decided to make homemade blueberry muffins with my daughter using a recipe a friend of mine had shared with me. As we were getting our ingredients together, my daughter asked, "Mommy, what saint are we making these for?" I looked at her, and not having planned anything for a saint today, replied: "Well, I don't know, but let me check our liturgical calendar and if there's a saint listed for today we will make our muffins for them."

After consulting our calendar, I learned that today, September 10th did not have a saint listed, but a week from today, September 17th, is the feast day of Saint Robert Bellarmine, who was a Jesuit cardinal and is a Doctor of the Church. Looking at yesterday's date, I discovered that September 9th is the feast day of Saint Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest who ministered and served the people brought against their will as slaves from Africa to South America. My daughter and I then decided that our breakfast muffins would have the theme: "Muffins with the Jesuits." As my children and I ate muffins, I shared with them the information I'd learned about both saints. Since I didn't have a lot of time to plan an activity to help my children learn about these two saints, I drew two pictures for them to color: (1) A picture of a stethoscope with a cross on it for Saint Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, and (2) a picture of shackles for Saint Robert Claver, Patron Saint of Slaves. Next year, I plan on coming up with a better craft and will post an update here. What I learned from today though, is that it is possible to incorporate food and activities to celebrate the saints even without a lot of planning.

Comments

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feast Day: Nov. 17th Saint Elizabeth of Hungary has always held a special place in my heart since she is my confirmation saint. If I'm being honest, when I was reading about saints back in the eighth grade, trying to choose which saint I wanted to take as my patron, my requirements were as follows: (1) She couldn't die a horrible death, (2) She was married with kids, (3) and her life was pretty good allowing her to serve God and others through the blessings she'd been given. In hindsight, my list of "requirements" was probably a little superficial, but now as an adult I focus more on the virtues and saintly qualities of Saint Elizabeth, and find inspiration in how she lived. She was humble, a kind and loving wife and mother, and very generous to the poor. She also made plenty of time to pray and grow in her relationship with the Lord. On her wedding day, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a princess, did not wear a crown. Instead she s...

Study the Saints

Study the Saints: As I write this post, four days into the New Year, I’m called to reflect upon what New Year’s Resolution I can make that will be the most beneficial for my family and myself. A word that’s inspiring and that comes to mind is “Saints.” Celebrating the Saints on their feast days is wonderful and has been a blessing to my family. My children have learned about various holy men, women, and children from all places of the world and times in history, and they have been able to try foods from various cultures. I love how the Catholic Church is universal! Matthew Kelly wrote a book entitled Rediscover the Saints that I read last year, and I believe it has been part of a catalyst that has taken me to the next level of learning about the Saints. Celebrating saintly feast days is wonderful, but taking the time to read the actual writings of the Saints can be an even bigger game changer and blessing in your life and the lives of your family members. To date, I’ve only read the D...

Saint John Neumann

Saint John Neumann: Feast Day Jan. 5th Saint John Neumann, the first American Bishop to be canonized and Patron Saint of Catholic Education, has a special place in my heart. My late grandfather’s name was John Neumann, and when my brother was confirmed, he selected our grandfather to be his sponsor and chose Saint John Neumann as his patron. I like to reflect on the reality that as our grandfather, John Neumann, stood beside him as his sponsor, Saint John Neumann prayed in Heaven for my brother at his Confirmation. Aside from this neat family name connection with a Saint, as a former teacher I also find Saint John Neumann to be inspiring, since he helped increase the number of Catholic schools while he was Bishop of Philadelphia and brought numerous religious sisters into the schools to teach. Faith instruction of children and young people was definitely important to Saint John Neumann. If you are interested in reading more about Saint John Neumann, check out this article from Francis...

Just a Catholic Mom

Search This Blog