Welcome to Feast Day Fun: St Clare of Assisi!
St Clare in Assisi, my photo taken (prayerfully) on the sly
St Clare was born in Assisi and consecrated herself to Jesus at an early age. She met St Francis and was inspired by him and started the order of nuns called the Poor Clares. She defended the convent from soldiers by holding up the monstrance and causing them to flee! When she became too ill to attend Mass, she miraculously saw Mass in her room. She is the patron saint of sore eyes and television!
With St Clare’s reverence and awe for the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance, it seems appropriate to try a monstrance craft!
I decided to make Catholic Icing’s Monstrance Craft with sliced pool noodles left over from our Minute to Win it birthday party. I also used some sparkly gold pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, beads, glitter and glue to construct our own little play monstrance, offering a great opportunity to talk about the use of the monstrance at Adoration and the mystery of the True Presence. There are quite a few monstrance crafts out there…from coloring pages to golden doilies, Familia Católica has a nice summary post of monstrance crafts!
To honor the patron of television, St Clare’s Feast Day can be an opportunity to consider the family’s use of television and other media devices.
Make a resolution to prevent sore eyes by limiting screen time!
1. Pick television / movies selectively.
2. Set time limits for computer or video games.
3. Consider a token system, rationing viewing by requiring viewers to “pay-per-view”. Buttons, poker chips or other sets of small game pieces can be used as tokens or a time sheet can be used to log in screen time.
4. Help children develop good judgment around their use of screens and their viewing choices. Programs which may be cute or funny do not always reflect family values. Not all video games develop useful skills, but can have detrimental effects on health.
Screen time can whittle away valuable family and study time. Monitoring screen time will develop an awareness of the biggest ‘time-wasters’, helping us to make good decisions about time management and discouraging multi-tasking (texting and homework!) which undermines concentration, good study habits and productivity.
Check out How To Make Screen Rules That Stick or these 9 Secrets to Managing Your Child’s Screen Time
We’ve painted THREE St Clares! The one on the left is my original Wooden Painted Saint and the 2 twins are the St Clares I painted as part of the Decoupage Saints, with Lacy’s templates. I painted 2 sets of the Decoupage Saints so that Adam could lose play with his own set. Kind of a good call…you won’t believe the places I have found Adam’s Saints!
I wrote a more reflective post…want to read it?
Called to be a Brat…in Christ!
Feast Day Crafts and Activities
Excerpts from A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families , various posts at Equipping Catholic Families and our Saint Scripts Craft Kits (Series ONE and TWO).
St Clare,
Pray for us!
Do you have your own family activities, traditions, crafts or celebrations to share for this special Feast Day? Don’t forget to add it at the Celebrate the Saints Link-Up…or pick up an idea or two for your family to enjoy!
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