Next Week's Liturgical Year

As I plan my school week next week (yes, I only do one week at a time as I am never sure what I will get done or what tangents we may take off on), I am so excited about the upcoming feast days. While each week offers a chance to appreciate the year that the Catholic Church brings to us through its liturgical calendar, next week will be extra special to a certain 5-year old who has his favorite saints. We may be partying all week instead of schooling!
We begin with St. Wenceslaus on Sunday. We will take this day to imitate the saint by giving - going through our toys and clothes to find appropriate ones to donate to those in need - not just the ones we do not want, but also some of our favorites so there is a real sacrifice. Also, we will remember his service to the poor when we deliver meals to the elderly on Mondays. See here for the story of this saint.
On Monday comes a namesake. Michael looks forward to the great feast of his namesake, the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel. Here is a link to a coloring page from Waltzing Maltida's blog, and since one of his many titles is patron saint of baker's, we will bake a special cake for the dinner celebration in additon to our special waffles for breakfast. I suspect a re-enactment of the battle of the good angels and the bad angels will definitely be on the schedule.
Tuesday's saint is St. Jerome, and we will read St. Jerome and the Lion for fun, but also focus on his great contribution to translating the bible.
Wednesday is the feast day of a saint we have not studied, St. Remigius. We will read his story and briefly study Reims, France with a look at the famous Gothic cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Reims.
The Holy Guardian Angels feast day is on Thursday. Again, I am sure there will be a reenactment of the Fall of the Bad Angels. We will pay extra attention to our own guardian angel by making sure we have an extra table setting for each family member beside him during meals and a special art project, yet to be determined. And of course, there is the Angel Food cake with fresh strawberries!
Friday brings our favorite saint to read about. St. Therese of the Child Jesus has a natural appeal to all young children because of her simplicity. We will read several of our stories about St. Therese's life along with making sacrifice beads and hopefully, make some potpourri.
Lastly, on Saturday is another namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. A short study of the Basillica of St. Francis will be included and hopefully, we will be able to take at the least our dog, for a blessing. This may have to be done by dad. Hopefully, we will get the story, St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio, read. Our parish put this play on a couple of years ago and Michael really enjoyed it.
Well, that is a start to my layout for next week. I have not included activities from CHC's A Year with God or Mary Reed Newland's The Year and Our Children, which I use alot as resources. But these will be incorporated into my plans, more than likely, very late tonight!