Collection: May

Use this digital booklet to have a May Crowning and honor our Blessed Mother this May!

Celebrate the feast of St. Joan of Arc on June 30th by recreating the flag that she carried into battle with her!

The very first Novena, practiced by disciples, commanded by popes. If you’re only going to do one, do this one.

This cut-and-glue activity is a fun and easy way for your kids to have fun honoring our Blessed Mother this May!

A step-by-step guide to assembling your own rosary!

Saint Isidore’s guardian angel used to lend him a hand with his farm work so Isidore could go to morning Mass. Perhaps it won’t look quite so dramatic in our own lives, but when we are willing to give God our time, we often notice we are a little extra productive in return!

The husband was raised in Chicago, and our family spent a couple years living there. Portillo’s Hot Dogs is a popular local restaurant chain famous for hot dogs, beef sandwiches, and . . . cake shakes. This is—yes—a milkshake into which is blended a whole piece of chocolate cake! Portillo’s moist chocolate cake is made in-house with a box mix supplemented with mayonnaise. It sounds crazy, but it tastes amazing. And since mayo is just eggs + oil, it’s not really all that off. The association with Blessed Alvaro del Portillo is mostly just a coincidence of names, but it’s also a Chicago thing. Blessed Alvaro visited Chicago in 1988, famously leaving behind a pair of shoes that were saved by a priest at the residence and, after Blessed Alvaro’s beatification, cut up into tiny pieces and attached to holy cards. I don’t know if anyone in Chicago took him out for a hot dog and a cake shake during his visit, but one can hope!

Decorate for the month of the Sacred Heart with this banner which includes all of the Hearts of the Holy Family!

Enthrone the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts in your home for the month of June with this Diptych! Simply cut out, fold, and place in a spot of honor. The prayer on the back by Saint John Eudes is perfect to pray throughout the month too!

It’s probably my favorite dessert, so any excuse for crème brûlée is a good one in my book. The feast day of any French saint will do, but somehow the torching part makes it seem perfect for Saint Joan. Also, the fact that multiple nineteenth-century recipe books refer to crème brûlée as “Trinity Cream” or “Trinity Burnt Cream” means we’d be SILLY not to make this amazing dessert part of our Trinity Sunday celebration. (According to recipe historians—a real job, apparently—the name “Trinity” Cream is a reference to its three main ingredients: cream, sugar, and egg yolks.) This is a slightly fussier recipe than I’m up for on an every-day basis, but that’s the beauty of liturgical living for me. I can get motivated to do a fancy feast day meal for an important solemnity every month or two. THAT I can manage. And Crème Brûlée/Trinity Cream can be made ahead of time, which is always a bonus. But, just in case it’s helpful . . . last time I checked, they sell little individual crème brûlées in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s.

In honor of the example given to us by Our Lady in the Visitation, I always try to take this day to prepare a meal or two for friends who are pregnant, have a new baby, or are experiencing hardship of some kind. I make a casserole-type dish in a foil pan and arrange to deliver it hot, or freeze it, then the recipient can heat it up in the oven whenever she would like. It’s not exactly the same as walking a hundred miles and staying for three months to help. But it’s always well-received. This chicken tortellini casserole is simple to throw together, freezes well, includes the major food groups, and is a big hit with kids. It’s also very customizable!

Send some snail mail to let your grandparents know that you’re praying for them on the feast of Saints Anne and Joachim!

Pentecost is the name of the Jewish festival that was being celebrated in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit first descended upon Mary and the disciples. It is also called the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The fruit of the salad . . . is up to you.

The impressive strawberry-red of these margaritas make them perfect for the feast of the Mexican Martyrs! They are fruity, tart, sweet, and refreshing. Served on the rocks, they are a delicious summer treat! Replace the tequila with a lemon-lime soda for a virgin option.

Colorful homemade paper stars like this one are used as party decorations throughout Mexico. Color, cut, and assemble your star, hang it up, and celebrate the sacrifice of the Mexican martyrs!

This tasty casserole is our family’s favorite way to use up old bread and avoid food waste. Hot dog buns to artisanal sourdough, it all gets chopped up and tossed into the dish! The casserole can be made ahead and stored in the fridge overnight. It makes a great dish for the freezer stash, a meal delivery, or a holiday breakfast, and it’s a go-to for us for after-Mass Sunday brunch. I like to set the automatic timer on our oven and have it hot and ready to eat when we get home. I have made up to a quadruple batch at once, increasing the cooking time to 1:10.

This Mexican “three milks” cake is light, moist, and not overly sweet, and no feast of the Mexican Martyrs would be complete without one! Can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator, covered, for 3-5 days.

Saint Isidore would surely appreciate the ease and flexibility of this casserole. Substitute bacon or sausage, try other cheeses, add diced peppers or mushrooms. Make it the night before and store it in the refrigerator to bake in the morning. Great for family brunch, or as breakfast meal delivery to a new mom.

This burrito casserole is a long-time family favorite. Perfect with a MexiCoke for the Mexican Martyrs, it’s easily customizable and makes a great option for a meal delivery. For the chicken, substitute ground beef, pulled pork, or leave the meat out for a tasty meat-free Friday meal. For the refried beans, substitute drained black or pinto beans. Add sauteed corn, onion, peppers, and tomatoes for some veggies. Add pico de gallo, hot sauce, or diced jalapeño peppers for some heat!

Saint Bridget’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land marked a turning point in her spiritual journey. Guide her pilgrimage through the maze and help her reach the Holy Land!

Our Lady promised to give a sign that could be seen by others, and boy did she deliver! To a crowd of tens of thousands of onlookers, it’s reported that the sun broke through rain clouds and began to dance across the sky. This creamy smoothie is liquid sunshine, encapsulating the splendor of the amazing “Miracle of the Sun” that happened back in 1917!

Popovers are a favorite Sunday breakfast for our family, served with strawberry butter, and bacon on the side. But they are also a lovely accompaniment to meat and soups. I especially love them for the feast of the Ascension. The kids all standing at the oven watching them rise heavenward is liturgical cooking at its finest! These popovers REALLY rise—to about three inches above the pan—so if you’re making multiple batches, use the bottom and middle rack only, and be sure you have enough room between them.

While no analogy will ever actually explain or actually help us understand the Trinity (so we should probably quit trying) . . . symbols of the Trinity can help us remember and devote ourselves to the mystery of three persons in one God. A three leaf clover has long been used as a symbol of the Trinity, and these tasty three piece rolls are a fun dinner table reminder of this unknowable mystery. Rolling and dunking the dough balls is a good job for kid-helpers.

This old-fashioned dessert is easy for kids to help put together and makes a great addition to a meal delivery for the feast of the Visitation, or any time. It keeps in the fridge for weeks, so your recipients can enjoy it at their convenience! Substitute the dried fruits of your choice.

What better way to celebrate Jesus ascending into the heavens than with fluffy, cloud-topped cupcakes! This recipe uses real vanilla beans, right in the batter, which is so cool. For the best effect, top with Jesus cupcake toppers (for all the oohs and ahhs from children and adults alike).

This smooth, natural, homemade playdough is fun to make, long lasting, and smells amazing. For the feast day, I let my kids go at it with real tools (on a protected surface, with supervision).

Banners like this were used by the Mexican Cristero fighters in their war against the anti-Catholic government of President Calles in 1917. This one features Our Lady of Guadalupe and “Long Live Our Lady of Guadalupe”, the Sacred heart of Jesus and “Long Live Christ the King”, and the coat of arms of Mexico, which depicts a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. This coat of arms symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.

Ask these three holy siblings to intercede for you and your siblings, then read their stories aloud as your kids color this coloring page! The story of Mary and Martha can be found at Luke 10: 38-42, and the story of Lazarus can be found at John 11:1-44.

In 1873, Fr. Damien volunteered as a chaplain to the Hawaiian government-mandated leprosy quarantine camps established on the island of Molokai. He served the physical and spiritual needs of the members of the camps and, along with native member-leaders, brought education, arts, order, law, and culture to a forsaken community. Since his death from the disease in 1889, he has been remembered and celebrated by the people of Hawaii. 

In 1873, Fr. Damien volunteered as a chaplain to the Hawaiian government-mandated leprosy quarantine camps established on the island of Molokai. He served the physical and spiritual needs of the members of the camps and, along with native member-leaders, brought education, arts, order, law, and culture to a forsaken community. Since his death from the disease in 1889, he has been remembered and celebrated by the people of Hawaii. Also called huli huli chicken (meaning “turn, turn”), this tasty Molokai Hawaiian BBQ chicken recipe is great for summer parties, especially with an iconic pineapple upside down cake for dessert.

In the section Trinity Sunday in The Catholic All Year Compendium, I wrote: I have a liturgical living bucket list of crazy foods I would like to someday be able to serve for feast days. They haven’t happened yet because they are difficult to obtain or prepare or are prohibitively expensive. On that list is my dream food for the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity: Turducken. It’s a chicken, stuffed into a duck, stuffed into a turkey (all deboned and sewn back together with various veggies and stuffings in there too). Three birds in one meat. The chicken is meat. The duck is meat. The turkey is meat. The chicken is NOT the duck. The duck is NOT the turkey. The turkey is NOT the chicken. How perfect would that be?

This cut-and-glue activity is a fun and easy way for your kids to have fun honoring our Blessed Mother this May!

Celebrate the birthday of the Church with a festive cake! We recommend a white cake with red frosting or fruit on top. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can add twelve candles for the apostles and seven strawberry hearts for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Consider adding the twelve fruits of the Spirit somewhere, too, using fruit or frosting!