Getting back into the swing of things: Living liturgically in the month of October

The last few months have been so crazy for my family. There was the scare that we were losing our baby, the bed rest that followed, the death of my grandmother, and the wedding of my sister-in-law. 

I've been living my life, scrambling from one thing to the next, unable to do anything because I was always playing catch-up and running late and missing things completely. 

For a bit I was feeling doomed to continue in this way until I was reflecting on my faith and what I love about it. Hands down, one of the greatest gifts the Catholic Church gives me is the structure and rhythm of incorporating liturgical living into our domestic church. I realized that while I had needed to discard meal planning and feast day celebrating while I was in the hospital, on bed rest, and the days that followed it was time to bring them back. 

For me, feast day celebrating is usually pretty basic. I have to feed my family and life runs more smoothly with a meal plan so I just sit down with my calendar, take note of any feast days I want to celebrate, and write out a menu. 

But sometimes I don't even try to have a meal that makes sense with the saint. I'm not making French food for St. Therese, for example. In those situations dessert and a holy card are enough for me. And more often than not, just dessert. 

But I thought I'd share the feast days I'm planning on trying to celebrate this October. Just having these things noted on the calendar make me feel like I'm regaining a hold on my life. 

So here's to living intentionally!

I'm going to sneak this first one in at the last minute but...

September 29th - Michaelmas: 

Here's our menu for Tuesday's dinner + my interview with Haley from Carrots for Michaelmas. 

October 1st - St. Therese of Lisieux: 

Roses on the dinner table with a holy card + a simple dessert

October 5th - St. Faustina:

Pierogies + Polish sausage for dinner and the hope that we'll pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet 

October 7th - Our Lady of the Rosary:

Chocolate chip and mini marshmallow rosary for dessert

October 19th - St. John de Brebeuf, St. Isaac Jogues, and Companions 

Burgers and french fries - all American fare for the North American Martyrs

October 22nd - St. John Paul the Great

Pierogies and Polish sausage for dinner, plus my favorite JPII jam, and some more ideas with a Knot Bad Video

October 31st - All Hallows Eve

Halloween in Our Home

All Saints' Day Halloween Party - games + food + costumes + decorations