There’s something so exuberant and hopeful about tomorrow’s feast. All Saints Day honors the holy men and women who are in Heaven, most of whom have been lost to history and are not included in official lists of canonized saints. This feast is a reminder that all of us Catholics are on a mission to be saints in Heaven one day, even if we won’t be formally canonized.
All Saints Day is an important feast day in the liturgical calendar; typically, it’s a Holy Day of Obligation. It’s the perfect day to learn about the lives of the saints, making it an especially delightful holiday to share with children.
Here are 5 meaningful ways to celebrate All Saints Day with your children, grandchildren, students, or any other kids in your life.
1Go to Mass together
Mass is the closest we can get to Heaven while on this earth. So what better way could there be to celebrate the saints in Heaven than to join with them in worshiping God at Holy Mass?
2Learn about the saints
Today is a wonderful occasion to watch a movie about a saint or read a book of stories about the saints. These engaging tales hopefully will inspire the next generation to imitate the saints’ heroic virtue.
3Talk together about becoming saints
Do your kids know that each and every one of them can be a saint in the making? Share with them what it means to be a saint: someone who tries again and again to choose what’s right, who doesn’t give up, who pursues holiness heroically.
Then ask the kids to share their own ideas of ways they can become saints. You may be pleasantly surprised at their insights!
4Have an All Saints Day parade
This is a classic way to celebrate the day at many Catholic schools! Help the children to dress up like a favorite saint, and then march around singing, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
If you don’t have enough costumes handy, children could also hold a holy card or statue of a saint. In a pinch, you could have them draw a picture of their favorite saint to hold aloft.
5Ask for the saints’ intercession
One of the most important things to emphasize to your kids is that the saints are still with us, through God’s grace, even though they have died and gone to Heaven. Encourage the children to ask for the prayers of these loving heavenly friends, who want so much to cheer us on as we journey toward joining them in Heaven.
Here’s a prayer you might say together for the occasion. At the end, ask each child to name a saint they admire, and then everyone else can respond, “Pray for us!”
Dear God, thank you for the example of the saints. I desire to join in their company, worshiping you forever in Heaven. Please help me follow their footsteps, and yours, Jesus Christ. Please help me to conform myself to Your image, seeking Your will in all things, as the saints did. Please help me to devote myself, and all that I do, to Your glory, and to the service of my neighbors. Amen.
And today we celebrate...