Saints of the Season

As the vibrant greens of summer give way to glints of gold, the Church has blessed us with a bounty of saints' day celebrations, each one flickering like a candle in a long procession marching ever onward toward the great feast of All Hallows on November 1. In the past few weeks, we rejoiced with the Archangels, St. Padre Pio, St. Therese of Lisieux, the Guardian Angels, St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of the Rosary, and the children of Fatima. We will soon give thanks for the lives of St. Gerard Majella, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and St. Jude, to name but a few.

As with all works of the Spirit, the timing of these feasts is no accident. October's flood of festivities calls the saints to our minds and hearts each and every day, inviting us to pause and ponder these great souls as the perfect preparation for All Saint's Day.

Our crafts can help us to get ready as well. This unassuming little bag of wooden ice cream spoons is just waiting to sing the praises of the heavenly court:

A few odds and ends are all that is needed--markers and some scrapbooking paper, although construction paper would work just as well:

The great thing about saints' crafts is that it is easy to make almost any saint recognizable just by including certain symbols. St. Therese wears the habit of a Carmelite and carries the crucifix adorned by roses. Good St. Francis appears in a friar's robe with a beard and tonsure and bearing the wounds of the stigmata. Of course, a sweet little bird alights on his shoulder, a reminder of Francis' affinity toward animals and his famous "Sermon to the Birds."

Children love honoring their special patrons, and before long, your family will have a long procession of God's dearest friends smiling down from mantel or shelf--the perfect reminder of the saints of the season.

All ye holy angels and saints, pray for us!

Links to more spoon saint samples and step-by-step instructions for creating St. Faustina:

• http://alice.typepad.com/cottage_blessings/2006/10/our_procession_.html
• http://alice.typepad.com/cottage_blessings/2006/10/more_spoon_sain.html
• http://alice.typepad.com/cottage_blessings/2006/10/st_faustina_ste.html

Alice Gunther is an attorney who gave up practicing law over a dozen years ago to nurture and home educate her seven children, now ages thirteen to one. She blogs about Catholic family life at her weblog, Cottage Blessings, and writes a column for The Long Island Catholic called “The Catholic Home.” For the past nine years, Alice has run a popular Catholic Children’s Club, celebrating the Liturgical year through crafts, prayer, stories of saints and scripture, and “Liturgical Teas.” The Teas feature symbolic menu offerings to tell the underlying stories of faith, teaching children and adults in a unique and memorable way. She is currently working on two books about home education and catechesis.