I’m always trying to figure out how to make it easier for families to observe the Christian Year because we felt so overwhelmed when we first started that journey (which is why we wrote the book we wish we had then). I thought it might be helpful for our family to have resources compiled for the month ahead so that we can plan in advance which special saints days we want to observe and I hope having them all in one place is helpful to you, too!
I made a simple printable March 2014 liturgical calendar you can download for FREE. If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter (on the right sidebar) in exchange for my hours of labor, I’d be eternally grateful. (Just kidding about the hours of labor, it wasn’t hard to make the calendar….but my newsletter is rad *wink wink*.)
And I pinned all of the following resources on a March Liturgical Year board on pinterest for your convenience!
As always, remember not to get overwhelmed. You don’t have to observe every saints day! (We certainly don’t at our house.) The liturgical year is a gift. It shouldn’t feel like a burden!
March 3rd: St. Katharine Drexel
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- Three Sisters Stew: Catholic Cuisine
Coloring Page: Catholic Printables Online
March 4th: St. Casimir
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- Make some Polish dishes for this Polish saint such as this Polish Honey Cake: Food Network
Coloring Page: Catholic Playground
March 4th: Mardi Gras
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- Gluten Free King Cake: Celiac Family (my kids are allergic to gluten, so we’ll be trying out this GF version!)
- Make a tradition New Orleans Sazerac (we share our recipe in our liturgical year cookbook Feast!)
March 5th: Ash Wednesday
Food/Activities for Observing:
- Lenten Grass: Observing Lent with Children: Kitchen Parade
Lent
- Preparing for Lent: Planning and Resources: Carrots for Michaelmas
- Getting Ready for Lent (video in the Knot Bad series): A Knotted Life
- Printable Lenten Calendar for Kids: Catholic Icing
- Stations of the Cross Eggs for Catholic Kids: Catholic Icing
- Stations of the Cross Box for Kids: A Knotted Life
- Walking Through Lent with Small Children: Two Os Plus More
- 66 Things to Give Up or Take Up for Lent: Catholic All Year
- 100 Things to Do for Lent: His Pierced Hands
- A Meaningful Lent (The Monstrously Long Post): Karen Edmisten
March 7th: Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
About the Saints:
- Memorial of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, martys: Catholic Culture
Coloring Page: Catholic Playground
March 8th: St. John of God
St. John of God is my husband Daniel‘s confirmation saint!
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- Have a pomegranate feast (St. John of God ministered in Granada, which means pomegranate.)
- Sweet Potato and Pomegranate Salad: Two Peas and Their Pod
- Honey Mousse with Pomegranate: Laylita’s Recipes
March 17th: St. Patrick
Books:
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola (dePaola is our favorite childrens book author/illustrator!)
Saint Patrick and the Peddler by Margaret Hodges
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- Celebrating the Feast of St. Patrick: Two Os Plus More
- Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread: A Food Centric Life
March 18th: St. Cyril of Jerusalem
About the saint:
- Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop, confessor, doctor: Catholic Culture
March 19th: St. Joseph
Book:
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi (The swallows always return to the Mission San Juan Capistrano on St. Joseph’s Day. Beautiful story.)
Food/Activities to Celebrate:
- St. Joseph’s Day Altars: New Orleans Online
- Italian Eats: Foods for the Feast of St. Joseph: Delish
- The Feast of St. Joseph: Two Os Plus More
March 23rd: St. Turibius of Mongrovejo
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- Make a Peruvian dish for this saint who served as a missionary in Peru. (We share our simple Lomo Saltado recipe in Feast!)
March 25th: The Annunciation of the Lord
Food/Activities for Celebrating:
- On the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord: Three Sided Wheel
Please feel free to share any resources or ideas for observing the liturgical year during March in the comments!
We share a Mardi Gras cocktail recipe, a simple lenten fish entree, and reflections on observing Lent in our real food liturgical year cookbook: Feast! Real Food, Reflections and Simple Living for the Christian Year. You can buy the ebook for $7.99 or the print version for $21.99.
(Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Carrots!)
I just blogged about St Chad, whose feast day is 2nd March. He’s English, so possibly not so much remembered by the American Catholic church, but you may be interested anyway!
Loved reading about St Chad, Martha! Thanks for sharing!
I love this! I’m trying to get more into the liturgical year, but we do paczki instead of king cake because I married a Polish person.
Mmmm! That sounds delicious!
Thanks so much for including one of our coloring pages, Haley!
Absolutely, Angie! What a great resource!
Thanks, Haley! I was on Pinterest last night while you were pinning all that stuff 🙂 I had an idea to make a shared board where several people could contribute resources. Thoughts?
Oh, that’s a great idea!
Thanks so much for sharing! It’s become more important for us to celebrate liturgical feast days, especially now that my oldest is beginning to understand more about our faith. Plus, it’s always fun to celebrate St. Joseph’s day, since it falls in the middle of Lent AND my husband’s name is Joseph. 🙂
Aw, I love that! I think we’re going to do a St. Joseph’s altar with some little friends for the first time this year. I’m excited!
Thank you so much for this post! I have dropped the ball when it comes to celebrating the Liturgical year since welcoming baby #5 and adding on new homeschool activities. We often don’t realize it is a certain feast day we would have celebrated until we read their story at bedtime…to late to break out the craft items or make a recipe. This will really help. BTW, love your blog.
Thanks, Ginger! Congrats of Baby #5 and cut yourself some slack! You must have your hands full (of good things) m’dear! 😉
{Kathy} How beautiful it is that you have done this! We have a Catholic family of 6 and I am always looking for creative ways to keep everyone reflecting on our rich faith. Love, love, love your work.
Thank you so much, Kathy! What a word of encouragement!
Thanks for all the link love! Can’t wait until I’m not pregnant for a feast day that features one of your fancy cocktails – they look super yummy.
I just got really excited about cocktails in July when you’re not pregnant anymore 😉
Whoa, what a round-up! Thank you!
My pleasure, Kayla!
Thanks so much for this! Celebrating different feasts for the liturgical year is one of my goals for our family this year!
You’re welcome, Stefanie!