Sarah Mitchell
Feast days are an important part of the Catholic Church's liturgical year, with many days labelled as Memorials, Feasts, or Solemnities. While Catholics may not always celebrate these days at home, they are a great opportunity to experience and participate in the joy that God provides. Observing a saint's feast day can be a way to honour God and grow closer to Him, as well as to celebrate God's love and generosity. There are various ways to celebrate a Catholic feast day, from attending Mass and praying to preparing special meals and crafts, and even volunteering at a shelter.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of celebrations | A couple per month |
| Celebration type | Memorial, Feast, Solemnity |
| Highest importance | Solemnities |
| Second importance | Feasts |
| Least importance | Memorials |
| Memorial type | Obligatory, Optional |
| Memorial observance | Obligatory memorials must be observed |
| Feast day meal | Meal corresponding to the feast day |
| Preparation | Grocery list, craft supply list, prayers, songs |
| Celebration | Mass, prayer, pilgrimage |
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What You'll Learn
Attend Mass
Attending Mass is a great way to celebrate a Catholic feast day. It is a Catholic custom to be named after a saint at Baptism, and many people realise at some point in their lives what a loyal friend, protector or good example their patron saint has been for them. Attending Mass is a way to honour your patron saint and grow in your love for them and God simultaneously.
If you are celebrating a saint's day, it is important to reflect upon the meaning of the observance of the saint's feast day. Why do we remember them? Why do we keep an annual feast day for each of them? What does that accomplish? We believe the saints accompany us, and we will eventually share eternity with them.
If it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, you can still go to Mass. It is a simple way to celebrate that requires no preparation but helps turn your focus to the importance of the day on the Church calendar. You can also participate in any prayer form uniquely attached to a particular saint, such as Saint Dominic and the Rosary or Saint Margaret Mary and devotion to the Sacred Heart.
You can also make a pilgrimage to a shrine or other holy places associated with the saint. For example, if you celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, she may have a shrine that you can visit for prayer.
Celebrating a Catholic feast day is a great way to direct your spiritual growth and bring your family one step closer to living a vibrant, liturgical, and fun Catholic life.
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Prepare a meal
Preparing and sharing meals is an integral part of Catholic tradition during feast days. The meals are usually traditional dishes, made from recipes handed down for generations, and sometimes the entire meal is prescribed by custom, with each detail symbolic in meaning. For instance, for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a meal with all white foods representing purity could be prepared.
If you are looking for meal ideas for a Catholic feast day, you can try browsing Catholic blogs and Pinterest for inspiration. You could also consider subscribing to feast day reminder emails, which will not only alert you to an approaching solemnity but also provide resources for learning more about the feast and celebrating it.
- In Ponti, Italy, an enormous dish of "polenta" weighing over a thousand pounds is prepared, along with an omelette made from six thousand eggs, by the town's best cooks. These dishes are then given to the poor.
- Shortbread is a common treat on Epiphany, a feast day celebrated in early January throughout the Christian world.
- For the feast of St John the Baptist, a meal focusing on the two staple foods he lived on—locusts and honey—could be prepared.
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Pray
Selecting Prayers
Choose prayers that are meaningful to you and align with the theme of the feast day. You can browse Catholic resources, such as blogs, Pinterest, or dedicated websites like CelebrateTheFeasts.com, for inspiration and ideas. Select prayers that resonate with you and your family. Print out copies of the chosen prayers to have on hand during the feast day celebrations.
- The Rosary – Praying the Rosary is a traditional Catholic devotion. It involves meditating on specific mysteries, such as the Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious Mysteries, while reciting a series of prayers, including the Hail Mary, the Our Father, and the Glory Be.
- The Chaplet of Divine Mercy – This prayer is often recited using ordinary Rosary beads of five decades. It includes two opening prayers from the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and a closing prayer.
- Hail Mary – This prayer honours Mary, the Mother of God, and asks for her intercession as sinners.
- The Lord's Prayer – Also known as the Our Father, this prayer is taught by Jesus himself and is a foundational prayer in Christianity.
- Prayer to Saints – You can offer prayers to specific saints, such as St. Michael the Archangel, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, or St. Benedict. These prayers often invoke the saint's intercession and protection.
- Creed – Reciting the Creed is a profession of faith and belief in the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church. It includes statements of belief in God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and other key aspects of the faith.
Enhancing Your Prayer Experience
To deepen your prayer experience during feast day celebrations, consider incorporating meditative practices. Lectio Divina is a form of meditative prayer where you carefully read and reflect on a short passage from the Bible, preferably a Gospel passage. Enter into the Biblical scene using your imagination and discover its personal meaning. This form of prayer can lead to a deeper understanding of the text and a more intimate connection with God.
Additionally, you can engage in contemplation, which is a gaze turned toward Christ and the things of God. Through God's grace, contemplation allows you to experience the text as both mystery and reality, fostering a profound encounter with the Divine.
Remember, prayer is a personal and intimate dialogue with God. Whether you pray alone or with your loved ones, take time to prepare and engage in prayer with reverence and devotion during your feast day celebrations.
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Sing songs
Singing songs is an integral part of celebrating a Catholic feast day. It is a way to invite prayerful participation in the liturgy and extend Jesus' hospitality and generosity to others.
There are several ways to incorporate songs into your feast day celebrations. Firstly, select songs or hymns that are appropriate for the feast day and meaningful to you. You can browse Catholic blogs and Pinterest for ideas or refer to resources such as liturgicalsong.com, which offers music suggestions for Mass and Catholic Sunday feasts. They provide recommendations based on the appropriateness of the song to the texts of the day, feast, or season. You can also explore OCP's vast selection of songs for Catholic liturgy and worship.
Once you have chosen your songs, consider printing out copies of the lyrics for your family or guests so that everyone can join in. If you want to make it more engaging, you can use projection slides to guide and encourage your community to learn the melody and confidently sing along.
Additionally, you can plan ahead and set reminders a few days before the feast day to prepare your song selections. This will ensure that you have the necessary materials and that your guests are excited to participate in the festivities.
Singing songs is a beautiful way to celebrate and honour the saints and bring your family and community closer to living a vibrant, liturgical, and joyful Catholic life.
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Read about the saint
Reading about the saint is a great way to celebrate a Catholic feast day. There are over 10,000 officially canonized saints, so there is a lot of material to explore!
You can start by searching for the saint's name online, which will bring up a wealth of information, including their full biographical details, anecdotes, and the impact they had on the Catholic faith. For example, St. Catherine of Bologna was an Italian nun and artist, born into an aristocratic family in 1413. She was educated and became a member of the Marquis of Ferrara.
You can also look for books about the saints, such as the "Lives of the Saints", first collated by Fr. Alban Butler in the 18th century, which is considered the gold standard of Saints' Lives in English. Another suggestion is "The Golden Legend", which was the source of all things hagiographical for over 400 years and will help put any artistic depictions of saints into context.
There are also online resources that provide a liturgical calendar for the saint of the day, with full biographical information, anecdotes, prayers, and inspiration. You can also find lists of saints organized by different categories, such as female saints, patron saints, popular saints, and feast days by month. This can help you learn more about the saint you are celebrating and discover other saints you may not have heard of before.
Additionally, you can read about the feast day itself and the significance of that day in the Catholic Church. This can include the reasons why the saint is remembered and celebrated, as well as any traditions or rituals associated with the feast day. For example, for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a meal with all white foods representing purity could be prepared. Understanding the meaning behind the feast day can help you connect with the saint's life and contributions to the Catholic faith.
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Frequently asked questions
A Catholic feast day is a day dedicated to celebrating the lives of saints or holy men and women who have passed and are now in heaven with God. There are over 10,000 saints, and the Church celebrates them throughout the year.
There are many ways to celebrate a Catholic feast day. You can attend Mass, spend time in prayer, or participate in any prayer form associated with a particular saint. You can also make a pilgrimage to a shrine or other holy places associated with the saint. It is also common to prepare a meal that corresponds with the feast day, for example, a meal with all white foods to represent purity for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Some examples of Catholic feast days include the Feast of Saints Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles, celebrated on October 28th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and the Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles and Martyrs, celebrated on May 3rd.
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