Celebrating The Feast of St. Philip Neri As A Family

 


We haven't been really celebrating Saints' feasts lately because we have just been reading about their lives. Its different when you have toddlers or preschoolers at home, you need to really come up with various activities to get them interested. When our son turned 8 last year, we had less and less craft or cooking activities at home. But then, he began to read less and less about the saints too. We began to celebrate the other feasts, solemnities and memorials less too. 

So in order to still celebrate these wonderful events in the vibrant life of our Church, I have decided to post more blogs about celebrating these feasts and solemnities at home. I will also try to include activities for each member of the family, including pre-teens and teens. Please pray for me so I may be able to do this for God's Glory and for you.

Since the feast of St. Philip Neri is coming up on May 26, I have rounded up some resources and activities for the day.

We always start with a story. Its a good way to start, don't you agree? Our resource for this since last year is Catholic Culture. This website actually has everything, from Mass readings, Saints' feasts, the collect prayer for that day, recipes and activities for whatever our Church is celebrating on that day.

So here, we will read about the life of St. Philip Neri. I also have a couple of books at home which I used, to read to my once toddler. This one particular book is The Book of Saints by Fr. Lovasik, SVD , a St. Joseph Picture Book. It was short but got my 3 year old's interest because of the words cheerful holiness. I further elaborated that this Saint was jolly and had a good sense of humor. His next question was, "Can you tell me one of his jokes?" Of course, I did not know any, but I explained further to my toddler that it was this gift that attracted so many penitents to the confessional. 

Here are more resources on the life of Saint Philip Neri

St. Philip Neri - catholic.org

St. Philip Neri - EWTN

The Raritan Oratory of St. Philip Neri

St. Philip Neri - CNA

Watch it

Story of St. Philip Neri - YouTube Christian Family TV

After reading and talking about the life of St. Philip Neri, you may choose the next activity, depending on the age or ages of your children. for younger children, I would immediately go to a craft or a coloring activity, just so we could further discuss or 'wonder' about a saint's life.

I have a free printable on my The Saints Printables page, and you can download and use for the whole family. I not only made a saint coloring page this time but some coloring pages with the saint's quotes and a word or virtue associated with the saint. 



You can print them smaller to fit your journals, or in A4 size for folders, if you keep any.


I have also printed out our faces on half a sheet of paper. Put then in a clear plastic sheet with different colored whiteboard markers. On feast day, they will be posted on a wall and everyone is free to doodle on each other's picture. The funniest doodle has a prize!



Celebrate with food. It doesn't have to be fancy, but you can go all out on a feast or solemnity especially when it is really special for your family. We will try out this snickerdoodle recipe from Catholic Cuisine and see if this is going to be a yearly thing. Our son loves cinnamon and sugar and so I think this will be a hit. Of course, the idea is to make this as a family or him and me, and not just me. 

Since my son loves games, especially the ones with much action, we will try the blindfold pillow fight game - a game I just saw a video of while researching for 'funny games' I laughed out loud when I watched it and imagined how we - Nanay, Tatay and Teo would play this. 

I also have rounded up some game ideas for the entire family to play on St. Philip Neri's feast day.

FAMILY GAMES AT HOME THAT WILL MAKE YOU ALL LAUGH!

I think these are the best ones I've found. It may take a little more patience to get to the instructions of the game itself but its worth it. We might try the mouth game - even if it isn't St. Philip Neri's feast.

Here's more for every member of the family...

8 LAUGH OUT LOUD GAMES AND ACTIVITIES TO DO AT HOME

For families with younger children, Circle Time would be fun and engaging. There a lot of fun and funny songs on the web. We prefer to use Spotify so its just pure listening and dancing. Check out my Fun and Laughs playlist on Spotify and see if you and your family have some favorites.


Allow your younger children to make their own moves, hold hands and dance together, listen to the lyrics with the older siblings and laugh and sing and dance!

Extending the 'lesson' a bit for elementary level children, especially homeschooled kids like mine would entail a little bit of creativity. 

We usually use Google Maps to locate a Saint's birthplace or mission country. But before we do that, I ask my son to list down the places he thinks is important when he reads the life of a saint. And so this is a little bit of Geography and History, with a bit of technology thrown in. 

From the book of Fr. Jose Vettickat, Cap; published by Screen Quest, which I bought (2 whole sets) of the lives of saints; I listed down some important places in the life of St. Philip Neri.

Florence, Italy:
       Dominican Monastery of San Marco - now a museum
Naples:
Rome:
      Oratorio de Filipini - Chiesa Nuova

My son and I would try to use the directions option on Google Maps to see how a saint traveled. We would also go to street view and imagine us being there. Of course we would be then dreaming of a pilgrimage someday and how we are to travel - on foot, by bus or train if ever this dream would come to a reality.
So go ahead and take a 'trip' to St. Philip Neri's birthplace and mission area with the whole family. Technology can be so awesome if we know how to temper our desires and use it for good.