Feast Day Activities -- Week 2

.

This is a kind of quiet week for the church. We return to Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Calendar. If you've never talked to your children about the different "times" in the church, now would be a good time to do so. Here is a good guide to the different times and the colors the church uses to differentiate them. Next Sunday your priest will be wearing green vestments (see note below) instead of the white he wore for the Christmas season. I always ask Peach (5), "What color do you think Father will be wearing?" before the entrance hymn. Sometimes she knows (guesses correctly) and sometimes it's a surprise. Like on Gaudete Sunday, she guessed purple, because the two previous Sundays were purple. She was delighted to learn he would be wearing pink, her favorite color.

Here is an interesting version of the 2008 Liturgical calendar (click on Liturgical Year). Note it starts in the lower left corner and proceeds clockwise. Just pass your mouse over each area and you can click on a week to obtain the daily readings and the Feast Days for the week. Very cool. There are also some cool activities to download by clicking on the grades below the calendar. Below the calendar is an expalnation of why each Liturgical color was chosen.

Now is also a good time to set up a family altar in your home, if you don't already have one. Wherever you kept your creche would be a good place, however we use small shelves on the wall (to keep little hands off) for our altar. Here is a good explanation of a family shrine. And this explanation comes from fisheaters.com:


Family altars, like the rest of the home, can be decorated according to the liturgical season, changing tablecloths, sacred images, and flowers according to that Season's liturgical colors and themes (check here to see a list of flowers by liturgical color). One tip I have is to buy one of those little tiny 6" easels made to display small pictures, and then buy an assortment of Holy Cards to place on it according to liturgical season or Feast. For ex., on the Feast of St. Nicholas, a Holy Card bearing his likeness can be set out; on Good Friday, a card depicting the Crucifixion; on the family's Name Days, depictions of their patrons can be placed on it, etc.


(Just a little note on setting up altars, nativity scenes, etc.: artistic elements should be arranged so that the most important is to the right according to Christ's perspective -- which is usually to the left side from our perspective. Recall how in our churches, the left side of the Church from our perspective is the superior Gospel and Mary side of the church while the right side from our perspective is the inferior Epistle and St. Joseph side of the Church. This is because from the perspective of Christ on the Crucifix which hangs above or sits on the altar, the Gospel/Mary side is to His right. In following this principle when setting up a creche, for ex., Mary should be to Christ's right -- but to our left. So, if you have a Crucifix or other representation of Christ on your altar, keep this in mind.)
Also in keeping with the liturgical Seasons and Feast Days, icons and statues can be covered with purple cloth during Passiontide (the last two weeks of Lent); statues of Mary can be crowned with roses in May; lilies (especially blessed lilies) can be placed there on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua (13 June); Advent wreaths can be set up on the first Sunday of Advent; the crèche ("nativity scene") could be set up here during Christmastide, etc. Some families even clothe statues of Our Lady according to the liturgical season, for example, dressing her in a black veil for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows and Good Friday, in white or gold for Christmas and Easter, etc.


Since this week is following the Epiphany, it would be appropriate to continue to study the Three Kings. While there is not a lot on the Net specifically written for children, you can still find a bit of good information to use for educational purposes. Here is some good information about the kings, and if you didn't already do so, you can make some crowns to wear, or bake a King Cake.


.I missed this activity last week -- it's an online coloring page of the Three Kings. Here is another Wise Man. Scroll down and you'll find a variety of other coloring pages for different times in the Liturgical Year. And here is another printable coloring page. You could also sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star when you talk about the Wise Men.

If I come across anything interesting this week in terms of saint feast days, I'll post it. But, it looks to be a quiet week.

NOTE (Jan. 7): I might be wrong about next Sunday's vestment color. I just noticed, as I was looking at the liturgical calendar I linked to, that a tiny portion of the square representing next week is white. That many mean Sunday is white. I'll let you know if I find the real answer.

NOTE: I am wrong about next Sunday -- it will still be white and then, according to this calendar, there will be a mix of mostly green, with a little white and red, until we reach the purple days of Lent.