saints Archives - Catechist's Journey

Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood Activities Pack

Six African Americans are on the path to canonization as Catholic saints. Learn about these inspiring men and women of God through our Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood activities pack. The pack includes video suggestions with the brief biographies of: Venerable Pierre Toussaint Servant of God Mother Mary Lange Venerable Henriette Delille Venerable Father Augustus Tolton Servant of God Julia Greeley Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA After learning about these holy […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Teresa of Avila and the Doctors of the Church

Joe Paprocki

When we think of doctors, we tend first to think of medical doctors working in hospitals and medical centers, caring for sick people. However, there are many other kinds of doctors. Someone who has earned a doctorate in his or her field is seen as one who has achieved the most advanced degree in an academic discipline. Such doctors are regarded as authorities in their fields. In the Catholic Church, there are several dozen—36 to be exact—saints […]

Celebrate the Year of St. Joseph - text next to image of Joseph at work as carpenter

How Our Parish Is Celebrating the Year of Saint Joseph

Laura Soldner

When Pope Francis declared the Year of Saint Joseph, his aim was to “to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal.” (Patris Corde) Even though restrictions were still being implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we challenged ourselves as a parish staff to honor our Patron of the Catholic Church. We began celebrating the Year of Saint Joseph on his […]

Saints and S’mores

Denise Gorss

This past year inspired many catechetical leaders to use their creativity to reach out in new ways to parishioners. One success story is Laura Soldner’s summer event, Saints and S’mores. Laura is the Coordinator of Family Formation (K–6) at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Parish in Monona, WI. She shares about the program in the following interview. Denise Gorss for Catechist’s Journey: What is Saints and S’mores? Laura Soldner: Saints and S’mores is a drop-in […]

Using Ordinary Time to Get to Know the Saints

Joe Paprocki

Most of us know how to observe four major seasons of the Church year—Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas. For example, we all know that during the 40 days of Lent, we pray, fast, and give alms. But how do we observe Ordinary Time? We sometimes erroneously think that Ordinary Time is less important (ordinary) than those aforementioned seasons (extraordinary). We need to remember that the word “ordinary” is used in this context in relation to […]

Little Lessons from the Mystics - book cover and image of author Bob Burnham

Mystical Catechesis: Little Lessons from the Mystics

Joe Paprocki

“Religion is belief in someone else’s experience. Spirituality is having your own experience.” —Deepak Chopra This quote pops up frequently on social media, and it speaks an important truth: spirituality is an experience of a relationship with the Divine. Such an experience is one of mystery. Another word we use for such an experience is mystical. Unfortunately, in our culture, the word mystical has come to be synonymous with the word magical: something beyond the […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: St. Martin de Porres

Joe Paprocki

When an orchestra prepares to perform together, they spend a few minutes before the performance ensuring that they are all in tune with one another. Without this effort, the audience would no doubt hear the disharmony and cringe at the discordant sound. In our human relationships, we are called to live in harmony with one another. In the area of race relations, however, we continue to experience far too much disharmony. On November 3, we […]

Printable Saints Figures

Joe Paprocki

Celebrate the saints with our printable saints figures. Featuring art and saints from Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gift Kindergarten, these figures are a fun and simple project to color, cut, and fold. Here are a few ideas for how to use these saints figures: Display the finished figures on a classroom shelf or prayer table, or in the background for an online catechetical session. Fold the finished picture around a toilet paper tube […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Caring for the Environment and St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Joe Paprocki

Now that summer is here, it feels so good to get outside, especially given all of the restrictions we have been living under in recent months due to the pandemic. The beauty of nature reminds us that all of creation is a wonderful gift from God that we need to take care of. In today’s episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we explore the Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha (July 14), patroness of the environment and ecology. […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Reading Stories of the Saints

Joe Paprocki

In today’s episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we explore the practice of reading stories of the saints to learn how people throughout the ages have put the Gospel into practice in their everyday lives. For more information about the saints, check out the following: Saints Stories for All Ages Calendar of Saints Stories for All Ages Saints Reflections Saints Coloring Sheets Saints Books