March 17th marks the feast of St. Patrick, one of our favorite feasts of the year. Could it be because of all the Irish blood in our family, or maybe since it is also the birthday of hubby’s dad and brother? Whatever the reason, I already have a bunch of excited children in my home and we have begun making plans for the big day!
Storytime
Here is a list of books you will find in our book basket.
- Saint Patrick
by Ann Tompert
- Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland
by Tomie dePaloa (Study guide can be found in Catholic Mosaic)
- Patrick: Saint of Ireland
and A Child’s Book of Celtic Prayers
by Joyce Denham
- St. Patrick’s Day
by Gail Gibbons
- St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning
by Eve Bunting
- Saint Patrick
by Father Lovasik
- St. Patrick’s Summer: A Children’s Adventure Catechism
by Marigold Hunt
Movie Night
Every year my children ask to watch Patrick – Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle. I’ve never seen this movie, but I just ordered it from Netflix to watch. Usually, on St. Patrick’s day, hubby and I watch an Irish themed movie, after our children go to bed. Michael Collins
“Well, then. Now. I’ll begin at the beginnin’. A fine soft day in the spring, it was, when the train pulled into Castletown, three hours late as usual, and himself got off. He didn’t have the look of an American tourist at all about him. Not a camera on him; what was worse, not even a fishin’ rod… “
Crafts
- Last year we really enjoyed making a couple of the crafts out of this book, including Irish Handprint Cards.
- If you blessed to own Fenestrae Fidei: A Coloring Companion for Catholic Mosaic (one of our favorite coloring books), it includes a beautiful picture of St. Patrick that you can copy for your children to color. My children really enjoyed coloring it last year.
- This year I think we will color the lovely Coloring Page from CHC.
- I am also hoping to paint a little wooden Saint Patrick to go with our set and make Shamrock Prayer bouquets.
Copywork
“Good St. Patrick traveled far, to teach God’s Holy Word and when he came to Erin’s sod, a wondrous thing occurred. He plucked a shamrock from the earth and held it in His hand to symbolize the Trinity that all might understand. The first leaf for the Father, and the second for the Son, the third leaf for the Holy Spirit, all three of them in one.”
Music
I’ll be pulling out some of our Irish Cd’s. Not that they are too hard to get to! 😉
Food and Drink
There are SO many ideas to be found online, so I am just going to share our plans for this year. For breakfast, I’ll be making a pot of our favorite Irish Oatmeal, though my kids are already asking if I can pick up some Lucky Charms instead… We’ll see.
I am thinking about organizing a St. Patrick’s Day Picnic in the Park in the afternoon, and asking everyone to bring a snack to share. I’m thinking of making dipped oreos decorated with green and Shamrock Cupcakes.
We are not huge fans of Corned Beef, and I can’t have cabbage, so our favorite dinner for St. Patrick’s day is Irish Beef and Guinness Stew. I am planning on making it again this year and serving it with Baked Potatoes and Irish Soda Bread. I can’t wait to try Barbara’s recipe!
I am still deciding on a fun drink for my kiddos, maybe “St. Patrick’s Floats” using a scoop or two of lime sherbert, 7Up and Whipped cream. I picked up some Guinness last night for hubby (I’ll hide a bottle for the stew!) but didn’t have any luck finding Murphy’s… I’ll have to keep looking. 😉 In the meantime, don’t miss Mary Ellen’s post over at Catholic Cuisine, Slainte!
Prayer
St. Patrick’s BreastplateI bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this today to me forever by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation; His baptism in Jordan river, His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spiced tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom, I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim; the sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, the service of the seraphim, Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, the Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls, all good deeds done unto the Lord and purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today the virtues of the star lit heaven, the glorious sun’s life giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even, the flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, the stable earth, the deep salt sea around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, His eye to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need. The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, His shield to ward; The word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin, the vice that gives temptation force, the natural lusts that war within, the hostile men that mar my course; Or few or many, far or nigh, in every place and in all hours, against their fierce hostility I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles, Against false words of heresy, Against the knowledge that defiles, Against the heart’s idolatry, Against the wizard’s evil craft, Against the death wound and the burning, The choking wave, the poisoned shaft, Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name, the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three. By Whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word: Praise to the Lord of my salvation, Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Thanks for posting so many wonderful ideas. I am hosting a St. Patrick’s Day party for our homeschool group and am definitely going to incorporate the Irish handprints as one of the crafts.
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Are you listening to Sinead O'Conner?
wow, i post about a lap book and you give them the world according to St Patrick. Goodness gracious you big one-upper 😉
So sad we won’t be having a St. Patty’s day get together with you guys this yr. Hey, some big wig with FSSP is going to be here on Sunday. You could come for Mass and just stay until Wednesday!!
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Debbie ~ I hope the kids enjoy making the handprints! =)
Tony~ No, I was thinking more along the lines of all hubby’s Irish Drinking Songs. 😉
Regina ~ Your so funny! (This post has been in my drafts folder forever, and I didn’t think I’d ever get it posted.) As I said, I was SHOCKED to see you posting something for a feast day! 😉 Can’t wait to see the girls lapbooks… 🙂 So, are you going to the FSSP Mass this weekend? That would be awesome. I’ll have to talk to hubby and see. We miss you guys!
Wow, Jessica!! So many excellent ideas!
BTW: The St. Patrick movie you ordered from Netflix…a little scary for little ones, I wouldn’t let anyone under the age of 12 view. That pretty much knocks out your crew! It’s still definitely worth watching…
Can’t wait to try the handprints…too fun!
Thanks Kimberly, that is good to know!
I love watching The Quiet Man on St. Patrick’s Day! I thought I was the only one, lol.
Have I said before that I love your ideas! This one is definitely going to be starred in my reader. St. Patrick’s day is my birthday, too!
We love Quiet Man over here:)
Great post – and thank you so much for the book recommendations! I am slowly but surely trying to gather a few books about each holiday and saint day that we want to focus on, and your lists are always so helpful!
We are either doing a similar stew for our dinner on Tuesday or . . . . I found an awesome Irish cheddar and stout fondue recipe. Thinking of boiling up some fingerling potatoes, Irish brown bread, and various veggies for dinner, all perfect for dipping!
Best,
Sarah
PS – We also love Irish movies – but admit that we always have to put on our closed captioning to get everything! 🙂
You are incredible! Again, in awe of all you do.
After Sinead O'Connor ripped up a picture of the Pope on Sat. Night Live, she lost her Irish Citizenship in my mind. The good in Ireland was brought there by S. Patrick, not King Billy. It's too bad Ireland didn't have a few more guys like Gen. George Washington on their side.
A good movie to watch for S. Patrick's Day is "The Long Gray Line": an Irishman at West Point. My Grandmother who emigrated from Ireland County Cork, used to say about "The Quiet Man": 'makes us look like a bunch of fools'.
Here's a sample of some of the Irish Tunes we parade and march around the house to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI4qSdhmq1U&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWmAwVE2hVg&feature=related
Hubby
Wow, the St. Patrick’s resources you have are GREAT!! Can’t wait to read them all. However we did watch the movie (the one from Netflix) and honestly, we didn’t care for it… very long and not that great for little ones. It just gave us an uneasy feeling and didn’t put the “church” in the best light. Not sure if this makes sense but we just didn’t care for it.