We’ve talked a lot on this blog about prayers, pious practices, and foods associated with particular days and seasons of the liturgical calendar. The deep and wide deposit of Catholic tradition ALSO includes beautiful music associated with these feast days. You might remember that our family feast days food repertoire includes traditional foods like lamb on Holy Thursday and waffles on the Annunciation, and also more novel fare like a rice crispy lamb to go with the roasted variety on Holy Thursday, and St. Thomas S’Mores on his feast day. Feast day playlists in our house are a lot like that ..read more

Join my family as we prepare to remember the most solemn days of the liturgical year. WATCH NOW Holy Thursday is the first of the three-day liturgical season called The Holy Triduum which encompasses Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Each day of the Triduum has its own traditions, but Holy Thursday is especially meaningful to Catholics, as it is the day that Jesus instituted the ministerial priesthood, as well as the day he was arrested and began his long journey to Calvery. I’ll be showing you the ways that my family makes Holy Thursday special, and share plenty of ideas and re ..read more

St. Joseph is the patron that we have chosen for our family this year. So needless to say I absolutely had to do something special to share about our St. Joseph traditions with you! WATCH NOW Though he was a quiet man, who left us not even a single quote, there is certainly no shortage of devotion to St. Joseph around the world. In my family, we draw on Sicilian traditions and St. Joseph’s occupation as a carpenter to inspire our food and activities for our celebration. Watch as the kids and I make cream puffs, hammer nails, and eat spaghetti with our hands off the table. I hope you and your ..read more

Calling all homemakers, wanna-be homemakers, and reluctant homemakers! I’ve got the perfect saint to introduce you to in the latest episode of Catholic All Year at Home! WATCH NOW This episode is all about St. Frances of Rome, a young woman who wanted to dedicate her life to God as a nun. It turned out that God had a bit of a different plan in mind and instead, called her first to be, a wife, mother, and homemaker. Her story was very inspiring to me when I was a young wife, mother, and reluctant homemaker myself. I hope that through this episode you discover a friend who can pray for you and ..read more

Palm Sunday is tomorrow you guys! I’m inadvertently VERY prepared for an at home Holy Week and Easter, but definitely mourning the prospect. The images of Palm Sunday from old picture Bibles are kinda punching me in the gut right now. The sea of humanity, the crowd, the bustle! It all seems so foreign right now. None of this ? or this ? in 2020. Instead, we’re preparing for Holy Week and Easter at home. I’ve got this post with all of our Holy Week traditions, and 90% of them were at home any way, so if you’re looking to use sheltering at home to start some new traditions, check ‘er out. The ..read more

The triduum is upon us! Let’s talk Holy Thursday. No, wait, for a Holy Thursday overview, see this post The “You Can Still Do This” Guide to All Things Holy Week Here, let’s talk about the Seven Churches Visitation. Under normal circumstances, following the Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper, the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the tabernacle in the church, which is left open and empty. The Sacrament, in a temporary tabernacle or pyx, is placed on an Altar of Repose in a different location in the church or an adjacent chapel or other room for Adoration. It is traditional to recite the Tan ..read more

We are a week into Lent. Probably we’ve all had some moments to be proud of, and some fails, right? That’s to be expected. The spring Ember Days begin today, Wednesday, and continue on Friday and Saturday. Ember Days are seasonal days of fasting and repentance that occur three times in a week, four times per year. (see here for more details) They are no longer mandatory, but many Catholics are returning to pious practices like this and finding them very fruitful. The spring Ember Days occur the week after Ash Wednesday, so they’re always a good chance to revisit one’s voluntary Lenten discipli ..read more

Liturgical Living heads up! Lent is quickly approaching. Ash Wednesday is February 26th this year, so we’ve only got a couple weeks to get our acts together here and figure out what we’re going to do. Also, it’s Catholic Mom Bundle time again! This year’s Lent bundle has dozens of digital resources for faith and family life, including Lent and Valentine stuff. Click here to head over though my affiliate link to purchase or learn more, or stay tuned for more details at the end of the post. I’ve written SO MUCH about Lent over the years, and I’ll link to some of those posts below ? in case you ..read more

Introducing the newest episode of Catholic All Year at Home! This episode is all about celebrating Fat Tuesday before we buckle down with our Lenten Disciplines for the next 40 days. As you watch you’ll discover creative, family-friendly ideas for your own Fat Tuesday celebration! As I’ve worked with Formed to bring this show to life, my focus has always been family-centered content. I wanted to create a show that is not only good to watch together but ALSO goes beyond the time you spend watching and allows you to discover ways for your family to experience the faith in a deep and life-changin ..read more

Also available as a YouTube video here! Well, you’ve done it. You AND your children have, somehow, against all odds, survived through to these last few days of Lent. Though for a while there, it looked like you might succumb to acute lack of coffee / Netflix / Facebook, you’ve made it. And now you need to figure out how to make Holy Week solemn, meaningful, and memorable for your kids. Without a whole lot of effort or advance planning on your part. So what exactly does Holy Week look like in a faithful Catholic home? Hah! That’s a trick question. There’s no one way to be Catholic, and there’s ..read more