Mary and the Saints Archives - Page 11 of 14

Clearing Mary Magdalene’s Good Name

This Wednesday, we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, who for too long has wrongly been labeled as a former prostitute, a label that was reinforced by her portrayal in various Hollywood films such as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Passion of the Christ (portrayed as the woman caught in adultery), the 1927 version of King of Kings, Mary Magdalene (TV movie), The Greatest Story Ever Told, and The Last Temptation of […]

Caravaggio's "Conversion of Saint Paul on the Way to Damascus"

St. Paul, Conversion, and Mission

Denise Gorss

As the year winds down, we’re taking a session to talk about St. Paul and his conversion and missionary journeys. Our guide is Finding God, Grade 7, Chapter 23, but as usual, I’m using that as a jumping off point rather than following the book’s lesson plan word for word. We are all called to conversion and mission in our ongoing faith journeys, and that’s the point of this lesson (the “big idea” as Joe […]

Honoring Mary in the Classroom or Parish

Heather Felton

Each May, Catholics across the globe celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary, holy mother to us all. Through parish and classroom celebrations, we can show our love and respect for Mary and share her importance with those we teach. There are a variety of traditional activities that parishes use to celebrate Mary, such as the May Crowning or a special Rosary, novena, or prayer service. These are all good, but if you are looking for some […]

Learning about the Apostles

Denise Gorss

During the Easter season, I like to spend some time talking with the young people about what happened to the disciples after the Resurrection. We cover the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ, but I also use the time to introduce the stories of the Apostles and where they went after the Ascension and Pentecost. Christ Our Life, Grade 7, Chapter 7 provides a section called “Portraits of the Apostles,” which details this activity, but the information […]

May Crowning Marks a “New Spiritual Season”

Joe Paprocki

One of the most beautiful traditions in Catholicism is that of May Crowning. In her book, May Crowning, Mass, and Merton: 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic, Liz Kelly recalls her childhood experience of May Crownings: I still remember the aroma of the flowers, the coolness of the spring air, the lightness of spirit that lingered. The promise of everything made new. May Crowning marked a new spiritual season. Our Mary, queen of heaven and […]

Sagrada Familia del pajarito (Holy Family) by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

Three Lessons Catechists Can Learn from St. Joseph

Darcy Osby

St. Francis of Assisi is often attributed as saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” This quote is very fitting for the life of another saint whose actions spoke louder than his words: St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus. In fact, St. Joseph does not say one word in the Gospels. Yet he speaks volumes. What can catechists learn from the life of this holy man? 1. Silence We tend to […]

St. Patrick stained glass window - Image by Andreas F. Borchert [CC BY-SA 4.0]

St. Patrick’s Day for Grown Ups

Joe Paprocki

At the risk of alienating some folks, I have to admit that I have never much gotten into the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day as it is celebrated in the United States. Perhaps it’s because I’m Polish and the day really celebrates all things Irish, not the saint per se. But that’s not even the case. The day doesn’t really celebrate all things Irish—it often tends to celebrate a caricature of what it means to […]

St. Faustina and other saints in the classroom

Holy Patrons for the New Year

Barb Gilman

A few years back, I read about a tradition that St. Faustina had with the sisters of her convent. On New Year’s Day, they would gather to pick a holy patron for the new year. Here is an excerpt from her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year’s Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning, during meditation, there […]

Called to Be Saints

Lisa Jones

We are all called by God to be saints. Every year, I strive to teach the children in my parish third grade religious education class that they are included in that call. I explain that the saints were not perfect; they were regular people who sometimes messed up. The difference is that saints changed their lives to live as disciples of Jesus. The saints are examples for us in how to follow Christ. That’s a tall […]

Saints for the New Evangelization PowerPoint presentation

Saints for the New Evangelization—Free PowerPoint Presentation

Joe Paprocki

Flip through any tabloid magazine and you’ll see splashy spreads touting all the ways the rich and famous are just like us! They drink coffee. They have children. They are busy going about their lives. These magazines act like this is information we should care about, and worse, we should emulate. In our celebrity-obsessed culture, it’s not easy to remember what real role models are made of. Instead of People, we should be reading Saints. […]