With a name like Colleen, it’s reasonable to expect me to be all about St. Patrick’s Day, and while I love a good corned beef sandwich (seriously, a taste of heaven) and think St. Pat’s clover analogy for teaching the Trinity is brilliant, there are a few other feasts this month you don’t want to miss.

St. Louise de Marillac, March 15th

St. Louise is an incredible woman, and I definitely want my daughters to know her.  Working with St. Vincent de Paul, she founded the Daughters of Charity, a revolutionary order of laywomen dedicated to the service of the poor. Interestingly, while these women began by nursing the poor in their own homes, they moved quickly into running entire hospitals and broadened their ministry to teaching poor children. 

Ideas to celebrate her feast day

• Here’s a coloring page of St. Louise. Your kids can color while you read a short bio of her.
• Volunteer at a local hospital
• Donate medical supplies to Ukraine in her honor

St. Joseph, March 19th

The premier feast in March belongs to St. Joseph. The origins of this particular feast day are found in Sicily, where there was a great drought and famine during the Middle Ages. The people had recourse to St. Joseph and promised him a special feast complete with an altar of delicious food if he saved them from starvation. Sure enough, the rains fell shortly after and St. Joseph had his feast. 

Ideas for celebrating St. Joseph’s feast day

• Make a St. Joseph altar: Just take out the nativity set you put away after Christmas (real talk, we both know it only just went back into storage) and grab your St. Joseph statue. Add some lilies (I often have luck finding them this time of year at Trader Joe’s), a white or red cloth, and voila! You have a home altar celebrating the foster father of Christ. 
• Donate food or volunteer at a local food bank or soup kitchen. Because of its origins, this feast of St. Joseph is a wonderful opportunity to provide others with the food they need. 

The Annunciation, March 25th

This is one of my favorite Marian feast days. Exactly 9 months to the day until Christmas, this is when we celebrate the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary and the fiat that changed the course of human history. 

Ideas for celebration the Annunciation

• Read the story! In my Marian Consecration, you’ll find the Scripture for this feast day, along with a beautiful illustration from Rebecca. You can use the conversation starters to spark discussion with your kiddos. 
• Color the page included in Rebecca’s companion coloring book while you chat.

And there you have it- 3 March feast days your family can easily celebrate this month! Don’t forget to check out my March Pinterest board for a round up of all of my favorite March feast day activities. And be sure to sign up for the Elevator to Heaven newsletter for more updates and liturgical living tips!