Celebrate Saint Clement and Blessed Miguel Pro Simply

It's no secret that we love to learn about saints and celebrate their feast days here.  It's also no secret that our home and lives are rarely picture perfect.  Tables get covered in stuff.  Groceries get low.  Life gets full. 

So it was in our home on the feast day of Blessed Miguel Pro and Saint Clement last November 23.  Luckily, I didn't let all the imperfections stop me. Instead, I gathered what I had on hand and spent the morning getting reacquainted with Blessed Miguel Pro and Saint Clement through prayers, books, a CD, some coloring, some conversation, and a simple floor picnic, followed by a few saint-inspired lessons.

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Since I did not have any Mexican or Roman-inspired foods in the house, the floor picnic I set out for my children had symbolism through drinks and candles instead.  Water reminded us of the story of Saint Clement that we read in Once Upon a Time Saints and cocoa and chocolate chips reminded us of Blessed Miguel Pro's cocol. Likewise, a white candle stood for the purity of Blessed Miguel Pro's and Saint Clement's love for our Lord, while a red one recalled their martyrdom.

My children were delighted with our simple celebratory breakfast and dug right in, proving to me that what I thought might not be enough was actually just right.

The rest of our morning followed suit.

After praying and reading about Blessed Miguel Pro in the Loyola Kids Book of Saints, my youngest helped with some on-spot geography by finding Mexico on a map.

He also found Rome after we read about St. Clement in Once Upon a Time Saints.

Then, after chatting about the two saints, comparing and contrasting their stories and discussing history, the children set to coloring free printables from Paper Dali while listening to a
Glory Story about Blessed Miguel Pro.

Later we enjoyed a spelling game and some other lessons inspired by the saints, too.  

So, what started as me accepting imperfections and simply offering up the meager "loaves and fishes" of what we had around our home, we ended up blessed with the fruit of learning about history, virtue, literature, geography, and more related to Blessed Miguel Pro and Saint Clement - simply, relatively spontaneously, and all due to the grace and glory of Our Lord.

Indeed, each time my children and I make an effort to learn about and celebrate the saints, I am struck by what God can do when we just say "yes" to His will for us.  No saint was perfect - and neither are we.  Yet, through loving God and letting Him work in them and through them, the saints made amazing impacts on others, and, eventually, were able to join our Lord in Heaven.  Oh, that we may do the same one day as well.

Whatever imperfections you face today, may you not let them stop you from seeking to know and love God.  May you be inspired by stories of the saints and be unafraid to take the next step in whatever story our Lord wishes to write with you.

Blessed Miguel Pro and Saint Clement, pray for us!