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    Home » Blog » Catholic

    Catholic Feast Days to Celebrate as a Family

    Published: Aug 19, 2022 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Catholic feast days throughout the year are a chance to come together to celebrate what matters most: our faith and our family & friends. These easy Catholic traditions are a wonderful way to raise children to love and practice their Catholic faith.

    The family dinner table is set for a special meal with pretty napkins, candles, and a vase filled with wheat.

    As my children grow and become busier with school and friends, I find I'm eager to slow things down and give our family a chance to connect through a simple celebration.

    After reading, and being wonderfully inspired by, the book "The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life" by Kendra Tierney, I realized that most of the holidays I've tried to celebrate with my kids are actually Catholic Feast Days.

    I admit I was not as intentional about incorporating our Catholic faith into each holiday while they were little, but it is something I'm working actively on improving during the last few years while my children still live at home.

    It is never too late to start a new tradition or improve the ones you already have.

    I hope this easy list of Catholic feast days for families will help inspire you to connect and grow with your children in the years ahead.

    Jump to:
    • Every Sunday
    • St. Valentine's Day
    • St. Patrick's Day
    • St. Joseph's Day
    • Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday
    • Ash Wednesday & Good Friday
    • Easter Sunday
    • Halloween
    • All Soul's Day
    • Thanksgiving
    • St. Nicholas Day
    • Advent
    • Christmas Eve & Christmas Day
    • Epiphany
    • How I Plan for Our Feasts
    • 💬 Comments

    Every Sunday

    Often overlooked as a Holy Day of Obligation, busy modern families often fail to remember that Sundays are intended to be a day of rest.

    The classic Sunday Family Dinner is not a tradition you often find these days.

    As sports teams schedule practice and games and working parents use the day to prepare for a busy week ahead, we've forgotten how important Sunday is for the family.

    The easiest way to celebrate this weekly feast day is to plan a special meal together as a family.

    It could be as simple as a brunch after Mass or a lazy dinner with something simple like soup and sandwiches.

    It's not about what you serve but if you're going to carve out one meal a week to truly enjoy as a family, why not make it an extra-delicious one that everyone eagerly anticipates?

    • Crockpot Recipes
    • Pasta
    • Casseroles
    • Soup
    • Sandwiches
    • Bread

    St. Valentine's Day

    Valentine's Day is looked at as a Hallmark holiday but it truly started as a Catholic Saint Day.

    Show your kids just how much you love them with special pink and red treats or a special story time.

    • A jar full of rice crispie bar pops with pink icing and sprinkles.
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    • A pink and red basket with a felt heart has a Valentine's board book inside and sits on a stack of pink and red books.
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    • A collage of party decorations and ideas for hosting a Valentine's Day cookie decorating party.
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    St. Patrick's Day

    Once my Ancestry DNA test proved I have Irish heritage, St. Patrick's Day suddenly had all new meaning for me personally!

    I've always enjoyed this fun and festive mid-winter holiday, but now our family goes a little over the top with a St. Patrick's Day dinner and Irish music playing in the background.

    • A photo collage of picture books for St. Patrick's Day.
      St. Patrick's Day Books for Kids
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    • A grilled reuben sandwich is stacked in a pile and has thousand island dressing dripping down the side.
      10 St. Patrick's Day Dinner Ideas for Kids

    St. Joseph's Day

    I admit it wasn't until I read Kendra's book as an adult that I finally discovered about St. Joseph's Feast Day. A whole holiday dedicated to seafood and lemons?! I'm SOLD!

    • A photo collage shows several lemon and citrus flavored recipes for St. Joseph's Feast
      15 St. Joseph Feast Day Recipes

    Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday

    The Tuesday before the Lenten season begins is a fantastic chance to have a little fun with the kids.

    Bake a king's cake, enjoy a little spicy Cajun food, and have a little dance party in the kitchen. You can find some of my best Mardi Gras dinner ideas here.

    • A photo collage shows several easy Mardi Gras recipes for a busy night.
      20 Easy Mardi Gras Recipes for Family Dinner

    Ash Wednesday & Good Friday

    These somber Feast Days are a wonderful opportunity to teach children that families support and console each other even under sad circumstances.

    It is ok to serve special comfort foods that properly honor the rules of the day. Serve a delicious seafood or meatless dinner or on Good Friday, take the chance to bake my favorite Hot Cross Biscuits.

    • A photo collage shows some of the meatless recipes that are ok to eat for Lent.
      40 Meatless Meals for Lent Your Kids Will Actually Eat
    • A photo collage shows several easy things to eat for breakfast.
      18 Easy Lent Breakfast Ideas
    • A photo collage shows a variety of meatless soups, sandwiches, and snacks for Lent.
      16 Simple Lent Lunch Ideas

    Easter Sunday

    Easter is the most joyful day of the entire Catholic year. Celebrating with your kids is easier than ever with Easter baskets before Mass and a special feast.

    • Easter

    Halloween

    Nothing surprised me more than to read this passage from The Catholic All Year Compendium:

    "I have occasionally heard from Catholics who wonder if Catholics should participate in Halloween festivities, to which I usually reply:

    Well, no festivities of any kind are mandatory, so participation is up to you. But Catholics invented Halloween, so if it's appropriate for anyone, it's appropriate for us."

    Grab a copy of her book to read her full explanation but yes, Halloween is absolutely an appropriate feast day to celebrate with your children.

    • A Halloween jack-o-lantern has a silly smiles. Lit candles and fall leaves complete the scene.
      Fun Halloween Ideas for Families
    • A two-tier cake plate has cute Halloween cupcakes in lavender polka dot wrappers. There is a dish of candy corn on the side.
      3 Easy Halloween Cupcakes from 1 Box Mix
    • A glazed donut decorated to look like a spider with a donut hole on top, googly eyes, and black frosting legs is in the hand of a kid.
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    • Candy Corn fudge is cut into squares on parchment paper. Orange, black, and yellow candies and sprinkles are pressed into the white fudge.
      10 Candy Corn Halloween Treats

    All Soul's Day

    November 2 is All Soul's Day, the day where Catholics pray for the dearly departed.

    When I lived in Italy, I was so inspired that the Italians use this Holy Day of Obligation to pause everyday life and visit their loved ones at the cemetery.

    While this is another very somber feast day, if you aren't able to visit a cemetery you could plan a quiet, candlelit dinner where you pray for your loved ones and share memories of them over a simple fall meal.

    • A baking dish is filled with roasted sausages, potatoes, and apples. A jar of mustard and a platter of baked pretzels are in the background.
      Roasted Sausages and Potatoes with Apples
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      Freezer Friendly Apple Crisp
    • A square slice of apple cake topped with soft frosting and pecans sits in front of the metal baking pan it came from. A bite is missing.
      Fresh Apple Cake

    Thanksgiving

    While not technically a Catholic feast day, this beloved holiday is the perfect time to focus on lessons of gratitude with your family.

    Take the time to count your blessing and thank the provider of all good things.

    • A white plate has a grey napkin and a sprig of orange berries with a tag that says "Thankful."
      Thanksgiving Recipes and Ideas for Families

    St. Nicholas Day

    One of my most cherished family memories from my own childhood is the celebration of St. Nicholas Day on December 6th.

    I was so excited to plan this celebration for my own kids when I became a mom and now it is one of their favorite days of the year, too.

    • A row of stockings are hung on a mantle in front of a Christmas tree.
      How to Celebrate St. Nicholas Day
    • A red tray filled with Christmas foods for the whole family to enjoy.
      Best St. Nicholas Family Gift Ideas

    Advent

    While Advent is a season and not techically a single feast day, this is a wonderful opportunity to really enforce the meaning behind the Christmas season to your children.

    Use your weekly Sunday dinners and plan a simple little Advent spin to the tradition. Use the Advent wreath as your dinner table centerpiece or read stories together before or after the meal.

    • A DIY Advent wreath sits on a table on Christmas Eve in front of a lit Christmas tree.
      DIY Advent Wreath with Candles
    • Collage of four book covers: Song of the Stars, Three Wise Kings, The Legend of the Poinsettia, and The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree.
      22 Powerful Christmas Books for Advent

    Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

    Ask your kids to name a Catholic Feast Day and I'm pretty sure this will be on the list. If not first, right behind Easter.

    Christmas is our family's favorite holiday to celebrate together. We have dozens of priceless traditions we enjoy that last all through the Advent season and end with the grand finale of Christmas Eve and Day.

    • Christmas Recipes
    • A young girl decorates a gingerbread house, the other photos show the fun ideas to do with families for Christmas Eve.
      25 Festive Christmas Eve Ideas
    • A classic red truck is driving around the bend of a Christmas tree farm in the mountains of North Carolina
      How to Have an Old Fashioned Christmas
    • A dad and his daughter work on a Christmas puzzle together
      18 Festive Christmas Puzzles for Families
    • The finished gingerbread house has been assembled and decorated by a young girl with gumdrops, candy canes, and sprinkles.
      How to Make a Homemade Gingerbread House

    Epiphany

    We recognize the Epiphany on January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas, the day the Wise Men arrived to meet Jesus.

    However, the real holiday moves and is supposed to be celebrated on the first Sunday after January 1 and could fall as early as January 2.

    You could reserve the Wise Men from your nativity scene and have the kids finally add them to the manger on this day. Some families enjoy moving the Wise Men a little bit closer to the manager each day between Christmas and the Epiphany.

    Our Christmas tree stays up and decorated until this day and it is a great evening to plan one last Christmas movie and treats.

    • A collage of different Nativity sets for families
      Sturdy Kids Nativity Sets Parents Love

    How I Plan for Our Feasts

    If this all sounds like more work and you're feeling overwhelmed with how to make it happen in your family life, let me assure you that it doesn't need to be complicated.

    When I spend time at the start of each day with my morning basket, I take a peek at the weeks ahead and look for Feast Day opportunities to slip into our schedule.

    If I'm feeling a little more extra excited to do something special, I might meal plan a dinner using one of the recipes from these Catholic cookbooks. But that's just frosting on the cake!

    And you don't need to just keep this to your own family, use these feast days to open your doors and put your Christian hospitality skills to use.

    • A basket of reading material is on a table with iced coffee, a planner, and fresh flowers.
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    • A blue plate has a brown napkin and an orange leaf with a tag that says "gather".
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    More Celebrating Catholic Traditions

    • A red mug that says "Merry Christmas" has marshmallows on top and a sparkler. A pinecone rests in front.
      Christmas Ideas for Families
    • A photo collage shows cooking utensils on a doily, next to photos of food being brought to a family.
      12 Essential Meal Train Etiquette Tips
    • The photo collage shows a calendar for a meal plan next to several meal train dinner ideas.
      Easy Meal Train Set Up Tips for Helping Friends
    • An easter bunny in a photo collage next to several potluck recipes.
      Easter Potluck Ideas: 30 Recipes that Travel Well

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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
    I believe a great family recipe is one that makes everyone at the table happy, not just the kids. I'm the author of two bestselling cookbooks for kids that are chock full of recipes everyone in your family will love. I'm also the hostess of the best online book club for women.

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