Collection: September

Through Our Lady of Fatima, God wants to share his message of mercy on the whole world. She will help and guide us, but we need to respond by living Christ-centered lives and fulfilling the requests she made for prayer and penance. Let’s start with this beautiful prayer card!

In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope Saint John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work. . .” Saint Joseph is held up as a model of such work. Reflect on the gift of labor in your own life and how you can pursue it with his help today–and every day!

Rogation comes from the root word rogare, meaning to ask, as does the word litany (litaneo), meaning to ask repeatedly. On this traditional day of prayer, we humbly ask God for protection, forgiveness, and good health through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and all the saints using this guide.

Legend says that St. George slayed a dragon in the name of Jesus Christ. His heroic actions saved a princess, along with all of the city’s inhabitants, who then asked to be baptized in His name. What really happened is. . . St. George spread the Good News (Jesus) during the Middle Ages, saving many from the threat of their pagan beliefs (the dragon). With this in mind, reflect on St. George as a missionary and warrior, and recall your baptismal promises as you recite the prayer on the back of this print!

Honor Saint Paul Miki and his twenty-five companions by trying the traditional Japanese art of folding paper, or origami! As you fold, feel free to talk about the blessing of religious freedom and the persecution many Christians still face today.

Saint Brigid is said to have woven rushes (a grass-like plant) into a cross as she helped convert a pagan man upon his deathbed. If you’ve got access to rushes, weave away! Or, if you’re feeling less outdoorsy, we’ve provided pipe cleaners for you instead!

This variety of cheesecake is similar to a soufflé—light in texture and less sweet. It’s the perfect finish to your feast day celebration whether you’re enjoying homemade sushi or ordering in Japanese-style curry!

You can go out for Japanese food, but today’s also a great day to try making it yourself at home! Homemade sushi can feel intimidating, but this easy sheet pan recipe is foolproof. Plus, it’s a fun activity for kids! Don’t like imitation crab? Feel free to substitute with cooked fish, shrimp, or even beef (as long as it’s not a Friday)!

St. Josephine is the patron saint of Sudan, one of the world’s top exporters of peanuts. So why not make Sudanese peanut macaroons? These delicious little bites taste more like meringue than a French macaroon, and capture the sweet and salty history of St. Josephine’s life as a child forced into the slave trade. The horrors she endured are all true. But it’s also true that she found peace and happiness for the last fifty years of her life, through God and forgiveness and service to others and her Catholic faith. St. Josephine, pray for us!

The perfect dessert for an Irish feast day! This chocolate cake features delicious Guinness beer, founded in Dublin in 1759. Bonus: you can use our recipe for homemade butter to whip up the sweet Irish buttercream frosting!

The hurricane, which originated in the 1940s at a French Quarter bar called Pat O’Brien’s, is the quintessential New Orleans beverage. Although this is traditionally a rum cocktail, we just do the juice part in our house. But both versions are absolutely delicious! And of course, make sure to serve your drinks in a glass shaped like a hurricane lamp.

King cake gets eaten for breakfast at our house, so we need a dessert after dinner. And in our family we’re going to be giving up all treats and desserts throughout Lent except for special treats on Sundays and solemnities, so we need to get all that stuff out of the house. To kill both of those Fat Tuesday birds with one stone, we have Boeuf Gras (boof grah), or “fattened ox”, Sundaes.

There are plenty of great options for a New Orleans-style Mardi Gras dinner: gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, po-boy sandwiches . . . but we always have shrimp etouffee. “Etouffee” is French for “smothered” and in this recipe our shrimp get smothered in a tasty sauce of butter, flour, red and yellow bell peppers, sweet onion, and tomato. We make sure to serve it over rice too so we can enjoy every last drop of sauce!

Between Epiphany and Lent we celebrate Carnival, a little season of Ordinary Time. One popular tradition from this medieval European celebration is the King Cake, named for the Three Wise Men, and decorated with colored sprinkles: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. Save time without compromising flavor with this cheater recipe. Serve warm for breakfast—and make sure someone finds baby Jesus!

Our Fat Tuesday menu is all about celebrating a New Orleans-style Mardi Gras. And you can’t do that without a king cake. Named for the Three Kings aka the Three Wise Men and enjoyed around the world, all the variations are served on or before Fat Tuesday and have something hidden inside to represent the baby Jesus. Depending on where you are in the world, it might be a bean or a nut or a ring, but in New Orleans it’s a little plastic baby Jesus—so that's what we're going to do!

Well, the whole story is in Acts 9, but the short version is that, while on the road to Damascus with some companions, hurrying to persecute and arrest more Christians, Jesus appeared to Saul as a white light, flashing from the sky, and knocking him to the ground, presumably from a donkey or horse. Jesus identified himself, told Saul to knock it off with the persecuting, blinded him, and ordered him to get going. Saul’s companions helped him up, and got him to Damascus, where he was healed after three days, baptized, and began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues, calling him the Son of God. We think that deserves a tasty treat to celebrate!

We don’t have any special foods or activities we traditionally use to celebrate today, just a normal dinner, a dessert to celebrate, and a conversation about how much people can change, if they are willing to be open to God’s grace. And how God wants to use us, with all our flaws and imperfections. But, if you’re a planner and want to make something intentional, why not Middle Eastern food, like falafel and a side of hummus!

The word Agnes means “lamb” in Latin, so she’s usually pictured holding a lamb. To celebrate, you could make a lamb cake . . . but those turn out creepy, like, 90% of the time. That’s kind of their charm. But you can make a slightly-less-weird-looking Rice Krispie Lamb in a fraction of the time. Everyone wins! Let a kid do the sculpting and then you won’t have to take credit for your lamb’s looks. #momhack

The Auspice Maria, sometimes called the Marian monogram, is a symbol that means “Under the protection of Mary”. It’s a reminder that Mary is our mother, and that she watches over and protects us.

Apparently, in many European countries, the traditional dinner for the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, was a whole suckling pig. To remind us of motherhood? I guess? That sounds very dramatic, and I’m sure it would make quite an impression on my kids if I were to pull one of those babies (literally) out of the oven while everyone is hanging out watching football. Maybe one of these years I’ll give it a try. In the meantime I think a corn dog is a reasonable approximation!

This silly activity is based on The Donkey of Tarsus, who tells the story of Paul’s conversion from his perspective. You’re sure to laugh as you try to pin Saint Paul to said donkey blindfolded (Jesus did take his sight away for three days). But while you’re at it, don’t also forget to reflect on the goodness of God’s mercy and the miracles he performed while spreading the faith!

The word Agnes means “lamb” in Latin, which is traditionally associated with purity, innocence, and sacrifice in the Bible! Use the included template, yarn, and pompoms, to make a garland to celebrate her feast day, and reflect on this young virgin martyr and her shining example of faith and courage as you DIY. Plus, it works great for Easter, too!

This art print features the icon “Our Lady of the Sign”. The artist in unknown, but it originated in Byzantium and is one of the most revered icons in the Russian Orthodox Church. The icon shows Mary, the Mother of God, with her arms outstretched in an attitude of prayer. In the middle is the Christ Child blessing the world at the moment of his conception.

On the day after Christmas, we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Traditional St. Stephen’s Day dinners are all about using up leftovers! And this St. Stephen’s Day Pie is not only a great way to clear out your holiday leftovers, but the meat and potatoes in this recipe sort of look like rocks . . . which were used to stone St. Stephen to death. Let it also be known that he, like Jesus, was wrongfully accused and killed. And like Jesus, he died forgiving his executioners. In that way, he is an example to us of living our lives in imitation of Christ! And although it is unlikely that most of us will be called to imitate Christ as literally as St. Stephen did, certainly we will have many opportunities in our lives to practice evangelization and forgiveness today and in the years to come.

Is it really Christmas if there isn’t some sort of festive white chocolate sprinkle bark involved? We think not! These layers of goodness can also give us a chance to think about the layers–challenges and triumphs–of the year, and encourage us to be our very best in the coming year! Who knew it could be so symbolic?

This recipe is great because it works for Christmas Eve, but can be served on the Immaculate Conception as an appetizer too! As you bite into the creamy white brie and shiny red cranberry, remember the paradise Adam and Eve enjoyed before everything went wrong: listening to bad influences, not trusting God, not obeying rules, lying, blaming others for our bad behavior . . . and remember that even though we all do this stuff, God still has great love for his creation! And we get to celebrate that with the birth of Christ!

What better way to finish an all-white dinner than with an all-white dessert! Reflect on Mary’s profound purity and humility in between bites of this delicious brownie!

Today we celebrate that Mary was miraculously preserved from the stain of Original Sin! And what better way to reflect on the purity of our Blessed Mother than with all white foods! This dish is the perfect way to remember her Immaculate Conception, and enjoy added chicken–instead of fish–for the solemnity, too!

In Europe the feast of Saint Stephen is known as Boxing Day, when traditionally boxes of food, money, and gifts were given to the servants and delivery workers. Use these gift tags and some ribbon to bring Christmas treats to your neighbors on the feast of St. Stephen this year!

On the feast of the Immaculate Conception we like to pray the Litany of Loreto which honors Our Lady’s many titles. Find some of those titles in this word search then pray the litany together as a family.

The month of December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception! Display this print all month long and don’t forget to pray the prayer on the back for her feast day!

Enjoy this Peruvian dinner staple for Saint Martin de Porres’ feast day! Full of warm comforting flavors, this dish is perfect on a cool fall evening with your family.

Saint Catherine was the daughter of a third century Egyptian governor, and she converted to Christianity during a time of persecution. She publicly rebuked the anti Christian government and bested all of the pagan scholars who opposed her (and converted many of them, too)! She was sentenced to death for her beliefs by torture on the breaking wheel, but it shattered at her touch, and she was instead beheaded. The wheel is now known as “Saint Catherine's wheel,” so on her feast day we like to make wheel cookies as we remember her strength and cleverness—an early example of the feminine genius!

Enjoy dipping your favorite veggies or some pita chips into this delicious homemade hummus! Tradition tells us that after her martyrdom, angels carried Saint Catherine’s body to Mt. Sinai where it was later discovered by the monks who lived on top of the mountain. Saint Catherine’s Monastery is now a place of pilgrimage for Christians, and we hope that this hummus recipe helps you imagine what visiting there for yourself might taste like!

Ring in the Catholic New Year with this fun, bubbly treat! Make it alcohol free by using sparkling grape juice or cider instead of champagne.

What’s better than a charcuterie board for a New Year’s Eve party? One that’s liturgically themed! Put together a fun snack (or dessert!) board that has all the colors of the liturgical year to celebrate a new year. You’ll need foods that are purple, green, red, and white. Bonus points if you add just a couple pink — or, rather, rose — foods!

On a visit to his hometown of Wadowice in 1999, Pope John Paul II casually mentioned how fond he was of the cream cake or kremówka that he and his school friends had often pooled their funds to buy. The next day, he was swimming in gifted cream cakes, already renamed Kremówka Papieska or “Papal Cream Cake” by the residents. This dessert of vanilla pastry cream sandwiched between layers of puff pastry and dusted with powdered sugar is delicious, if a bit messy.

The story goes that after his attempted assassination, Pope John Paul II, while recovering in the hospital, requested pierogis to eat. The doctors tried to persuade him that this was not a wise meal to have after surgery, but the Pope’s persistence wore them down; and it turns out that pierogies are just the thing for recovering from an attempted assassination.

Enjoy a traditional dessert from Spain for Saint Teresa’s feast day. These small orange sweets are named for Saint Teresa, and were invented in her home town of Avila!